The Naked Now

"The Naked Now" is the third episode of the first season of the American science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, originally aired on October 5, 1987, in broadcast syndication in the United States. Directed by Paul Lynch, the episode was written by D. C. Fontana, under the pseudonym of "J. Michael Bingham", based on an unfinished teleplay by Gene Roddenberry. It is a sequel to the original series Star Trek episode "The Naked Time" (1966), and that episode's writer John D. F. Black also received a writing credit on this episode for his role in devising the plot's origins.

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, the Enterprise crew becomes infected with an illness that causes them to lose their inhibitions and behave irresponsibly, the same affliction suffered by the crew of the previous USS Enterprise decades before in "The Naked Time". Fans initially criticized the origins of the episode, and later reviews were also largely negative.

Plot

The crew of the Enterprise responds to messages received from the SS Tsiolkovsky, a science vessel monitoring the collapse of a supergiant star. The messages suggest, amid their rounds of laughter, that the crew has been exposed to a sudden hull breach. After the Enterprise secures the Tsiolkovsky via tractor beam, an away team beams over and finds that the bridge's emergency hatch was indeed blown, ejecting the bridge crew into space, and the remaining crew frozen to death in various stages of undress, including one who was taking a shower fully clad. A woman's body, frozen, falls into Lt. La Forge's (LeVar Burton) hands.