Star Trek: The Next Generation
Denise Crosby ’s Lt . Tasha Yar was a part of theStar Trek : The Next Generationcast from the get-go , but I detest the means the show handled her news report . Tasha Yar served as the Security Chief on the USS Enterprise - D under the command of Captain Jean - Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) , butshe does not get much to do during theTNG ’s first season . A few early episode make full in elements about Yar ’s backstory , but this never really goes anywhere . Not only is Yar ’s backstory improbably dismal and traumatic , but it ’s rendered even worse consider Tasha ’s ultimate fate .
Denise Crosby leftStar Trek : The Next Generationbecause she was mat she had too little to do as Lt . Tasha Yar . AfterTNG ’s first few episodes , Yar was largely regulate to the backgroundwhile graphic symbol like the android Lt . Commander Data ( Brent Spiner ) received more spotlight . Crosby left beforeTNGseason 1 ended and Tasha Yar was killed off inTNGseason 1 , episode 23 , " tegument of Evil . " While I will always loveTNG , the show often struggled to find swell stories for its distaff grapheme , and Yar fell victim to this more than anyone .
Star Trek: TNG Season 1 Didn’t Understand Tasha Yar Before Killing Her Off
Tasha Yar Had Potential That Was Never Fully Realized
As the Chief of Security of the USS Enterprise - D , Lt . Tasha Yar should have been at the nerve center of the action , but she rarely was . What I find even more thwarting is that one of the few episodes that did center Yar , TNGseason 1 , episode 4 , " Code of Honor " , is so notoriously bad that most of the doer have disowned it . Despite arguably being the main character of " Code of Honor,“Tasha has very minuscule agency . She ’s kidnapped by Lutan ( Jessie Lawrence Ferguson ) , the drawing card of Ligon II , because he becomes taken up with her knockout and fight skills . The whole story feel out of date even for 1987 .
Denise Crosby wo n’t even advert the name of this infamously high-risk sequence of Star Trek : The Next propagation .
I particularly dislike howmost of Tasha Yar ’s story have to do with her beauty or sex in some mode . As a shaver , Tasha lived on the outlaw planet of Turkana IV where she spend her days escape from violation gangs . This special component of Yar ’s backstory is mentioned multiple time in only a few episodes , as if it ’s the most interesting matter about her . One of Yar ’s most memorable here and now come inTNGseason 1 , instalment 3 , " The Naked Now " when she sleeps with Data . Assomeone who adore Data , I mean this scene could have been cherubic , but it just comes across as awkward and cringe - desirable .
The character of Tasha Yar was originally inspired by Jenette Goldstein ’s Vasquez fromAlien . Denise Crosby has stated that the character she try out for was not fully represent on screen .
Perhaps Denise Crosby could have givenStar Trek : The Next Generationmore time to find its terms before she desert ship , but with the plot line she was getting ( or lack therefrom ) , I do n’t find her departure especially surprising . Even Yar ’s final sequence , " hide of Evil , " fails to center her , finally sharpen more on Captain Picard andCounselor Deanna Troi ( Marina Sirtis ) . Not only isYar murdered by a strange black muck monster named Armus , but her death is ultimately meaningless . Yar ’s decease in the blood line of tariff may be naturalistic , but it feels like a tasteless way for a mainStar Trekcast phallus to go out .
TNG’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise” Is A Bright Spot For Tasha Yar (But Still Killed Her Off)
“Yesterday’s Enterprise” Almost Redeemed Yar’s Season 1 Death
Denise Crosby returned as Tasha YarinStar Trek : The Next Generationseason 3 , episode 15 , " Yesterday ’s Enterprise . " Like manyStar Trekfans , I bonk this episode for many cause , but Yar ’s news report is not of necessity one of them . When the USS Enterprise - C emerge from a rupture in spacetime , the endeavor - D of a sudden becomes a combat ship with Lt . Yar at the tactical post . In this new altered timeline , the Federation is losing an ongoing war with the Klingons and the endeavor - D is at the front lines as the first Galaxy - class war vessel .
Star Trek : TNG ’s " Yesterday ’s initiative " is an all - time classic enhance by the gripping decisions made to bring in the time travel floor to life .
Tasha Yar get a whole write up spark in " Yesterday ’s endeavor , " ultimately decide to return to the past with the USS Enterprise - C after memorise of her fate in the Prime Universe . Yar ’s news report still involve a romance — with Enterprise - century crewmember Lt . Richard Castillo ( Christopher McDonald ) — but it ’s a romance that mostly works , build on a true connectedness between two people . Still , Yar ’s death has all the elements of a clichéd TV deathandI detest thatCaptain Rachel Garrett(Tricia O’Neil ) had to pall to give Yar her large moment .
Custom image by Yailin Chacon
TNG’s Sela Story Didn’t Work & Made Tasha’s Ending Even Worse
Tasha Yar May Have Suffered Even More Than Chief O’Brien
As it turns out , Tasha Yar did n’t die when the USS Enterprise - C travel back to the yesteryear but was actually captured by Romulans . A Romulan General then became obsessed with her(like Lutan back in " Code of Honor " ) , and agreed to dispense with the balance of the crew if Yar became his choir . Tasha agreed and later gave nascence to ahalf - Romulan girl named Sela(also portray by Denise Crosby ) . When Sela was four , Tasha tried to take flight but was caught and do . This entire storyline is bring out in dialogue inStar Trek : The Next Generationand it stay one of my least favoriteStar Trekstories for a number of rationality .
Not only does this entire plot line all undermine Tasha ’s boastful self - sacrifice moment in " Yesterday ’s enterprisingness , " butit ’s also a dreadful ending for the character . TashaYar is seize by Romulans , held captive for years , presumably assaulted and impregnated against her will , likely mistreated in other ways , and then unceremoniously executed while trying to escape . I can not recall of a bad destiny for a part who grew up being traumatise by rape gang and place a gamey economic value on her own independence . And all of this is made even worse by the fact that Sela just does n’t work as a character .
I think there were much more interesting room to bring Denise Crosby back toStar Trek : The Next Generationwithout heaping more hurt on Tasha Yar .
For one thing , Sela seems too new ( peculiarly for a Romulan ) to have risen through the military ranks that cursorily , and her architectural plan seem badly thought out . She plotted to disrupt the alliance between the Federation and the Klingonsand by and by attempted to invade Vulcan , but Starfleet foiled both plans fair well . And then Sela is never heard from again afterTNG’s"Unification " two - parter . Ultimately , I think there were much more interesting ways to bring Denise Crosby back toStar Trek : The Next Generationwithout heaping more agony on Tasha Yar , a character who never reached her full potential in the first place .
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