Star Trek The Next Generation
S3E15
· Yesterday's Enterprise

Last Kiss on the Pad

Tasha and Lieutenant Castillo share a brief, tender farewell in the transporter room before he beams back to the crippled Enterprise‑C. Their stolen, wordless kiss compresses a budding intimacy and the life that might have been into a single, unbearable instant. Castillo's quiet acceptance and sudden dematerialization leave Tasha with a raw, unresolved loss that crystallizes the moral weight of the mission. This moment functions as an emotional turning point: it personalizes the abstract duty of restoring the timeline and propels Tasha toward a deliberate, sacrificial choice.

Plot Beats

The narrative micro-steps within this event

4

Castillo requests transport to the Enterprise-C, initiating the departure sequence.

anticipation to resignation ['Transporter Room']

Castillo and Tasha share a bittersweet exchange about their repeated farewells and lack of time.

regret to acceptance ['Transporter Room']

Tasha and Castillo share a tender kiss, defying the engineer's presence.

restraint to passion ['Transporter Room']

Castillo dematerializes on the transporter, leaving Tasha to contemplate their fleeting connection.

connection to loss ['Transporter Room']

Who Was There

Characters present in this moment

2
Tasha Yar
Lieutenant (Chief of Security)
 primary

Wistful and grief-tinged — outwardly composed but internally racing with loss and the moral weight of the mission.

Tasha enters the transporter room, exchanges quiet lines with Castillo, initiates/receives a tender kiss, watches him step onto the pad, and experiences a rapid internal shift as he dematerializes.

Goals in this moment
  • • To offer emotional support and a private farewell to Castillo.
  • • To reconcile personal attachment with professional duty and the larger mission imperative.
Active beliefs
  • • That emotional connection matters even when duty requires sacrifice.
  • • That she cannot stop the operational choice before her, even if it costs someone she cares about.
Character traits
tender protective emotionally vulnerable duty-aware
Follow Tasha Yar's journey
Castillo
Ensign
 primary

Calm, quietly accepting — tender toward Tasha but resolved to fulfill what he sees as his duty despite personal cost.

Castillo confirms the transport order, shares a resigned, tender exchange and kiss with Tasha, steps onto the pad and gives the transport command, then dematerializes with quiet acceptance.

Goals in this moment
  • • To say a real, human goodbye to Tasha before leaving.
  • • To carry out the transport/order and return to the Enterprise‑C despite the danger.
Active beliefs
  • • That some duties outweigh personal survival or future possibilities.
  • • That a brief human connection (the kiss) is worth giving before undertaking sacrifice.
Character traits
resigned steady affectionate courageous
Follow Castillo's journey

Objects Involved

Significant items in this scene

1
Transporter Pad — Transporter Room Two (USS Enterprise‑C)

The Enterprise‑C transporter pad is the literal means by which Castillo departs — it becomes the sacrificial threshold. It is the device that translates a private farewell into irreversible loss and dramatizes the moment of choice.

Before: Primed and ready in Transporter Room Three; unoccupied …
After: Empty and recently used — the pad has …
Before: Primed and ready in Transporter Room Three; unoccupied but prepared to receive a passenger for beaming.
After: Empty and recently used — the pad has just dematerialized Castillo, leaving a brief residue of absence and the echo of what was lost.

Location Details

Places and their significance in this event

1
Transporter Room Three

Transporter Room Three functions as a compact crucible for this farewell — an intimate, clinical space where emergency procedure and private grief collide. Its smallness concentrates emotion and forces an abrupt transition from intimacy to absence.

Atmosphere Hushed, electrically humming, intimate and tension-filled; the mood mixes tenderness with looming dread.
Function Stage for private farewell and the practical site of departure; it is where intimate human …
Symbolism Represents the threshold between possible futures — the literal conduit that converts personal connection into …
Access Operationally restricted to crew and authorized personnel; in this moment it holds only Tasha, Castillo, …
Humming transporter coils and low ozone tang. A small circular dematerialization pad with a faint corona of light. A nearby operator console manned by an engineer.

Narrative Connections

How this event relates to others in the story

What led here 3
Character Continuity medium

"Castillo and Tasha's early connection on the Enterprise-C bridge develops into their romantic moment in the transporter room."

Triage on a Dying Bridge
S3E15 · Yesterday's Enterprise
Character Continuity medium

"Castillo and Tasha's early connection on the Enterprise-C bridge develops into their romantic moment in the transporter room."

Grief and Duty on the Enterprise‑C Bridge
S3E15 · Yesterday's Enterprise
Emotional Echo medium

"Castillo and Tasha's silent acknowledgment of their sacrifice echoes their earlier kiss in the transporter room."

Shields Up, Silent Farewell
S3E15 · Yesterday's Enterprise

Part of Larger Arcs

Richard Castillo's forced passage from bewildered survivor to accepting commander who must lead his crew into a near‑certain sacrificial mission—internal hardening of character combined with the interpersonal burden of leading men to death. Transient human intimacy vs. larger moral duty: the brief, tender bond between Tasha Yar and Richard Castillo (a personal, human connection) that is interrupted and ultimately subsumed by the sacrificial mission.

Key Dialogue

"CASTILLO: "One to beam to the Enterprise-C.""
"CASTILLO: "We keep saying good-bye... don't we?""
"TASHA: "I wish there was more time.""