I vaguely recall reading years ago that they were intended to be the initial infiltrator wave of what eventually became the Borg forces. I could be mistaken, since it was around the pre-AOL days.

Yeah what a way to end a crazy "one off" episode.

I'm surprising never brought that back as a villain. It would have been perfect and they left the door open to that many years ago

Yes, the problem was solved.

listens to the last scene

Oh no.

This has to be among the best body horror scenes in the entire franchise, if not THE best.

This looks like how I cook a turkey

So fun fact for anyone that doesn't know, the original concept for the Borg was an insectoid race and this episode was supposed to be the initial lead in to a larger arc introducing them. Several factors, budget and the writers strike in 1988 chief among them, led to the original story being abandoned and eventually the Borg were reworked into what they are today.

I hate the "destroy the central entity and the others will be disabled" trope, so overused in sci-fi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation)