10 Star Trek Cliffhangers That Were Never Resolved
2. Did The Aliens Stop Kidnapping People?
Schisms was and remains one of the most disturbing episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, or indeed Star Trek overall. The scene in the holodeck is a deeply uncomfortable watch, but when the clicks begin all around the characters, the hairs on the back of the audiences' necks simply refuse to lie flat.
There is a partial exploration as to what happened after this episode in the comic Gateway. Ensign Hegler was one of the unlucky few who actually died as a result of these aliens' experiments, with his sister captaining the USS Hornet years later, searching for revenge. However, on-screen, the episode closes on a fairly terrifying note.
While Riker is able to escape their realm with Ensign Rager, they manage to send something through with him before the rift can be closed. It appears as a bright burst of light, but there is little doubt that it is a way for the aliens to revisit the Milky Way galaxy again in the future. That's what makes a truly terrifying concept - they could return at any time, in any place, and there really is very little that Starfleet could do to stop them.
Creepy.