This isn't the main Star Trek thread.
Star Trek: The Original Series and The Next Generation
- Thread starter ooo-baby
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yeah this is an ooo-baby thread, and as far as I know, even in the Kelvin timeline Kirk never kissed his sister
Pay no attention to that Spammer. Banned in under 8 minutes!
I'm already up to the Lore episode of Next Gen and I can't process how I've actually seen six of the first episodes! Like, I must have tried watching the series when it first came out then stopped.
Anyhow, saw this before and re sharing
Anyhow, saw this before and re sharing
Genius!
The Lore episode is pretty good. Suffice to say, you haven't seen the last of him.
This is ooo-baby's Star Trek fetish thread. Here's the Star Trek thread.
Oh. This thread says Next Generation so I was going to post my watching it here.
Works for me!
Rewatching TOS myself now. Just got through with Mud's Women. I really liked this episode, but there are some things in it that don't make sense. Like the woman trigging the biobed scanner by just walking past it. How does the drug do that and what was the point of it being in the episode? How can the Enterprise detect a stove turning on from orbit during a sand storm but not find the crystals?
Watched the Corbomite Maneuver tonight, such a great episode. Loved the argument about Lt Baily with Bones and Kirk. Spock being witty in this episode was great too.
Ok, I finished season 1 of Next Generation. So I'll get my questions and points of befuddlement out of the way before going to season 2.
I'm still flabbergasted to realize that I know most of the first ten episodes. I remember scenes and parts but not the whole story. So weird! I must have lost interest or something changed in my schedule to stop me from seeing it to the end.
1 - Encounter at Farpoint - I definitely remember seeing the Enterprise splitting into two parts. Didn't realize it was in the very first ep. Am weirded out that a scifi show started with a mystical entity when it should be all science-y. Q was actually in the first ep! So weird!
Michael Bell is a name I know from GI Joe and when he was screaming, I was thinking he sounded like Tomax and Xamot, haha.
I really hate Data saying that he wanted to be human. Ugh. It's cliche now but maybe it wasn't during that time?
From their first meeting, I was thinking that Wesley Crusher was secretly Picard's son, haha.
That caged glowing city alien is... probably a reference to the glowing alien that infested a ship in Lower Decks? Same type?
Also, that was Chief Miles O'Brien on deck at the start! Wow!
2 - Naked Now - I definitely remember Beverly Crushing hitting on Picard. Hahaha
3 - Code of Honor - I remember rolling my eyes at the whole episode, with the ladies fighting and the native looking decor for futuristic aliens, haha.
4 - The Last Outpost - I have a vague memory of some aliens with whips. Didn't realize they were Ferengi!!!! These Ferengi are weird! Hunched over, violent... So different from DS9!!! But they mentioned their women being unclothed! Holy cow, that is so weird! DS9 must have built up on that cultural thing from a possibly throw away line!
Haha
5 - Where No One Has Gone Before - I remember the illusions being created, like the guy on fire and the endless drop door. And I remember Worf having a pet! Which was brought up in DS9, though it was the other guy's pet, haha
6 - Lonely Among Us - I don't remember this at all. BUT that was Chief Miles O'Brien stopping the two aliens from killing each other in the corridor! That's amazing!
7 - Justice - definitely remember watching this one, with the paradise of toga people running around. I remember not being satisfied with the ending before. Still wasn't satisfied with the ending when I saw it again.
At this point, I don't remember the other eps anymore. Must have stopped watching then.
Random thoughts would be :
10 Haven - where Troi's mother appears. She's such a character, haha! Same as in DS9. Neat.
12 Datalore - Data was built by offworlders and is almost unique? Why aren't earth scientists keeping him around and trying to duplicate him? Weird that there are no other androids around. Also, Lore was teleported to deep space? Oh, also I didn't know the Shut Up, Wesley lines were actually real. I thought it was made up by fans to mock Wesley but it's real?! Haha
14 11001001 - oh wait, I watched this one too. I liked it a lot. Alien race of twins with computer brains who only thought in 1 or 0, yes or no. Love the scifi. Love that Riker can't get that holo lady back haha
16 When the Bought Breaks - I hope we get a follow up and see that the childless planet gets kids again.
17 Home Soil - great alien ep. Started with a murder mystery and Data dodging lasers. Good thinking all around for the crew. Glad the aliens were safe too.
18 Coming of Age - is the death of Wesley's dad a mystery or something? What's the big deal? I'm still assuming there's a revelation that Picard is the dad.
19 Heart of Glory - I kiiinda get that Klingons are popular cuz of their fierceness and whatever and I'm assuming THIS is the episode that sparked all the interest in their race. Am I right?
20 Arsenal of Freedom - weird. An action ep.
22 Skin of Evil - I saw the ending of this! I knew Yar would die but I thought she got swallowed up by the blob. She was just shot by a blast? So the blob attack I saw before must have been Riker.
23 We'll Always Have Paris - the time loops were scary. How in the world did the middle Data know that he's the right Data? Were there any answers given anywhere?
24 Conspiracy - holy cow, the way they exploded that guy's head! Then his chest opening up! That was gory! It was action but, wow, that felt like an action movie thing. Weird! Also, I feel sorry for that guy. He was the one who was interrogating the crew in the Coming of Age ep (I'm sure) and he ended his investigation by saying he'd love to be transferred to the Enterprise cuz the crew was great. But now, he got infected by the main parasite and died in a horrifying way. Poor guy.
25 - The Neutral Zone - I didn't know the Neutral Zone was set just cuz of Romulans. This is a weird ep cuz of the three cryogenically revived people coming back. That plotline had barely any relevance to the Romulan threat, except for that rich guy bursting in on the bridge. Wasted season finale.
Well, got that off my chest. I'll plod along with rest of the season and just comment when some things catch my eye or I need clarification on some lore stuff.
I'm still flabbergasted to realize that I know most of the first ten episodes. I remember scenes and parts but not the whole story. So weird! I must have lost interest or something changed in my schedule to stop me from seeing it to the end.
1 - Encounter at Farpoint - I definitely remember seeing the Enterprise splitting into two parts. Didn't realize it was in the very first ep. Am weirded out that a scifi show started with a mystical entity when it should be all science-y. Q was actually in the first ep! So weird!
Michael Bell is a name I know from GI Joe and when he was screaming, I was thinking he sounded like Tomax and Xamot, haha.
I really hate Data saying that he wanted to be human. Ugh. It's cliche now but maybe it wasn't during that time?
From their first meeting, I was thinking that Wesley Crusher was secretly Picard's son, haha.
That caged glowing city alien is... probably a reference to the glowing alien that infested a ship in Lower Decks? Same type?
Also, that was Chief Miles O'Brien on deck at the start! Wow!
2 - Naked Now - I definitely remember Beverly Crushing hitting on Picard. Hahaha
3 - Code of Honor - I remember rolling my eyes at the whole episode, with the ladies fighting and the native looking decor for futuristic aliens, haha.
4 - The Last Outpost - I have a vague memory of some aliens with whips. Didn't realize they were Ferengi!!!! These Ferengi are weird! Hunched over, violent... So different from DS9!!! But they mentioned their women being unclothed! Holy cow, that is so weird! DS9 must have built up on that cultural thing from a possibly throw away line!
Haha
5 - Where No One Has Gone Before - I remember the illusions being created, like the guy on fire and the endless drop door. And I remember Worf having a pet! Which was brought up in DS9, though it was the other guy's pet, haha
6 - Lonely Among Us - I don't remember this at all. BUT that was Chief Miles O'Brien stopping the two aliens from killing each other in the corridor! That's amazing!
7 - Justice - definitely remember watching this one, with the paradise of toga people running around. I remember not being satisfied with the ending before. Still wasn't satisfied with the ending when I saw it again.
At this point, I don't remember the other eps anymore. Must have stopped watching then.
Random thoughts would be :
10 Haven - where Troi's mother appears. She's such a character, haha! Same as in DS9. Neat.
12 Datalore - Data was built by offworlders and is almost unique? Why aren't earth scientists keeping him around and trying to duplicate him? Weird that there are no other androids around. Also, Lore was teleported to deep space? Oh, also I didn't know the Shut Up, Wesley lines were actually real. I thought it was made up by fans to mock Wesley but it's real?! Haha
14 11001001 - oh wait, I watched this one too. I liked it a lot. Alien race of twins with computer brains who only thought in 1 or 0, yes or no. Love the scifi. Love that Riker can't get that holo lady back haha
16 When the Bought Breaks - I hope we get a follow up and see that the childless planet gets kids again.
17 Home Soil - great alien ep. Started with a murder mystery and Data dodging lasers. Good thinking all around for the crew. Glad the aliens were safe too.
18 Coming of Age - is the death of Wesley's dad a mystery or something? What's the big deal? I'm still assuming there's a revelation that Picard is the dad.
19 Heart of Glory - I kiiinda get that Klingons are popular cuz of their fierceness and whatever and I'm assuming THIS is the episode that sparked all the interest in their race. Am I right?
20 Arsenal of Freedom - weird. An action ep.
22 Skin of Evil - I saw the ending of this! I knew Yar would die but I thought she got swallowed up by the blob. She was just shot by a blast? So the blob attack I saw before must have been Riker.
23 We'll Always Have Paris - the time loops were scary. How in the world did the middle Data know that he's the right Data? Were there any answers given anywhere?
24 Conspiracy - holy cow, the way they exploded that guy's head! Then his chest opening up! That was gory! It was action but, wow, that felt like an action movie thing. Weird! Also, I feel sorry for that guy. He was the one who was interrogating the crew in the Coming of Age ep (I'm sure) and he ended his investigation by saying he'd love to be transferred to the Enterprise cuz the crew was great. But now, he got infected by the main parasite and died in a horrifying way. Poor guy.
25 - The Neutral Zone - I didn't know the Neutral Zone was set just cuz of Romulans. This is a weird ep cuz of the three cryogenically revived people coming back. That plotline had barely any relevance to the Romulan threat, except for that rich guy bursting in on the bridge. Wasted season finale.
Well, got that off my chest. I'll plod along with rest of the season and just comment when some things catch my eye or I need clarification on some lore stuff.
The first episode was originally supposed to be a 1 episode story, but the studios wanted to make it into a big TV movie event. So Roddenberry took the script and added all the Q bits to it. Frankly, I think it really works as a first episode, with Q re-enforcing the SCI-FI parts of the story.
Data's eternal quest is to become more human like. To experience life as they do. It probably wasn't cliche back in the early 1980s.
It would have been an interesting twist, but Picard is more like his god father. He was best friends with Wesley's dad, and that along with the feeling responsible for Jack's death, Picard is a bit awkward around Wesley at first.
I don't think that is the same entity, but you do see this type of space creature again in Season 3 of Picard.
O'brien is here at the start, but he kind of fluctuates around the ship, and his rank is very inconsistent. It won't be until later on that they lock him down as an enlisted man and a Transporter Chief. You also get to meet his wife in TNG as well.
Yeah, Quark is even playing one of them here too. Once again, this is their first appearance and weren't locked down. They had the elements of Greed and Misogyny there. The main difference for them in TNG and DS9 is that the ones we see in TNG are more or less in their for-profit military service. DS9 is just their business men running around for the most part.
Data and Lore were experimental developments by a master in the field and his wife. Even with them working on it, it took them a lifetime to get Data and Lore, and one could argue that Lore wasn't right as he was evil, and Dr Soong intended on fixing him before he had to evacuate from the Evil Crystalline Entity. There are other Andriods around, but they aren't on the same level as Data and Lore, and we don't see those in TNG. There is an episode later on about them wanting to rip Data open to try to replicate Soong's work.
Lore was basically launched into space, left to float among the stars. I wonder if we will ever see him again?
Sadly, we don't ever follow up on that. It would make for a great story for Star Trek Legacy if we ever get that show.
Nope, Picard was leading the away mission that Jack died on. That is pretty much all the information that we have on it though. However, As stated, Wesley is Jack's son.
The bigger thing in this episode though was the Admiral and Lt Commander's appearance.
Its a good Klingon episode. However, I think that most of the love for the Klingons comes from TOS and Star Trek 3. However, the Klingons have a lot more great episodes coming up in TNG. Including one where Picard has the line, "You may test your theory at your convenience." which is how to say "F around and find out" with some class.
This whole episode was intense. I hate that Yar got killed off, but there was some behind the scenes drama that led to this, and eventually she comes back better than ever though.
24. That was the most gory death we had on Star Trek until Odo's Mirrorverse death. As for the conspiracy, I am pretty sure that the LT was already infected by the main hive creature, and that the Admiral was either unaware that the source of his investigation was right there or that the admiral was already infected. The LT wanting to transfer to the Flagship would have got him the ability to control more people and power. After all, they had bee transferring infected people around to get folks into positions of power.
25. Yeah, there are two neutral Zones set up in Star Trek. One on the Federation Romulan Border, and the other on the Federation Klingon border. I should note that the Signing of Khitomer Accords kind of abolishes the Neutral zone for the Klingons and the Federation and Klingons sort of come and goes as they wish in each other space by the time TNG arrives. The Romulan Neutral zone stays in effect for the entire series until the Romulan empire collapses in between the films and Picard S1. The Romulan Neutral Zone was established after the end of the first Human Romulan war back in the Archer enterprise era and was a big plot point in a few TOS episodes.
As for the wasted finale, its not really wasted. It was kept vague on purpose, due to the writers strike at the time, though the plans changed, but it was intended for the creatures that we saw in the last episode to be responsible for the missing human and Romulan colonies. However, we find out later that the missing colonies were assimilated by the Borg.
The Q and the alien city thing really did feel like two different episodes, yeah.
I guess it's cliche now but I hate the 'robots wanting to have human feelings' trope. I guess I'll experience all of that throughout Next Gen.
Btw, I've seen a short comic floating around where Data has a cat and the cat figures out that Lore is impersonating Data so I know Lore really does come back, haha.
Also, I forgot to mention that, yow, Data has sex with Yar in the second ep. What in heavens?!? The sex reference I know that's coming up is Beverly Crusher ... having sex with a ghost? And I thiiiiink Data has sex with the Borg Queen?
Soooo nothing on Wesley being Picard's son, ok.
Oh, there's two Neutral Zones. I thought it was just one big Zone. They could have named it Neutral Zone A and B, haha.
Haven't seen Trek movie 3 yet so don't know how Klingons got popular there. But from DS9's flashback tribbles ep, Klingons were shown to look human there when they got TOS footage.
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Going to a few s2 eps :
Beverly Crusher is gone? Never heard of Dr. Pulaski before. I'm assuming Beverly will be back. Riker has a beard too, haha.
1 - Why did they get Troi pregnant like that? It didn't last long like how DS9 Kira carried O'Brien's child cuz actress was pregnant.
2 - that weird entity could have been Q, c'moooon.
3 - I'm disappointed that it was Picard to had the final say versus Moliarty. Would have been better if it was just Data vs Moliarty. Anyhow, I'm assuming and hoping Moliarty comes back?
4 - Okona is the Rocketeer actor! He had waaaay more personality here than in the Rocketeer movie! I had to look him up after and he was in Lower Decks and in Prodigy! I vaguely remember him in Lower Decks but I'll definitely watch Prodigy after Next Gen to find him. He's an interesting character, haha
5 - the deaf negotiator's three interpreters died in a gruesome looking way, with meaty skeletons being seen before disintegrating, ew. It's kinda jarring to see here in Next Gen but I guess it'll be the last few times to see this gory stuff?
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I've seen Miles O'Brien around in background now and I saw his name Colm Meany in the credits of ep7 so I guess he'll be named and recognized soon. Fun to see him as a reverse DS9 Easter egg, hehe
Honestly, all my Borg exposure is through second hand or parody homage stuff. Even Lower Decks only had a fake Holo deck test exercise against them (when Boimler wanted to 100% a training exercise fighting them. Magnificent of him, btw). I guess I'll see why they're popular soon enough.
Btw, I know of Seven of Nine but I'm not sure what she is. She's... Borg? I won't get into Voyager for a long while, haha
Edit - oh, I forgot to mention Whoopie Goldberg as a bartender type! Whoa!
I guess it's cliche now but I hate the 'robots wanting to have human feelings' trope. I guess I'll experience all of that throughout Next Gen.
Btw, I've seen a short comic floating around where Data has a cat and the cat figures out that Lore is impersonating Data so I know Lore really does come back, haha.
Also, I forgot to mention that, yow, Data has sex with Yar in the second ep. What in heavens?!? The sex reference I know that's coming up is Beverly Crusher ... having sex with a ghost? And I thiiiiink Data has sex with the Borg Queen?
Soooo nothing on Wesley being Picard's son, ok.
Oh, there's two Neutral Zones. I thought it was just one big Zone. They could have named it Neutral Zone A and B, haha.
Haven't seen Trek movie 3 yet so don't know how Klingons got popular there. But from DS9's flashback tribbles ep, Klingons were shown to look human there when they got TOS footage.
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Going to a few s2 eps :
Beverly Crusher is gone? Never heard of Dr. Pulaski before. I'm assuming Beverly will be back. Riker has a beard too, haha.
1 - Why did they get Troi pregnant like that? It didn't last long like how DS9 Kira carried O'Brien's child cuz actress was pregnant.
2 - that weird entity could have been Q, c'moooon.
3 - I'm disappointed that it was Picard to had the final say versus Moliarty. Would have been better if it was just Data vs Moliarty. Anyhow, I'm assuming and hoping Moliarty comes back?
4 - Okona is the Rocketeer actor! He had waaaay more personality here than in the Rocketeer movie! I had to look him up after and he was in Lower Decks and in Prodigy! I vaguely remember him in Lower Decks but I'll definitely watch Prodigy after Next Gen to find him. He's an interesting character, haha
5 - the deaf negotiator's three interpreters died in a gruesome looking way, with meaty skeletons being seen before disintegrating, ew. It's kinda jarring to see here in Next Gen but I guess it'll be the last few times to see this gory stuff?
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I've seen Miles O'Brien around in background now and I saw his name Colm Meany in the credits of ep7 so I guess he'll be named and recognized soon. Fun to see him as a reverse DS9 Easter egg, hehe
Honestly, all my Borg exposure is through second hand or parody homage stuff. Even Lower Decks only had a fake Holo deck test exercise against them (when Boimler wanted to 100% a training exercise fighting them. Magnificent of him, btw). I guess I'll see why they're popular soon enough.
Btw, I know of Seven of Nine but I'm not sure what she is. She's... Borg? I won't get into Voyager for a long while, haha
Edit - oh, I forgot to mention Whoopie Goldberg as a bartender type! Whoa!
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Riker will hit on a lot of the ladies, and will have lots of romantic adventures, as will Picard a few times, and aside from Worf and O'Brien having kids, I think that is about it.
Yeah, they didn't have the Klingons looking that different. They kind of made them just look human with dark beards. In that flashback episode they actually ask Worf about it, and Worf says that they don't talk to outsiders about it. There is an Star Trek Enterprise episode a few years later that actually addresses this topic. The real world issue was that they didn't get their Iconic look until the very first film. That is when they got their looks and the start of their language. Klingons looked like that until the Star Trek Into Darkness film. Then Discovery made them look a little different and eventually they shifted them back to their iconic look which would make sense based on the in universe timeline.
Yup. A lot of rumors about that. Basically she got the ax, and instead of killing her off, they just wrote her off the show for the second season. Pulaski is a TOS actor but the character is new. She stays on for the second season but then leaves the show after the end due to her not enjoying it as much as she did TOS. So in Season three, expect a home coming episode with Crusher, because they are forced to bring her back.
And yeah, Jonathan Frakes was worried, as he was getting older and over the summer break he put on a few pounds. Hew was worried about that so he grew the beard. Gene saw it, and instantly loved it! He called it a salior's beard, and it became part of Riker going forward. It gets mentioned a few times int he show as well as becoming a meme for not only this show, but other shows. It is the opposite of Jumping the shark, which is when a show has run out of ideas and goes down the tube, and growing a beard is when the show gets better.
He does, and it is a great episode! He even comes back in Picard Season 3.
Yeah, they don't give him a name for a long while. Eventually he gets a name and then a wife in the same episode!
You will come to know the Borg soon enough. TNG is where they originated from, and they have a tremendous effect on the entire galaxy.
Yeah, she got in after her friend, Lavar Burton, got cast as LaForge. It was a big deal, and she does awesome in the role!
Ah, I guess I should watch the third Star Trek film (Search for Spock?) to see Klingons in their first appearance iconic (?) look.
I actually thought Dr Pulaski was going to be killed of in the 7 Unnatural Selection ep, cuz she was aging rapidly. I didn't know if she had plot armor or not, haha
Hmm, I know Jump the Shark but have never heard of Grow a Beard, haha. Sisko did that in DS9 but lost his hair, hehe.
I'll wait for Moliarty's return. I have questions about it but it's related to Dracula from the Lower Decks three issue comic. I'll bring it up in the Lower Decks thread.
Miles O'Brien got named already but haven't seen Keiko or her name yet. I was surprised when he was allowed to join in on Worf's Ritual of electrocution thingy! O'Brien really must be part of the family by now, hehe.
Ok, I'm commenting again cuz I just saw the 2x16 Q Who introduction of the Borg ep. But before that, random thoughts:
Loved the dire threats on 7 Unnatural Selection and 11 Contagion. There's a term for these type of eps, right? When some sort of alien thing buts the ship in peril. I thought the virus thing in Contagion was actually the Borg. Loved the Romulons in the same trouble spot there.
8 Matter of Honor, recognized Brian Thompson, that thug who was everywhere before. Great ep for Riker. I think they mispronounced Gagh. And isn't the term Pagh the soul for Bajorans? It was the Klingon ship name, I think.
9 Measure of a Man is logical trial. Great, of course, but, man, I'm sort of on the side of the scientist. He wanted Data to study his positronic brain so Data can be mass produced. Scans should have been enough, c'mon. Data is amazing and the universe would benefit from more of him. This should have been a thing.
10 Dauphin I nearly stopped my binge when I saw the horrible shapeshifted monster nanny. Bleah! Also Wesley in love. Bleeeah. The cute thing was Riker giving romantic drivel advice and Whoopie Goldberg wanting to hear more of it directed at her, hahaha
14 Icarus Factor, yes, Miles O'Brien is crew family. He was at Worf's pain ritual and also mock ambushed him during his wedding with Jadzia, hahaha
16 Q Who - so THIS is the Sonya Perez (?) lady who spilled hot chocolate on Picard! From Lower Decks! Dang it, after all of this Trek catch up, I'll have to rewatch Lower Decks, haha. Nothing happened to her for the rest of the ep but I assume she'll be back?
The practical effects of the Borg Cube floating like that reminds me of... Hellraiser? Something about a geometric shape floating menacingly like that. Creepy as hex.
I'm surprised that the Borg was introduced to the show by Q. And Whoopie Goldberg is a long lived alien? With Q 'i sense trouble in the Force' sensitivity? Q called her an Imp. What the hex is Whoopie?!?!
This Borg intro ep feels incomplete, honestly. Usually, Next Gen eps has a satisfactory feeling of completeness. This ep needed a good arc or whatever.
Anyhow, am glad to finally get a proper introduction to the Borg.
I actually thought Dr Pulaski was going to be killed of in the 7 Unnatural Selection ep, cuz she was aging rapidly. I didn't know if she had plot armor or not, haha
Hmm, I know Jump the Shark but have never heard of Grow a Beard, haha. Sisko did that in DS9 but lost his hair, hehe.
I'll wait for Moliarty's return. I have questions about it but it's related to Dracula from the Lower Decks three issue comic. I'll bring it up in the Lower Decks thread.
Miles O'Brien got named already but haven't seen Keiko or her name yet. I was surprised when he was allowed to join in on Worf's Ritual of electrocution thingy! O'Brien really must be part of the family by now, hehe.
Ok, I'm commenting again cuz I just saw the 2x16 Q Who introduction of the Borg ep. But before that, random thoughts:
Loved the dire threats on 7 Unnatural Selection and 11 Contagion. There's a term for these type of eps, right? When some sort of alien thing buts the ship in peril. I thought the virus thing in Contagion was actually the Borg. Loved the Romulons in the same trouble spot there.
8 Matter of Honor, recognized Brian Thompson, that thug who was everywhere before. Great ep for Riker. I think they mispronounced Gagh. And isn't the term Pagh the soul for Bajorans? It was the Klingon ship name, I think.
9 Measure of a Man is logical trial. Great, of course, but, man, I'm sort of on the side of the scientist. He wanted Data to study his positronic brain so Data can be mass produced. Scans should have been enough, c'mon. Data is amazing and the universe would benefit from more of him. This should have been a thing.
10 Dauphin I nearly stopped my binge when I saw the horrible shapeshifted monster nanny. Bleah! Also Wesley in love. Bleeeah. The cute thing was Riker giving romantic drivel advice and Whoopie Goldberg wanting to hear more of it directed at her, hahaha
14 Icarus Factor, yes, Miles O'Brien is crew family. He was at Worf's pain ritual and also mock ambushed him during his wedding with Jadzia, hahaha
16 Q Who - so THIS is the Sonya Perez (?) lady who spilled hot chocolate on Picard! From Lower Decks! Dang it, after all of this Trek catch up, I'll have to rewatch Lower Decks, haha. Nothing happened to her for the rest of the ep but I assume she'll be back?
The practical effects of the Borg Cube floating like that reminds me of... Hellraiser? Something about a geometric shape floating menacingly like that. Creepy as hex.
I'm surprised that the Borg was introduced to the show by Q. And Whoopie Goldberg is a long lived alien? With Q 'i sense trouble in the Force' sensitivity? Q called her an Imp. What the hex is Whoopie?!?!
This Borg intro ep feels incomplete, honestly. Usually, Next Gen eps has a satisfactory feeling of completeness. This ep needed a good arc or whatever.
Anyhow, am glad to finally get a proper introduction to the Borg.
You can see them in the first film too briefly, but the third film is where they start to shine. However, IF you want to watch the original cast films, you need to start with 2,3, and 4. The first one is okay, but not connected to the other films like the rest are. 2-4 is one long continuous story that even trails over into 5 a little bit, which has more Klingons in it. However, if you keep watching TNG, you will get a lot of good Klingon episodes in it.
Well, Sisko has hair and a beard for an episode and then he starts shaving his head. However, the point I was going to say here, is that he did that right when the show picks up with the dominion, the founders, the Defiant, and Worf.
The point of this episode was that Data didn't believe that he could do it safely, and chose not to do it. The episode just made sure that Data had a right to choose and wasn't just another appliance or tool. If it were just a scan, or something else that presented no risk to Data's life, then he would have done it. At the end of the episode he tells the scientist to continue his work and that if he can safely inspect Data's brain one day, he would be happy to help. Data even remains in contact with him and writes him a letter later.
That was epic, and I can still quote their conversation to this day not having seen this episode in years.
First of all, Sonya Perez is in this episode and one more later on, as she was supposed to be a romantic interest for LaForge, but that got dropped due to backstage issues with the producers. I think Lower Decks brings her back as sort of a redemption.
So there is a lot of debate about Q and the Borg, as well as Q and Humanity itself. Q doesn't seem to like the Borg at all. In fact he seems to want to prepare humanity for them. Here is what you know so far. Human and Romulan Colonies were completely destroyed along the neutral zone by the Borg. So the Borg are right on the Federation's doorstep, yet haven't pushed through. Here are some minor spoilers for the Borg.
The Borg were already coming for Earth and the Federation. In the film First Contact several borg were blown up in Earth Orbit in the aftermath of WW3 after they time traveled there, and they crashed into the artic. In the Enterprise time about a century later, an expedition dug them up and got assimilated. They were eventually destroyed but they sent a long range transmission first that took centuries to get back to their collective. So the collective were aware of Earth and the Federation before Q introduced the Federation to them. This gives the Federation more time to prepare for the Borg. Also, prior to the Q Who episode, there was a family of scientists that were following this mysterious race of aliens that was rumored to be called the Borg, but that was small doomed adventure that never got to report on their findings. You will find out about this more in Voyager, which has a lot of Borg episodes due to them having to cross through the Borg's territory.
Quinan is a member of a race of Listeners called the El-Aurians. They were in DS9 a few times and they were featured in the first TNG film, Generations. We don't find out much about her race and the Q until Picard Season 2. They had a cold war with the Q continuum and don't really get along that well now that they have a peace treaty. You see Q actually considers her a threat and both have tehir hands in weird defensive piostions. Q even seems to want/need Picard's permission to get rid of her. Gunian's homeworld and entire area of space was assimilated by the Borg around the TOS/TOS films era. Whether that was due to the Q or not, is unknown. Simply put, she is very much alien, but has a lot of similarities with humans. Guinan is hundreds of years old at this point. You will see more of her abilities later on in the series.
This episode of the Borg being introduced will be picked up on again, but the point of it was that Q wanted Picard to see that they weren't ready for what was even barking at their door and they could use his help. Picard's speech at the end not only showed that Humanity knew when to ask for help but was humble enough to do it. Expect to see more Q in the future and more Borg, but he won't interfere with the Borg directly again until the Video Game or Voyager.
I would like to know what the heck the borg think happened to the ship after Q just sent it away.
I've always loved Q's interactions with the Enterprise crew. Though he acts antagonistic much of the time, it becomes clear throughout the series that Q considers humanity his "pet" species, with Picard in particular being one of his favorites. Much of what he does that seems to be cruel (whether childishly or more seriously) is actually done to help teach/prepare/focus the crew.
Which oddly carries into Discord in MLP when he returns in S4 on, with the premiere testing Twilight etc.
Personal opinion, but my feeling is that the Borg are at their most interesting in their introduction, when we know the least about them. There's a conceptual horror to them that very quickly wears off with more information.
I have to assume the trope got old really fast and died in 1999 with Bicentennial Man, the movie where you watch someone age 200 years and feel like you did yourself at the end. (Shout out to Spielberg's AI in 2001 using a related idea but bringing a whole different substance to it.)
In First Contact, yeah, and he tells her how many years / days / minutes / seconds it's been since he had sex with Tasha Yar at the time.
She is, technically ex-Borg. Still has a few implants that can't be safely removed.
Personal opinion, but my feeling is that the Borg are at their most interesting in their introduction, when we know the least about them. There's a conceptual horror to them that very quickly wears off with more information.
And specifically, has figured out what it's trying to do and be and shaken off its early installment weirdnesses, so that when you watch an episode after that point, it's the show you remember it as. It's kinda funny, because in the grand scheme of Trek, it's really only TNG, DS9, and arguably Disco that do this, and two of them do it with literal beards. (People even joked about Disco growing its braids.) TOS and LD know what they're doing from the first episode, Voyager sadly does too, Picard and Enterprise only settle on a thing in the last season....
I just like that Fero made the connection before anyone else mentioned DS9
"Ship in a bottle" episode.
Like all the mysteries introduced here, the mystery is way more interesting than the answer. But no one is going to recommend you watch Picard S2, so maybe you'll just get to keep it. The scene you've already seen is maybe the biggest mystery TNG left hanging, decades of speculation came out of that. Would that we were still speculating.
Season 2 of Picard isn't that bad, at the concept level, and it has some very epic scenes and highlights in it.
S2 of Picard highlights:
I think it could have used a better show runner to go over it with a fine tooth comb and figure out what they needed to pull out of it, and what it was lacking.
It does answer some of the questions we had about the Q.
S2 of Picard highlights:
Episode 1, seeing Star fleet again!
Q is back!
Almost Mirrorverse TNG!
Alt Reality Borg Queen!
Dr Soong trying to create artificial life.
Brent Spiner GTA style running over Patrick Stewart with a Tesla!
Picard's Dad was great casting and I hope that he returns one day in a flash back with young Jean Luc and Robert.
Q's death, and his final goodbye scene with just Picard was literally worth the whole crappy season.
Young Guinan! And the answers we wanted about the Q and her people.
Q is back!
Almost Mirrorverse TNG!
Alt Reality Borg Queen!
Dr Soong trying to create artificial life.
Brent Spiner GTA style running over Patrick Stewart with a Tesla!
Picard's Dad was great casting and I hope that he returns one day in a flash back with young Jean Luc and Robert.
Q's death, and his final goodbye scene with just Picard was literally worth the whole crappy season.
Young Guinan! And the answers we wanted about the Q and her people.
I think it could have used a better show runner to go over it with a fine tooth comb and figure out what they needed to pull out of it, and what it was lacking.
It does answer some of the questions we had about the Q.
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