Star Trek The Next Generation appreciation thread (1 Viewer)

[Wiseguy]

From what I've read, a great deal of that was the studio - that wanted their entirely syndicated show to be able to play in perpetuity in any order a local station might choose - along with Rick Berman, who felt it was his job after Roddenberry’s passing to honor Gene’s wishes about a lot of things, and serialization wasn’t something Gene was fond of - apparently.

You can see some of that playing out in DS9, which Berman apparently kept trying to shut down long term arcs until he finally let go of the reins. You can also see that with Voyager, a show whose premise screamed out for serialization. Even Enterprise resisted going that route at first. But by then, TV had changed with shows like The Sopranos, West Wing and 24 all coming around the same time and showing that was what audiences wanted.



Honestly, I love each and every moment with Spot. When TNG went off the air, kid me wrote a letter to Paramount volunteering to adopt him if he needed a home.

But Is it a male or female cat? LOL

 

[Josh Steinberg]

It is… Spot. I’m not getting close enough to ask

The character is female because she gives birth in one of the episodes. Not sure about the actual actor.

But Is it a male or female cat? LOL

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Last night inspired by this thread I watched Schisms, a creepy episode I’ve always liked. I think it’s a great premise for a horror story and I’d love to take a crack at making a feature film based on the idea.

 

[Wiseguy]

It is… Spot. I’m not getting close enough to ask

The character is female because she gives birth in one of the episodes. Not sure about the actual actor.

Supposedly in "Phantasms" Data referred to Spot as a 'he' but in "Force of Nature" as a 'she.' Did Data make a...mistake?

 

[Sam Favate]

Last night inspired by this thread I watched Schisms, a creepy episode I’ve always liked. I think it’s a great premise for a horror story and I’d love to take a crack at making a feature film based on the idea.

I always thought that one needed a follow-up. I waited through the rest of TNG’s run, but none ever came.

 

[Bryan^H]

Last night inspired by this thread I watched Schisms, a creepy episode I’ve always liked. I think it’s a great premise for a horror story and I’d love to take a crack at making a feature film based on the idea.

I never thought I cared much for the "Horror Trek" episodes, but the more I thought about it most episodes are (TOS especially) quite frightening scenarios. Way beyond "Catspaw"---and many in DS9, and Voyager especially. Star Trek is horror...and sci-fi.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I always thought that one needed a follow-up. I waited through the rest of TNG’s run, but none ever came.

I kind of like that it didn’t have one, the same with Time Squared - it just kinda emphasizes that space can be strange, weird and unknowable, and that some things are just beyond our ability to fully explain or resolve.

That’s why the last quarter of the episode is a slight let down for me - I wish we never saw the actual place the crew members were taken to, and that the resolution was more about Picard deciding that it was necessary to abandon the mission and to take the ship somewhere else rather than them “solving” the mystery. I would have made it more unknowable and unsolvable - two words that strike fear into the hearts of every studio executive

 

[Jason_V]

I always thought that one needed a follow-up. I waited through the rest of TNG’s run, but none ever came.

There is a follow up in the comics, I think. I know it's not televised, but it is something.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Tonight's episode: "The Mind's Eye", from Season 4.

This was another episode with a meaty storyline with larger implications that the show's format isn't equipped to handle.

Telling a Manchurian Candidate story with Geordi, one of the most guileless -- even dorky -- characters, is a smart way to take a character whose behavior is predictable and turn him into a dangerous wild card. And exploiting his disability to compromise him felt especially devious and repugnant. Taking that action, and pairing it with their exploitation of Klingon corruption, all felt very on brand for the Romulans.

I liked Larry Dobkin as the Klingon Ambassador, too; someone playing all sides, and showing no guilt or remorse whatsoever for the horrible things he's done.

I thought Marina Sirtis was terrific in the final scene, as Troi began Geordi's deprogramming. We so rarely get to see her working in her area of expertise; usually she's just called upon to give vague and conveniently useless impressions of characters' emotional states.

But that scene also gets to my problem with this episode: Deprogramming is a lengthy and imprecise process. There's no way that Starfleet would allow an officer that it knew had been compromised by the Romulans to continue as chief engineer of its flagship if the constraints of the episodic format didn't demand it.

Season	Episodes Revisited
1	3, 8-9, 14, 16-18, 25-26
2	2, 7, 11-13, 15
3	6, 11
4	3, 12, 14-16, 24
5	2, 5, 7-9, 12-14, 22-26
6	1, 5-6, 13, 18-19
7	7, 9, 12-13, 16, 18

 

[Sam Favate]

I enjoyed The Mind's Eye a lot. I feel like Geordi was never better utilized that he was in seasons 3 and 4. (The Enemy is still my favorite LaForge episode.)

Are you intentionally watching the more disturbing episodes? Most of the ones you've hit on this week are a bit eerie. (Also, 100% correct on Starfleet not allowing Geordi to continue to serve after being compromised, but hey, it's only a TV show.)

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Tonight's episode: "Relics", from Season 6.

This one I did remember well, but it was a joy to revisit it.

Of the TOS crossover episodes, I think this one was the most satisfying. DeForest Kelley was buried under old age makeup in the first episode, and Spock was barely in the first half of the "Unification" two-parter. This was really Scotty's episode, and it's a shame that the Berman/Braga era didn't take better advantage of the fact that they had Scotty in the 24th century while James Doohan was still with us.

The scene where Scotty revisits the TOS Enterprise in the TNG Enterprise's holodeck is one of my favorites in all of TNG. Patrick Stewart is exceptional in that scene; Picard has such empathy for Scotty's predicament as a man out of time, and such respect for his contributions to the Enterprise legacy.

The one thing that doesn't quite work for me is LaForge being irritated by Scotty and irked at having to babysit him. I just don't buy for a second that the chief engineer of the Enterprise-D wouldn't revere the chief engineer of the Enterprise and Enterprise-A as one of his heroes. I get that they needed to give both characters arcs in this episode, take it from one place and bring it to another place. But it just doesn't work for me, even though the payoff is really strong.

I loved, though, seeing Scotty get to pull one last rabbit out of his hat.

Season	Episodes Revisited
1	3, 8-9, 14, 16-18, 25-26
2	2, 7, 11-13, 15
3	6, 11
4	3, 12, 14-16, 24
5	2, 5, 7-9, 12-14, 22-26
6	1, 4-6, 13, 18-19
7	7, 9, 12-13, 16, 18

Are you intentionally watching the more disturbing episodes? Most of the ones you've hit on this week are a bit eerie. (Also, 100% correct on Starfleet not allowing Geordi to continue to serve after being compromised, but hey, it's only a TV show.)

Nope. Mostly, I'm using this Star Trek: The Next Generation episode picker, and just refreshing until I hit an episode I haven't revisited already.

 

[Bryan^H]

Tonight's episode: "Relics", from Season 6.

This one I did remember well, but it was a joy to revisit it.

Of the TOS crossover episodes, I think this one was the most satisfying. DeForest Kelley was buried under old age makeup in the first episode, and Spock was barely in the first half of the "Unification" two-parter. This was really Scotty's episode, and it's a shame that the Berman/Braga era didn't take better advantage of the fact that they had Scotty in the 24th century while James Doohan was still with us.

The scene where Scotty revisits the TOS Enterprise in the TNG Enterprise's holodeck is one of my favorites in all of TNG. Patrick Stewart is exceptional in that scene; Picard has such empathy for Scotty's predicament as a man out of time, and such respect for his contributions to the Enterprise legacy.

The one thing that doesn't quite work for me is LaForge being irritated by Scotty and irked at having to babysit him. I just don't buy for a second that the chief engineer of the Enterprise-D wouldn't revere the chief engineer of the Enterprise and Enterprise-A as one of his heroes. I get that they needed to give both characters arcs in this episode, take it from one place and bring it to another place. But it just doesn't work for me, even though the payoff is really strong.

I loved, though, seeing Scotty get to pull one last rabbit out of his hat.

Season	Episodes Revisited
1	3, 8-9, 14, 16-18, 25-26
2	2, 7, 11-13, 15
3	6, 11
4	3, 12, 14-16, 24
5	2, 5, 7-9, 12-14, 22-26
6	1, 4-6, 13, 18-19
7	7, 9, 12-13, 16, 18

Thank you. I love this episode for so many reasons. But Geordi who has always been my favorite TNG crew is just wildly out of character here, and it robs the entire episode of true greatness. Honestly everything except Geordi is pitch perfect. James Doohan gives a great performance, great lines from Jean-Luc, and a quite excellent concept for Star Trek.


But Geordi Laforge treating a true legend of Starfleet (and engineering no less) Montgomery Scott like a child screaming "are we there yet" on a family vacation through most of the episode hurts my heart. I mean his best friend is Data for crying out loud. The man knows patience, and at the very least the ability to analyze the situation and make it better instantly (he has always had the knack). When the realization that the old timer is indeed a true legend, and Geordi starts to warm up to him, it is too late for me to care.
I still like the episode...quite a bit. It is just one I will forever wonder "what if" Geordi were nicer from the start? My top 5 Trek episodes it would go.

 

[Nelson Au]

Hey guys, I like The Minds Eye too.

It always strikes me as odd that the TNG writing staff had gone down this route that the Romulans conspires with certain Klingons as part of a plan to cause trouble. Often putting the Klingon’s and Humans at odds with each other. Or just instigating plans to disrupt the stability of the Klingon empire as with Sela’s plans with Lursa and B’Etor. Though I did find it interesting that Sela tried to subvert Spock’s attempts at real Unification verse Sela’s attempt at a take-over.

I like the Romulans in TOS as a more secretive race. And they have their own agenda. but that’s not to put down the TNG episodes, I enjoyed them and it shows perhaps a rogue group of Romulans and Klingons trying to destablize the alliance with the Federation. The loss of the Romulan Bird of Prey filming miniature during the production of TOS led to the producers decision for the Romulans to use the Klingon D7 ship in The Enterprise Incident is perhaps what influenced the writers with this Romulan/Klingon alliance.

I also feel The Enemy is a terrific episode and a good Geordi episode. I like to pair it with the The Defector as the Galorndon Core story arc. Plus we are introduced to the great Tomalok.

There’s another Geordi episode I like called The Next Phase and it’s a fun episode with Ensign Ro too. Again there’s more hijinx with the Romulans! It’s too bad Michelle Forbes was not up for a more regular role on the series and wasn’t willing to sign up for DS9. Nana Visitor made a great Kira, so it’s hard to say if DS9 would have worked as well with Forbes.

Going back, there is a great two episode arc for Geordi in The Booby Trap and Galaxy’s Child.

 

[Philip Verdieck]

I can't find the DS9 thread (and yes, I was lazy and didn't use the search), but I came across this a few days ago. I didn't see mention of it here, and/or forgot if I did.

Alexander Siddig, Andrew Robinson reprise their roles DS9’s 30th anniversary​

Alexander Siddig, Andrew Robinson reprise their roles DS9’s 30th anniversary

Alexander Siddig and Andrew Robinson recently reprised their roles as Dr. Julian Bahir and Elim Garak to celebrate 30 years of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

redshirtsalwaysdie.com

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Tonight's episode: "Suspicions", again from Season 6.

It's basically an episode of "Quincy M.E." set on a starship, with Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher filling in for Jack Klugman. Crusher is a pretty underutilized character, so it was nice to get an episode where she was front and center.

The mystery itself was only so-so. I didn't care about the new shield technology, and I didn't care about either of the apparent casualties. The twist of the perpetrator took advantage of the fact that this is a science fiction show with aliens, which was nice, and enough clues were planted that the reveal felt earned. But the villain's motive seemed pretty out of left field, and unconnected to anything else in the episode. And the whole thing with Crusher causing a diplomatic incident performing the autopsy on the Ferengi scientist just didn't ring true to me; they are a cravenly capitalistic culture that understands the world in terms of tangible value. The death ritual shown in DS9, in which vacuum-desiccated remains are auctioned off to the highest bidder felt far more in keeping with the Ferengi as we've been shown them.

So the a-plot was disappointing. But I actually liked the framing device, with Beverly thinking she's torpedoed her career and Guinan serving as her sounding board. Because of Whoopi's a-list status and busy film career, her appearances were limited and the episodes she appeared in usually gave her an important role in the drama. That wasn't really the case here; anybody could have been listening to Crusher's story, but Guinan's just the ideal person for that and Whoopi understood her role in those scenes and let McFadden dominate them.

It was also a strong episode for Nurse Ogawa, who trusts Dr. Crusher's instincts and puts her own career on the line to aid a respected colleague in her moment of need. Patti Yasutake gives a really human performance here, in what is normally a pretty thankless role.

Season	Episodes Revisited
1	3, 8-9, 14, 16-18, 25-26
2	2, 7, 11-13, 15
3	6, 11
4	3, 12, 14-16, 24
5	2, 5, 7-9, 12-14, 22-26
6	1, 4-6, 13, 18-19, 22
7	7, 9, 12-13, 16, 18

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Tonight's episode: "The Most Toys", from Season 3.

I didn't care much for this one.

The story, about an interstellar traveler collecting trophies through illicit means, is a well-worn science fiction trope. The Preserver in DC Comics comes to mind, as does the Collector in Marvel Comics.

The casting of Saul Rubinek as Kivas Fajo also rubbed me the wrong way, even though he's a great actor who did fine in the role. The character feels built on antisemitic tropes about unethical profiteers, and casting Rubinek -- the child of Holocaust survivors -- emphasized those undercurrents for me in an uncomfortable way.

Mainly though, I disliked the lack of suspense. You know Data's going to escape, you know that Fajo is going to be brought to justice, so it's just a waiting game to see it play out.

The only thing I found a bit compelling was the way Data's eerie, level calmness even under dire circumstances contrasted with Fajo's preening and strutting.

Season	Episodes Revisited
1	3, 8-9, 14, 16-18, 25-26
2	2, 7, 11-13, 15
3	6, 11, 22
4	3, 12, 14-16, 24
5	2, 5, 7-9, 12-14, 22-26
6	1, 4-6, 13, 18-19, 22
7	7, 9, 12-13, 16, 18

 

[Sam Favate]

I always liked The Most Toys. I liked seeing Data on his own while his shipmates thought he was dead. I liked the moral dilemma Data faced, especially at the end. Did he fire? There’s no answer, but I think he did.

Saul Rubinek was very good, and was a last minute replacement for another actor who died suddenly.

 

[Bryan^H]

I can't wait to see TNG season 8.

I mean Picard season 3

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Tonight's episode: "Peak Performance", from Season 2.

This is a fun one. I always enjoy when Trek shows visit starships from other eras, and I always enjoy rooting for the underdog.

Lots of revealing moments for Riker, Data, Worf, and even Wesley -- who, for once, isn't a goody-two-shoes.

Even though I prefer Crusher and feel that she fits in much better with the group, I enjoy Pulaski. Diane Muldaur's performance reminds me a lot of no-nonsense people in the medical field, and I like that she's not afraid to be a bit catty. The smug and superior Zakdorn master strategist really irritates her, and she has no compunction about wanting to take him down a peg. And thanks to Roy Brocksmith's pitch perfect preening and obnoxious performance, we sympathize with the sentiment.

I'm assuming the bridge set for the Hathaway was a redress of the bridge set for the Stargazer, since they're both Constellation-class ships. If so, given that the Stargazer bridge set was itself a redress of the Enterprise bridge set for the original Enterprise during the first three motion pictures, what a lineage!

Both fun and a little distracting to see a young Glenn Morshower as the episode's throwaway ensign, replacing Worf at tactical while he's away aboard the Hathaway.

The episode does highlight the weakness of the Ferengi as primary antagonists for TNG; they're more of an amoral nuisance than an immoral threat. They only reason they posed any threat in this episode was because the Enterprise's weapons were disabled for the training simulation. It does make me chuckle when people complain about the Paramount+ era of Trek being too leftist or too "woke"; Trek is a story about a socialist utopia and TNG literally made its first major new bad guys the embodiment of craven capitalism!

Season	Episodes Revisited
1	3, 8-9, 14, 16-18, 25-26
2	2, 7, 11-13, 15, 21
3	6, 11, 22
4	3, 12, 14-16, 24
5	2, 5, 7-9, 12-14, 22-26
6	1, 4-6, 13, 18-19, 22
7	7, 9, 12-13, 16, 18

 

[Sam Favate]

I always enjoyed Peak Performance.

It does make me chuckle when people complain about the Paramount+ era of Trek being too leftist or too "woke"; Trek is a story about a socialist utopia and TNG literally made its first major new bad guys the embodiment of craven capitalism!

Amen! We need more of that! The Ferengi were an inspired creation in the age of Gordon Gekko.