This episode of the podcast is all about ratings and reviews! We recap the entire first season of TNG, giving our thoughts about what worked and what didn’t. From production to scripting to guest star appearances, we touch on a little bit of everything! Plus, the top 5 best and worst episodes from the season!
The first season of TNG comes to an end, “not with a bang, but with a whimper.” Clay returns to the podcast to discuss the first question someone would ask when they wake up 300 years in the future, the greatness of “Balance of Terror”, and TNG’s bad habit of making shows all about getting somewhere. One season down, six even better ones to go!
There’s a conspiracy afoot, and Modi Operandus returns to help us suss it out! When an alien race of hostile, purple scorpion thingies pull an “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” on Starfleet Command, Picard and Riker are forced to blow up a dude’s head in order to save humanity! Oh, and Riker kicks a man in the face.
As a hiccup in time collapses the universe around them, the crew of the Enterprise learn about love, fencing and fine French cuisine in this emotional episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation! For how much bizarre stuff happens in this one, it’s alarming how little the host of this podcast remembers about it…
The crew of the Enterprise encounters a being of pure evil, who unfortunately just kinda turns out to be an annoying douche bag. Anyway, Clay returns to help dissect this one, and we get deep into the bowels before realizing we’ve made a huge mistake. This episode has it all! Action! Suspense! Kick boxing tournaments! Oh, and Tasha Yar dies. I almost forgot about that.
The Prime Directive rears its ugly head again in “Symbiosis”! When the Enterprise encounters two cultures that are mutually dependent on each other, Picard and Crusher must bring South Park’s Mr. Mackey onto the bridge to let them know whether or not drugs are bad, hmmm’kay? Sit back, crack open a cold one and let Tasha Yar explain to you the folly of drug use!
TOS meets TNG in a ferocious battle of plot versus characterization! When the Enterprise-D discovers a holographic version of a used car salesman, the crew must battle cheap sets, handmade laser drones, and Geordi’s itchy trigger finger! Who needs some guns?
Despite all the accusations, I am here to tell you that I am most certainly not a traitor of Kling! In this episode, Clay joins me to discuss “Heart of Glory”. We examine silly planet names, make-up in high definition, and how the Worf character fits into the overall Trek universe. Only an individual with the heart of a warrior should listen to this truly honorable episode!
There’s a conspiracy afoot, and Modi Operandus is here to help us snuff it out! When Wesley leaves the Enterprise to take his Starfleet SATs, he’s replaced by an hard nosed officer who’s out to find what’s ailing the Enterprise crew. Tough questions, tough answers, and the first “Riker Manuever” ever performed on screen!
An “ugly bag of mostly water” named Clay joins the podcast to help me understand the difficulties of terraforming a planet with only four people. In a truly amazing turn of events, an inorganic lifeform threatens the Enterprise and gives us one of the best episodes from season one of Star Trek: The Next Generation!
One of the things that separates the Original Series from The Next Generation is the fact that the Enterprise-D allowed families on board. In this episode, we examine a child-heavy episode called “When the Bough Breaks”. When kidnappers take children of the Enterprise hostage, Picard and Wesley must save the day and ban CFCs!
Clay returns to the podcast to discuss the perks to growing old! When an elderly admiral returns to a planet he visited 40 years ago, the crew of the Enterprise learns a valuable lesson about the importance of taking the correct dose of a prescribed medication.
The third time’s a charm for Modi Operandus, who returns to the podcast to help us examine the Binars, who are a race of computer/biological aliens who have been recruited to fix the Enterprise. Unfortunately, there’s a small misunderstanding and the Binars steal the Enterprise instead of fixing it. Meanwhile, Riker wonders if it’s ethically acceptable to have sex with the holodeck.
I tried to upload this podcast, but my tiny male brain couldn’t handle it. In this episode, Sean and Clay help me to understand the complex gender politics of “Angel One”. When the Enterprise finds the survivors of a crashed freighter, they first have to deal with the powerful females of the planet, who see men as second class. Naturally, Riker is sent in to handle the sexy situation.
Sean stops by to give us his thoughts about “Datalore”. Lore is Data’s brother from another mother, and he is a bad mother to boot. The second android plays mind games with the crew of the Enterprise, but is eventually undone by muscle spasms and a weak understanding of the English language. Bring out your finest crystal for this one!
I guess the holodeck is a technological feature that has somehow evaded Captain Picard for the past decade? In any case, this episode marks the first appearance of the “Dixon Hill” character and gives us a computer program questioning what exactly it means to be alive. We’ll get to all of this, but first we have to re-enable the security protocols for this program.
Modi Operandus makes a return visit to the podcast, and we discuss “Haven”. The first appearance of Lwanxana Troi is no match for our delicate sensibilities! We also wonder about 24th century harp music, what exactly it is that Riker is doing in his quarters, and is it acceptable to leave your sexy drawings of blond women out in a place where your arranged marriage bride can see them?
If you were offered the powers of a god, would you take them? The Q entity offers Commander Riker exactly that: the chance to become all powerful. Is it a trick? A trap? Or just an extremely generous proposition? The only thing I’m 100% sure of is that these new abilities will absolutely NOT go to Riker’s head! No way.
The Ferengi return, and they’ve brought a present! When Captain Picard is given the hull of his old command, the USS Stargazer, he gets so emotional that he starts suffering from crippling headaches. I wonder what that device is, the one that the Ferengi Daimon keeps massaging and muttering about?
Our very first guest! In this episode, YouTuber Modi Operandus joins us to discuss the sexy episode that is “Justice”. I think we can all agree that, despite the threat of immediate execution for even the tiniest infraction, a planet filled with beautiful people who have sex at the “drop of a hat” can’t be all that bad of a place. Nice planet.
Hey man, Captain Picard just wants to explore the universe. Who are we to stop him? Oh, you mean he’s not actually himself since he’s been taken over by a ball of energy? And we need to deliver two enemy factions to a distant planet before they eat each other? And this is the first episode with a B storyline? Uh oh.
We have seen the edge of the universe, and it is colorful. When an alien known as The Traveler sends the Enterprise to the farthest reaches of the universe, the crew is forced to deal with a very long journey home. Fortunately, Wesley Crusher is going to become a super genius! Maybe he’ll be able to somehow save the day…?
“The Last Outpost” is the introduction of the Ferengi, an alien race obsessed with profit. Originally intended to become the chief antagonist of The Next Generation, the big-eared Ferengi instead became comic relief as the series progressed. This episode of the podcast is a “Portal” into the minds of a strange, goblin-like race.
Like Omar from “The Wire” said, a man’s “got to have a code.” This episode, “Code of Honor”, is infamous for numerous reasons and resulted in the original director being fired by Gene Roddenberry before filming was complete. It also features Tasha Yar in a fight to the death! Exciting!
What does the crew of a starship act like when they get drunk? Is Riker simply too manly to even get drunk in the first place? “The Naked Now” takes an Original Series episode and has the new crew kick the tires. Is it any good?
We take a look at The Next Generation’s pilot, “Encounter at Farpoint”. Watched by over 30 million (!) people in 1987, this episode introduces the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D. Led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the officers and crew of the Enterprise embark on their first mission by heading to the mysterious Farpoint Station.