#tng chain of Command part 1

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k t h e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n created by gene roddenberry Gul Lemec, Cardassian Military [chain of command part i, s6ep10]

'Where is Captain Picard?... I hope his new assignment is not too dangerous. It would be a shame if something were to happen to such a noted officer.' - lemec [to jellico]

[thegeminisage]

oh boy it IS. tng update time. tonight, just under an hour ago, we finished watching "chain of command" parts i & ii. i'm not differentiating between them even though one had. WWWWAY more nudity than the other. hey did you guys know tng can occasionally pop the FUCK off

to me this episode felt like a backdoor pilot to ds9 which we will be doing tomorrow because it had cardassians in it and basically the only thing i know about ds9 is that gay cardassian that wants to fuck the doctor. and he's like the definition of the predatory gays/predatory gaze joke from what i have seen from gifs. so i was expecting like, some minor cardassian shenanigans and mild flirtiness

holy shit.

like girl when i tell you my tits got blown clean off

normally i complain there's too much downtime and technobabble in tng. there was not an OUNCE of fat on this episode. from start to finish we went at 500mph

like, we open with the guy taking away picard's command. and you're like oh no a demotion! but then it's COVERT OPS and also a suicide mission???

and the guy who takes over is a war-mongering bastard with a dubya accent idk how they predicted that in 1992 but GREAT job. i really loved to hate him, and one of my only nitpicks with this episode is that he didn't get more of what should have been coming to him

we acted this episode. will riker grinding his teeth every time he spoke to this guy. deanna's worried looks. beverly feeling guilty for leaving picard behind. i was actually complaining about patrick stewart not emoting when she was stuck in that little hole but now i understand. he had to save it for the FUCKING payload

ROLE REVERSAL FOR THE WOMEN. deanna got to wear a real uniform and beverly got to flirt her way out of a Situation. i love deanna's uniform, even if it is too tight around the chest. i think that's preferable to it being too tight around her crotch and leading to the horrific c*melt*e situation (sorry to say it like that). her hair also looked great this ep. so did bev's weirdly??? women's rights.

data didn't have much to do in this episode except accidentally give geordi more work which made me sad but it WAS wild to see him in a red shirt. i'll miss him until it's time to watch tng again

the little infiltration was charming. worf and beverly teasing each other about heights and bats. even the cave-in. picard getting left behind because worf tried to hold the door open like that guy in narnia and got SHOT.

i loved the guy who was doing the peace talks. he had the most unsettling horrific smile i've ever seen in my life. STAN a legend.

truly though even though i enjoyed the first half of the episode and thought it was solidly watchable the second half is what elevated it into mind blowing territory.

and like first of all it must be said: picard buck ass naked. computer show me image

i want you to imagine that you are 1. profoundly sleep deprived 2. have been complaining about the lack of sex in this show for six and a half seasons 3. do not find this man remotely physically attractive 4. AND the only thing you know about cardassians is gifsets of the guy from ds9 wanting to fuck the little doctor guy 5. you are PROFOUNDLY sleep deprived. only then can you imagine a fraction of the depths of my hysteria

i actually laughed so shrilly and loudly discord MUTED me cathy was like youve been silent for like 30 seconds are you still THERE. i laughed so hard i quite literally cried. we had to pause it for ten entire minutes. not even because it was funny i was just like. SHOCKED.

THEY REALLY WENT ALL IN ON THIS. it was like something out of a fanfic. a BAD fanfic. like those whump fics where guys get captured and made into sex slaves. EXCEPT PATRICK STEWART WAS ACTING!!!!! like it got SO SERIOUS so QUICK

i just now skimmed an article that said patrick stewart himself did research on torture and also went all in ie filming nude fr. the dedication came through in the work i wish tng could be like this always

bro like. the part where he could have walked out but thought bev was still captive. the part where he was was like YOU'RE SIX YEARS OLD AND YOU CAN'T HURT ME. when he got the torturer to call him by his real name. when he ate the live worms or whatever they were i couldn't look. when they got to talking about that guy's daughter. like we literally got the best of both worlds. picard reverse uno'd him at every turn and kept his wits about him and then in the end he BROKE ANYWAY

THERE ARE FOUR LIGHTS, BITCH!!!!!!!!!!!

i was like. oh my god.

listen to me when he said it i was a little disappointed. i could see in his face given another 30 seconds he would have said five. i said OUT LOUD to catherine they should have showed us a shot of five lights and then had him say four anyway. but him saying four defiantly was still so so so good

BUT THEN. AT THE END. when he was like. deanna. i said four, but i saw five

THAT'S THE THESIS STATEMENT OF THE EPISODE. THAT TORTURE DOESNT GIVE YOU INFORMATION JUST WHAT THE TORTURER WANTS YOU TO SAY

AND THEN THEY JUST ROLLED CREDITS.

AND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's so wonderful-awful that that guy KNEW picard was getting release and STILL he felt the need to finish the conditioning, which i assume was meant to get picard to fake-confess to killing 55 men women and children like that one guy said. like, he didn't have time to record that confession. he JUST wanted to break him, and that was all. i bet he thinks about it all the fucking time. the one that got away.

again, i wish dubya knockoff hadn't been responsible for his release. i REALLY wanted riker to do a mutiny. but there just wasn't time. i am still glad riker got to give him shit but like we deserved more comeuppance truly bc he SUCKED SO BAD. also like lmaoooo at ANYONE saying starfleet is a science peaceful organization now. they're warmongers! they're no different from mirrorverse not really

aside from that though it was absolutely flawless. one of the best tng episodes possibly THE best tng episode. i feel so completely satisfied and also grateful that we will be watching ds9 next because going from this to another fucking barclay episode (the next tng one) would ruin me. i need TIME!!!

TOMORROW: ds9's "emissary," parts 1 & 2 !!!

we're going in release order, so now our watch schedule will look something like...

two at a time. that's gonna mess us up for "birthright" but we'll cope somehow

[walkingstackofbooks]

TNG 6x10 and 6x11 Chain of Command, Part 1 & 2 thoughts (rewatching, so possible future spoilers for DS9 too)

I’ve temporarily paused my DS9 re-watch after 2x20 Maquis Part 1 to go through all the Cardassian episodes in TNG to get a better picture of the build up: 4x12, 5x03, 6x10, 6x11, 6x20 and 7x15.

6x10 Part One

Watching Jellico on 1.5x speed makes him even more aggressively brusque

I can't remember if Jellico's genuinely good at his job or if he's very, very bad

The trouble is, he wants people to work for him. Picard has people work with him.

Once again, I had kind of forgotten till I re-watched just how much I liked Picard

(I just looked up what the Ferengi was called to make my next comment, and genuinely hadn't caught on that he was Solok, who they were looking for! I was wondering why he was so dedicated to calling Solok extraordinary XD)

(Huh, another fun fact - Solok was supposed to be Quark, but DS9 was a few weeks too late in airing for there to be a crossover!)

Daimon Solok kind of looks like Pel?

I don't mind woman using their charm, and that ear stroke wasn't egregious as some... but still, I hate ear stroking ferengi to get your way with them

I cannot tell if Jellicoe is an idiot or very clever

"If the Cardassian Union truly wishes to discuss peace, they can send someone who can negotiate in a civilised manner." Fuck OFF, you're hardly being civilised!!!

Ok, so there was some strategy...

"Well, I'll say this for him. He's sure of himself." "No, he's not." Oh fuck, that's concerning

IT'S A TRAP

That gul looks far too pleased with himself

Action scenes are VERY silly on 1.5x speed XD

Ohhh the next one will be the torture episode right? 😬😬😬

6x11 Part Two

Oh gosh, I was not expecting him to divulge information like Beverly's involvement straight away!

Any action Picard took should be said to be his own, not on behalf of the Federation - Isn't that the defence you should be using?

Yes, it's nice Will's worried about his captain, but tbf the Federation shouldn't withdraw from the sector for Picard. He knew the risks.

Data in red is so damn weird

Madred's child just casually being there is so chilling. Jesus.

Cardassian history is interesting, once being a peaceful people with a rich spiritual life before the military took over

They've discovered the plan!

I don't trust this "you can go" routine

Ohhhh

Oh no

That is the way to torture him. Mention Beverly

Picard walking back to the chair is so similar to Sisko walking back the box in Paradise

Jeeez, the breaking of the egg next to Picard bald head sure is kind of visceral

"Ah! You called me Picard."... "You are six years old. Weak and helpless. You cannot hurt me." What a king!

Crew sticking up for crew :) Geordie pushing for Riker to pilot the mission. :3

This exchange though - go go go Riker!

>>Jellico: "Let's drop the ranks for a moment. I don't like you. I think you're insubordinate, arrogant, wilful, and I don't think you're a particularly good first officer. But you are also the best pilot on the ship.

>>Riker: "Well, now that the ranks are dropped, Captain, I don't like you, either. You are arrogant and closed-minded. You need to control everything and everyone. You don't provide an atmosphere of trust, and you don't inspire these people to go out of their way for you. You've get everybody wound up so tight there's no joy in anything. I don't think you're a particularly good Captain."

"Do I wanna know how close that was?" "No." XD

Ohhhhhh. Oh Picard. Oh, you poor poor thing. He's going to say five isn't he?

JUST IN TIME gosh it's weird being grateful for Cardassians

"There are four lights!". You hero.

"Welcome home, Jean-Luc... Just the way you left it, maybe a little better." Oh, fuck off already Jellico. Though thank you for being involved in Picard's rescue, I guess.

Immediately meeting with Troi, yes, good idea, you definitely need counselling

Oh, Picard <3

These are good episodes. Jellico is infuriating and it's harrowing to watch Picard, but it's a damn good story.

[subbyfoxelf]

[tv review] tng "chain of command" (1992)

6x10 “chain of command, part 1”

the way they handled the transfer of command to jellico is easily one of the best jobs they’ve ever done of implementing a temporary status quo change. like, it’s not “best of both worlds, part 1” levels of believability that picard’s status on the show might be in jeopardy, if only because at this point we’re nearly halfway through the show’s penultimate season. but we get a lot of time with the enterprise’s temporary captain and see quite a bit of the crew having a bit of trouble adjusting to his presence. he also makes significant changes to the way the ship runs, and even demands “and get that fish out of the ready room” about captain picard’s iconic lionfish.

although part 2 is where a lot more of this happens, this is also kind of a turning point for the cardassians as major antagonists on the show. they were already positioned as such in their few previous appearances, but this really is the moment where they gain a ton of credibility as a big bad which will carry over to ds9, which probably not coincidentally began airing after this two-parter. s-rank

6x11 “chain of command, part 2”

i don’t want to be nitpicky, but it’s kind of weird that picard’s borg trauma is (rightly) something we keep going back to over & over, but his cardassian trauma basically never comes up again once the credits roll on this one?

the reason i don’t want to be nitpicky is that this episode is fantastic. the entire episode is designed to put patrick stewart’s performance front & center, and yeah obviously that works out fantastically in the show’s favor? and david warner is just a fantastic opponent for him here. their contest of wills just absolutely sizzles.

AND YEAH OKAY i guess i should acknowledge really quick that even though i don’t find either of these characters attractive, i did find a lot of the stuff that happened in this episode uncomfortably hot. i’m sorry i’m like this. (no i’m not.)

back on the enterprise side of things, things really break down between riker & jellico to the point that jellico relieves riker of duty and installs data as first officer. data is even jarringly required to don a red command division uniform, something he didn’t do as acting captain during the blockade of the klingon/romulan border in “redemption, part 2.”

this serves to make it extra satisfying when jellico is forced to go to riker hat in hand to ask him to go on a critical mission that basically everyone falls over themselves to say he’s uniquely qualified for.

it’s funny that this would’ve been a drastically better wrap-around season finale/premiere two-parter than “time’s arrow,” but they wanted a big cardassian episode to give them extra credibility leading into the premiere of deep space nine, which totally makes sense.

i wouldn’t want every episode to be like this, and there are some tiny nitpicks i could make if i were interested in going in that direction, but there’s a reason this is considered one of the best episodes of the series. i do think i would be more inclined to agree if this had more lasting consequences for picard’s character, but again that’s not really the episode’s fault.

i think this episode falls just outside my personal top 10 tng episodes (whereas part 1 is actually comfortably within my top 10), but i get why it’s a lot higher on a lot of other people’s lists. s-rank

[doctorbeverlycrusher]

TNG Guide: Picard/Crusher Edition

Someone did a guide like this for Elliot and Olivia from Law and Order and I’ve been thinking about these two lately so here we are.

This guide is obviously coloured by my personal opinion and some of the things are really subtle, but there’s also way less to get through here than something like SVU.

Of course, there are still many good episodes of TNG that don’t revolve around Picard and Crusher, but for the purposes of this guide, I tried to stick to the important ones or ones with some good interactions. Also, feel free to suggest things I may be missing.

SEASON 1

1x01/02 - Encounter at Farpoint

1x03 - The Naked Now

1x05 - The Last Outpost

1x07 - Lonely Among Us (This is on here for one scene really)

1x09 - The Battle (This one doesn’t really have moments between them as much but it’s got some good Picard backstory)

1x12 - The Big Goodbye

1x19 - Coming of Age (Again, mostly here for one scene where Beverly is being interviewed)

1x21 - The Arsenal of Freedom

1x24 - We’ll Always Have Paris

Due to a conflict between Gates McFadden and a writer on the show, Beverly doesn’t appear in season 2. It is said she took the position to head Starfleet Medical on Earth. However, due to a huge fan campaign led by Patrick Stewart himself, Gates came back in season 3 and stayed for the rest of the series.

I’d suggest watching 2x17 - Samaritan Snare as it gives some really good Picard backstory, but for P/C purposes, that’s the only one that’s necessary.

Season 3

3x01 - Evolution

3x05 - The Bonding (No moments here exactly, but the themes present are super important to their relationship)

3x12 - The High Ground

3x18 - Allegiance

3x23 - Sarek (This is here for the mind meld scene, which I think speaks to their relationship, but is also one of the best scenes in the entirety of Star Trek)

3x26 - The Best of Both Worlds Part I (This is mostly here for a specific brief scene, but the events of this episode really affect Picard so it’s important)

Season 4

4x01 - The Best of Both Worlds Part II (Here for continuity purposes)

4x02 - Family (No specific scenes but the storylines here are very much important)

4x05 - Remember Me

4x09 - Final Mission

4x20 - Qpid

4x21 - The Drumhead (This is here specifically because of the trial scene where Jonathan Frakes made some really interesting directorial choices)

4x23 - The Host

Season 5

5x12 - Violations (Massive warning for what is essentially mind rape in this episode)

5x18 - Cause and Effect

5x19 - The First Duty

5x21 - The Perfect Mate

5x25 - The Inner Light

Season 6

6x10/11 - Chain of Command, Part II & II (Massive warning for psychological and physical torture)

6x15 - Tapestry (Mostly here for Picard backstory purposes)

6x19 - Lessons

6x20 - The Chase (This is specifically here for the last scene where again Jonathan Frakes makes some interesting directorial decisions)

6x22 - Suspicions

6x25 - Timescape (This is here for a specific interaction between Deanna and Picard)

6x26 - Descent Part I

Season 7

7x01 - Descent Part II

7x08 - Attached (If you are only going to watch one episode about these two, this is the one to watch)

7x14 - Sub Rosa (This episode is atrociously bad but there’s still some good PC content here)

7x22 - Bloodlines

7x25/26 - All Good Things…

[thecraggus]

Geordi, Data...it's your turn to post Craggus' Trek Trek Phase II Omnibus - Vol.20 #StarTrek Here's your weekly Omnibus Edition of Craggus' Trek Trek Phase II covering Season 6 episodes 9 to 15:

[hellpmeimobsessed]

Underrated Star Trek Characters - Gul Lemec, TNG Season 6, Episode 10; Chain of Command Part 1.

[chacusha]

DS9 Companion liveblogging (4/14)

Second half of season 2 (2x14-2x26):

Interesting notes here on 2x14 “Whispers,” how it has an extremely tight focus on O’Brien (has no scenes without him) because having a B plot or any scenes where people are talking when he’s not in the room would immediately give away the episode’s mystery. Also, apparently a scene was cut because they accidentally used the wrong runabout name in the dialogue.

On how 2x16 “Shadowplay” was always about not being able to tell the difference between reality and virtual reality but started off much darker before becoming a heart-warming episode:

(O’Brien must suffer.)

Interesting thoughts from Rene Auberjonois on the conundrum of why Odo can’t do faces:

Another Word of God thing that some of Dax’s more wild behavior is an act intended to throw people off-balance. Honestly, though, I think she slept with that alien. Like, yeah, they were “working out” all right!

Shimerman once again being a Ferengi booster (I love him so much):

Fun notes on getting the TOS Klingon actors together for 2x19 “Blood Oath” and trying to decide what makeup/look to use. I appreciate the three of them more now that I’ve watched TOS.

An interesting dialogue for a scene in 2x20 “The Maquis Part I” meant to guide the actor’s reactions but not meant to be spoken, which I like because (1) it’s another example of admirals being The Worst (a great Star Trek tradition), and (2) it features Sisko defending his choice of Odo as head of security on DS9, which Sisko makes reference to later (that Starfleet is not happy and he’s advocated for Odo behind the scenes) but it’s nice to see it featured in written dialogue.

On 2x22 "The Wire": "'The fans said they were disappointed because they did not learn anything about Garak,' says Behr. [...] Although fans would learn a bit more about Garak in subsequent seasons, they never would learn the complete truth. [...] [Says Wolfe,] "He wasn't a gul; he wasn't in the military. He was in the Obsidian Order, and his first name is Elim. Those things, I would say, are the truth.'"

(It makes me realize that Garak is a one-man Rashomon story. XD)

The original pitch had Kira be the unexpected drug addict rather than Garak but it was rejected for being too heavy. Interesting!

Things revealed in this episode: Julian Bashir's middle name (Subatoi); Cardassia Prime is the Cardassian homeworld; the Obsidian Order and Tain as its retired head.

Interesting notes here on 2x23 "Crossover": the Mirror Odo explosion was a physical effect (exploding wax doll) not CG, and Worf was planned for a crossover appearance here, even before he joined the show, but he was unavailable and his lines mainly went to Mirror Garak. I thought it was kind of odd they specifically mentioned/established a Cardassian/Klingon alliance in this episode, but then no major Klingon characters appear...

Some interesting notes on how 2x25 "Tribunal" is the first episode set on Cardassia and features more O'Brien Must Suffer that builds on (1) a conversation between Sisko and Dukat about Cardassian justice in 2x21 "The Maquis Part II" and (2) Picard's experience with Cardassian interrogation in TNG 6x11 "Chain of Command Part II". I'm not a fan of this episode but the visual style and set are pretty memorable.

2x26 "The Jem'Hadar": Notes on the role of Vorta and Jem'Hadar within the Dominion, and the implication that Tosk was a Dominion creation:

On why Eris is the only telekinetic Vorta seen in DS9: "Eris's apparent telekinetic powers would never be employed by another Vorta. Considering that the typically obsequious species weren't really known for their truthful nature, it's likely that Eris had faked those powers here. In any event, as the writers put more thought into the function of the Vorta, telekinesis was set aside as a misstep that Behr and the others hoped viewers would forget."

This is one of my favorite episodes because Sisko and Quark are just a great pairing as reluctant in-laws camping buddies.

[aion-rsa]

Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2 Episode 1 Easter Eggs & References

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This Star Trek: Lower Decks article contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 1: “Strange Energies.”

The mission of the USS Cerritos is to do the jobs other Starfleet ships can’t; following up with all sorts of minutiae and boring outer space logistics, long after the Enterprise or the Defiant has warped out. But whether it’s Lower Decks or Picard or Discovery or Strange New Worlds, the mission of hardcore Trek fans is the same: Pause the screen and see what deep-cut Easter eggs got slipped in this time!

In Season 1, Star Trek: Lower Decks earned the reputation for the most meta-textual Star Trek ever. There are layers and layers of Trekdom within every frame of this series, making it hard to look at one episode and catalog all the references. But if you thought Season 1 went deep into the wells of Trekkie references and Easter eggs, Season 2 is here to make Season 1 look tame. The Season 2 premiere of Lower Decks — “Strange Energies” — is one giant Easter egg with a bunch of reproducing tribble-ish Easter eggs inside of it. Unless you’ve got ESP powers on the level of Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, there’s no way you caught all of these. 

Cardassian ships

The episode has a cold-open on some kind of prison inside of an asteroid field. This is surrounded by two kinds of Cardassian ships, the Galor-class and the smaller Hideki-class scout ships.

“The Keep Showing Me Lights”

Hologram Boimler says the Cardassians “keep showing me lights.” This line, and the existence of the secret Cardassian facility references the famous Next Generation two-parter, “Chain of Command,” in which Picard was kidnapped and tortured by the Cardassians. If you somehow haven’t seen that episode, the whole idea is that the Cardassians try to gaslight Picard into thinking there are five lights in front of him when there are only four. Lower Decks referenced “Chain of Command” in Season 1, too! In Season 1, Episode 7, “Much Ado About Boimler,” Mariner joked about the Cerritos getting a “Babysitter Jellico-type,” for a subsitute captain, which referenced the temporary captain the Enterprise got in “Chain of Command.” Freeman, Shaxs and Ransom whore the all-black special ops outfits in that episode, too, and Tendi did the same in “Veritas.” 

Too Many Ships to Count 

As Mariner escapes from the Cardassian facility, there are soooo many ships being stored in this particular hanger. It’s all the ships. Here’s just a few we caught

A Federation runabout

Jem’Hadar fighters

A Nemesis-era Romulan warbird

An old school Romulan Bird-of-Prey from TOS

Federation fighter craft (like the ones seen in TNG’s “Preemptive Strike.”)

And many, many more.

Miranda-class USS MacDuff

Mariner steals a Miranda-class Federation starship with the registry NCC-1877, and the name “USS MacDuff.” There’s a lot going on here.

The Miranda-class was first seen in The Wrath of Khan, in the form of the USS Reliant. That film also featured someone stealing a ship like this with ease.

The bridge for this ship is basically identical to the Reliant.

Lower Decks showrunner Mike McMahan said in 2020 that he was inspired by the Reliant for the design of the Cerritos. 

The name “MacDuff” might reference the TNG character, Kieran MacDuff, from the episode “Conundrum.” In that one, the crew has temporary amnesia and MacDuff manipulates them into fighting a war they’re not supposed to be involved in.

Jennifer 

Jennifer is back! Mariner is interrupted during her holographic work-out by Jennifer, an Andorian crewmember from last season. In the Season 1 finale, “No Small Parts,” Mariner runs through the halls and pushes this character out of the way, saying, “Move Jennifer.” As far as we know, Jennifer is the only Andorian named Jennifer, but you really have to wonder, was this an Andorian name, or a human name? 

“I know we’re not supposed to have interpersonal conflict”

Mariner’s dislike of Jennifer is punctuated by her talking to herself saying, “I know we’re not supposed to have interpersonal conflict…but I really hate that Andorian.” This references a long-standing rule from the TNG–era of Trek TV; that Starfleet officers weren’t supposed to have petty differences with each other. This rule was apparently implemented by Gene Roddenberry and drove several writers, including Ron Moore and Jeri Taylor, nuts. 

Slightly new opening-credits

In Season 1, we saw the Cerritos running away from a battle involving a bunch of Borg cubes and Romulan Warbirds. Now, that same battle includes a Pakled ship from the Season 1 finale, a few Klingon Birds-of-Prey, and seemingly, fewer Borg. 

Fred Tatasciore’s name in the credits?

Although Shaxs died in the Season 1 finale, Fred Tatasciore’s name appears in the opening credits…hmmm…will this ever be explained? 

Rutherford’s date with Ensign Barnes

“Strange Energies” directly parallels the 2020 Season 1 debut, “Second Contact,” in several ways. The crew is involved with a second contact mission that goes horribly wrong and Rutherford starts dating Barnes for the “first” time. In the Season 1 finale, Rutherford lost his memory, which is why his relationship with Barnes seems new to him. This is why Mariner says “that sounds familiar.” 

Hating pears…a Doctor Who reference? 

Tendi is concerned that Rutherford used to hate pears, but now he doesn’t. This is possibly incorrect, but this could be a Doctor Who reference. In the Doctor Who episodes “Human Nature,” “Twice Upon a Time,” and “Hell Bent,” the Doctor (both David Tennant and Peter Capaldi) mention hating pears. In fact, in “Human Nature,” when the Doctor’s memory is erased, he asks Martha Jones to “never let me eat a pear.” 

Sonic power washing 

“Sonic showers” have long been a thing in the Star Trek universe, making their debut in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. But, we’ve never seen sonic power-washers before!

“Ever heard of Gary Mitchell”

Ransom’s possession is very much a tribute to Gary Mitchell’s god-like powers in the second TOS pilot episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Dr. T’ana’s insistence that Kirk beat Gary Mitchell with a “boulder” is accurate. For whatever reason, the very first canonical Kirk-adventure ever, established that rock beats god-like powers any day of the week. It should also be noted that Mariner referenced Gary Mitchell in the first episode of Season 1, too.

Possible Harlan Ellison reference?

While Ransom is starting to work out, you can briefly hear him say, “The trick isn’t becoming a God. The trick is staying a God.” This could be a reference to the axiom attributed to Harlan Ellison: “The trick isn’t becoming a writer. The trick is staying a writer.” Ellison wrote “The City on the Edge of Forever,” for TOS. In Star Trek: Picard Season 1, Soji traveled on a ship called the Ellison, which Michael Chabon revealed was an Easter egg meant to reference Harlan Ellison. So, you never know? 

“The Trick isn’t becoming a god, the Trick is staying a god”

Harlan Ellison reference?

Ransom on the Mount

Mariner says that Jack is “going all Ransom on the Mount.” This almost certainly references a hilarious fan video called “Shatner on the Mount,” in which a group called Fall On Your Sword remixed a behind-the-scenes interview with William Shatner (promoting Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) into a hilarious kind of talking-rap song. It has to be seen to be believed. 

Giant God Head

A giant God head coming out to grab a starship might seem silly, but there are several precedents for this kind of thing in Trek canon. In the TOS episode “Who Mourns For Adonais?” a giant green hand grabs the Enterprise, which is later revealed to be the hand of the god Apollo. In the TNG episode “The Nth Degree,” the giant head of a Cytherian finds its way onto the Enterprise-D bridge. And, of course, in The Final Frontier, the crew meets “the God of Sha Ka Ree” which also, is a giant floating head. 

My older sister got a symbiont 

Barnes and Rutherford joke around that her Trill sister has a symbiont, but she doesn’t. This references the idea that not all Trill are joined, which was established in both TNG and Deep Space Nine.

Cetacean ops

Barnes mentions going swimming in “Cetacean ops,” a part of the USS Cerritos that we’ve never seen, but we have to assume has something to do with sea creatures. This is the second time Lower Decks has referenced Cetacean ops, which itself derives from an overheard line in TNG’s “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” Again, with yet another parallel to its Season 1 debut, “Cetacean ops” was last referenced by Lower Decks in Season 1, Episode 1, “Second Contact.”

“LDS thing”

Rutherford incorrectly refers to SMD as “LDS.” This references a few things. First, for most fans, the official abbreviation of Lower Decks is LDS. But, that abbreviation also references a joke from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home in which Kirk incorrectly refers to the drug “LSD” as “LDS,” saying that Spock “did a little bit too much LDS back in the ‘60s.” 

Nightengale Woman 

At the end of the episode, Stevens tells Ransom he’s going to read him “Nightengale Woman.” This too is a reference to “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” which Gary Mitchell quotes from the poem “Nitengale Woman,” from memory. In Trek canon, the poem was written in 1996 on “the Canopus Planet.” In real life, the poem was written by Gene Roddenberry, who originally wrote part of the poem to describe flying a plane. 

Riker’s jam session

As the final moments of the episode cut back to the USS Titan, Captain Riker says “This jam session has too many licks and not enough counts.” In jazz, a “lick” refers to a pattern or musical phrase which is predetermined, but open to interpretation. Usually, a lick could result in a long jazz solo.  A “count” on the other hand, is more about the beat and form of a piece of music. Riker’s obsession with jazz began in the TNG episode “11001001.” In the season finale of Lower Decks Season 1, Riker’s catchphrase for sending the Titan into warp was a jazz count.

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Lower Decks Season 2 airs new episodes on Paramount+ on Thursdays.

The post Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2 Episode 1 Easter Eggs & References appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3xEGQn9

[filmjunky-99]

s t a r t r e k t h e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n created by gene roddenberry Chain of Command, Part I [s6ep10]

[drewcosten]

If you’re new to Star Trek and want to watch every episode and film but don’t know where to start, here’s what I consider to be the best viewing order (the legend of series names is at the end of the post, and the years in which each section primarily takes place will be listed at the end of each line):

TOS Pilot The Cage (First Pilot, 2254)

TOS S1E3 Where No Man Has Gone Before (Second Pilot, 2265)

TOS S1E1-2 The Man Trap to Charlie X (2266)

TOS S1E4-S3E24 The Naked Time to Turnabout Intruder (series finale, 2266 - 2269)

TAS S1E1-S2E6 Beyond the Farthest Star to The Counter-Clock Incident (series finale, 2269 - 2270)

Star Trek 1: The Motion Picture (2273)

Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (2285)

Star Trek 3: The Search for Spock (2285)

Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home (2286)

Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier (2287)

Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country (2293)

TNG S1E1-S6E11 Encounter at Farpoint part 1 to Chain of Command part 2 (2364 - 2369)

DS9 S1E1-4 Emissary part 1 to A Man Alone (2369)

TNG S6E12-15 Ship in a Bottle to Tapestry (2369)

DS9 S1E5-8 Babel to Dax (2369)

TNG S6E16-S7E1 Birthright part 1 to Descent part 2 (2369 - 2370)

DS9 S1E9-20 The Passenger to In the Hands of the Prophets (2369)

TNG S7E2-13 Liaisons to Homeward (2370)

DS9 S2E1-12 The Homecoming to The Alternate (2370)

TNG S7E14-20 Sub Rosa to Journey’s End (2370)

DS9 S2E13-21 Armageddon Game to The Maquis part 2 (2370)

TNG S7E21-26 Firstborn to All Good Things part 2 (series finale, 2370)

DS9 S2E22-S3E8 The Wire to Meridian (2370 - 2371)

Star Trek 7: Generations (set in both 2293 and 2371)

DS9 S3E9-12 Defiant to Past Tense part 2 (2371)

VOY S1E1-16 Caretaker part 1 to Learning Curve (2371)

DS9 S3E13-26 Life Support to The Adversary (2371)

VOY S2E1-12 The 37s to Resistance (2371 - 2372)

DS9 S4E1-10 The Way of the Warrior part 1 to Our Man Bashir (2372)

VOY S2E13-S3E1 Prototype to Basics part 2 (2372 - 2373)

DS9 S4E11-26 Homefront to Broken Link (2372)

VOY S3E2-16 Flashback to Blood Fever (2373)

DS9 S5E1-13 Apocalypse Rising to For the Uniform (2373)

Star Trek 8: First Contact (2373)

VOY S3E17-S4E2 Unity to The Gift (2373 - 2374)

DS9 S5E14-26 In Purgatory’s Shadow to Call to Arms (2373)

VOY S4E3-9 Day of Honor to Year of Hell part 2 (2374)

DS9 S6E1-11 A Time to Stand to Waltz (2374)

VOY S4E10-26 Random Thoughts to Hope and Fear (2374)

DS9 S6E12-S7E9 Who Mourns for Morn? to Covenant (2374 - 2375)

VOY S5E1-9 Night to Thirty Days (2375)

Star Trek 9: Insurrection (2375)

DS9 S7E10-26 It’s Only a Paper Moon to What You Leave Behind (series finale, 2375)

VOY S5E10-S7E26 Counterpoint to Endgame part 2 (series finale, 2375 - 2378)

Star Trek 10: Nemesis (2379)

ENT S1E1-S4E22 Broken Bow part 1 to These Are the Voyages… (series finale, 2151 - 2155, final episode set in both 2161 and 2370)

Star Trek (2009 movie, set mostly in 2258 in an alternate timeline known as the Kelvin timeline)

Star Trek Into Darkness (2nd movie in the Kelvin timeline, in 2259)

Star Trek Beyond (3rd movie in the Kelvin timeline, in 2263)

DIS S1E1-15 The Vulcan Hello to Will You Take My Hand? (2256 - 2257, back in the Prime timeline)

ST S1E1-4 Runaway to The Escape Artist (set in different years between 2239 and an unknown date in the distant future)

DIS S2E1-14 Brother to Such Sweet Sorrow part 2 (2257 - 2258)

ST S2E1-6 Q&A to Children of Mars (likely series finale, set in different, mostly unconfirmed, years between the early 2230s and 2385)

PIC S1E1-10 Remembrance to Et in Arcadia Ego part 2 (2399)

DIS S3E1-13 That Hope Is You part 1 to That Hope Is You part 2 (3188 - 3189)

LD S1E1-S2E10 Second Contact to First First Contact (2380 - 2381)

PRO S1E1-10 Lost & Found part 1 to A Moral Star part 2 (2383 - 2384)

DIS S4E1-13 Kobayashi Maru to Coming Home (3190)

PIC S2E1-10 The Star Gazer to Farewell (2401)

SNW S1E1-10 Strange New Worlds to A Quality of Mercy (2259)

LD S3E1-10 Grounded to The Stars at Night (2381)

PRO S1E11-20 Asylum to Supernova part 2 (2384)

PIC S3E1-10 The Next Generation to The Last Generation (series finale, 2401)

SNW S2E1-10 The Broken Circle to Hegemony (2259)

LD S4E1-10 Twovix to Old Friends, New Planets (2381)

DIS S5E1-10 Red Directive to Life, Itself (series finale, 3191)

PRO S2E1-20 Into the Breach part 1 to Ouroboros part 2 (2384 - 2385)

LD S5E1-10 Dos Cerritos to The New Next Generation (series finale, 2382?)

Legend:

TOS: The Original Series

TAS: The Animated Series

TNG: The Next Generation

DS9: Deep Space Nine

VOY: Voyager

ENT: Enterprise

DIS: Discovery

ST: Short Treks

PIC: Picard

LD: Lower Decks

PRO: Prodigy

SNW: Strange New Worlds

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #413

Top Ten Episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation

So, the Star Trek: Picard of it all. At the time of writing I’ve only seen the first episode, and although it was a touch exposition-heavy, and bounced to a slightly distracting degree from one location and event to another (France! San Francisco! Japan!), it was really very impressive. It felt utterly like a sequel to the Next Generation era, whilst also feeling like something new (my wife compared it to Blade Runner). A more contemplative sci-fi experience, which suits the legacy of the series.

I’ve talked a little about Star Trek before. The Original Series is one of those things that’s baked into popular culture at this point, like Superman and Star Wars. I’ve no idea when I first heard of it, but I don’t remember not knowing who Kirk and Spock were. But I never watched it, even in repeats (not the way I watched, say, Batman ’66). I came to Trek through the films, chiefly The One with the Whales and, later on, Wrath of Khan and Undiscovered Country. The first thing I remember about The Next Generation was my cousins telling me that this week the captain is taken over by the Borg; I have a funny feeling that the first episode I saw was “The Best of Both Worlds, Part II”, with the whole “Resistance is futile” bit coming in the “Previously on…” section. And, to be honest, I wasn’t hooked. I didn’t really get into it until my teens, through repeats. But I saw enough for it to become my favourite of all Treks, and – like the original cast – I saw the movies and fell in love even more (Star Trek: Insurrection was one of the first films my now-wife and I saw together as a couple).

The 2009 reboot movie, and subsequent Kelvin Timeline universe, have been interesting and often entertaining, but they’ve not felt like “proper” Star Trek to me. A bit too flashy and gung-ho, more like space adventure movies; I feel like Trek should be more like Close Encounters and less like Star Wars. That’s not to say they weren’t enjoyable, just not Trek-y enough (and the less said about the second half of Into Darkness the better). I loved the original universe, with its sense of history and its forward momentum; my favourite stuff from the Kelvin ‘verse was the knowledge about life after Star Trek: Nemesis, with the destruction of Romulus and all of that. I wondered what Picard thought of it, how it played out politically, how the Federation had responded. Really, I just wanted to know what my favourite characters were up to. Was Riker still captain of the Titan? Did Crusher go back to Starfleet Medical? Was Geordi still being creepy on the holodeck? And did Data stay dead? With Discovery being another prequel series, I thought it might be a long time before we got any answers.

And so to Picard, a series I kinda thought I’d never see. Something I was very keen on was to go back and re-watch all of The Next Generation in preparation. I say “re-watch” but it turns out I’d seen a whole lot less of it than I thought, or at least had forgotten most of it. So it’s been a wonderful and rewarding experience for me, Code of Honor notwithstanding. I feel I’ve got a much better and more rounded view of the characters and the series than I ever had, which is nice. And it was fun in the first episode of Picard to spot some of the deep-cut references, from Bruce Maddox to Captain Picard Day.

Anyway, this is a really, really long preamble for me to say that this week’s Top Ten is my favourite episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The Best of Both Worlds, Parts I & II (Season 3, Episode 26/Season 4, Episode 1): yes, both parts; it’s inseparable to me. Massive and dramatic but loads of great character stuff: Riker becoming captain, Picard as a Borg, Guinan… Star Trek’s Lord of the Rings.

The Drumhead (4-21): a brilliant examination of institutionalised prejudice, honour, justice… but really what sticks in the mind is arguably Picard’s best speech, when he explains the concept of a “drumhead trial”. Outstanding stuff from Patrick Stewart.

The Measure of a Man (2-9): another fantastic courtroom drama episode, another brilliant Stewart monologue. This also has the benefit of being an existential look at what constitutes life, and potentially seeds plot points in Star Trek: Picard.

All Good Things… (7-25): one of the greatest finales of all time, it has everything: Stewart on top form, trippy timey-wimey shenanigans, the Enterprise blowing up, Q… and an incredibly touching final scene. The sky’s the limit indeed.

Family (4-2): after the epic bombast of both Worlds, we come back down to Earth, literally, as a broken Picard recuperates at his family chateau and mends fences with his disapproving brother. An unusual but simply beautiful episode of TNG.

The Inner Light (5-25): boy, these are all Patrick Stewart showpieces aren’t they? Here Picard lives a full life in forty minutes as an alien probe shows him the death of a civilisation. Incredibly bittersweet and an episode that left subtle character ripples.

Sarek (3-23): bringing back an iconic Trek character is one thing, but giving him a tragic mental illness, one that feels very true but also suitably sci-fi, is a masterstroke. Brilliant performances from Mark Lenard and, yes, Patrick Stewart.

Chain of Command, Part II (6-11): Part I has some cool sneaky stuff and tense character work on the Enterprise, but Part II is where the meat’s at: a phenomenal Stewart cruelly tortured by a terrifying David Warner. Star Trek does 1984, superbly.

Remember Me (4-5): woah, a non-Picard-centric episode! Gates McFadden on fine form as Crusher questions her sanity on a ship with disappearing crew, the Twilight Zone premise artfully realised in a gripping bottle episode.

Q Who (2-16): arguably, this is where TNG really begins. The always delightful Q brings our heroes face to face with the franchise’s Big Bad, the Borg. Here they are unknown, terrifying, unlike anything we’ve seen before; the seeds of so many stories are sown.

This was quite a tricky list to formulate, to be honest. The top half was fairly set, but there could have been any of a dozen episodes bringing up the rear. Another bottle ep that I adore is “Disaster”, which manages to be goofy, great fun, tense, and have some superb character work. Similarly I’m surprised I didn’t find room for “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, another iconic episode and another of the timey-wimey ones I love so much. And Q only appears twice, both times in episodes that don’t really centre on his brand of off-beat humour. It’s also interesting that so many of my favourites centre around Picard, and so many of them seem to – at this stage – feature plot elements that are going to be referenced in the new series (Bruce Maddox, artificial life, Romulans, the Borg… I hope Q gets a look-in too!). Anyway, TNG is great, I’m loving Picard, and what more is there to say?

[tsaomengde]

Tiny Viewing Guide to Star Trek: The Next Generation

Just found out one of my oldest friends, a huge sci fi guy, has never actually seen TNG, or indeed any Trek. He asked if I wouldn't mind writing a viewing guide. Not all that tiny, but the blurb for each episode is tiny. YMMV.

S1

Encounter at Farpoint - Goofy but iconic, series premiere

The Naked Now - Bad but hilarious and a little important

Code of Honor - terrible racist horseshit

The Last Outpost - first time we meet the Ferengi, they're not impressive

Where No One Has Gone Before - interesting enough

Lonely Among Us - I have no memory of this place

Justice - terrible outfits, Wesley episode

The Battle - Picard episode, not terrible

Hide and Q - Riker-centric Q episode, not the best Q episode, not the worst

Haven - first time we meet Lwaxana, don't remember anything else

The Big Goodbye - first of many holodeck episodes, pretty good

Datalore - important!!!

Angel One - totally forgettable

11001001 - meh

Too Short a Season - weird, generally meh

When the Bough Breaks - Wesley episode, don't remember it much

Home Soil - no clue

Coming of Age - more Wesley (can you tell Gene Roddenberry liked the character?), but not bad

Heart of Glory - first time the Klingons get real character, important

The Arsenal of Freedom - automated weaponry is bad, mmkay

Symbiosis - nope, no idea

Skin of Evil - dark, nasty, generally unpleasant episode, important for character reasons

We'll Always Have Paris - genuinely do not remember this one but wiki says there's time travel and that's always fun

Conspiracy - real mixed feelings about this one, it's tense and interesting TV but not really good Trek and it has huge implications that are never revisited

The Neutral Zone - Romulans are reintroduced, pretty cool

S2

The Child - pretty decent Troi episode

Where Silence Has Lease - interesting space puzzle episode sprinkled with Picard philosophizing

Elementary, Dear Data - first Sherlock!Data holodeck episode, excellent stuff

The Outrageous Okona - weeeaaaak, but kind of funny

Loud As A Whisper - cool deaf character, cringey late-80s implementation

The Schizoid Man - Data episode, good acting, cringey dialogue

Unnatural Selection - Pulaski-centric, and I dislike Pulaski so this is a pass for me

A Matter Of Honor - Riker serves on a Klingon warship, some good stuff

The Measure of A Man - Easily a top 10 Trek episode of all time

The Dauphin - Wesley has a crush, receives terrible romantic advice from entire crew

Contagion - interesting lethal archaeology

The Royale - love this episode, it's terrible and bad science but I love it

Time Squared - weird time-travel stuff, not one of the best

The Icarus Factor - lot of good character stuff, terrible future martial arts

Pen Pals - excellent Data episode, thoughts about the Prime Directive

Q Who - WATCH THIS ONE

Samaritan Snare - bad episode, funny moments

Up The Long Ladder - holy shit the Irish racism

Manhunt - Lwaxana Troi at her best, love it

The Emissary - Amazing Klingon stuff

Peak Performance - good episode, lots of fun character bits

Shades of Gray - TERRIBLE CLIP SHOW AVOID AVOID AVOID

S3

Evolution - Wesley episode, not bad but not great

The Ensigns of Command - Mediocre Data episode

The Survivors - space puzzle episode, OK

Who Watches the Watchers - more prime directive stuff, mildly interesting

The Bonding - interesting stuff about grief

Booby Trap - another space puzzle, high stakes, cool payoff

The Enemy - Pretty good, Romulans

The Price - fun episode

The Vengeance Factor - ehhhhhhhh

The Defector - More Romulan stuff, is good

The Hunted - will 100% make you scream at how terrible security is in the future, not a bad ep though

The High Ground - ugh, just not great

Deja Q - good Q episode

A Matter of Perspective - let's use the holodeck to prove Riker couldn't have committed this crime!

The Offspring - WATCH THIS BUT BRING TISSUES

Sins of the Father - first of many Klingon Politics episodes, I love these with a fiery passion and my wife is bored to tears by them so YMMV

Allegiance - space puzzle, not a great one but not bad

Captain's Holiday - WATCH THIS, IS AMAZING

Tin Man - literally put me to sleep once

Hollow Pursuits - First of many Barclay episodes, my beautiful autistic space boi

The Most Toys - alright, worth one watch

Sarek - SO IMPORTANT WAAAAAAAAAATCH

Menage a Troi - bad episode, worth it for the payoff

Transfigurations - Jason Ironheart called, he knows he came after this episode chronologically but he was better

The Best of Both Worlds, Part 1 - YAAAS

S4

The Best of Both Worlds, Part 2- YAAAAAAAAAAAAAS

Family - So important

Brothers - Very Important

Suddenly Human - meh

Remember Me - very interesting space puzzle, one of the Crusher episodes where she gets to be awesome

Legacy - not the most jaw-dropping ep but important

Reunion - KLINGON POLITICS YEEES

Future Imperfect - interesting enough

Final Mission - Wesley episode, not bad

The Loss - v. good Troi episode

Data's Day - fun, wholesome Data times

The Wounded - SO GOOD AND SO IMPORTANT

Devil's Due - I love this episode even if it's not that important or good

Clues - Awesome space puzzle

First Contact - eh? okay? sure?

Galaxy's Child - fine, whatever

Night Terrors - uuuuugh, no

Identity Crisis - this one scared the fuck out of me as a kid and may be responsible for my deep-seated body-transformation-horror triggers, now it's just kind of weird

The nth Degree - BARCLAY, LOVE HIM AND THIS EP

Qpid - YES SO GOOD

The Drumhead - This is Michael Dorn's favorite episode and it is worthy of the title

Half a Life - Lwaxana is great, the episode not as much

The Host - introduction of the Trill, kind of cringey almost 30 years later

The Mind's Eye - brainwashing stuff, meh

In Theory - Data tries to date, hilarities ensue

Redemption Part 1 - GIVE ME THE KLINGON POLITICS

S5

Redemption Part 2 - MOOOOOOOOOORE

Darmok - One of my top 5 episodes in the series

Ensign Ro - so important, introduces the Bajorans and Ensign Ro

Silicon Avatar - important for Data, not a terribly interesting episode otherwise

Disaster - Troi gets to shine! cool episode

The Game - by far the worst Wesley episode. everyone is seduced into acting like a brainwashed idiot by a terrible space future video game. fuck this episode and everyone who wrote it but especially Brannon Braga.

Unification 1 - WATCH

Unification 2- THESE

A Matter of Time - So good, waaatch

New Ground - I am not a fan of Alexander but he is so important to Worf's growth, so... yeah

Hero Worship - more stuff about grief, eh

Violations - I don't remember this one that much but I do not think I enjoyed it

The Masterpiece Society - read the above description

Conundrum - amazing space puzzle episode. easily one of my favorites in the series

Power Play - meh

Ethics - very important, good Trek

The Outcast - THIS EPISODE COULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER IF THE LOVE INTEREST WAS MALE. JONATHAN FRAKES PUSHED FOR A MALE ACTOR. watch it anyway

Cause and Effect - fun space puzzle, a little repetitive but totally solid

The First Duty - one of the best Picard Speeches ever, watch

Cost of Living - fun Lwaxana episode

The Perfect Mate - pretty meh but Famke Janssen is fun as Kamala

Imaginary Friend - so bored

I, Borg - INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT

The Next Phase - interesting episode about the afterlife

The Inner Light - THIS IS MY FAVORITE EPISODE OF THE ENTIRE SERIES AND I CRY EVERY TIME

Time's Arrow 1 - Such good time travel

S6

Time's Arrow 2 - Such great Mark Twain

Realm of Fear - Yay more Barclay!

Man of the People - bad Troi episode

Relics - WAAAAAAAAAATCH

Schisms - space puzzle, kind of lame payoff due to effects limitations but the journey is worth it

True Q - By far the worst fucking Q episode ever written

Rascals - uuuuuuuugh. half the crew is regressed into children. Ferengi are involved. you are missing nothing.

A Fistful of Datas - amazing dumb holodeck episode, watch

The Quality of Life - boring episode, good message

Chain of Command 1 - So dark, so difficult, so totally riveting and important

Chain of Command 2 - See above

Ship in a Bottle - Sequel to Sherlock!Data, amazing

Aquiel - could have been written much better

Face of the Enemy - by far the best Troi episode, Marina Sirtis was incredibly happy when I told her it was one of my favorites

Tapestry - fantastic Q/Picard episode

Birthright 1 - Basically exists to set up DS9 but is pretty good and has important bits

Birthright 2 - See above

Starship Mine - DIE HARD ON THE ENTERPRISE

Lessons - Very important Picard episode

The Chase - amazing space puzzle episode, has one of my favorite one-off Klingon characters

Frame of Mind - is Riker's entire life a delusion he has created to mentally escape his imprisonment in a mental asylum? spoilers: no

Suspicions - Good mystery episode, Crusher gets to do stuff

Rightful Heir - Very important Worf episode, good Klingon stuff

Second Chances - uh, kind of bad, but it gets referenced later in DS9

Timescape - super interesting space puzzle, amazing character bits

Descent 1 - WAAATCH

S7

Descent 2 - as above

Liaisons - okay. not great. not bad.

Interface - OK Geordi episode

Gambit 1 - Amazing stuff

Gambit 2 - More amazing stuff

Phantasms - Psychological horror? in my Data? it's more likely than you think. watch

Dark Page - one of the few Lwaxana episodes I don't love

Attached - great Picard/Crusher episode

Force of Nature - environmentalism! is! good!

Inheritance - important Data episode

Parallels - SUCH A GOOD WORF EPISODE

The Pegasus - very important Riker episode

Homeward - Interesting Worf and Prime Directive episode

Sub Rosa - so cringey and terrible, oh my God

Lower Decks - a fun change of pace from the main cast

Thine Own Self - I don't love it, but it is good character stuff

Masks - weird space puzzle episode, I love it but I wouldn't call it Great

Eye of the Beholder - space mystery, it's not fantastic

Genesis - look. this episode is not good. but it has amazing costumework by Michael Westmore. and has some great Picard/Data stuff. watch it.

Journey's End - super important stuff. sets up a lot of stuff for DS9 and VOY

Firstborn - Good Worf/Alexander episode

Bloodlines - More Ferengi stuff, kind of lame

Emergence - space puzzle, weird but interesting

Preemptive Strike - So so so so important

All Good Things... - it's the series finale. and some of the best Trek ever. obviously you're going to watch.

[septembersung]

top 5 Star Trek: TNG episodes

WOW this was both easy and hard. (I haven’t actually watched Star Trek in a million years.) I did immediately think of five - but I know there’s a dozen others that could vie for the top five spots. 

These are the first five that came to me, in the order they popped into my brain:

- Chain of Command parts 1 & 2 (movie!Gimli voice: It still only counts as one!) In which Picard is kidnapped and tortured. “THERE! ARE! FOUR! LIGHTS!”

- The Drumhead. Justice and witch hunts and the purpose and nature of the law. And, I’m pretty sure, Shakespeare quoting, because Star Trek isn’t Star Trek without Shakespeare.

- Tapestry and Deja Q are tied for my favorite Q episodes. The former because I firmly headcanon that Q is somehow both exactly WYSIWYG and much cleverer and more terrifyingly helpful than anyone has imagined, as somewhat explored in novelizations, and the latter because it’s a 80s-style scream and John de Lancie, whom I adore, is in top form.

- Family. Post-Locutus, Picard returns to France and stays with his brother’s family. My heart.

- The Measure of a Man. I can’t not include a Data episode. Brent Spiner is unfairly talented and if God would ensoul a machine than certainly Data is first in line. (For sheer performance delight, A Fistful of Datas and that one where he goes rogue are lovely.)

Honorable mentions: Rascals, Ensign Ro, Lower Decks, Sarek, the Moriarty/Holmes ones, Time’s Arrow parts 1 and 2, Disaster, that one where they’re stuck in a time loop that ends with the Enterprise exploding…. ah yes. It’s all coming back to me.

[tonkiortho]

Jim ll paint it star trek

And it was like an "if you say anything, I'm never talking to you again" kind of thing. I didn't tell anyone other than very, very close family and friends. Season 2, we get to explore a little bit more of Kirk. We don't get to see as much of that humor in the season 1 finale because there's something very intense happening. The most important thing is, to answer your question, is to maintain that sense of Kirk having this incredible gut instinct that he relies on, that is preternaturally accurate in a way, a morality, courage, charm, humor. I can't talk about season 2 too much, but it's a little bit more in line with a Kirk that we know, but it's pre-Enterprise. So it was a little liberating because I didn't have as much pressure. I'm not gonna say whatever I wanted, but it's a looser interpretation, right? We're not sticking to a regiment. Kirk has never met Spock, he's never met Uhura, he hasn't gone through all the things that the original Kirk had gone through. So he meets Kirk, and Kirk is not captain of the Enterprise. If Pike hadn't died and he was still commanding the Enterprise, what would this world look like? Of course, it doesn't exist. It's an alternate projected timeline of something. ( TNG: " Encounter at Farpoint", " The Naked Now", " Haven", " Where No One Has Gone Before", " Lonely Among Us", " Justice", " Too Short a Season", " Datalore", " 11001001", " Heart of Glory", " Symbiosis", " We'll Always Have Paris", " Conspiracy", " The Neutral Zone", " The Child", " Loud As A Whisper", " The Dauphin", " The Icarus Factor", " Pen Pals", " Samaritan Snare", " Up The Long Ladder", " Shades of Gray", " Ethics" " The Outcast", " Cause and Effect", " The First Duty", " The Perfect Mate", " The Next Phase", " Realm of Fear", " Relics", " Schisms", " Rascals", " The Quality of Life", " Chain of Command, Part II", " Ship in a Bottle", " Aquiel", " Tapestry", " Birthright, Part I", " Starship Mine", " Lessons", " The Chase", " Suspicions", " Interface", " Phantasms", " Dark Page", " Inheritance", " The Pegasus", " Homeward", " Lower Decks", " Thine Own Self", " Eye of the Beholder", " Genesis", " Bloodlines", " Emergence", " All Good Things.In the season 1 finale, it's actually a Kirk that we've never seen because he doesn't really exist. ( DS9: " Who Mourns for Morn?", " In the Cards")Ī painting in the waiting room of the sickbay aboard the Enterprise-D This painting looked suspiciously similar to one Quark once tried to auction off, when Quark called it the inspiration for the flag of a colony on Mars. The key to Morn's locker was inside of it. Morn had an Earth painting of a matador in his quarters, which was destroyed when Nahsk smashed it over Quark's head. There have been many forms of paintings throughout the ages. In 2371, Kathryn Janeway suggested Harry Kim could paint or write to help himself process the experience he had with the Vhnori. In 2369 the shapeshifter Odo imitated a painting of a Bajoran landscape and surprised the Tosk in a corridor. Kathryn Janeway was one such member who would paint to relax as form of recreation. As a child, Jonathan Archer painted a model starship he built, ( ENT: " Broken Bow") as did a few members of the crew of the USS Voyager. There are many examples of painters in the UFP, and Starfleet. Lieutenant Commander Data, however, criticized Picard's painting. In 2366, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and a few fellow officers on the USS Enterprise-D held a painting class on the ship. The USS Enterprise's historian Marla McGivers enjoyed painting images of men she admired, such as Napoléon Bonaparte, Leif Ericson, Flavius, and Khan Noonien Singh. One type of painting was an oil painting. Painting was the practice of applying paint to a medium as a means of creating a work of art, or as a means of enhancing the aesthetics of an existing object. Jean-Luc Picard painting on the EnterpriseĬaptain Janeway painting to relax after her encounter with the Macrocosm A young Jonathan Archer paints his model spacecraft

[dennisjerz]

Chain of Command, Parts 1 & 2 (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episodes 10 & 11)

Chain of Command, Parts 1 & 2 (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season 6, Episodes 10 & 11)

Rewatching ST:TNG Picard is relieved of command and assigned to a special ops mission, as the Cardassians provoke a war with the Federation. The new CO arrives with plans to reorganize every department. Jellico is very hands-on, giving Riker specific details for reworking the shift rotations, and crawling trough the Jeffries tubes with LaForge. He cheerfully shows Troi pictures drawn by his son,…