TNG Season 5 Episodes

[00:00:03] Discovery going throttle up. [00:00:10] 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. [00:00:26] What is up, Trekkies? Trekkers. And of course, the Trek Curious. Welcome. Welcome back to episode of the Star Trek Warp Top 10 Podcast. How is everyone doing out there? [00:00:37] I am your host, Phil Rizzo. Gonna fly solo today. We're gonna do Next Gen Season 5. We're gonna get back to our our seasons and break down their episodes in those seasons. So we're talking Next Gen Season 5 today. But first, let me tell you, check out all of our content on Instagram threads, TikTok at twarp 10, shoot us an email, give me your list of your top 10 season 5 next gen episodes. Twarp tenmail.com let us know what's going on. And hey, maybe you're listening to this and Trek might not be your thing. Maybe you are Trek Curious. Just checking things out today, but if you're interested in some different content, my co partner Brian Parks and I do another podcast called Men of a Certain Five that's launched a few months ago and we got some episodes out there for you, so check that out as well. Men of a Certain Five, where we break down the top five. Everything, not just Star Trek talking books, movies, tv, music, sporting events, whatever you could think of, we got for you there. So back to Star Trek. Yeah, gonna be a solo pod today. I tend to do these season breakdowns not just as a supplement to the regular Top Tens or the Bombers Trek that we've been doing, but I think it's advantageous to do these solo. [00:01:56] You know, a couple reasons. The first reason is, you know, whereas I love doing my podcast with Brian, you Bomber. But, you know, he's not as familiar with, with these Next Gen episodes I'm going to be talking about. Actually, he's not familiar at all with these episodes I'm going to be talking about. So it just makes sense to kind of go solo on these instead of just having someone, you know, listening and just, you know, kind of, kind of trying to keep up with what I'm talking about because, you know, he's just not down with the specifics yet. But if you're following Bomber on Bomber's Trek, you know that he is in the middle of season one of Next Gen and he's moving along. So that's going to be something else. Can't wait for him to get to the point we're talking about now. I've done seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4 of next gen and I hope you enjoyed those episodes. [00:02:41] Yeah, so we're going to move on today. We're going to keep, keep going on the Next Gen train. We're going to do season five. So the year is 1991 and I am a senior in high school and Next Gen Season 5 is about to launch. [00:02:55] You know, I'm doing all the high school things you're supposed to do. I'm hanging out with friends, playing sports, you know, chasing after the ladies. Never caught any of them. But I'm also watching Star Trek because that is still a passion for me, even while I'm doing all those things you're supposed to be doing. And man, season five is a great season of Next Gen. You know, I've mentioned many, many times that seasons three through six are probably the best seasons of Next gen. Some of the best seasons of sci fi in general, in my humble opinion. But seasons three, four and five in particular are I think the, the apex for Next gen. [00:03:32] And if 3, 4 and 5 and sometimes 6 are the apex, then maybe 5, maybe 5 is just the best season of Next Gen. If I was ranking the seasons that I did, I can't remember where I ranked them back then, but if I was doing it right now, off the spot, I think I would have to say that season four is just a tad better than season five. But many can argue that as I'm looking through this list, this list was in fact the hardest one to put together so far out of all the Next Gen season. [00:04:00] Season one was kind of a no brainer. Season two as well, because there's a lot of clunkers in there. And season two only had 22 episodes. Season three was a bit harder. [00:04:10] Season four, not so much. I was able to do that pretty easily. But season five, this one was hard. [00:04:14] You know, out of 20, whatever it was, 22, 23 episodes, I would say like, like 17 of these are very, very good episodes. [00:04:22] There's maybe four or five at the most that are really just kind of bad. And that ratio is amazing. [00:04:30] You know, I often think about where we are with TV now. You know, these episodes back then on these networks and these syndicated shows, you know, they were a minimum 20, 22 episodes a season. [00:04:41] You know, today we're getting eight episodes, 10 episodes, you know, or even 13. When Netflix first launched and you know, that was sort of the model, at least it was for the Marvel shows that were on Netflix. And 13 was kind of too many for the way modern television structured. I think 10 is a good, good, good number. [00:04:58] Eight is okay, you know, 11, 12 even, but like 10, 10's perfect. And that's what, you know, Strange New Worlds is rocking. That's what lower decks was rocking. That's what Picard was rocking. But I gotta tell you, man, where's the ratio? [00:05:12] Where's the ratio of good episodes to bad? Right? If Next Gen season five can put together even conservatively, 14 or 15 good episodes out of 22, that's still a pretty damn good ratio. [00:05:26] So we should be getting at least seven bangers from these 10 episode seasons. And I gotta tell you, on Strange New Worlds this year, we did not get that. [00:05:35] Season three was, was the weakest season in my opinion for sure. I think it was the most uneven season. [00:05:41] And, you know, I'm still with the show. You know, it did have a couple really, really amazing episodes, but it had some clunkers too. And you know what, with 10 epis episodes, you shouldn't have clunkers. I'm sorry, it just, it's kind of unforgivable. [00:05:55] I'll give you one, maybe two. But any more than that, it's a failed season, not a failed show. But you know, I feel like season three was a letdown. It was a 50, 50. It was a, it was a hit or miss. And you can't have that with 10 episodes. [00:06:07] All that is to say that, man, did season five of Next Gen really bang it out. So let's talk about it, right? [00:06:16] This was one of the most rewatched seasons for me, right up there with three and four, you know, not counting early on when all I had was seasons one and two on vhs. But, you know, in my, in my later years, in the last, you know, three decades or so, when I throw on a episode of Next Gen, you know, just to kind of throw it on, it's season three, four or five. It's as simple as that. [00:06:35] So, yeah, so. So let's talk about what makes season five so. So great. You know, so they're flying high. Like I said, I mentioned the last couple pods. They're firing on all cylinders with seasons three and four. They're doing the same thing with season five. They really, really knew what they were doing. I have to imagine the characters were just so comfortable in their, in their skins and, you know, the production team and it was just, it was just flying high. And the ratings, I don't have numbers for you, but I remember just from back in the day that the ratings were never higher. [00:07:06] More people were watching, you know, Next Gen than a lot of the network shows in the top 10. So I mean, it was, it was pretty wild. So season five was an absolute banger. Let's talk about it. A couple disclaimers. First, I did not include Redemption Part two. [00:07:23] I did talk about it briefly on the season four pod. [00:07:30] I kind of made a decision, though. So for the. For the cliffhangers, for the two parters going forward, I'm going to talk about them as one episode, at least for the purposes of a top 10. And I feel like since there was so few two parters that weren't season enders or cliffhangers, I'm going to go ahead and count those as one episode as well. So going forward, in seasons five, six and seven, any two parters that are not season finales, such as Unifications Part one and two, or the Gambit Part one and two from season seven, or the Birthright from season six, and we're gonna go ahead and count those as one episode. Now, that being said, Birthright, which I just mentioned, I may have to ask that one, because as you may know, it is two completely different episodes in season six. Birthright Part one has a lot to do with Data and his dreams and Bashir coming on the station, coming on the ship from D Space 9 and sort of guest starring there. And then part two, which I don't even know why it's a part two. It's, you know, Wharf kind of dealing with his thing. So it really is two separate episodes. But Unification, the Gambit, Time's Arrow, Redemption, Descent, all of these two parters are pretty much, you know, the same coherent story. So I'm gonna go ahead and count those as one. And look, folks, you know that we change our minds on this pod a lot. We just kind of. We just want to talk about things in a free way, you know, yes, it's a structured pod. Yes, we have a top 10, but we don't want to be confined by that. Right? We don't want to be, you know, handcuffed into only talking about what we're supposed to talk about within the confines of a top 10. So, look, we're going to talk about whatever the hell we want. I hope you like that. I hope you're down with that. I like keeping it loose here, but I'm feeling like right now we're going to stick to those two parters as one episode. I certainly did with this pod did not include Redemption Part two, but I am going to talk about Time's Arrow at some point. I am going to talk about the other two parter, Unification. So we'll see where they land on this top 10. All right, listen, let's get into it. We're gonna try to keep this baby under an hour. It is just me talking, so we should be able to do that. Let's see if we can do it. Let's kick it off. Next Gen Season 5. The top 10 episodes from Season 5. Number 10. [00:09:43] A little shocker here. The Inner Light. [00:09:46] Yep, yep, yep, yep. The inner light. [00:09:48] I know a lot of people have this in their top five Next Gen episodes. Overall, a lot of Sci fi lists, a lot of Next Gen lists, a lot of Star Trek lists. This episode's phenomenal. I'm not gonna say it isn't. I get why this episode is so appreciated. I get why it's so emotionally resonant. I get why it's. It's heralded as being a great acted, produced and, you know, aired episode. However, never quite hit me the way it hit everyone else. I'm not blind. [00:10:18] I see when and where it should have hit me the right way. And it did to a degree, but it did not, you know, completely floor me like it did a lot of people. [00:10:26] Perhaps because upon rewatches, there are so many Sci Fi and Star Trek episodes that are kind of like this, right? You live a lifetime in your head. I shouldn't say so many hard time from D space 9 comes to mind. And I'm sure there's been a few, you know, Twilight Zone or Black Mirror examples, you know, of this. However, this is still a great episode. It's a 9.4 on IMDb. It's probably the highest rated episode from my top 10 on this list. We'll. We'll see as we go along. But the synopsis goes, Picard awakens to find himself living in a small village where he is a well known member of the community who is suffering from a delusion of being a starship captain. Interesting, right? [00:11:09] It's got a little normal again vibes from Buffy. Right. Remember the season six episode where she was in the asylum or whatever and she was almost convinced that she wasn't the Slayer and that, you know, she was imagining all of it. So there you go. So maybe because there are a lot of examples of this in sci fi, I don't feel like it's as unique as it is. However, other than the Twilight Zone, all the other episodes, I'm pointing out, this did come first. So, you know, take it how you want to take it. It's a great episode. And, and I get why, you know, I like Patrick Stewart's performance and this is absolutely Stellar. [00:11:41] It is a beautiful episode. It is beautifully acted. I do not remember. And guys, you know, I don't take notes most of the time on this thing. I just kind of fly from the seat of my pants here. His wife in. In the imaginary World was, you know, phenomenal job. I've seen her before a few times. She was in a couple 80s movies, now that I think about it. I think she was in Trading Places. [00:12:04] I'm pretty sure she was. She was the guy. She was the woman who called the cops and was like, you know, there's gonna be a fight on Torchies here on J Street. You better send somebody down. There's gonna be a fight. [00:12:17] And then a fight broke out. That's such a specific memory. I know, but I think she was that actress anyway. She's really great in this. His best buddy in this is really great. And again, this is not one of my super super Revisited episodes. So I don't remember his name, but I want to say Patak. I'll say, let's shoot that out there. We'll say it's Patak. I'll look that shit up. Patak. Patak. [00:12:37] But this guy, we've seen this guy a million times. You know, he was in my head first. He was the cop from the Fugitive who didn't want to admit that the prisoners escaped his clutches. And he was lying to Tommy Lee Jones till Tommy Lee Jones was like, do you want to change your story, sir? So that's him. He was very good in this, too. Good best friend. So this is a fascinating thing to think about, you know. So you have Picard, who wakes up in this different world, is convinced he's got to get back to his ship, something's wrong. Some alien is messing with him. Q is messing with him. Somebody's with him. [00:13:13] But eventually, you know, as time goes on, and that is the point, one of the points, I should say, of this episode. He just kind of believes that he is this person and. And that, you know, his life as a starship captain was all made up, was all in his head. [00:13:29] Pretty amazing to think about. [00:13:32] Pretty hard to swallow, unless you really give it some thought. And. And you can. I mean, we all know that time does amazing things. However, in 47 minutes or however long this episode is, you know, actual air time, it's kind of hard to swallow unless you commit to it. But it seems like most people committed to it, and they should have, because this was. This was a good episode, a really, really beautiful episode. [00:13:55] You know, the touching moment at the end when he's playing, he's playing his flute and, you know, a really subtle way to kind of let us know that he's never gonna sort of let this go completely. He's not never gonna be fully healed from this experience in his life. It's just really well done. And I would be remiss if I did not point out that when I was at, you know, Troy, good, good, good friend of the pod counselor Troy, his son's bar mitzvah, you know, they were calling people up to light a candle for him. I got called, I was quite honored to. To light the candle and was so honored and caught up in the moment that I did not even hear that Troy had the music playing the Picard theme as I was walking up. So afterwards, he's like, did you hear the music? And I was like, no, no, no. And he said, it's the Picard theme. And I swear to God, folks, this is around. This is right after season two aired of Picard, or maybe right before. I think this was Christmas 2023. I did not realize that that theme was a version of the flute from this episode. So shame on me. Good on Councilor Troy for not only picking that song and good on his son Jack for just being an awesome dude and letting me do that. It was an honor. But how the hell did I not know that? So good on them for doing that. Bad on me. Bad Phil, bad film. So, yeah, the Inner Light. Awesome episode. [00:15:19] Let's move on. So we're gonna move on to number nine. You didn't see that coming, did you? Number nine. That's right. Comes right after ten. Number nine, conundrum. [00:15:28] A fun episode. Okay, this may not be on your guys top 10 for season five, but it's on mine. 8.2 on IMDb. When an approaching alien ship wipes their memory, the crew struggles to put back together what happened. Simple premise, very cool. Another sci fi premise, right? Everybody loses their memory, right? Everybody. Nobody knows what's going on. Everybody has amnesia. [00:15:51] And what are we doing? We got to figure it out. [00:15:54] This was so well done in the cold open that even a staunch. Staunch, let's say it, staunch fan like me was almost fooled for a split second when the cold open happened. And all of a sudden, Ensign McDuff was on the bridge. And I was like, did I miss that they're adding a cast member? I mean, folks, I'm just stupid like that sometimes, right? [00:16:19] The first time I watch any kind of narrative, I kind of get swept up in it, and I don't analyze it. I don't really think about it too much. On a deep level, I kind of take it at face value. On a peripheral level, just pure emotion and humor, and I just kind of feel it for the first time, you know. Quick sidebar. I was flirting with the idea in my youth of being a movie critic. I was really into movies, and I was really into the study of film. And, you know, I think we've mentioned that we do independent films sometimes. But I'm telling you, the reason. One of the reasons didn't work out is because. Well, one reason because I'm fucking stupid. But the other reason is because of what I was telling you. I can't go to the movies, see a movie for the first time, and then analyze it completely. I just can't do it. I got friends who could do it. My good buddy Joe can do it very easily. [00:17:03] Luke as well, you all know Luke. He could do that easily. I have trouble doing that. So when I first saw this episode, I kind of just got swept up. You know, it's kind of like when. [00:17:12] Spoiler alert for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Dawn shows up, you know, at the end of the first episode of season five, and Buffy and you like, wait, wait, what did. She had a sister the whole time. That's ridiculous. That's what you know. But of course, there's an explanation, a very good one. And, you know, that's a great show. And they explained it away. Same thing here. You know, this was just a one off, this one episode. But I was a little fooled by it at first. I was like, okay, I guess there's another person. Maybe he's an ambassador. Blah, blah, blah. Shut up. They'll move on. Done. [00:17:41] So this is a fun episode. They got to figure out who they are, what they're doing. [00:17:45] First half of the episode is a lot of fun because they're all trying to figure out what their roles are. [00:17:49] You know, it's like a clean slate. Tabula rasa, if you will, for Buffy fans. And, you know, watching these characters go through this is kind of fun. You know, watching Wharf assert himself and just assume that he's the captain, partly because he's decorated as well, is. Is a little hard to watch. But, you know, it's Wharf, and we all forgive it. [00:18:10] And then obviously, there's Riker. There's Riker and Row. Riker and Row doing their thing. Michelle Forbes, always great to see her, you know, and. And watching them kind of. Kind of fall for each other is pretty. [00:18:25] Pretty fun. [00:18:27] The great moment at the end, when Riker is just sitting there and Troy and Ro have clearly been talking, and he's just kind of. He's just kind of in hot soup now, again, per one of the conversations we had a couple pods ago, I don't get. [00:18:41] I get why Roe would be mad at him. Troy's got no right to be mad at him, all right? They're not dating. This is not an Aaron Sorkin show. People who have not dated yet and might have feelings for each other don't get to be mad at each other. That's not the way the world works. [00:18:55] So there's a little bit of that here. So I was a little pissed at Troy for being pissed at Riker in this episode. However, Rose got kind of every right. I mean, she was the one who initiated, you know, the relationship. Let's. Let's. Let's. Let's not. [00:19:08] Let's not fool ourselves here, okay? But if she's got a grievance, I get it. Troy, knock it the fuck off. Go get some chocolate pudding and shut the hell up, all right? You should have felt that they were gonna do something, all right? But you didn't, so she's out. So the gist of this episode is kind of cool. So they don't just have some fun with it. Some episodes do that, right? The episode Fascination on D Space 9. Right. Their memories are all fucked up. They all just start making out with each other, and that's really the only, you know, threat. Yeah, they could die if they don't, you know, fix it. Blah, blah, blah. But that episode was really more for fun. Really more for fun. I'm also thinking about the angel episode Spin the Bottle, where they all lose their memory in a very tense moment in season four whenever the other. Every episode is really, really serious, and, you know, they kind of needed a little levity there. And Spin the Bottle was a lot of fun, but again, really just more about having fun. This episode was half fun, half drama. [00:20:04] They realize that they're on a mission. I mean, they're not, but they. They're tricked into thinking that they're actually on a mission to destroy, I want to say, the Lycians. [00:20:14] You know, he's part of a race that's trying to. [00:20:18] He's part of a race that's trying to destroy the other. The other side in an ongoing war. And rather creative way to do that is to take a more powerful species, more powerful ship, trick them into thinking that they're at war with these people, and have them destroy Them, and they very nearly did. [00:20:37] If not for Troy. Yes, I'm bringing Troy back. Okay. She did some good things in this episode. If not for Troy and Picard, it certainly would have been a disaster. So really fun episode. Check it out. Conundrum. A really fun, just sort of, you know, right in the middle of the season, run of the Mill kind of episode. But it was stood out for me. I really liked it a lot. [00:20:58] Number eight. This is another one that might get some, some people upset, but you know what, I gotta say it. Darmuk. Darmuk is only number eight. Okay. This is another one of those episodes that, you know, is generally considered one of the best episodes of the show. [00:21:14] It's often considered one of the best episodes of Star Trek in general. [00:21:19] You know, maybe not to the degree of, you know, city on the Edge of Forever or, you know, the Visitor or, you know, episodes like that, but. But it's up there. I would wager that it would certainly be in the top 30 all time star Trek episodes, but we'll see. So Darmuk an 8.7 on IMDb Picard must learn to communicate with a race that speaks in metaphor under a difficult set of circumstances. Certainly a fun episode, a great premise. One of the ones didn't hit me as hard as hit everybody else. Much like the inner light, you know, I like this episode. I love Paul Winfield. [00:21:55] I loved him in Terminator. I loved him in Star Trek too, you know, but it just didn't, it didn't hit me. I love that. It's sort of like the arena premise from the original series. [00:22:08] And then of course, you know, season three, one of their good episodes from Strange New Worlds this year was sort of, you know, the Metatron set up another situation like that with Ensign Ortegas. And you know, I can't remember a lot of the details about the episode. It kind of raced through the season. We'll revisit it. But yeah, so episodes like that. So again, it's been done before, but this was really cool and, and obviously this episode stands out for different reasons than the inner light does. You know, this isn't a beautiful episode, but, you know, Darmuk and Gilad at Tanagra has practically become, you know, a mantra for certain. You know, Star Trek fans and T shirts and, you know, memes, you know, so. So this, this is a pretty widely quoted episode. Lower Decks does a phenomenal job of poking some fun and taking Temerians to sort of another level on, on a couple other episodes with K. Sean, the character on There. So, you know, because of, it's funny because of more Trek lore than the actual knowledge of the Enterprise's mission. The lower decks crew kind of knows some of the language of the Temerians, again, because they probably go to conventions, not because they study history. So if you follow that, good for you, because I'm not sure I did. Yeah. So, you know, it is what it is, this episode. This episode gets the job done. [00:23:22] It's really great. There's some great bonding, great moments between the Temerian captain and Picard. You know, I love the story of Gilgamesh when he's telling the story. Even though he can't understand Picard, he's still understanding that he's hearing a story. And it's more about the camaraderie between captains, you know, which was, which was, you know, the point of having them on the. The planet alone and fighting this, this really cool creature, you know, that, yes, was very early 90s effects, but I think it, it was fine. It got the job done. Anytime you see Picard stab a monster with a knife, that's got to be a good episode, right? So. So there you go. So, Shaka. When the Walls Fell. It's only number eight. Sorry about that, folks. Not much to say about it, to be honest. So we're just gonna move on. So, number seven, let's have some fun now. Number seven, we got a rookie card here. Ensign freaking row, baby. I love this episode. [00:24:12] This is one of the most rewatched episodes that, you know, is in my, in my Trek diet over the last, you know, three decades. This is not only Ensign Rose rookie card, but this is the Bajoran rookie card, kids. So much like the wounded in season four where we're introduced to the Cardassians. Season five, we are. The Trek world is introduced to the Bajorans in this episode. Or the Bajora as they are sometimes referred to on Next Gen and here and there on D Space 9. We'll get that right someday. [00:24:42] Ensign Rowe. A 7.8 on IMDb Captain Picard foils a plot against the Bajorans with his new Bajoran officer. Ensign Row. That's an uninspired description, but hey, we know. We know what it is. It gets the job done, I suppose. So. Ensign Row Nedis is fun. So Ro Laren comes on board and believe me, we're going to talk about the roll Erin Kieran Aries thing in a second. So Ro Laren comes on board. She is a disgraced officer because something went wrong on Some other mission. Much like Tam El Brun in Three with the Garushta disaster. [00:25:16] So this is another one of those deals where no one wants to serve with Ensign Row, but she's going to come on board because the Admiral tells Picard to do it. Kind of happens a lot if you think about it. We don't see a lot of star bases on this show. We've seen a couple times, but really it's just Picard in his ready room with an Admiral going, you must do this, Jean Luc. It's all up to you. So here you go. But this admiral, you know, we all know he's a little fink jerk off, but we'll get to that. [00:25:40] So Ensign Row comes on board with her orders and Riker doesn't like her and, you know, certain people don't like her. Guinan steps up. Good for Guinan. Welcome back, Guinan. You know, who joined us in season two. Still on board, still serving drinks in 10. Forward. Whoopi Goldberg always does a great job as Guinan. We love that. And you know, she. Be friends, bro. So, yes, this episode's really twisty and turny. It's really sort of a forerunner of what the political landscape would look like on D space 9, at least for the first few seasons, you know, between the politics of, you know, Bajorans and Cardassians and post war, post occupation, post holocaust sort of situation going on. So, you know, it's very tricky. [00:26:24] But we meet, we meet the Bajorans, like I said, and we, we are trying to figure out who was responsible for a terrorist act. It looks like it's, it's the Bajora, but it is not, you know, so we meet some interesting characters and again, but I'm not going to bother you with all the details because Lord knows I don't remember them off the top of my head. But, you know, the character of Ensign Row is really, really great. You know Ensign Row, who was supposed to be Kira on. We're supposed to be the Bajorian liaison on D Space nine. [00:26:55] She was their first choice. [00:26:57] I'm certainly glad we got, you know, the Nana Visitor. I'm glad we got her. I would have like to have seen more Michelle Forbes, but not at the expense of, of the Kira that we know and love. So I guess it all works out in the end. But I do, I do like the character Events in Row. I wish she was on more episodes. I was absolutely thrilled, spoiler alert. [00:27:19] That she was in Picard Season 3 and had a. Had a fitting and honorable send off there. That was a wonderful moment in the bar with, with Picard and Ro finally, you know, tying that, that untied knot or whatever you want to say. [00:27:35] That dangling thread from season seven of Next Gen. So we're glad we got that. Just a fun episode. It's fun, you know, watching Ro interact. It's interesting watching her loyalties be torn back and forth between, you know, not only what she's being ordered to do, not only what Picard wants her to do, but what she personally thinks is right. We're dealing with somebody much like Major Kira or Colonel Kira, I should say, who has her own set of morals and rules that she follows despite what the provisional government or Starfleet or the Federation or anybody's telling her what to do. So Ensign Rose kind of like that, too. She's very strong willed, like most Bajoran women are, apparently. [00:28:18] Good episode. So let's talk about the Kieran Aries thing. So maybe somebody can help me understand this because I've tried for years and I don't know. Ro Laren comes on board. Her name is Ro Laren Picard refers to as Ensign Laren. She corrects her. I'm sorry, she corrects him and says, row, Ensign, Row. [00:28:37] In Bajoran culture, the names are switched, right? So I'm not, you know, Phil Rizzo. I'm Rizzo Philip. Right. Or I'm. I'm Ensign Philip. Whatever. That's what I'm assuming that means with the Row Larry Laren row thing. So Row Laren is Ensign Row, not Ensign Laren. Then we meet Kieran Aries. Okay, and she's Major Kira, which is fine. Okay, that makes, that makes total sense because, you know, just like Ro Laren, she would have a strong willed personality. She'd be strongly attached to her culture and she would want to be a purist about it. So she's not Major Neryse, she's Major Kira. But when they refer to her by her first name, and by them, I mean, a lot of the characters on the show, they call her Nerisse. Sometimes they call her Kira. Sometimes. Okay, Odo calls her Nerisse, especially when they became romantically involved. Does that mean that Nerise is the predominant name? You know what I mean? Like, we call ourselves, you know, by our first names for the most part. And I would say, okay, that's fine. So if you're going with Neurice, then it's the opposite of what Ro's doing. But I guess it still kind of makes sense. But then some of them call her Kira. And not just like officially, but like in their personal lives. Kira. What are you doing? Nurice? What do you know? So you know, I don't know if neurice is reserved for lovers or family. And that's why Odo uses it, because you rarely hear Dax or Cisco or Bashir refer to her as Nerisse. They do sometimes, but usually if they call her by just one name, it's Kira. So I'm a little confused by that. Did I ever do any research on it? Hell no. You know I don't do that shit. [00:30:20] I've got a long standing four decade record of never looking anything up. I just wonder. I wonder about it and then I don't resolve that issue. I just bring it to you people. So that's my bad. But I've always been curious about that. [00:30:33] And be honest, I'm not even sure if I did look it up on Memory Alpha or just googled it. I'm not sure I would get a straight answer on that. But hey, listen, if I'm an idiot, let me know. If it's an obvious answer, let me know. If there's no answer, let me know. Always curious about that. Ensign row number seven. Good episode. A lot of fun. Welcome to the Star Trek universe, Bajorans. And Ensign row number six. Here we go. Times Arrow. This is the season finale of season five. Times arrow part one. An 8.2 on IMDb as of this recording. And time zero part two is an 8.3, I believe. Or vice versa. Either way, we're going to get a set in 8.2.5 for the average of these two episodes. And we're going to talk about them as the one episode. Like I said, so. Times Arrow. Captain Picard and his archaeological curiosity are called upon by scientists from Earth when they find evidence to support beliefs that aliens had visited Earth in the late 1800s. I love that that synopsis does not spoil the cold open. One of the best cold open cliffhangers of all time for sure. [00:31:38] Big spoiler alert for this one, folks. So they are called back to Earth because scientists found Data's head buried under San Francisco. They found his head buried under San Francisco. [00:31:53] I think that's just fucking great. That's just a great way to start a episode, start a two parter, start a season finale. [00:31:59] It's just so much fun. You're like, what the is going on? Right? Clearly there's gonna be time travel. Clearly there's gonna be, you know, a lot of, you know, paradox kind of stuff. It's. It's gonna be a lot of fun, you know? It is. So, yeah, so they find Data's head, and then it's like, holy shit, when is this gonna happen? How is it gonna happen? What are we gonna do about it? Right? So the whole crew is walking around like, fuck, Data's gonna die. We don't know when, but, you know, clearly he's. [00:32:24] He's mortal, which I'm not sure we didn't know. [00:32:28] I know Data mentioned in the episode there's a possibility he'd be alive forever. [00:32:33] You know, with maintenance, one assumes. But I suppose seeing a friend, a comrade, a fellow, you know, shipmate dead, whether they are or not, does do something to you, I would imagine. I don't want to imagine, but I could imagine seeing a family or a friend or a loved one dead. And even if they weren't, and I knew they were going to die someday with a surety, I'd still be pretty shook by that, I suppose. So there you go. So we get to have our cake and eat it, too, in this episode. And by that I mean, I know I've mentioned before the fascinating aspect of watching an episode or a movie in which people are mourning someone's death, but they didn't really die. So we get that a lot. You know, in the season three episode the Most Toys, when everybody thought Data died in the shuttle accident, we got to experience what it would be like for them to mourn Data. Even though we knew he wasn't dead, they didn't know. So you get that. You get that very, I don't know how to put it, like, morbid fascination kind of thing, you know, like, we don't want to admit it, but we're all. We all have that morbid curiosity, right? We all. And I've mentioned this before, too, specifically, so I know I'm retreading. We all are curious about our own funeral, right? At least I don't see we all. But Lord knows, you know, me and friends have, you know, joked about this for years. Who would come to your funeral, who would cry, who would this. Who were that? So we get to see that. We get to see an aspect of that in this episode. Not quite the same thing as the Most Toys or other episodes in which we thought people had died, but we do get to see an aspect of that, and it's interesting and it's really touching to see the impact that this artificial life form has had on this crew. You know, the moment in the turbolift is really, really interesting when Troi and Riker are talking and Data walks in the turbolift and they stop talking. And Data points out that that usually means they were talking about him. [00:34:27] And, you know, Troi repeats what she had just told Riker and says, you know, something along the lines the way an Android would describe, you know, getting used to someone. You know, my circuits have been, blah, blah, blah, you know what I'm talking about. I'm not going to embarrass myself. But then Data says something very human. It says, I've become quite fond of you too. [00:34:47] And you as well, Counselor or whatever. [00:34:50] Great moment. Love Data. [00:34:52] You know, it's one of, one of the many, many reasons why he's my favorite character. All that aside, we also get this great sci fi story where these alien from, I want to say Davidia 2 are going back in time to San Francisco in the 1800s to steal people's essences. They're basically killing people and they picked a time that masked, that was masked by disease. So, you know, there was a cholera epidemic, I guess, in San Francisco. I didn't know this shit, but I guess there was a cholera epidemic or some shit like that in San Francisco in the late 1800s. And that's when these aliens went back because then they figure out they, they kill all these people. They would just get lost in the shuffle, nobody would miss them. [00:35:30] Plus, you know, it's pre DNA and all that, so it's pretty hard to find a killer back then. [00:35:36] Hence, you know, Jack the Ripper 130 years later getting discovered. So, you know, I wonder why they didn't go back to the, you know, the 1300s, you know, the 14th century with the Black Plague. Seems like that would be much, much easier to do since, you know, at least half the population was wiped out. But whatever it is, I guess they didn't want to do the, do the, the that they had the backlot there that could look like San Francisco, I suppose. You know, it's what Paramount has makes total sense. That's the exact reason why in future's end, you know, Voyager goes back to, coincidentally, 1996, because that's exactly the year it was. And you don't got to do anything. You just show up on the Santa Monica Pier and film. So I get it. I totally get it. This is network television and we can't all be, you know, beggars can't be choosers. So no problem. It's an awesome episode even with all that. [00:36:23] So, yeah, so they got to figure out who these creatures are, who these aliens are, and why they're, they're killing people in 1800 San Francisco. So Data gets sucked back in time and they're like, oh, well, I guess he's gonna, guess he's gonna lose his head at some point soon. [00:36:38] You know, I think we all saw that coming. You know, they didn't in universe, you know, really, you know, they're mourning is kind of silly. I mean, it could have been a thousand years from now that Data lost his head. But you know, again, this is, you know, television, so we know it's gonna happen in this episode. So, so they got to go back and find Data and figure out what's going on and stop, you know, the aliens from their intrusions into Earth's past. [00:37:03] Great cliffhanger. I'm not as good as the past two cliffhangers. I don't think they thought there was a chance they could top Picard being a Borg or Tashi York coming back as a Romulan, but them going back in time to San Francisco and you gotta wait the whole summer to see what happens. Not bad. Not bad. And part two was an absolute banger, man. It's, it's Data hanging out with a guy in who doesn't know Data yet, but she's studying humans in San Francisco. And none other than, none other than Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens himself is hanging out in part two. A lot of fun. [00:37:34] You know, Data knocking around Jack London is, you know, getting his freaking door for him. It's pretty interesting. I know that's sounds crazy, but if you watch the episode, you know it's true. And you know, we get to see Data gamble, we get to see, you know, Gold Ducat as a human. We get to see, you know, Marco Lamo as just a regular gambler. [00:37:54] And we talked about this episode before, so, you know, it's okay, but it's a lot of fun, especially, especially when they're staying in the, the boarding house or whatever it is, and, and the, the woman who runs the house keeps coming and asking for the rent. An absolute trip watching these guys fumble around and try to pretend they're an acting troupe. And Picard making her blush, kissing her on the cheek and all that. That's just so much fun. So much fun to watch. [00:38:20] Fun episode with high stakes, you know, kind of great sci fi premise. What more could you ask for, really? In a two parter. In a cliffhanger, you know, times Arrow. And I won't embarrass myself by going into detail, But Luke Boyle, Dr. Space himself, has told me that Time's arrow is actually a physics term, and again, that's. I'm stopping right there. Next time we have him on the pod, I'll have him explain what that means, but apparently. Oh no, I think he did. They're on the pod. Now that I think about it, when we were doing the. [00:38:48] We were doing the season finales, I think he did talk about it. So. Kudos, Dr. Space. Thank you. [00:38:54] Clearly I forgot everything you said to me, except the fact that it had something to do with physics. [00:38:59] Number five. Another two parter. Let's go. Another two parter. I think you know what this is. Unification part one and two, ladies and gentlemen. [00:39:07] We are not worthy. We are fucking not worthy. [00:39:11] Leonard Nimoy is on Next Gen. Unification, part one and two. Well, I mean, you know, he doesn't show up till the very end of part one, but we get Leonard Nimoy, we get Spock on Next Gen, and we get another, another dose of Sarek. What a thrill. It was a thrill for me back then. And I didn't even, you know, I wasn't even a devotee to the original series at the time yet I was just all about the movie movies, and I was still in reverence of Mr. Nimoy. So it must have been an absolute thrill for a bunch of old school fans who stayed with Next Gen through the shaky first couple seasons. And now you're rewarded with not only Bones in the pilot episode, but you get Spock in season five, you get another little visitor in season six, and then of course, Star Trek generation. So we do get a lot of people from TOS on this series, but Spock is Spock. So, yeah, so Unification parts one and two. So this is a nice little pickup from where we left off with Redemption Part two with Commander Selah, AKA Tasha Yar's daughter, trying to hunt down Spock and figure out what the hell he's doing on Romulus. Guess what? The Federation and Starfleet are pretty curious too, because he just kind of picked up and went, very Spock. Like I'm noticing, right? Lot of this on, on the original series that, that I'm seeing now. Spock just kind of does shit. Maybe doesn't tell Kirk, maybe doesn't tell anybody else, but all of a sudden, Spock, what are you doing? And all of a sudden, boom. I've got a good reason. Captain, check this shit out. [00:40:39] I think that's an exact quote from Friday's Child. He said, captain, check this shit out. So we got 8.2 and 8.3 for unifications, part one and two. Picard and data follow Spock into Romulan space on a dangerous mission. [00:40:53] On Romulus, Picard finds Spock as well as an underground peace movement, a double agent, a bold ulterior motive against the Federation and a familiar adversary. Well, that kind of says a lot there, and it doesn't spoil anything. So good for them. Yeah. So this is cool, man. We get. Not only do we get some more Spock, not only do we get some really, really fun moments on the Klingon ship with our good pal Steven Root. I say, good pal. I can't. I know him. I feel like I do because he's Jimmy James. [00:41:22] But, you know, as Luke pointed out on the guest stars pod, the very second pod that we did. I didn't even know that that was Steven Root in that Klingon costume. So he is the Klingon captain. And they're shipping data in Picard who have been transformed to look Romulan to Romulus because the Klingons have a cloaking device and they can get away with it. [00:41:42] Nice little joint mission there. [00:41:44] But that's. So we gotta look at a real look at Romulus, which I don't think we've really gotten a great look at Romulus before. Have we seen Romulus at all before in Trek lore, before this episode? Have we set foot on Romulus in an episode? I don't know if that's the case. I'm gonna think about that. Not gonna waste your time now, but that's pretty cool. So we may perhaps have our first look at Romulus here. And that. That's kind of cool. You know, interestingly enough, it looks a lot like the Klingon homeworld. [00:42:11] But it is what it is. Hey, production design, I'm not picking on you. You guys did a great job. [00:42:16] No problem. It looks just like Ventax 2 as well. But that's okay. That's okay. [00:42:22] So we got Picard Data on Romulus. We got a Klingon ship waiting under cloak, which is pretty remarkable that, you know, given the Romulans and the Klingons have cloaking technology, they still can't really penetrate the cloak. [00:42:35] Really, really weird, right? We find Spock, and turns out Spock is trying to unify, reunify Romulans and Vulcans who have that shared heritage. And yet Romulans have that shared heritage with Riemanns, too. Now, that's weird. So what are Riemann's to Vulcans? Just kind of like the ugly stepbrother. Are they a distant cousin? [00:42:55] That Friend who just tags along and doesn't really want to, you know, you don't really want to see him that much. Maybe let's just forget the Riemanns for now, and we'll talk about the Romulans and the Vulcan. So, yeah, they have a shared heritage. Clearly they got the ear thing going on. They, you know, diverged centuries ago. [00:43:12] And Spock thinks it's in, you know, both species interest to reunify the species. [00:43:18] Interesting. Interesting that Spock would devote, you know, the last chapter or, you know, so we thought the last chapter of his, you know, ambassadorial life to doing this. [00:43:29] Hey, you believe in it. You believe in it. So a lot of fun things going on in this episode here. [00:43:33] You know, a great scene when Picard, Spock, and Data escape from Sela's office. [00:43:39] Really clever stuff going on there. [00:43:41] Spoiler alert. Very inside man. If you ever seen that Spike Lee movie. Great, great, great New York movie about a bank robbery starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. [00:43:53] Yeah. So very inside man. [00:43:56] Very cool, cool escape there. We get a little more about Sela. Well, really not more about her. Just the fact that she's. [00:44:02] She ain't coming around anytime soon. She's just ruthless and just. It's always a game of chess with the Romulans, right? Picard is dead, right? It's always a game of chess. Like, you know, you got the one pro console you think is progressive, and turns out he's just a. Like everybody else, so. And. And Pardek Pardak's a, too, so, you know, we do get some genuine Romulan peeps, you know, who are kind of with Spock's, you know, movement, especially the kid, you know, I can't remember his name, but that was a fun little. Fun little dynamic there. So fun episode. Nice world building for Romulus and, you know, Spock, Spock, Spock, Spock, Spock. [00:44:42] Love it, love it, love it. And, folks, by the way, I'm at the end of season two on my TOS rewatch, and. Holy, it's so good. I. I apologize for not being, you know, so devoted to the original series before like I am now, but I am loving it, man. I'm looking forward to coming on, watching these episodes. I enjoyed them the first time, but, you know, it was more like an assignment. It was academic. It was like, I got to get these done. I got to watch them. And even though I didn't rush through it a lot of nights, it was. I was doing my duty. But this is an absolute pleasure. I'll even Tell you, I just watched the pattern. Patterns of force is where I'm at. So rewatching all of them, they're really latching on to my brain now. Like I said, first time through, I don't remember. So second time through, I'm really picking up on a lot of the nuances. And I'm gonna go ahead right now and apologize to not just you folks out there who are die hard ToS fans, but Troy Leonard and Luke Boyle and anybody else who I sort of defied. [00:45:40] Not defied, who I kind of, you know, I kind of said Kirk wasn't really a good captain, Bones wasn't really a good doctor. Scotty didn't really do. Now, Scotty really hasn't done shit yet. I know in season three, he does a little more, but Bones is doing a lot more than I remember, and. And Kirk's doing way more than I remember. So kudos, because Captain Kirk is Captain Kirk, and I'm glad Bones is Bones, and I think Scotty will be Scotty at some point. Now, I was never down on Spock, if you remember. I mean, I've been. I've been a Spock devotee since, you know, since 1982. And when I watched the original series, I had such a reverence for him. And now it's just growing deeper. [00:46:17] So, yeah, just a quick little love letter to what I'm going through with tos. I love it. I've even stopped re watching Enterprise and Discovery because I was making those lists as well. [00:46:26] They're on hold, baby. I'm going through TOS and we're gonna do that top 10 very soon. I'd say within a couple months, we'll have a top 10 original series pod out there for you. And then we'll get back to Enterprise, and then we'll go back to Discovery, and then we'll do Picard and all these other shows. Then we didn't do the top 10 for yet, but TOS knocking it out of the park, man. Thank you so much. My heart is heavy with gratitude that I'm finally watching this show. And I know my father is loving it too. Rest in peace. All right, that was Unifications part one and two. So number four, we're getting down to it now. [00:46:58] A matter of time. I've talked about this episode before. This is so much fun. [00:47:03] This is the episode starring Matt Frewer as Professor Burlinghoff Rasmussen, the role that was written for Robin Williams, as we talked about on our guest stars pod. So A Matter of Time 7.2 on IMDb reaching Panthera 4 after an asteroid wreaks havoc of catastrophic proportions. The Enterprise crew deals with trying to save the planet, as well as deal with someone who claims to be a historian from the future. [00:47:27] Great episode, great description and a super, super fun episode. [00:47:34] It's almost like if we were, if we as fans of next gen were transported onto the bridge, how much, you know, fanboy crazy would we go? We'd be going crazy, right? Oh, my God. Because ready room. Oh, my God. This and that. Oh, Geordi and wharf and blah, blah, blah. It's kind of like that. He's playing the role of a, I want to say 26th century historian. Don't quote me on that. I know he's not from there anyway, but. [00:47:57] So he's playing the role of a historian who's coming back to study this mission at Pen Tower 4 and generally speaking, study the Enterprise and Captain Picard. So he's doting on them and he's measuring his ready room. He's, oh my God, it's 10 meters. I thought it was 10 meters and blah, blah, blah. And he is just able to sort of convince the whole crew that he is here just, you know, for academic purposes. And Picard's like, all right, listen, we, we know time travel is real. We've all done it multiple times, so let's, let's give him whatever he needs. He's just a who's torn. [00:48:29] You know, the, the Rasmussen is clever to not answer too many questions, just enough to keep him hooked. [00:48:36] Obviously there's something going on here. He's not. You could tell from the end of the first act that he is not who he's. Or at least he's probably not who he says he is based on his little I've got a pill or something like that. [00:48:47] So, yeah, so what. What really makes this episode fun is Matt Frewer himself. And that's one of the reasons why he was like so high on my guest stars. Listen, he is just tons of fun. It's such an oddball acting choice that he kind of does. [00:49:01] I mean, he's kind of an oddball actor really, but character actor. But he is. He seems like he had a lot of fun with this. The actors probably had fun in general doing this episode. It was sort of a low stakes episode. [00:49:14] What the am I saying? That's actually the opposite of true. It is the highest stakes episode ever because, you know, we can have, you know, lost in the millions, really, if Picard makes the wrong choice. And that is, you Know purportedly why Rasmussen is here to see this. [00:49:30] This choice in this mission and the success of this mission. But I guess he just got lucky. He just showed up, and all of a sudden he's like, all right, this is where they're at. I guess I got to tell him I'm here to watch this. What if nothing happened? Rasmussen, can you imagine if he came back? He's like, I'm here to study this mission. And then, like, you know, like, nothing happened. They just gave a Snickers bar to somebody on the planet. They flew away, and they're like, you came back to watch that? Like, you're a fraud. So I guess he kind of got lucky. He just kind of showed up, and they were just doing that. [00:49:58] If I missed something in the episode, let me know. But, you know, it's a tiny little. Little. You know, you guys suspend your disbelief there a little bit, but doesn't take away from how fun this episode is. I've talked about it a lot, so I'm not going to go into too much detail, but I, you know, I just think it's a great exercise in. It's great morality exercise. Right? [00:50:20] You know, is it right to save millions of people in the moment, even if it will cost more people their lives centuries from now? Right? Like, how do you answer that? How do you even. How does Picard make that decision? Right? He can only, you know, latch onto what he can grasp, what he can deal with now. That's all he can wrap his head around. And his head is pretty goddamn awesome. So if he can't see beyond the morality in front of him, how is. How are any of us expected to. To do that? You know what I mean? [00:50:53] So it's a great moral conundrum there. [00:50:56] It all works out. [00:50:58] Some nice touches, nice moments. Couple humorous moments when he's checking his watch and 10 forward, they're all like, what the hell's going on? You know, is something gonna happen right now? Yeah. They're all kind of on edge, actually. Reminds me of the. The episode of American dad where Roger becomes a visionary. He could see the future, and. And so the family can't do anything without asking him first. What happens? What are we doing? Should we go out? Should we stay in? What are we gonna do? You know, it's a funny episode, so that's fun. And then, you know, like I said, Rasmussen putting the moves on Beverly is kind of fun. I love how Beverly entertains it. She was. He almost had her. I mean, I. I think. I think he was one drink away from bagging Beverly Crusher. Troy was having nothing to do with it. [00:51:41] Troy, by the way, who. [00:51:43] They kind of got away with her missing the mark on this one. [00:51:48] You know, I think it was like a. I sense something weird, but I can't really tell. And then Jordy has that throwaway line. You know, the best magicians will never let you see what's up their sleeve, counselor. Like that's supposed to explain why her empathic ability failed us all. It is what it is, you know, it's television in the first season. They would have just not had Troy in that episode, you know, but can't do that. We don't want to see Marina Sirtis gone for an episode. We want as much Marina Sirness as we can get. [00:52:15] So we're gonna. We're gonna leave her in and we're just gonna explain it away like that. So it is what it is. But, hey, I'm not talking about why this episode is flawed. I'm talking about why this episode is fun. And it's because of Matt Frewer and the premise. It's a lot of fun. [00:52:26] Number three, the Next Phase. What a fun episode, everybody. We got Ensign Row back, Jordy's front and center. This is a fun episode. We're gonna forget about the fact that they're f. Feet are hitting the decks on all of these decks. We're gonna forget about that. We're gonna forget about the fact that the physics make no fucking sense. It doesn't matter, because this episode is so much goddamn fun. So let's talk about it. 8.3 on IMDb a transporter malfunction combined with the Romulan ship under stress and a damaged cloaking device creates the illusion that Ensign Row and Geordi are dead. But Geordi doesn't believe it to be so, and he acts accordingly. What was I just talking about? Right. Talk about getting to have your cake and eat it, too, with these two characters dying, quote, unquote, right? So Geordi dies, Ro dies, as far as the crew is concerned, and we get to see it again. We get to see them mourning these two characters and the morbid fascination that we have as viewers with watching them throw a funeral for people who aren't dead. [00:53:22] Now, that's not the focus of the episode. I should say it's not the main focus of the episode. And it's not. Not the exact reason why I love it so much. [00:53:29] Like I said, I say episodes are fun a lot. But this is just fun. This is just a Fun, fun, fun episode. It's the most fun I think I had watching Next Gen in an episode that wasn't designed to be goofy or fun. You kind of know what I mean? Like, this is the one episode, like, with a sci fi premise that was just so inherently fun that it didn't need to be goofy or comical. It was just fun to watch them walk through walls and watch the actors pretend they can't see them when they're waving their hands in front of their eyes. Michelle Forbes is great in this episode, and LeVar Burton is amazing in this episode, and Brent Spiner is amazing in this episode. I love Data's dedication to Geordi, and I love Brent Spiner's performance, not just in mourning Jordi, but in figuring out what happened to them and then putting it all together in that great funeral celebration at the end of the episode. But we had a lot more than that, man. We got the Romulans. We got a Romulan who's going through the same thing. Spoiler alert. What a cool twist that was. When they walk past the Romulan and all of a sudden he sees them and he's also caught in the same thing. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Love it. They're running around, they're knocking people through bulkheads out into space. [00:54:40] What more could you ask for? [00:54:43] You know, you get a supercharged Row episode. Like I said, she's all over this. Probably the most screen time Rose had since Ensign Row. And I. I say since Henson Row, it probably wasn't a few episodes, was probably only a few episodes later. But I guess what I mean, in all the Row episodes that I could think of, conundrum included, I think this might have been the most screen time outside of Ensign Row, and perhaps even including Incinero, but neither here nor there, kids. So the next phase is fun. This is a notable episode, personally, because this is the last episode of Next Gen that my brother Drew watched. I'm not sure why I remember that. [00:55:20] No, that's not true. I remember why I remember that. And it's because I can't believe he stopped watching after such a cool episode. Right? Oh, Best of Both Worlds, Part one. I'm done with this. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna watch the Equalizer instead. Or, you know, Trapper John. Are you out of your mind? It's the best of both worlds, but Next Phase is not the best of. Yeah, Trapper John. That was a show. That was an actual show. I guarantee most you don't remember that, but that was a show in the 80s. Anyway, he stopped watching after this episode. I can't explain it because remember, he liked this episode and he made it five and a half seasons through and then he kind of stopped watching. So it is what it is. I. I can't force anybody to like or watch a show if they don't like it and they don't want to watch it. So it is what it is. Next phase. [00:56:03] Just. Just a super fun episode in the strictest definition of the word fun for me, anyway. Had a blast watching it. All right, folks, we're down to our final two here. Let's go number two. And I know a lot of you are talking about my number one might not be on the tip of your tongue right now, but I know you're thinking, he better have this episode on there. My number two is Iborg. Of course it is. Of course it is. [00:56:30] Hugh, come on. [00:56:32] This is, this is an absolutely phenomenally written and performed science fiction show science fiction episode. It just is. [00:56:43] You know, we get. We get a captured Borg, something we've never had, and we're going to use it. We're going to use it to destroy the entire Borg race. Let's talk about it. 8.8. Deservedly so on IMDb. The enterprise finds a lone board drone separated from the collective and brings him aboard. The drone begins to reassert his individuality, but his presence causes differing levels of fear and sympathy from various crew members. [00:57:08] That is one of the best descriptions I've heard in a long time. Well done, whoever wrote that on IMDb. Well done. That is a very apt description. So we have this captured board, like I mentioned, and we are going to use him. [00:57:20] Him is a subjective term for a Borg, but we're going to use him to destroy his entire race. We're gonna inject, infect him with a sort of a computer, I guess, a paradox, I guess an unresolvable paradox that will be spread into the board collective and will shut everybody down. Now, I'm not sure if this would have worked. I'm not sure if they, you know, thought to use it again in other circumstances, but it's a pretty cool premise. It's not original to Star Trek. I know that. [00:57:53] I know I can't cite who, but I know this was in an early sci fi story in the, in the mid 20th century. I can't remember who or what, but I do know it does not come from Star Trek. [00:58:04] At least I should say. I'm pretty sure it doesn't come from Star Trek, but very cool nonetheless. So they're going to implant this virus, this computer virus into the Borg collective consciousness and they're going to, you know, wipe out this, this mortal threat to the Federation once and for all. [00:58:20] Or are they? They get to know this guy, they get to know this, this, this Borg, this lone Borg who is nothing more than a lost soul, a lost, frightened soul since having been cut off from the rest of the Borg collective, you know, to the point where his individuality starts to come to the forefront. [00:58:40] And, you know, Geordi befriends him and Data befriends him and Troy befriends him and they give him a name. And now we have Hugh. [00:58:49] Jonathan Del Arco, great actor. He was great in this episode. He was great in Picard season one. [00:58:56] And, you know, it's great that he came back. Great, great job there. And the effects. I don't think he was in Descent Part 1 and 2 in Season 6 and 7, but I know that the effects of Hugh going back to the collective with this newfound sense of individuality did cause that civil war that we see at the end of season six among the Borg. [00:59:16] You know, we're a good, our good enemy Lore was once again back and involved. So. [00:59:22] Oh, incidentally, folks, tonight, this very night, we're also going to record Data Lore on Bomber's trek. He just met Laura for the first time, so that's gonna be fun to talk about. So we will get to that. [00:59:34] Anyway, Iborg, so this is great. And obviously that's based on iRobot. Now, I'm not sure if that was where the, you know, the Paradox virus thing came from, from Isaac Asimov. I doubt it. I think it's just two different sort of sci fi things that they're kind of incorporating. But Iborg, I Robot, I like that a lot. [00:59:53] So, yeah, so we get to know Hugh and we like Hugh, we love Hugh and we no longer want, we're with them on this. We no longer want Hugh to, to be this, this weapon of destruction. We want him to, to embrace his individuality, much like Seven of Nine would a few years later. So we want that. We need that. We crave that as humans. We want that uniqueness and that individual spark to be a part of every sentient being because it gives our existence validation, right? We look for that as human beings watching these narrative stories because we need to see ourselves in these characters and we need our existence and our meaning and the depth of our meaning to be validated. Right? So that's why we're kind of rooting for Hugh. And that's why we want Hugh. And also Jonathan Del Arco is awesome. So there you go. So that's why we like Hugh. [01:00:40] They convinced Picard and Guinan, rightfully so, to, to talk to this Borg before you, you know, judge him. And, and they do, and they come around and there's some great goddamn writing when Picard goes and talks to him, but especially when Guinan goes and talks to him, because Guinan is completely on the offense when she walks in there and then she is completely floored by what Hugh has to say. So what a great episode. They decide to not, not infect him with this virus. They decide to send him back and hopefully, man, are these decisions huge for the, for the rest of the Star Trek universe, right? Like here's one starship captain deciding that no, no, no, we're not going to stop the Borg because of how I feel morally about it. So I'm going to let the Borg destroy countless, countless other, probably millions, maybe billions, because I don't want to, I don't want to, you know, kill this one guy's individuality. Look, I agree with it, I do. But wow, I mean, what a, what a fucking decision to have to make, right? So their wing and a prayer is that that little spark of individuality will come through and will affect the Borg. And it did, for better or for worse. But what a risk, man. Picard was taken. And I love the fact that like, you know, he's, he's yelled at for this really, you know, a couple other times in the future, like, you know, yeah, well, you had a chance to fuck stop them and you didn't. Not only did you personally and unwittingly help kill a bunch of Starfleet officers in the Battle of Wolf 359, but now with the opportunity to make up for that and redeem yourself for that, you're going to let this board go in the hopes that he remembers that he, you know, needs his individuality. Holy shit, man. What an episode. What a concept. What a risk. What a great job writing. I mean this, this, this was just, this is top notch storytelling, top notch science fiction in my op. [01:02:36] And if not for me, absolutely marrying my number one, this would have been number one because of all those reasons. So I. Borg, well done, well done. [01:02:48] All right, folks, let's get down to it. But before we do our number one, I got some honorable mentions I'd like to talk about. Not talk about, but just mention briefly, because like I said, this season is an absolute banger. [01:02:59] This season is hit Hit. Hit. Hit, hit, Hit. Miss. Hit it. [01:03:04] So we're going to talk about Power Play. Really fun episode, you know, where Troy and o'. Brien. Hey, o'. Brien, it's been a while. Good to see you. And Data get taken over by these. [01:03:15] I won't spoil it because it's only in the honorable mentions, but they get taken over by these entities, by these ex Starfleet officers and they need something and they sort of take over the ship. So that's fun. The First Duty. [01:03:28] Welcome back, Wesley Crusher. No, no, we love you, buddy. We do. We love you. We give you sometimes, but we love you. You. You're part of the family and you always will be. So the First Duty. A really great episode. Great writing, great moral conundrum as well. [01:03:42] And, you know, Will Wheaton was phenomenal in this episode. You know, he really grew into acting as an adult there. [01:03:51] He did towards the end of his run on Next Gen as a regular. But this was a great episode for him and sp. A dirty episode for him. He gets dirty in this episode and we like it. And of course, we get, you know, Robert Duncan McNeil's first appearance in the Trek universe as Nicholas Locarno. We love him. [01:04:11] I know. Why? He wasn't Tom Paris, but that's okay. That's okay. I'm still pissed about it, but I get it. I get it. I'm fine with it now. [01:04:19] But we get Locarno coming back in lower deck, so that's awesome. So that's the rookie card for this character. [01:04:25] Listen, folks, I was just watching the Perfect Mate before I started doing this pod. Oh, God. [01:04:32] How hot is Famka Johnson in this episode? I mean, holy. [01:04:37] Like, I swear to God, she might have been. When I first saw this episode, she might have been the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Like, and I'm talking Grace Kelly, and I'm talking, you know, it's. [01:04:49] She's absolutely stunning in this episode, and she's amazing in this episode. It's a fun episode. You know, the episode itself is not like, oh, my God, I gotta watch it. But like, oh, my God, watching her walk around and do her thing. Jeez Louise. Not to mention the idea of the perfect mate and having a metamorphosis. We're not gonna say anything more about that, but it might even top Seven of Nine in the holodeck. That's all I'm saying. It might top Seven of nine in the holodeck. So Comic Book Guy, give, you know, Kamala a shot. Give this metamorph a shot because she will know what turns you on and she will make it happen. Enough said about that silicone avatar. [01:05:23] We get to see the crystalline entity again. [01:05:27] Dr. Kyla Mar comes on board. She's all kinds of fucked up, and we know what happens there. Fun episode. I like the science fiction of it, and I do like the Data aspect of that episode. That's a lot of fun. [01:05:38] Two more. The Disaster or just disaster. [01:05:43] So this is. This is it. All hell breaks loose on the ship. Everything goes wrong. We have our heroes all segregated and separated, and they're all trying to deal with their own thing. [01:05:52] Notable episode for Worf delivering Molly o' Brien in this episode. Great callback to that in the Way of the Warrior when Wharf comes on D space 9. But, yeah, we get Wharf delivering babies. We got Data's head being intentionally detached and we got, you know, Picard in a turbo lift, of course, with three kids. So, I mean, Jesus, how do you not love that episode? So disaster, which was so good that they redid it almost exactly ON D Space 9 in the Starship down episode also. [01:06:21] Oh, no, I was gonna say season five. I think that's season four. So, yeah, they redid it in D Space Nine Season four, Starship Down. Not sure if that won't be on my list for DS9 Season 4, but we'll get to that. And then the last episode I want to mention is the Game. [01:06:35] The Game. Another Wesley Crusher. So good for you, Wesley. The two episodes you came back for this season, they're not in my top 10, but they're both honorable mentions, and you're a big part of that. But really, folks, it's Robin Leffler. It's Ashley Judd as Robin Leffler in this episode. [01:06:49] I don't think it was a rookie card. I think she was actually in the episode right before this, which was a good job of them sorting, sort of laying the foundation for that. But because of this episode, we did get the character of Robin Leffler, also in the New Frontier novels. So thank you, Ashley Judd. Thank you, Robin Leffler. Thank you, the late, great Peter David, for giving us some more. Some more Robin Leffler, because we needed that. [01:07:15] All right, let's do it. So, number one, if you know anything about me or this pod, you know what my number one is. So I'm not going to bury the lead. It is cause and effect. This is one of the best hours of science fiction ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. And I've watched a ton of science fiction. I'VE watched the Twilight Zone. I've watched Battlestar Galactica. I have watched Star wars and Star Trek and Black Hole and everything. And this is still. I could watch this over and over and over and it's still fucking awesome. It is not. It doesn't break ground, really. It's. It's not. It's not a groundbreaking science fiction episode. It's just a by the numbers, in a good way, you know, perfectly timed, perfectly built science fiction story. It is phenomenal. It's an 8.9 on IMDb. It should be a 9.6, but it is an 8.9. The Enterprise gets caught in a time loop which always has one result. Total destruction of the ship itself. [01:08:14] Yes, we've talked about this episode many times before. Let's talk about it for just a little bit more, okay? Because I know you want to talk about it too. One of the best, if not the best. No, it's not. It's one of the best cold opens in Star Trek history. Boom. [01:08:26] It might be number two if I'm putting that list together too. And number one, I already know what number one is, and it's not this. So if that doesn't tickle your little Trek bone, I don't know what will. But this is phenomenal. The Enterprise, you just open up and they're already mid disaster. That the hell's going on. And the ship explodes. Everyone dies. [01:08:46] Credits. Opening credits. Right. Great. Cold open. And it turns out they're stuck in this time loop. And every time they go through this loop, they're learning a little bit more about what is happening to them. But there are some really great touchstones that the filmmakers, I should say the producers use to sort of keep you engaged and keep you intrigued. And it's amazing that they pull it off because they go through the cycle five times, folks. Five times. I think six if you count the cold open. [01:09:18] So the fact that you are riveted the entire time is amazing. Now, all this being said, I did show this episode as an introductory episode to my good friend Joe, the aforementioned Joe, who was amazing in analyzing TV and movies and books and any kind of popular culture the very first time he sees it. He has got maybe the only person I know more than me who's got sort of a Rolodex of references in his head that just never stops. [01:09:44] He is definitely more of an academic when it comes to his approach to film and tv. I'm not. I'm just a fucking crazy ass fan who's seen a ton of shit and Always references into my head. So kudos to you, Joe. However, you did not like this episode. I know you didn't say it, but I got the sense that you weren't crazy about it. So you're out of this conversation. You're gone. [01:10:06] Anyway, so every time they go through this loop, you know, they learn a little bit more. There's something so fascinating about that. You're so rooting for them to figure it out. Not only because you want your, you know, your heroes to get out of this, but bind and to go back to the adventures that you know and love. But you are almost, almost fed up. [01:10:30] You're almost done. If they had done one more loop through, we all would have rolled our eyes. All of us. It was perfectly timed. It was so well done. Okay, so you have them going through these loops. Now, the cinematography in this episode is phenomenal. Great job using different angles and different approaches to showing these scenes that we're going to see over and over again. No, they're not the same exact scenes, but they are the same sort of lines and beats repeated. Right? So filming it from above and from underneath and from the side, each time you go through does make it a little fresh. [01:11:06] Now, they also do the clever thing of a couple loops. You don't get to see what everybody's doing. You know, Picard, reading his book, for example, he mentions that a couple loops. But then on the. I want to say, the fourth loop, you actually cut to the ready room and he's reading the book. It's just. Well done. It's just. It's just a great way to tell this type. It's the only way actually to tell this type of story with the audience not getting bored. Okay? The only way to do it. And I would be remiss if I did not also bring up that the next gen. Sorry. The X Files episode Monday is beat for beat. This episode, I love. I love the episode because I'm not gonna. Not gonna on another TV show for taking something from another TV show. Because you know what? Star Trek does that all the time. Everybody does that all the time. Okay. Unless you're Adam and Eve, you haven't really come up with anything truly original. I'm sorry. You haven't. So X Files episode Monday, it's a lot of fun. Same type thing, except instead of a ship, it's a bank that explodes. And it's funnier, I'll tell you that much. Mulder and his waterbed. Holy. [01:12:09] So funny. X Files. God, I gotta watch that again at some point. What a great show that was. Anyway, so it's such a great premise that it was done again on. On X Files. I can't imagine that they did not take their cue from this episode. I cannot imagine that. [01:12:23] However, sometimes that does happen. Quick sidebar. We all know that Armageddon and Deep Impact came out at the same time, right? We all know that Volcano and the other Dante's Peak came out at the same time, right? We all know that these movies come out concurrently, and a lot of times they're not biting off each other, right? A lot of times that's just where the market is going, right? And I know this because, you know, you know, I'm a fan of Buffy and Angel, and, you know, I watch Voyager and, you know, I watched the episode Tsunkatsi with the rock where 7 of line 79 is forced to fight in this gladiatorial arena, right? So this is exactly like an episode called the Ring in Angel Season 1, where angel is forced to fight in a gladiatorial contest. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, okay? And I said, okay, One of them clearly stole from the other. And I looked it up, and they pretty much aired, like, not too far apart to the point where, like, there's no way, unless they were going back and forth during production, there's no way that they copied off each other. So sometimes, folks, this shit just happens. So sidebar over Monday, and Cause and Effect, they weren't close together, so I have to imagine that one bit off the other. But you know what? It is what it is. I should say I have to imagine that X Files bit off Next Gen, but I don't mind. Both great episodes, both a lot of fun, but Cause and Effect did it so much better. There's even a little like. [01:13:45] Like, horror movie element, right? Like, when Beverly breaks that glass for, I want to say, the third time, right? And she looks at it, great acting job, great acting moment. [01:13:55] She's, like, struck with terror because she finally thinks that she's gonna break out of whatever subconscious prison cell they all feel like they're in. And then that glass breaks, and she's brought right back to the dread of being stuck. The dread of being mired in whatever they're mired in. Really, really great touch. Well done. And then, come on. When. When they think they have. When Beverly thinks she has the card game figured out for the second time and Data starts throwing out threes, you're like, holy shit. What the fuck? What a great mystery to throw at you during the last act of a Show of an episode, right? Like, all of a sudden, threes are coming up. What the fuck does three mean? You know what I mean? [01:14:38] And they're all trying to figure it out. And then, you know, of course, spoiler alert. Three refers to the number of rank insignia on Riker's collar. And Data puts together in the last moment that Riker's decision, not his, may be the one to go with, because nothing else has been working. So you got to spend your disbelief a little bit with the timing at the end there. That's the only part of this episode that bugs me. And I'll tell you the truth, that might have kept this episode from being in my. I said 9.6 before. I might have jacked that up to a 9.9. If data had not. [01:15:11] If they're writing. If it hadn't taken so long for Data to slowly look at Rikers collar and then put it together. I mean, time is of the essence, right? It's every second counts. Right? Thank you, Chef. So there's no way to. [01:15:25] To do all that, and the ship still wouldn't be destroyed, but whatever. I guess you could say that the. The cargo bay, you know, had more impact than the tractor beam, right? So they pushed it away harder and faster. Okay, fine, but I would have liked a little more expediency there, but I. I'm. I'm not complaining. Love this episode. Love everything about it. [01:15:45] This is my favorite episode from Next Gen. [01:15:48] Yes. More than Yesterday's Enterprise, more than Best of Both Worlds. [01:15:53] You know, it just is. [01:15:55] When I first saw this, I just latched onto it, and I've never let go. This is my favorite episode of Next Gen, not my favorite episode of Star Trek in general. [01:16:04] And that. That colossal top 10 is coming at some point, but, yeah, I know this won't be number one because I know what my number one is, and I think you guys do, too. But let's. Let's wait until the end. [01:16:15] So that is Next Gen Season 5. [01:16:19] I mean, God, you hear me? If you're someone who's never seen Star Trek and you're listening to me describe these episodes, you know, my shortcomings aside, like, these are great, great premises for television episodes. And, you know, and. And, you know, it's at the peak of this show, and they're just throwing these. [01:16:37] These bangers at you one after another, it's. It's just. It's so, so great. I mean, you know, these. [01:16:45] This season, maybe, but this run of seasons in Next Gen solidified Star Trek for me. As being that thing that I knew I would always latch onto the rest of my life. Like I knew it would always be a part of my life. [01:16:58] You know what I mean? And if it wasn't solidified, you know, when I first started watching Trek, it was, this is for you, Luke. It was concretized in these three, this run of seasons three, four and five when I was like, wow, does it get any better than this? Turns out it probably does, but not by much. So, you know, kudos to next gen. Just flying high on season five now, folks. I. I'm very curious about how my season six shapes up. There are some episodes in season six I have not watched. I watched them when I did my rewatch maybe four years ago, but before that I probably haven't watched these episodes since they aired. So there's a few in there that I'm going to rewatch and we're going to evaluate season six and we're going to see where we land. [01:17:38] But that's gonna be interesting list. Season 6 and 7 are interesting for me. It's gonna be fun to revisit those episodes and to rank them because I don't think I ever have in my head when I'm watching season three, you know, back in 1989, 90, I think in my head I'm, oh, that one's better than that one. I think I'm ranking them. But season six and seven, I don't think I ever mentally ranked. I certainly never actually ranked them. So we're gonna do that and we're gonna get to that in time. And like I mentioned, we're gonna have more Bomber's Trek. We're gonna record that tonight and hopefully get Data Laura out to you soon along with this pod. And you know, listen, I want to take a moment to just say thank you. Like if you're listening to this pod and you're hearing my voice right now, you've stuck with me through this whole pod. It's. It's one single person, you know, talking about a show that he loves and clearly you love it too, and that means a lot. I really appreciate you listening. I appreciate you taking the time to hear what I have to say and I hope you found it entertaining. And I hope you, you know, maybe, you know, gained an extra appreciation for a couple moments here and there in some of these episodes that you've seen before. Or maybe you're just listening because you're a friend of mine and you're like, fuck it, maybe I'll. Maybe I'll watch that episode because it sounded really cool. [01:18:46] It's a win, win, guys. I really appreciate it. I want to thank Luke for producing this, as always. [01:18:52] You know, he'll be getting these out to you and he does all that work behind the scenes. Thank you, Luke Boyle. Thank you, Dr. Space. And Bomber. You know, we miss you on these solo pods, but I don't want to waste your talents listening to me, you know, in my, My witless prattle. That's my Odo impression. So, yeah, so we're gonna end it there. Bomber will see you tonight. Luke, thank you very much. And everybody, thanks so much for listening. We'll see you next time.