Phasers Set To Stun: Top 10 Episodes from Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1

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Space the Final Frontier. Join us
for a bold conversation our prime directive to

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recap our favorite Star Trek shows,
both new and old, to engage in

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debate about all things Trek. Prepare
to energize with Phasers Set to Stuntman.

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Hello listeners, and thank you for
joining us for Phasers Set to Stunt.

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We've seen so much love for you
from you for Star Trek from our limited

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series, but there's always more to
explore. So this ongoing series from a

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film by podcast focuses on every quadrant
of the ever expanding universe of Trek by

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covering television, animation, movies,
directors, and more. Plotting the course

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as always as your core crew,
I'm Scott Hoffman, I'm David Burns,

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and I'm Wayne Whiten. All Right, thank you so much guys for coming

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back to this and getting into bigger
Trek. I don't know how we're gonna

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limit this to our typical hour because
there's so much to say, but I'm

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looking I just gotta wanted to ask
round Robin Wayne, as our resident expert

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on Trek history, what are you
looking forward to with Phaser Set to Sun.

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Well, there's so much of Star
Trek. I mean, we've got

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coming up to sixty years the show. I'm just looking forward to reviewing and

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maybe even reevaluating some of the past
episodes of the different Star Trek series,

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sharing my opinions, delving into the
background info, maybe just discussing the various

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areas of the franchise with you and
with the viewers. Cool, David,

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what about you? Pretty similar to
what Wayne mentioned, you know, just

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like a film buy. When we're
doing all the other podcasts, I get

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to revisit films and stuff like that
that I haven't seen in many, many

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years. So the fact that this
is giving me an excuse to go back

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and revisit all this Star Trek again
that I have loved so much just excites

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me. And the fact that I
get to talk about with you guys and

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the listeners just excites me to no
end. I'm excited to get started,

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especially because since this first episode helps
bring some new interest into the Trek universe.

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We all have a friend like our
executive producer Jeff, who's interested in

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Trek but doesn't know where to start. So one of the things we'll be

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doing on Phasers is something we like
to call starter treks. A curated episode

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list for first time viewers. So
Jeff has gotten hooked on modern series like

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Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks,
but never got into the clastic series.

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So this spoiler free list focuses on
the top ten episodes from each season for

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people like Jeff as a great place
to start with starter Decks. We simplify

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the menu with choice cuts of Prime
Trek that gives people a taste of each

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season. After listening to this episode, you can find the course we're plotting

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for you with our list in the
description below. So Dave, what series

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and see? Isn't it recovering today? Well, you know, I've got

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this big smile on my face because
you know, we talked about how we

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were going to start Phaser set to
Stune and we are going to be diving

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into the series that I know YouTube
grew up with in me, and that

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of course is Star Trek the Next
Generation. We're going to be discussing season

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one today. It's a series that
really holds a special place in my heart,

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and I'm sure it does for YouTube
as well, because you know,

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I know, older people than us
grew up with the o G. We

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grew up with the next generation crew, and you know that kind of leads

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into, you know, to talk
a little bit about the series as a

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whole. You know, this series
had to break new ground for people because

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everyone knew Kirk you know, Spock
check off through a little boy. They're

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giving because a whole new crew,
a whole new ship. So that's that's

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bold in itself, right, they
were. They were taking a risk here,

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you know, and you can see
that they didn't want to spend a

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ton of money because they didn't know
how it was going to be received.

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Because come be honest, guys,
I mean, if we grew up with

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the original crew, like a lot
of people did at that time, you're

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being told that you got to accept
a new crew. Would you be willing

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to do that when you're so used
to Kirking all of them? So they

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took a big risk here, and
you see that in season one a little

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bit, because let's admitted, season
one is not perfect. Okay, it

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is not perfect, So you know, they they're feeling the way like most

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seasons do. You know that first
season's rough. They got to find their

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way. I mean even some of
the actors felt like, ah, this

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is gonna be a one and done
and we're out of here, you know.

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But it turned a corner, and
today that Star Trek to Neihering crew

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is like the original crew. Now
we all love them, adore them,

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and when we see them at conventions
like we did recently, we race to

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them to talk to them and get
their autographs. So it really it made

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its way into our hearts, is
basically what I wanted to say. I

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remember the first time I was aware
of the next generation was when the video

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cassette of Star Trek four came out, had the very first promo for the

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series, and that was the first
time it was ever released, very raw,

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no visual effects, sound effects.
Music was weird in it, and

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I'm like, well, I'll check
it out. And when the show came

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I loved it. I thought it
was great. But then I didn't have

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that, you know, connection to
the original series like a lot of people

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did, so there was no animosity
against the new crew. I just I

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fell in love with them right away
and the first season. I may not

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like some of the episodes that a
lot of people do like, I may

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love some of them that people hate, but it's a show that I was

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attracted to right away from the beginning. Yeah yeah, Scott, what about

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you man? Yeah, So for
me, it was my first committed into

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Star Trek. So the only taste
that I had had before that was really

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Star Trek Rethicon Star Trek two,
and it never really got me into the

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original series. It's just something that
I enjoyed and I kind of watched over

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and over again. I hadn't really
gotten into the subsequent movies, but it

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was really kind of a community thing
with my brother and my sister. We

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watched it together when it first came
out, and we were there in front

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of the TV every single night to
watch the latest episode, and we got

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hooked pretty quickly. It was it
was a lot of fun to discover it

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for the first time and kind of
establish a relationship with crew that we followed

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all the way through the end,
and we still I'll still jump on the

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phone with my siblings and talk about
you know, if you haven't watched this

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latest one, you've got to watch
it because it goes back to what we

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loved. So, you know,
it became a series that you didn't missed

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an episode right you were there.
I mean, I did anything possible to

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get home to watch those episodes.
Heck, I even wrecked my car on

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the way trying to wrest them to
get to watch the unfortunately, happened to

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have been one of the worst episodes
of the series reason my opinion. But

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that's that's a different thing. You
know, I didn't know at the time,

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but it became must see television for
us, especially for sci fi fans.

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This is this is in the day
when the water water Cooler shows,

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yes, where you know, you
watched it from fall to spring and then

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it would take a break over the
summer. So the whole summer you're spending

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talking your friends, Oh my god, did you can you? What do

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you think they're gonna do? And
that kind of thing. And you know

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we're gonna get into one of the
hugest cliffhangers later on in this uh you

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know, not today in this podcast, but in what season three I think

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it is. Yeah, we're gonna
be talking one of the biggest cliffhangers,

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and you know it's that they're like, man, you had to wait all

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summer to get the the closure of
that. So I missed those kind of

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shows. You know, we're living
in a day where we got streaming and

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you get all it almost all at
the same time. Sometimes you don't.

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Some streaming services are going back to
that one episode per week time on which

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I like, I know a lot
of people don't. Yeah, same here,

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But it just builds that energy,
It builds that you know, excitement

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for it. You know, I
miss those days and Star Trek did that

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so well guys it yeah, yeah, well it And that kind of release

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approach makes it so that in between
you have a lot of chances to have

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a lot of great conversations with friends
about speculation. You know what's going to

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happen, but you also have all
this build up in your mind. I

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bet it's going to go here.
I bet it's going to go here.

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And it's so much more satisfying when
you see that in the next episode released.

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But it gives you that time to
kind of savor it a bit.

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Yeah, and they use that to
greade effect. In this series. There's

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a lot that are standalone episotic and
it never comes back to what's going on,

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So very good standalones. But then
also the through threads of the characters

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are are very well done. Unfortunately, some got more of a chance to

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explore that than others, but we'll
get it. Into that, especially with

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this season. So when you're watching
season one, you know you're going to

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see a lot of lower budget stuff. You know, I mean, the

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special fact are still good, don't
get me wrong, but you can tell

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that they didn't have the biggest budget
that they needed. So you know,

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I applor everybody do not hold that
against the show at all. And you

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know that was a problem too at
the time, because you know, it

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looks low budget, but kind of
keep in mind at the time that it

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was made, it's actually one of
the most expensive series on true Mission.

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They were spending over a million dollars, which today that's like cheap, you

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know, if anyone spend a million
dollars, But back then that was incredible.

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But there was no CGI, there
was no easy view of doing the

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visual effects, so they were really
struggling to get this stuff out. Yeah,

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and if you notice still, like
even the uniform is a little bit

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rough. They don't fit some of
these actors very well. If you notice

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that, it's almost like they were
in a rush at times to get some

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of this stuff done. You know, when we were watching some of these

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episodes, I'm like, oh,
that uniform doesn't look too good. On

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him some of them. Some of
them do, don't get me wrong.

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And as this you know, and
again as we talk about the first season

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is going to be rough and a
lot of shows, and as this show

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progresses it gets fantastic with everything.
This first season has some serious teething problems

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at times can be hard to get
through, but there are some really good

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stuff and you can't skip it.
I mean, if you have to look

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at it to the as a whole. We have to start at beginning to

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appreciate the end of the series.
And I agreed. Yeah, well,

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well, all right, well we
got it a lot to discuss. Only

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ten episodes. Wayne, start us
off with the first of our favorite picks.

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Tell us the title and what it's
all about. Well, for the

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first we have to go with the
first, and that would be encounter at

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Farpoint. While in route to their
first assignment, the newly commissioned USS Enterprise

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is interrupted by the omnipotive being known
only as Q. Captain Picard and his

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new crew are put on trial for
the crimes of humanity, and the outcome

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depends on them solving the mystery of
Farpoint Station and its builders. The episode

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was written by DC Fontana, and
Gene Roddenberry, obviously to people who were

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from the original series. Directed by
Corey Allen, and it originally aired on

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September twenty sixth, nineteen eighty seven, the premiere of the series. It

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is a two hour episode, the
only two hour episodes from the first season.

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Obviously they were going to it's sometimes
when you watch on televisions, broke

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it up in two pieces, but
it aired as a pilot. There are

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some great things about this episode.
I don't want to give too much away

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on it, but you'll see some
great appearances, including DeForest Kelly, who

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makes a very brief appearance just as
a favor to Gene Roddenberry, you know,

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kind of kind of sue the the
worries of the original series. But

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in another character I want everybody to
pay attention in this is someone else who

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appears in it without a name.
Cole Meeni first appears in this episode.

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He doesn't have a name in this
series. That didn't get a name until

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the second season, but that's Miles
O'Brien. He becomes one of the main

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cast and characters later on in the
show and of course in Deep Space nine.

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And another thing I'd like to point
out on this which I absolutely love

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this. The visual effects for this
episode were done by industrial like magic.

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When Roddenberry came to them to do
the models, he says, hey,

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we'll do your visual effects. And
that actually was the most beneficial thing for

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this show because they did such a
huge catalog of visual effects for this episode,

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just simple shots like the Enterprise flying
by or orbiting a planet, that

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those effects were be able to be
were able to reused throughout the entire series,

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keeping costs down and allowing them to
make these great episodes throughout the seven

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years. If my minor thining is
didn't they try to get Lenard Nimoy at

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first? That's correct, Yes,
yes, yeah, he wasn't interested.

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Yeah, so that's when they went
with the divorce. Kelly. I do

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like that they did that kind of
to bridge the original crew with the new

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crew, to show that, you
know, we're in the same you know

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Galaxy, you know, world of
Star Trek. So I do appreciate they

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did that, and I feel why
they did it, so it makes it

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It's a simple scene and it's very
it's a beautiful scene. It's it is

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yeah, and Bones is that kind
of character where it's almost like one of

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the most human characters, like from
President Day right, because he's like,

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wait a second, he talks that
data about wait a second, now you're

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an android. Yeah, and you
know, kind of that new kind of

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perspective that he adds to it.
So I think he was the right character

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in there. And I'm glad we
got an appearance by Deforce Carol Kelly there.

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And it's set a trend that for
every New Star Trek series that came

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out up till the end of Enterprise, someone from the previous series appeared in

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the pilot episode. Yeah. Oh
yeah, that's right, that's true,

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that's true. Anything about that,
but you're right, very interesting. I

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find it also interesting that this is
the episode well it starts off with the

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whole Star Trek nextiration, but is
also where we get the catchphrases from a

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card come make it So, Yes, which is used quite a lot throughout

206
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the series. Yes. And there's
a lot of missteps to in this episode,

207
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and you could really see a lot
of deeping problems where they're really trying

208
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to get things right. Troy's outfits
behind that makes me laugh every time I

209
00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:07.919
see she looks like a teenage cheerleader. In this very snippy shirt and puffed

210
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out here extream eighties right there,
Yeah, yeah, yeah. One of

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my one of my favorite guest stars
on this episode is a voice that you'll

212
00:14:20.120 --> 00:14:24.279
recognize if you're a fan of Transformers
or g I Joe, the voice of

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00:14:24.399 --> 00:14:31.840
Duke Zema and Major Blood. Michael
Bell plays a major role in this and

214
00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:39.559
that man has a mile long list
of voice acting credits, and to see

215
00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:46.320
him live action here I think give
a really really great performance is very refreshing.

216
00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:50.440
So Jeff in particular, you know, come watch Duke in a different

217
00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:54.960
kind of role. You know.
I think they even had to create Hugh

218
00:14:56.039 --> 00:14:58.120
as a second storyline, wasn't it, Because this was originally done as like

219
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a one hour Then a paramount wanted
with a two hour pilot, so they

220
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had to come up with another storyline. So that's how they put Q into

221
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this two part episode. So I
found that interesting. So, and that's

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00:15:11.559 --> 00:15:15.240
why there's two riders. I believe
the far Point storyline was by DC Fontana

223
00:15:15.240 --> 00:15:18.440
and Roddenberry went and we wrote the
script and added all the Q to to

224
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expand it to the two hours.
Yeah, and for those who know Star

225
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Trek, you're gonna see Q quite
a bit, So yeah, get used

226
00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:31.440
to it. Get used to it
all right. Well with that, Dave,

227
00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.519
take us to the next episode.
What's our number two pick? So

228
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we have the episode called the Battle. In this episode, the Enterprise meets

229
00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:45.000
up with a Feringi ship, which
where we meet Damon Bach, who wants

230
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.440
a meeting with Captain Picard. It
seems the Feringi has a gift for him,

231
00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:52.159
which turns out to be the Stargazer
the car served on in the same

232
00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:56.720
ship he did the legendary move known
as the Picard maneuver all, isn't it.

233
00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:00.799
What seems is if Fringy has something
up there fleet, as they often

234
00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:04.679
do, and they even have a
bigger surprise waiting for Picard that we discovered

235
00:16:04.679 --> 00:16:11.840
back is holding for him. What
I find interesting about this episode is the

236
00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:15.200
Picard maneuver for one, because,
for those fans who know Star Trek very

237
00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:23.320
well, Patrick Stewart constantly would pull
down his his his top because he kept

238
00:16:23.320 --> 00:16:29.039
pulling up on him, so the
cast secretly started calling that the Picard maneuver.

239
00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:33.799
Patrick Stewart did it so much that
it became a commonplace that he started

240
00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:37.919
doing it on you know, on
purpose. Because we expected it to happen.

241
00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:41.039
But yeah, so the Pacar Mauver
has two meetings in the series,

242
00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:44.919
one for actually in the show and
one for you know, behind the scenes

243
00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:48.320
for the fans and stuff like that. So I found that quite quite humorous

244
00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:52.480
for sure. This episode was directed
by Rob Bowman, which I did not

245
00:16:52.720 --> 00:16:56.320
know because Rob Bowman did a lot
of X Files and when you know what

246
00:16:56.360 --> 00:17:00.919
a huge X Files fan I am, I didn't realize he directed episodes of

247
00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:02.879
Star Trek. It's so I started
to dig into these. I was like,

248
00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:07.799
oh, the crap, this is
Rob Bowman. But very I thought,

249
00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:08.559
this is a really good episode.
Guys, what do you think?

250
00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:14.000
I agree? I agree, And
you know with this is the Feringi's second

251
00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:15.480
appearance on the show, and they
were supposed to be the big batties to

252
00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:22.759
take over Klingons, and that first
appearance is just it's just horrible. You

253
00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:26.359
know, they don't work at all
in the first appearance. But here in

254
00:17:26.400 --> 00:17:30.759
this episode, it seems like that
they realized that right away and changed it.

255
00:17:30.039 --> 00:17:33.640
There's still they're still at the Feringi
that we're familiar with redew Space nine,

256
00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:37.960
or they're getting there. They've been
they've been improved. They're more scheming,

257
00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:45.079
they're they're more they they're more normal
because they're just really really fairal In

258
00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:48.720
the first episode, I like the
performances of the Feringis and the actress that

259
00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:52.519
played him to Yeah, I know, this is the episode that I think

260
00:17:52.599 --> 00:17:57.880
Will Wheaton said that fans turned on
him. Will Wheaton said, you know,

261
00:17:59.160 --> 00:18:03.839
because they gave us the clunky dialogue
and a very absurd dialogue in this

262
00:18:03.720 --> 00:18:07.400
that he says, this is the
episode that a lot of the fans turn

263
00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.039
on his character. Here. I
could see that. Yeah, yeah,

264
00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:15.160
You've got to give some respect to
Will Whedon for that, because I think

265
00:18:15.160 --> 00:18:19.880
his character goes to great places,
but especially in this first season, the

266
00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:29.400
sweaters, those sweaters and the dialogue, and he's got some that's a big

267
00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:33.000
hill to go ice skating up right, it is. And just the fact

268
00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:38.759
that I think Wesley and Data had
so many scenes where people were like dismissing

269
00:18:38.839 --> 00:18:41.839
them, were saying like, oh, you're talking too much and all this

270
00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:45.200
other kind of stuff, and I'm
like, I'm really glad they didn't continue

271
00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:51.400
with that with the characters because it
just seems so demeaning. And yeah,

272
00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:52.799
so I'm glad I went to a
better place, and I'm glad they went

273
00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:56.200
to a better place with the Ferengi
as well. Like I mentioned, that

274
00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:04.920
first appearance really does feel like a
Playmate's a Glub kind of who is the

275
00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:07.200
who had the license for the toys? Wasn't a Playmates? That was?

276
00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:11.720
That was gloom Glub at the time. Yeah, yeah, it felt like

277
00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:14.720
a toy commercial, right, like, oh no, it's the Varengi and

278
00:19:14.759 --> 00:19:18.400
they've got their whips. Watch out
crew, that's okay, I've got Riker

279
00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:22.640
Like Yeah, this one very much
felt like they were starting to round them

280
00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:26.559
out a little bit more. And
you've got some history on uh Picard on

281
00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:32.240
the Stargazer, so everybody got a
little bit more depth in this one,

282
00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:34.720
which is a welcome change. Yeah, we're starting to see us in that

283
00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:37.640
character development here. You know,
we didn't get to much of that encounter

284
00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:41.400
fair Points, so we're starting to
see a lot of that and getting developed,

285
00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:42.720
which I like, you know,
we need to know our characters and

286
00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:45.400
where they're coming from so that we
can care about them. Right. Well,

287
00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:49.079
the next one on the list is
Hide and Q, And as you

288
00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:53.440
mentioned, Q comes up a lot. He's a very important character to this

289
00:19:53.559 --> 00:20:00.279
series, and this is definitely the
one where he starts to become or the

290
00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:03.359
queue that we're used to. So
in this one, the Enterprise crew is

291
00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:07.799
forced to play a deadly game when
Q returns with attempting offer for Riker to

292
00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:12.559
trade his humanity for unlimited power as
part of the Q continuum. Now there's

293
00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:18.240
a little bit of a spoiler in
there, but it's it's an interesting premise

294
00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:22.680
to think about. You know,
they've seen what Q can do. They

295
00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:27.880
see a lot more of that here, so to offer that up, they

296
00:20:27.960 --> 00:20:33.440
do that in very interesting ways.
I think they play it out in some

297
00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:38.400
morality decisions that they have to make. And we also see more of the

298
00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:44.279
playful side of Q. In the
first episodes, he was so menacing and

299
00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:48.240
it was all about kind of orchestrating
this trial kind of idea. But this

300
00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:51.400
is, you know, using the
powers to play the games. A lot

301
00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:56.200
of costume changes. He impersonates one
of the characters in kind of an interesting

302
00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:03.079
way. It's interesting. A few
things I didn't know about this is that

303
00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:10.759
Troy does not appear in the episode
very much, and she thought at the

304
00:21:10.759 --> 00:21:14.599
time that she's going to be cut
from the show, which is going to

305
00:21:14.599 --> 00:21:19.559
be horrible. Yeah, And I
mean it's I guess having to know that

306
00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:26.359
with such a big cast, if
everybody's going to get equal time, it's

307
00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:30.440
going to be very difficult to do
that kind of a show. But that

308
00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:33.119
had to be kind of unsettling for
her, and I'm glad that's not the

309
00:21:33.160 --> 00:21:36.839
direction they took. I think she's
one of the best characters that they have.

310
00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:41.839
And credit to John Delancy for what
he did with Q. I saw

311
00:21:41.880 --> 00:21:47.680
that the director of this episode was
studying the first episode intensely to try to

312
00:21:47.720 --> 00:21:51.599
make sure that he was getting Q
right, and John just slipped right back

313
00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:55.559
in and took it to great new
places. So this is the cue that

314
00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:59.880
you'll be seeing a lot more.
There's a lot more fun that happens with

315
00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:03.039
So it's definitely the kind of episode
you want to buckle up for it.

316
00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:06.839
And this is the first appearance of
LeVar Bert with that as visor. Yeah,

317
00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:11.720
so you're right, yeah, yeah, and that that's used to it's

318
00:22:11.759 --> 00:22:17.400
a great effect at this one.
And it's it's tough to talk about these

319
00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:19.119
things. Is that talk about spoilers? I know it is. You want

320
00:22:19.160 --> 00:22:22.759
to make sure that you're giving somebody
enough to know, you know, what

321
00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:26.160
they're in for. But uh,
there's so much to say about how it

322
00:22:26.200 --> 00:22:30.519
resolves, so just don't let us
know. This is another example too.

323
00:22:30.559 --> 00:22:32.680
It's a great, it's a good
episode. This is probably one of the

324
00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:36.200
few that worked where where they're really
trying to copy some of the feel and

325
00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:40.079
look of the original series. It's
very much of a Traline type of of

326
00:22:40.279 --> 00:22:44.759
episode. And even in so much
as it sets that that planet set is

327
00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:51.039
so fake with its gel background and
it's it's sand ground, but it looks

328
00:22:51.079 --> 00:22:53.480
just like something out of the sixties. They didn't do that again, fortunately,

329
00:22:53.599 --> 00:23:00.519
but it's it's just so incredibly fake. But then it's Q created it,

330
00:23:00.559 --> 00:23:02.799
So you know, who's to say
that that's not the way it supposed

331
00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:06.119
to work? Like he did it
on purpose? Probably you know, Yeah,

332
00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:08.640
well, to that effect, I
know that the original series we're talking

333
00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:14.720
like sixties special effects. There is
a bit of you know, there's almost

334
00:23:14.720 --> 00:23:18.359
that original series aesthetic to some of
the special effects like in this episode,

335
00:23:18.319 --> 00:23:22.759
so it almost seems like there's a
bit of an accidental bridging effect there.

336
00:23:23.480 --> 00:23:26.000
But yeah, it also kind of
takes you out when you're used to the

337
00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:29.759
Star Trek today and you're like,
really, just a flood of green,

338
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:33.640
that's the sky, just green.
Okay, it needs a pretty green,

339
00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:37.480
right exactly. Well, let's take
a quick break and we'll get back to

340
00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:42.559
finishing our list. They check it
out. There's a brand new podcast on

341
00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:48.039
the way exploring the discographies of the
Beatles and the Beach Boys. It's called

342
00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:52.759
Apples and Oranges and and Lodges.
On February seventh, we will be matching

343
00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:57.240
albums against each other in a one
v one format, discussing every single track

344
00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:03.039
and then giving our verdict on which
album is better. Pet Sounds versus Revolving

345
00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:07.319
Sergeant Pepper versus Smile. Wouldn't it
be nice if most people knew how well

346
00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:11.039
the Beach Boys actually held up against
the Fab Four. Both bands inspired each

347
00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:15.200
other to keep pushing the boundaries of
what was possible in pop music here,

348
00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:18.880
there, and everywhere, and what
we got were some of the greatest albums

349
00:24:18.920 --> 00:24:22.319
of all time. Awesommer Long versus
A Hard Day's Night, River Sol versus

350
00:24:22.359 --> 00:24:25.160
the Beach Boys. Today, so
let's come together for some fun, fun,

351
00:24:25.240 --> 00:24:29.079
fun, and help me Ronda get
this podcast off the ground, and

352
00:24:29.119 --> 00:24:33.880
we'll sure appreciate you being around.
On February seventh, wherever you find your

353
00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:44.400
podcast that's Apples and Oranges. February
seven, we're back and we're going to

354
00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:47.680
talk to Wayne about the next episode
Haven. Okay, this is one of

355
00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:52.160
my favorites from the first season.
This is Haven. The Enterprise visits the

356
00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:56.400
planet Haven, where counselor Deanna Troy
is visited by her mother Lausana and is

357
00:24:56.440 --> 00:25:00.880
reminded of her commitment to an arranged
marriage to a human doctor named Wyatt.

358
00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:04.720
While plans for the wedding is being
made, the Enterprise must deal with the

359
00:25:04.759 --> 00:25:10.559
appearance of a plague ship on a
heading for the planet. This was written

360
00:25:10.559 --> 00:25:17.079
by Tracy Tormat and Lane o'conne,
directed by Richard Compton. This I just

361
00:25:17.160 --> 00:25:22.200
I love this episode for many reasons, and the biggest one being this is

362
00:25:22.200 --> 00:25:26.160
the first appearance of Major Barrett as
the Vaux Santa Troy. She amazing,

363
00:25:26.920 --> 00:25:32.000
Yes, immediately from the from the
get go. It becomes an incredible character

364
00:25:32.119 --> 00:25:37.640
that that's fun to watch, very
out bearing and and and the way she

365
00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:42.319
her and and Patrick Stewart worked together, and just it's it's fun to watch.

366
00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:48.160
Every minute is yeah, you know
it's it's a perfect casting for her.

367
00:25:49.480 --> 00:25:56.039
We also see another first appearance too, the Betazoy gift box is the

368
00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:59.519
head is played by Armine Shimmerman,
who went on to play Quark on Deep

369
00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:04.359
Space nine. This is his first
Star Trek appearance. And this is something

370
00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:08.680
I just learned too. The director
Richard Compton, he actually used to be

371
00:26:08.680 --> 00:26:14.480
an actor and he appeared on the
original series as Lieutenant Washburn in the episode

372
00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:17.640
of Doomsday Machine. I've got to
go back and watch that because I had

373
00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:23.000
no idea about But another thing too
I want to bring out is the music

374
00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:26.559
for this episode is probably some of
the best from the first season. It

375
00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:30.720
was Stump by Dennis McCarthy. He
did the pilot and this was very early

376
00:26:30.759 --> 00:26:37.759
in his career. Wonderful score,
very beautiful and subtle, but with some

377
00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:41.240
great themes. And because of that, he was certain he was going to

378
00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:47.559
get fired. One of the producers
of the show, Rick Berman, did

379
00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:49.680
not like music on the show,
and if it was up to him,

380
00:26:51.200 --> 00:26:56.039
he would have every episode without any
music. And because of the themes and

381
00:26:56.079 --> 00:26:59.319
because it stood out in the mini
of the scenes, he was afraid he

382
00:26:59.359 --> 00:27:02.680
was going to get fired and that
I'll bring this up later on, maybe

383
00:27:02.720 --> 00:27:04.640
when we get around to talk to
season three or four, because it got

384
00:27:04.759 --> 00:27:12.119
worse and worse as years go by. But I completely disagree against Berman.

385
00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:18.000
The music is fantastic and does everything
to enhance the episode. Well, you

386
00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:19.720
know, if if Rick Berman ever
hears this, I'm sorry, mister Berman,

387
00:27:19.799 --> 00:27:26.920
but you are wrong. Music is
everything when it comes to TV movies.

388
00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:29.880
Whatever it is. Without it,
it's not gonna be good at all.

389
00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:33.519
I'm sorry. Yeah. And there's
an amazing use of a musical instrument

390
00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:41.559
in this episode, a little gong. Oh, it's played an amazing time.

391
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:44.799
Now she storms out and just knocks
it over. I love that.

392
00:27:45.359 --> 00:27:48.079
Yeah. And for those who don't
know, start track too, ma.

393
00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:52.599
Joe Baird is the voice of the
computer for Enterprise and the original number one

394
00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:56.559
and the original number one that's yes, yeah, yeah, and that's a

395
00:27:56.720 --> 00:28:02.920
that's a great oh. And Nurse
Chapel exactly exactly. So, I mean

396
00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:06.799
it's one of those things where you
know, I didn't have that experience with

397
00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:11.000
Majel Barrett before Lowak's on a Troy. So going back and watching things like

398
00:28:11.079 --> 00:28:15.680
The Cage and watching some original series
episodes, it's like, Wow, she's

399
00:28:15.720 --> 00:28:22.359
really been with this through the whole
thing. If you were listening to Lower

400
00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:30.480
Decks this past season, watching those
episodes like you said the Gift Box tonally,

401
00:28:30.720 --> 00:28:34.160
I think a lot of things that
carry through into lower decks you first

402
00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:41.359
start to see here. It's an
interesting balance of comedy and drama because it's

403
00:28:41.440 --> 00:28:45.200
kind of both types of episodes are
running in parallel in this one or both

404
00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:52.079
types of stories, but it never
feels like can we get done with the

405
00:28:52.119 --> 00:28:55.000
comedy, get back to the drama. It's used to great effect. I

406
00:28:55.000 --> 00:29:00.519
think it broadens the the betazoid aspect
of Troy a lot war because you can

407
00:29:00.640 --> 00:29:07.039
kind of see what it means for
her to be half human half bitizoid in

408
00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:11.000
how the walks out and used the
sure powers and just the dynamic she's She

409
00:29:11.160 --> 00:29:17.039
comes back so often, and it's
such an amazing character. It's a trait

410
00:29:17.160 --> 00:29:19.440
every time she comes back. And
her appearances are so varied. I mean,

411
00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:23.720
we've got you go from some episodes
like Manhunted are huge comedies, and

412
00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:27.319
then you turn into one's like Dark
Page, which are serious, serious dramas.

413
00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:30.599
Yeah, you can perform at all, and she's fantastic in every bit

414
00:29:30.640 --> 00:29:33.960
of it. Yeah, yeah,
completely agree. I'm glad we got a

415
00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:37.440
taste of her in the first season. Yea's I'm glad we picked this one.

416
00:29:37.480 --> 00:29:41.440
It's really great, Dave, what's
next on the list? So the

417
00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:45.680
next one is one of my one
of my favorites from the from this season,

418
00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:51.559
and that is Data Lore. The
crew of the Enterprise travel to Omikron

419
00:29:51.720 --> 00:29:56.519
Theta to the site where a colony
has mysteriously vanished and so happens to be

420
00:29:56.559 --> 00:30:00.759
where the starship Tripoli found Data.
The way, team uncovers the lab that

421
00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:06.240
belonged to Data's creator, doctor Noonan
Sung, where they find a disassembled Android

422
00:30:06.279 --> 00:30:11.920
that turns out to be Data's brother
law Laura is reactivated and of course quickly

423
00:30:11.960 --> 00:30:15.039
turns on the crew and find we
find out he's working for with the entity.

424
00:30:17.680 --> 00:30:19.920
There are so many good things about
this episode, guys. One of

425
00:30:19.960 --> 00:30:26.799
the biggest ones for me is Data
learns to sneeze but no, but just

426
00:30:26.880 --> 00:30:32.079
kidding. One of the biggest ones
that we learned here is how good of

427
00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:37.480
an actor Brent Spiner is. Yes, yes, this man can turn that

428
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:44.519
switch on and off like it's nothing
anyone who know he plays Lore and he

429
00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:49.160
plays Data in this, and he
is so good at playing Data. Who's

430
00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:52.680
good, Who's you know, like
a kid learning, you know, those

431
00:30:52.759 --> 00:30:56.359
kind of things. Then he turns
that switch off and becomes Lord. Who

432
00:30:56.519 --> 00:31:00.200
is this the complete opposite of Data, you know, evil and just you

433
00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:04.400
know, wants to destroy everything.
And you know, it's amazing to watch

434
00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:08.880
him be able to turn that on
and off. And even the creators who

435
00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:14.160
were working on this episode were kind
of concerned on how that was going to

436
00:31:14.200 --> 00:31:15.480
come off. If Brince Speiner was
able to pull it off. Well,

437
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:21.240
guess what, he pulled it off
extremely well. And you know we see

438
00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:25.400
that in later years too, you
know of Brnce Speiner's acting coming out,

439
00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:29.000
and he's so good at it,
guys, you know. And again this

440
00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:33.200
episode was directed by Rob Bowman.
Again, but yeah, this is among

441
00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:37.599
one of my favorites and is the
final episode written by Geen rod Berry.

442
00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:42.200
M interesting. I did not know
that. Yep. Yeah, I totally

443
00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:48.240
agree about Brince Speiner's range. I
mean before I saw him here, I

444
00:31:48.319 --> 00:31:55.640
didn't even know who he was from
Nightcore, a completely different character, but

445
00:31:55.880 --> 00:32:02.359
from the comedy roots, you know, they've got somebody who is at this

446
00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:07.559
point has a lot of experience as
a comedic actor playing a character that has

447
00:32:07.720 --> 00:32:14.559
no emotions, and he plays that
with comedic beats that are so subtle that

448
00:32:14.680 --> 00:32:19.480
you don't realize you're watching a comedic
actor play that through. And to see

449
00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:23.559
him play both roles with Lore,
I'm very glad they went in the direction

450
00:32:23.640 --> 00:32:27.599
they decided to go. I know
that there were early iterations where it was

451
00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:32.400
supposed to be female android that they
found I'm glad they didn't do that.

452
00:32:32.640 --> 00:32:37.559
I'm glad they let him explore this. Laura is one of my favorite characters,

453
00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:39.519
one of my favorite villains. I
keep going back to the episodes with

454
00:32:39.599 --> 00:32:46.079
Lore whenever you have a chance.
But there's so much of an aspect of

455
00:32:46.160 --> 00:32:53.480
discovery with this one. Not the
show, but that the concept of discovering

456
00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:58.640
something. You know, they land
on the planet and this rock face moves.

457
00:32:59.240 --> 00:33:02.039
They get a little bit deeper into
you know, the lab where they

458
00:33:02.079 --> 00:33:08.759
find where data had come from,
and oh, there's there's just so much

459
00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:15.079
great use in this, and great
moments for the Wesley character as well.

460
00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:17.279
Yeah, you know, I go
back to say it quite often. I

461
00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:21.079
said it another podcasts before, So
if you've listened to those, and I

462
00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:25.640
repeating myself. I apologize, but
comedic actors are probably one of the most

463
00:33:25.680 --> 00:33:31.519
talented people when it comes to making
that transition from comedy to drama, because

464
00:33:31.680 --> 00:33:37.079
the comedy is hard, really really
hard to pull it off properly, to

465
00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:42.200
have that timing Scott that you mentioned, if you can, if you're really

466
00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:45.400
good at that, and you can
pull it off, drama seems to come

467
00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:50.279
to them people very easy, and
they do it so well, and Brent

468
00:33:50.319 --> 00:33:53.880
Speyer proves that in this episode and
beyond Yes, and this is one of

469
00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:58.079
those episodes. This is one of
the gems of the first season and a

470
00:33:58.119 --> 00:34:00.839
really good reason why you shouldn't skip
the season. This episode is important.

471
00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:05.440
It's it's important to these series as
a whole. You really need to see

472
00:34:05.480 --> 00:34:08.400
this one. Absolutely, Yeah,
totally agree, and we'll see that,

473
00:34:08.679 --> 00:34:14.239
Dave. What you're talking about with
comedic actors, One's Garnon becomes part of

474
00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:16.559
him. Whoopi Goldberg. Yeah,
I would not have guessed in a million

475
00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:22.360
years that Whippy Goldberg, where she
was as a standup comedian, would have

476
00:34:22.400 --> 00:34:25.400
been on Star Trek. But both
of them, like Brent Spinder's legacy,

477
00:34:25.400 --> 00:34:29.480
once you get to a certain point
and you you know you get all the

478
00:34:29.480 --> 00:34:34.039
way through all these episodes and you
look back at the catalog of characters that

479
00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:39.280
he's played to greater effect with enormous
range. He's yet one of my favorite

480
00:34:39.320 --> 00:34:43.800
actors in this in this show,
I agree. So the next Monato list

481
00:34:43.880 --> 00:34:47.239
is called Heart of Glory, and
this time the focus is Wharf. So

482
00:34:49.239 --> 00:34:52.079
we find that three Kleon warriors are
found adrift on a derelict ship in the

483
00:34:52.119 --> 00:34:58.239
neutral zone between Federation and rabuland space, which brings a mystery to the enterprise

484
00:34:58.360 --> 00:35:04.639
along with a personal test for Wharf. I think in the first season one

485
00:35:04.679 --> 00:35:07.960
of the things that they're starting to
kind of they don't quite have their feet

486
00:35:08.039 --> 00:35:10.159
under them, so to speak,
as far as what they want to do

487
00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:15.159
with certain characters, and I think
that's definitely true for Wharf. I think

488
00:35:15.159 --> 00:35:22.039
it was kind of two dimensional in
certain places, embarrassingly so in some cases,

489
00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:28.440
but I'm glad that the actor plays
Wharf. Michael Dorn was really happy

490
00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:34.079
with the outtime of this episode,
and it shows that there's more depth and

491
00:35:34.159 --> 00:35:38.119
more interest than to just say,
oh, the Klingons are now friends with

492
00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:42.480
the Federation. I guess they don't
get into it too much as far as

493
00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:44.960
you know, what's that relationship?
How did it happen? It's a while

494
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:50.880
before we get the movie Undiscovered Country, one of my absolute favorites, that

495
00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:54.880
starts to explain that. But yeah, it's amazingly well done, and I

496
00:35:54.920 --> 00:36:00.159
think this is where we start to
get concepts of you know, honor being

497
00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:07.599
so important to Wharf and loyalty being
so important. There's also an amazing escape

498
00:36:07.719 --> 00:36:09.360
sequence. I won't say too much, but I thought it was a very

499
00:36:09.400 --> 00:36:15.360
inventive use of costuming in escape.
Geene Roddenberry. I don't know if he's

500
00:36:15.360 --> 00:36:16.760
the one who came up with the
idea of putting a Klingon on the bridge

501
00:36:16.760 --> 00:36:23.119
of the Enterprise, but I think
that was a unique idea because you wouldn't

502
00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:29.280
expected that, right anybody's in the
original series would not expect a Klingon to

503
00:36:29.320 --> 00:36:34.199
be a part of the crew.
So I think that was a bold move

504
00:36:34.480 --> 00:36:37.000
and I feel like it wasn't just
you know, a shock factor for the

505
00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:40.000
audience. They had a plan for
him, they just didn't know right away.

506
00:36:40.280 --> 00:36:43.320
But you know, Scott, what
you were kind of leaning towards,

507
00:36:43.679 --> 00:36:45.519
you know, they just put him
on the bridge, and they did that

508
00:36:45.559 --> 00:36:47.239
with a few like you said,
I'm looking at you, Tasha, you

509
00:36:47.280 --> 00:36:52.440
are I apologized in East Crosby that
they didn't have a plan for you right

510
00:36:52.440 --> 00:36:57.119
away, But yeah, I really
liked that they did that, and I'm

511
00:36:57.119 --> 00:37:00.559
glad that they finally started finding his
way. And this is the episode You're

512
00:37:00.599 --> 00:37:02.880
right, Scott, that I feel
like they're finally starting to get their feet

513
00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:07.039
under them, you know, as
you said, So, yeah, this

514
00:37:07.079 --> 00:37:10.119
is the first episode that Wharf really
had anything to do. Many of the

515
00:37:10.119 --> 00:37:14.519
episodes he was just in the background. I wasn't sure what they were planning

516
00:37:14.519 --> 00:37:17.159
on doing with him or if he
even really was going to be part of

517
00:37:17.199 --> 00:37:21.519
the main cast. I mean,
you know, I'll admit most people know

518
00:37:21.559 --> 00:37:22.920
that I'm not the biggest fan of
the Klingons. This isn't one of my

519
00:37:23.039 --> 00:37:28.000
highest regarded episodes from the first season, but I won't deny that of the

520
00:37:28.039 --> 00:37:32.159
importance of the episode, especially to
the development of the Klingons, because before

521
00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:37.559
this we really we really didn't have
any development at all. The original series

522
00:37:37.559 --> 00:37:42.760
didn't do any didn't explore the Klingon
race that much, and with the exception

523
00:37:42.880 --> 00:37:45.760
of what is Star Trek three,
which kind of kind of touched into it,

524
00:37:46.000 --> 00:37:49.840
very lightly. This is the first
time we actually see the Klingons that

525
00:37:49.880 --> 00:37:53.519
were familiar with today and a lot
learn a lot about their culture, and

526
00:37:53.599 --> 00:38:00.199
putting Wharf on the bridge was the
best way to do that because through him

527
00:38:00.519 --> 00:38:04.000
we can see how he reacts and
how he explores his own his own race,

528
00:38:04.119 --> 00:38:07.440
his own culture. Yeah. I
find it funny too that I mentioned

529
00:38:07.480 --> 00:38:10.360
earlier that that one episode was the
first time that we saw Jordan LaForge without

530
00:38:10.400 --> 00:38:14.800
his visor. This is the first
time we get a POV from Jordan Laforge's

531
00:38:14.880 --> 00:38:17.840
visor. Yeah. Yeah, they
use that a lot of interesting ways.

532
00:38:19.079 --> 00:38:22.320
Yea. And with this one they
there are scenes where we get to see

533
00:38:22.320 --> 00:38:25.840
from Jordy's perspective how he sees the
world, how he kind of absorbs it,

534
00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:35.880
and we see how he sees other
characters like Riker and Data, very

535
00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:38.400
unique ways that he sees them.
And I thought it was interesting in the

536
00:38:38.440 --> 00:38:43.320
scene that we're talking about, it
was actually their body doubles. It wasn't

537
00:38:43.320 --> 00:38:47.039
actually Riker in Data, so it's
interesting. We also get a lot we

538
00:38:47.159 --> 00:38:51.880
kind of get three sides of the
Klingon race with this one. You get

539
00:38:52.079 --> 00:38:57.639
the three Klingon warriors without spoiling too
much. Who feel a certain way about

540
00:38:57.719 --> 00:39:01.599
clingon culture and where it's going.
You get the the captain of a playing

541
00:39:01.719 --> 00:39:06.920
on ship who sees in a very
different way, and you've got Wharf smacked

542
00:39:06.920 --> 00:39:09.800
out in the middle. But there's
a lot that I think, I'm glad

543
00:39:09.880 --> 00:39:15.000
that this comes up so often in
the rest of the series that they choose

544
00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:21.480
to focus on Wharf in this way. In some cases he's the big cliffhanger.

545
00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:24.719
We'll get to that later seasons.
But yeah, I'm glad they did

546
00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:30.239
more with Michael Dorn. It had
to be disappointing for any episode where he

547
00:39:30.320 --> 00:39:34.639
just looks at the script and says, Wharf growls yeah, like again,

548
00:39:34.880 --> 00:39:37.719
really, can I do more than
snarl cobocks please? Well, Tassy Yard

549
00:39:37.800 --> 00:39:42.719
had clicks buttons on a screen.
You know, they didn't know what they

550
00:39:42.719 --> 00:39:45.719
were going to do with some of
these characters, and it shows so badly

551
00:39:45.800 --> 00:39:50.480
at times. Yeah. Yeah,
there are a couple of times when here

552
00:39:50.559 --> 00:39:52.559
Tasha say like, shouldn't I go
down there, sir, and no,

553
00:39:52.719 --> 00:39:59.639
stay here and be at the console, and she's like, yeah, we

554
00:39:59.719 --> 00:40:06.079
met in these Crosby Galaxy cut and
Columbus an amazing an amazing talent there we

555
00:40:06.199 --> 00:40:12.280
can't say too much, but wow, yeah, we'll get into that later,

556
00:40:12.559 --> 00:40:15.360
all right. And in this episode
they did save some money too,

557
00:40:15.400 --> 00:40:21.039
because he used some stock footage from
Star Trek the motion picture. It worked,

558
00:40:22.320 --> 00:40:23.559
all right, Wayne, Take us
to the next one, all right.

559
00:40:23.599 --> 00:40:28.159
The next one is The Arsenal of
Freedom. This was written by Maurice

560
00:40:28.239 --> 00:40:34.440
Hurley and Robert Lewyn and directed by
less Landown. The USS Enterprises investigation into

561
00:40:34.440 --> 00:40:38.320
the disappearance of the USS Drake leads
them to the planet Ninos, where the

562
00:40:38.360 --> 00:40:43.800
away team is trapped on the surface
and the Enterprise must deal with an automated

563
00:40:43.880 --> 00:40:49.119
weapons system set for total destruction of
all life on the planet. Now,

564
00:40:49.119 --> 00:40:52.400
this this is an interesting episode.
You know, it falls later in the

565
00:40:52.440 --> 00:41:00.280
season, but this is only the
second time we see the Enterprise separate mm

566
00:41:00.360 --> 00:41:04.679
hm, and you know it's it's
sad we didn't get to see this more.

567
00:41:04.719 --> 00:41:07.719
There was a very good reason why
we didn't get to see this very

568
00:41:07.840 --> 00:41:12.079
very much. And this will be
the last time you see it until season

569
00:41:12.119 --> 00:41:16.320
four and then that'll be it until
movies. Yep. But here you know

570
00:41:16.400 --> 00:41:19.960
it. This is something that they
wanted to use a lot more. They

571
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:27.679
just couldn't for logistics reasons. But
we got this. It's a good episode.

572
00:41:28.360 --> 00:41:31.360
It's it's well done. We got
some weird planet sets down there,

573
00:41:31.400 --> 00:41:36.519
which lots of plants and another one
of those gel backgrounds, but we gotta

574
00:41:36.599 --> 00:41:43.000
we get a lot of good character
moments. But what I find funny is

575
00:41:43.079 --> 00:41:45.840
this is one of those times and
the original series did this a lot where

576
00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:51.360
most of the important bidge Bridge crew
beam down to the planet and get stuck

577
00:41:51.400 --> 00:41:57.519
there, leaving the Enterprise with the
very very inexperienced Jeordie Lafort. Yeah,

578
00:41:57.800 --> 00:42:02.239
who has to fight the others on
the Enterprise, you know, for to

579
00:42:02.239 --> 00:42:06.880
to respect him. Unfortunately, he
does gain his respect, and you know,

580
00:42:06.960 --> 00:42:10.159
we see the seeds of what will
come in the series and and you

581
00:42:10.199 --> 00:42:16.280
know, but here he's just a
lowly ju lieutenant junior grade and doing his

582
00:42:16.400 --> 00:42:21.119
best to keep everyone alive. Yeah, I think it was was it Lieutenant

583
00:42:21.199 --> 00:42:22.880
Logan? I think who was giving
him the hardest time in this episode?

584
00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:27.440
Yes, he was the chief engineer. One of the this is That's another

585
00:42:27.480 --> 00:42:30.639
thing about the first season is,
uh, they hadn't originally planned to have

586
00:42:30.760 --> 00:42:34.800
an engineer set, so they never
really cast a chief engineer. So every

587
00:42:34.840 --> 00:42:37.960
episode has a new chief engineer.
I mean, I think the Enterprise went

588
00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:39.320
through like a dozen of them during
that first season. I don't know what

589
00:42:39.400 --> 00:42:44.840
was going on, you know,
until finally, you know, Jordi gets

590
00:42:45.119 --> 00:42:49.920
gets the position. But yeah,
and and I mean, Logan is kind

591
00:42:49.960 --> 00:42:52.440
of an Asshole's probably why you got
Booter tell you the truth. Yeah,

592
00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:57.400
get out of here, Logan.
Nobody likes you, buddy. This is

593
00:42:57.400 --> 00:43:01.119
also the episode that I'm gonna butcher
his name plays the peddler. Yeah,

594
00:43:01.280 --> 00:43:07.239
then I believe Yeah. Yeah,
from like Fastoon member has been high ghost

595
00:43:07.719 --> 00:43:12.679
never dies. This dude is awesome. He hops up. I just I

596
00:43:12.760 --> 00:43:15.199
love watching him. Yes, he's
a highlight of the episode too. Every

597
00:43:15.519 --> 00:43:20.320
time he's on the screen. It's
fun to watch. Yeah, and I'm

598
00:43:20.360 --> 00:43:23.880
glad that we get to see the
side of Jordy that we get to see

599
00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:28.840
here, because I feel like his
character wasn't used in the best ways in

600
00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:32.079
the first season. If you know
him from any of the later work,

601
00:43:32.719 --> 00:43:39.880
you know that he's an essential part
of engineering. I'm pointing that much by

602
00:43:39.880 --> 00:43:45.800
saying it. But until then,
you know he's he's at different consoles,

603
00:43:45.840 --> 00:43:51.880
at different stations. It's not really
clear what his career path is following,

604
00:43:52.039 --> 00:43:57.320
and a lot of times when he's
kind of telling jokes to Data in this

605
00:43:57.400 --> 00:44:02.280
episode, he really shines a lot
of confidence, especially if for a lieutenant

606
00:44:02.760 --> 00:44:07.280
JG. Like you know, it's
like having Ruthford or Boiler on the on

607
00:44:07.360 --> 00:44:13.639
the bridge. Yeah, and he
owns it, and I think he masterfully

608
00:44:14.280 --> 00:44:16.559
goes through the situation and the way
that he's supposed to. So I'm glad

609
00:44:16.599 --> 00:44:22.280
that they made better use of LeVar
Burton. Yeah, it's gets another idea

610
00:44:22.320 --> 00:44:25.760
too, where another example of where
they had an idea but it didn't work,

611
00:44:25.800 --> 00:44:30.079
I think Roddenberry's idea and they thought
it would be funny that a blind

612
00:44:30.119 --> 00:44:36.039
man is steering the ship, and
that's what the original intension was out on.

613
00:44:36.199 --> 00:44:38.880
Yeah. Yeah, that didn't work
because it didn't get a character anything

614
00:44:38.920 --> 00:44:42.920
to do other than sit there and
push buttons and you know, you know,

615
00:44:43.400 --> 00:44:46.039
that's it. So I'm glad that
they stopped that right away. One

616
00:44:46.039 --> 00:44:51.079
of the things in that I you
know, you talk about all these characters

617
00:44:51.159 --> 00:44:53.559
finding their way finally and what they
did with Laforge's character. But one of

618
00:44:53.559 --> 00:44:57.760
the things that I really appreciate that
we're going to see over the years is

619
00:44:57.800 --> 00:45:02.599
the relationship between Jordi and Data.
I love the relationship between those two on

620
00:45:02.639 --> 00:45:07.119
how it just becomes such an incredible
friendship. Yeah, you know you you

621
00:45:07.119 --> 00:45:12.679
you see this android desperately trying to
become human. You know, it's like

622
00:45:12.719 --> 00:45:15.760
the like Pinocchio, the wooden boy
who wants to become humans so bad.

623
00:45:15.559 --> 00:45:19.800
You know, it's very similar here, and Jordi really helps him along that

624
00:45:19.880 --> 00:45:22.440
way. I know it's kind of
out a place to talk about in this

625
00:45:22.480 --> 00:45:23.719
episode, but you know, I
just bringing up Jordy, you know,

626
00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:27.280
I just want to mention that because
for those who have not seen Star Trek,

627
00:45:27.280 --> 00:45:29.400
you're going to see that, you
know. Over you know, the

628
00:45:29.440 --> 00:45:34.280
seven years of the next generation of
those two friendship just blooming, and I

629
00:45:34.320 --> 00:45:37.639
love it so much. I always
look forward to seeing that and think about

630
00:45:37.639 --> 00:45:42.159
it. Go thirty five years later, uh season three of Picard, when

631
00:45:42.239 --> 00:45:46.000
when Jordy activates Data for the first
time after they thought he was dead,

632
00:45:46.039 --> 00:45:50.559
and he turns and sees Jordy for
the first time. Yep, think of

633
00:45:50.559 --> 00:45:53.519
the emotional impact that had on all
us. Here where this work going all

634
00:45:53.519 --> 00:45:55.800
the way back to the beginning,
this is where it started. This Yep,

635
00:45:55.880 --> 00:46:01.920
that shows exactly how incredible the characterizations
and the creation of these characters through

636
00:46:02.280 --> 00:46:06.039
the years. I'm not gonna lie. I teered up when that happened,

637
00:46:06.079 --> 00:46:08.199
because I mean, I grew up
with this crew, So when I got

638
00:46:08.199 --> 00:46:12.679
to see that that many years later, I teared up and it started.

639
00:46:13.639 --> 00:46:16.840
Yeah, I'm glad they chose who
they chose, and they they got this

640
00:46:16.920 --> 00:46:22.039
crew. We're definitely absolutely Dave.
What about our next one, Well,

641
00:46:22.039 --> 00:46:27.280
we're gonna be very careful on how
we talk about this episode. Yes,

642
00:46:29.199 --> 00:46:32.360
this episode is called Skin of Evil. The Enterprise receives a distress signal from

643
00:46:32.360 --> 00:46:37.199
Detroit Deana Troy Shuttlecraft, who was
returning to the ship, but is discovered

644
00:46:37.199 --> 00:46:40.239
to have crashed on a planet,
and away team beams down to find a

645
00:46:40.239 --> 00:46:45.360
poll of tar that turns out to
be a very evil entity known as Armis.

646
00:46:45.039 --> 00:46:49.440
Commander Riker and crew have to find
a way to reason with the creature.

647
00:46:50.239 --> 00:46:52.039
Deaner Troy, being held against their
will, is forced to communicate with

648
00:46:52.079 --> 00:46:55.280
the being to learn its secret,
But as we discovered in this episode,

649
00:46:55.320 --> 00:47:00.440
the damage has been done, changing
the dynamic of the Enterprise crew forever.

650
00:47:01.079 --> 00:47:04.800
Now again, I know we've gotta
be very careful in what we talk about

651
00:47:04.800 --> 00:47:07.760
this. I don't want to spoil
this for anyone because it was shocked all

652
00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:15.360
of us. The ending of this
episode was just beautiful. I think that

653
00:47:15.480 --> 00:47:19.800
is my favorite part of the entire
season in my opinion, was the ending

654
00:47:19.840 --> 00:47:23.400
to this episode because none of us
saw it coming, and when it did

655
00:47:23.440 --> 00:47:28.280
happen, it was like, what
like a shock to the system for sure,

656
00:47:28.320 --> 00:47:30.800
and it was handled so well.
And then one of the things that's

657
00:47:30.800 --> 00:47:35.119
said at the end just wow.
I mean even now I think about what

658
00:47:35.199 --> 00:47:37.920
was said and I'm like, oh
my god, it's just heart reaching,

659
00:47:38.639 --> 00:47:43.239
absolutely, you know. And this
goes back to, like you know,

660
00:47:43.280 --> 00:47:47.719
we talked about the original when the
sets and props of this haves that original

661
00:47:47.760 --> 00:47:52.400
feel. It really does, especially
on the planet when when with the tar

662
00:47:52.440 --> 00:47:55.639
and stuff like and Wayne, you
know, if I had side conversations recently

663
00:47:55.679 --> 00:47:59.920
back at Galaxy about this episode,
how I know you weren't a big fan

664
00:48:00.079 --> 00:48:04.199
of the tar and stuff like that. I find it it's a little cheesy,

665
00:48:04.199 --> 00:48:07.679
it's a little it's a little original
series, a little bit too much

666
00:48:07.719 --> 00:48:12.880
Original series that for my liking it. You know, you got an ancient

667
00:48:12.920 --> 00:48:15.239
evil which has never really explained very
much, or at least not explained to

668
00:48:15.280 --> 00:48:22.239
my liking. But and this would
probably be my least favorite episode of the

669
00:48:22.400 --> 00:48:25.679
entire series if it wasn't for the
events of later in the episode, which

670
00:48:25.679 --> 00:48:29.119
I can't talk about. So I
can't really talk about my favorite parts.

671
00:48:29.119 --> 00:48:36.320
But this is this is another episode
that you can't You can't skip it.

672
00:48:36.320 --> 00:48:38.519
It's too important. You have to
watch this one. Yeah, this is

673
00:48:38.599 --> 00:48:43.679
vital to season one. You cannot
skip this one, cannot Yeah. Yeah,

674
00:48:43.760 --> 00:48:47.840
there's there's a lot of great interpersonal
relationships come to the surface. And

675
00:48:47.880 --> 00:48:51.280
at the time that we're coming to
this episode, we haven't been with this

676
00:48:51.400 --> 00:48:57.440
crew that much, but you a
lot of connective threads come out. I

677
00:48:57.440 --> 00:49:01.320
think it's a great use of Troy's
character, who is isolated on the shuttle

678
00:49:01.400 --> 00:49:07.599
and has nobody else. She's sitting
across from somebody who might be dead the

679
00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:13.280
I forget the crewmate that's in the
shuttle, but you know, surrounded by

680
00:49:13.320 --> 00:49:19.559
this menacing character that I think is
used really well. We'll talk in a

681
00:49:19.639 --> 00:49:27.360
later episode about the character itself.
The armis character, at least the look

682
00:49:27.400 --> 00:49:32.000
and the feel comes back in an
episode with the shelleyac and I can't watch

683
00:49:32.039 --> 00:49:38.519
that episode without thinking of this one. But yeah, maybe in the next

684
00:49:38.760 --> 00:49:44.159
in the next few episodes, when
we talk about the rest of Trek,

685
00:49:44.199 --> 00:49:46.519
we can look back on this and
kind of get back into it. Well,

686
00:49:46.559 --> 00:49:51.440
the next one we've got, I
feel like is one of the moments,

687
00:49:52.039 --> 00:49:57.159
aside from Skin of Evil, Conspiracy
is the next episode we're going to

688
00:49:57.199 --> 00:50:00.840
talk about. And this one feels
to me almost like a ton will shift

689
00:50:00.320 --> 00:50:05.840
from where we start with The Naked
Now for example, which is a very

690
00:50:05.840 --> 00:50:08.639
different episode from where we ended up
at the end of the series. This

691
00:50:08.679 --> 00:50:14.840
feels like they're kind of getting into
second gear and getting ready for the second

692
00:50:14.880 --> 00:50:20.039
season. In this one, Picard
has a clan. This is also one

693
00:50:20.079 --> 00:50:24.159
that's very difficult to talk about it
without going spoilers. But in this one,

694
00:50:24.199 --> 00:50:29.519
Picard has a clandestine meeting with trusted
colleagues who give them a cryptic warning

695
00:50:29.559 --> 00:50:34.559
about a dangerous corruption growing throughout Starfleet. As the ship gets closer to revealing

696
00:50:34.559 --> 00:50:37.320
the threat, they may already be
too late. So this is one that

697
00:50:37.400 --> 00:50:42.800
won an Emmy for Outstanding Makeup for
a Series I just learned. Yeah,

698
00:50:44.239 --> 00:50:46.280
I'm going to tread lightly here with
saying this one, and I tried to

699
00:50:46.320 --> 00:50:51.760
put this in a very specific way, but I was surprised to learn that

700
00:50:51.880 --> 00:50:55.840
this episode was originally intended to lead
to an introduction of the Borg in the

701
00:50:55.840 --> 00:51:00.800
second season premiere, Apparently due to
the writer strike in nineteen eighty eight,

702
00:51:01.000 --> 00:51:07.880
the storyline gets pushed back several months
and the subplot that we see coming to

703
00:51:07.920 --> 00:51:13.639
the surface and this one eventually gets
abandoned, which ye interesting, partly due

704
00:51:13.679 --> 00:51:17.400
to budget shortages. But I know
they don't make much mention of what happens

705
00:51:17.440 --> 00:51:24.519
here, even though it seems enormous, a very bold use of special effects,

706
00:51:24.559 --> 00:51:29.679
I will say in this one,
a very almost seems like a non

707
00:51:29.760 --> 00:51:37.159
Star Trek use of special effects.
Yep. But I think it's this one

708
00:51:37.199 --> 00:51:40.840
is just fascinating to me. I
come back to this somewhat often, not

709
00:51:40.920 --> 00:51:47.559
as often as like Data Lore,
but it's very interesting some of the places

710
00:51:47.559 --> 00:51:52.519
they start to go with this,
and it feels like there's kind of a

711
00:51:52.559 --> 00:52:00.480
theme that we see come up in
various series. That's almost like maybe they

712
00:52:00.519 --> 00:52:06.920
are aspects of Starfleet that are not
perfect, and maybe there are some things

713
00:52:06.960 --> 00:52:09.840
dipped out. Now this one there's
a sinister reason behind it, so It's

714
00:52:09.880 --> 00:52:15.960
not like it's exposing a fatal flaw
in Starfleet, but it is interesting to

715
00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.840
start to go to that place and
say we're not always going to be good

716
00:52:19.840 --> 00:52:22.480
with authority, going to challenge it
from time to time, which I think

717
00:52:22.480 --> 00:52:28.320
has used really well. So it
kind of great. Go ahead person this

718
00:52:28.320 --> 00:52:30.960
this episode. Again, not to
give away too much, but this goes

719
00:52:31.000 --> 00:52:37.480
back to a film Scott you and
I covered for nineteen eighty six at the

720
00:52:37.599 --> 00:52:42.280
Sarca film and even even from a
nineteen fifty three film. And I don't

721
00:52:42.280 --> 00:52:45.719
want I'm I'm not gonna say anymore. Well done. Yeah, but it

722
00:52:45.760 --> 00:52:50.440
really does, Wayne, Sorry,
go ahead this. It feels like the

723
00:52:50.480 --> 00:52:54.800
first part of a multi part episode
and you know, I'm not gonna give

724
00:52:54.840 --> 00:53:00.800
anything way, But unfortunately it's never
returned to. It's one of those episodes,

725
00:53:00.840 --> 00:53:05.000
one of those those plots that you
keep hoping every time a new series

726
00:53:05.079 --> 00:53:07.079
or a new season starts with a
series, I think you're ever going to

727
00:53:07.119 --> 00:53:09.039
return to this? Are we're ever
going to to give a conclusion or a

728
00:53:09.079 --> 00:53:15.519
continuation? We never have in thirty
five years. We're still hoping what we're

729
00:53:15.559 --> 00:53:21.639
still hoping because there's a lot of
open ends a lot of questions still left

730
00:53:21.719 --> 00:53:25.719
unanswered. And and I you know, as Scott mentioned, this was supposed

731
00:53:25.760 --> 00:53:30.559
to be a multi part episode.
Yep, that just never came to be.

732
00:53:30.840 --> 00:53:34.679
I just I'm really surprised that they've
never brought it back, never brought

733
00:53:34.679 --> 00:53:37.800
the plots back to Maybe I think
the best way to do it would be

734
00:53:37.880 --> 00:53:43.559
lower decks happened to Oh my god, get Brandon Williams on the phone.

735
00:53:43.599 --> 00:53:50.320
We have an idea. Yep.
Yeah, all right, Wayne, why

736
00:53:50.360 --> 00:53:54.480
don't you bring us home? What's
our top ten episode? All right?

737
00:53:54.519 --> 00:54:00.719
Well, the last of the Top
ten is the last episode of the first

738
00:54:00.719 --> 00:54:05.480
season, and it is called The
Neutral Zone. Written by Deborah m McIntyre

739
00:54:05.760 --> 00:54:10.280
and Amona Lee, directed by James
o' conway, The Enterprise discovers a Derelck

740
00:54:10.400 --> 00:54:15.920
satellites containing cryogenically frozen humans from the
twentieth century. Three of the humans have

741
00:54:15.960 --> 00:54:20.920
survived the process, but find it
difficult to adjust to the fact that three

742
00:54:21.039 --> 00:54:24.719
hundred years have passed them by.
Meanwhile, the Enterprise is sent to investigate

743
00:54:24.719 --> 00:54:30.280
the destruction of Federation outposts near the
Neutral Zone, leading to the first confrontation

744
00:54:30.480 --> 00:54:35.679
with the Romulents in over fifty years. Now, Scott, you brought up

745
00:54:36.280 --> 00:54:42.000
to mention that Conspiracy was supposed to
be the first part that was going to

746
00:54:42.119 --> 00:54:45.559
originally lead to the Boorg. This
was to be the second part of that

747
00:54:45.760 --> 00:54:52.320
story. But unfortunately, because of
the writer strike of nineteen eighty eight,

748
00:54:52.360 --> 00:54:55.679
which had a huge impact on season
two, and we'll talk about that in

749
00:54:55.679 --> 00:55:00.440
the next episode, they had to
completely change the storylines and this is what

750
00:55:01.360 --> 00:55:07.719
came of it. And through that
though, we got the first appearance of

751
00:55:07.760 --> 00:55:10.480
the Romulans in the next generation.
You know, they have been mentioned a

752
00:55:10.480 --> 00:55:15.400
couple of times that there's a threat
that they're you know, they're out there,

753
00:55:15.840 --> 00:55:19.480
but they haven't been seen by the
Federation, and it's actually it was

754
00:55:19.519 --> 00:55:22.400
fifty three years. They just like
like vanished, you know, without a

755
00:55:22.440 --> 00:55:27.320
trace, and no one has seen
You're very mysterious. And then here they

756
00:55:27.360 --> 00:55:34.199
are now investigating the same incidents that's
going on. And it's a nice redesign

757
00:55:34.400 --> 00:55:37.360
of the Romulans. They don't look
exactly like they did in the original series,

758
00:55:37.360 --> 00:55:44.719
specifically because the makeup designer did not
want them looking like Bulkans. And

759
00:55:44.760 --> 00:55:50.199
then we get their new ship,
the wonderful Romulan war Bird. It's one

760
00:55:50.239 --> 00:55:52.760
of the most beautiful ships that was
designed for Stars Break the next generation,

761
00:55:53.000 --> 00:55:58.559
right, totally agree, Yeah,
Probert, he was the designer of the

762
00:55:58.920 --> 00:56:02.639
Enterprise D and of the Feringi Marauder
to incredible ships. He was he was

763
00:56:02.760 --> 00:56:07.599
in one of the best of the
business for ILM and he did a good

764
00:56:07.719 --> 00:56:12.800
job. It's a great episode.
I don't want to spoil some of the

765
00:56:12.920 --> 00:56:17.360
ending to it. It is left
open ended, but this fortunately did get

766
00:56:17.679 --> 00:56:22.800
a continuation in the second season,
so we did get to see the result

767
00:56:23.360 --> 00:56:29.719
of this the open ended plot points
for the end of this season. And

768
00:56:29.800 --> 00:56:34.519
it isn't a cliffhanger. This isn't
a cliffhanger like that that comes later a

769
00:56:34.599 --> 00:56:37.480
show. And this establishes that the
Nixtunson to take place in twenty three sixty

770
00:56:37.480 --> 00:56:39.760
four for the first time too,
isn't it. That's right? You're right,

771
00:56:39.880 --> 00:56:43.840
yeah, yeah, so we can
kind of put that because I think

772
00:56:43.880 --> 00:56:45.800
everything from there on out in Star
Trek is based off of this year,

773
00:56:45.880 --> 00:56:50.360
right, like they know from then
on out what year everything takes place from

774
00:56:50.360 --> 00:56:52.119
here on out, correct, You're
right, You're right. And they were

775
00:56:52.159 --> 00:56:53.639
able to set all the stargates because
some of the startings before this are a

776
00:56:53.679 --> 00:56:57.960
little off. They're a little weird. But after this, everything is set

777
00:56:58.000 --> 00:57:01.280
perfectly and you can you can fit
every show from that point all the way

778
00:57:01.280 --> 00:57:06.599
to the present day shows perfectly in
the timeline. Yeah. Absolutely. Here's

779
00:57:06.599 --> 00:57:09.480
another thing that I found very interesting. When Claire is searching for her family

780
00:57:09.519 --> 00:57:13.400
members of Troy, did you guys
take a look of the names on the

781
00:57:13.440 --> 00:57:16.239
screen? Yes? I did mention
that I forgot about it yet there was

782
00:57:16.280 --> 00:57:21.119
like what Gilligan's Island names were on
there, and then the cast of the

783
00:57:21.159 --> 00:57:24.760
Next Generation crew were on there,
and I think even is it Mash I

784
00:57:24.800 --> 00:57:30.079
think was was mentioned on there too. That is hysterical. Man, oh

785
00:57:30.159 --> 00:57:34.320
and you miss you missed my favorites. Very clearly on the screen are six

786
00:57:34.519 --> 00:57:37.519
names the names of the six actors
who played Doctor Who at the time.

787
00:57:38.000 --> 00:57:43.639
Yeah, that's right, very cool. I love it when they put touches

788
00:57:43.679 --> 00:57:46.519
like that in shows. And I
feel like, the face that we see

789
00:57:46.519 --> 00:57:52.760
on that view screen is that not
Roddenberry's face. I'm sure. I'm not

790
00:57:52.800 --> 00:57:55.880
sure. She looks up a distant
relative. It's like, oh my god,

791
00:57:57.360 --> 00:57:59.199
Yeah, I do know. They
used a lot of the crew members

792
00:57:59.199 --> 00:58:05.119
and stuff. It's very well yea, but yeah, the Romulins are such

793
00:58:05.159 --> 00:58:12.159
an amazing there, very cordial,
very polite, very political menace that comes

794
00:58:12.159 --> 00:58:15.880
back in the series. I love
the fact that whenever the ship de cloaks,

795
00:58:15.880 --> 00:58:20.800
it kind of slithers into view and
by the time it d cloaks,

796
00:58:20.880 --> 00:58:24.519
it's so close you can see into
their deck windows, right, And but

797
00:58:24.559 --> 00:58:30.480
it's always very polite, and I
think the way that they manage those situations

798
00:58:31.320 --> 00:58:37.239
is so expertly done and it gives
such a great range to that species.

799
00:58:39.119 --> 00:58:43.079
And I'm glad that we get to
see them. And it's it's only a

800
00:58:43.119 --> 00:58:46.239
taste of the Romneys, that's that's
what they just just just a little little

801
00:58:46.280 --> 00:58:52.679
bite to you know, to let
you know that that these are the main

802
00:58:52.800 --> 00:58:57.519
menace of the generation. Now.
I think because the Feringi didn't work the

803
00:58:57.599 --> 00:59:01.199
original plans, they decided to bring
them back. You know, we we

804
00:59:01.400 --> 00:59:06.239
you knew at the end of this
episode that we were in for more of

805
00:59:06.239 --> 00:59:09.800
the Romulans. There was going to
be a lot of a lot more to

806
00:59:09.840 --> 00:59:13.719
come than you were looking forward to. A boy, what are you looking

807
00:59:13.719 --> 00:59:15.440
forward to it? After this?
And I want to give a shout out

808
00:59:15.440 --> 00:59:21.679
to Anthony James as son commander.
Is that thigh they he was in like

809
00:59:21.719 --> 00:59:25.119
high planes Drifter unforgiven, dude has
own tons of work, So definitely shout

810
00:59:25.119 --> 00:59:29.159
out to him because I thought he
did a great job. So that gets

811
00:59:29.159 --> 00:59:31.920
through our top ten. I know
that. Well we'll go alone and they'll

812
00:59:31.960 --> 00:59:37.920
go hi. Uh, there's a
dishonorable mention we have to talk about here.

813
00:59:37.280 --> 00:59:44.079
Uh, there's a certain episode that
should should technically be skipped because it

814
00:59:44.199 --> 00:59:47.880
is not a great episode. Specifically, I think it's episode three Code of

815
00:59:47.880 --> 00:59:55.920
Honor. Yes, yep, very
tone deaf and embarrassingly racist episode that most

816
00:59:55.960 --> 01:00:00.679
of the crew would love to forget. If you're going to be you know,

817
01:00:01.079 --> 01:00:05.840
if you want to get the whole
thing and be complete and go through,

818
01:00:06.840 --> 01:00:10.000
certainly do so. But just know
that there there are sometimes when we

819
01:00:10.039 --> 01:00:15.000
get stinkers, and if you're going
through, I'm on the fence about you

820
01:00:15.000 --> 01:00:19.440
know, should you avoid it or
not. I almost feel like it should.

821
01:00:20.000 --> 01:00:22.079
You have to see it so that
you know what happened. But it's

822
01:00:22.159 --> 01:00:25.079
it's not a high point. Wayne
made a very good Wayne made a very

823
01:00:25.079 --> 01:00:28.519
good point to me, and I'm
gonna let him talk about it. So

824
01:00:28.559 --> 01:00:30.880
Wayne, go ahead about that episode. Yeah, it's not an important episode

825
01:00:30.880 --> 01:00:35.760
of the series, and you definitely
can skip it, but it's one of

826
01:00:35.760 --> 01:00:39.519
the very few episodes from the first
season that Denise Crosby got to do anything.

827
01:00:39.559 --> 01:00:45.440
It's it's it's Atasha episode. And
for that, I'm not gonna say

828
01:00:45.440 --> 01:00:49.039
I like because I don't. It's
it is one of the worst episodes.

829
01:00:49.480 --> 01:00:52.360
But she's great in it. I
mean, she really gives a phenomenal performance

830
01:00:52.719 --> 01:00:57.920
and shows what what could have been, you know, if she was allowed

831
01:00:57.960 --> 01:01:02.039
to explore her character more, which
she didn't get too. And in that

832
01:01:02.159 --> 01:01:07.599
case, it's not my least favorite
episode of the series, it's my second.

833
01:01:07.960 --> 01:01:09.800
My my least favorite is actually the
episode before that, in episode two,

834
01:01:09.840 --> 01:01:13.639
the Naked Now. I just that
episode you can skip. You can

835
01:01:13.679 --> 01:01:15.639
skip both of these. Really,
yeah, go straight, which you make

836
01:01:15.639 --> 01:01:21.199
which you make your your second episode
Heyn, which is perfect. But you

837
01:01:21.239 --> 01:01:24.119
know, it's just I don't like
The Naked Now. I find the the

838
01:01:24.239 --> 01:01:31.920
visual effects are clunky, the acting
is is it's clunky to the it's very

839
01:01:32.000 --> 01:01:36.920
camp it's doing trying to be too
much like the original series. Yeah,

840
01:01:37.039 --> 01:01:42.480
and the actors are kind of off
character, and you know, it's it's

841
01:01:42.480 --> 01:01:45.000
too early in the series for everyone
to be trying to play drunk yep.

842
01:01:45.400 --> 01:01:51.119
Yeah, and it doesn't work.
It's it's it's a cringe worthy episode.

843
01:01:51.159 --> 01:01:52.599
So so if you do need,
if you don't have all the time to

844
01:01:52.599 --> 01:01:57.280
watch twenty six episodes, twenty six
hours, there's two hours right there,

845
01:01:57.320 --> 01:02:02.960
you can skip. Well. Getting
back into something positive, as Boemler says,

846
01:02:04.039 --> 01:02:07.880
let's talk about Riker. Riker,
Wayne, you got a favorite Riker

847
01:02:07.920 --> 01:02:10.400
moment from season one? Yes,
I do. You brought it up a

848
01:02:10.440 --> 01:02:16.880
little bit earlier. I like Riker's
performance, his characterization in Height and Q.

849
01:02:17.880 --> 01:02:23.079
You know, he's presented with an
impossible decision. You know, he's

850
01:02:23.079 --> 01:02:27.639
got the powers. He's omnipotent.
He's got the powers of Q. He

851
01:02:27.679 --> 01:02:30.880
can do anything. He can.
He can bring back the dead, which

852
01:02:30.920 --> 01:02:34.719
he does. He brings back Wharf
and and and Wesley. He can he

853
01:02:34.760 --> 01:02:38.119
can do anything. He can give
Wharf girlfriends and and you know, he

854
01:02:38.119 --> 01:02:44.119
he could save and stop war everything. But but he has to make the

855
01:02:44.159 --> 01:02:49.599
moral decision. And and I love
Jonathan Frakes's performance in this episode. It's

856
01:02:49.639 --> 01:02:52.480
it's a it's a Riker episode,
and it gives Riker one of the few

857
01:02:52.519 --> 01:02:55.719
times in the series, or it
might be the only time where he really

858
01:02:55.719 --> 01:03:00.639
gets to interact with Q because before
the hour after this it's it's Patrick Stewart,

859
01:03:00.679 --> 01:03:05.440
Johnallancy all the way. But here
here it is we've got Jonathan Fraake's

860
01:03:05.440 --> 01:03:07.599
and John Delancy and they do a
phenomenal John this This is my choice.

861
01:03:07.719 --> 01:03:10.400
Good choice. All right, Dave, what about you? What's your favorite

862
01:03:10.440 --> 01:03:15.199
record moment? So mine actually comes
at encounter at far point at the beginning

863
01:03:15.679 --> 01:03:21.800
of the series, so it's more
like a Picard Riker moment when they first

864
01:03:21.920 --> 01:03:25.400
meet on the ship, Rikers is
beamed on board Tasha. Yard takes him

865
01:03:25.599 --> 01:03:29.920
to the battle bridge and you know, he basically, you know, automatically

866
01:03:29.960 --> 01:03:32.719
says, well, something must have
happened because the saucer section was missing,

867
01:03:34.480 --> 01:03:37.960
and you know, he walks onto
the battle bridge, but Card really gives

868
01:03:37.000 --> 01:03:40.880
him this like cold shoulder, you
know what I'm talking about. Yeah,

869
01:03:40.880 --> 01:03:44.039
it comes up, and you know, and then Picard tells him, you

870
01:03:44.039 --> 01:03:46.400
know, we're gonna let you review
something. And it never looks back at

871
01:03:46.440 --> 01:03:52.079
him, just keeps looking forward.
And then you know he Yard takes him

872
01:03:52.079 --> 01:03:54.440
over and sits him down and he
watches the screen basically watches the episode with

873
01:03:54.519 --> 01:03:58.960
us you know what we've already seen, which was really weird in itself,

874
01:03:59.000 --> 01:04:01.199
but besides the po and of course
when it was over, you know,

875
01:04:01.239 --> 01:04:05.840
he lost you. He calls that
a little adventure. And then after all

876
01:04:05.880 --> 01:04:12.320
of that is asked to manually dock
the saucer section. Talk about being put

877
01:04:12.320 --> 01:04:15.000
to test right away by your captain. There you go, right, yeah,

878
01:04:15.159 --> 01:04:18.360
welcome aboard, sir, Welcome aboard. Yeah, absolutely, yeah,

879
01:04:18.480 --> 01:04:25.199
we see that. That kind of
reminds me of was it Ratha Khan m

880
01:04:25.360 --> 01:04:30.079
h. When Chris Yalley's character is
asked to, you know, pilot manually,

881
01:04:30.079 --> 01:04:31.840
there's always kind of that little test
that kind of comes up a lot.

882
01:04:31.960 --> 01:04:34.440
Yeah, It's it's tricky, like, don't break it. We just

883
01:04:34.480 --> 01:04:40.840
got it, no pressure. Sure, that's fine for me. There's a

884
01:04:40.960 --> 01:04:45.599
bit of quick thinking on Arsenal of
Freedom where you see kind of the cleverness

885
01:04:45.599 --> 01:04:50.800
of Breaker come out when he talks
about the good ship Lollipop and I won't

886
01:04:50.840 --> 01:04:56.320
say too much of that spoiling because
it's an interesting twist, but getting to

887
01:04:56.320 --> 01:05:00.679
see him develop a little bit more
into kind of his tactical mind and start

888
01:05:00.719 --> 01:05:03.039
to kind of come out. I
think that comes out a lot more when

889
01:05:03.039 --> 01:05:06.559
the Beard comes back, so we'll
look forward to that in the next season

890
01:05:08.199 --> 01:05:11.719
well. As always, thank you
guys for joining me on this one.

891
01:05:11.800 --> 01:05:15.920
I love talking track with you,
trips to the cons and all this other

892
01:05:16.000 --> 01:05:18.960
kind of stuff where Jeff is just
like, I don't know this yet,

893
01:05:19.039 --> 01:05:25.000
but I'll get there. Just check
out a list exactly if you have a

894
01:05:25.119 --> 01:05:29.159
chance, go through our list.
Even if you don't have a chance to

895
01:05:29.199 --> 01:05:31.320
catch them all, that's fine.
This is just a little taste kind of

896
01:05:31.320 --> 01:05:35.039
a map to get through some of
these seasons and then you can just explore

897
01:05:35.239 --> 01:05:39.719
as much as you want to.
As always, thanks listeners for joining us

898
01:05:39.719 --> 01:05:44.159
for these adventures, these discussions.
Hailing frequencies are always open for you to

899
01:05:44.159 --> 01:05:47.960
share your thoughts and your questions on
social run all the favorite platforms there.

900
01:05:48.199 --> 01:05:53.159
Email us at a Film by a
Podcast at gmail dot com, find us

901
01:05:53.199 --> 01:05:57.480
online at a film by a podcast
dot com. And if you're looking for

902
01:05:57.519 --> 01:06:00.599
more exclusive content, possibly some swag. If you see you to set a

903
01:06:00.639 --> 01:06:04.119
coon, send us some latinum r
way through the Patreon and we'll get you

904
01:06:04.159 --> 01:06:09.280
on our list. The next few
episodes, we'll talk about season two in

905
01:06:09.320 --> 01:06:13.480
a top ten and explore what else
there is to do. Thanks Wayne,

906
01:06:13.639 --> 01:06:14.559
Thanks thank you