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shadok posted:No-one loves "In the Pale Moonlight" more than me but you need a metric assload of backstory to appreciate the story. Even "Duet", and I speak from personal experience here, requires a five-minute history lesson about the occupation, resistance and liberation of Bajor with associated commentary on the militaristic aspect of Cardassian society and the consequences of Federation neutrality. Eh, Duet I feel can be explained simply by "Bajor is Poland, Cardassia is Germany, and it's the year 1946." I considered In The Pale Moonlight, but I decided that anything seriously involving the wormhole or Dominion was a bad choice for a sampler of the series to someone unfamiliar with Star Trek. Time to sit down with the ENT episode suggestions and try to remember what the heck any of them actually were.
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Mar 2, 2015 18:37
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Cythereal posted:Time to sit down with the ENT episode suggestions and try to remember what the heck any of them actually were. My ENT suggestion is The Andorian Incident. I think it's a relatively self-contained episode.
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Mar 2, 2015 18:39
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Polo-Rican posted:- lots and lots of orating around tables in beige rooms. Star Trek: lots and lots of orating around tables in beige rooms
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Mar 2, 2015 18:44
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Cythereal posted:Here's my tentative list: While Balance of Terror is a great episode to start with I always find it so hard to pick just one episode of TOS to show people who have never seen it before. TOS episodes are all over the place. Some are pure campy fun with literal comedy sound effects and while others are extremely serious and cerebral. I know I'm being partial to TOS here, but if your lady friend is up to it, I would show her two TOS episodes, one hokey one (Trouble with Tribbles, I Mudd, Shore Leave, Piece of the Action, etc) and one more serious one like Balance of Terror.
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Mar 2, 2015 18:47
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Apple Jax posted:While Balance of Terror is a great episode to start with I always find it so hard to pick just one episode of TOS to show people who have never seen it before. TOS episodes are all over the place. Some are pure campy fun with literal comedy sound effects and while others are extremely serious and cerebral. I'll ask her, though for me it was a coin flip between Balance of Terror and Errand of Mercy for TOS. One introduces the Romulans, one introduces the Klingons, and both are really good episodes. All she knows about Star Trek beyond the reboots is that she's seen pictures of all of Star Trek's captains and takes the outside bet of thinking Sisko is the best-looking captain of them all. 
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Mar 2, 2015 18:52
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Cythereal posted:The Prime Directive is kinda a big deal in Star Trek, and I felt Who Watches the Watchers is probably the show's best look at it. But yeah, Measure of a Man is probably better. One thing Voyager got right at least once was when they had to decide what to do when they were, as Janeway put it, on the "other side of the fence", i.e. some other culture is more advanced and could really help Voyager out, but their laws forbid it. They spend most of the show trying to persuade the Space Belgians, wondering whether a trade deal would be acceptable instead, and with most of the crew ready to mutiny because Janeway ultimately decides she can't work against the alien laws. It was nice to see the show acknowledge that yes, there are good reasons the Prime Directive exists, but there are still serious consequences to it and alien races might not be appreciative of the "bigger picture" when they're dying of some natural disaster and the Federation shrugs their shoulders.
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Mar 2, 2015 19:17
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The most "Deep Space Nine" Deep Space Nine episode is Starship Down. I mean except it doesn't actually take place on the station but gently caress you
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Mar 2, 2015 19:23
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For TOS I'd go with Space Seed as a candidate. It is a bit retrograde but it also shows you who Khan is, and also why he is not a white Englishman.
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Mar 2, 2015 19:26
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Nessus posted:For TOS I'd go with Space Seed as a candidate. It is a bit retrograde but it also shows you who Khan is, and also why he is not a white Englishman. I'd rather not open that can of worms when introducing her to Star Trek, thank you. I think for ENT I'm going to go with Minefield.
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Mar 2, 2015 19:29
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also maybe you don't want to pick an episode about labour camp deaths for date night I'm gonna recommend Captain's Holiday. Goofy, fun, picard in hotpants.
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Mar 2, 2015 19:39
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Y'all gotta stop trying to introduce people to TV shows by showing them the episodes that are both the best and that require the context of character growth and plot developments for the entire series. I know, I'll get someone to watch The Wire by showing them All Prologue.
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Mar 2, 2015 19:39
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gently caress it, show her the Q episode where he becomes human. 
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Mar 2, 2015 19:45
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I wouldn't blunt in the pale moonlight by showing it out of context.
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Mar 2, 2015 19:46
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I'd say an episode that works fairly well as a standalone is Yesterday's Enterprise, what with Guinan being there to inform both the viewer and the crew that there is something wrong, even if say, you never personally watched Tasha Yar die. Another, if you decided to watch together by order of series, would be Relics - she can be made familiar with Scotty by TOS, and thus at least appreciate the fish out of water story. Plus you get the spectacle of the Dyson Sphere. As for Enterprise I might say Observer Effect, being one of the few standalones of Season 4. Its got off bits, but its at least a curious enough concept to be watching the show from the perspective of alien explorers studying the crew, rather than the norm.
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Mar 2, 2015 20:16
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Astro Nut posted:As for Enterprise I might say Observer Effect, being one of the few standalones of Season 4. Its got off bits, but its at least a curious enough concept to be watching the show from the perspective of alien explorers studying the crew, rather than the norm. Unexpected, Silent Enemy and North Star are also decent stand alone episodes (in a series that doesn't have great stand alone episdoes) DS9 you really have to try and introduce the ancillary characters since they're really what make the series good: Dramatis Personae (introduces crazy Sisko), In the Hands of the Prophets (introduces the insufferable Vedek Winn), or Past Prologue (plain, simple, Garak).
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Mar 2, 2015 20:32
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Astro Nut posted:I'd say an episode that works fairly well as a standalone is Yesterday's Enterprise, what with Guinan being there to inform both the viewer and the crew that there is something wrong, even if say, you never personally watched Tasha Yar die. I kinda disagree. Yesterday's Enterprise only works because the viewer who's been watching the rest of the series is so used to seeing the crew how they normally are and are taken aback by how different and millitary-like the crew is. Yeah Guinan says it's not how things are supposed to be, but I don't think that's enough to make it as compelling to a new viewer then it is to someone who has a point of reference. Still not a totally bad episode to show a new viewer, i just don't think it's very standalone at all.
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Mar 2, 2015 20:47
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Speaking from personal experience, I still think "Darmok" is the best TNG episode for a thoughtful but inexperienced Trek viewer to watch. It's got the best balance of cerebral, emotional, and exciting notes out of any TNG episode I can think of. For Voyager, I would actually recommend "Blink of an Eye" but much of the impact of that episode doesn't come from the characters themselves.
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Mar 2, 2015 21:14
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God drat it, you idiot nerds, you don't introduce people to television shows with "What If?" episodes or "Everyone Is Acting Out of Character" episodes.
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Mar 2, 2015 21:16
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armoredgorilla posted:God drat it, you idiot nerds, you don't introduce people to television shows with "What If?" episodes or "Everyone Is Acting Out of Character" episodes. Neither of those that I recommended is one of those--quite the opposite in the case with "Darmok," actually. I guess "Blink of an Eye" is a "what if?" episode, in the sense that it makes me ask "what if all of Voyager were as good as Blink of an Eye?"
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Mar 2, 2015 21:18
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That's in response to Yesterday's Enterprise and Dramatis Personae. Darmok is a terrific introductory episode. Everyone is solidly/excellently in character, it has an interesting A and B plot that are related thematically, and it isn't The Best Episode of The Series, so you're not setting them up for disappointment in everything else.
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Mar 2, 2015 21:20
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armoredgorilla posted:God drat it, you idiot nerds, you don't introduce people to television shows with "What If?" episodes or "Everyone Is Acting Out of Character" episodes. This is actually one of the reasons I picked Timeless for the Voyager episode. It's a really good episode of Voyager in general, a rare good showing by Chakotay and Kim, and I think it introduces most everything pretty well as long as I mention that Seven is an alien cyborg first. Down to Darmok or Measure of a Man for TNG, I think.
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Mar 2, 2015 21:38
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The Drumhead, bro.
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Mar 2, 2015 21:45
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A Piece of the Action requires no preamble and is hilarious while also being peak Trek.
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Mar 2, 2015 21:49
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Because deep down we all love lists. Most representative/best intro episodes, not best of all time. TOS The Trouble With Tribbles Shore Leave The Devil in the Dark TNG The Measure of a Man Darmok The Drumhead DS9 Captive Pursuit Civil Defense Starship Down VOY Why do you hate your friend? ENT What did they DO to you? DS9 was actually the list I had the hardest time with. There's a ton of great episodes, but unlike TNG, they really spread out the ensemble cast. It's hard to find episodes where everyone has a moment to shine that AREN'T either two parters or significant lore/story episodes. DS9 does a really good job of having its "filler" episodes focus on separate groupings of characters. primaltrash fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Mar 2, 2015 |
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Mar 2, 2015 22:00
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Zurui posted:A Piece of the Action requires no preamble and is hilarious while also being peak Trek.
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Mar 2, 2015 22:12
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"The Measure of a Man" is the superior episode, but I feel "The Drumhead" resonates with current events almost perfectly and is therefor a better choice for an intro. "The Devil in the Dark" is a perfect intro TOS episode I think. It's nice and standalone, doesn't require a ton of knowledge of the characters, and has the optimism thing nailed down by not making the Horta an outright villain.
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Mar 2, 2015 22:22
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I'm going to say The Corbomite Maneuver, Who Watches the Watchers, the Jem Hadar, Blink of an Eye, and The Andorian Incident
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Mar 2, 2015 22:36
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I successfully bargained the girlfriend up to doing three episodes from TOS, TNG, and DS9. My intended schedule: TOS: The Devil in the Dark The Trouble with Tribbles Balance of Terror TNG: The Drumhead The Measure of a Man Darmok DS9: Duet Inter Arma Silent Leges (yeah it's basically Bashir only, but I feel it's a better standalone than In The Pale Moonlight) The Visitor DS9 is a toughie for me, as most of my favorite ensemble episodes are deeply tied to the Dominion War, which is a can of worms I don't really want to open. Inter Arma Silent Leges is easy enough to explain, since it's all about the Federation, the Romulans, and Section 31.
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Mar 2, 2015 22:39
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I dunno, you've got two courtroom dramas out of three for TNG. And TNG didn't really DO that much courtroom stuff! Maybe cycle out Drumhead for something a little different? Maybe The Reunion or Inner Light?
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Mar 2, 2015 22:50
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jng2058 posted:I dunno, you've got two courtroom dramas out of three for TNG. And TNG didn't really DO that much courtroom stuff! Maybe cycle out Drumhead for something a little different? Maybe The Reunion or Inner Light? Maybe just The Drumhead and both parts of The Best of Both Worlds.
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Mar 2, 2015 22:52
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I can't believe no one has suggested Data's Day. It's pretty much designed to be an introduction to Trek.
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Mar 2, 2015 22:52
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Cythereal posted:Maybe just The Drumhead and both parts of The Best of Both Worlds. I prefer Measure to Drum, but they're both good. I can see that as a reasonable choice, though maybe you can sell her on Best as a single episode AND get time for Darmok or Inner Light? 
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Mar 2, 2015 22:56
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Cythereal posted:Maybe just The Drumhead and both parts of The Best of Both Worlds. BOBW is such an enormous outlier for TNG, though. There's so much action in that story, in a show that was never quite as action-packed as TOS, and which eventually got to the point where it felt like even when they weren't in the conference room, they were still in the conference room.
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Mar 2, 2015 23:07
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I may be completely alone on this, but I always thought that "Disaster" would be a good intro to TNG. It shows all the main characters in their best/worst situations, has some pretty tense drama, and shows most of what you would need to know about the Enterprise. Someone also suggested "Cause and Effect". I agree with that, too, as everyone has something to do, it has a really good "what's going on?" vibe, and it's an all around great episode.
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Mar 2, 2015 23:45
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For Enterprise, episodes like Dead Stop work. There's also I think Brave New World? The one where everyone gets high on pollen, anyway. I'm also a fan of Dawn, where Trip is marooned on a hell planet. Those are all good standalone episodes.
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Mar 2, 2015 23:45
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Zurui posted:I can't believe no one has suggested Data's Day. It's pretty much designed to be an introduction to Trek. 
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Mar 3, 2015 00:11
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Cythereal posted:I successfully bargained the girlfriend up to doing three episodes from TOS, TNG, and DS9. I still kind of feel like cherry picking top tier episodes like this is a bad way to introduce someone to a show, especially if you're trying to convince them to watch more. For TNG, I'd almost just go with some random decent third season episodes like Tin Man or Booby Trap. Entertaining, watchable, and way more representative of what most episodes in any given season are going to be like.
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Mar 3, 2015 00:19
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Tin Man isn't a good starter because the music is more exciting and dynamic than literally any other TNG episode.
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Mar 3, 2015 00:25
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armoredgorilla posted:God drat it, you idiot nerds, you don't introduce people to television shows with "What If?" episodes or "Everyone Is Acting Out of Character" episodes. Yeah, people in charge of putting The Naked Now at S01E03
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Mar 3, 2015 01:01
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Outrageous Okona or Time's Arrow. Simple.
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Mar 3, 2015 01:15
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