Star Trek: *hits blunt* The higher, the fewerrrrrr

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > TV IV > Star Trek: *hits blunt* The higher, the fewerrrrrr

Khanstant: Apr 5, 2007

I don't know who I am saying this to exactly but I wish there was a version of this song where she was singing about oo-max instead of saying "woman" because it puts a lot of strain on me to sub in oo-mox myself.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=6uj7f4xK6Yo

# ? Feb 24, 2022 22:02

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# ? May 31, 2024 15:09

The_Doctor: Mar 29, 2007; "The entire history of this incarnation is one of temporal orbits, retcons, paradoxes, parallel time lines, reiterations, and divergences. How anyone can make head or tail of all this chaos, I don't know."

FlamingLiberal posted:

I had no idea they were there

Something to look out for in the HD release! :gbsmith:

# ? Feb 24, 2022 22:13

davidspackage: May 16, 2007; Nap Ghost

S4-15: First Contact
Riker is wounded while infiltrating an alien planet in preparation for first contact, so Picard has to speed up the process. I appreciate how Riker has his story ready to explain his physical abnormalities even though I think he might've come more prepared than just wear mittens over his hands. I liked how the first minister was quite suspicious of Picard in a way that initially made me dislike him, but the fact that the episode is largely from the aliens' point of view helped sell the notion that his mistrust isn't that unreasonable. I loved Bebe Neuwirth's small part as a horny groupie for aliens, her scene with Frakes was hilarious. Really love Carolyn Seymour whenever she shows up too. Great episode, even if it feels a little rushed that the decision not to go ahead with further contact falls on one single man to make, but that's the usual issue of scale in sci-fi shows and movies.

S4-22: Half A Life
�Counselor's log: my mother is on board.� And then Picard furtively sneaking peeks through a doorway. That's one of the best jokes TNG's ever done. David Ogden-Stiers guest stars as a scientist from a civilization that believes when people reach the end of middle age, they must end their own life. And he's absolutely phenomenal. Just this incredible soft, gentle performance of a man being torn up inside by regret and fear and doubts. Majel doesn't have his kind of acting chops, but does an admirable job as Lwaxana wrestles with the cultural divide and having to admit to the fear of growing old. I was surprised to see Michelle Forbes make her first Star Trek appearance as the scientist's daughter too. I can't remember what it was like to go in on this episode blind, expecting a goofy Lwaxana episode and being hit in the face with this. Second episode to get me teary-eyed, an extremely good one.

# ? Feb 26, 2022 20:11

Sash!: Mar 16, 2001

First Contact is easily in my top five TNG episodes.

It has a cool story, action, thinking big thoughts, and all of the stuff that you could want. Even comedy.

# ? Feb 26, 2022 22:28

RacistsSuck: May 3, 2021; by Fluffdaddy

�I�ll call you the next time I pass through your star system� is one of the greatest lines in all of TNG.

# ? Feb 27, 2022 02:17

Sash!: Mar 16, 2001

His expression when she's touching his fingers and he's just like "ugh, guess I have to bang my way out of another one." Priceless.

# ? Feb 27, 2022 04:06

davidspackage: May 16, 2007; Nap Ghost

S4-25: In Theory
A crewmember falls in love with Data and he decides to attempt a relationship. This episode is a lot funnier than I remembered it; in my memory Data was a lot more self-serving and less honest about how he approaches the relationship, which gave it the idea of a cruel experiment he undertakes at a crewmate's expense. I like that he actually is quite open about it to her, and even approaches the whole idea with caution. I just find the conclusion, where she breaks up with him and he tells her coldly that he'll delete the program he wrote for their relationship, rather bleak. Data's emotional development is never consistent throughout the series, but I feel like that's not the Data who transferred Lal's memories into himself to make her part of him. I would've preferred him reflecting on that he failed at having a relationship, but will continue to learn from the experience, instead of putting it in the trashbin. If you try hard, I guess you could interpret it similarly to the scene from the other episode where Data gives Tasha's sister the cold shoulder after betraying him � he's upset at the relationship ending, and responds by 'hiding' in his emotionless robot behavior.

I do find it super sweet that when he goes to Worf for advice, Worf sternly warns him not to hurt someone under his command or else.

The B-plot of the ship experiencing weird phase distortions as a result of some nebula is very obvious filler material that is extremely hard to care about. Picard weirdly insists on risking his life leading the ship from a shuttle, I wonder if that happened because Stewart apparently directed the episode.

S4-26/S5-1: Redemption
The Enterprise travels to the Klingon homeworld for Picard to finish Gowron's installment as the new Klingon chancellor. Spurred on by Picard, Worf seizes on the chance to reclaim his family's honor. I fondly remember the Klingon-centric episodes of TNG from my childhood, and I think Worf was my favorite character, but I've become struck by how stubbornly dumb Worf not only is, but seems to remain for the entirety of the series. Gowron transparently manipulates Worf with ease, but basically any Klingon Worf encounters does that. He never seems to learn or become any more resilient to manipulation. People have pointed out how Worf gets clowned in fights all the time to sell the idea that his adversary is dangerous, but he's also the one main cast member who gets tricked on the regular.

For that matter, how did this guy go through Starfleet Academy and several years of serving and he's still the guy whose first response to anything is �we should try shooting it�? Like fine if you don't share Starfleet's values even though you busted your rear end to work on one of its ships, but shouldn't you at some point start realizing the people around you aren't cool with always antagonizing space clouds and lens flares?

Does Worf's age get definitively stated anywhere? I feel like a lot of Worf's character starts making more sense if he's actually close to a Klingon teenager for most of TNG.

# ? Feb 27, 2022 21:17

Big Mean Jerk: Jan 27, 2009; Well, of course I know him.
He's me.

davidspackage posted:

S4-15: First Contact
Riker is wounded while infiltrating an alien planet in preparation for first contact, so Picard has to speed up the process. I appreciate how Riker has his story ready to explain his physical abnormalities even though I think he might've come more prepared than just wear mittens over his hands. I liked how the first minister was quite suspicious of Picard in a way that initially made me dislike him, but the fact that the episode is largely from the aliens' point of view helped sell the notion that his mistrust isn't that unreasonable. I loved Bebe Neuwirth's small part as a horny groupie for aliens, her scene with Frakes was hilarious. Really love Carolyn Seymour whenever she shows up too. Great episode, even if it feels a little rushed that the decision not to go ahead with further contact falls on one single man to make, but that's the usual issue of scale in sci-fi shows and movies.

S4-22: Half A Life
�Counselor's log: my mother is on board.� And then Picard furtively sneaking peeks through a doorway. That's one of the best jokes TNG's ever done. David Ogden-Stiers guest stars as a scientist from a civilization that believes when people reach the end of middle age, they must end their own life. And he's absolutely phenomenal. Just this incredible soft, gentle performance of a man being torn up inside by regret and fear and doubts. Majel doesn't have his kind of acting chops, but does an admirable job as Lwaxana wrestles with the cultural divide and having to admit to the fear of growing old. I was surprised to see Michelle Forbes make her first Star Trek appearance as the scientist's daughter too. I can't remember what it was like to go in on this episode blind, expecting a goofy Lwaxana episode and being hit in the face with this. Second episode to get me teary-eyed, an extremely good one.

I think Half a Life might genuinely be in my personal TNG Top 10 because of the performances. It gets me every time and the downer ending hits so much harder because normally you�d expect a Trek episode to find some way to convince him to live or end in a big courtroom scene with an impassioned Picard speech.

# ? Feb 27, 2022 21:22

F_Shit_Fitzgerald: Feb 2, 2017

Memory Alpha says he was born in 2340, which would have made him around 24 at the beginning of TNG. I think that age sort of fits TNG-era Worf pretty well.

# ? Feb 27, 2022 21:22

Tunicate: May 15, 2012

davidspackage posted:

ersary is dangerous, but he's also the one main cast member who gets tricked on the regular.

For that matter, how did this guy go through Starfleet Academy and several years of serving and he's still the guy whose first response to anything is �we should try shooting it�? Like fine if you don't share Starfleet's values even though you busted your rear end to work on one of its ships, but shouldn't you at some point start realizing the people around you aren't cool with always antagonizing space clouds and lens flares?

To be fair, just shooting from the start would have solved about 40% of episodes where he offers it as an option

# ? Feb 27, 2022 21:30

Small Strange Bird: Sep 22, 2006; Merci, chaton!

And also, you can imagine the response on any Klingon ship that encountered the kind of poo poo the Enterprise does would be "shoot it until it stops being a problem" most of the time, occasional V'gers notwithstanding.

# ? Feb 27, 2022 22:15

thotsky: Jun 7, 2005; hot to trot

24 is pretty old for a Klingon though? Don't they grow up faster than Humans?

# ? Feb 28, 2022 01:00

J33uk: Oct 24, 2005

thotsky posted:

24 is pretty old for a Klingon though? Don't they grow up faster than Humans?

Man I'm wondering about teenage Worf playing soccer with equivalent aged kids and no wonder he killed someone. The NCAA must be a mess in Star Trek, you've got Kelpians just dunking from half court and a Horta DT in football just straight up melting people. I'm guessing you'd end up with something like the Paralympic classification system.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 01:11

END CHEMTRAILS NOW: Apr 16, 2005; Pillbug

J33uk posted:

The NCAA must be a mess in Star Trek

There's nothing in the rule book that says a Q can't play basketball.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 04:29

davidspackage: May 16, 2007; Nap Ghost

Payndz posted:

And also, you can imagine the response on any Klingon ship that encountered the kind of poo poo the Enterprise does would be "shoot it until it stops being a problem" most of the time, occasional V'gers notwithstanding.

Worf's always trying to be the most Klingon he thinks he can be, he probably sees a glowing gentle space turtle on the viewscreen trying to suckle the Enterprise and all the crew is going "awww!", and he's thinking "I'd better suggest exploding it with photon torpedoes so they think I'm a badass"

Of course, then they rebuke him and the space turtle starts draining the ship's energy.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 07:25

Dysgenesis: Jul 12, 2012; HAVE AT THEE!

I'm about to show my children (11 and 9) tng for the first time and it's been over 10 years since my last watch through.

I can't wait for there reactions but I know if I build it up too much it makes it more likely they wont like it so I'm going softly softly.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 12:44

Owlbear Camus: Jan 3, 2013; Maybe this guy that flies is just sort of passing through, you know?

Someone write a fanfic where it is the Enterprise D captained by Picard that originally encounters the planet in The Omega Glory. I wanna see how that plays out.

# ? Feb 28, 2022 23:02

8one6: May 20, 2012; When in doubt, err on the side of Awesome!

Weirdly enough Picard orders the planet glassed from orbit.

Then it cuts to the credit sequence and the rest of the episode is a light hearted slice of life of Picard, Seven, and Romulan Legolas at a theme park. (Space Captain and Rafi were detained at the gate in a hilarious mixup.)

# ? Mar 1, 2022 04:23

Casimir Radon: Aug 2, 2008

Dysgenesis posted:

I'm about to show my children (11 and 9) tng for the first time and it's been over 10 years since my last watch through.

I can't wait for there reactions but I know if I build it up too much it makes it more likely they wont like it so I'm going softly softly.

And here in the very second episode Data informs everyone that his penis is fully functional.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 05:31

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

8one6 posted:

Weirdly enough Picard orders the planet glassed from orbit.

Then it cuts to the credit sequence and the rest of the episode is a light hearted slice of life of Picard, Seven, and Romulan Legolas at a theme park. (Space Captain and Rafi were detained at the gate in a hilarious mixup.)

TNG cross-cut between Picard's insane lust for death and wacky comedy all the time. Nothing new there :v:

# ? Mar 1, 2022 05:55

HD DAD: Jan 13, 2010; Generic white guy.; Toilet Rascal

What is the most tonal whiplash between an A and B plot in a Trek episode anyway?

# ? Mar 1, 2022 06:09

Timby: Dec 23, 2006; Your mother!

HD DAD posted:

What is the most tonal whiplash between an A and B plot in a Trek episode anyway?

Meridian comes to mind. Cost of Living, too.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 06:20

The Chairman: Jun 30, 2003; But you forget, mon ami, that there is evil everywhere under the sun

HD DAD posted:

What is the most tonal whiplash between an A and B plot in a Trek episode anyway?

I think it's either Ascent from DS9 (A plot: Odo and Quark are stranded on an alpine planet and nearly die trying to set up an emergency beacon; B plot: Nog and Jake are bad roommates), or Force of Nature from TNG (A plot: a pair of siblings are disabling ships to get people to pay attention to their theory that warp engines are tearing space apart, B plot: Spot is a naughty cat)

# ? Mar 1, 2022 06:28

Drink-Mix Man: Mar 4, 2003; You are an odd fellow, but I must say... you throw a swell shindig.

HD DAD posted:

What is the most tonal whiplash between an A and B plot in a Trek episode anyway?

I'm going to go with "Silent Enemy" in Enterprise. Aliens inexplicably try to destroy the ship while Archer tries to find out Reed's favorite food.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 06:33

Seemlar: Jun 18, 2002

DS9's Life Support has to be up there - a) Bashir has to use increasing invasive methods to keep a mortally wounded Vedek Bareil alive long enough to conclude a peace treaty with the Cardassians in the limited time he has left. b) Jake and Nog go on a double date which ends badly, Jake learns that cultural differences like "deeply ingrained misogyny" need not ruin a friendship

# ? Mar 1, 2022 06:59

nine-gear crow: Aug 10, 2013

VOY's Hunters is also a good one: A) Tuvok and Seven are captured and almost murdered by a pair of ruthless eight foot tall skullfucker aliens, B) Neelix delivers the mail! :buddy:

# ? Mar 1, 2022 07:09

Nessus: Dec 22, 2003; After a Speaker vote, you may be entitled to a valuable coupon or voucher!

thotsky posted:

24 is pretty old for a Klingon though? Don't they grow up faster than Humans?

They seem to mature faster but may also live longer. I mean this isn't that bizarre, turtles work the same way and Klingons kind have turtle ridge heads.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 11:15

StashAugustine: Mar 24, 2013; Do not trust in hope- it will betray you! Only faith and hatred sustain.

The one where the A plot is Kira joining a Bajoran civil war and the B plot is O'Brien is good at darts is also up there, perhaps not for tonal whiplash but for the difference in stakes

# ? Mar 1, 2022 19:29

MikeJF: Dec 20, 2003

Data's Day is kinda off deliberately on opposite ends of the spectrum - Data Navigates Social Intricacies Around A Wedding vs Did Romulans Assassinate An Ambassador? But it's very much aware of that and inverting the A/B structure.

# ? Mar 1, 2022 21:47

Farmer Crack-Ass: Jan 2, 2001; this is me posting irl

thotsky posted:

24 is pretty old for a Klingon though? Don't they grow up faster than Humans?

That's one of those setting elements that was not thought through well at all, and came about entirely because the writers wanted to do stories about Worf being a single father.

# ? Mar 2, 2022 00:13

Farmer Crack-Ass: Jan 2, 2001; this is me posting irl

HD DAD posted:

What is the most tonal whiplash between an A and B plot in a Trek episode anyway?

Maybe that Discovery episode where Burnham learns about love in between bouts of Harry Mudd repeatedly murdering the captain and crew in increasingly brutal ways

# ? Mar 2, 2022 00:40

Sash!: Mar 16, 2001

Nessus posted:

They seem to mature faster but may also live longer. I mean this isn't that bizarre, turtles work the same way and Klingons kind have turtle ridge heads.

I now accept Klingons as space-turtles.

# ? Mar 2, 2022 04:00

CPColin: Sep 9, 2003; Big ol' smile.

That was the real reason Worf wanted help committing suicide. It wasn't because his spine was injured; it was because he was flat on his back and too embarrassed to ask for help flipping over.

# ? Mar 2, 2022 04:47

Tunicate: May 15, 2012

The Klingon lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs, trying to turn itself over but it can't, not without your help. But you're not helping. Why is that, Data?

# ? Mar 2, 2022 06:13

Small Strange Bird: Sep 22, 2006; Merci, chaton!

Tunicate posted:

The Klingon lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs, trying to turn itself over but it can't, not without your help. But you're not helping. Why is that, Data?

I'm now mentally replacing "I cannot permit this to continue" with "Let me tell you about my mother."

# ? Mar 2, 2022 17:36

Vertigo Ambrosia: May 26, 2004; Heretic, please.

I've started DS9 (again), and...are there any first season episodes I can skip? I've heard it doesn't really get going until season 2; I'm in episode 5 and...this is a bit boring. I know Duet is supposed to be a must watch episode (and from the last time I started DS9 I know I can skip the Q episode), but that's about it.

edit: or is it just this episode in particular?

Vertigo Ambrosia fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Mar 3, 2022

# ? Mar 3, 2022 01:53

Tiberius Christ: Mar 4, 2009

Move Along Home is pretty dire

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxyYf5MXVSGZ6SpFe9W0rBCdQPNJHbGKr5

# ? Mar 3, 2022 02:04

Snow Cone Capone: Jul 31, 2003

Move Along Home is a top 10 episode

# ? Mar 3, 2022 02:20

Timby: Dec 23, 2006; Your mother!

Vertigo Ambrosia posted:

I've started DS9 (again), and...are there any first season episodes I can skip? I've heard it doesn't really get going until season 2; I'm in episode 5 and...this is a bit boring. I know Duet is supposed to be a must watch episode (and from the last time I started DS9 I know I can skip the Q episode), but that's about it.

edit: or is it just this episode in particular?

The Storyteller is unbearable dreck.

# ? Mar 3, 2022 02:26

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# ? May 31, 2024 15:09

Pascallion: Sep 15, 2003; Man, what the fuck, man?

Must watch are Duet and the season finale.

I�d also recommend The Nagus, Battle Lines, Progress, and The Forsaken for continuing plot lines/recurring characters/character development.

Move Along Home is silly and controversial, but I like it and if nothing else it comes up a lot in the thread.

Storyteller and Wishes Were Horses are pretty universally acknowledged to be poo poo.

The rest maybe give a shot but skip if you�re not feeling it?

# ? Mar 3, 2022 02:48

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