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Month: February 2018

Movies & TV

Star Trek TNG: Season 2 Episode Guide

Season Two!

A new doctor! Riker’s beard! Guinan! The introduction of the Borg!

That is definitely a moon backdrop, not something left over from Wil Wheaton’s prom.

TNG’s second season starts to pick up steam. With so many important introductions and two or three great episodes, the show really starts to hit its stride. It’s not perfect (the season ends in a clip show due to the writer’s strike), but it’s a strong lead into character arcs and storylines we’ll be following for the rest of the series.

What makes it required?
Character introductions, strong character development, intriguing science fiction concepts, etc.
Continuity (C) – All episodes marked as C are not necessarily great. Or maybe even good. But they are required to make sense of things, even if it’s for a payoff seasons later.
Silliness (S) – These episodes are ridiculous. But I’m looking forward to the “WTF just happened?” bonding time on the couch with my wife.

Season Two
Originally aired 1988-89
(all episode guides contain spoilers)

Where Silence Has Lease
Elementary, Dear Data – Watch
The Outrageous Okona
Loud as a Whisper
The Schizoid Man
Unnatural Selection
A Matter of Honor  – Watch
The Measure of a Man – Watch
The Dauphin – Watch (S)
Contagion – Watch
The Royale – Watch (S)
Time Squared – Watch
The Icarus Factor – Watch
Pen Pals  – Watch
Q Who – Watch
Samaritan Snare
Up the Long Ladder
Manhunt
The Emissary – Watch
Peak Performance – Watch
Shades of Gray
 
Final count – Watch 13, Skip 9

It’s a good plan. And you can follow along! As we watch each episode, I’ll post a brief entry with my scientific findings. Do I regret including an episode? Was it as bad/good/cheesy/erotic as I remember? What did the wife think of the whole thing? How often do they change uniform designs on this damned show anyway? Stay tuned.

Movies & TV

Star Trek TNG: S1 – The Neutral Zone

Recap:

Data saves some human relics of the 20th century while the Enterprise plays hide & seek with a Romulan ship.

Memory Hole:

Nobody gives a damn about the capsule except for Data. It ends up having three humans on board, but the rest of the crew treats it like a big inconvenience.

“Are we supposed to be the villains? Because these jumpsuits are giving off a strong ‘Bond Villain’ vibe here.”

Also, their story has nothing to do with the Romulans (the supposed A storyline). It’s like they had two half storylines and said “Fuck it. The 20th century dude can spin some wisdom at a key moment. Makes total sense.”

Sorry Romulans, this episode is now about 20th century rubes excited about their compound interest.

The Quote:

She’s a fucking necromancer.

-Fiancé about Doctor Crusher’s ability to bring the 3 capsule jockeys back to life.

Baller Bev
Seriously, they were all dead. Look how casually she treats this miracle. Bev is a baller.

Fiancé’s Favorite Moment:

Beverly’s casual miracle of bringing three people cryogenically frozen for 350 years back to life. NBD.

Fiancé’s Verdict:

The lesson from the B story: The focus of life is to improve one self, not collect wealth.

“Ok, if you don’t have a copy of the Wall Street Journal, I’ll take a USA Today. I can slum it.”