#TNGWatch #S01E22 #Symbiosis

I don’t know what this episode’s about! But! We’re watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on the 31st anniversary of it premiering on network TV! Whee!

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Bitchy Picard (which is wholly distinct from Grumpy Picard) is AWESOME!

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This was excellent! A whole planet of drug addicts (who don’t know they’re addicts and actually think the drug is a medicine for a plague they used to have), being serviced by a whole planet of drug dealers (who totally know they’re drug dealers), and the Enterprise, Picard and Crusher especially, are stuck in the middle. At first, I thought this was just gonna be a Very Special Episode, especially after the talk between Tasha Yar and The Boy about why people take drugs (holy shit am I happy she’s getting killed off in the next episode), but it turned out to be an episode about the Prime Directive and how it sometimes ties the Federation’s hands for both good and ill. I was, and am, on Team Crusher all the way, as she wanted to tell the addicts about their addiction and then use the Enterprise’s advanced medical technology to ween them off the drug, but Picard invoked the Prime Directive, and shut that down. He did eventually figure out a way to help the addicts, but in a very roundabout way that will ensure they suffer greatly before they get better.

I can understand Picard’s thinking, but man do I not agree with it. This isn’t a case of giving technology to a wholly primitive world. Like,  they have space travel and transporters and such. And this also isn’t a case of imposing Federation beliefs on a society. This is a humanitarian crisis on a literal global scale, and Picard basically turned his back on that because of a “philosophy” (his word).

Still, this is what Star Trek is about, man. Big questions without easy answers, that make people think about the things going on right now. Best episode of the season so far, and with only five episodes left, it might very well stay on top.

#TNGWatch #S01E21 #TheArsenalOfFreedom

I kind of remember this one. There was a holographic captain and a bunch of war weapons.

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I love that this is a “heavily forested planet”, but the background is still a blue screen. It seems only this small area that they’re walking around in is “heavily forested” :P

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Seriously, Picard? Your first time on an away team, and you fall into a hole? Lame, dude.

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I always forget this ship can separate into two parts.

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This was okay. I mostly enjoyed the fact that Geordi got to command the ship again as the Captain, the second-in-command, and the third-in-command all joined the away team for reasons. But Geordi was awesome in command. He should probably get promoted soon, and that mouthy Chief Engineer should be relieved of duty.

I love that the fix to the problem in this episode was buying the weapons system that was trying to kill everybody.

Hey! Two episodes without The Boy! He must be studying really hard since he failed the Starfleet exam.

#TNGWatch #S01E20 #HeartOfGlory

Romulans! Finally! And mayhaps some Klingons?

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Haha! That was a nifty little scene about what and how Geordi sees, and while Picard behaves like an excited schoolboy, Riker has to be the adult in the room and get the mission back on track :D

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This was a decent episode, if a bit anticlimactic. It was a pretty good character study of Worf, in which you learn he’s a third-culture kid who was raised by humans after his family was killed by Romulans at Khitomer. So when two renegade Klingons come aboard the Enterprise talking about battle and glory, Worf gets a bit misty-eyed. Worf, of course, chooses not to join the criminals, but still gives the last one a Klingon death (and I guess we’re supposed to feel pity for them, warriors in a time of peace, but they did kill some security officers who probably had families, so fuck that noise). Also, are all Klingons this poetic? (The answer is yes, of course they are.)

This episode also featured bits of the "Klingon Battle Theme" from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and it was awesome. That’s one of my favorite pieces of music, and I recognized it immediately by just a few strains.

I was wrong about the Romulans. They are still no-shows, and I actually only realized when starting this episode that neither they nor the Klingons had showed up at all this entire season (Worf himself being the exception).

Fashion Talk: Klingon uniforms are the friggin’ best.

#TNGWatch #S01E19 #ComingOfAge

It’s a The Boy-centric episode as he takes his Starfleet entrance exam. Also, Starfleet Admiral shenanigans!

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Riker did his leg over the chair thing! Ha!

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When Picard was saving that kid in the shuttlecraft, my brain was shouting, “That’s not how physics works!”

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This was a pretty good episode. The Boy is taking the Starfleet entrance exam while Picard is being investigated for various goings-on onboard the Enterprise. However, I was right when I called this “admiral shenanigans” as that’s all they turned out to be. The admiral who ordered the investigation just wanted to make sure Picard was clean because he thinks there’s a conspiracy trying to tear the Federation down. I honestly hope this plot thread is picked up again later.

Meanwhile, The Boy goes through testing, and we meet Mordock, the first Benzite inducted into Starfleet. Yay, Mordock! I’m not really sure why I like him so much, but I do. The other human and the Vulcan who were also testing seemed like they could have been interesting characters, but unfortunately neither woman was really developed much.

Fashion Talk: The Boy cut his hair, and he looks way cuter now. Also, Picard wore his dress uniform in one scene, and I know it’s basically a long coat, but it really looks like a dress. It goes down all the way to just below the knee, and seems to be form-fitting. Also also, the Starfleet skirts seem to be making a huge comeback. I saw like 10 different people wearing them in this episode.

Video Game Round-Up! - August/September 2018

It’s time for another Video Game Round-Up! Another month of being mostly stuck at home due to some medical issues (seriously though, I’m okay :D ) meant that I got to play a lot of video games! Here they are in mostly chronological order with some ramblings after each one.

#TNGWatch #S01E18 #HomeSoil

After a long hiatus due to Samurai Champloo, Marvel's Spider-Man, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Iron Fist, and The Dragon Prince (from the writers of Avatar: The Last Airbender!), we’re back to watching the semi-utopian future of Star Trek! I have no idea what this one’s about!

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The lady explaining how terraforming works to the clearly befuddled Enterprise away team is named Luisa Kim, making her a Latinx-Asian woman!

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Picard is getting his Dixon Hill on as he plays detective on an about-to-be-terraformed planet.

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That woman is clearly grieving, Riker! Stop being a sex pest!

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Worf just scolded the computer, and it was ADORABLE!

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This was legit a good episode. The Enterprise discovers a new type of life form on a planet that’s about to be terraformed (which would kill the new life form), and then the life form declares war on humanity. This is a great episode about the exploration side of Star Trek, and about defusing a situation as quickly as possible without killing anything in the process. Peace and science for the win!

Fashion Talk: Why do the terraforming crew’s uniforms have such a huge lapel? Wouldn’t that get in the way of all the stuff they have to do? Seems like a terrible accident waiting to happen.

#TNGWatch #S01E17 #WhenTheBoughBreaks

Oh dang, I think this is going to be a The Boy-centric episode.

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Why are all these children wearing such awful clothing?!

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It doesn’t even matter what this episode was about. That little red-headed girl was the most adorable thing and this episode is amazing because of her. She even played with The Boy and I found him less irritating. She went to hug Picard and it was adorable because he still doesn’t like children. She had what looked like a Tribble toy, and it was adorable too. There should be an entire episode devoted to the adventures of that little girl. There was also a civilization that kidnapped other people’s children, but who even cares.

Fashion Talk: As adorable as that little girl was, she and all the other children wore the most hideous clothing! It’s like they were all dressed for the figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics!

#TNGWatch #S01E16 #TooShortASeason

I have no idea what this episode is about! Exciting! There is a super old dude in it, though!

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This was a weird episode. A very old admiral makes the decision to take some untested alien drug to regain his youth so that he can redress a wrong he committed on a somewhat friendly, yet non-Federation planet. While he does get an extra dose for his wife, he doesn’t actually ask her about it, and ends up taking both doses anyway. Men. The actor that played the admiral was pretty awful, actually, and the story didn’t make a lot of sense. Like, how are you gonna redress a wrong by going in guns blazing? Nonsensical.

Fashion Talk: I just noticed that Starfleet pants have these little openings right above their shoes! That’s actually a pretty clever way to make sure the pants don’t bunch up at the ankle. I approve!