#TNGWatch #S01E07 #LonelyAmongUs

Dress uniforms! I think I will be discussing fashion in this episode’s write-up too :D

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Dr. Crusher is wearing a blanket with sleeves! I want!

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Man, why is Engineering the most dangerous place on this show? They go through engineering personnel like original Trek went through security personnel.

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Wait, what the heck just happened? That ending made no sense whatsoever. Did Picard actually want to become an energy being and then regretted his decision, or was the other entity lying? Also, what is up with the dog people and the snake people? They were just there for... comic relief? That’s an odd bit of filler, guys. This was not a good episode, but at least it had the dress uniforms and that awesome blanket with sleeves thing that Crusher was rocking. I think my brother and I got that for my mom one Christmas.

Also, Miles O’Brien cameoed for like two seconds, but he was security personnel this time, and in gold instead of red, like in the first episode when he was on the conn/helm (I think they only used “conn” in Farpoint, and then switched to “helm” for everything after).

#TNGWatch #S01E06 #WhereNoOneHasGoneBefore

I have no idea what this episode is about, but I already want to punch that Kasinski guy in the face.

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Oh! Is that the Traveler? I think that’s the Traveler!

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Okay, this was actually a pretty good episode. There was exploration and mystery and space shenanigans. The Traveler is a pretty neat concept that is immediately shelved so that he can’t be used as a deus ex machina for other problems (I mean, until he is in later episodes, but literally the first thing I thought when they get to Galaxy M-33 was, “Wait, why didn’t Voyager use this guy?”). The Boy is made acting Ensign in this, but I also just noticed that he wears some truly horrible sweaters. Someone get that kid a fashion coordinator stat!

Fashion Talk: Speaking of fashion, that weird Starfleet skirt makes a reappearance on an extra who looked suspiciously like John Cho’s dad. I’ve decided I really like that skirt, and it’s actually a much better costume for Troi than the weird jumpsuits she’s been wearing these past few episodes.

#TNGWatch #S01E05 #TheLastOutpost

First contact with the Ferengi! With Armin Shimerman somemore!

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“We seek only what is equitable.” YESSSSSS....

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Easily the best episode so far (though still not very good :P ). I had never actually seen this episode before, but the Ferengi’s first appearance is really weird. They were a lot more monkey-like in their movements, and what was up with those weird energy whip things they had? I much prefer the Ferengi built up in DS9 (perhaps later TNG episodes will lay the groundwork for this). Also, Quark > Letek, obviously. Still, a lot of what Ferengi are eventually codified as is present here: seeking profit, gold being a commodity, backstabbing, and that whole not clothing females thing (until Ishka, anyway).

Like I said, I’ve never seen this episode before, but I used to play the Decipher Star Trek CCG from like 20 years ago, and I have nearly every single card from every expansion, so even though I’ve never seen this episode, I recognized a lot of the images from it thanks to various cards. The Tkon portal guy I recognized instantly, as well as Data’s Chinese finger trap.

#TNGWatch #S01E04 #CodeOfHonor

Hold on to your butts, this episode’s gonna deal with sexism (and probably be racist at the same time).

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Man, every time Riker smiles, I feel like he’s trying to get into my pants.

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Okay, not as bad as the previous episodes, but still pretty bad. Why is this "primitive" alien race full of Black people who only value women for what they own? I mean, I think they were trying to teach the audience something, but I don’t think it worked out the way they wanted to, and was just cringey as hell. But hey, at least The Boy got to man the conn again.

As a kid, I remember wanting to be the The Boy. I was 4 or 5 when TNG first premiered, and I watched it with my mom (along with episodes of OG Trek), and I thought it was so cool to be a kid on the Enterprise. Then I got older and watched a lot more episodes of TNG and just hated The Boy for being way more important than he should have been. My annoyance at this character will only grow as his importance on the show grows, fair warning.

Also, where’s O’Brien? He appeared nameless in Farpoint, but hasn’t shown up since. What’s up with that? This show needs more Miles!

#TNGWatch #S01E03 #TheNakedNow

Hey! This is the one where they all get high! I don’t think I’ve actually seen this one before.

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Stop backseat doctoring, Riker!

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Holy shit, this episode. Pretty much everybody was high. Crusher macks on Picard (who basically macks right back), Troi macks on Riker, and Tasha Yar outright seduces Data (and talks about escaping rape gangs O_O WTF). It was basically a really weird softcore porn episode. This was worse than Farpoint! I seriously question the wisdom of the TV execs that greenlit this show on the strength of these early episodes. And to all those people complaining about how Discovery wasn’t “real” Star Trek? Mothafuckas, please. Watch this shit again and thank your lucky stars Discovery was so fucking good in its first season.

#TNGWatch #S01E01E02 #EncounterAtFairpoint

The girl and I have decided to start rewatching Star Trek: The Next Generation in chronological order because it turns out neither one of us has! Also, we’ve probably not watched every single episode thanks to syndication and what not. We’re calling it TNGWatch! We’re like five minutes into “Encounter at Farpoint”, and I already got comments :P

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Ahhhh! Naked Face Riker! Ahhhh!

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Man, Picard is super grumpy in this episode! He’s snapping at everybody.

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Space Jellyfish in Love!

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Okay, so this... this is not a good episode. I have no idea how TV execs saw this and went, "Yes! Okay! Let's do this!" Besides the awful writing and incredibly stilted acting from pretty much everyone involved, every character also feels really weird because I know what they eventually become. The main culprits are Grumpy Picard and Emotional Troi, but Naked Riker, Timid Crusher, and Submissive Worf also feel really weird. But hey, at least we still have The Boy and soon-to-be-dead Tasha Yar :P

I had also completely forgotten that the Enterprise-D could split into two different components.

About the only plus in this episode is Q, who is like my annoying ex-boyfriend whom I can't help but still be somewhat attracted to. And also the giant space jellyfish in love because love conquers all, dammit.

Video Game Round-Up! - July/August 2018

Thanks to a recent medical issue (everything’s fine now and I’m back at work), I had to work from home for about two weeks. While a bit annoying because I couldn’t go out and do stuff, it did give me more time to play video games (before and after work when I would normally be on my commute, and during my lunch hour). And I played a lot of video games.

I want to talk about them because I like talking about the things I read, watch, and play.

Some of these games I played before my two weeks of forced hermitry, but I put them in anyway for funsies. So this list encompasses about a month’s worth of video games, and here they are in (mostly) chronological order.