Three Guys And A Trek - Trekking Through Star Trek: The Next Generation

The Black Swan by Taleb: https://amzn.to/37i1spPOther books talked about with similar themes: Speaker for the DeadThe Mote in God's Eye

The guys cover Episode 16 of Season 1 of The Next Generation, When the Bough Breaks. This episode plays around with some fun sci-fi tropes and does a pretty good job with it. Children, technology, and the ozone layer...Oh my! Picard gets to show off his fondness for kids.

The guys cover Episode 15 of Season 1 of The Next Generation, Too Short a Season. This was...not the greatest episode. Disjointed from obvious tension from Roddenberry's creative control, this episode goes no where interesting. It does have some terrible old person make-up going for it, however.

11001001 is the number 201 in base ten. We just thought you should know that.This was the first episode we did remotely, with none of us in the same room. We still have some kinks to work out on this new arrangement, as you'll probably notice (or if you are polite, ignore). Please bear with us.

The guys cover Episode 13 of Season 1 of The Next Generation, Angel One, is a confusing mess. Not only is the B plot haphazard, the main plot wants to make a point about gender roles, but doesn't quite know what point to make. This is exacerbated by our own confusing times, far different than the culture even 30 years ago.An alternate title for this could "Down With the Matriarchy - Maybe - Sort of." This wasn't a popular episode when it aired, but its only gotten worse with age.

The guys cover Episode 11 of Season 1 of The Next Generation, Datalore, where Brent Spiner gets to stretch his muscles, and essentially play three different characters: Data, Lore, and Lore pretending to be Data. "Shut up, Wesley!" makes its glorious introduction to the series. We talk about the mystery of Data, which is great, and the laziness of the B plot, which was great but silly.This episode had a lot going for it, with a pretty tight script. They still don't know what to do with all of the characters yet, however.

The guys cover Episode 10 of Season 1 of The Next Generation, The Last Goodbye. The holodeck becomes dangerous and existential questions are raised about the possible fates of artificially created sentient beings. Picard and Crusher turn up the heat. Wesley actually has something to learn from La Forge. A fun episode with a forgettable framing plot. Do they really not know about Halloween? It introduces concepts that will be played with in later episodes.

The guys cover Episode 10 of Season 1 of The Next Generation, Haven. Troi is being forced to marry...a pretty nice guy, actually. But Wyatt, her betrothed, has another destiny, so no one really has a choice ultimately. We are subject to the whims of fate. Overall, a good episode with the introduction of Troi's mother. A tad predictable, but when like reading Oedipus Rex when you know how it is going to end, the fun is in the journey.

The guys cover Episode 9 of Season 1 of The Next Generation, Hide and Q. Q is back and this episode had a great premise and some promising potential. But overall, it felt rushed, and danced around the edges of some of the more interesting directions it could have taken. We also talk about serpent imagery, wisdom and maturity, and Bruce Almighty. Picard and Q quoting Shakespeare in a battle of wits.

The guys cover Episode 8 of Season 1 of The Next Generation, The Battle. The Ferengi are back and less spastic. We go on many, many tangents, but stay on topic long enough to discuss the character of Picard. This one gets a middle of the road review. And Wesley has one of the worst lines imaginable.

The guys cover episode 8, from season 1 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Justice. Deep topics covered in the trappings of a goofy clown. We talk about capital punishment, the spirit of the law, authority and responsibility, and those ridiculously skimpy outfits. Other topics include the Lindy principle in regards to religion, along with a question about how a civilization could even progress if no one does anything that makes them "uncomfortable."

We cover episode 6 of Season 1 from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lonely Among Us. This was the most forgettable episode so far, inconsistent and incoherent. How does is it related to Looney Tunes? Listen to find out. Some good individual performances, and notable for the introduction of Data as Sherlock, but nothing comes together in a satisfying way.

The guys cover Season 1, episode 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Where No One Has Gone Before. A cerebral episode with no real villain, but with a character that you want to punch in the face. The Traveler makes his first appearance, and we even discuss the Trinity! LaForge and Data remind us of a certain pair of Muppets. The actor who plays Kasinski is really familiar. Our alternate title for this episode is "Violins, Ballet Slippers, and Rape Gangs, Oh My". For at least two of us, this was the best episode so far. And Wesley wasn't annoying.

The guys cover Season 1, episode 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Last Outpost. The Ferengi make their first appearance, and it is certainly an appearance. And everyone is really annoyed at Data, for some reason. We name this episode Riker of Oz.

The guys cover Season 1, episode 3 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Code of Honor. While this episode gets closer to what makes Star Trek Star Trek, it leaves something to be desired. Accusations of racism and sexism. And whatever happened to that plague? For some reason, we also talk about the Power Glove and Fred Savage. Listen to get our alternate titles. This episode continues the chain of mediocre reactions. Watch some professional tag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faaN_f-t9ik

The three guys talk about episode 2 of The Next Generation, The Naked Now. We cover the strange tonal shift, the inspiration from the original series, weird audio hiccups, and introduce two new segments into our new show. A show, apparently, that we still can't remember the name of. This episode also introduces a song for the intro. And we play a clip. Baby steps, people.

The guys talk about the pilot episode of The Next Generation, from Big Bad to character introductions to uniforms. The episode gets a rousing label of...OK.

Who are we, why are we doing this, and where are we coming from? We kick the trek off at 2:00 in the morning. You be the judge on whether we remain coherent and lucid. We don't even have a name yet. We even talk about Superman 3.