Defector: Jarok’s Journey
The Enterprise encounters a Romulan shuttlecraft speeding toward Federation space carrying a passenger who carries information that could either avert a war or start one. Captain Picard must decide. Next in TNG Rewatch: “The Defector.”
Quis custodiet Ipsos Custodes? Mostly Me, I Do.
Captain Picard becomes a god to a proto-Vulcanoid culture who prepares to sacrifice Troi to him. For some reason, he feels compelled to stop them, and in so doing, he stomps all over the Prime Directive. It’s the anthropology episode, folks
Q Who? The Borg, That’s Who!
Otherwise known as the one in which Q asks to become an officer aboard the Enterprise, throws a fit because Picard says no, and introduces them to the Borg because his feelings are hurt.
Time Squared or Time Wasted?
The Enterprise picks up a duplicate shuttle and finds a duplicate Picard inside it. The crew must race against time to stop the ship’s destruction, and Picard has to make the hard choice to save the ship. In other words, shenanigans ensue.
Disassemble, DEAD! Measure of a Man Revisited
Moving on through Season 2, we get to answer the question of whether Data is a person or property while the show trots out the least convincing relationship ever for our viewing pleasure. Commander Riker gets to try his hand at being a prosecutor, and Picard offers an eloquent defense of Data. Yep, it’s “Measure of a Man.”
Life With Klingons: “A Matter of Honor”
In a fantastic Klingon episode, Riker participates in an officer exchange program and introduces us to gagh, Klingon humor, and their particular chain of command. Meanwhile, Mendon, a Benzite, manages to out-Wesley Wesley Crusher as we move through TNG’s second season.
Loud as a Whisper: Deafness and Disability in Star Trek
The Enterprise crew picks up the greatest mediator in the Federation, and upon the death of his Chorus, they must find a way to communicate with Riva. Loud as a Whisper is a great episode through which to explore how Star Trek views disability and how that view has changed over time.
Conspiracy—TNG Meets Harryhausen
In the penultimate episode of season one, the crew of the Enterprise uncovers a deep conspiracy and races back to Earth to confront the Admiralty only to discover a giant centipede wearing a Remmick suit is calling the shots. Wear a raincoat, because this episode gets gooey.
The Big Goodbye says Hello to the Holodeck
In the 12th episode of Star Trek: the Next Generation, Tracy Torme writes a script that will be the first in a franchise-defining trope—the holodeck malfunction. Picard and Co. meet Dixon Hill for the first time, and the safety protocols malfunction. Shenanigans ensue as we revisit this episode in the TNG retrospective.
Where No Racist has Gone Before: Code of Honor and the Representation of Blackness
This week, the TNG Restrospective revisits the fourth episode of season one, “Code of Honor.” The crew visits a “Stereotypical Space Africa planet,” because they need a vaccine, and the leader kidnaps Tasha Yar. The episode is probably worse than that sounds, and Johnathan Flowers explains why.