To Baldly Go

Star Trek TNG S1E12-14 The Big Goodbye | Datalore | Angel One - “Another Lost Episode” | First Time Reaction – To Baldly Go Podcast (Ep. 036.5)

In this lost episode of To Baldly Go, we return to early Star Trek: The Next Generation with Season 1’s “The Big Goodbye,” “Datalore,” and “Angel One.” This week we get a decent episode with a weak close, a possible “Enemy Within” redux, and an episode that may be a bit too clever for its own good. We discuss Crusher’s strong showing in “The Big Goodbye,” the limits and missed potential of the holodeck, Brent Spiner’s excellent work in “Datalore,” Lore’s tell, Wesley’s role, and the strange execution of “Angel One.” We also wander into fake mystery novels, Sons of Anarchy, original-series movie lighting, Parks and Recollection, Romulan references, and Gates McFadden trivia.

Star Trek TNG S3E10–12: The Defector | The Hunted | The High Ground - "Hard to make better episodes than this" | First Time Reaction – To Baldly Go Podcast (Ep. 052)

In this episode of To Baldly Go, we continue Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 with “The Defector,” “The Hunted,” and “The High Ground.” This week, we get: * One hell of an episode to come back to * Have we seen this before? * An interesting concept, poorly executed We start with “The Defector,” a tense Romulan story featuring the return of Tomalak, a powerful ending, Data performing Shakespeare, and a big step forward in Star Trek storytelling. Then, in “The Hunted,” we discuss what happens when soldiers are created for war and then abandoned afterward, with side trips into MKULTRA, The Original Series, James Cromwell, and Enterprise security procedures. Finally, “The High Ground” gives us an episode with a provocative concept that we wanted to like more than we did, raising questions about terrorism, perspective, historical references, and whether the execution lives up to the idea. Join us as we discuss the next three episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation on To Baldly Go Podcast.

Star Trek TNG S03E07-09 The Enemy, The Price, The Vengeance Factor – “The Fiftieth!!!” | First Time Reaction – To Baldly Go Podcast (Ep. 051)

This week on To Baldly Go, we continue our first-time watch of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 with episodes 7 through 9: “The Enemy,” “The Price,” and “The Vengeance Factor.” This week, we get: * Worf going against expectations * The ethics of the empath * Personal connections to Star Trek In “The Enemy,” Geordi is stranded with a Romulan on Galorndon Core, giving us a strong example of what Star Trek can do when it mixes survival drama, political tension, and character conflict. We talk about Worf’s surprising refusal, Romulans in Federation space, disability representation among Romulans, and how the episode deepens the lore. In “The Price,” the Ferengi are back, and Troi gets pulled into both a romantic story and a moral dilemma around empathic abilities. We discuss why this one does not really work for us, the creepier moments, and whether there was a version of this episode that could have landed better. In “The Vengeance Factor,” the Enterprise gets pulled into a murder mystery involving old feuds, tribalism, and revenge. We talk about Riker, Yuta, Worf’s very different relationship to vengeance, and why we are all the villain in somebody’s story. A bunch of generally solid episodes this week — even if one of them is definitely doing more heavy lifting than the others.

Star Trek TNG S03E04-06 Who Watches the Watchers, The Bonding, Booby Trap – “The Actual 50th Episode” | First Time Reaction – To Baldly Go Podcast (Ep. 050)

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 03, Episodes 04-06 Welcome to another episode of the To Baldly Go Podcast, in which I – a newbie to the Star Trek universe – am watching through Star Trek from the beginning, in release order, and discussing with some of my long-time Trekkie friends. This week, we get: * Explanations for things we don’t understand * No man can step in the same river twice * Human intuition We covered: * Who Watches the Watchers * The Bonding * Booby Trap “Who Watches the Watchers” gives us a damaged Federation observation post, a pre-warp civilization, and a Prime Directive disaster that accidentally turns Captain Picard into a god figure. We talk through the episode’s critique of religion, whether that critique is fair, and how much of belief comes from trying to explain things we do not yet understand. “The Bonding” is a heavier episode centered on grief, loss, and a child trying to process the death of his mother. We discuss how difficult the episode is to get a clean read on, how life experience can change the way we receive a story, and why this may represent an important turning point for Star Trek: The Next Generation. “Booby Trap” traps the Enterprise in an ancient battlefield and gives Geordi a holographic engineering partner who helps him work through the problem. We get into the cool sci-fi premise, the uneven execution, Picard’s ship-in-a-bottle enthusiasm, Geordi being a bit creepy, and somehow end up talking about Tommy Boy, Chris Farley, John Candy, John Belushi, and Rick Moranis. Next time: Star Trek: The Next Generation S03E07-09 — The Enemy, The Price, and The Vengeance Factor.

Star Trek TNG S03E01-03 Evolution, The Ensigns of Command, The Survivors – “TNG Season 3 Kickoff” | First Time Reaction – To Baldly Go Podcast (Ep. 049)

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 03, Episodes 01-03 Welcome to another episode of the To Baldly Go Podcast, in which I – a newbie to the Star Trek universe – am watching through Star Trek from the beginning, in release order, and discussing with some of my long-time Trekkie friends. This week, we get: * Twister in space * The less-funny Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy * The Man Trap, Part 2 We covered: * Evolution * The Ensigns of Command * The Survivors “Evolution” – What is life, anyway? Season 3 kicks off with what may be the most solid premiere episode of The Next Generation so far. Wesley’s experiment with nanites spirals into a crisis aboard the Enterprise, raising questions about intelligence, responsibility, and what qualifies as life. We also talk about Wesley owning his mistake, Nate — usually our resident Wesley apologist — having to wrestle with Wesley’s role in the crisis, the continued production-quality upgrade, Beverly’s return after a season away, baseball, vinyl versus streaming, and, of course, twister in space. “The Ensigns of Command” – Diplomacy, stubborn colonists, and excessive honesty Data is sent to evacuate a human colony before an alien race arrives to destroy them, but the colonists are not especially interested in being saved. What follows is part land-rights dispute, part diplomacy problem, and part lesson in creativity. We discuss whether you can save people who refuse to be saved, the value of guile in negotiation, Data’s brutally honest approach, and a little behind-the-scenes talk about ADR. “The Survivors” – Empathy for a monster The Enterprise finds an entire colony destroyed, except for two elderly survivors who remain mysteriously untouched. As the crew investigates, the episode becomes something stranger, darker, and more morally complicated than it first appears. We talk about how The Next Generation feels like it is operating at a higher level, Riker’s skepticism, the emotional weight of the reveal, and what happens when someone commits a crime so enormous that no law seems big enough to cover it. Season 3 is off to a really solid start. Next time: Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 continues with episodes 4-6: Who Watches the Watchers, The Bonding, and Booby Trap.