#Star Trek tng episode 16

[thegeminisage]

tng liveblog of the day, because, plot twist, we went ooone more evening. this evening's episodes were "the battle" and "hide & q."

i thought "the battle" was GREAT actually. 38 minutes into this episode i told cathy it was watchable and i had to STOP so she could watch it with me but i was genuinely invested and i thought the premise and the effects were generally very cool. even wesley only had one annoying moment that was 5 seconds long. EASILY my favorite tng episode so far

things i loved: introduction of the picard maneuver, the implication that he had maybe fucked up a lil bit (even if they didn't have the spine to follow thru with it), the ferengi first officer relieving his captain of duty when he realized the guy was bonkers, the "ghost" effects during the flashbacks, the SCORE, the empty burned out little spaceship ambience!!

it was actually giving conscience of the king a little bit - something set entirely aboard the ship concerning the dark past of the captain. i really wish they had leaned harder into solving the mystery - i had to rewatch to understand that picard's "confession" voice log was indeed the one faked, and we never found out why the ship picard destroyed attacked them to start with

i feel like whether or not they had had a good reason, picard showing more genuine remorse to the feregi captain for having to take his son's life, especially if we knew he had lost some of his own people, would have really brought together the emotional arc they were trying to sell. it was really REALLY good compared to the other episodes so far it just felt like it needed another ten minutes

also i'm having this problem, and this IS a me problem, this is not any crime tng is committing, but whenever tng DOES do anything good i'm like "damn imagine if this had happened in tos" and so i'm now just imagining that the father of a captain of a ship kirk destroyed came back and gave him ptsd flashbacks to cause him to fire on the enterprise as a means to revenge and bones keeps trying to treat him and gets told to buzz off so he goes to spock behind kirk's back and then when kirk is brainwashed and crazy spock has to decide on whether he should FIRE BACK or LET THE WHOLE ENTERPRISE BE DESTROYED and and and and and.................

and i get lost in my mind palace wishing for an episode that doesn't exist. sigh. big task they had, those tng writers. i bet the housewives were doing this too.

"hide & q" was not good at all, although they had the bones for a good episode in there. i think hide & q could also have used another ten minutes at the end, but actually they did have the time! they just wasted it all on q wearing funny costumes and napoleon aliens. which. sure.

almost all of my problems with this episode could have been fixed with another ten minutes. for example: after getting q powers will went nuts too quickly. i think if he had gotten them at the start of the episode and remained steadfast and not cracked until they found the dead girl i would have believed it much more.

AND ANOTHER THING: giving everybody their heart's desire. this was easily the best scene in the episode and we rushed right through it. the worf stuff was fucking horrible - this snarling woman in fishnets who gets slapped around and has no dialogue - but his line, "that world is now alien to me," was REALLY intriguing and we got nothing else about it. also we got a throwaway line talking about the klingons being defeated? girl since when?? i'd looove to know anything about worf ever. unfortunately.

it's a particularly cruel trick with geordi and data - data at least got to refuse and explain why (i did love his momentary panic though), but geordi's whole shit got rocked. he's gonna be thinking about those 30 seconds of sight for the rest of his life and kicking himself for turning it down. if this episode had leaned into that moment of cruelty, even done with good intentions, it would have held up the moral a lot better. instead we got weird klingon sex rituals and also whatever was going on with tasha

here's the thing. i kind of like that she cried despite being so stoic all the time otherwise bc it gives her depth, right? in spite of how horribly they treat her she's definitely my fav female character rn. but firstly the reason she cried was kind of dumb and SECONDLY when picard was like "tears on the bridge are excused when one is in the penalty box" in the kindest most fatherly tone ever and REALLY endeared me to both of them they immediately ruined it by having her FLIRT with him???

anyway, that episode could have been better. conceptually it kind of fucked. execution wise it sucked. also lmao riker didn't grant any of the women's wishes <3

#personal #star trek blogging #tng lb #we're pared down season 1 quite a bit #we've watched 10 episodes and have 16 remaining but we knifed it down to 7 episodes #i of course will be watching all of them. i might as well. but she's only joining me for 7.

[lemonyellowlogic]

no one will ever understand how much i adore sonya gomez from season two of tng

#lemon talks #st tng #tng #star trek tng #sonya gomez #she’s just so pretty with such a nice voice #ugh i’m in love with her #i think she’s only in ep 16 and 17 of season two #i’ve watched up until season four episode seven but i’m rewatching episodes rn

[clowngames]

When I was curious about Star Trek, someone told me to watch TNG's season 3 episode 16, The Offspring. Rewatching it now, it's very obvious why this is the perfect episode to watch to figure out if you like the show.

TNG isn't a serialized show so you can pick it up from anywhere. There are very few shifts in the status quo excepting where it's relevant in the highest budget episodes, so you could probably pick a random episode and hit play and be fine. That's how it would be if you caught it while channel scrolling when it originally aired, and that was the context in which it was written.

I don't recommend starting with episode 1, or really any episode from season 1. Not to say they're bad, but they're not the strongest sell. Someone can give it the 3 episode rule and decide it doesn't grab them because TNG hasn't actually figured out what it was going to be in those first 3 episodes, or the first 2 seasons. If you want someone to become a fan of Star Trek, I suggest recommending an episode rather than telling them to start from the beginning. They can go back and watch the early episodes if they like the show, like I did.

And here's why The Offspring is a great recommendation for a first episode:

It's Data-focused. Everyone always immediately loves him.

Specifically it focuses on the way Data and Lal express wants without experiencing emotions. While Data may not feel love for his daughter, his behaviors and attitudes toward her indicate something analogous enough to be equally meaningful. I think that lower stakes examination of Data's personhood is deeper and more intriguing than Measure of a Man.

It covers quite a bit of the emotional spectrum you get from Star Trek. It's cute, awkward, tense, and tragic.

There are very few important characters to keep track of (Data, Lal, Troi, Picard, Guinan, and the Admiral. Westly is also there)

Lal chooses her gender. Imagine if you could do that in real life? If you don't like the way Star Trek presents ideas that are analogous to current sociopolitical topics by making them aliens or robots so they can pretend it's not even about that, then you'll find out early on in the episode. If you do like that (I do), good news.

No space battles, no combat, no phaser fires. Just people asking the audience "wouldn't it be fucked up" and making the audience think about it. The battles will come, of course, but this is the type of episode that Trek fans complain there isn't enough of in modern Trek, and it's the type of episode I most missed when I finished the show.

#star trek #tng #data star trek #star trek the offspring #lal star trek

[illustratedjai]

So, my partner and I have been working our way through a full watch through of all the Star Trek TV shows (chronological by airdate). We've made it through TOS, and are just over halfway through TNG. A few nights ago we got to the last episode that @wilwheaton 's Westley Crusher is in as a regular cast member. And it just got me thinking... One of the things "everyone knows" about TNG is that Westley is annoying. He's a wunderkind, he gets to do things that no other kid would get to do, the writers make him too smart, etc, etc etc. But... I loved him. Like, there were definitely a few episodes where it was like "why didn't Geordie or Data think of this first?" but it was never super egregious from my perspective. He was a precoscious, clever kid, and he was surrounded by people who gave him the chance to lean into that, to push him, and to guide him into being a great adult. I wonder if the "everyone" who think Westley is annoying are the same "everyone" who think that the gifted kids are annoying. I wonder how I woulda done as a 16 year old if I'd been in an enviroment that went "ok, this isn't how we normally do it, but let's see what you can do." Because that last episode with Westley? I was so proud of the character for how far he'd come and how far he was going to go, and I knew I'd miss his presence on the bridge. Anyway, he's a fictional character and even with great writing, a character can be annoying depending on who they're portrayed by. And Wil Wheaton just smashed it out of the park every episode he was in - Westley felt like a real kid, who was really trying, really wanted to prove himself to all these great serious people, and yeah, sometimes he fucked it up. But he was never malicious or annoying (or, at least not for more than a few minutes) or stupid. He was great. I was always rooting for him, and I always knew he'd do the right thing in the end, even when it was hard for him. So here's to you @wilwheaton: thank you - about twenty years late - for playing such an amazing role on such a fantastic show.

#star trek #star trek tng #star trek the next generation #tng #westley crusher #wil wheaton #i will not be taking notes on this

[calocera]

star trek tng season 7 episode 16 Thine Own Self when data loses his memory and is like “i don’t know what this is. maybe it can help me find out who i am” and it cuts to a suitcase labeled in big red letters “RADIOACTIVE”. so camp

[divinemissem13]

I was tagged by @elephant-in-the-pride-parade.... 20 fic writing questions here we goooooooo 1. How many works do you have on AO3?: 58

2. What's your total AO3 word count?: 171,059

3. What fandoms do you write for? Star Trek: Voyager, Prodigy, Next Gen, Picard, Strange New Worlds... I've also dipped a toe into some other fandoms recently, but mostly drabbles.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Gotta Start Somewhere! (Trektober 2022) (198)

Rotund (113)

Postlude to a Kiss  (98)

What Happens on the Holodeck Stays on the Holodeck (97)

Kitchen Confidential (87)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? I don't always have a lot to say, but I try to at least acknowledge comments with a heart or a "thank you."

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? Hmmm probably Just Another Love Story (J/C Workforce AU)? Most of the time I try for at least a hopeful ending but that one is a real cliffhanger... Forever, Honey, and Au Revoir, Mon Amour are also probably in the running (thanks, Whumptober).

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? As I said, I do like a happy ending, so this is harder to narrow down... but I think maybe All Things Bright and Beautiful (very fluffy Beverly/Kathryn fic)... or else maybe The Best Things In Life Are Free (J/C domestic fluff)

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not really, although I have gotten comments here and there where people are pretty adamant about how they want the story to go... even if it's not the way I'm planning it to go 🤷‍♀️

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I will heavily imply it from time to time but that's as close as I get!

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written? Within the Star Trek universe, absolutely... And Beverly/ Kathryn is one of my favorite pairings. I also attempted a Doctor Who / Voyager crossover but ended up spending the whole time with Ten & Donna... who knows, maybe I'll give that another try eventually.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I'm aware of (except probably Chat GPT)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? No one has but I would be open to it!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Did my first one very recently! Kathryn vs Coffee with @magdalenejaneway

14. What's your all-time favourite ship? Kathryn Janeway/ Chakotay.... even though I'm a bit turned off by Robert Beltran at the moment, I've mostly been able to disassociate the character I write with the actor! But I do also love Kathryn/ Beverly and Picard/ Crusher (TNG)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? N/A

16. What are your writing strengths? Getting inside characters' heads/ working out why they did whatever dumb thing the original writers made them do because they had to crank out 24 episodes a season 😂

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plotting out a story in advance, visual descriptions

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? I love languages but if I'm going to use another language in a fic, I will double and triple check that all of the vocab and grammar are correct and also make sure to provide a translation or enough context that one isn't needed.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Star Trek Voyager

20. Favourite fic you've ever written? Most challenging fic that I think I'm most proud of: Flecks of Light and Dark (depression focused J/C rewrite spanning from 'Hope and Fear' through to 'Latent Image') But the one that kind of lives rent free in my head at the moment is All the Wounds We Cannot See (Kathryn and Beverly meet-cute, post-Picard season 3)

That was a fun little trip down memory lane! I will tag (with zero pressure!) @madamairlock, @n-square, and @captainhattersvoyagerreviews... and anyone else who wants to answer the questions!

#fanfic #20 questions

[kcscribbler]

16, 23, 47 for the star trek ask meme?

Ooh, fun! Had to think about these for a few minutes.

Ask Post Here for reference

16. If you could steal the basic plot of an episode for one show and apply to another which would you choose?

Just one? Probably Rascals, from TNG. There's so much potential for amazing crackfic-treated-seriously, if that were to happen in TOS. (see my answer for 23 below, lol)

If not that, then Remember Me, from TNG. Given how Kirk reacted to an empty ship during This Side of Paradise, I can see there being huge angst potential (and demonstration of his intelligence) in an episode like that.

And I'd love to see pretty much any of the animated series in live-action TOS, because it's a great look at what could have been, if they'd actually had a decent budget.

23. Favorite tropes?

Well, according to TV Tropes, it's apparently "close platonic relationships and H/C," which isn't exactly incorrect, I guess (more about the former in #47).

I particularly enjoy the "found family" concept I see as the future of the AOS, and episodic H/C from TOS, because the series tends to just skip over trauma entirely and it's annoying. I prefer a mix of darkness and humor, because solely one or the other isn't my cup of tea.

But my tropey guilty pleasure is crack!fic treated like serious fic, which works particularly well in the ST universes. If it's written very well (it isn't usually), I'd read bodyswapping, kidfic, etc. for hours.

I turned TOS Jim Kirk into both a child and an orange cat, at one point, FWIW.

47. An unpopular opinion you have?

That falling into bed with someone is not the only effective method of storytelling to demonstrate love, romance, soulmates, friendship, or any other kind of non-solely-sexual relationship that is meaningful. There's obviously nothing wrong with a sexual interpretation of a relationship; but as someone on the grayer end of the Demi spectrum myself, I've found it rare to find fanfiction that aligns with the opinion that other relationships can be portrayed just as meaningfully.

I'm guessing it's easy for most people to write sex, but somewhat harder to write the same depth of emotion without sex.

But to me, that is the primary reason why TOS succeeds where TNG doesn't quite hit the mark (and AOS fails miserably until Beyond), when it comes to building meaningful relationships between the characters. (It's amusing to me that the best demonstration we have of depth in Uhura/Spock's AOS relationship is in Beyond, where they were actually long broken up.)

But the beautiful thing about the ST universe is that it literally spans universes, and so is big enough for everyone to play in. IDIC for the win.

#ask box #star trek tos #star trek the original series

[calliethetrekkie]

Star Trek TOS S01EP15-16: The Menagerie

I decided to review both parts in the same review. It's the same story, so I'd rather be able to go over it all at once. Plus at least half of it when put together is footage from the first pilot, The Cage. I also want to note that, at the time of writing, I have NOT watched Strange New Worlds yet, so I won't be mentioning/considering anything from it or its portrayal of Pike and crew for this review. Anyway, that should do it for window dressing, let us get underway.

Original Thoughts

I'm not even going to try and copy/paste and re-edit both of them to add onto here. This is going to be long enough. You can read my old watchthrough here, but the short version is I liked Part 1, didn't like Part 2 as much, and overall I liked it for the Spock content but it was meh otherwise.

Rewatch Thoughts

God, this took me way too long to get done...

So this episode is the first and only two-parter in TOS. We wouldn't get another one in Star Trek until TNG. One thing kind of weird about this episode is that it's more or less Spock on court martial... after we'd just done a court martial episode for Kirk. When I watched these in the airing order, I think one reason I didn't care for Court Martial is because it felt like we'd 'been there, done that' with The Menagerie, a feeling that didn't repeat in production order which let me enjoy that episode a lot more.

I thought long and hard about how I wanted to organize this. How much I wanted to go into regarding both the actual episode and The Cage footage. It's part of why this review took so long. So after thinking it over... there's not much about the pilot footage that I have to say. It's there to give context for why Spock is doing what he's doing and that's really it. I think I'd rather wait to talk about Pike and maybe the pilot itself in-depth after I've seen SNW, which from what I've heard, adds some additional context. But I'm not there yet, so all I'll say is that the pilot footage really made things drag on what would have otherwise been Court Martial: Spock Edition otherwise hey ST people, if you ever do TOS again, give us the McCoy court martial episode please.

The most I have to say about the pilot footage is that it made the episode a chore to sit through. It's not bad, it's even kind of fun to see the early stuff and cast like Pike, Una, and a younger Spock. Seriously look at Spock's reaction when he and Pike look at the alien plants, its adorable! But it goes on for so long, especially in Part 2, that I lost complete interest in paying attention until it went back to the court martial. At that point we just want to know why Spock chose Talos IV to go to, not to watch an episode within an episode. I know they did it most likely as a cost-saving maneuver, but that doesn't change the fact that it just drags when they could have just... you know, had Spock explaining himself or whatever. It's the only reason that this is a two-parter at all. Again, I get it, but I kept tuning out during those scenes until we finally got to the end of it and we finally understood Spock's plan.

The present-day parts, however, were very much able to keep my attention. We're here at about the mid-way point of the first season, and to say that Spock's actions are a shock is putting it lightly. Spock has been nothing but loyal and by the book the whole series. Just last episode, he defended Kirk despite the evidence to the contrary and did everything possible to find the evidence to clear his name. We already questioned his loyalty in Balance of Terror, but the vast majority of the cast never questioned it, and any possible doubt was brought to a close at the end of it. But in fairness, this is very much a different dilemma as it concerns his former captain. One that he'd been as loyal to as he is to Kirk now. It brings a very unique problem for our favorite Vulcan.

Personally, I find Spock's whole plan... well, convoluted as Hell. I know it's to justify using the pilot footage, and it does add stuff to make it make some sense like Talos IV being forbidden to all ships. But it still feels ridiculous that Spock had to go to these extreme lengths to take Pike to Talos. Honestly, I'm iffy about having Pike taking to Talos at all. I mean... it's just an illusion. He's pretty much been put in a guided cage where he can pretend that he's still physically well, even though that's very much not the case. I guess it's better than his fate of being confined to that chair and only able to blink a light to communicate. But... I don't know, I keep thinking about it and I just don't like it. It feels messed up. But I guess Spock felt that it was the best place for Pike, where he could at least have some kind of happiness.

That said, it says a lot about Spock. The man put absolutely everything on the line just to help his former captain. He outright said at the start that he knew that it was mutiny and that he would be facing the death penalty if caught. But he doesn't care what becomes of him. All that matters is completing the task and getting Pike to Talos IV. Even regarding Kirk, he clearly didn't like going against his back and was not at all happy that his actions inadvertently convicted Kirk as well. Something that I believe that he wanted to avoid... unfortunately for him, Kirk doesn't take having his ship/command taken over from him well no matter who does it or why. Whoops. But still, for all the 'unfeeling, logical Vulcan' bravado, he sure as Hell had no problem dropping all of that here.

Kirk is angry and upset that his First Officer and friend would do this. As I said, he hates it when anyone threatens or endangers his command. Especially at this point in the series. We saw him get mad when Spock pried into him in The Conscience of the King, but this is even worse. As soon as he's back on the Enterprise, he hates it because it means court martialing Spock, which he doesn't want to do. He's willing to give Spock the chance to clear up everything, but he's also angry that Spock is holding things back from him and even lied to him. The last scene of Part 1 is him having Spock thrown in the brig because he won't just tell him why he's done what he's done. I don't even think that he cares too much about his own possible fate. He's certainly unhappy about it, but moreso about Spock because he can't make sense of it and Spock won't talk, only pleading guilty to everything. Why? Why won't his First Officer talk to him? Why go through all of this behind his back? Why allow himself to risk death? He doesn't know, and he can't stand it but can do nothing about it. He can do nothing but let the answer reveal itself, everything out of his control. Sure once it all comes together he's glad and clearly forgives Spock, but I'd imagine that he had a loooot to say when they had that talk later.

McCoy is really only relevant in Part 1, but what he got was so freakin' good. Spock fabricating orders is just impossible in his mind. He is steadfast in his belief that Spock would never lie or deceive them. Sure he ended up being wrong, and about why (Vulcans not being able to lie is the biggest lie in this whole show) but the fact that he doesn't doubt Spock at all and is the one to tell Jim this when he's questioning as he did in The Conscience of the King is so freakin' good. When he realizes that Spock did commit mutiny? And when Spock tells him to have him arrested? You can tell that he doesn't want to do it, let alone believe it. It really sucks that McCoy has no part after that because I can only imagine how much he would have had to say and try to make sense of, especially with also reasoning it with Kirk. But for what we did get, it's good stuff. And especially after The Galileo Seven, it's good to see that McCoy is still loyal to Spock and believes in him despite all the tension in that episode (and even after Court Martial where he got mad at Spock for seeming to not care about the situation, even though it was brief).

Aside from that... I really don't have a lot to say. The episode is okay. Really, everything in the first half of Part One I really enjoyed. It was tense and made me want to keep watching just to make sense of it all. It's when the pilot footage starts that things begin to bog down. Part Two is even more guilty of this until around the last few minutes, and like I said I'm pretty uncomfortable with the ending. It does a lot for Spock's character, adding more depth and showcasing his loyalty to both his old captain and his current one, as well as some nice bits for Kirk and McCoy. Heck, even bits like Uhura being in disbelief by all of this are really good. The episode's weakness is just going for far too long when this could have all been resolved in a few minutes and feels contrived to begin with. I'd still pick this episode over ones like Mudd's Women and the vast majority of Miri, but like with Miri I'd only want to watch it for certain parts (though unlike Miri it's because I'm bored, not squicked out). It's fine, and that's all I've got left to say about it.

Original Ratings: 4/5 (P1), 3/5 (P2), 3.5/5 (Both) Rewatch Ratings: 7/10 (P1), 5/10 (P2), 6/10 (Both)

[My TOS Reviews]

[TOS S1 Reviews]

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#star trek #star trek tos #tos s1 #st reviews #tos s1 reviews #the menagerie

[isagrimorie]

A little bit of a soft pushback on this post. re: curatorial fandom etc on Star Trek Picard season 3– I don’t think it's pure nostalgia and fan service.

Because I don’t think the characters we revisited stayed in one place, they weren’t who they were before. Some of them were rougher than others and some have had it done well.

I know most people were happy about Picard having almost nothing to do with the elements of TNG, and I do agree some of it was refreshing but for me, Trek is a starship and a crew -- even DS9 falls on this despite being a station, and it was always a little sad Sir Patrick Stewart was reluctant to include his friends in Picard.

He might have been a big part of the draw in TNG with Brent Spiner's Data as the other big draw but Picard wasn't the only reason why people watched TNG.

I also wanted an update on Beverly, Geordi, and on Worf.

And I know it's unpopular but as a show, Picard felt incomplete without his friends. (Also, knowing Sir Patrick Stewart was riding off the high of Logan for the reasoning behind Picard it made sense now. Logan was an excellent movie!)

But Picard not keeping in touch with the people he served with and considered family, it felt disappointing. Especially since I specifically went into the show expecting Picard to have kept in touch.

Ultimately, after returning to season 1, I did enjoy aspects of Picard s1 with a lot of niggles in between because season 1 had a LOT of big ideas and 10 episodes didn't serve the story well.

There were so many good ideas there that just didn't fly and most of season 1 was spent talking with not a lot of forward momentum on both plot and character.

I think in an ideal world there should have been 16 to 20 episodes per season to round things out. Season 1 had intriguing concepts that went nowhere and the Borg were just— there. They introduced the concept of ex-Borgs and did nothing with them.

Also, it was mentioned how S1 of Picard is very close to the plot of Mass Effect -- which is okay, good sci-fi shows share similar ideas and plots all the time! It's just funny, is all but again goes to how the show should have, at least 16 episodes.

Going on to season 3:

1. I really liked Nepenthe but I was also okay with Will and Deanna professing dislike for the planet where Thad lived and died— because sometimes the place where you spent grieving and healing isn’t and shouldn’t be the same place you should be if you’re going to move on from grief. And I doubly agree that Kestra should have been discussed or shown more. This actually reminds me of a Chibnall quote where RTD taught him: It shouldn’t just be “Don’t show, tell” but it should be “Show and Tell”.

But also, Matalas should have really included a line or a scene showing Kestra was safe in the Academy. I don't care how clunky it would have sounded or the scene would've been!

2. Geordi. I love that we see Geordi with Data, Geordi was someone I missed seeing in season 1 of Picard especially in regards to Data's death because as much as Nemesis and Picard s1 & s2 would like to show it— Geordi and Data were the two best friends in TNG. And for the majority of TNG Picard held Data with a certain distance. I didn’t even realize what a missing ingredient Geordi was in Picard until I saw Geordi with Data. LeVar Burton sold Geordi's grief of losing his best friend and the possibility of getting Data back.

Also, I like that Geordi, who was a little, uh, problematic with women (he had a romantic attraction for) grow up and then learn to become a good dad to two daughters. I love that LeVar Burton specifically requested this because he was also not fond of how Geordi was written with women.

3. Beverly. I love Action Beverly and I love Gates McFadden got that, I love that she basically worked in Doctors without Borders under the Mariposa. The medical emergency organization Teresa and Rios set up in the past. But also finally addressing all the ways losing Wesley fucked her up, losing Wesley the way she did was the straw that broke the camel’s back for her. In TNG, losing Wesley was something that was never brought up again but Wesley was a big part of Beverly’s life. (To be clear, Wesley is alive but by the Time Lord-like rules set by the Traveller, Wesley and Beverly can never meet again or communicate). I love that despite not being in Starfleet Beverly still can’t help but want to help people, especially out in the border worlds outside of the Federation. It’s no wonder Seven has heard of Beverly!

I love that she figured out what was happening in the 'nebula' and how her knowledge helped save them, leading to one of the more wonderous scenes in season 3.

4. Ro Laren. But most of all I love that Ro Laren returned— and it’s such a big thing to get Michelle Forbes back, she has famously demurred a lot of attempts to get her to become a show regular. I love the button to Picard and Laren’s relationship which festered on both sides for almost 30 years. The episode where she appeared is possibly my favorite episode of all Picard.

If only money and time weren’t an issue Picard and Laren’s relationship would have been a great foil to Janeway and Seven’s. Or even Laren and Seven interacting would have been so good.

Also, Janeway is the phantom that haunts Season 3 because it feels like Janeway should have been in Season 3. Again, money and time. But man a lot of the plot stuff in season 3 would have smoothed out with Janeway in the show.

5. WORF!

This brings me to Worf, who I adored in season 3 and I am so glad we see how he is doing after DS9. I mourn the loss of Jadzia, and even though she wasn’t named, I can’t help but feel her presence was felt, even Ezri. I feel like the comment about how Worf shouldn’t be passive-aggressive, felt like a very Ezri thing to say.

But as I’ve said before, Jadzia would adore zen, white-haired Worf. She would be with him through this shenanigans. She would enjoy Worf’s mentorship of Raffi! And she wouldn’t even be fazed with Worf waxing poetic about Deanna’s advice. Jadzia would know what Worf meant.

Worf seeing himself in Raffi and truly enjoying Raffi’s company was also such a boon. I love that he passed the torch on being a Klingon badass to Raffi— a non-Klingon.

But also this heads on to one of the things I disliked -- how Raffi's story went in the first episode. I wasn't into how alone Raffi was in scenes. I wish they could have gotten Elnor as a hologram or even Seven-- just so she could bounce off someone else, and maybe even hit on why they broke up.

I do love Worf burning Raffi’s cover. Raffi hated deep-cover work, and it only made her miserable. This way, Starfleet Intelligence won’t be compelled to use her expertise this way again. He’s seen what it's done to Miles O’Brien. But also, it's the Klingon high-handedness at work and I hope Ezri verbally head-slapped him for it.

I loved the idea of a true Borg collective and community, where one becomes Borg by choice in season 2 but its been so divorced from Seven, who could have interacted more with the idea, and the Borg Queen— who had spent, in another life, a large amount of resources to get Seven back and even indulged Seven on occasion.

Season 3 isn’t exempt from this, while I adored Season 3– I do know it wasn't a perfect season and there are things it could improve on.

One of them is that Seven should be more connected to the main bad guy plot than she was. This is where Janeway should have been in the show more because the Hirogen story? Should have been Janeway's story if we are honest, the final blow to the Borg Queen? should have been Janeway's. In a way, Picard was shafted on his own show because those were all Janeway's achievements and not Picard's.

Also, I know that people are burned by the Borg being ever present but I will be sad if they never bring up the Borg in the form of the Jurati Faction of the Borg, the xBs, and some Delta Quadrant Borgs as both allies and threats in Seven's (possible, please god) show.

The Borg is a big part of Seven’s life more than it was Picard’s. I am always a little side eye when the show tries to tell me Picard has more expertise on the Borg than Seven.

So yeah, I hope Seven gets to tackle the tricksy complicated idea of xBs and Jurati Borg.

(/edited)

#thinky thoughts #star trek: picard #picard season 3 #picard s3

[procrastinatorproject]

This from the star trek asks:

16. If you could steal the basic plot of an episode for one show and apply to another which would you choose?

OH MY GOD, what a brilliant question! I overlooked that in the list, I think 🤣

I already opened various episode lists to answer @curator-on-ao3's question, lemme see if I can find some inspiration...

There are so, so, so many possible answers to this, but the first things that come to mind (because I was once again thinking about my favourite episodes being The Fun Ones): "Spock Amok" but make it... honestly any of the other shows. Elnor suddenly finds himself in Picard's body and has to handle some Dicy Diplomatic Disaster, while Picard briefly considered pretending to be Elnor at some important Qowat Milat ceremony, but then gave up because that is counter to absolutely everything they believe in and asked for their help instead (an important facet of that episode which I love a lot!). Everyone else is on some version of shore leave and when they find out what happened (probably from Zani, who understands the situation is Very Uncomfortable for Elnor and Picard but also found Picard's brief attempt at Being Elnor hilarious), they're having A Whale Of A Time!

Alternatively: Kira body-swaps with one of her Important-Politician-Partners and suddenly has to handle Bajoran politics in a way deeply counter to her usual instincts -- while her partner finds themselves at the receiving end of another of Dukat's Attempts At Flirting or have to fend off Kai Winn or something along those lines...

Also: Take "Those Old Scientists" and apply it to literally any combination of shows, or "Trials and Tribble-ations" for that matter. Imagine Rios getting stuck on TNG-era Enterprise and being entirely incapable of preserving the Temporal Prime Directive, because he can't deal with Will and Deanna's Will They Won't They or he keeps geeking out about all the "retro" tech and blabbing about unfortunate details...

Sooooooo many possibilities!!!

Also: overlap between All Of The Holo-Madness! That'd be quite something!

(And now excuse me, while I think about some kind of crossover between the various holo-characters. I want to see Moriarty, Badgey, Doctor Chaotica, et al face off against Vic Fontaine, Voyager's Doctor, and Sirena's Holo Squad! (And also, possibly, another version of Badgey 🤣)

--

Thank you so much for the ask! And if anyone else wants to know more:

Send Me Star Trek Asks 💗

#ask meme #star trek #what a fun question to think about! #@jazzfic

[draculagerard]

my special interest is Star Trek TNG and since I figured out how video editors work I've been recording each episode and editing the snippets into separate character files, so I'm essentially compiling Every Time Each Character Was On Screen for use in future amvs and character references and such. I was thinking of maybe rewatching supernatural and doing the same thing and letting myself go insane because I haven't watched it since they confirmed that angel's fucking gay 👉🏻👈🏻 thots?

WONDERFUL idea i would 100% support (<- guy who has made 16 spn amvs and has 13 hours of just spn clips downloaded on his laptop)

#also the fun thing about spn is that theres a huge amv culture so there are scenepacks you can download for characters and relationships #moose asks #anon

[antimatterpod]

As our unofficial Festival of Beverly continues, Anika and Liz hang out in some caves and have very earnest discussions about terrorism. Yes, we’re discussing “The High Ground”!

Star Trek: Picard spoilers from 00:00 to 00:59

We are deeply unqualified to talk about the Troubles. Of course, so were the TNG writers… (Book credits: Just Another Kid by Torey Hayden and Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. If you want a review of “The High Ground” from an actual Irish person, please see this post by the always excellent Darren Mooney.)

As a character study of Beverly Crusher, “The High Ground” is amazing. As an episode with something to say about terrorism, it … exists.

Melinda Snodgrass was particularly good at including female characters in roles that otherwise tended to default male, and not worrying about whether or not they were “likeable”.

When Finn talks about the moral cowardice of the Federation, he probably just watched “Lift Us Up Where Suffering Cannot Reach”.

“The High Ground” does avoid the common American trope of romanticising the IRA.

Yes, Beverly and Deanna are both in feminised “caring” professions, but, um, how many female CMOs have been regulars in Trek? 

The nameless boy who becomes Beverly’s apprentice

Picard spoilers from 31:28 to 32:16

The Beverly/Picard shippiness in this episode is OFF THE CHARTS

Finn feels like a first draft of Chakotay

Just gonna put this out there: the Prime Directive is bad, actually

Picard spoilers again from 41:11 to 44:30

#star trek: the next generation #antimatter pod

[gayfour]

I posted 122 times in 2022

That's 122 more posts than 2021!

40 posts created (33%)

82 posts reblogged (67%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@airlocksandaviaries

@gayfour

@crystal-mouse

@tanyayoung-322

@universalcaffination

I tagged 92 of my posts in 2022

Only 25% of my posts had no tags

#star trek - 26 posts

#star trek the next generation - 21 posts

#star trek data - 18 posts

#star trek art - 16 posts

#my art - 15 posts

#data tng - 15 posts

#data star trek - 11 posts

#star trek the original series - 6 posts

#tos - 5 posts

#data's outfits rated - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#also im accepting feedback good or bad on this because i genuinely dont know how good or bad it is and i cant improve without external inpu

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

It's so funny to me that there's a TOS episode called "The Enterprise Incident". Like, there's an incident every episode, and they all involve the Enterprise. It doesn't tell you anything about what you're about to watch. It could describe any episode. Of multiple series.

201 notes - Posted November 14, 2022

#4

Important reminder that he

He <3

253 notes - Posted November 20, 2022

#3

395 notes - Posted December 5, 2022

#2

Transwarp transmit tranquillise

410 notes - Posted December 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Spock! I absolutely love him in this outfit!

I spent literal hours trying to do the stripes on his jacket but I just couldn't get them right so he's wearing a plain jacket instead. I also almost posted this before I'd drawn his hat.

544 notes - Posted November 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #i woke up to a hundred notifications about brent spiner in human form today #he wont leave me alone

[defendglobe]

I posted 7,674 times in 2022

That's 2,426 more posts than 2021!

1,453 posts created (19%)

6,221 posts reblogged (81%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@nbmudkip

@transgalvantula

@levincias

@neumoegen

@drainbangle

I tagged 3,691 of my posts in 2022

#emma watches star trek - 578 posts

#blah blah blah - 398 posts

#character tag - 218 posts

#pmd: explorers - 191 posts

#pmd shitposting - 152 posts

#video - 128 posts

#star trek tng - 121 posts

#star trek ds9 - 110 posts

#star trek - 101 posts

#m - 90 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#i’d probably be fine lmao unless the prosecution decided to pull the ‘he’s an android he doesn’t really understand what’s happening’ card

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

253 notes - Posted May 17, 2022

#4

i love what an absolute fucking freak of a ship the uss discovery is.

it was built as a science vessel but got turned into a battleship. its an ancient relic but also the most important ship in the fleet. it flies using mushroom power. it travelled a thousand years into the future. the ship's computer is sentient and has her own distinct personality. in one episode she gets sensory overload and has to be calmed down by the crew. also everyone on board is mentally ill.

366 notes - Posted July 8, 2022

#3

i was doing something but this hit me like a fucking truck

See the full post

371 notes - Posted January 16, 2022

#2

please look at saru's stupid fucking walk.

439 notes - Posted February 19, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

here's some star trek bullshit.

See the full post

560 notes - Posted April 23, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#all of my top posts being star trek shitposts......half of them being discovery related..... #that checks out LMAO

[seismologically-silly]

I posted 2,962 times in 2022

527 posts created (18%)

2,435 posts reblogged (82%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@gays4vulo

@doccywhomst

@thedarklordsnicklefritz

@mlerf

@ichayalovesyou

I tagged 2,481 of my posts in 2022

Only 16% of my posts had no tags

#good art! - 507 posts

#cute! - 298 posts

#critical role! - 250 posts

#dr who! - 248 posts

#star trek! - 217 posts

#pretty! - 217 posts

#my d&d! - 136 posts

#adventures in academia! - 118 posts

#the owl house! - 71 posts

#bbc ghosts! - 65 posts

Longest Tag: 127 characters

#please please let me get to step 5 this year i've sent so many emails already and i've just started the schools from conference

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

i love you dietrich knickerbocker

55 notes - Posted October 3, 2022

#4

please shipwrecked i am begging let knickerbocker finish a song

58 notes - Posted October 17, 2022

#3

i’m watching one of the early tng episodes and lwaxana troi had picard carrying her really heavy luggage. data, the strongest person on the enterprise, SAW his CAPTAIN struggling, stared for a second, and kept going

king

64 notes - Posted March 8, 2022

#2

the amount of spies in wildemount is honestly staggering you’ve got the expositors of the cobalt soul and the volstruckers of the cerberus assembly from c2, and then the augen trust of the dwendalian crown, the golden grin from tal’dorei, and the children of malice of lolth. AND myriad agents

73 notes - Posted January 15, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Ichabod: Im gonna need a human skull and i can't have you ask any questions why.

Matilda: only if you also don't ask why

Ichabod: what...ok sure.

Matilda: *pulls out 7 pristine human skulls from her bag* take your pick.

Ichabod: ...

Matilda: ...

Ichabod: this one is fine

118 notes - Posted September 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #false

[grissomesque]

For the Star Trek asks, please: 7, 15, and 16.

You always give me the hard ones! 7. Episode you could watch over and over?

Since I already answered this one I'll switch to movies and say: First Contact. But also, if I literally had to pick a single episode from all of Trek... I guess I would stick with Counterpoint? I just had the wild urge to say Killing Game pt 1 which is pretty bisexual of me, so, honorable mention.

15. Worst alien makeup/costume?

I don't know if it's fair to say Armus, because 1988, but that dude was like an anti-nicotine ad. Armus is violent wet asphalt. 0/10.

I also do not like aliens with holes in their faces because I have that thing, (pause for Google) trypophobia, disgust of little holes in alien faces.

16. Best alien makeup/costume?

I'm gonna stick with OG trek because it's unfair to compare Moist Armus to anything from AOS and newer.

I kind of want to say the Antedians (the fish guys) in TNG because of how unhinged that decision was, and they really just leaned all the way into it, and that it was the Fleetwood Mac drummer under there, like. Amazing choices across the board. Seems expensive AF. But I will properly say the Hirogen. Trek mostly failed to make villains feel villainous (see: Ferengi), but I think they nailed it with the Hirogen. I wish they'd kept them as tall as they originally appeared. But thorough transformation on the makeup, seems like believable alien evolution, menacing armor. 9/10, 1 point reduction for 1 ft height reduction.

Thank you for the ask! 💕😘

Star Trek Asks

#star trek asks