🖖Star Trek: The Next Generation 3x26 The Best of Both Worlds Part 1 REACTION 

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“The Best of Both Worlds” is one of the best episodes ever 🖖. I remember how much torture it was having to wait 4 months for the next episode.

There were rumors all summer that Patrick Stewart was having contract negotiation problems and was not coming back for season four so the script was deliberately written to be ambiguous in case they had to continue the series with Riker as Captain and Shelby as his first officer. So everyone in the fan base was FREAKING OUT.

"Mr. Worf...fire"...That was the precise moment TNG stepped out from the shadow of the Original Series. This was one of the best episodes of TNG. Definitely the best cliffhanger in all of Trek.

"Mr Worf, fire!" How to serve up your audience a stunning cliffhanger in 3 simple words.

Best line delivery is worf "he IS a borg!" He literally sounds like he just found out his dog hit by a car.

There's a story Patrick Stewart sometimes tells, where he was driving around Los Angeles during the 1990 summer hiatus period and stops at a two-lane traffic light. The family in the car next to him recognizes him and screams, "YOU HAVE RUINED OUR SUMMER!" before driving off. Such is the power of this cliffhanger!

30 years later and I've watched this episode hundreds of times. The line "Mr. Worf.... fire." still brings tears to my eyes.

Fans had to wait months before the second part came out. This cliffhanger truly cemented TNG as a force to be reckoned with and is one of the best cliffhangers in all of television, not just Star Trek.

As someone who saw the original airing with a group of friends (we took turns going to each other's house each week) that collectively yelled "No!" at the fade-to-black "To be continued".....I truly appreciate your decision to wait a week.

"Inform Admiral Hanson. We have engaged..the Borg." that always give me chills.

This episode was basically writer Michael Piller working out his own struggle with his career. Like Riker, he was part of a great team of producers but he was being tempted with offers to run his own show as executive producer. He ended up creating one of the best Trek stories ever.

you wanted to know how much we were affected by this. When the 2nd part FINALLY aired, I was in college renting a house with 10 friends. The night of the episode, we locked all the door and unplugged the phone just so we wouldn't be interrupted.

"MR. WORF.......FIRE!". Dun Dun Dun...Dun Dun Dun....Duunnnnnnnnnnnnnn Best Trek Cliffhanger EVER!!!

Me, my brother and my cousin, all aged between 8 and 11.. walking in front of the TV and stopped, EXACTLY, at the moment Picard turns to camera. We never heard a more disturbing scream from all the adults present. Lighthouse moment in my memory.

Met Jonathan Frakes at a convention about ten years ago. Didn't even have to ask him to say his iconic final line. All I had to do was mention that this is my favorite TNG episode, and out came "Mr. Worf.... Fire!" Every bit as chilling/awesome as the first time I heard it way back in 1990.

Words can't describe how electrifying this was and the thought we would have to wait 3 months to see how it turned out. This was TNG's "Who shot J.R.?"

Jen: "Don't show me his body!" Producers: "We won't show you his *dead* body..."

"We Have Engaged the Borg" 34 years after first hearing it, it still sends a shiver down my spine

Thank you for honoring the Elders among us by waiting a week to watch the conclusion. It was murder waiting for months with no information in those pre-internet days. I don't remember the wait for this particular cliffhanger because right after it aired I had the best summer of my entire life. Thank you for watching TNG and giving us old nerds something to enjoy every week (I love Sunday Morning Star Trek with Jen!)

The Best of Both Worlds remains the high water mark for ALL of Star Trek. Everything fell into place magnificently... story, effects, performances, the MUSIC... Absolute perfection.

It's hard to overstate how well received this episode was. It's on countless lists of Best TV Episodes and Most Memorable TV Moments. As late as 2009, the episode was ranked #36 on TV Guide's list of "TV's Top 100 Episodes of All Time".

that cliffhanger will never not give me chills

RedLetterMedia did a great analysis of these episodes. They’re probably the quintessential Riker story. Riker has ambition, but he also feels a deep connection to the Enterprise. When Picard is assimilated, Riker gets the ultimate opportunity: a captain’s chair, **and** it’s the Enterprise. “The best of both worlds.” All he has to do is shoot the cube, and it becomes permanent…aaaaaaand CLIFFHANGER.

I come from Germany. We were lucky; Both parts ran on two consecutive days when they first aired.

I'm so overwhelmed with emotions just reading all the comments and going back to that time. Truly one of the best episodes of television ever.

14:30 One of the most iconic moments in all of Star Trek! "I am, Locutus of Borg". 😮😢

One of the best cliffhangers of any series, let alone Star Trek. Also considered the turning point of TNG to the classic series it became.

A very important episode. The best villain in years. And a great performances by Stewart. And Guinan.

This is the episode that forced everyone to turn their heads and tune in to TNG. This is also considered one of the greatest cliff hangers of all time and MANY shows have tried to emulate it. This is where TNG became Star Trek for most people.

Fun Fact: The head writer was at the end of his contract and at the time he also wasn't expecting to return for next season, so he didn't have any idea of how this cliffhanger would be resolved either! LOL. Thankfully he returned the following season and figured it out though! 😊

A reminder to everyone: Please no spoilers for Jen. Thank you.

The internet in 1990 wasn't really anything to speak of, so it was hard to find information when this happened. I remember a rumor of Patrick Stewart's contract renewal being uncertain, so we really didn't know what the show was going to be when season 4 started.

That music. Throughout. So brilliant in maintaining the tension, S tier stuff.

Best two parter ever. The most intense, edge of your seat storyline. I really hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Great reaction Jen!!! We named our cat Locutus. I have seen this episode countless times. And every single time riker says “fire” says at the end I get so many goosebumps.

This is peak television. I’ve heard before that this was the first time a major television series ended a season on a cliffhanger. I was so young when this aired, but I can only imagine how torturous it was for people to have to wait months to know if Picard was going to live or die.

I was an 8 year-old member of a family of Star Trek fans back in 1990 when this aired. My younger brother and sister and my parents ALL watched TNG together as our family Friday night ritual, it was appointment TV. This was possibly the creepiest and eeriest episode of TV I had ever seen at that point...the Borg were freaking SCARY and the music and the visuals all just enhanced that fact. This was also the first time I experienced the mental frustration of a true cliffhanger episode of television...having to go the entire summer not knowing if Picard (or anyone) was going to come out of this alive. The zoom-in close up on Jonathan Frakes as he just drops that final line with such pitch-perfect finality, and then fade to black...I've probably watched this episode close to a dozen times since, and to this day, the "Mr. Worf...Fire." still gives me chills.

Imo the most chilling line in ST history "We would rather die than to bow down to..." "Death is irrelevant!"

Waiting a week. Not many would, love this channel. Back in the day we just spent months guessing his they would resolve this. We came up with nothing! They are screwed. One of the top 5 cliffhangers of all television. Seen it a dozen times and still love it.

The episode that makes Next Generation famous!

The fact that you waited a week for Part 2 shows your respect for TNG. And YES the original wait was like torture. You are one of a kind!

Not a Part 2 spoiler, but they hadn't renewed Stewart's contract. The showrunners didn't know whether they were about to kill Picard off! Part 2 is the answer. Our hearts were all in our throats.

"Cool music!" Rick Berman: "and I took that personally."

It’s good you experienced the cliffhanger in part! It’s part of the experience!

Excellent reaction Jen! And I think it's absolutely the right decision to keep a cliffhanger just like it was intended back in 1990. I'm definitely in for the upcoming ride. Have a wonderful sunday and till next week!❤

My family was in shock. I think we all gasped. And then had to wait months for Part 2. I still feel that echo everytime I see that ending.

I absolutely love the Family Guy episode that ended with a cliffhanger using the same music and font on "To be continued". Extra neat because Ron Jones scored both the TNG episode and the Family Guy one.

Denise Crosby (LT Yar) and Elizabeth Dennehy (LCDR Shelby) were good friends. Crosby suggested Dennehy (daughter of film star Brian Dennehy) for the part.

Good call on leaving the conclusion for next week in homage to the original schedule. Great reaction!

The music and ambiance of this episode were absolutely spot on. This is probably the best episode of TNG. I love how it ends so abruptly.

Yes. Waiting for months to find out what was going to happen was agonizing! It was a huge deal at the time but we didn't have the internet and back then, you didn't really brag about it if you watched Star Trek. So even though I personally loved it at the time, I probably would never have believed people would still be talking about it and loving it 30 years later. And I did not really realize at the time that TNG was getting as popular as it was. I was just getting used to the idea that it might be able to end up being as iconic as TOS. "Mr. Worf, fire" Epic.

I remember this well--1990--a good year for me. I had initially been a little slow to accept TNG, having been raised watching TOS as a child. But I was hooked by the end of the 1st season, and by the third season, I was loving it, and never missed an episode. And Fox aired episodes twice a week, which was awesome if there was something else you wanted to watch either day. Often I rewatched the episode the second time. The Riker/Shelby subplot actually added to the tension. Often subplots distract and detract from a good story, but in this case, it helps add even more tension to an already rip-roaring sci fi thriller. At my office the next day, EVERYONE was talking about this episode non-stop!! Not a lot of work got done! One of the greatest cliffhangers in TV history IMHO. THANKS TO JEN--alone of all reactors that I've watched for this episode, has the thoughtfulness to go through a week to get a taste of what it was like for the rest of us--who agonized for months waiting for the conclusion! After this, TNG became a pop culture phenomenon. People really embraced the characters, and it helped when they had episodes that were Data-centric, or Worf-centric, etc. to let us see deeper into characters that became well-developed. BOBW also started a practice by the producers of ending the season with a two-part cliffhanger, which were high points in the series, all very good, but none quite as good as BOBW. Even the movies, were not as good as BOBW. With season 3, TNG finally busted out of TOS' shadow, and became, and has remained, the high point of the entire franchise.

Oh no, not the Börg! Who knew Sweden could become such a threat.

You can probably tell that the nebula effect is the exact same one from “Wrath of Khan”. Cost saving.

Riker wasn't feeling threatened by her - she was stepping on his toes.

Jen, I remember very well watching this cliffhanger. I had just graduated from high school, and I was in pins and needles all summer waiting for the conclusion, which started right after I started college.

If you're wondering why the episode is called "The best of both worlds" it's because it's a Riker episode as he finally gets to not only be captain but to be captain of the Enterprise.

The Best of Both Worlds absolutely floored me. I was 15 when it came out, had just went to my first and only Star Trek convention and not only was it amazing and 100% drew me in, but the cliffhanger ending was not a normal thing then. In fact, it was the episode that truly set off the cliffhanger despite a few other shows having previously done it. I've been waiting for you to see this one and am not disappointed.

"Mr.Worf... fire" has lived rent free in my head for 34 years.

Tough to be left hanging, but we had to wait several months!!!

Yes this was a HUGE deal. One of the greatest two part episodes of TV and greatest cliffhanger ever. Also a brilliant Riker story and Frakes kills it.

I remember being back in college, watching this episode with all of the corridor roommates packed into the one room with a wide-screen TV (a big deal back then). When Ryker gives the order to fire and then the screen cuts to black for the cliffhanger, we all howled in frustration. What a great television moment.

I was 11 when this first aired and I STILL vividly remember that cliffhanger.

Just like "City On The Edge Of Forever" from the original series always shows up on entertainment media lists of the greatest individual episodes of television in history, "The Best Of Both Worlds" is always on lists of the greatest season-ending TV cliffhangers of all time. Proof that Star Trek is more than just a niche science fiction show.

I do remember when this was first aired. It was torture to have to wait for part 2. It was a big deal for Star Trek fans. Very big. -OG

This is one of my favorite episodes of TNG. I admire your resolve to wait a week like we did when it originally aired. Love you Jen. 🖖🥰

Everything about the cliffhanger was done perfectly. The camera movement. The music. The dialogue. Going to black when Riker says, "Fire!" It was all perfect.

1:17 "This is the third time we've pulled out the captain's chair for Riker. He just won't sit down." I think I ought to state, for the record, there's nothing wrong with that. In the modern-day Armed Forces, every single one of them, many more people retire as an O-5 (Riker's rank) than as an O-6 (Picard's). This is necessary in order to keep numerous, redundant, fully qualified commanders, all set to go, in the upper ranks.

6:02 I just KNEW you were going to love the music in this episode.

This was a huge cultural phenomenon when it happened. It skyrocketed the popularity of TNG and brought a lot of new viewers in the fall. At the time, Patrick Stewart's contract had expired and he hadn't renewed yet, so there were rumors that he'd be written off the show. I remember people talking about this all summer in anticipation of season 4.

Some people say it's optional, but this two-parter is definitely a homework assignment for "First Contact." You can't fully appreciate Picard's motivation in the movie without having watched this.

How big a cultural phenomenon? IT WAS HUGE. You can't even begin to imagine what it was like for those of us who watched when it first aired. We'd never seen anything like this before. THEN, to dial it up to 11 -- we had to wait THE ENTIRE SUMMER to find out how the story was going to conclude. You'll have to watch the second part to experience the full reaction, but I think you can already see how this became one of the top episodes of all time, of the entire Star Trek franchise.

First aired in 1990, OMG the wait for the second part was real. What a difference technology makes over time. 34 years later, you only need to wait a week, OMG, you are so advanced :P

JR being shot… and “Mr. Worf, fire!” Two of the best cliffhangers I’ve ever seen.

This episode was a master class in storytelling in the 90's. The subtle threads that are woven into the structure of this show culminates in one of the most iconic moments in television history. The music, acting and directing, as I'm sure you agree Jen, were the icing on the cake. Music swells to a rising crescendo with an amazingly dramatic dolly shot to Riker. "Mr. Worf.... FIRE!" (Cut to black) ...DA...DA..DA...BOOM....DA...DA...DA...BOOM....DA...DA..DAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Our minds were absolutely freakin' blown!!

George Murdock has one appearance in this episode like the admiral J.P. HANSON, Rest in peace, i remember your role in BATTLESTAR GALACTICA .

beam us aboard for more next Jen fun with our lovely starfleet officer lady Jen 🔥💙🔥💙 make it so 🖖 but to get us on our way another trek joke - A young man was applying to join Starfleet: "Where were you born?" asked the recruiting officer. "Earth, sir." "What part?" "All of me, sir." 🙂

In Part 1, try to remember the commissions we were told Riker was offered and turned down. It comes up again in Part 2.

The actress for Shelby was not into Trek before auditioning for the role, nor experienced in TV. In her theater life she'd get a script then have some hours before her scenes were performed. For TNG there was a short time between getting the script and filming. She didn't ask how things are done, nor did anyone tell her. From an interview on a YT Trek-fan channel.

This became one of the most iconic and impactful cliffhangers in TV history. The only one that came close before it was "Who Shot J.R.?" from the show Dallas in 1980, and that was a mystery about something that had already happened, but this was an even bigger deal because the tension was about what's going to happen next.

Kudos for waiting, Jen. It's part of the experience to live with it for a while. Back when it happened I was worried about the contract negotiations. This story made it easy to write out Picard and/or Riker so it really was a cliff hanger whether the actors would come back. Depending on if they got new contracts we might not see either of them again.

When this first came out, a local bar was doing “Breakfast with the Trekkies”. We would all get together every Saturday morning and watch one episode of the original series, and then the current episode of “The Next Generation” that aired that week. I still remember the shocked silence in the room at the end of Part 1. I think they had the biggest crowd ever THREE MONTHS LATER when Part 2 aired.

That cliffhanger was one of the best ever! Those 4 months of waiting was torture. Oh, and O'Brien, still a lieutenant...

Still one of the all-time best Star Trek episodes ever, and one of the biggest cliffhangers I’ve ever seen, to this day. All of my fellow Trekkies & I were just freaking out all summer!

Exasperated "commercial break!" Is one of the many wonderful contributions you have made to humanity. : ) I'm so glad you're on this TNG journey.

14:10 "He *IS* a Borg!" That line was just as powerful as Riker's "Mr. Worf... Fire!" And in 1990 that was a LOOONG summer to wait for part 2!

"Even if he's rescued and goes back on the Enterprise it'll change him somehow you would think!" You certainly would.

YEEEEESSSSSSS I'VE BEEN DYING FOR YOU TO GET TO THIS EPISODE. I hope you enjoy. Yes I commented before watching

anyone else loves the way she says "commercial break"?

Out-of-context Theatre line: “Data was available. I took him. We came.” And remember that Data is fully functional…

The summer of 1990 was one long tense summer for me (the summer I graduated HS, so I was occupied, but still) Rumors flew, but information was sparse (no internet to send rumors, dial-up BBS's with scant discussions, only Entertainment Tonight for timeliness), and heresay was rampant and impossible to confirm. It was truly the hardest of hardcore geeks who felt it all most acutely. You could tell who they were as they parked themselves by the newsstands in the B.Dalton and Waldenbooks stores in the mall combing over every Starlog and Sci-fi magazine that hit the shelves. As a general pop culture phenomenon, it didn't make a huge ripple, but it was definitely felt.

Love the music by Ron Jones in this two parter. I was lucky enough to have set of 14 TNG music CD's all done by him. I still get chills when the Borg appears.

Worf’s line read “he IS a borg” has always stuck with me. He sounds so uncharacteristically defeated. Bummed I missed the live stream. Hopefully next week I’ll wake up in time. 😅

Almost closed the store early to go home to watch this. But I guess I can wait until my shift is over. Been looking forward to this for a while ❤

Remember watching this when it first aired i was only a kid and let me tell you that final shot on the bridge when Riker says "Mr Worf, fire" cuts to black with the words "To Be Continued". My jaw hit the floor, having to wait months to see the outcome was torture.

I was a US Army brat living in Heidelberg, Germany in the 1980s. So on US Army TV, Armed Forces Network "AFN" (our only English channel), and at US Army movie theaters... as usual, we get movies and TV shows 6 months to a year later than the rest of the world. So my Uncle taped each season of ST:TNG for us on VHS tape and mailed them to us in Germany from Texas. The first time I ever binge-watched anything and this was the late 1980s. I still have some VHS tapes floating around here somewheres full of TNG episodes. I used to have the Best of Both World soundtrack on CD. Love it! I guess the RU-vids would have it if one were interested. 🖖

Michael Pillar was the showrunner in season 3. He had only been signed to a one year deal though, and he had strong reason to believe he would not be returning for another season. So when he wrote this episode, he wrote it with the caveat in mind that a)the producers wanted the episode to end on a cliffhanger; and b)the episode's resolution would not be his responsibility. Flash forward the summer and he's signing a new contract to return for another season before realizing that it is now his responsibility to write himself out of the jam he's created, and he has no idea how he is going to do it.

"Turn the Page" was a huge pop song then. Friend of mine named daughter "Shelby" back then. Every episode had av. 10,000,000 viewers back then. Patrick Stewart pondered leaving show as season 3 concludes. So they put him in liffe/deatth situation in case he left show. This ramps the tension. Music score excellent. Cliffhanger galore.

So glad you're watching this in two parts as per the original broadcast :)