Same here...a much needed breather after The Best Of Both Worlds. I recall watching Family on its debut...my mom is in the room & she asked, "I thought this show was about outer space". :-)
I love how Worf always had the most extreme/aggressive option when giving his advice on what to do in any given situation. The episode where they all got amnesia and Worf just assumed he was the captain because of his decorative sash thing was priceless.
His delivery is so strong. “You forget… _I_ am decorated as well.” I also love how Picard’s advice is still better for their situation, even though he’s giving it more deferentially than he usually does.
@@kaitlyn__L I also love how he is essentially an anime tsundere archetype who tries to act tough but is secretly a big ol softy, and keeps adopting kids into his family.
The episode is Conundrum where they all have amnesia. I don’t mind Worf always giving the tactics option. He’s security chief. It’s his job to give the tactical option.
@@commiecomrade2644 this is true. But S3 to S6 has little to no misses. S2 is great and yet terrible at the same time. S7 was mediocre minus a few episodes like all good things and the Pegasus as you mentioned.
I'm doing a full watch though of TNG for the first time, watched voyager multiple times, shocked at how many I haven't actually seen before, had just heard of them. Kinda got bogged down in season 5. Need to get motivated to finish.
@Bigfootwalker ...at least according to the Emmy voters who chose to nominate it for Best Dramatic Series - the only time a syndicated show has managed to snag such nomination. {I personally think it is a splendid season.}
13:04 - Gates McFadden and Brent Spiner actually did their own dancing in the episode, except for the overhead shots where Spiner requested a double, as he did not feel confident enough to pull it off. McFadden did the choreography, as she was a well-known Hollywood choreographer long before TNG. According to episode director Robert Wiemer, McFadden and Spiner also developed the lines in the scene, which were later accepted by the scriptwriters.
"She went where..?" scene with the alert sound made my Friday morning. Also this feels like freebasing TNG, like watching a entire season and getting the good rush of it all in short form is so satisfying, especially in your voice.
Fun fact: cosmic strings are actually totally unrelated to string theory, and IIRC predate it! It’s a hypothetical one-dimensional super-dense object, made entirely out of nucleons kinda like a neutron star. It’d be subatomic in width but light years long. I totally thought that episode meant string theory had been confirmed in TNG too until somewhat recently. So it’s 100% understandable. I don’t much like string theory either myself.
well, they're not totally unrelated, but one doesn't imply the other. the traditional hypothesis for how they might form involved topological defects that formed during the symmetry breaking phase of the very early universe, and then string theory posits a wholly different mechanism where fundamental strings become stretched to cosmological scales by inflation. but yes, these ideas were developed independently.
@@antimatterhorn right, I was specifically responding to Tyler saying the ship running into one means that string theory had been confirmed in the setting
"Night Terrors" scared the sh*t outta me when I first saw it at 9 or 10 years old. In "Galaxy's Child" Geordi's behavior was definitely inappropriate and unprofessional but I don't think it crossed the line into "predatory".
In defense of Geordi he only asked the computer to make the simulated Leah Brahms more personable. My head canon has always been that the computer, which we know from the season seven episode Emergence is bordering on sentience, is, at some pre-conscious level, in love with Geordi and programed Leah Brahms accordingly. I hang this all on simulated Leah Brahms' line about touching the engine. That was the Enterprise ACTUALLY talking to Geordi.
To be fair to the holodeck, Jordy had to break numerous restriction protocols to create the program. Personality and phycological files were directly called out as a problem to get initially.
in Star Trek Online, the tutorial character Captain Taggart calls the player "number one" and says he served under a captain who called his first officer that "early in his career." in the episode The Host, Picard is contacted by an "Ensign Taggart", and while it's not directly confirmed, it's heavily implied that this is the same Taggart
Another great video Tyler my fave line in The Wounded is where O'Brien says "I don't hate you Cardassian, I hate what you made me". Anyway hope you are well Tyler.
@@OrangeRiver I'm doing good Tyler one of my fave TNG 2 parter episodes was done between seasons 3 and 4 it was the finale of season 3 and episode 1 of season 4 Best Of Both Worlds parts 1&2
@@jhonbus That's an old Irish traditional folk song so old the person who wrote the song to this day remains unknown. But I have managed to find out it's called The Minstrel Boy and was written by Irish poet and songwriter Thomas Moore and believed to be in remembrance of his friends who died in the Irish rebellion of 1798 back during the time of the Fenians here in Ireland one of the most famous of which was a man named Wolfe Tone
“Devil’s Due” always sat weird with me as the tone seemed off but I couldn’t put my finger on why. Years later I learned it was originally written as a TOS episode with Kirk instead of Picard being the focus of the horny con-artist. The story makes SO much more sense knowing that.
Haha, I've loved this episode since I first saw it as a kid. I suspect Ardra appealed to a then-unrevealed part of my nature 😂 I can't fathom why Star Trek _still_ hasn't done a musical episode when the sheer volume of courtroom episodes proves the show is not above doing theme eps.
Geordi was doing nothing more than advanced roleplay and was clearly infatuated with Leah. You're right about this kind of stuff remaining private, people's often harmless yet highly embarrassing fantasies being weaponized for moral superiority.
But poor Geordi was almost like a red shirt light. The second you hear intruder alert I shout " oh no.. they're going to knock out geordi!" I can't count the times he gets knocked unconscious
Also gotta say this channel has become my background while sleeping or cleaning the house. I'll run through my own mental pictures of what he's talking about while it's playing. But I've had the best sleep lately
The Data/Jenna episode features the actress who plays the wife of the main alien protagonist of Alien Nation, another series that deserves more exposure.
I must say I am impressed at the rate at which you grown and developed as a writer and a performer over the last couple years I've followed you. I can't wait to see what you produce next. Keep it up!
“Half a Life” is by far the best Luwaxanna episode of the series (not that that is a huge accomplishment). Majel Barret really gave the character life, too. Just another great, relatively small detail, that helps make this show so great.
Season 4 is probably my favorite TNG season. Family, and The Wounded are great . Also dude, my new Mass Effect style Orange River mug showed up this week. It's is a nice accompaniment to the OR Trek mug I bought last year. I'm firmly in The Twilight Zone!
lol when I was a kid I thought Tasha's sister was played by Linda Hamilton for the longest time till I re-watched the movie and was like "...wait a min". I ran around my school for like 3 years telling my friends that she was in an episode of Star Trek. -_-
The person who played Tasha's sister is Beth Toussaint. She is apparently not a relation to Linda Hamilton or her late twin sister. In the right timeline, they could have played on that lookalike status: have three of the same character show up and interact with each other; two sisters with one taller than the other. Toussaint is six years younger than Hamilton.
okay, but, so, here's the thing about booby trap and leah brahms. _it's the ship._ the enterprise is an incredibly advanced piece of technology that i'm sure has a whole lot of whatever kind of stuff makes chatGPT work, right? she's not a manifestation of leah brahms. she's a manifestation of _the ship._ the implication is that _the ship_ likes geordi.
Barkley is the best accidental character is Trek history. Props to Dwight Shultz for making me feel like I know the guy. Incredible arc too, all the way up through “Voyager”.
K’mpec is underrated as Klingon characters go, imo. Probably because we don’t see as much of him as Gowron. But he’s clearly very shrewd, albeit a bit lacking in ambition by the time we see him.
@@kaitlyn__L Well where was there for him to go? He was already leader of the council. Besides at the end he was too busy dying of that poison. I agree that he's an interesting character.
@@canalesworks1247 of course the poison thing would’ve had to have not been written, once that had been said his fate was sealed. He’s an intelligent politician, and adept enough to live to be pretty old by Klingon standards. I would’ve liked to have seen his ruthless side a bit more.
@@kaitlyn__L The idea though of a fat Klingon. That means he didn't really keep up as a warrior. He would have been a guile based politician all along.
I love the Twilight Zone ads you do for your merch. I may have to get a t-shirt or some such lol. Thank you for another excellent episode as always! God be with you out there everybody. ✝️ :)
Levar Burton recently said in an interview that he hated the creepy way Geordi LeForge was written in Galaxy's Child and it's antecedent episode. He said Le Forge's inability to have healthy romantic relationships in TNG is why he demanded his character be written to have a family with kids in Picard season 3.
I did notice after recently watching that his issues with women seem very "out of character" when compared to his personality in all other areas. But it was kind of funny how bad he was with women. Sadly some people really do have such difficulties.
I think he was written to be kinda annoying in that show as well, he was kinda shitty to one of his daughters for not picking the same career as him, wtf
Another great video! I just finished TNG about a month ago after the last ep Paramount + threw me into voyager, this was very wonderful and almost a little nostalgic now that I am getting adjusted to the new crew of voyager. Thank you for your work and please keep doing your best.
By now it’s become your own spin on it, as Beverly’s question to the computer says “the universe” :D (this isn’t a nerd nitpick, I just love the way memory works. It’s well-known that synonyms are spatially stored in neighbouring neurons!)
I've always remembered since I was a small child Data saying "Perhaps it is YOU!" and my brother and I would always exaggerate it in many different things as inside jokes when we were growing up. "YOU!"
I love "Troi the bitch" episodes. She's fire in "Man of the People." If they had really wanted her to be sexy that should have had her wear regulation uniforms while on duty and then switch to that white number she had on when she was off duty. Getting to see Marina in videos at comic con etc it's obvious that the writing failed the actress way too often. She's quite the firecracker.
Don't you think we're missing a main point about personal holo-programs? Don't you think they'd be password protected by the creator? Barkley was extremely smart, and so was Jordi. I just can't see them leaving their holo-programs open for anyone to charge in.
“Night Terrors” and “Identity Crisis” are both stabs at horror. One works very well with the subtle horror cues from a stripped down script, while the other has its moments overshadowed by Guinan phaser rifles. Though “The Nth Degree” is a great one, if only to show the cliquey, shallow, and insecure nature of the Enterprise senior staff. I mean seriously, there’s a way to handle “Phenomenon” Barclay without the Eric Clapton song, and still not squash his human rights as you protect the security of the ship.
Glad someone else appreciates what "The Loss" was trying to do "Clues" has the hottest two-episode-helm-Ensign in the whole fleet in Ensign McKnight with her Thomas Jefferson hairdo
The Orange River style is so outstanding in presentation and delivery. Another outstanding study of our favorite (or one of) universe. Thanks Tyler. Oh and just fyi I'm really not a merch guy, but the Rod Serling bit has earned a you a Tshirt sale. I just gotta choose one. ONE, lol. I'm sorry. It's a crap economy out there, but your work helps and is worth it.
I watched The Booby Trap and Galaxy's Child as they aired, I was 6 and 7 years old respectively. I definitely got why Leah was mad, even at that young age, but I never saw malice in what Geordi did. 30+ years later, I generally think the same thing, but I think Geordi's reaction is for sure wrong, and his expectations of what Leah would be like remind me of modern parasocial relationships people have with celebrities or RU-vidrs/Twitch Streamers. Your mental image of the person isn't necessarily the person is. I sympathize for LeVar Burton, I would feel awkward having to play that version of Geordi, and I'm glad that slowly started to phase out the "bad with women" Geordi. These two episodes are still sentimental favorites because I really like the character of Leah Brahms and Susan Gibney, but the writing for sure doesn't hold up at all.
I disagree with your statement on "The Loss" being a good example of disability being portrayed thoughtfully. Diana's reaction was like that of a spoiled brat, or " Aristocratic" as Riker said. She acted selfishly as if she alone understand what it's like to suffer. As a Counselor I would have expected her to behave with others in a much more mature and dignified way. I don't mean to detract from the pain she was going through, but I think the writers REALLY dropped the ball on that one. I've always held the highest respect for her character. 🖖😁🤘🇨🇦
I think that's valid--I almost included a sentence about Riker's "aristocratic" line because I think it's VERY key to understanding the episode. Honestly what impressed me most about this episode is not Deanna's behavior per se--she did act like a spoiled brat--but that it cleared the low bar of the first two seasons so un-seriously exploring certain aspects of the human condition IMO. That is to say, her yelling at Beverly and Will showed she was very very flawed :0
@@subraxas what I find interesting is she SAYS she can’t do her job, and there’s one scene with the recurring patient which seems to confirm that… but then we see Guinan’s talk with her, and the patient comes back to say her insights were right after all. As in she is perfectly capable of doing it, and it’s more just she lost some of her confidence. But the first half of that is a lot more memorable than the second half, so we all remember “I can’t do it without my empathy!”
That episode is Marmite-divisive among disabled Trekkies. I’ve read many essays falling on both sides, and they all have good points. The execution fumbles in a bunch of ways, but also captures some truths about adjusting to a new diagnosis. I fall on finding it mostly cliched and flawed, but I can understand how some disabled people see themselves in the narrative. I don’t know what’s more divisive, _The Loss_ or _Melora._ Though at least _Melora_ was written by a disabled person, while AFAICT _The Loss_ wasn’t. Not that that helps improve the consistency of response, as we’re far from a monolith.
As always, love to see your take on TNG seasons..You do a good job highlighting strengths while being fairly critical with the lows. Also, without doing the cliched snide tone that some RU-vidrs do a little too much! 😅
5:36 If this boy was adopted by the Talerians then my great uncle was also adopted by the Vietcong during the Vietnam war. They literally murdered his parents and kidnapped him during a raid on a human outpost. He's a POW, and the fact that his grandmother is an admiral should mean that this incident starts another war with them. _He doesn't even consult her before he hands her grandson back off to the barbarians that brainwashed him and ruined her and many others' families..._
Identity Crisis, the first Brannon Braga episode. And it's one of the quintessential Braga episodes at that, touching on tropes he would revisit again. *Cough cough Threshold*
You mentioned the Battle of Wolf 359 and the Dominion War at the start of this video and it got me thinking; can Borg Assimilate Changlings? The Changlings can alter the genetic makeup of their morphogenic matrices so rapidly, they are immune to most diseases. So would that count for Borg nanomachines as well? I've not read any of the Trek novels or other media outside of the main shows, so I don't know if this concept has been approached yet.
The Changelings would likely present a challenge for the Borg. One of the Borg's most notable characteristics is their cultural focus on adaptability, and so they would likely fully dedicate themselves to adapting to counteract the natural resistance presented by the changelings, it is entirely up for debate if they could succeed in that task, as there is no real evidence of either outcome, but I'm inclined to believe that the Borg eventually would suceed given time, and the opportunity to keep trying.
@@NiiRubra Which further begs the question, though. Species 8472 form Voyager were naturally immune to Borg nanomachines, which gave them time to fight back. Were it not for Janeway's temporary truce, 8472 might have wiped out the Borg. If the Borg needed time to make nanomachines that could assimilate Changlings, I am sure the Dominion would fight back just like 8472 did.
I feel such a nostalgia for TNG as I've been seeing it my whole life. I'm in my 30s so .. The way call of duty mountain dew and Doritos go together, For me it's: TNG, Beavis and Butt-Head, and Metallica! That's just the way my nostalgia triggers 😎
Galaxys child is great! Poor Geordi cant get a break when it comes to women. He treated the real thing as if she was the hologram, confusing the two in his mind, as such his behavor is on point. He strugles to seperate the two in his mind, knowing one is made up, the other is not, but wanting to know the real one more - he tured off the fake, knowing it was fake, knowing that yeah he fell in partly love, but in love with a made up being, he wanted the real one - because he respected her work, and perhaps part of him still felt that connection, however illogical. The dang thing seemed real. The real one was taken. OR so she said... maybe she wasnt or maybe she breaks it off latter? I'd rather have seen that she wasnt taken and open to getting to know each other for real, but first she gets some light hearted `revenge' by programing Geordi in the holodeck getting a pie in the face - only to have the real Geordi get a pie in the face for real - two pies in face for the price of one, plus you could have Data say "3.14...." whatever pi is as Geordi mentions pie latter and the episode faids off as he just lets Data say pi wondering if he will ever stop. Hahahhahahahahaha! oh well. anyway. Good ep in my view and people are a bunch of complaners these days I swear. not that I dont complain about things, I do - but see when I do it, its fine.
Always love your uncanny ROD SERLING impersonations.Certainly you have similar voices and your acting and added suit and tie all shot in black and white are a real treat to behold.For some odd reason I am beginning to save my meager funds to purchase some of that ORANGE RIVER merchandise to see if it truely does leed me to the TWILIGHT ZONE !
Hey OR. If you like Carolyn Seymour I seriously recommend you take a look at Survivors (esp season 1.) Written by Terry Nation who created the Darleks and also wrote Blake's 7. Seymour is amazing in Survivors after a pandemic wipes out 95% of the population of earth. The book is also good if you get a chance to read it.
Thanks for the ROD SIEGER b&w impersonation.We knew you had it in Ya.And "Naw" Ya didn't give me the idea to go to " DeeP Fake Porn" to have 7 of 9 tell me "Resistance is futile"!!!😊
Man I'd love to do a DS9 retrospective, though I'm not sure I can maintain the energy to do a season-by-season analysis :0 It would probably be more condensed but it's on my docket. Plus the RU-vid algorithm hates my DS9 content for some reason
Yep, a shame. Just like how the show doesn't get the respect it deserves IRL. I have always viewed all the shows as being on an equal footing in terms of importance to the lore, but that's not how the general public sees it.
@@OrangeRiver TNG and DS9 are my favorite trek series. DS9 is one of the most lore heavy trek shows in my opinion, it added so much depth to different areas of the franchise. Wolf 359, The Domion War, Changelings, Bajoran culture, the Ferengi, Worf and the Klingons, Section 31, the Mirror Universe..... I could go on and on and on
Literally the first thing that everyone's going to do when holodecks are real is to hook up with someone they have a crush on; seems pretty harmless. I mean, we have no control over who's thinking about us during ... um ... 'me time' 🤷♀️
Honestly the way the hologram talks about the engines in relation to herself id be more concerned that Geordi is rubbing up agains the warp core. Whipping out his conduit and venting his plasma all over the dilithium crystals.