STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION | S5 KEY EPISODES PT 1 | FIRST TIME WATCHING 

So happy to see I, Borg made the cut!

if you're watching these on Paramount Plus, in the first few seconds of the episode, something pops up that says "skip intro", if you click it, it skips the intro. lol 🙂 Great video and you're beautiful 🙂

Well, that’s better. You’re definitely going to need to go back and watch more episodes from each season, so many are getting missed. There are plenty that can be skipped, but this first run can’t be the final one if you’re to check all the quality episodes.

Cassie, thank you for including The Inner Light!

I love your reactions to these. You have the kindest soul. It really feels like watching these for the first time again.

Love, she will feel it for us all.

PiB, watching TNG Dean Pelton, watching a dalmation cosplay video Jordan Belfort, chanting gooble gobble Tobias Funke, attending nevernude meeting (It occurs to me that these sound a lot sketchier if you don't know the reference)

@@BravoDoxthis better not awaken anything in me...

I was concerned and annoyed when she said she was only going to watch four episodes per season. That's nowhere near enough to get a good feel for the series. I honestly didn't care if she chose not to show every episode or even most of the episodes on her channel with reactions, but I hoped she at least would watch them on her own so she'd know what was going on with references and the like.

Because they looked down on sci fi/genre television at the time.

@@travisboyle285 TBH they still do unless its dressed up as something over the top woke.

@@travisboyle285 Agreed - Star Wars is highly rated in movies because it's more actiony. The shows are hit and miss and when they miss they really are viewed horribly. It's tough to get sci fi on TV to win, just not viewed favorably.

Prejudice against performances in sci-fi/fantasy shows. Like, how was Robert Carlyle never nominated for Once Upon a Time? If Stewart and Carlyle had given the same performances in a "normal" drama, they'd be Emmy winners.

Syndication was looked down on back then as was Sci fi. So a double negative working against Stewart.

Jeremiah Johnson, smiling in the snow.

😲 I never thought of it that way, but you're right! 🤣🤣🤣

Leonardo DiCaprio, pointing at the screen.

I came to this same realization... memeology is exactly what it is lol

Inigo and The Dread Pirate, at the Cliffs. Inigo, his sword drawn his chest red. Andy, at Shawshank. Andy in the Creek. Andy and Red, at Zihuatanejo.

100% I remember reading the Gilgamesh Epic at 20. There are no words that can express how I felt back then. Connected maybe. I felt connected to our past. Seeing it cited on Star Trek in the way they did it was so amazing

It is coming

Yeah, is highly recommend the episode. You'll get a real kick out of it. It's a beautiful story.

@@ChuckingDice It is the highest rated episode of the whole show so it would be a crime to miss it.

@@TheFalconerNZ Makes me cry every time.

It’s mandatory

Agreed. If there is a flaw it is that the fundamental McGuffin probably would not work in prcatice without an underlying grammar and syntax (+ vocabulary) which could then be used with strangers. You know English but if I said to you "Odysseus at the gates of Troy with a horse" it is implicit that you understand the words and the context and it is difficult to see how that understanding could arise without a language which did not need metaphor / meme. You would need an endless regression of metaphors to explain and understand the metaphors in the first place. However it remains a cool concept, and given the premise is well written and acted. Shakespeare at the Globe with a quill !

One of the dumbest concepts in star trek. A society that only speaks in metaphors is impossible. "People who speak in metaphors should shampoo my crotch" Jack Nicholson

@@FloridaMugwump So are transporter beams but we don't let that stand in the way of a good story ...

I just found out recently that Darmok was one of the cops in "The Terminator", obviously since they have painted skin I had no idea it was an African American actor, and of course he was in Wrath of Khan

@@tru3sk1ll Paul Winfield was a top character actor. (Fun fact: _The Terminator_ psychiatrist, Dr Silberman/Earl Boen, was the voice of Nagilum in the TNG episode _Where Silence Has Lease_ )

Yes, definitely. S6-Ep04 "Relics". Won't say why but Cassie is guaranteed to be interested in that one. No spoilers please.

I second the motion.

If she misses it it would serve her right for skipping over half the show. She would totally fail to understand Babylon 5 this way, The scifi TV show that beat Independence Day, a Trek movie and a couple other scifi blockbusters for the Asimov.

I'm pretty sure it'll be one of the winners in the poll.

I concur! Cassie, PLEASE watch "Relics".

Same. My uncle was the first to purchase a color television set, specifically to watch Star Trek. We had many family gatherings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends involving a cookout or potluck and to enjoy the weekly broadcast of Star Trek❤

@@brt5273 I so envy you! My family was very conservative, I had to beg and whine every week to be able to watch it. Alone!!!

Are you familiar with Jen Murray? She's another great Reactor who's doing the whole series. She's also done the original movies and some of the series.

@@SilentBob731 Jen Murray is doing it the way I wish Cassie would do it. Or even the Target Audience channel.

Yup, watch her too

Winfield also played a detective in The Terminator and a general in in Babylon 5

@@ronmaximilian6953 And Captain Terrell.

Dementia spares no one, and he nailed it.

Yes indeed he was. I remember seeing him in tv shows from the 70's. He was also a stand out actor on those shows. I think most Star Trek fans remember Mark Leonard with affection. The Star Trek novelists also paid homage to him after his passing by writing a special hardback novel named after his character. Actually it was a love letter to the actor and character. Great story. He is just as missed as the other cast members we've lost.

@@StoptheInsanityofRegressivism I'm glad you mentioned the book, because "Sarek" is my favorite ST novel and I haven't read it in forever. For anyone interested, the A plot involves Sarek, Spock, and Amanda and the B plot involves Kirk's nephew Peter and his Kobiyashi Maru exam... the plots tie together beautifully. For reference Kirk's brother (Who we see now as science officer on the Enterprise in SNW seasons 1 and 2) dies in a tragic accident off camera in TOS s1e20 Operation Annihilate. For Sarek/Spock fans watch The Naked Time, Tower of Babel, ST 2-6, then read Sarek, then watch TNG Sarek, and finally Unification 1&2. To me, that is the perfect way to appreciate the dynamic of Sarek and his family.

He was great and memorable in every role I saw him in.

And what a great farewell scene for his character. Well written, and superbly acted, filmed well, and an amazing score.

Sarek seemed to have a fetish for round ears. 🤔

Yup... Star Trek VI was released about a month after this episode first aired.

Have you heard of Eastern Street Slang from the Mistborn Trilogy? That language also has on-standard syntax.

The actor's name is Paul Winfield.I remember first seeing the episode DARMOK back when it aired,what a grand episode,indeed.

Paul Winfield. Watching "Darmok" as a wee boy and hearing an abbreviated version of the Epic of Gilgamesh got me interested in ancient mythology.

@@michaelfinlay6341 His eyes open wide.

I think he was also a general in Babylon 5.

@@RabbitShirak he played Dr Franklin's father. RIP to both of them. "A man who won't stand up for his own principles is not really a man at all."

Have you heard of Eastern Street Slang from the Mistborn Trilogy? That language also has non-standard syntax.

Ultra-geriatric McCoy had a cameo, and here we have an aging Spock. Who was the third?

@@bigdream_dreambig Sarek!

​@@bigdream_dreambig Season 6 Episode 4 "Relics"

Of course, the reference Spock makes to the consequences of him dragging Kirk into the peace negotiations between the Klingons and the Federation was specifically designed to get people watching the TV series to go see Star Trek VI - the two-parter came out in November and the movie in December.

Roddenberry was a Wildman, far beyond d just bein a playa!

ngl, kinda jealous but also genuinely happy for you!🙂

It would have been a feather in my cap in those days

You nerds

This episode is brilliant you literally learn a language in 45 minutes. 🖖

I believe CSUN was also used for certain scenes in "The Orville", which now makes total sense.

Major episode for Picard as a character...

Have you heard of Eastern Street Slang from the Mistborn Trilogy? That language also has on-standard syntax.

on the one hand, it should've been the season finale... on the other hand, they knew we'd fucking riot if we had to wait 6 months after seeing Spock step out of the shadows at the end of part 1. The actual season final was pretty good anyways.

It's a nice little touch to set her up before The Game.

Yeah, I noticed her too... I forgot she was in ST:TNG... Famke Jensen too... Hell, a bunch of people... Seth MacFarlane... Too many to mention really...

This episode was Ashley Judds first ever film role

@@KublaVeruca I always wondered if Famke got her role in X--Mem because Patrick Stewart had recommended her after working w/her on TNG, or if it was just coincidence they both ended up in the film together.

​@@karter95no, she was in Commando.

Not to get picky, but Gil found Utnapishtam, and his wife, the only two people that the Gods, Inanna and her long suffering father, Enlil, made immortal. Utnapishtam told told our boy to give up the search. Gilgamesh, being Gilgamesh, said "F' that," and was defeated by forces he could not control. He goes back to Uruk as an infinitely better man.

Definitely worth reading

There's a few known stories that are older, but it's certainly the earliest known Heroic Epic.

I have the tee shirt.

Or "Shaka, when the walls fell."

Have you heard of Eastern Street Slang from the Mistborn Trilogy? That language also has non-standard syntax.

_"Cowboy_ diplomacy?"

Love me some Frasier.

@@wratched That should've been Niles standing behind him on the bridge too

Directed by Jonathan Frakes too! With all of the repeating of the timeline, it has some really interesting camera angles for TNG.

When the show was first available on home video, they sold the episodes individually for $19.99 each. The only episode of TNG I bought on my very limited budget was Cause and Effect.

One of my favorites. I love how they actually incorporate the commercial breaks into the story arc; each time you come back from break the storyline starts over.

The problem is if Tamarian language is entirely built around metaphorical references to their cultural traditions, how do young Tamarians even learn what those references mean?

@@Ambaryerno Yeah, I've never known how they're able to tell the stories in the first place if they can only speak in references to other stories. How does a young Tamarian learn who Temba was and when he spread his arms wide to give a gift, if their phrase for giving a gift *is* 'Temba, his arms wide'? You have the infinite regress problem when everything is a reference to something else.

@@hypercube8735 My 3 year old son speaks Chinese and he now forms new advanced sentences that are correct, but I'm pretty sure were never taught to him. He would simply learn "Temba, his arms wide" as the wooden block that occupies the linguistic conceptual space where "gift-giving" goes. Just as "sone lee wu" currently occupies the space for Chinese. However, he could deconstruct the phrase into "sone" (send) and "lee wu" (gift). This wouldn't be possible for "Temba, his arms wide". But there's quirky exceptions in every language. The brain just marks the exceptions, and remembers to do additional special processing when encountered again. Like how the words for our numbers follow a pattern, except when they don't (i.e. "eleven" and "twelve").

@@hypercube8735 I imagine it's rather like how our own young learn their parents' language without any historical context of the etymological origins of the words they are learning. We typically learn to use certain structured, organized sounds without fully knowing why they are structured or organized that way. Later in life, through more advanced study, we do learn those origins, using other words to describe them. One learns to build on what one knows, to achieve what one does not.

It was also a Plot Point in Star Trek IV; they could replicate the sounds Humpback Whales made, but not the Language. "We would be replying in Gibberish", Spock said.

Have you heard of Eastern Street Slang from the Mistborn Trilogy? That language also has on-standard syntax.

Darmok and jalad at tanagra. I watched this show as a kid, but when I here that, all I can think of is "The Picard Song"

And if you go back and restart the episode, you can understand everything they're saying!

Girl that fills dress with expanded grain. (Popcorn in PJ's)

Temba, his thumbs up!

PiB and Trek, at RU-vid

I love the episode but it's completely non-sensical. You can't have metaphors or stories without an underlying vocabulary.

@@johnberger8817 The language could have developed toward metaphors over a prolonged period of time, perhaps aided by a culture which highly treasured ancient tales, myths and legends.

Have you heard of Eastern Street Slang from the Mistborn Trilogy? That language also has non-standard syntax.

@lennyvalentin6485 Shaka when the walls fell. You have to know what a wall is, what falling is, etc. Darmok & Gilad on the ocean. You have to know what an ocean is. If you can't identify the meaning of the individual words you won't know what you're saying, further the universal translator wouldn't be able to translate it, because the words by themselves wouldn't have meaning. If the phrases are explaining concepts, then the phrase would be essentially a word. So what we're identifying as words would be synonymous with us having syllables. Language over time does not evolve to be longer & more poetical. You have more words that get more specific to shorten sentences & how to relay concepts quickly. Ancient Hebrew had 7,000 words. Modern English has 500,000 words. Imagine trying to explain what a computer is to a person from a 1000 yrs ago, or 5000 years ago. It would take awhile. Anyway, I love the episode, but no civilization could get into space commination that way. How does a Tamarian ask for a spanner? Or say raise shields? Or say check the transporter buffer?

@@Mark-in8ju see above

The expertise that Stewart brings as a Shakespearean-trained actor showcases his ability to convey a wide range of emotions and drama simply in his powerful and beautiful recitation of words and phrases.

@@Dej24601 My late mother called in every favor she could to score us tickets to his one-man "A Christmas Carol." Genius does not begin to describe the man.

@@michaelfinlay6341 that must have been thrilling!

Yes, the Epic of Gilgamesh. ❤❤❤

*sails unfurled

Have you heard of Eastern Street Slang from the Mistborn Trilogy?

"Tamok, the river Tamok... in winter" = CHILL OUT!

YES!!! Probably one of the best episodes of the series. IIRC it was one of the few to win awards.

@Popcorn in Bed - I have to second this, I know you love seeing Picard's character, how sweet and kind he can be. "Inner Light" is an incredibly formative episode which has a huge impact on Picard's character and you will see him in ways you have never seen him before. It's a must see. Please check it out.

It’s coming next week

Rascals Conundrum Times Arrow (Seen) Next Phase Violations (Special Episode) The Game (First Ashley Judd role)

Ensign Ro will be vital if she ever wants to watch Season 3 of 'Star Trek: Picard'

Hopefully you'll watch all the TNG movies eventually.

@@MrBoyYankee Disaster ("The laughing Vulcan and his dog") Power Play (Marina shows her acting chops) A Matter of Time ("Everyone dies, Captain. It's just a question of when.")

Yeah, I warned her ages ago that it would be impossible to fit this season into this format; she is heeding some of that feedback in extending the number which is appreciated, because there are so many good episodes in season 5.

Standard Troubleshooting. Seems logical.

Pilot: "The radio does not when set to 'Official'." Maintainer: "Sir, OFF on the switch does not mean Official." True story, happened to me more than once in my maintenance career.

"No, doctor! ... They are fully integrated components." Data was actually apprehensive!

His eyes open,wide.

Cassie and Carlie on the Bed of RU-vid!

It was a decent episode and the cross-over with Spock was fun. But it doesn't even make it onto my top 10 list. Still a good one for Cassie though.

I read it last year. Hadn't since High School.

^^ Ditto. The Enkidu sacrifice is a deep loss to a human psyche, and the catharsis it gets is apparently universal. I like how Picard explains it, "Send him a companion," meaning a Mate, but in the British sense of the term, a close friend, confident, partner. Humans have a strong "Pack" instinct, that's probably why we learned to live with (and like) dogs when we domesticated wolves...

@@jamespfp Gilgamesh's lament and the repeated phrases, coming to a head with Utnapishtim. "Why are your cheeks emaciated, your expression desolate! Why is your heart so wretched, your features so haggard? Why is there such sadness deep within you! Why do you look like one who has been traveling a long distance so that ice and heat have seared your face! Why ... you roam the wilderness!!" "Should not my cheeks be emaciated, my expression desolate! Should my heart not be wretched, my features not haggard, Should there not be sadness deep within me? Should I not look like one who has been traveling a long distance, and should ice and heat not have seared my face! ... should I not roam the wilderness? My friend who chased wild asses in the mountain, the panther of the wilderness, Enkidu, my friend, who chased wild asses in the mountain, the panther of the wilderness, we joined together, and went up into the mountain. We grappled with and killed the Bull of Heaven, we destroyed Humbaba who dwelled in the Cedar Forest, we slew lions in the mountain passes! My friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship with me, Enkidu, my friend, whom I love deeply, who went through every hardship with me, the fate of mankind has overtaken him. Six days and seven nights I mourned over him and would not allow him to be buried until a maggot fell out of his nose. I was terrified by his appearance, I began to fear death, and so roam the wilderness. The issue of my friend oppresses me, so I have been roaming long trails through the wilderness. The issue of Enkidu, my friend, oppresses me, so I have been roaming long roads through the wilderness. How can I stay silent, how can I be still! My friend whom I love has turned to clay; Enkidu, my friend whom I love, has turned to clay! Am I not like him! Will I lie down, never to get up again!"

That's _Captain_ Clark Terrell to you, Lieutenant. ... Oh, and that's now _Junior_ Lieutenant.

Have you heard of Eastern Street Slang from the Mistborn Trilogy? That language also has non-standard syntax.

"Mickey Mouse is a big stupid dope!"

Yes! I always thought that. That is a good movie. She should watch it!

Have you heard of Eastern Street Slang from the Mistborn Trilogy? That language also has non-standard syntax.

"It sounds kinda thin." "It IS thin!"

The late great Paul Williams. One of the true heroes of that movie.

@@zatoichi1 Paul Winfield, not Paul Williams.

It's *Khan* , not Kahn.

@@geoffwilliams4478 Yeah auto-correct is a bitch.

@@geoffwilliams4478 i think you meant to say khaaaaaaaan

Seriously?! I had no idea he had been in Star Trek. I’ve loved him ever since I first saw From the Earth to the Moon in the late 1990s.

But I was told that I could listen to the radio at a reasonable volume.

you took my stapler, today is a good day to burn down your vessel. qapla

Oh god, it does explain for his violent outburst in the ending of Office Space. There be Klingon blood in him afterall.

@@IsoscelesKramer "The Klingon Opera."

"Please leave a message after the howl. GRAAAAAAGHHGKKK!"

The point was that the translator could understand the words, but that's not the same as parsing the meaning

@@gaz-l621 Yes indeed, the universal translator worked flawlessly everything they said was translated perfectly. Without the context though their "English" was still incomprehensible.

Have you heard of Eastern Street Slang from the Mistborn Trilogy? That language also has non-standard syntax.

Also deals with Picards and Guinan's enduring PTSD.

Seconded. And it gets a hilarious callback in DS9. I won't spoil it for you, Cassie, but it's great, trust me. :D

No, it has to be "Ensign Ro".

Well she's planning to watch the TNG movies and I think she should watch the series Star Trek: Picard (especially the third season is so good, giving the TNG crew a proper sendoff) after Star Trek: Nemesis, TNG's last movie. Even though I think she also should watch the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager since Star Trek: Picard is a continuation to all three of them (TNG, DS9 and Voyager) and technically the two animated series, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy are connected to them too. I don't know if she has time to watch all of them or even Star Trek: Enterprise. Lol. I've seen all Star Trek. I can't wait for Season 2 of Star Trek: Prodigy to drop on Netflix soon, July 1st and the fifth/final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks this fall on Paramount+ and other future Star Trek in 2025 and 2026 like the TV movie Star Trek: Section 31, Season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and the new series Star Trek: Starfleet Academy! 😊

@@thestartreker.official Are you kidding me? She doesn't even have time to watch all of ST:NG, let alone cartoons!

​@@rocketeer3667 she has been watching 4 key episodes of the each 7 seasons of TNG. I'm sure she could do that with DS9 and Voyager too which are made up 7 seasons as well and are referenced in the TNG movies. And Star Trek: Enterprise only have 4 seasons and the new shows on Paramount+ have shorter seasons only mostly made up of 10 episodes. I honestly don't know she is going to watch every Star Trek series. There are 12 of them now and before Star Trek: Discovery came out in 2017 there were only 6 of them. Lol. I have a feeling Jen Murray might watch all Star Trek because she has been watching all the TOS and TNG episodes plus the movies on her channel while I'm not sure about Cassie will but I'm totally fine if she only watches TOS and TNG along with their movies. I've been enjoying both of their channels. I don't know if you seen Jen's channel. Well Cassie has seen a few of animated movies on her channel like the Spider-verse movies, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and the Lion King and another one I believe.

Given TOS person who is in it, it will be one for sure.

If they didn't choose that one for Season 6, the Patreon folks are cruel and heartless!

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

@@paintedjaguar Seriously!

'Biggs' from _The Fugitive_ turns up here as well.

Disagree. TNG plateaus and maintains this level. It has one of the truly great finales.

Agreed, that should be fun.

Popcorn. In the bed. She reacts. Her eyes wide.