Star Trek: TNG Review - 7x9 Force of Nature | Reverse Angle 

Funny that an episode promoting environmentalism did such a fine job of making environmentalists look like hysterical idiots fighting a hopeless cause that nobody cares about.

16:00 Warp drive does exactly what it says in the name - it warps spacetime, compressing it in front of a ship and then expanding it behind the ship (it's actually an almost working scientific concept, google Alcubierre drive). Presumably, this has to be done continuously as you're moving through spacetime: the moment you're no longer generating a "warp bubble" around your ship, you're back to normal speeds. So simply "coasting", the way we do on modern spacecrafts, won't work.

The whole episode should've been about Data trying to train his cat. For some reason I was really invested in that subplot.

Spot being a Romulan spy makes sense. It’s all so clear.

The warp damaging subspace idea doesn't really work since it's well established in Star Trek that there have been countless warp capable species for millions, even billions of years.

I was pretty hype for this episode due to the notion that everything would possibly be flipped on its head because if this new limitation. It didn't happen, of course, but it wasn't the craziest notion. Around this time, Deep Space Nine was getting started and the TNG movies and Voyager were imminent. Lots of things were in motion at the time. For example, the Maquis were divided across all three shows, so at the time it looked like they were setting up deeper lore and lasting consequences. DS9 would get a lot of this right, but "warp drive warming" wasn't part of it.

Never thought about the "why ships can't just give a warp burst and coast indefinitley / why are their engines going the whole time" thing in over 30 years. HUGE point you guys made imho. :D

According to some deep lore, this was originally planned to be a season 6 episode but was scrapped. Jeri Taylor, a long-time writer for TNG admitted the episode was pretty bad and final draft was too short, so they decided to make up the efficiency and Spot subplots just to finish it off. Also whether by mistake or intention, Spot is now canonically a female as she has kittens later in the season. No explanation given as Spot has been referred to as male multiple times over several seasons.

They tried to do an environmental awareness episode but forgot how bad they were at writing things meaningfully.

Season 7: The no ideas era

finally some quality transitions on youtube. could've used a bit more tho

I liked this episode when it came out but even then I was sure they'd never mention these rifts again. I dont mind the cat and Geordi parts cause they add little details that make the world seem lived in. Early seasons everyone seemed sterile.

Actually as per Voyager, wasn't this whole warp hurting subspace thingy just a BS way to hide the fact that they were secretly working with Omega Particles?

Nick at the end asks for details on the rift! Lol! Good review. Agree with the meaningless subplots being pointless, and the guest actors being a bit forgettable. I mean his sister died at the end and nothing? We're really going to forget that the sister died? I mean she was annoying, but still...awkward silence...and ooooooooook. As for the cat; Why in the universe would you want to train a cat? That's the main reason you get a cat and not a dog. Cats really don't need to be trained and are much lower maintenance. We have two of them in our house and they are cute, friendly, and don't really need much attention at all. I was hovering around a C-/D+ area. It's mostly a forgettable episode, the main plot doesn't really go anywhere, and the characters are forgotten in the end. However, this idea should have generated more interesting dialog. It was like some great unseen rift just swallowed the writer's memory and they forgot the main point of an episode was making it interesting by making the characters interesting. Instead, they fill the episode with sub-plot cat shenanigans that really don't come close to "surprised kitty". Now I have to go look at some "surprise kitty" videos because I'm so unsatisfied right now.

This episode was made to explain Voyager's Variable warp nacelles

to the episode's credit, this issue does get touched upon again in Pegasus (it is a small gesture but you will notice it when you review it in a few weeks). Also I think the weird looking nacelles on Voyager are supposed to be a technological breakthrough in response to the issues raised here. Someone on here can verify if that is true or not, but I think I remember something along those lines about that.

The show started to run out of gas in the 7th season. This episode was lame. The technology is a plot device. If they couldn't travel quickly the show would be boring. This episode creates a problem with that device. But then the show forgets about it, because this episode was a bad idea to begin with.

9:54 "...floating energon bomb..." Starscream : Oh mighty Megatron, our preparations are complete and the humans are unaware of the device! Megatron : Excellent! When the humans go to warp their own engines will destroy them!

Sick transitions, bro! 🔥

You are right in that is not how warp works as it is non-Newtonian. However in the first ep the saucer section was able to coast away while the stardrive escaped at warp. So they didn't follow the rules from the start

The only training a cat needs is to use a litter box. Which they kind of do right away, anyway. Climbing and scratching is just what they do, it's up to you to give them something more attractive to climb and scratch than furniture.

"Dad, there are other wipes beside star wipe"

Fun nerdy fact: the USS Intrepid is the prototype for the class of ship the USS Voyager is one of, and because of this episode’s events it has those folds hinges on its warp nacelles. Which are absolutely not just an excuse to do a cool folding thingy, nope, not at all. All jokes aside it was also their allegory for environmental/climate issues, but I guess some proto-Voyager connections slipped in 🖖

"I'm surrounded by idiots, and I'm the only one who can see the truth!" The sister was nothing but annoying, and I wasn't sorry to see her blow herself up. It's interesting how Captain Maxwell in the episode The Wounded had the same attitude but made a much more sympathetic character.

Great stuff. 😅♥ 18:16 Note: Spot died on the way back to his home planet.

The thing with Geordi competing with Kaplan on the Intrepid always bugged me. The Intrepid is either the Excelsior-class ship that rescued Worf from Khitomer, and so is at least a 20 year old ship of an almost 100 year old design, or it’s the prototype of the Intrepid-class (like what Voyager is) and therefore brand new and completely different to the Enterprise. Either way makes it a bad comparison. Plus if it’s the Intrepid-class Intrepid, then the folding nacelle thing doesn’t make sense as the ship already exists before they find out about the damage to subspace from normal warp drives in this episode!

@16:00 You two bring up some very valid points regarding _actual_ warp.

Final stretch guys... Its been freaking hilarious and entertaining! Ive taken up the Buffy series just for more!!

I don't know why it is, but I've the notion that Deanna Troi is capable of ripping some seriously hot, moist, utterly robust, Kim-Kardashian-like farts. The entire compliment of the Enterprise (NCC-1701-D0) are well-acquainted with the fact that when Deanna Troi uses the space toilet, it's probably best to let the Loo air out a bit before adding their own fragrant contribution to the collection of waste that will in time, be ejected into the most sorry piece of space imaginable...

So many fun videos,thanks guys.

The crew goes surfing in the holodeck, of course . . . it sometimes gets some sand and saltwater spilled out into the hallway, but it cleans up fairly quickly...

Actually the communications and the warp drive share some components so that they can send faster than light “subspace” messages/Zoom calls with admirals

Why didn't they just put up speed limit signs? "Maximum Warp: 5" 🤣😉

2:16 Georgi ,I cannot stun my cat...lol

Awesome humor!

11:12 you never know. It’s the future where they have an entire sex planet.

Also space isn't empty - there are millions of particles, and quantum foam per m3, which would slow down a ship (and also heat it up) without continuous power... That was the reason given elsewhere why they need continuous power.

I still wonder how bad that rift will be in about 30-40 thousand years.

The engines are always running because they are constantly warping the space in front and behind the enterprise. It takes an unimaginable amount of power to do that and it requires constant energy. The enterprise does not travel in warp with momentum, it requires the warp engine to be active. That’s how it’s able to slow down and stop and control its speed.

08:06 FULL IMPULSE = WARP 1 so the FLEMING would have to be at least half a light year away which is 3 TRILLION MILES

This is like the fourth take I've heard on this episode I like how in the Star Trek fandom everybody has a unique experience but loves the show all the same.

08:06 1 light year = 6 TRILLION MILES = 1 year at WARP 1 = 26 weeks would be a distance of at least half a light year = 6 months

It was so weird how the Ferengi still returned as enemies so late in the series, long after that proved itself to not work. At all.

That last transition got me. xD

Geordi says their theory was based on unprovable assumptions that end up being proved correct. I guess they weren't so unprovable then (even if they are then completely ignored by the writers ever after)?

I think a D- was a bit high for this episode

The issue doesn't get *completely* ignored. For example, the warp nacelles of the USS Voyager pivot as a way to achieve high warp without damaging subspace.

I hope you guys do other Star Trek series

In the Star Trek world of the future, all prejudices are resolved, and different species live together in brotherhood. Except cats. How about some balance? Some people get along very well with cats. Can't we see some of that?

And this is never brought up again.

In canon, objects without active warp propulsion such as the Enterprise-D Saucer Section (Encounter at Farpoint) and Photon Torpedoes (The Motion Picture) can "coast" at warp for a time. I think Certifiably Ingame or Lore Reloaded covered this ... that's a logical "or", not an exclusive "or".

I got some Flemming in my throat

So would Trans Warp would be better for the universe? No way I'm saying otherwise.. Might get canceled.

This episode should be spotless yet no episode is ever the case.

Could the prop department been any cheaper or lazier in sourcing something for Geordi's "precious Ming vase"?

I quit! Spacing cats is where I draw the line!

a warp core exploding causing the rift still doesn't prove it's a cumulative effect.

Made out of coal. He he he. And the whistle during the presentation. Good times. Good review.

I wonder if you didn't understand the point of this episode or you don't want to reveal it... I find this is the vast majority of reviewers. which is it?

Season 7 only has four good episodes, three if you go by the original run. This was not one of them. While this episode wasn't disowned like an infamous Voyager one, the main plot, although referenced in the future, will be predictably swiftly forgotten and cast aside.

You guys are too damn funny

More Slide Transitions!

12:48 It has been hinted many times that Earth has its own weather control system so not really that far fetched in that future.

Ok i want an edit of data for 5 mins and constant transitions

funny how if you hover over the thumbnail, it changes to the thumbnail for booby trap, like a secret review inside another review

I haaaaate this episode

I don’t know what they were thinking. Terrible idea.

05:25 the alien makeup looks horrible

in 10 years the subspace levels will rise because of galactic warping! same BS, different millennium lol.

I enjoy these reviews. I LOVE tNG, but a lot that they did sucked. This is shameless. "We're All Gonna Die.." Extremist Eco-Environmental Scare.Tactics. Beat lart is that within a few years, writers gave up and quit caeing one bit about "Destroying Soace with Warp Travel"

9:30 exactly what humanity is gonna tell themselves with climate change.

They can surf on the holodeck.....