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Star Trek: TNG 309-310 (Patreon)

Published:
2025-12-03 13:00:07
Edited:
2026-01-03 03:51:46
Imported:
2025-12
Tags:

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The Vengeance Factor, The Defector

Files

Comments

Mastervodo

Star Trek Daaaaay! Sssssssss... fuck!

Matt O'Keefe

The Defector is such a good episode. It is one I have been waiting for.

blerbaberpaterb

i mean if this is the rate theyre enjoying the show, making them cram more might burn them out instead. its not like theres any reason to rush to finishing the show.

Mastervodo

Looking at the rest of this season, in 2-episode groups - every week for the next 2 month (with the exception of a weak 2 episodes next week) - all of them are going to be bangers! Season 3 I think is my favorite SEASON. There are episodes that are awesome and high points out there for the rest of the series, but I really, really like the 3rd Season.

adv97

Your doing a disservice to a large chunk of your audience by spending 3 years on 1 show

Cinebinge

Hi Low Post, as previously explained. This show began as extra content to fill an otherwise empty Wednesday slot solely because we wanted to watch it. Before it, Wednesday had no posts at all. So to us, this is the extra little bonus and there for has no reason to go through at a faster pace and there has never been plans for a Wednesday alternative as there is already another day slotted for voted tv shows. So for Wednesday's it's either star Trek or no posts at all.

Michael Bauer

In "The Vengeance Factor", I think we're supposed to interpret the ending as Riker having tried everything feasible to stop her without hurting her. She got closer to her target every time he tried to stun her. He doesn't know how close she'll get if he doesn't definitely stop her the next time - which is why he jumped energy levels on the phaser. But I agree a larger soundstage and better blocking would have helped.

Mastervodo

Simone did try and correct him. But, to be fair, she has lost a bit of credibility with the Paul Walker thing. :)

Solus

A little fun fact: in the game Star Trek Online which takes place 30 years after the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation, any character you create will actually meet Admiral Jarok's daughter Tiaru during and sometimes after the Romulan storyline portion of the game, she is a major character within the game, just thought that would be a fun little tidbit of information.

Opti_Frog

They got a really good guest star in James Sloyan to play Admiral Jerok. It's a really good episode, and much of it is thanks to him. I whish they could have gotten as good actors for the two lead nomadic thugs in The Vengeance Factor, because i don't buy them as ruffians at all. They really feel like actors trying to act tough. 😄 Also, i think a little shoutout to writer Ronald D. Moore is appropriate. This was only his second Star Trek script (The Bonding being the first), and certainly not his last.

blerbaberpaterb

its frankly amazing how quickly people's entitlement turn a free thing they werent going to get in the first place into "gimme now or its a disservice".

Dan

Simone, is Paul Walker in the room with us right now?

Patrick

Never noticed ep 09 was the first Star Trek episode of the 90s.

TomGas2025

Well...the smallest touch would have passed that virus onto him. Just a little touch. And the stuns clearly did not work on her. Maybe that IS because of the alterations made to her body. The risk was too big.

Gryff

17:42 Yes. She is a very *VERY* good actress and makes people feel many strong emotions.

Gabe

Signed up for this for these thanks for keeping on putting them out

Gryff

They've gone through 3 seasons in six months my guy... Not sure if you forgot how to count or you're just being a facetious entitled meatball on purpose. Either way, your comment is dumb and makes you look dumb.

Hammerdash (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-05 05:00 I've never been as interested in the Romulans as TNG clearly wants me to be, but nevertheless I love The Defector. Top tier episode in my book.
2025-12-03 15:31

Data Cable

Particularly the drop on Christmas Eve

Data Cable

Marina Sirtis met her husband, musician Michael Lamper, on the set of "The Vengeance Factor," where he was an extra playing one of the Gatherers. This Monday with be the 6th anniversary of his passing.

GAB

It was indeed Patrick Stewart playing the role of "Michael Williams" from Shakespeare's Henry V, Act 4, Scene I. The role of "John Bates" was played by Simon Templeman, who is married to Rosalind Chao. She plays a recurring role later on Star Trek: The Next Generation and on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Gryff

Dang, that comment was a whirlwind of emotions

Jon

She was definitely close enough to get a lucky touch in if she lunged while someone closed in on her, or even spit...they never said that wasn't an option.

Cartoons ReAct

Yes...it was Patrick Stewart, the voice is easy to differentiate

Duane Klaus

The end of Vengeance Factor. What we don't know what the stun settings were. I assume the second shot was the max stun setting. So the cranking up the phaser was, imo, a warning. Listen to reason or die. So when she lunged, he couldn't reset the phaser. And he did have to make sure she didn't fall into her prey.

Gryff

Thoughts on vaporizing Yuta and denying us any future Parthas ala Yuta! Riker likely started at a stun setting, that barely slowed her down. Like hitting a 110lbs lady with a tazer and she shakes it off. He cranks it up to mid settings. This can cause damage to a ship and blast apart rocks. She also walks that off. Phasers dont have infinite power. At max settings type 2 phasers only have 10 shots. So he was already running out of ammo. I think his options were down to having to wrestle the genetically modified super human (think Khan) that can kill with a touch and just walked off enough phaser fire to stop a shuttle craft, or blast the attempted murderer who isn't showing signs of remorse or stopping.

Mickael Duncan

Adding my own 2 cents on top of everyone else being bothered by George being bothered that Riker killed Yuta. He was downright reckless in not vaporizing her as soon as he saw her within spitting distance of her prey, because that's all it would have taken for her to kill him. I think the only reason that he had the chance to take her out at all was because she was torn due to her feelings for Riker. She almost seemed to want him to stop her, but she wasn't able to stop herself.

Phosphorus

Indeed. We saw her last kill seemingly requiring a touch but Riker doesn't know that. In fact, Beverly even said there are more ways than she could count to transmit the virus so for all he knows she only needed to take one more step and sneeze on Chorgan. I'm more stuck on Riker asking Chorgan to stay instead of backing away.

Opti_Frog

I have no clue about that, i'm Swedish. 😋 I do know that the actor pops up in other Trek shows as well.

Paul McBryde

i'm not sure if anyone has said it already but i can confirm that the actor in the shakespear play at the beginning of the episode was indeed paul walker

Opti_Frog

Cardassians are more interesting than both of them. 😊

Spacedone

The Romulans have the best looking ship in the whole series though.

Spacedone

I wonder which came first? Ronald D. Moore deciding to add some Shakespeare to his script and Patrick Stewart insisting on playing one of the characters or Patrick Stewart suggesting to Ronald D. Moore that there should be some Shakespeare in the script so he could really show off his acting chops? :D

JD Nevesytrof

I know it's content but I don't really know what's to be gained by discussing the episode titles before they're watched, plus some might contain spoilers

Matt O'Keefe

George: "Fucking Romulans."-that's the spirit George

DasBigUn

3 more episodes... :)

Alhazred

Sadly, "The Defector" would be Tomalak's last real episode, possibly because Andreas Katsulas was cast as a regular on Babylon 5 (which the two of you should absolutely watch later) and just had no time for another guest appearance. The Klingon birds-of-prey aren't scaled properly in that last scene and are far too large, since the bird-of-prey was previously established as a scout ship with a crew of roughly twelve; later they'll retcon it in-universe as the Klingons scaling the BoP hull design up to cruiser size (which itself will create another continuity oopsie later on when they use what is explicitly the scout-sized BoP when the cruiser version would have made far more sense.)

Mastervodo

This was damn funny.

Paul T Hewes

Every episode brings us one episode closer to season 3 episode 15...

Life in the cave of Garanoga

My head canon for Riker jumping to the kill option is just that they had to end the episode lol. I feel like it was just one of those scripts that was too long for one episode but not meaty enough for a two part so they just cut some by having Riker kill her instead of fleshing it out more.

James W.

Ep309, Yuta had genetically engineered herself for the sole purpose of getting that revenge. Nothing was going to stop her, as evidenced by Riker having to crank the power up on the phaser multiple times. The option was dead Yuta or let her get her revenge. SO, dead Yuta sadly. Also, she seemed to welcome it in the end, she knew she had lost herself in the vendetta and didn't see a way back. This theme is revisited over and over throughout the series with different scenarios and outcomes. This was one of the tragic ones.

Joe Stacey

Riker, on the bridge of the Enterprise: "Transporter room, lock on to Yuta and transport her directly to the brig."

David N

My favorite thing is that clearly the gatherers raided a space office building for their chairs. Just put some animal skin on it and your done.

Guts

The problem with The Vengeance Factor is that we the audience knows way too early what the characters don't. Also: Give us a reason why she can't be stunned and must be killed. Riker could have easily just kept shooting at a lower setting. It was doing something.

DasBigUn

Gorge...it was ON the stun setting. She was a viral pathogen that would seek nothing but the absolute slaughter of her enemies. I mean, COULD he have risked touching her and transferring the virus over to himself and then becoming the vector, IDK. She WAS trying to assassinate a leader and she had committed at least 100+murders. I mean, it was being stepped up through out. The Stun setting was being turned up and up and up, eventually it was AT the kill setting. Also, that table was probably large enough to become and issue trying to with-hold her. We also DONT KNOW how else the bio-weapon could be used, maybe even aerosolized in a pinch

Jomero

There are a few recurring guest actors in the entire Trek series. Actors who don't necessarily come back and play the same roles they had, but take on a whole new character entirely. James Sloyan, the Romulan Defector, is one of them. You'll see him again in TNG (but, again, as a different character) after this. As well as in DS9 and Voyager.

Joe Stacey (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-05 05:00 Of course that was Patrick Stewart! One, he sounded like Patrick Stewart. Two, he looked like Patrick Stewart. And three, you don't put Shakespeare in Next Gen and not utilise Patrick Stewart.
2025-12-03 19:38

DasBigUn

I...CAN a phaser on kill burn a part of the body and not the whole thing?

Matt O'Keefe

Too bad Vor'cha class Klingon attack cruisers were not in use/created yet for larger Klingon ships instead of what I assume are K'Vort class (the larger version) birds of prey.

Jeff K.

Unrelated to TNG: YouTube is rolling out its year in review stuff, and I don't mean to brag, but Cinebinge was my #2 most viewed YT channel for 2025. (Sorry, but George, as a food guy yourself, I assume you'll forgive me for having a food channel in my #1 spot. But you finished ahead of Good Mythical Morning and Ryan Trahan for me, so there's that!)

blerbaberpaterb

is it still a spoiler if its just on screen within the episode 2 minutes later? its not like theyre reading a whole seasons worth of titles. theyre literally reading a minute before starting. and most of the time its entirely wild guesses since the titles are super vague anyways. you might think its a spoiler because you have context and know what comes next. like if the titles are something like "THE ROMULANS SHOW UP AND KILL WESLEY" then yeah, spoiler title.

Will Sofer

And the makeup is really good. Definitely looks older than he was, at fifteen years old. ;)

Old School Drew

Yuta was portrayed by lisa Wilcox who was in nightmare on elm street part four and five.

Will Sofer

George not recognizing actors, or mistaking actors for one another, is a bit of a running theme. :)

Will Sofer

So, Deanna was at the second interrogation of Admiral Jarrock. She sensed he was intentionally withholding information, which he explained was him not wanting to give away general tactical or technical information, which he viewed as a true betrayal of his people (loudly declaring “irrelevant!” over and over). She’s not utilized after that short scene, though.

Will Sofer

There are few in TNG. This is true. DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise all have semi-regularly recurring guest stars, though. The former and latter especially so (though with DS9, it’s more prevalent in the later seasons).

Tarenor

George, is that Kingdom Come themed T-shirt? :-)

James W.

310 - That was Patrick Stewart playing the part of Williams from Act 4, Scene 1 of Henry V. George made a really interesting observation, there are not many instances in Star Trek to the point they are up that have a defector from Starfleet to another faction. There have been deep cover spies, even in old Trek, but only a few high level betrayals. (Edit because REDR58 pointed out a possible spoiler) We see some in later seasons and subsequent shows but no spoilers.

DasBigUn

soooooooooooo....from what I remember, the only reason WHY his Doppleganger was "hit" like that was because he was a temporal doppleganger and not "real".... You know what, imma stick with that. I know that from here on out, phaser on kill either has someone vaporized OR just fall over completly dead (usually the former)

Pendergasted

I think I remember TNG exactly the same way as Simone. I have no problem remembering the ones that I enjoyed like ones with a quirky sci fi mystery element to solve or one with a fun new character. The episodes about feuding factions, negotiating between two arguing parties, or involving some type of tribunal...I found to be a bore when I was younger and kind of still do, lol. I don't remember a thing about these types of episodes either and would consider myself a huge fan of this show.

Young Blood Priest

I had to look up episode 15 and you’re right it’s a banger. Episodes 13 & 14 are good too.

WhiteHawk

But the obviously Patrick Stewart’s face under the makeup and the obviously Patrick Stewart’s voice putting on an accent is plenty without that link. And I’ve never seen this episode and scene.

Ron

Shakespeare: Basically, there is a tell. If there is any Shakespeare in the episode, Patrick Stewart will very likely have a prominent role in the scene which features it. (Or, in the case of episode 310, 2 roles.) Some actors have musical or dancing talent and get it showcased in the episode. At this point in his career, Patrick Stewart was a already an award-winning Shakespearean actor.

E G

The lowest setting on a phaser is stun, anything above that is into serious damage / lethality. He was forced to go to maximum setting because of her genetic alterations.

Andrew

How could George not recognize Patrick Stewart's voice? When I hear that voice I know who it is instantly.

Drew Acheson

That was 100% Patrick Stuart with the polearm on the holodeck. I used to think there were so many Shakespeare references in TNG because of Patrick Stuart's acting chops, but after watching TOS with you guys I wonder if maybe Roddenberry had a thing for Shakespeare since there seemed to be many references in TOS also.

The Real Andrew Kim

If I was gonna bet who would not recognize Patrick Stewart as the holodeck character I woulda bet Simone would not notice and George would clock it, But I was surprised George didnt recognize him XD

Marcus Hicks

Not many places outside of the US that still use Farenheit for temperature.....and 5 degrees Kelvin would be just plain ridiculous 😆

Opti_Frog

I'm really looking forward to 15 and 16.

Chris Henderson

When can we get a Karate Kid II reaction?

Joseph Schiller

"The Defector" is by far one of my favorite episodes to sacrifice so much for one country, and the bravery to do so

megamoo chilli

The Vengeance episode starts with people who've been stunned by multiple stuns, and they will be alright. Riker could've tackled her. It feels like the writer wrote a high concept dilemma and the director of the episode just slapped it together.

JD Nevesytrof

The title doesn't come up until after the intro, the entire cold open is played without it, and that's clearly what the creators intended when they made the show.

WastedPo

I agree that the ending to The Vengeance Factor simply does not work. I can sort of get what the writer was going for. They wanted a super dramatic, dark ending where Riker had no choice. But the way it was actually shot and blocked, just makes Riker look like a psycho. You kind of have to forget the end of the episode if you want to retain your image of Riker going forward.

John Miller

Everyone keeps talking about Riker, so here's my two cents. Riker was completely justified. He shot her on stun, it didn't work, he increased the power and it still didn't work. It didn't even leave a mark. He was left no choice but to turn it up to full power.

dc

I could be wrong, but when a phaser gets set to kill, I thought the green power-up indicator turns orange or red (for maximum power). It looked to me like he was shooting on maximum stun. I’m STUNNED myself (sorry/not sorry) that they didn’t really address Yuta getting vaporized. Weird ending to an otherwise solid episode.

Joe Concepts

Obviously, other people thought it looked like Paul Walker, and then that belief spreads around the internet. So, you search for it. it comes up like it's true. There are sites like Memory Alpha that are very accurate, but unfortunately it's very spoiler risky.

Angzarr

It's never the Borg. And never, ever a Borg with Lupus.

James W.

I though they had seen it, must be thinking of a different channel. Good looking out.

Dan

And he chose the right side, setting a great example for adolescents like me, who grew up to become proud veterans, serving for the defense (not war) of others.

Dan

I would say he came off like less of a psycho than Picard, who went to Ten Forward with a smile on his face to cheer Riker up lol

John

I thought the gesture with her arms was her preparing to throw herself physically on Chorgan, so that even if Riker succeeded in stunning her into unconsciousness, she would still manage to touch (and kill) him.

Michael Kemmet

I agree with John. She was standing barely a meter from her target and needed just the slightest contact to kill him. I honestly don't understand those that think any other action was possible. In the time it would've taken any other character to get in position to restrain her, Yuta would've easily been able to lunge forward and touch Chorgan. 1. Riker fires using regular stun - doesn't work. 2. Riker fires using max stun(just short of killing) - doesn't work 3. Riker realizes the only way to stop her is max power(disintegration). He communicates to Yuta with a look that the next shot is sure to kill her, giving her a final chance. She lunges to complete her mission, no matter the cost, so Riker has to end her to protect the leader of the Gatherers and the fragile peace that has just been created.

PG Modehouse

Hell yeah, new years day, I would open the fridge, grab a few cans of coca cola, and then pull out the leftover La Zi Ji and Biriyani, throw the two into a giant bowl, take two Aleve for the hangover headache, grab a blanket and pick a corner on the couch to veg out on, and just binge watch Star Trek TNG all day.

Mark Wood

Generally the remaster only changed errors made at the time. When they were creating an updated opening for season three, it was a budget decision not to refilm ILM’s model and star field. Thus it was their knowing choice to cut into a field that didn’t match. Versus something like in Darmok where a written script indicates phaser fire and an employee at the Post Group had the effect come out of the torpedo tube. That error was caught in the final edit. It was deemed not worth the time or cost too create an accurate shot. Almost every episode has fix work that is not accurate. Be that was something they were aware of during the time. Thus a budget choice, not someone just making a mistake.

John Smith

1. He told Chorgan to stay in his chair, when Chorgan could've easily gotten away from Yuta, 2. He didn't try tackling Yuta (even though she wasn't a danger to anyone but Chorgan) or tell anyone else to do so, 3. He didn't beam Yuta back to the Enterprise in the first place (the most logical thing to do) and instead almost caused a major diplomatic incident by beaming himself on board with a phaser drawn (he even shot one of Chorgan's closest friends - he's lucky none of the other Gatherers were in a shooting mood). Riker acted like an idiot in this episode. Not his fault (the writer obviously couldn't think of anyway to dramatically resolve the episode without that scene as is).

Gwydify

Is it just me or does this episode not appear in the TNG Collections?

SnabbKassa

You might recognize Tomalak as the One Armed Man (Sykes) from The Fugitive. He makes a good bad guy.

Ian Cano

It's not just you. These two episodes need to be added to the TNG collection folder.

Paul

Because if Chorgan moved away, it would force Yuta's hand. Tackling her? She was several feet away. Maybe he could reach her in time, maybe not. Simply not worth risking Chorgan and the whole peace treaty's chance. Not beaming her back was indeed a legitimate critique and just a basic plot hole, agreed there.