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Star Trek: TNG 415-416 (Patreon)

Published:
2026-04-22 12:00:07
Imported:
2026-04
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Comments

Stephen Morris

Galaxy Child should be called Embarrassment by proxy.

Polecat21

also never heard of peanut butter and cheese. also with the exception of on crackers, I also associated with sweet..

Dioskur (edited)

Comment edits

2026-10-27 21:00 Sorry George, youre a freak for eating that
2026-04-22 12:39

Joel

Peanut butter can go either way to me, in particular, there is a vendor that sells peanut butter and grilled cheese sandwiches during a bicycling event called RAGBRAI

Michael Bauer

First Contact is an under-appreciated favorite for me - love how it portrays some of the intricacies of first contact and uses that for social commentary.

TomGas2025

Regarding the Sandwich...i saw an interview with Jeff Daniels the other day on Stephen Colbert...his favourite Sandwich is similar Bahh: Pitabread, peanutbutter, Either doritor or Ruffled Chips don't remember exactly) And Barbecusauce....he swears its the best sandwich.

Data Cable

Yes, Bebe Neuwirth played Lilith on Frasier, and Cheers before that (of which Frasier was a sequel), which was still in production through TNG's 6th season, and also produced by Paramount. The Orville (which was essentially Seth MacFarlane's take on TNG) had an episode that exactly echoed George's trepidation of bestowing Star Trek technology on a 20th/21st-century era Earth-like culture.

blerbaberpaterb

....so he proved his own point then no...? i mean he is... as far as we know... human....plus the show is full of humans sooo.....

John Rose

Let me make this clear...He did not go back into that hollow deck program. He stated in the episode with Barkley that he once fell in love in the hollow deck. Also don't forget it was hollow Leah that came on to him at the end of that program, and when Leah was replaying the program it left off where it finished therefore showing that it ended when he said it did.

REDR58

George Coe was on "Max Headroom" (1987-1988) and is probably most familiar to younger people as Arthur Woodhouse from Archer with H. Jon Benjamin.

REDR58

Peanut butter for me only goes with jelly, with chocolate or on its own with bread or spread on crackers.

GAB

I was never fond of the Space Dork La Forge writing. There should have been a better way of exploring the negative implications of holodeck technology. It also seems inconceivable that there wouldn't be protocols preventing the use of peoples' images without their permission. Babylon 5 explored it as an issue and it was definitely not tolerated in that SF universe. JMS also hated holodecks as a plot device.

Jamie

They definitely do the sex. Lilith does a glasses push up when she leaves the room.

Hans Czajkowski Jørgensen

OK. Imagine this: A cooking show where chef George shows Simone dishes she never imagined. Simone goes 'Whoaa, dude!' and eats it, then critiques it on a scale from 1 to 5 whoas. Recipe scrolls past with background video of all the cats getting all the scritches. Whaddya say?

Candy Found on a Barbershop Floor

But just the fact that she asked and the next shot wasn't Riker nude with a glass of champagne. That seems out of character.

bullettbot

the La Forge stuff, Iv had second hand embarrassment before but I guess this is third hand embarrassment this time

Robert Cooper

First Contact is one of my favorite episodes. The dialogue is not great, but they got top tier guest cast and they really sell it. I feel like if it had been a two parter and they could have not tried to push so much through exposition, it could have been amazing. Also, Geordie finally deals with his deep fake porn.

Ross E Bailey

Carolyn Seymour is a favorite! She doing a lot of US television at this time. I first saw her back in the 70’s on an episode of Space: 1999. She’s married to British director Peter Medak, who directed Romeo is Bleeding with Gary Oldman and The Changeling with George C. Scott. He also directed the episode of Space: 1999 she was in. Happy to report that they’re both still alive and well!

Ross E Bailey

Been dying for you guys to get to First Contact! What a fantastic script and a terrific guest cast. Kudos Simone for recognizing Bebe Neuwirth right off the bat!

Will Sofer

She also played the aunt in Jumanji, which they both saw. Simone commented on it during the reaction, but didn’t seem to remember during this episode. Would have been a good thing to point out to George, since he hasn’t seen Frasier.

Jamie

I'm not sure George even meant the pun initially! But hey, let's give it to him.

Guts

Simone needs to play Mass Effect! She will love it! Could also make content out of that... 🤔

Pokes

I really wish the "I'm guilty of the crime of trying to be friends with you," would have gone more along the lines of, "I thought I might be dead within the hour, so I let myself indulge in the computer's fantasy more than I should have. And yes, as much as I tried convinced myself that I wasn't; I let that experience shape my expectations of meeting you. It was wrong of me, and it was unfair to you." If Geordi were to have owned up right there, and taken the bulk of the responsibility for creating the situation, I think it improves this episode immensely. It also would have made Leah's "I came with preconceived notions about you too" moment work a lot better, as well. She sees him own up to it, listens to him explain his side of the story, and then realizes she's done a little bit of the same to him. The problem is that in the actual episode, Geordi's reaction is half apology and half accusations. But Leah has EVERY right to be furious in that moment. This is not a case of "we're both in the wrong" and "we equally share the blame." Leah has certainly contributed some, but most of the blame falls on Geordi's shoulders. If the writing in that scene had reflected that a little more in his reaction I think it would have significantly improved the episode. As is, it's still fine. The space creatures are a neat idea, and we get a decent enough ending between Geordi/Leah. But the mishandling of the holodeck confrontation is what really ends up dragging this episode down, in my opinion.

TalynOne

I felt icky even attending a strip club for a friend's bachelor party. Humans aren't a monolith, there'd be plenty that would use the Holodeck for sex but also plenty like you and I that would not. We like to project our current moral zeitgeist but that doesn't even accurately apply to humans of 50+ years ago within the same culture.

fforw

They go into maybe a bit more suprising alien reproduction in one episode of "Enterprise"

Paul Peavler

I just sat down to watch this while stoned and now im gojng to have a peanut butter sandwich. Thank you both so much for the suggestion. Now I must finish rolling to prepare for Galaxy’s Child.

DanTurismo

"Why did they make Geordi like this." - I mean, they wrote this like 35 years ago. At the time the social awkwardness and lack of success with women, was seen as empathetic. There wasn't really the same real-life parallels, like there is now with social media.

Life in the cave of Garanoga

For some really good holodeck action check out The Orville and Bortus lol. Highly recommend you two watch that show sometime down the road. Fantastic Seth Macfarlane creation that parodies star trek but has some pretty deep episodes of it's own. Put it this way, first episode someone ask if they're still allowed to have their drinks on the bridge lol that's the basic tone.

REDR58

Eating peanut butter with celery? Yuck, I never liked that!

REDR58

I don't find it embarrassing but rather an HR nightmare.

Rangerliska

This could only happen to Riker

REDR58

So now you both have enormous drinking vessels (I don’t recall seeing Simone's before)! I thought my 24.5 ounce /751 ml water bottle was big! First Contact Ugh. Forehead aliens with unfortunate hands. I like how the production designers tried so hard to make tools and implements for these people to use with their sucker/flipper hands. It just looks funny. You’ve seen Michael Ensign (Minister Krola, with the glasses) a few times before. He was briefly in Superman as a reporter, in WarGames as the aide to General Berenger, Ghostbusters as the hotel manager, Titanic as “Benjamin Guggenheim” and “Not Another Teen Movie” as a priest. Mirasta Yale, (Carolyn Seymour) exclaims, "It's everything I ever dreamed of." when she sees her homeworld, Malcor III from space. Has she never seen her planet before, or did she just mean "from up here"? Because a society that is on the verge of faster-than-light travel surely has satellites. George Hearn who plays “Dr. Berel” who won’t do any harm would go on to play “Gregor Ivanovich” in the movie Sneakers. He is the cultural attaché of the Russian consulate (and friend of Martin Bishop) who gets murdered in his limo. The matte painting of the capital city has been used several times, as seen here (don’t scroll down past the “First Contact” information to avoid spoilers): https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/reused_planets_angelone.htm Thus far you have seen the artwork used in “Angel One” (as the city of “Angel I”) and in “Samaritan Snare” as “Starbase 515” and it was modified each time since its initial use.

Paul Peavler

Geordi to Guinan: “So I made a chatbot based on the Insta profile of this cool girl I read about and I’m meeting her tomorrow so I know we’ll be good friends.” My brother in Christ you couldn’t waterboard that story out of me. That was so embarrassing to watch.

Flerb

I'm afraid George is alone with peanut butter and cheese... nope. Maybe it's more American that PB is full of sugar.

Geoff Richards

Here in England peanut butter is usually something you find in biscuits (i.e. cookies), or other dessert-ish thing. Although combining it with melty cheese does sound tempting to me.

Doug

I gotta agree with Simone about the peanut butter thing. The types of peanut butter I've always had are very sweet and I would never classify it as a savory taste. For me peanut butter is something you eat on a sandwich with jelly or in desserts like chocolates and cookies. Peanut butter and cheese sounds so off putting to me.

blerbaberpaterb

....i wonder if thats an american thing?.....things being loaded with sugar in the US isnt news so maybe its the same for peanut butter.....

WastedPo

I haven't even watched the Star Trek reactions yet, and I have to chime in on the peanut butter thing. Like Simone, I associate peanut butter with sweet, not savory. This might be because the majority of commercial peanut butters in the U.S. have some kind of sugar or sweetener added to it, so even peanut butter "plain" tastes mildly sweet. Plus, Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches are a ubiquitous staple in school lunches. Edit: I love "First Contact." And yes, Riker totally acquiesced to Lillith's request. The whole thing where he said he'd call her the next time he's in her star system was supposed to be like when a guy has a one-night-stand and leads on the girl by saying he'll call her. Galaxy's Child: I personally don't think Geordie went back to that Holodeck program. I think it only seemed that way because the episode had to explain the premise again to the audience in case they forgot that earlier episode. ... Putting aside Geordi's cringey (and arguably out of character) behavior, I do like that the episode largely was acknowledging how bad it was. The ending might slightly mitigate that thought.

Sobran

Nope. Jif, one of the more popular brands, has a whopping 3 grams of sugar per cup of peanut butter. 2 grams of that is added. Anyone reaching for a healthier peanut butter instead of the cheapest mass produced shit is going to get even less. Sweet peanut butter does exist but it isn't the norm. EDIT: George putting cheese on peanut butter sounds like it should be a criminal offense though.

Guts

The MySpace joke got me 😂

KnittingHaven

LeVar Burton has openly talked about his frustration with how they wrote Geordi's "romantic" episodes like he was incapable of a normal adult relationship, and I'm pretty sure he's also talked about how the writers were all older white men who were apparently uncomfortable writing about a black male character's sexuality. He especially thought the Leah Brahms episodes were very problematic. So, yes, this is part of that time or era in that they still wrote and aired these episodes, but there were definitely a lot of us back then that did not like how they handled this relationship storyline.

Thomas Yanez

This is me posting while taking a cringe break from "Galaxy's Child". Second-hand embarrassment is my kryptonite... "Your hair... is different." *twitch*

Will Sofer

Peanut butter is not full of sugar in the United States. It’s just a misconception. If they add any, it’s a small amount.

Will Sofer

Be sure to add lots of cheese. /s

Honey Hermsen (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-05 05:00 sometimes I don't believe Simone has ever seen Star Trek. She can't remember any episode
2026-04-22 20:56

REDR58

Galaxy’s Child The angle of the opening shot of the Enterprise from (not quite but very nearly) dead on is not seen very often. I think we last saw it in “Encounter at Farpoint,” the series pilot? Perhaps 1 or 2 other times since... Temu Moya, er… the bioship does look like a weird ravioli. I get the spirit of what Picard is saying when he says “we” are out here to explore and not destroy and “look at what we have just done.” But what’s this “we” business when the thing ends up dead? He’s the *one* who ordered the Enterprise over to the alien ship to look at it! Ain’t no “we,” Jean-Luc! That one is on you (and bloodthirsty Worf)! Yes I’m only half-serious. Mostly. When Geordi is getting his quarters ready for his visit from Brahms and asks the computer to dim the lights, the computer asks for the “candlepower”? No. Candlepower/candelas, that’s the brightest measure from a single source. The computer should have asked for “lumens” (overall brightness). https://www.sciencing.com/candlepower-vs-lumens-5385320/ Their work overalls should include kneepads when they’re kneeling on that horribly uncomfortable looking floor plates inside the Jefferies tubes. I’m a little surprised the remastered version we see here didn’t improve the animation of the starbeing giving birth. It’s a little janky. I’d like to know how they get that somewhat high camera angle looking at the suckling alien from directly astern when the ships nacelles are a bit lower than that view is suggesting? Maybe it’s a view from a probe…or an extendable camera pod on a mast? Geordi gaslighted Brahms, particularly on the holodeck when she finds her digital doppelgänger . There is no way around that. Normally this episode is an instant SKIP for me. I could’ve done without the whole Geordi/Leah Brahms' subplot. It’s so dreadfully tedious. But then we would’ve been denied Guinan’s delightful burn when talking to Geordi.

ImpishMisconception

Alright, I have many thoughts to share… I will start with what George brought up about having Star Trek technology brought to humanity now, if it were real. The transporters, replicators, and holodecks, I will just use those three things. Let’s start with the replicator, if replicators were introduced to humanity right now. I have no doubt that George would be right in that, like, only three people would have them. Let’s say, for a moment, though, everyone in the world had a replicator, right now. It would solve world hunger, as no one would be hungry anymore. There would be no more food banks or grocery stores, as they would no longer be needed. So, everyone who works at a food bank or a grocery store would lose their job. I wonder if this would affect restaurants as well. If someone wanted a good five-star meal, they wouldn’t need to go to a restaurant; if they had a replicator, they could just replicate the five-star meal. Why bother trying to make reservations when you could just replicate the meal at home? I just realized this would affect bars and clubs the same way. Why go out to drink and worry about getting home, or other problems, when you can just replicate your drink at home? The only reasons I could think of for people to go to restaurants, bars, and clubs are maybe for a change of atmosphere, to get out of the house for a bit, and to socialize. Are those good enough reasons, though? As in this fantasy, everyone also has holodecks as well. Let’s say that everyone, right now, has their own private holodeck in their home. Someone could use the holodeck and make it whatever atmosphere they wanted, whether a restaurant, bar, club, or whatever. Though I agree with George that most people would be using it for porn. They could also create people that are lifelike, so would people still need to socialize with real people if they had free, unlimited access to the ability to make whatever characters they want and hang out with these characters for as long as they want? These characters can be heard, seen, felt, and even have a scent of perfume, cologne or whatever. So they would be very lifelike. Would there be certain laws, though, about the kind of characters someone could make? I remember in Hollow Pursuits Barclay made characters of Deanna and some of the other crew members. If someone made a character of me without my permission, I would feel very violated and used. Just as Leah Brahms felt, and I am with her on that, when she saw herself in the holodeck. If I were her and found a hologram of myself, I would react exactly as she did. So, would there be laws like not creating celebrities or anyone you know? But how would this be enforced? As for this experiment, I'm imagining everyone has their own private holodeck in their home and people like their privacy. Can't have privacy breached. I'm not sure if it could be enforced in this scenario. I think holodecks could affect travelling, people won't want to go to the Caribbean or on a cruise or anything because they can just go in the holodeck and create it. This might hurt poorer Countries that rely on tourism. I guess humans would just need to take more vitamin D, as they won't be going outside in the sun for it. Unless they want fresh air, but other than that, if anyone wanted to be anywhere, they could just create the place on the holodeck. The only time I think people might want to go somewhere is to visit someone. For visiting and going anywhere, everyone would have a transporter, so no more cars, buses, streetcars or trains or anything like that anymore. Wouldn't need them. That will help the pollution problem for sure. Be easier and quicker to get places. Still, I wonder if this technology would be a good thing. It seems like a good thing on Star Trek, but it's written like that; it's not real life. All those who work in the transportation industries would be out of work. Also, since humans have holodecks in this scenario, my question is, would we actually want to go anywhere? Even if it’s to visit someone, we could create that person in the holodeck and be with them. In this scenario, the hologram version would be as real as the actual person, just the hologram can’t leave the holodeck because they aren’t real. I have read the argument somewhere (I believe Reddit) that someone compared having holograms to fanfiction. There’s a lot of fanfiction out there about fictional characters and real celebrities, real people and no one objects to it. Saying that having a hologram of a celebrity saying they love you is no different than writing in fanfiction the celebrity saying they love someone. For myself, I never personally write any fanfiction about any real celebrities, but I write fanfiction about fictional characters. In my personal point of view, if I write fanfiction about a real person, even if they never see or know of it, it's a violation of that person and their humanity, and it's not okay. That’s just how I see it, though. I’m not trying to tell anyone else how to live their lives. If someone else writes fanfiction about a real celebrity, that’s their thing; they are welcome to do so, there is no law against it, I just don’t feel it’s right personally.

michael denny

I'm convinced the universe operates as a dungeon crawler carl situation; it's really the only thing that makes sense.

Fedora The Explorar

Galaxy's Child might be my least favourite TNG episode. Made Geordi out to be a complete creep who kept harassing a woman who clearly kept telling him no and then she was the one who had to apologise. And we're way past the Season 1 excuse and have done way better episodes and knew better.

John

I think her character from this episode should have been made a recurring character on the Enterprise. She was an accomplished scientist, and could have really contributed.

Carlisle Richards

My brother and I have long joked that "Geordi gets no *ahem*"; he's awkward with the ladies, it's a known thing, and it's not out of character for him to be borderline inappropriate.

John

Dr. Crusher calls Krola a "Marconian" rather than a "Malkorian"... never noticed that before.

s0rd3z

PB & heat definitely goes together (chili crisp or oil is excellent) So the hot Cheetos sell that sandwich for me. A sharp or neutral cheese goes as well..I can see that but I don't think I would like a melted cheese personally. I buy natural PB more often than not which is more savory than sweet in my mind so I usually think of PB as savory but I don't use it all that much. Speaking of weird PB sandwich combos my gram made PB & mustard on white bread. She was from the depression and thought indoor plumbing was a novel new thing so..yeah PB & mustard was fed to me as normal as apple pie as a child lol These episodes are interesting, the second hand embarrassment hits hard in the Geordi episode. Bebe (Lilith/Nora) is a riot in my opinion in First Contact.

John

Just a note: There's no reason to turn off the sound during the intro music if you're not going to talk. 😅

G0d_Ginrai

I have never had peanut butter. That is all.

Marcus Hicks

Not related to either of the episodes but, whilst I do think of Peanut Butter as "savoury", I have never once considered pairing it with cheese-grilled or otherwise. I usually prefer cheese with either chutney or mustard pickle.

REDR58

Hah, good catch! That sort of thing has happened a few times during the series with other names.

James W.

On 416; Geordi is a quintessential "nice guy" by today's standards and is just not great with romantic interests. I don't think we have seen him have a totally normal romantic relationship, they always fall apart. He is an awkward nerd and he also in a leadership role so it is a mine field for him. What I do like is that it is sort of an acknowledged weakness of his and is part of his character developement. Definitely "Of it's time" though as George called out, sort of how problematic Rachel and Dekkard's relationship can be perceived in Bladerunner. I think it is important for context that Geordi thought the holodeck Dr. Brahms had an accurately modeled personality, so while he was overly familiar in a very parasocial way when he meets the real her, what he knew of her was a more open, playful, and collaborative person. He wasn't trying to be a creep but he handled it in almost the worst way possible. It has been the joke for decades at this point that all of the horny holodeck shenanigans are HR problems at best. Folks like Geordi and Barkley aren't fucking their holodeck creations. In this way it is very much a utopic sci-fi take because I am sure people are already using deepfake/AI in VR to do horrendous shit irl. I still just assume Picard and Riker menaged with Minuete from ep 115, they were way too into her. My only call out would be that I would preferred that Leah was less blase about it in the end, not that she needs to make him feel like a creep but the laughing about it was a bit much. Too soon to be making it a joke.

Steven Linden

I 100% think of peanut butter as something in sweet foods and desserts. Never heard of peanut butter and grilled cheese before!

SnabbKassa

Apart from Mirasta Yale's far-too-quick willingness to be beamed up minutes after meeting some aliens, this episode runs through some of the reactions humans would have to this event. From "no way, José. I must sabotage this radical change" to "at last, some people to make us civilized" to "at last I can indulge my alien kink"

dasgrove

At its best”Galaxy’s Baby” is an attempt to hold Gordie accountable for his bullshit but still keep him a likable character in the end. It heavily misses the mark. Add in Star Trek’s love for a swift resolution makes it worse. Very much a byproduct of the times and the fast pace of series tv writing.

Old School Drew

I sat down to watch and was having peanut butter on rye toast, my wife thinks it's weird.

DDK

Literally paused in shock at the mention of the peanut butter and cheese lmao. I eat a lot of peanut butter, and dont think i could ever do it with cheese. Maybe it’s a texture thing too? Peanut butter and bananas is soo good though.

Drew Acheson

I hate 416 and I've been dreading this episode. Geordi is my favorite character in this show but every time they write him with potential love interests they always do him dirty and make him come off really creepy.

gfixler

I hope that scientist was able to adjust. They probably don't have her favorite foods, and whatever coffee is to them. Maybe they can replicate it. She's used to a 29-hour day, though. It's going to be a real adjustment. Strangely, I actually lived for a time on a 28-hour day, I think for around a year. I was just never tired after 16 hours, so I would stay up a full 20, and still sleep 8, so my schedule just moved throughout the week. Some days I was up bright and early, before sunrise. Other times I was waking up in time for dinner. I loved it. I was freelancing, so I could work whatever hours I wanted. That was a long time ago.

The Real Andrew Kim

MySpace was good but Spacebook was sitting right there :P

Eversharpe

Gram sounds like a hoot. Mine fed me cheese and onion sandwiches or cold roast pork with raw leaves of cabbage.

Simon Pegged Me

I had a roommate in college who made peanut butter, cheese, and iceberg lettuce sandwiches for lunch every day.

Jamie

Have ever buttered a peanut?

Eversharpe

You've already talked about peanut butter and cheese, can it really get any worse?!

gfixler

George: it's definitely storytelling of the time...

Marcus Hicks

Hang on. Is George trying to imply that Roswell was fake?!?! ;)

G Lam

One man's creepy is another man's lonely. I think "creepy" is a bit too much... it's one person more emotionally invested (and superficially.. via the holodeck, rewarded). Not great, but a set emotion is set, and needs a knock to be readjusted. I might not have explained that as well as I could.

G Lam

I think you are being a little hard on Geordie here. He's... lonely (I'm gently using that over "desperate")... He's had no romantic success. The original simulation wasn't set out to be a fantasy, it was work-oriented, and became social/casual. He developed feelings (not really his fault), and the computer basically rewarded him for it. He's starting out with personal knowledge he shouldn't really have, and covering up the reason for it. Yes, that's bad. He's anticipating her to behaviour to be reciprocal (a bit deluded). I think this is just Geordie moving forward from a point that they (He and Leah) aren't mutually at. He's immediately more emotionally invested... yeah, it's not great, but imagine you went out on a couple of dates with a person, it went really well, you clicked you felt really good about the dates, and it was reciprocated, and then she got amnesia and can't remember them. He tried to tread lightly, but his feelings are already high (let's ignore the fact he's basically deep-dived her LinkedIn profile from the first simulation)... He's naturally biased to wanting to continue from his previous emotional encounter. Yes, her setting boundaries at dinner was absolutely justified, and he should re-adjust his approach, which he actually did! He backed off (hurt)... of course the "what could be" is still in his memory and emotions. Should he have said straight out "I'm already familiar with you a bit because I ran a Utopia Planetia troubleshooting scenario and the computer simulated you as the draft designer to collaborate to solve an engineering problem".... maybe... but when do you slip the nugget in in conversation exactly? Admittedly not a great episode. Honestly, most Geordie one's aren't which is a shame. And George... you really disappointed me in this video.... Peanut butter and cheese?!? You monster! And even I'm more annoyed that I can't verify this because I don't have peanut butter right now.

Simon Pegged Me

“There’s no resource on this planet that is useful to [aliens traveling to Earth]” – George My rectum enters the chat. At some point, all alien cultures will reach the limit of what rectal probing can teach them, but until they hit that Kang and Kodos benchmark, they'll continue to come here to unlock the mysteries of our bowels. If that is not a resource worth exploiting, then they probed me for nothing. I felt sorry for Mirasta Yale. They took her to 10 Forward, a bar, and didn't offer her a drink. Chancellor Durkin comes on board, and he gets the '86 vintage of the Bourgogne Robert gave him. As shocked as I was to see him waste it, I was glad in equal measure to see that Jean-Luc gives a healthy pour. I should have expected no less. For other takes on first contact, George and Simone, you should consider watching The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Note to Geordie, clear your Holodeck history. I can't believe the chief engineer doesn't know this. Leaving the program out there for anyone to find was an ensign move. And they definitely let Geordi off the hook with that ending. "I'm guilty of the crime of trying to be friends with you" was such bullshit. He's guilty of everything she accused him of, and he used that line to make himself the victim (and gaslight Dr. Brahms). It was cringeworthy. Friends?! He wasn't running from Engineering to the holodeck like a man who was afraid a woman might discover he wanted to be friends; he was running to the holodeck like a man who left his porn out. It was disappointing that the show didn't make him face real consequences for his actions. In the Malibu Stacey episode of the Simpson, Smithers boots up his computer and is greeted by a naked Mr. Burns saying, “Hello, Smithers, you're really good at turning me on.” He turns to Lisa who's there with him and says, “You should probably ignore that.” I felt like the writers were doing that to us in this episode. I wish the writers liked Geordi as much as I do.

s0rd3z

A sweet onion sandwich after a long day of fiddleheadin' ... I'm down.

s0rd3z

Ants on a Log "celery, PB & raisins" was never a snack I enjoyed either as a kid. It's funny the hot Cheetos is the part of that combo that actually makes it work for me. A spicy peanut sauce is a common go to for me on chicken or with some noodles. I used to eat white bread, humpty dumpty BBQ chips & BBQ sauce on the regular. As well as Cheetos or cheese puffs on white bread with BBQ sauce. My grandad used to put plain ruffles on a BLT for some added crunch too. Chips on a sandwich is pretty common in my family it seems as I can think of a few more different combos.

Lintrinsic

Geordi - The dude even left the program cued up for the creepiest part then had the gall to gaslight Leah into apologising to him Even Barclay didn't assume the real women would behave the same as his holographic playmates and get pissed off with them about it. Both were in the wrong but Geordi takes it to another level IMO.

Lintrinsic

No. It's extremely creepy.

Max

I found George's commentary on the first episode a little heavy. My suggestion: if you're about to enter into another bout of misanthropic self-flagellation, remember that spontaneous cooperation is a key trait of humankind. Humans' worst behavior is often more memorable than their quiet success in cooperating, adapting, and solving problems. I think that skews a lot of people's perceptions. Humans can be very decent. I don't accept the idea that worst-case behavior is the default endpoint.

Andrew

I would like to see a super cut of Simone saying she doesn’t remember the episode when we get done with the series. It would be long I bet.

Andrew

I don’t think George is cutout to watch TV shows from the 90’s. 😂

Joe Stacey

No mention of Dr. Chakwas?

The Real Andrew Kim

I know a lot of people hate on the Geordi plot in Galaxy's Child, and I am in no way excusing Geordi's behavior, but I just want to say I understand what they were going for but they just did not execute it well IMO. George and Simone touched on it at the end, but this pretty much is one of the first stories I know of that tackled the idea of "Parasocial Relationships" decades before that term was even invented. Simone said she does not have any experience with getting to know holodeck characters, but think about how many TV shows or movies you watch with your favorite actor or watched endless hours of concert footage of your favorite band and you think you love that person, but in reality you don't know what they are really like. There are so many examples of people getting attached to fantasized version of a person and think they know what the real person and end when they finally meet them in real life, they get angry that they are not what they expected, especially in today's live streaming social media influencer world. I think the lesson of trying to not make preconception about people from their work or media portrayals might be a subconscious reaction to the craziness of the Hollywood paparazzi lifestyle which was part of pop culture at the time. So I do like this episode, it was just made in a more naive era pre #MeToo and i try to keep that context in mind. Plus I do like the sci-fi plot as well of weening the space baby :P

The Real Andrew Kim

Also, I know everyone just goes straight to holodeck porn whenever these topics come up, but maybe I am just idealistic, but I just imagined in the star trek future people have evolved and matured enough to respect people as people and not just go straight for the smut...but I know humans will human, probably just proves the point what First Contact was trying to say, we are not yet ready.

gfixler

They need to add a holodeck module to everyone's bi-yearly harassment compliance training. You ask for expert-level help from the holodeck. It creates a hologram version of a living expert in the field. What is your next course of action? A) Work with the expert, but try not to be a weirdo about it. B) Become involved with the hologram, romantically, to build rapport; it's not real, and can't hurt anyone, especially if no one finds out. C) Tell the computer to remove the hologram at once, and find another means of solving your issue that isn't creepy as hell. D) Write to the expert, and ask if it's okay to use their likeness in holographic, touchable, caressable form, to solve your problem.

PJ P

In regards to Geordie's behaviour I kind of always assumed that his parasocial relationship took root before he gained that confidence from the traveller. So in a way he momentarily regressed when mentally accessing those feelings.

Ben Schwartz

George... when are you going to start your own channel?

John Smith

That reminds me of a Babylon 5 episode.

Robert Mendoza

If Geordi was a real person I think the moment he left the Captains Ready Room after being notified of the impending Leah Brams visit he would have gone straight to the holodeck and deleted that program. After she arrives onboard the episode causes me to cringe deep in my soul repeatedly. It hurts to watch. Guinan being real with Geordi is easily the best part of the episode.

Angzarr

"Do the sex" is a wonderfully awkward phrasing that I'm stealing it for my terrible novel.

Angzarr

I'm surprised Simone didn't remember First Contact. It's one of the more memorable ones to me, especially the part with Bebe Neuwirth's character. Who, it seems to me, is probably really sad she didn't get to go with Mirasta, but for very different reasons. I'm also kind of surprised I've never heard of anyone named Mirasta, which seems like quite a lovely name. How are there Katnisses, Kylos, Neos, and at least one Kal-El, but no Mirasta? And it's even from a character with admirable qualities. Re: the "HR disaster" of Galaxy's Child, this reminds me of a point someone once made about how Star Fleet in TOS was a startup, but by TNG has gone corporate. And when you think of just how many scenes in TNG are set in conference rooms... And I am 100% Team Simone on the peanut butter question. You know what is a good sandwich? Cream cheese and sliced pimento olives on toasted wheat bread. Optionally with sweet onion. Mmm. Then again, I also think pepperoni and pineapple pizza is delicious.

Lindorandir

I've always loved First Contact. I think because we are the aliens visiting other planets, a delightful prospect. I also like how it starts from their point of view, not ours.

Daniel Lanctot

George is right, Simon: Peanut Butter and Cheese is a DIVINELY DELICIOUS combo! I’ve been having it since I was a kid in the 80’s, when I started putting Velvetta Cheese on my peanut butter toasts; but either Kraft Singles slices or Cheese Whizz is equally good! (Basically any processed orange cheese works fantastic!). Still to this day, I often order 4 slices of cheese+3 peanut butter cups with an order of toasts on weekends at Tim Hortons and make a PB&C sandwich for breakfast…. And for the record: Peanut Butter goes with EVERYTHING! Pasta, burgers, desserts, yogurt, salads, etc. I still haven’t tried anything with it that I didn’t like; no matter how strange it seemed as a concept before trying it 👍👍

gfixler

We're now halfway through. Episode 415 was the 89th episode, and there are 89 more after it, so we've crossed the midpoint of our journey.

funky weapon

every time someone brings up lecherous deeds on the holodeck I picture that person getting swatted with a newspaper by Gene Roddenberry. it's the exact kind of thinking - specifically of his utopian future - he'd be annoyed with. But for real, I really don't think the writers or even Roddenberry himself think that the holodeck would be used in that manner. It certainly wasn't on the mind of the majority of viewers at the time. these are supposed to be idealized versions of us. the version of us that pushed through the worst of our nature and came out the other side better, more enlightened people. the people of Starfleet and the 24th century in general are as alien to us in terms of behavior and temperament as any other species would be.

Elvenwitch

Every part of my being wants to chase you around while yelling, "THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELLS YOU." And I am pagan as can be. The entire idea makes my brain hurt.

REDR58

On Deep Space 9 there is an episode that uses the Holodeck in such fun way that doesn’t involve weirdness or the safeties somehow failing. Can’t wait until we get there.

REDR58

The thing is, we *did* get an episode where a woman did express interest in Geordi. Christy Henshaw (Julie Warner) went on an unfortunate holodeck date with him in the 3rd season episode “Booby Trap” where she said she didn’t have feelings for him, but then later on in the 3rd season in “Transfigurations”, she apparently changed her mind because by the end of the episode she *was* interested in him…. But then she was never seen again. I think there was a wasted opportunity there: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Christy_Henshaw (no spoilers)

Daniel Lanctot

😂😂😂 “Free your mind!” (Give it a try!)

Joshua Bloom

If Simone or George hasn't checked out Disco Star Trek: The Prime Directive Is To Dance, they need to see it like now!

Joshua Bloom

Sounds like you were raised in a religeous house, or knew people who were. I can personally attest that most people today do not see sex as bad anymore. The younger generation today had hippy grandparents, sexuality liberated parents and have a deep respect for things considering sex and gender! Also, this is, of course, somewhat over generalized. I am not an expert on what the younger generation thinks about, I myself am just about to reach 40, but the interactions that I've had with younger generations gives me hope. Children seem happy and curious, it's the adults that push what they were taught, but again, my experience shows that they're are more respectful too!

Dan

As awkward as Geordi is around women, I think there is value in exploring stories where "professional" turns "creepy". It maybe did the character dirty, but Geordi probably represents a large portion of the Trekkie fanbase... and they could use some lessons on interacting with women. What Geordi did in terms of technical accomplishment was admirable, but either through his actions or a combination of his and the computer's, he crossed some lines that he was right to be called out for. The real disservice here is that the show had her apologizing to him. He had a right to explain he didn't go into porn territory and had only romantic interests, but he lied when he said he was only offering "friendship" when he was clearly trying to date her without getting her permission to go on a date.

Angela D. Mitchell

Oh, my God, this episode had everything! I somehow missed this one the first time around, and just loved it. The premise is so smart, and so well carried out. It was great to see George Hearn (a fabulous Sweeney Todd in the original Broadway proshot with Angela Lansbury). AND THEN LILITH! Seeing Bebe Neuwirth (also a fantastic Broadway veteran in addition to "Cheers" and "Frasier" and tons of great movie) as a horny hospitalist made my entire millennium. The scene was a little problematic by today's standards (flip the genders and it's a LOT more icky), but the fact that we just saw Riker walk out and basically go, "I'll call you" made it okay for me. It's a bittersweet episode too, because... the episode is right. They are us, and we are nowhere near ready for first contact. I wish we were, but human beings are violent, crude, idiots. We probably need another millennia... if we make it that far. And hell, yeah, George, me too! I'd be all TAKE ME WITH YOU also. So glad Picard let her join the ship.