Home
Creators
Search Recent Random
Posts
Search DMs Popular Hash Lookup Tags Random
Importer
Import FAQ
Register Favorites Keys Review DMs Logout
Community
Telegram ThePornDude
Home Creators Posts Import Register Favorites Logout

Star Trek: TNG 423-424 (Patreon)

Published:
2026-05-20 12:00:15
Imported:
2026-05
Tags:

Content

Go to this site: Cinebingers.ca for the unedited versions of all our content.

👉 https://cinebingers.ca/uvHfDVsRf5 👈 for the full reaction where you do not need your own copy.

👉 https://cinebingers.ca/eQIKpCDbl2 👈for the full reaction where you need your own copy.

If you are on a phone/tablet, hold down the link above and press "open in browser", or go straight to Cinebingers.ca on your browser app.

Files

Comments

Ross E Bailey

Wil was angry that the producers refused to release him (when they could have) to go and do a Franco Zefferelli film, which he thought would have kicked his career up another notch. After that he just fought tooth and nail to be released from his contract. I can understand him wanting to do what would be considered a prestige film…but given subsequent revelations about Zeffirelli’s conduct, perhaps it was for the best after all…

Jeffrey Mitchell

Yep, this is the original Trill design. Next time we see them they'll have the spots.

DanManMtn

They wouldn’t let him do movies and they wouldn’t give him a raise. They did offer to make his character a Lieutenant though. He passed and left.

Captain Kermit

Picard was also best friends with Beverly's deceased husband, and was in command when he died. I'm certain he feels guilty about pursuing Beverly.

DanManMtn

While Jake Lloyd was bullied at school and took heat from fans because of Star Wars, that was not the cause of his mental health and life problems. His mother recently said he was having delusions and hallucinations as early as high school and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. A condition that ran in his father’s family. Very sad.

Fedora The Explorar

Wil Wheaton had very toxic parents who pressured him into acting and they were emotionally abuse to him. He said that the crew was very kind to him but he doesn't look bad on those days fondly due to the family pressue

GAB

I assume the producers of the next show where we see the Trill thought there were enough forehead aliens of the week and decided to save on the cost of prostheses.

Adam Morgan

On top of this, the reason they gave for not allowing him to do the film was that he was integral to the episode that he would miss (302 "The Ensigns of Command"), which he was told was "Wesley-heavy" with important scenes for his whole character arc. Then, when the time came, not only was it not Wesley-heavy but Wesley had been completely written out of the episode. Wil considered this to just be a petty power move on the part of the producer involved, which soured him on the entire show.

Russell Massey

There are a lot of comedies that I loved in the 20th Century but can barely watch at all any more. Frasier has worn really well IMO, and I'm sure George would appeciate it, despite any gap in his cultural knowledge of 90's Seattle radio braodcasting.

Rob Steere

They did a make-up test with this version of the Trill when they were going to introduce that future character, but the producers didn't like the look of the prosthetics on the actress. So they retconned a new look for the Trill, using the makeup design for another species we'll see in a future episode.

Joel

I like seeing Beverly happy even temporarily, but because of the retconning, I'm not really a fan of The Host

John Rose

We need a Simone only chat...lol

GAB

I agree with George that Friends is not funny. However, I find the notionally similar premised Coupling (the original UK series, not the horrendous US remake) hilarious. For me, it's down to the quality of the writing.

Polecat21

A mind meld is not one sided. It is initiated by the Vulcan but is a shared experience.

Robert Cooper

Re: Trill. This was the first appearance of a Trill. They got redesigned for DS9, largely because Terry Ferrell is hot and they wanted something more attractive for the character design.

REDR58

I generally dislike these relatively light prosthetics. Forehead aliens are never appealing to me.

REDR58

Simone and George, if you have no problem analyzing movie posters before watching a new movie (and I don’t think you should have any problems), then I see no difference in reading show titles *which are part of the show.*

Matt O'Keefe

Simone and George needs to look up Bolians and Andorians to remind themselves of the differences so they can talk about them together in a way so they will not confuse each other.

John Rose

I could not watch Friends without cringing when it came out I cannot watch it now I have seen clips of certain jokes that were funny thanks to TikTok and things like that but in general I just can't stand friends You're not alone!

GAB

The other blue aliens - without antennae - are Bolians. The green female dancer in TOS was meant to be an Orion.

Robert Gendron

When they made DS9, they didn't want Terry Ferrell to have to wear the prosthetics from this episode. The used the makeup from another alien woman you will see in a Season 5 TNG episode instead. They also changed how the trill work a bit, so don't let that throw you when you get to DS9.

Matrim

You can basically forget everything you know about the Trill aside from the fact that symbiotes and hosts are a part of their society. when you next see them. They completely revamp essentially everything about them from their looks to their culture to what symbiosis does to the transporters being an issue. The Trill were basically a one-off written for this episode that later writers would adapt.

Scott Orr

Friends I don't mind and Seinfeld always makes me laugh but The Office (US version anyway) is one show I've never really found funny.

Brandon

I think I've seen TNG a dozen times between childhood and now. There's notable exceptions, but I still forget what most of the episodes are about based on the titles alone.

John Rose

I would recommend maybe a top 5 Seinfeld episode watch, I would recommend the episode " The Contest"

SplinterTME

In "The Mind's Eye" the Klingon Governor says "Lies from a taHqeq" which means Bastard. Picard responds with "Qu'vatlh ghuy'cha' baQa' " which is a string of three powerful Klingon expletives used to express extreme frustration or anger. Qu'vatlh: Literally meaning "a hundred tasks," this expletive expresses frustration with an excessive workload or lack of resources. It is often compared to "damn it" or "fuck you" in intensity ghuy'cha': A strong invective similar to "damn it" but significantly more intense, often used when receiving unsettling news or when things go wrong. baQa': A general invective indicating frustration with one's own inability to accomplish a task, or simply a strong exclamation of anger. also Qapla': Means "Success!" and serves as a versatile greeting, farewell, or battle cry to wish someone well.

Cromulentius

I don't think this has anything to do with George's aversion to Friends and Seinfeld, but it reminds me of a moment way back in high school when I asked my Japanese teacher if she watched any American sitcoms and she was like, "Absolutely not. They're all about people who are supposed to be friends or family, but they can't go a single conversation without insulting each other." Ever since she said that, I can't unsee it. It's such an entrenched trope that, even when shows try to move away from it, you can tell it's an uphill struggle for the writers. For instance, in Harley Quinn, once Harley hooked up with Ivy, it felt like the writers started following a self-imposed rule that it would be a functional, mutually supportive relationship, and any disagreements or friction would serve either the plot or character development, not some pithy punchline. But then it became markedly less funny. Maybe it's just me struggling as an audience member to stop expecting that trope.

KnittingHaven

I think recently he has been doing better, getting good treatment for his schizophrenia. I hope he continues to do well.

KnittingHaven

Star Trek does have more stories with interspecies physical/cultural mating differences and clashes, some are better stories than others, some are just mentioned in passing (like a discussion about a male alien crew member needing time off because he is "budding"). I think Babylon 5 has one of the best examples of interspecies different cultural mating assumptions in one episode, but I won't spoil it for you. I hope you watch Babylon 5 sometime, I think you would really enjoy it. Some of the special effects and acting haven't aged well, like TOS, but the story arcs are so good, and are pretty apt to a lot of things we are currently going through culturally and politically.

Monica Alarcon

There's a Star Trek novel that explains why Trill look different from this episode to future appearances (Star Trek Excelsior: Forged in Fire) but I can't go into details because it spoils futures DS9 end Enterprise episodes.

Adam Morgan

The Borg (mostly) encountered the Federation first, so they have focussed on the Federation above the others. There are hints in the early seasons that the Borg have been sampling Romulan outposts as well as Federation outputs (although this was never actually confirmed). Also, from a production point of view, the enemy focusses on the hero-faction because that's the one we are following. You might as well ask why they always seem to attack Earth rather Vulcan, Andoria or Tellar Prime.

Polecat21

Friends is way more popular than Star Trek. Start Trek has a much more limited audience of Sci-Fi fans while Friends appeals to a much wider demographic. I not a big fan of Friends but I don't hate it.....

Ian Tellam

So it was basically something like "fuck you you fucking motherfucking fuck", or some other random string of swears XD

Blackbaldrik

The Mind's Eye: For how Klingons became so advanced, I imagine they view science as its own kind of battlefield, and every major advancement as an honourable victory that strengthens the Empire. They aren't dumb, or unwilling to be open to most things. When they're being obstinate, it's typically because they're feeling directly challenged by someone else, or along very specific religious/cultural lines that don't necessarily hinder technological advancement. They're also extremely driven to achieving dominance over everything they can see. Much as we looked to the sky and desired to fly, it's likely many a Klingon looked up and desired to conquer the heavens.

Joel

Mr. Mott is Bolian

REDR58

George, you haven’t seen the Monty Python series, I assume, and just the movies? Check out the series, if not. Great stuff. Also, Fawlty Towers. I’ve never seen a single episode of Friends. Never had the desire. I used to watch Seinfeld off and on, maybe a few dozen episodes. Not really my thing.

Ian Tellam

Friends was a very zeitgheisty show, and inevitably of its time to a great extent. I think for what it was and what it was trying to achieve it was well written and had a talented cast (and often their other work supports this), but a lot of the humour revolves around the characters, and because there was a such a massive pop culture focus on them at the time, a lot of the jokes almost function more as 'in-jokes' riffing on, by then, well established character traits. With that said, there are some solid jokes in Friends and good comic performances. I feel very much that same way about How I Met Your Mother, which had a big following and was kind of the successor to Friends, but just leaves me absolutely cold. But also in general I don't like to judge other people for what they find funny or don't, as humour is a very personal thing. Some humour doesn't age well, but I don't think that makes it 'bad humour'. In the same way that some jokes don't travel well there's a lot that's based on specific cultural tropes, anxieties or expectations, be that through time or between countries or languages. I don't really know much about That 70s Show, but seeing as it was already a 'period' show, harking back to a previous era, there's perhaps something about it which is less rooted in a particular moment or style of humour. Or maybe it's just a matter of personal preference.

Matt O'Keefe

They seemed confused on the two species today.

John

I love Friends. It's comfort TV for me. I can laugh at Seinfeld, but I also never choose to watch it if it's up to me--I find all of the main characters varying degrees of odious.

Lintrinsic

No, Simone is not imagining it. They retconned the Trill in later appearances in a number of respects including the make-up.

John

The Romulan cloaking device masks all EM radiation, and makes the ship invisible to both active and passive sensors. However, there ARE ways of tracking a cloaked ship...but I won't tell you what they are. Yet.

Gavin Kinsey

I don't know about most of the Klingon, but Qapla means "Success" or "Good fortune" when facing battle or some other sort of challenge.

Lintrinsic

It was more that they didn't like how the actress they picked looked in the prosthetics.

Lintrinsic

The direction on the Host was heavily influenced by McFadden being seven months pregnant. She found out she was expecting after doing most of her own stunt work in the episode Remember Me.

Paul Peavler

Just a general comment in reply to a lot of the discussions and questions George has about Trek - TNG is probably the least horny and least lore-dense of any Trek show going forward. So yes, a lot of questions about relationships and sexuality and what are the Romulans doing and how do the Borg work, etc do eventually get some answers, just usually not in TNG. Part of it is because TNG was the last series that really didn’t end up having long overarching storylines because of its syndication nature; the writers specifically didn’t want the show to be lore dense and rely on viewer knowledge because there was much less guarantee as a syndicated show that viewers would be able to see every episode in order. Another big part of it is that it’s more of a transitional show between eras with a lot of writer turnover, so a lot of the lore it does create ends up getting retconned later. So much about the Trill gets retconned, for example (including their visual appearance), that the episode “The Host” kinda doesn’t even make sense. That’s just kinda how it goes with such a big, long-running franchise. I’d also say that a core ethos of Trek is evolution and self-improvement both as an individual and as a species, so a lot of these ideas about biological essentialism or determinism are just not going to be part of the show. Part of it (especially the biological compatibility side) is addressed here and there, they’ve referred to inter-species procreation “needing help” before, for example. Part of it is a bit of hand-waving because the story and characters are the focus, so exploring culture clash relationships by using aliens as an allegory is more fun if you just pretend biological incompatibilities don’t exist. And part of it is just down to the fact that, in-universe, the Federation are woke gay space communists and their whole thing is rejecting base instinct in search of evolved levels of existence and just as importantly how to balance and manage that, especially in a coexistence with other societies that don’t share that goal. As Picard said, “we’ve grown out of our infancy.” So even if there were biological drivers for differences and clashes in relationships, these are exactly the kind of people that would be interested in transcending them for a deeper connection, or even find those differences interesting and welcome the challenge. “Infinite diversity in infinite combinations.”

Jamie

cheeky

David N

Why couldn't he be the other kind of Trill with the worm part on the outside and the man part on the inside!

Cally

There's absolutely nothing wrong with someone disliking Friends. Life would be boring if we all liked exactly the same things. Also, your personal taste can change over time. For example, I used to adore Back to the Future. I put it on a few weeks ago and I now find it excruciating and I couldn't even get through five minutes of it.

Jomero

As others mentioned, Trill get a bit of a redesign/retcon in the future. It's also much more of a true blending of personalities, rather than a dominant/dormant consciousness.

Guts

Riker was quick to volunteer because Crusher is the only one left on the ship that he has not been able to seduce yet. ;)

Guts

The one older comedy show that still makes me laugh is Scrubs but I totally agree regarding Friends and Seinfeld. Even back in the day I wasn't a fan of either although some Seinfeld episodes were entertaining to me.

Cartoons ReAct

About Friends, is not a laugh out loud sitcom...which many people think it is, but it handles reality with comedy and even makes really dark moments into funny times which is how people found it good and funny. Seinfield is funny due to the situations but the characters were made to be really easy to be hated

SplinterTME

More like “I am fucking fed up with you blaming me for your many fucking errors! Dammit!”

Guts

It's funny that the Klingon doesn't even look at Geordi and just assumes it's him and proceeds to immediately reveal the conspiracy. Could have been Picard standing there. 😅

TalynOne

Regardless if the Klingon Governor realizes the advantages to the Romulans for a Federation / Klingon war, to him it's just as plausible that the Federation is just supplying the rebels for the strategic advantages of the location. Both possibilities are possible and the evidence by in large supports his suspicions while the Federation evidence so far wasn't really that solid. They were Federation designed weapons, there was a transport from the Enterprise, with no true evidence it was unauthorized. It all relies on him believing the Federation, which could just be lying. We as the audience trust the Federation, but not everyone drinks that kool-aid. Yes there's a lot of warriors in the Klingon empire, but not all of them are. Also you underestimate the successes of a race built on conquering. You can easily attain technology through sheer force/annexation just as well or even better than through peaceful methods. You assumptions about Vulkan/Human relations are not fully correct, can't say more without spoilers. Just keep watching.

fforw

It's not just the design that changes. In the later episodes of DS9 we learn that reassociation with former lovers is a strict taboo for Trill.

John Miller

Vagh wasn't an idiot. The simple fact is, most Klingons can't think like that. Everything about Klingons is honor. For the average Klingon, to think about being deceptive is dishonorable. That's why so many are confused by it. And that's also what why Romulan's are able to take advantage of it so often. Because, even when they find a Klingon who is willing to be deceptive, it's still outside their norm. So even the deceptive ones get taken advantage of.

John Miller

The green dancing girl is an Orion.

REDR58

They hid it quite well in this episode.

PoindexterG

In addition to the physical changes to the Trill makeup, they also retcon quite a bit about how Trills work the next time that we see them. It becomes more of a blending of host and symbiont in later appearances.

Simone's Coconut Squire

I’m not an expert but as to Klingon technology, I believe they tend to accumulate technology from other species. E.g. Klingons got cloaking technology from the Romulans.

Simone's Coconut Squire

And I’m sure that creates conflicting feelings in Beverly. Not only was he in command her her his and died, he was the one who delivered the news to her. Probably hard not to think of her late every time she sees Picard.

Simone's Coconut Squire

Comedy, especially sitcom comedy is really subjective. I for example cannot stand Big Bang Theory or Rick and Morty. Wildly popular but basically annoy me.

James W.

Ep 423, I forgot that Bev had trill-sex with Riker's skin suit. That dude just doesn't stop winning, even his on-again-off-again true love cosigned it. On Simone's Trill questions, I believe this is the first Trill. By the time we see them again in DS9, they change how the species works a bit but it is fundamentally the same. The host is the top level consciousness and inherits some parts of their host during their blending. On the Vulcan Mindmeld analogy George was making; I get where he was coming from but the only nuance I would make is that a willing non-Vulcan participant is still changed by the experience. In Ep 323 Sarek mind melds with Picard and he is imprinted with some of Sarek experience and feelings. That is probably not the same experience as 2 Vulcan's melding while having sex, feeling each others whole being but still profoundly intimate.

REDR58

The Host It's a little hard to see the name on its hull, but the Type 7 shuttlecraft that Riker flies Odan on the abortive trip is named "Hawking" for the late physicist Stephen Hawking. I don't particularly like this episode because I feel Riker is being used in a way he doesn't necessarily have a say in. Odan really should have stepped back from the relationship after Riker volunteered to be a host. Just too skeevy for me. There was some criticism about this episode being homophobic because Crusher was no longer interested in Odan after the new host arrived and he became female. I don't think Crusher was being homophobic at all because it is simply not possible to *make* someone continue to feel an attraction for someone in a situation like this. If she was able to look past such a drastic change, then great. But it's a lot to ask for someone to be this flexible if she or he is simply not attracted to people of the same gender. The Mind's Eye George, you noted the Romulan who stayed in the shadows while Taibak (John Fleck) conducted the conditioning of Geordi... Try to remember this shadowy character for later. John Fleck should be familiar to anyone who watched the 1995-1997 legal drama TV series "Murder One" that also starred Daniel Benzali (he played a surgeon in the second season of TNG's "Samaritan Snare" trying to replace Picard's damaged artificial heart), Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci. The series was atypical as it spent the entire first season on a single murder case. It only ran for 2 seasons, but the first season is quite good. I really like the acting here of the late actor Larry Dobkin who played Kell. His was a very naturalistic performance and it is amusing to see a Klingon using a napkin and eating utensils! This episode is the first time a Type 3 phaser rifle is seen on the show. Just like the hand phasers, it lacks a trigger guard! That is a poor design for such a destructive weapon. And it's madness how Geordi and Data set up the phaser and its target on equipment stands (on wheels) that anyone could accidentally walk between or knock over the phaser rifle while its blasting away *in engineering*! All you need is Barclay tripping over his feet and knocking the thing down for it vaporize a crew member or three or take out the warp core. If it were me, I'd set that test rig up in a shuttle bay or some other place with an exterior-opening and operate it remotely. And Data should sure as hell not be standing right next to the target!!!

s0rd3z

Please don't hate but I have never really liked The Office, UK or US versions. I thought I would but there is just something about the vibe I could never get with. I am also in the camp of not liking Friends or Seinfeld. Actually most Larry David stuff really... It's a lot of second hand embarrassment I feel like. And I can create enough of that on my own thank you very much lol

djKENTO

love that the go-to reference for a secret sleeper spy with an activation phrase is now The Winter Soldier and not The Manchurian Candidate which The Winter Solider is riffing on. Comics are so mainstream haha.

gfixler

I don't laugh at Friends either, but I also don't find a ton of massively popular things at all funny, like Scrubs, That 70's Show, The Office, Arrested Development, The Big Bang Theory... I don't talk about it, because people hate you if you don't get these shows. I have watched things, like I watched a lot of Friends back in the day, and laughed then, and I loved Seinfeld, but even watching the latter back again, I rarely laugh. Many of these just feel like comfort food. I like a lot of the people. I love the outtakes, like Simone. I love clips of the funniest bits. I just never want to watch them. Something I was sad I don't get even in the slightest—like I get that all those other shows are funny, and I've had fun with them in the past, but just don't really love the cadence and laugh tracks in sitcoms anymore—is Jeeves and Wooster. It's Stephen Fry's favorite thing (and I love him), and my British friend's favorite thing (and he's my smartest friend, and it's not even close!). I tried to watch the show, starring Fry & Laurie, and it was a full-on snoozefest. I didn't even smile once. The very beginning, with Laurie trying to snap out of his drunken stupor, went on forever, and is pure cringe material. So, I picked up one of the many, many Jeeves and Wooster books, when I saw them at a used book store. I made it 40 pages before closing the book. Not a single laugh, not even a smile. It wasn't even interesting. Here's an example from one of the books, found on the internet: ——— "How's the weather, Jeeves?" "Exceptionally clement, sir." "Anything in the papers?" "Some slight friction threatening in the Balkans, sir. Otherwise, nothing." "I say, Jeeves, a man I met at the club last night told me to put my shirt on Privateer for the two o'clock race this afternoon. How about it?" "I should not advocate it, sir. The stable is not sanguine." That was enough for me. Jeeves knows. How, I couldn't say, but he knows. There was a time when I would laugh lightly, and go ahead, and lose my little all against his advice, but not now. "Talking of shirts," I said, "have those mauve ones I ordered arrived yet?" "Yes, sir. I sent them back." "Sent them back?" "Yes, sir. They would not have become you." Well, I must say I'd thought fairly highly of those shirtings, but I bowed to superior knowledge. Weak? I don't know. Most fellows, no doubt, are all for having their valets confine their activities to creasing trousers and what not without trying to run the home; but it's different with Jeeves. Right from the first day he came to me, I have looked on him as a sort of guide, philosopher, and friend. "Mr. Little rang up on the telephone a few moments ago, sir. I informed him that you were not yet awake." "Did he leave a message?" "No, sir. He mentioned that he had a matter of importance to discuss with you, but confided no details." "Oh, well, I expect I shall be seeing him at the club." "No doubt, sir." ——— It's just that, for the entire book. Every book. Even the show was that. I don't get it. It's just endless, idle chatter. People on the internet—lots of them—comment in forums that it's the funniest thing they've ever read, and they own the entire set of books, and I'm like "What? What's funny?! They're just talking!" It's like those random dot stereograms, except I see those immediately, and everyone is like "What? What dolphin?! They're just dots!" I really wish I understood that one, in particular. I want to like things, and I want Stephen Fry to like me.

Angzarr

50:16 "That's fair enough, it's not just that Odan is female-presenting now". Why is that not enough? Is Crusher not entitled to her sexual orientation?

Marcus Hicks

If you recall the episode "Sarek", the Mind Meld between Sarek and Picard was a two way process, with Sarek's memories and emotions passed onto Picard, and Picard's resilience-and most likely some memories-being passed onto Sarek.

Marcus Hicks

I absolutely love Coupling....another amazing Moffat creation (and semi-autobiographical, from what I read). I think it also helped that it ended after just four seasons-rather than Friends' 10-season slog-fest.

gfixler

My headcanon has it that all the Klingons we see are basically the warrior class. They're not like the Federation, which takes families onboard exploration vessels. All their ships are full of fighters. You're meeting the equivalent of their Navy, sailing around, conquering things. All the weak, brainiacs are at home, looking in the microscopes, and we don't see them. They may be appreciated, or they may be more like a lower class, which gets told what to do by angry council members (design us a weapon that does X!), and we just never see any of them.

gfixler

As my friend would say, when we were watching episodes where Riker gets lucky: "I didn't know Frakes directed this one."

charles markovetz

i watched friends i also watched big bang theory and liked it allot but a friend showed me an episode of each without the laugh track and now i just can't watch it. the shows without the laugh track just hit different for me...... emphasize for me everyone is different. i notice that big bang theory is not very kind to nerds and nerd culture and the characters are really mean to each other. Friends characters are not very smart and their lives are unrealistic to the point where it pulls me out of the show. thanks for listening to my ted talk . love the reactions and thanks for the star trek.

E G

did george get one guy'd by some random complaining about reading titles? just do whatever you guys want. keep it casual.

TalynOne

Can't say more without spoiling future episodes and series, but there is an answer that comes in both later TNG and some in Enterprise.

Joe Stacey

You wonder that stupid people get into positions of power? You've not been paying attention to real-world politics?

DanTurismo

They actually used the Trill tattoo design first on Famke Janssen's character in Perfect Mate. They actually wanted Famke Janssen for Dax in DS9, but she wanted to do movies.

DanTurismo

Not worth paying too close attention to how the Trill work in this episode. They change a bunch of stuff in future. The show does try for consistency, but sometimes it's clear they're just figuring stuff out. Like the whole Guinan vs Q thing George keep mentioning; tbh, I would just forget about that encounter. They were trying something, but who Guinan actually is for the rest of the show, is kind of like that scene never happened.

funky weapon

I think there's a difference between naivety in the Klingon race and the straight dumbassery that Vagh showed, though.

funky weapon

my dream is them doing a TNG-style run on Babylon 5. so there's at least two of us that'd like to see them cover the show some day.

REDR58

When I do rewatches of the series on my owned I skip “The Host” because of the discontinuity. If what happened to Crusher was ever referenced again or that it ended up meaning something of consequence, then that would be one thing. It’s an episode I find ultimately pointless and forgettable in that regard, which is too bad because there are some nice character moments from Crusher and fine acting by McFadden. But, eh.

REDR58

Though… we just saw in “The Drumhead” with “J'Dan” the Klingon exobiologist a few episodes before this. And how vital to the military is an exobiologist? Maybe the Klingons took a lesson from the incident seen in "A Matter of Honor" when Riker was an exchange officer onboard the Klingon Bird of Prey and the space-borne, metal-eating bacteria started holing the hull. Anyway, J’Dan, he’s probably somewhat atypical, but there really must be a decent “science class” of Klingons. At the very least they need engineers to repair ships and naval architects to design new ship classes or modify existing ones. I think there is a good number of non-warrior only Klingons out there. Someone has to be in tech support! This would be so much better if we’d didn’t have silly monoculture planets.

Candy Found on a Barbershop Floor

Regarding cloaking, I just rewatched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home yesterday. When they showed up in the 20th century, Spock said that they would be visible to the tracking devices of the era, which includes radar and other nonvisual tracking methods. They cloaked to prevent it, so it may simulate delayed radio return (as a bounce off a further object) or absorb the waves. Given that, blocking heat imaging would be feasible since technology is as advanced as Star Trek needs it to be.

Darth Fatass

Star Trek Tong? Wait till George gets to Star Trek Discovery. STD and like an STD it should be avoided. 😆

Darth Fatass

I'm surprised George didn't mention anything about the Romulan in shadow. I remember watching the reveal and going wtf.

John Smith

I tried to start watching Discovery just a year ago. I couldn't even get though the first couple scenes, it was sooo bad. I don't know who could like that show.

Runes N Raccoons

Heat is still a form of light, so if cloaking masks visual light, it may also mask infrared light (heat). But I agree with George that Starfleet ships (especially shuttles with only one crewman on board) should have a function to send an automatic message that it ran into an enemy ship.

Robert Mendoza

I don't know if anyone has shared this yet but here is a clip of Levar Burton giving a little behind the scenes tour of the TNG set from an episode of Reading Rainbow. I saw this when I was a kid and it was burned into my brain especially the part about how they make the transporter effects. https://youtu.be/vCWkFtKYxuA?si=Ake87S3Q5faC9osS

Ken

OMG - George not enjoying one of my favorites shows!!!!! I swear I will cancel my membership in 6 or 7 years if you don't change your mind :P hahaha For me, I can't stand The Big Bang Theory, the writing isn't as intellectual as people claim it to be and it makes the jokes fall flat, especially with the laugh line trying to make things seem funnier than they are, so I get it. It is too bad you don't enjoy Friends, but like Simone said, you aren't obligating to like everything.

Steven Linden

The thing about Seinfeld (which I love) is that a lot of the humor relies on how carefully observed and just SLIGHTLY exaggerated the characters are. So I think in that particular case, cultural distance is especially damaging to the comedy. It's not just about not understanding references; it's about not being able to say, "Oh my god, that is JUST like this guy I know!"

Sven Ketelhut

To Simone about the Trill question: Yes, you are right. There is a certain female Trill that wasn't enough eyecandy with the TNG makeup so they changed it. And to both: the Trill itself are different in later Trek so don't give too much about what you learned about them here. There is a lot of Retcon.

Crow T. German Robot

"And Sigma Moon doesn't care what happens to either of them." -Someone on Tate-Station-01

Angela D. Mitchell

I admit it, I am a weak shipper and Beverly and Odan (in or out of Riker) have insane chemistry in this so I'm all in. And Frakes does a lovely job playing both roles here -- he's really convincing as Odan. However. I do think this would be done differently today. The main issue is consent -- did Riker consent to WHATEVER Odan did in his body? If Riker said, "My body is yours for the next _ hours, and whatever you do, respectfully, is fine." Then great. But if he did NOT give explicit consent, then what happens with Beverly is, for me, an undeniable breach of boundaries and a breaking of consent. But I don't think consent was on the radar back then like it is now. I don't have any difficulties personally believing that Beverly could have seen Riker or another host body and still maintained attraction. For me, the voice and manner of speaking were still there, and I loved the little physical things Odan would do that carried through all three actors. And I can absolutely imagine getting past it (with a period of adjustment) with a new and strange body, as long as I found that body basically attractive to me. But then again, I've played so many awesome weird video game romances, almost nothing fazes me on that front -- I've romanced a frog-assassin in Mass Effect 2, a Man-Bull Qunari in Dragon Age: Inquisition, and would have cheerfully married the Beast in Beauty and the Beast since adolescence (pre-transformation!). So sure, I think it's something some humans could get past. Meanwhile, like you guys, I was totally bummed that Beverly didn't give NewOdan a chance! Hell, I would have. She's hot and I loved her husky voice. (I did love that Gates McFadden has a nice moment when NewOdan kissed her wrist and you could see her go, "Uh, maybe...?" for a moment.) But the episode is absolutely a great exploration of what makes us attracted to people, and what are the boundaries to that?