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Star Trek: The Next Generation 1x26 "The Neutral Zone" - Full Watch-along (Patreon)

Published:
2026-01-27 19:00:07
Imported:
2026-10

Content

Follow along with me using your own copy of the episode!

Files

Star Trek: The Next Generation 1x26 "The Neutral Zone" - Full Watch-along

Comments

Preaching to the Horse's Mouth

Pairing Data with the silliest, most "human" characters will never not be funny to me😆 Shout out to our guest actors in this one, I enjoyed each of their characters.

Summer

Most wanted more Romulans in this one, I wanted more with the contemporary frozen people. So as promised, here are five episodes of the first season I think are worth watching in a binge, and five more important ones everyone probably should see three to five times, all should be seen at least once: 11001001, Arsenal of Fredom, Where no one has gone before, the big goodbye, Haven, skin of evil but after one knows it well it can be skipped, encounter at farpoint same, Conspiracy, Coming of Age, and Heart of Glory, however revisiting the neutral zone and the battle once every four binge cycles is worth it the same with the last outpost and lonely among us, I of course also like When the Bough breaks but most don’t, gives you a well rounded feel of season one to hurry to season 2 with.

Summer

I would love to wake up in the Star Trek universe 300 years from now the musical guy probably was remembering all the treaties and DMZ of our time. A note, if earth went through a war 2030-2053 that nearly destroyed them any descendants of hers must mean one of her great grandchildren lived to have children, she essentially would be the ancestor of most of the humans of 2364. The writer’s strike was beginning and there were other behind the scenes things. Picard was better. Season two on Friday!

William Terry

TV bankrupt by 2040 sounds pretty accurate, like with the death of the cinema industry. Star Trek TNG would be vastly different today. Favorite episode: "Justice" with the Vaal-like ruler of paradise.

reply

"WHO are back? Never watched Kirk's Enterprise, never heard of ya! " -kid me hahaha

Greg

Someone mentioned the Writers Strike already, and I've also commented on it before really affecting episodes of TNG toward the end of Season 1. To answer your question, Bunny, there WAS a two part episode planned to end the season, along with introducing a new major plot point. The strike scuttled those plans though, although elements were left in, and that plot point had to wait for season two. The director commented after that he felt this would have much better if it was not for the strike. Roddenberry stated among other rules for TNG when it started "No stories about warfare with Klingons and Romulans and no stories with Vulcans. We are determined not to copy ourselves and believe there must be other interesting aliens in a galaxy filled with billions of stars and planets." The failure of the Ferengi as a major foe to the Federation though resulted in the Romulans being 'dusted off' and brought back from the dead, so to say, although they had been mentioned in previous episodes. The people saved from cyro is a interesting plot point, and it makes for a good 'B' story to go along with the Romulans as the 'A' story. However, I think the idea of finding and saving people from late 20th century Earth was a strong one and I wish an entire episode had been built around that. Good mix of characters, though, with some veteran actors as well. The Romulan Captain was played by Marc Alaimo, who has already been in one Star Trek TNG episode and I think he's great. Nice dig at the Braves here, who when this episode was written in 1988 WERE a terrible baseball team, although they were have some golden seasons in the years to come. Both the Braves and Falcons were SO bad during this time that a popular bumper sticker in Atlanta was "Go Braves! And take the Falcons with you!" I guess that when something major happens on the viewscreen Starfleet officers are allowed to forget about Captain's orders about taking someone off the bridge, huh? LOL Note also Bunny that Worf talked a bit more about what happened to him and his family at Khitomer here. About how the Klingons and Romulans were allied but the Romulans sneak attacked them. That's how the alliance between the two that they enjoyed for a while during TOS came to a end, and both Worf and the Romulans make it clear that they STILL really detest each other. The relations and the politics of the three strongest races in the galaxy are going to continue to be huge plot points for the seasons to come. All in all, I agree with you Bunny. Re-watching season one for the first time in many years, I believe this season is better then what I gave it credit for. Yes, there were some really average episodes, but it's easy for us fans to look at the bar set by LATER seasons which were SO amazing that this one just doesn't feel as good in hindsight. And yes, while it may not AS good, there's still a lot of good episodes here.

Super Sunny Sunblade

He's right about ONE thing: She IS the prettiest doctor I've ever seen! 😻

Desmond

Little early this week...guess I know what I'll be watching this evening. :)

Soma

Barry

Woohoo a Tuesday video.

뱀파이안젤

Maybe for once in his life, HillBilly guy made best investment of his life at the end... which became only his beginning!? 🤠

Desmond

I feel like this episode has a lot in common with the rest of season 1, ie. interesting concept, somewhat poorly executed. They lay on the "we're evolved humans now, we don't lack anything or possess any negative emotions" stuff pretty thick. Roddenberry was pretty keen on that when TNG started. Definitely one of the objectives of this episode was to compare and contrast the Enterprise crew with the "less evolved" 20th century people. I'm glad you got through season 1, and enjoyed it, Bunny. I understand why you tire of the negativity and nitpicking. After all, you're experiencing these episodes for the first time. And there's a lot to like even in these early days of the show. Some things will change, but much of what is established early on will continue throughout. Better stuff ahead for sure, and I'm excited for you that you get to experience it all for the first time. Can't wait to see your reactions to season 2 and beyond.

Desmond

Yeah, definitely keep an eye on Marc Alaimo...

Matthew Graves (Graviton)

If you keep having issues like that with your TV, you might try looking at changing the frequency on your remote. Most newer TVs will let you. I had a similar thing that was happening on and off and it fixed it for me. This was a pretty good episode. It does feel a bit "sparse", so to speak. For those who were familiar with TOS, the Romulan plot was the big deal, but it comes down to little more than a cameo at the end. The plot with the cryo people feels like B plot material but takes up most of the run time. It's not bad, per se, but it does kind of make for an awkward structure and a less than fulfilling episode IMO. Regarding the "season finale" aspect: you have to keep in mind the evolution of TV storytelling. Dramatic TV can (generally speaking) be structured in two ways, episodic or serialized. Serialized is by far the dominant format today in most genres other than sitcoms, but at the time TNG started it was just the opposite. There would be some repeated elements, but there wasn't a lot in the way of long term story arcs (again, in general, there were exceptions). One of things that is fascinating about TNG (and especially later, DS9) is that watching it through you will literally be seeing the slow evolution of serialization gaining more and more of a presence. Trek, being a long running franchise, its actually a perfect way to see how that slowly became the standard in what audiences expect. The final episode of a season wasn't as big a deal at the time of S1 of TNG. Oh, one might expect something extra exciting, but there wasn't nearly the expectation that one might have these days. I do have fondness for season one and two. I think a lot of the crap people sling at it has more to do with just how phenomenally good some of the later seasons got, rather than the early seasons actually being "bad TV" . As has already been mentioned, the effect of the writers guild strike was real, (and in my opinion, is felt heaviest in early season 2) but there still plently to love here. I wont spoil anything or set any specific expectations, I do thing it's fair to say that S2 still has some growing pains, but it also has some very, very high highs, so to speak. S1 has been a joy to watch with you Bunny (and all fellow followers), looking forward to S2! Oh, and the design for the Romulan ship (formally called the D'deridex-class Warbird) is freakin' cool! Teenage me was definitely geeking out at the time

Mark Simon

These last two episodes are so loaded with portents and bits to tease the viewer for future seasons. However, what's often forgotten, and what I, at 12 years old at the time, didn't realize, was the writer's strike that hampered the end of the season and beginning of the second as well as the cancellation ax that loomed over it all. The cast and crew were all expecting the ax to fall, yet the call never came. It's also worth noting that both of these last two episodes were made over Gene Roddenberry's attempt to veto the ideas before the teleplays were even written. Behind the scenes, Roddenberry was being gradually edged out in influence, this is also likely why Wesley (Gene's prized character creation) is not included in either episode as writers often didn't know what to do with him if he wasn't saving the ship at the end. I knew none of this until years later, as I was loving this episode in particular. It always felt so layered with the 20th Century survivors being gradually integrated into the over-arching story of the Romulans' re-emergence. I recall taping and re-watching this episode quite a few times in anticipation of what the second season could have in store. Other comments have noted Marc Alaimo's appearance here as the Romulan Commander Tebok, and suffice to say that he's going to turn up many more times in Trek. I wanted to also make note of the late Anthony James playing Thei, the other Romulan in this episode. James was a recurring actor in TV and movies all through the 70's and 80's, but this is his only turn in the Trek franchise, which is a shame. He would retire a few years after this, shortly after appearing as Skinny, the sleazy barkeep/pimp in Clint Eastwood's 1992 film 'Unforgiven.' That's a film I want to suggest for a Bunny movie night at some point. In the meantime, it's been such a joy to re-discover these first season episodes and remember what a fun time I had with them when they originally popped up on my TV, almost forty years ago. The reputation these early episodes have garnered over time really is undeserved. Yes the later seasons are amazing, but the ground that is being laid here is so under-appreciated. Loving your reactions here Bunny!

Greg

It took the writers a while to figure out what to actually DO with Troi and how to best let the ship's counselor be, well, a counselor. Here she dons both hats -- helping someone with a crises, and also preparing an personality and intelligence profile on the Romulans for the Captain.

Greg

I bought one of the Playmate models of the Romulan Warbird (along with the Enterprise and a Klingon Bird of Prey) at a store when the show was on. Sadly they got misplaced somewhere.

Greg

Looking back, it's clear that Roddenberry was indeed starting to become less involved in Season 2. He was still involved a lot, but not as much as Season 1. It was in Season 3 that his advanced age and poor health finally forced him to totally step back and hand the reigns over to Piller and Burman, who would run things for a long time to come. Is it a good thing Roddenberry was less involved? You could argue either way, I guess it depends on what you want from your Star Trek.

John DiGiantomasso

Season 1 of TOS was pretty inconsistent as well, compared to Season 2 which was mostly amazing. Then the TOS budget was slashed and quality got spotty again. Then it was over. TNG had a similar rough start. Season 2 is markedly better. And I think it gets better and better every season after that. And you've got six more better and better seasons to enjoy! Good job on season 1 - great to see these again through your eyes!

Mark Simon

A lot of negativity flowed from behind the scenes, mainly after Roddenberry passed away. We'll never know how TNG would have turned out if he'd been able to maintain his tight control over it; but it's probably fair to say that the show wouldn't have lasted nearly as long as it did and wouldn't have generated the multiple spin-offs that would follow. His health failures around this time likely helped others to press him out; there have been many differing accounts over the decades. Watching these first season episodes you can see the tug-of-war going on if you're paying attention.

bunnytails

Yeah, I enjoyed Data and that guy too! :D

bunnytails

Ohhh, okay! It makes sense then that it was planned to be a two part finale!

Mark Gosine

Good episode, but a bit of a fizzle, or anti-climax, at the end. The 20th century folks were entertaining. You can hardly blame the rich guy for thinking he was on a cruise ship; it had the strongest 1980’s cruise ship like décor. Very fun episode. I don’t think there are any bad episodes in Season 1. Prime Line Star Trek is like sex. Even when it is not so good, it’s worth every minute. As others have already said, the following seasons, being so, so good, make it seem less in comparison. All I know is I was so psyched on the return of Trek to TV and was not disappointed. The change to a new crew was jarring. I only have one or two episode in the entire TNG series that I may skip on a re-watch, but I appreciate them more and more on every viewing. The following are my top 6 of S1. 6 Justice 5 Home Soil 4 Where No One Has Gone Before 3 Heart of Glory 2 11001001 1 The Big Good-Bye (the new holodeck concept mixed with hard-boiled noir! Ala Raymond Chandler) "It was dark outside in the void of space. As black as the blackest pitch. The stars streaked by as I was passing through an ion storm when the Orion slave girl beamed into my office....."

Comrade Wireless Caller

I didn't dislike this episode, but overall, I think it could have been a bit stronger. It obviously has some shades of Space Seed in it with all the frozen humans aboard an ancient spaceship. You have a guy who is obviously a megalomaniac who can't let go of the fact that he's out of time so he tries to run the Enterprise like he would a business. He's so sure of himself. He thinks he cheated death, which he did. But now, he's a nobody and that's just to hard of a pill for him to swallow. LQ "Sonny" Clemonds though is my favorite character in this episode. This guy is a gem. He fits right in there, accepts his place and tries to throw a party with Data. I love watching the two of them play off each other. I want to see what happened to this guy once he left the Enterprise. I can only imagine what he would have done on Risa! I remember hearing once that when this episode was originally written that the character of Sonny wasn't supposed to be in the episode. That his character was originally supposed to be Harry Mudd. But that the actor who originally played Harry Mudd, Roger C. Carmel, died during the writing of the episode. I don't know though for sure if that story is correct. I don't see how that could have worked with the idea of humans who had been frozen for hundreds of years since Mudd obviously was around during the time of TOS? But that is just what I heard once. The message of "the people of the 20th century are primitives! Look how enlightened we are!" I think is played too heavy handed. Makes you wonder what life's like outside of Star Fleet. Why is it so crazy to them someone might self medicate with alcohol? Well so the Romulans are back. How do you have no contact with them for fifty years? The entire race, fifty years? They're right there and nobody's said boo for fifty years? Just a little hard to believe. They pull up in their vessel just to basically say "We're back!" and then high tale it back to Romulus. In retrospect it just all seems kind of weak. Putting that aside I think this is a fun fish out of water story for the 20th century humans.