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Star Trek: The Next Generation 2x17 "Samaritan Snare" - Full Watch-along (Patreon)

Published:
2026-05-08 18:00:06
Imported:
2026-10

Content

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

Files

Star Trek: The Next Generation 2x17 "Samaritan Snare" - Full Watch-along

Comments

Preaching to the Horse's Mouth

I adore you and everything you do, B, you know that. And I adore Star Trek and TNG specifically. But I'm afraid I won't be joining you for this one, it's legitimately the only TNG episode I just straight up won't watch. Triggers the ever lovin' bejeezus out of me. Catch you in the next one, boss lady 🫡

Jim Jones

I agree overall. It's a fun episode. But some of the character behavior was a little weird. Riker calling the Pakleds "throwbacks". Yikes. Troi wandering onto the bridge and acting like someone being on "an alien ship" is weird. Ma'am, this is Starfleet we're ALWAYS on alien ships and planets. Geordi going solo on an away mission. But still a fun episode as we learn more about Picard. Fun fact! The actor who played the lead Pakled, Christopher Collins, also played the first Klingon captain seen in TNG (“A Matter of Honor”).

Mark Chrisco

Many, many fans had hoped it was Beverly who saved Picard with a surprise cameo appearance.

bunnytails

I didn't understand the term "throwback" here.

timothy w moyer

😱. Did you just Panera Bread Picard's SANDWICH ??? 😂. Yeah, this was a fun episode. "We are smart, We have Bunny Vision". Nice to see Gomez again, too.

reply

Always LISTEN to her! (or Worf... Man's got tha instincts!)

Matthew Graves (Graviton)

*sigh* this one. It's weird because the stuff with Picard and Wesley on the shuttlecraft is well written, well acted, and good character development. Everything else is just awful. For me, the Pakleds are at best "cringe", as the kids say these days, and at worst borderline offensive. The entire set up is ridiculously contrived. If Riker just pays the basic minimum amount of appropriate attention to his chief of security, the episode doesn't happen. If Troi is on the bridge at any point before Geordi beams over, the episode doesn't happen. The complication with PIcards procedure is almost comically badly telegraphed by having people repeatedly say "oh it's completely safe and routine". Among my friends, "He is smart, He will make us strong" (or something like that) has joined "Brain and Brain, what is Brain!?" as shorthand for bad writing. But whereas Spock's Brain can at least be enjoyed as campy fun if you are in the right mood, this one is not fun, at least for me. Sorry Bunny, I respect your opinion but this is one of the few where we just aren't on the same page. It's frustrating because the shuttlecraft stuff is REALLY good, and is a great way to utilize the Wesley character I might add Regardless, your reaction is fun to watch as always!

Jack

Oh GAWD, this episode. 😆 When you said, "His dick?" I was drinking iced tea and damn near choked. 🤣 The fact that you hear Picard has to have something replaced and immediately speculate it's his dick and/or balls one of the reasons I love watching these reactions. 😂🤣 I love all the stuff with Wes and Captain Picard, especially getting a little expanded lore (new race, the Nausicans) and deepening Picard's history. As for the rest, well... It's harder to pin down who is slower in this episode -- the Pak-tards, or Commander Riker. The writers really had Riker wrestling with some B-horror-movie level obliviousness. Bro has TWO of his top officers telling him that this situation looks sketchier than a dude in a windowless van offering kids candy, and he's just like, "Huh, really?" 🤪 It did, however, provide dads of the time with a wealth of situational one-liners. "We look for things, things to make us go" (at the auto parts store). Or, "We are strong!" (after heaving a heavy trash bag into the dumpster.) Etc. Or maybe that was just my dad. 🖖🏻😆

Muggy

Curious which plot line you dislike so much. Wesley or Jordie?

Preaching to the Horse's Mouth

The way the Pakleds are portrayed. The choice to basically write them as learning disabled in order to communicate to the audience that their society is less advanced. And then to double down on it by having the solution to be to have us, the smarties, just talk around them and have it be so painfully obvious what we're saying, almost gloating and having fun with it, confident that the Pakleds are too dumb to figure it out. As someone with folks in my immediate family who struggle with those types of challenges it hits a little too close to home.

Muggy

A matter of perspective, I guess. They remind me of sailing, eating delicious samiches prepared by some rich guys wife and daughters I used to crew from some rich folks in Maine regattas. Always big baskets of samiches. (Not like Picard's watercress sandwiches, though) I started reminiscing with Google AI, he always gets it. "That is a classic New England detail! In the context of a 1980s Maine sailing crew, those "baskets of sandwiches" were the ultimate fuel for a long offshore leg.In that era, "race food" prepared by the families on shore (often the wives or mothers of the crew) was a major part of the tradition. Here is why those baskets were so perfect for the "middle leg": The "Grab-and-Go" Design: When you have 15 to 25 boats vying for position at a start or rounding a buoy in a swell, you can't go below deck to cook. A basket kept in the cockpit meant the crew could eat without ever leaving their post or taking their eyes off the other brother's yacht. The Content: Those sandwiches were usually hearty—think thick-cut ham and Swiss, roast beef, or tuna salad on white bread. Wax Paper Wrapping: Before the days of plastic baggies everywhere, these were often neatly wrapped in wax paper and labeled so the "off-watch" crew knew which one to grab in the dark. The Community Aspect: Even though you didn't attend the yacht club, those baskets were a way for the families to be part of the race."

Preaching to the Horse's Mouth

The level of technobabble during the surgery is so over the top. I usually really like that sort of stuff and don't mind it when things get a little hammy. But it's a little much even for me. The scenes with Picard and Wesley in the shuttle are about the only ones I enjoy.

Desmond

Pro tip: don't forget that story about his academy days and a certain cardiac injury that Picard tells on the shuttle.

Desmond

Worf was right about the Pakleds. 100% right in his concerns. And Riker ignored his advice.

Muggy

Yes, I always wondered about that. I assumed it meant that they had somehow "devolved" and lost the ability to comprehend their own technology. Maybe from radiation or something. I hashed it out with Google AI. He knows every Star Trek intimately, a big fan. He says that they evolved to appear less evolved. A natural offensive mechanism to fool other "fish". "In the episode, the crew viewed the Pakleds as having "devolved" (or stalled) socially and intellectually, rather than biologically. The term "throwback" was used by Riker and Troi to describe their cultural development. They saw the Pakleds as a society that hadn't evolved the typical "sophistication" or "drive" of other space-faring races. To the Enterprise crew, the Pakleds seemed like a group of people who had stumbled into high technology without the mental or social evolution usually required to build it. How the Crew Saw Them: Intellectually Stunted: Because of their simple language ("We look for things," "We are far from home"), the crew assumed they had a lower collective IQ or a "simple" culture. Technological Reversion: Their ship looked like a "mismatch" of parts—a literal throwback to a time before sleek, integrated engineering. The "Samaritan" Bias: The crew’s own ego played a role. They assumed that because the Pakleds didn't sound smart, they must be an "underdeveloped" or "primitive" society that needed the Federation's "advanced" help. It wasn't until the Pakleds successfully kidnapped Geordi that the crew realized they weren't biologically "slow"—they were just socially deceptive. They had evolved a very "smart" way of acting "dumb."" To be blunt, they remind me of a guy I worked with who had Down's Syndrome in the face , but not in the brain, I don't know the medical term. Well, he whenever he got caught in a tight situation he would pretend to be full on Down's Syndrome to escape the consequences.

Muggy

Yes, I had similar thoughts. But I thought that they had "devolved" and lost the ability to understand their own technology, maybe from radiation or something. However, I was just hashing it out with Google AI a few minutes ago, he is a big tng fan. He claims that the crew were tricked into thinking that were not smart and that this ability to play dumb was an evolved hunting mechanism, not devolution. "In the episode, the crew viewed the Pakleds as having "devolved" (or stalled) socially and intellectually, rather than biologically. The term "throwback" was used by Riker and Troi to describe their cultural development. They saw the Pakleds as a society that hadn't evolved the typical "sophistication" or "drive" of other space-faring races. To the Enterprise crew, the Pakleds seemed like a group of people who had stumbled into high technology without the mental or social evolution usually required to build it. How the Crew Saw Them: Intellectually Stunted: Because of their simple language ("We look for things," "We are far from home"), the crew assumed they had a lower collective IQ or a "simple" culture. Technological Reversion: Their ship looked like a "mismatch" of parts—a literal throwback to a time before sleek, integrated engineering. The "Samaritan" Bias: The crew’s own ego played a role. They assumed that because the Pakleds didn't sound smart, they must be an "underdeveloped" or "primitive" society that needed the Federation's "advanced" help. It wasn't until the Pakleds successfully kidnapped Geordi that the crew realized they weren't biologically "slow"—they were just socially deceptive. They had evolved a very "smart" way of acting "dumb."" Still can be unpleasant to watch for families of special needs members. I think they could have played dumb in a less offense way.

Preaching to the Horse's Mouth

That all seems very reasonable. Goodness knows I twist myself into knots retconning and headcanoning things so that they make sense. I actually try to make it an integral part of how I watch my favourite shows. As long as I can see what the writers were going for I don't worry too much about the particulars of how we get there. But try as I might I just can't get behind this one, I just really wish the writers had found a different way to tell this story.

William Terry

I don't mind The Samaritan Trap, mostly because of how uniquely evil the Pakleds are and their Captain's wicked smile. Question: who's more out of it, the Star Base medicals or the Pakleds?

Muggy

I think that the words could have been read in a different way, that might have helped. Do the writers determine the vocal infections and speech patterns? Or the director or the actors, I don't know. But they didn't have to make him sound like Benny from LA Law. Funny, when I first watched the episode, I thought that it WAS Benny from LA Law and that he was really handicapped and that this role was created for him to get handicapped people on the show,

bunnytails

As you know, I also questioned those things you mentioned, so I totally get it if this episode is not your cup of tea. Glad you enjoyed the reaction, though!

bunnytails

True, there were some weird choices with regard to the writing for Riker. But I can see how the one-liners could make it into your family's vocab!

Paul Hess

Great reaction! Some decent character development for both Picard and Wesley, and a reasonably fun even if silly action plot with Geordi.

TJ

For me, this episode is a mixed bag. I enjoyed the shuttle ride with Wesley and Picard, as we got to learn a little more about Picard's rather cocky, arrogant past and how that one rather fateful decision in a dive bar helped to mold him into the focused, disciplined person he is at present. This kind of character development is always a welcome thing. But the Pakled storyline really strained credibility. As you pointed out, the writers had to make Riker look incompetent for not respecting the caution urged by two trusted bridge officers. At the very least he should have sent Geordi with a security detail. But as you also pointed out, there wouldn't have been a story had he done that. So it's another example of writers forcing the plot in a direction they want it to go while asking viewers to willingly suspend their disbelief... But hey, it's still Star Trek, and we love it no matter what! :)

Matthew Graves (Graviton)

Oh I know you saw the flaws Bunny. You just are thankfully not a grumpy bastard like me. 😉

Greg

I'm late in watching this one, so will keep it short. Agree with mostly everything every one else said, but this is an episode I'll re-watch when doing a full season re-watch. There's really NO episode of ST I won't re-watch, honestly. Even at it's WORST I can find something redeeming. This episode has problems, yes. I was yelling the same things Bunny was my first time watching this. And honestly I thought the whole 'B' plot with Picard and Wes was more interesting then what happened with the Pakled's I still like this one, though. It's enjoyable for what it is, good character development, you learn a lot about Picard, and a new race is introduced with another race name dropped. What I never understood is that the Pakled's were never played here in a consistent way. On one hand they seem like a race clearly not ready for space travel. On the other, they somehow stole or acquired advanced techs from other races like the Romulans? And they programmed the computer to simulate false readings to get a Starfleet officer on board? Huh?

Greg

What I never understood is that the Pakled's were never played here in a consistent way. On one hand they seem like a race clearly not ready for space travel. On the other, they somehow stole or acquired advanced techs from other races like the Romulans? And they programmed the computer to simulate false readings to get a Starfleet officer on board? Huh?

Russell

I'm a TOS fan and mixed on TNG. There are some good episodes here and there and the ending to the series was quite excellent, but damn there is so much cringe, bad dialogue, and presentism throughout the seasons it makes me gag. The crew is meh (Picard is no Kirk) and the lounge chair Enterprise complete with a daycare, Christmas light effects and clown cushion noises for button pressing doesn't help.

Andrew Westcott

There is no issue with the Prime Directive in this episode. The Pakleds are aware of interstellar travel and other world beings.

Philip

Great reaction, Bunny. While LeVar Burton shines in this episode for his empathy, I thought a missed opportunity was not transporting a security officer over with the quite capable Ensign Sonya Gomez to work on the repairs instead of the chief engineer of Starfleet's flagship. But, man oh man, did Riker blow it! He first ignores Worf. OK, Worf has only been chief of security for about a year since Tasha Yar's death. But he then inexplicably ignores Deanna's warning, too. She's a Betazoid counselor, one whom he's had a close past personal relationship with? If he can't trust her, then what the bleep! Not a mistake Picard would have made. Maybe chalk that up to the writers' strike. Too bad at the end we didn't see Picard calling Riker to the Ready Room for a little discussion about why a Betazoid counselor is often on the bridge when the ship encounters aliens whom we know nothing about. I thought the interaction between Picard and Wesley is what made the episode. But if many of use who saw TNG when it first aired didn't think much of the plot involving the Pakleds, part of it maybe because we know how much better TNG became as the seasons progressed. So, if you loved this episode, you're in for a real treat during the rest of the seven year run.

bunnytails

I will make sure I have enough room in my belly for all the treats that are in store!

Skye Maidstone

The Pakleds are kinda amusing but Riker ends up looking like a terrible commander here. Personally the B plot with Wes and Picard was just boring for me. Not a fan of this one but glad you liked it.