ST TNG S6E24: Second Chances

Solid 'transporter went wrong' story, where it turns out a malfunction created a second Riker 8 years previously and no one knew - and that Riker was left stranded on a planet, because no one knew he was there. So we have two Riker's running around, one trying to bang Troi.... and it turns out the Riker we know is a bit of a dick, and the Riker that was stranded for 8 years is actually a much more affable and pleasant fellow, and in many ways a better version of the Riker we know.

There's a lesson here. All dicks should be stranded alone somewhere for 8 years, so they actually become better human beings.

Quite well written and interesting all round, actually.

Also the 150th episode of ST:TNG

7/10

ST TNG S6E25: Timescape

Fun time distortion episode, that suffers from a few problems. It creates a solid mystery...but the wrap-up is too curt and contracted, glossed over by techno-gobbledegook, and there are sections where Troi is explaining advanced engineering and space physics stuff to her 2 other away team crew-mates, who happen to be Geordi and Data.... so it's a bit daft.

but fun, nonetheless.
6/10

Best moment of the episode. So weird.

ST TNG S6E26: Descent Part 1

Starts off very solid as an end-of-season episode, bringing in the Borg and Data experiencing emotion for the first time, but as it progresses, you realise this set of Borg have changed into something even more destructive than the assimilating originals, and somehow they seem less threatening. Not sure why, I guess their lack of clear purpose seems more beatable?

Then the ending, where we get lore turn up, and Data become evil, is one of the weaker eos endings of the series imo.

Guest appearance by Stephen Hawking! playing poker with Isaac Netwon, Albert Einstein and Data lol.

A bit disappointed, really. The weakest Borg episode so far too. But the first half was pretty solid stuff.

6.5/10

ST TNG S7E01: Descent Part 2

Continues the exploration of what is happening among the Borg, and various Lore shenanigans. There's clear threat to Geordi from Data, but you never really believe Data will actually harm anyone, so it defangs the episode quite a bit. Also Lore and Data start the episode talking about brining down the Federation, but it seems all talk and no action really.

Also the Borg become thoroughly ordinary as a nemesis, when you find out what's happened to them, though it's an interesting follow up from the Borg-Hugh episode.

We do get to see Crusher as a badass captain in this one, which is kind of fun, and two new crew members that feel like they are being set up as regulars.... though I don't think they become that.


A middling one really.

6/10

ST TNG S7E02: Liaisons

An episode that feels somewhat contrived, as the plot device is an alien race deliberately pushing buttons on crew members in order to record reactions. It made me think of a TOS
episode called 'By Any Other Name' where Kirk, Scotty, McCoy and Spock deliberately provoke an alien race that have taken refuge in human forms to experience emotions and feelings they cannot handle - this was kind of a mirror version of that.

A few fun moments, but the subplots involving Picard and Worf seemed a bit silly, though I liked the Troi subplot, as it was lighter and wasn't irritating, which the other two started to be.


4/10

ST TNG S7E03: Interface

Geordi is playing with emulated reality so we can see him without a visor. His mother goes missing. He thinks he finds her and can save her and her crew, but really he's being gaslit by aliens trying to survive. Reminiscent of some elements of The Martian Chronicles.

Nothing to see here. Move along.


5/10

Once we get to season 7 it feels like TNG is really starting to run out of ideas and this is nicely illustrated in your rankings. There are still some really great episodes in this season, but there are more misses than hits.

ST TNG S7E04+5: Gambit

Decent episode unnecessarily inflated into 2 episodes. It's Picard and Riker undercover, and the stuff back on the Enterprise isn't great except when Data's around, and even that is a little stretched (there's a weird white toast scene where Data and Worf keep going about how they don't want to break their friendship), and maybe one too many betrayals/switches for its own good.

It's nice to see old Trek hands like Richard Lynch and Robin Curtis though.


5/10

Yeah, some of these are definitely running on fumes, and coasting to make up for it.

It never connected for me that she was the second Saavik until you just said her name, then it was instant. I see nothing in Richard Lynch's imdb showing a prior Trek role?

Gambit is actually a guilty pleasure for me. Seeing Picard and Riker hamming it up is great entertainment.

However, what I really liked is the 'Captain' Data/Worf conflict B story. This story builds on the Sela episode where he briefly took command of a starship. However, it really harks back to Measure of a Man and highlights the discrimination Data receives and has to overcome as an android, which showcases Star Trek at it's best.

Spiner is such a good actor that makes you feel like he's switched to a different subroutine to fulfil the command role. And while the storyline is a bit flimsy, the cast are clearly having fun at this stage of the series.

8/10

OMG I'm mixing up Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica lol

Yeah, it was fun. Maybe I am being a bit harsh. I quite like Wolf/Data stuff usually, but the apology scene was cringey lol.

Anyone been keeping up with the new Star Trek releases? I'm gonna resubscribe to Paramount+ when season 2 of Picard comes out and I need to catch up on season 4 of Discovery and season 2 of Lower Decks. From what I've heard they are more of the same so if you liked the previous seasons then you'll like the new ones. And I'm expecting Picard season 2 to be similar to season 1. I am cautiously optimistic about Strange New Worlds, since it seems like they are going back to the traditional Star Trek formula of episodic, smaller stakes, optimistic, character based stories. Lower Decks already does that but in a comedic format so I recommend season 1 if you haven't watched it.

Lower Decks is just great. Picard was kind of silly but likeable, but I bailed on Discovery after S2. Am looking forward to Strange New Worlds, Pike and his sidekick were easily the best thing about Discovery S2.

ST TNG S7E06: Phantasms

This was a fun and interesting episode, with some playful stuff from the writers that paid off. Data appears to be having bizarre dreams which are leaking into reality in a dangerous way, so the premise seems to be Data is going psychotic. The playful stuff is we see Freud presented as the quack he really was as he tries to diagnose Data via his sexual development and his mother and father lol. In addition, we find Geordie has his very own creepy admirer, which makes a change!

It resolves, of course, to turn out to be space goblins, but that's how Star Trek usually resolves its more interesting, paradoxy-type episodes, so fair enough.

7/10

i couldn't understand more than 20% of that but loved it nevertheless

ST TNG S7E07: Dark Page

Well this one came out of nowhere. When the synopsis talked about Lwaxana Troi being a central figure, I was thinking 'here we go again'. But what I got was a suprisingly moving and sensitive exploration of grief and guilt eroding someone's psyche, with a great turn by both Majel Barrett and Marina Sirtis. Very effective.

7.5/10

Features probably the worst poker scene in trek history. They are playing draw poker, Real Ryker stands pat, then William Ryker keeps raising him with air. Real Ryker keeps less than min clicking it back (William will raise to 50 and ryker will raise him another 5) and then William Ryker finally folds in disgust and storms out. Then again it's a post scarcity utopia without money so what are they even playing for anyway?