First Time Watching ALL of Star Trek - Episode 178: Sarek (TNG S3E23)
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- Опубликовано: 20 окт 2024
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The Target Audience are watching Star Trek: The Next Generation for the first time! Today we watch season 3 episode 23 - Sarek
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Special thanks to @OpenMawProductions for his graphics, backgrounds, overlays & much more!
Rest in peace - Mark Lenard, and Leonard Nimoy
This is some of Patrick Stewart's best acting in the entire show, he really pulled out all the stops here. Hell of a performance from the legend Mark Lenard too. As a long-time TOS fan, seeing Sarek suffering from Vulcan dementia and hearing his greatest regrets include Amanda and Spock not knowing how much he loved them is heart wrenching. Such a powerful, visceral episode while also a load of fun seeing the crew at each others' throats.
Those flashbacks to past Sarek reactions of yours were a nice touch.
They do a great job with editing these reactions, building off the own LORE.
Not to diminish the rest of the cast, writing, directing, but I think Stewart really helped keep this show at top tier.
@@TearDownGenesis / I can't argue with that.
Stewart is a top notch actor coming from a Theater background and still does Theater to this day.
@@TearDownGenesis spoilers............................................................................................i feel the same way about Winn. i loved i hated her, she brought a lot to DS9 and storylines that influence others from the start to the end of the show, and she was only in 14 episodes.
Because it was a one take tracking shot, Patrick Stewart had to do Sarek's intense emotional scene multiple times. What an actor!
I met Mark Leonard (Sarek), when I was 13 years old. I'm 44 now. I was very nervous but he could not have been more kind. He shook my hand, talked to me. I barely said a word but it was a surreal experience. I will never forget it.
I love how Sarek picks up some of picards mannerisms after the meld, like calling Riker number one, nice touch.
So many great touches like this in this one.
Nice reaction, fellas.
The reason why we spend all this time coming to our realization about Sarek is that this is how you experience the onset of dementia in someone you respect and admire. Most shows and films about dementia show us the sufferer only as the disease is claiming them, and we don’t get to see the contrast with their former powers. But since TOS fans could be counted on to remember Sarek’s brilliance, energy, and strength, realizing his decline is a very different kind of kick in the teeth. Therefore the process of that realization was important for the episode.
Mark Lenard and Sir Patrick Stewart gave a master class in acting!
Mark Lenard was great in everything he did. He broke my heart in this one. Patrick Stewart too.
Even Planet of the Apes? (Mark Lenard, not Patrick Stewart)
@@IggyStardust1967 never watched the TV series version
@@aircap I was mostly teasing.... but he WAS good in that series. He played a gorilla general.
I'm so glad you started watching these without knowing the episode titles before hand. Would've been spoiled
Just the fact of having Mark Leonard/Sarek In a TNG episode was awesome by itself.
The beloved Sarek actor who starred in other shows too. He is missed. Nostalgia from TOS. Good actor.
@@Daviddaze Mark Lenard
I forgot how brutal that Barfight is, Holy Moly.
Also it breaks my heart to see Sarek like that.
I’ve always seen this episode as a analogy for dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Something that erodes a person’s sense of self and strips them of who they are. Tragic to be sure.
The full on Stage-trained Shakespearean Actor, with the kind of monologue that you'd never get in any other genre. Sir Patrick Stewart, ladies and gentlemen.
Bravo!
Ammmmmmmennn
This is the first onscreen instance ofI O'Brien kicking ass!
It's the first of many.
Great performances all around.
Funny that Sarek has a types- he caught the human bug and went with it.
Wesley getting slapped never gets old.
I always told myself that we never saw Worf lose his temper because he's used to functioning at a low level of simmering rage. 🙂
"That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry."
Lol. But we do eventually learn more about why he's so self-controlled.
@@jcortese3300 Worf to himself: "Huh I feel like I want to kill anyone in my direct vicinity, must be a Tuesday."
I agree! Also in a weird way, I felt Worf actually seemed more at ease and relaxed!
Klingons obviously have much better emotional control than Vulcans. They just have a different moral code so acting on their emotions isn't a bad thing. But we've repeatedly seen Klingons be provoked to murderous rage and contain it. It seems like when a Vulcan gets that angry they can't contain it.
For anyone who lost a loved one to dementia this episode hits HARD.
No, this episode hits HARD already. Losing a loved one to dementia makes it hit even HARDER.
Point of musical nerd order: not playing a Mozart quartet when Sarek cries, but the 2nd movement of the Brahms Op. 18 sextet in Bb.
@@kojiattwood Yup! I was going to say the same thing. Also, the Mozart quartet they play is the “Dissonance” but instead of playing the Adagio at the beginning, they chop it and instead begin at the Allegro that is roughly one minute and 30 seconds into the first movement.
I love that Brahms. It’s because of this particular episode that my chamber music group played it for a recital.
Should have been Bach, I always thought.
@@robotliliput A nice chamber music STNG program would include the Mozart, Brahms, and in another episode, they played the Chopin piano trio.
@@jcortese3300 You would think the beauty of Bach's counterpoint would appeal to Vulcans
@@kojiattwood Yeah, the gavotte from Partita 3 would have been perfect. Or the prelude from the first cello suite ... I can see a perfectly healthy Vulcan breaking down over that one.
Patrick Stewart should have gotten an Emmy for that scene.
Written by Peter S. Beagle, a fantasy writer best known for “The Last Unicorn”!
WHATTTT?!? I never noticed that!
Oh, no wonder this is one hard hitting emotional and nostalgic episode.
Sarek's appearance is joyous. But i wouldn't understand anyone walking away from this episode without Patrick Stewart's performance as Picard enduring Vulcan emotions being the most lasting image. What a tour de force. Bravo sir.
It's gut-wrenching. I well up more today than when I first saw it, even though I know it's coming.
Patrick Stewart's performance was epic.
Yes.
Oh a late night airing of the Target Audience
The insults in this episode between Wesley and Geordi are hilarious. As is the barfight! And yeah it would have been great to have seen Broccoli as a part of that bar fight! I'm glad you guys loved this one so much. Needless to say if you hadn't it would certainly have been illogical ILLOGICAL!!
I'd want Chief O'Brien on my side in a Bar Fight!
@@jamesalexander5623 He is an Irishman. Good in a scrap.
@@komradewirelesscaller6716 Barclay going howling mad
@@Daviddaze yeah I bet. Almost as mad you might guess as one Howling Mad Murdoch!
Sarek, in this episode, mirrors the deterioration of Gene Roddenberry that was going on behind the scenes. And for fans, this episode does hit hard, especially when you know who Sarek is from TOS.
If it was. Gene wasn't too old when he passed, but had a lot of health issues...
@@ShamrockParticle I didnt look it up until just now. He was basically just someone who used substances to burn the candle at both ends for decades and didnt treat his blood pressure and diabetes the way he should. First a stroke in 1989 and then a heart attack in 1991 at age 70.
Love the editing with past Sarek appearances!
Yes! That kind of stuff sets them apart.
These reviews of The Next Generation, by you guys and other wonderful reactors all across the Web, constantly reminds me how wonderful this series was, and why it deserves a special place in our hearts. Thank you.
I love how this episode essentially works as a litmus test to see how original series concepts and characters could better work in the Star Trek of the 90s. There wasn't a ton of that in previous seasons, but we'll have to see about future seasons now.
This episode hits a little harder at this point in my life that it did when I saw it as a kid. My grandfather is going through dimentia as a result of Parkinsons, and in a recent visit (I live a few days drive away from the rest of my family) it was the first time that he didn't recognise me. Loving and helping someone who is losing part of themselves is a challange at times, and this episode gets at the beauty of that love and the pain of those challanges so well.
"I don't want it to be this long drawn out mystery, that's not the point of the episode"
"I hate when they spoil the mystery right away" (not the point of the episode)
Love your guys' reaction but this is my biggest critique of your critiques. It's inconsistent. Some things are a mystery for the crew to solve and some things are a mystery for the audience as well. Usually neither is actually the point of the episode as Star Trek generally strives to have a larger purpose.
Here we see it taking on aging and what could be considered dementia and what someone's role in society is once they can't do what they used to. Something that affects all of us or will at some point.
Well reasoned. In either the Hollow Pursuits or the Most Toys video that guys talked about how just accepting the good in an episode without analyzing what could be better is not what they're about and I am all for that. I am a bit of a kindred spirit where that outlook is concerned.
I think the problem is that not every episode is the same genre - some are mysteries, others are action pieces, others are character portraits, others political allegories, etc. - but they often seem to react as though every episode needs to meet the same checklist of standards.
I love Chinese food and I love pizza and I'm pretty nitpicky about both, but I'm not going to eat a piece of pizza and say it was pretty good but needed more soy sauce. Not every episode SHOULD stretch the mystery, for instance, or it would do a lot of harm to the themes that the episode is actually trying to explore.
Don't have them watch Columbo.....
Love that you peppered in some of the old footage, bravo!
I was waiting for you two guys' reaction to this episode, and to have an excuse to see it again. This was one of my favorite episodes from the entire ST: Next Generation run. I remember the very first time I saw this chapter, way back in 1990. Patrick Stewart's acting was so real and so raw, and I was so moved and invested, that I just wept along. Mark Lenard's acting was awesome as well. I was a wreck at the end of the episode, and at the same time I felt I had witnessed acting that was so next level, it was worthy of standing up and applauding. Stewart's performance as Capt. Picard just kept getting better and more compelling through the series, along with that of all the rest of the ensemble crew. That, in part because the writing also kept getting better as we kept getting to know the characters more and more... almost like they became well-defined close friends in real life. I've mentioned before that ST:TNG has been my favorite series of all time, almost since day one. And I really miss seeing all those episodes for the very first time. Although watching it this way, with a first reaction from both you Josh and Alex, comes pretty close. And the best is yet to come!
When I used to watch this episode, I'd get chills when melded with Sarek. Picard would name drop Spock and Amanda. I still do, but now I find I also do, just as much, when Sarek calls Riker, "Number One".
For years, while the two were melded, I wished Sarek/Picard had mentioned Sybok. Now it would be cool also if he brought up Michael Burnam, too. Unless we’re pretending neither of those ever existed 😅
considering st5 came out the year before, it's a little bit of a miss that he didn't mention Sybok. unless the script was finished before the movie came out and they didn't think to edit/adlib it
It's wonderful to see your response to the return of Sarek! Mark Lenard and Patrick Stewart gave amazing performances.
Picard and Sarek reverse the greeting Spock and Sarek exchange in JOURNEY TO BABEL ("We come to serve." "Your service honors us.").
That opening, how long before Alex kills Josh with the season box? LOL
Wesley’s line about Geordi reading a good book was actually a gag about Levar Burton’s ongoing Reading Rainbow.
I need to rewatch these episodes myself. I saw them first run, but since then have watched the “good parts” episodes. I completely forgot they literally picked Sarek up from Vulcan.
Also, obviously mad props to bring in an og character like this with a real, full story.
*THIS* is the episode I've been waiting for. Glad to see it hit home. It will be one of your top ten for the series.
This is one of those episodes where you sit back and just realize how absolutely GERAT of an actor Sir Patrick Stewart is. I feel that scene every time and I saw originally when I was in Jr. High. Just Awesome!
I LOVE MY SON !!!
I love the shot of Riker and Worf walking into the bar fight. Friggin hilarious
it brings the tapestries of the star trek universe together
Forgot this was season 3 as well. man that was a good season.
The best.
@@paulanerruhrpott6188 Certainly a very very strong contender for best season. It's funny because Alex and Josh got through the first half and didn't seem super impressed. But then it's almost great episode after great episode in the back half.
Not really sure how much they will like the next couple, but I will be very interested to see their rankings for this season, I suspect they will find that challenging.
I know the community kept telling them just wait the season gets better. But part of me wondered if they were starting to question that at one point.
This is such a great example of what science fiction can do so well. Take a current issue-dementia/declining capacity in older adults-and address it in a way that parallels it but uses SF techniques such as mind melds to explore it. Having such a beloved character with literally decades of fans knowing him go through that heartbreaking condition is something that, at that time, only a show like Star Trek could do (if it were still on the air in the 1990s, Doctor Who also could have done this with its longevity).
I'm not confident they'll like it. Their reactions are all over the place this season and I wouldnt be surprised if they thought it was the worst thing they've ever watched.😂
They will probably hate this one but love the next two
I’m curious, do you make comments before watching the video? If you watched, you’d see you called this one wrong, the loved it. Three more in this season. Am a bit curious what they’ll like or not. But I’ll be good and make no suggestions/predictions.
@@tnspnk3 Yes we do make comments before watching the video because often several hours before the video is available to watch these guys will have an announcement that the video is coming soon in such and such time and while we wait for the video the comment section opens up for comments ahead of time.
So yeah, that's why you see often see predictions, because we can often comment before the video is available to view.
Good for you. I'll keep making my predictions though.@@tnspnk3
The only thing I wish is that they would play the TOS fight music in that bar scene. - Either the music from the Trouble With Tribbles, or the regular Gorn vs Kirk music.
I love how you guys understand.
A few months back this story would not get you in the feels like this. ❤
This episode makes me want to go give my dad a hug.
Yeeees! Been looking forward to this one.
So much to love in this episode even setting aside the incredible performances-- doing the difficult work of unpacking the repression/pressures of the Spock/Sarek relationship without Spock even present. The way Picard is such an excited little boy whenever he gets to meet his scientific, diplomatic, or archaeological heroes. The fact that Beverly has to be the one who can stay with him when he's carrying Sarek's emotional burden, and the hints it gives about them. The excellent, thoughtful camera work.
vulcans feel emotions but on such extreme levels. hence why he needed to learn to control them, lest they be destroyed by them. hence why picard was such a mess. he was feeling all of those emotions, turned up to 50 and he just couldn't stop them.
Nice to see we're on the same page again! To say this is an emotional episode is quite an understatement. Between Mark Leonard AND Patrick Stewart, they both give a masterclass performance. It was fantastic seeing such a legacy character again, and I appreciate how well they handled the writing here. This is one of my favorites from TNG. Definitely top 20. Not quite sure if it's top 10: but close.
This is my second favorite episode of the season and also makes my all-time-TNG top ten AND my all-time all-Trek-series top 20. Wow. Knew you two would love it
Great watching your reactions to this one, been waiting for you to get to it. Also glad you didn't get any spoilers about it, most of us do try to avoid any to the extent that sometimes we have to avoid commenting, to make sure we don't give anything away. That scene with Data playing the violin, and Sarek crying, not to mention Picard being overwelmed by a lifetime of Sareks regrets gets me everytime.
I have been waiting for you to get to this episode. I was 99% sure you would love it. Great episode!
I was more like 85.7% sure. You can never tell when the TA Boys will throw a curve ball your way.
@greenbrown7776 that is very true, but Sarek being there tilted the scale a bit. Now I'm just waiting for the future ... there are still a lot of moments the guys can pop on ... lol
Even when I first saw this (decades before I lost my Mother to Dementia) this episode just RIPPED my heart out!
Definitely one of the BEST episodes of the entire series!
This is one of the best episodes so far. It felt so much like a TOS episode which makes it great.
Vulcans are often mis-identified as emotionless. They established early that they Feel more strongly than humans. But since they've almost wiped themselves out multiple times because of this, they've embraced emotional repression as a species. Good thing, too. As they're generally stronger & a bit more intelligent on average than many other species. Glad _Sarek_ demonstrated this.
A Phenomenal performance of Sir Patrick Stuart, absolutely unbelievable!
One of the top 3 performances by Stewart of the series. Tour de force! Amazing actor.
Given how much you guys love Sarek, I've been really looking forward to this reaction. It did not disappoint.
All of these years later seeing this episode and oh the feels, my dudes
Isn't it funny how emotional we get about Vulcans and Vulcan-related episodes?
@@earth2saka / Interesting might be a better word.
Here's one episode that I'm absolutely confident you two will love.
well, they always hate my favourite episodes and love episodes I don't even remember...
I like your Sarek flashbacks!
I grew up on TNG. I have seen every episode over 20 times at least..... Some can still make me tear up...... This is one such episode. You guys really did point out the subtle things and mellow nature of the episode that really painted a great story. Without spoiling anything, I think you will find that the very best of TNG happens when they pull off a great 3 act episode, that has great acting, good camera work, moving writing, and that uses the existing history of the series to pull all the right nostalgia strings. NO galactic threat to avert, no huge action, just using what I can only describe as EXCELLENCE. Acting EXCELLENT. Writing EXCELLENT. Camerawork EXCELLENT. Edit work and Pacing EXCELLENT. It all woven and DOING IT WONDERFULLY and EXCELLENT in a simple 3 act format. You are totally right how first 2/3 served the last 1/3, but the last 1/3 needed it for gravity and umpff! Looking forward to seeing more guys!
Always loved Sarek! What a cool character.
Best bar fight since "Trouble with Tribbles."
that pile drive through the table was wwf worthy
This episode brought to you by… Shasta! It’s always there for you! 😀
It’s literally just sitting there!
@@targetaudience I would love to see that bit continued. Hysterical.
Although he liked playing Sarek, Mark Lenard said he felt his most important contribution to STAR TREK was played in Romulan commander in BALANCE OF TERROR.
I consider this a True Trek Classic, but on the lower end of that elite grouping. Patrick Stewart's performance while under the mind meld is heartbreaking and brilliant. Mark Lenard is epic as always. The supporting players are great.
The random anger scenes felt somewhat overdone and clumsy. Otherwise, we'd have something on par with "Yesterday's Enterprise" or "Sins of the Father" - or a certain season-ender coming up soon where every single scene works. The last 15 minutes of this were absolutely riveting though. As good as just about anything on any "Trek." Loved all the different call-outs and mining of LORE.
This hit me hard back in the day. Now that I'm decades older and have had experiences with dementia, it hits even harder.
THis episode hits harder for ppl that had some1 close suffering with dementia.. How it affects the person.. how it affects the ppl around that person.. it hits really hard.
Are Alex and Josh trolling us with that somber thumbnail pic? No way they don't like this one! 😜
Yes, by what I have come to understand they like, this one should be dead center in their sweet spot.
I mean it's a sad episode so that's why probably why
I met Mark Lenard at a Star Trek convention.
6:14 Weird trivia note. The lady with the red uniform and brown hair behind Data has a completely unique TNG costume variant that we never see again. It's one of the season 1 uniforms with the red trim around the shoulders, but it also has the season 3 collar. Some weird hybrid test that probably fit the extra so they used it and thought no one would notice.
7:13 "Just imagine trying to explain this scenario to someone before watching this; in the next episode Data's gonna play a violin performance that brings Sarek to tears. That's as absurd a sentence as I've ever heard, and that's what just happened"
My mind races with moments more absurd out of context. But okay, no spoilers.
A master class in acting from Patrick Stewart and Mark Lenard in this episode.
It’s obviously a bit heightened for drama, but I don’t think anyone who’s lived through a loved one succumbing to dementia can’t be touched by this episode.
There's a lesson to be learned that, if we live long enough, we all die old and decrepit, but it doesn't take anything away from the wonderful things we achieved while alive. Sarek is still a fantastic, noble, admirable character who simply lived long enough to go the way many very old people go.
LOL the end credit scene is just crazy enough that it might work. Thank you for the upload gentlemen, thank you
Director to Patrick Stewart or Mark Lenard in any scene: OK, for this scene, act really well.....great thanks, nailed it.
My hands down favourite episode of TNG. Looking forward to your fuller reaction.
I haven't watched this episode in years. Great acting by everyone. Patrick Stewart was incredible.
I was looking forward to this as I figured it would really appeal to them. Nice when my guess/prediction is vindicated!
Season 3 really made Trek as a franchise really great! It was good prior to, but 3 is truly great!
8:40 - remember that show where the audience would chant "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" Well... Trek made the trope work here too!
Why was there no discussion video for the previous episode?
@@StevenHouse1980 yes because the previous one is incomplete.
@@paulanerruhrpott6188 They said a few weeks ago that they might not do discussion videos for some episodes if they don't feel like they have much more to say about them than what they say after the reaction. The Most Toys reaction video had a long after-reaction talk, so I'm guessing that was the discussion.
Jim is correct, no separate discussion was filmed for The Most Toys.
Here I was wondering if it was delayed because of a discussion over the alternate recording of the episode with the other actor.
Fantastic episode!
Mark Leonard as Sarek! What a Star Trek Legend. I really like your decision not to see the title before the episode.
So true! He was amazing!
Gene Roddenberry died soon after this aired. Mark Lenard passed away in 1996.
Gene died over a year later
@@ShamrockParticle He was already really declining in health and it was obvious to everyone on the production. This episode was pretty much about Gene Roddenberry, with Sarek as a stand-in for him.
One thing that gets me. Sarek and Amanda hold hands while energising at the end. That could have caused some serious damage
FYI: Sarek isn't quite 250 years old, more like 210 or so. He was a little over 100 when we first see him, around 30 years later when last seen in the movies, and it's been around 80 years after that.
That episode is so good, hard to watch Sarek like that, but...the acting from Mark Lenard, slipping right back into that roll...and Patrick Stewart...such excellent acting.
Best part of the episode is Beverly slapping Wesley. Looked like a good slap. I envy him... ;)
He MAY have told her (like sometimes happens in WWE) to "really slap me good, to bring the full emotional weight of the scene home". Plus, he could take it.
I wonder if he's ever been asked that question?
@@IggyStardust1967 You envy him? I think most would envy her in that situation 😊
@@alexshadowfax1119 I didn't say that, @christianlevesqui5239 said that. lol! Then again, I wouldn't mind being slapped by Gates.... ;)
@@earth2sakaIt may not help to “read it again”. He just may not be enough of a s&m pervert like you (and me lol) to get it. 😂
@@IggyStardust1967Even better, what if they had to reshoot the scene several times? “OK, this is take six. This time try to really look shocked. Oh and makeup, put more power on Wheaton’s left cheek; the red is starting to show through.” 😂
Hey, something to watch with dinner. And its one of the best Eps ever!
I've seen this episode a million and a half times, but this is my first time noticing it was written by the author of The Last Unicorn.
I went to school with a kid who was named Chancellor. On graduation day when they were calling names to walk across the stage they would say everyone's full name. This kid's parents named him Chancellor Sarek "Last-Name-Redacted"
Maybe it was the wedding of Sarek's son Michael 😂
"We got Sarek, bro!" on a t-shirt now!
Peter S. Beagle, who wrote this episode, also wrote “The Last Unicorn”.
Also a foreword in Lord of the Rings.
Love your reactions to the epic bar fight scene! 😃
I would recommend reading or listening to the audiobook "Sarek". It further explores the courtship of Sarek and Amanda. Most of the novel takes place after the events of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country".
Vulcan's equivilant of Alsimers Disease.