Both of TNG's first two seasons contain some serious gems. I get why they get some hate (Code of Honor and The Naked Now) were both pretty awful, but then you just can't forget that it was Home Soil that gave us the phrase "Ugly Bags of Mostly Water."
I wish that we could of had many more seasons of tng with catherine polaski. How many tng stories could of been made from her and doctor crusher on one ship
I can see why suicide might not set well with some viewers and make the episode fall flat for them. The way I saw it, Jake worked his whole life to find a solution to bring back his father, ran out of time knowing he probably wouldn't have lived long enough to see his father in the next cycle. Jake had very little to loose at this point, and it was a solution. Not an ideal one for that version of Jake, but a small sacrifice at that point in his life to ensure his Dad wasn't stuck in "limbo" for eternity. Love to see people still talk about Star Trek. Keep the content coming!
Season 1 is alright. "Lonely among us" is probably one of my favorite episodes. And having Tasha alive didn't hurt either. I also enjoyed the occasions when Geordie was in command. But what annoyed me most was the lack of a chief engineer.
This is all a bit out of my wheelhouse. So I can't debate it. But I will say I enjoyed this segment, and I hope to see more of it. I've always gotten a kick out of someone discussing or ranting about something they're passionate about. Maybe someday I'll have an informed opinion on the subject. Until then, have a view, a comment, and a like.
Don't like the Bajorans? THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS! But fair points. It probably all started with Ro having a chip on her shoulder in TNG, and it went from there. Bareil was another chill Bajoran, but most of them were fightin' people. I don't mind the Maquis, but I wish Voyager developed the idea more. Glad you enjoyed the video!
Season 2 is fine. There's some good or decent episodes and a couple of really great episodes in it (who would ever have that that 'Q Who?' would be a setting-changer and given us so much at the time. I don't have any problems with Pulaski fundamentally. I like her interactions with Worf, she's great fun in 'Elementary Dear Data' and she was is a genuine effort to shake things up and the first real sign the writers were trying to escape from the Roddenberry Box. If not for 'The Child' people wouldn't have gone "yikes" with her and then struggled to shake that negative first impression. I quite like her as a different take on Trek, she actually had a character arc and Diana Muldaur is a good actor in anything I've seen her in and does well with what material she is offered. I agree, it would have been nice to return to the character, she might have been interesting in the Changeling disease arc in DS9, helping Bashir to treat it or having been blackmailed by Section 31 to help create it for example. Wow would she would have had things to say about that!
if you want to watch them and I do fully recommend the show, search Red Dwarf S1 E1 Mister Ed motion daily (in reverse) and go from there. The uploader had the first eight or nine seasons ad free. After that you have to just take what comes, but all the episodes should be up there, I am up to Season 11 anyway. Even if you never plan on doing a video(s) for the series, I still highly recommend watching it. One of the best British comedies, right up there with Are You Being Served. Also depending on your humour, it may take a season to feel fully accepted in their sci-fi universe/situation.
Great video! Please do more like this! I haven't...this is hard for me to say...I haven't watched "The Visitor". There I said it!!! I've mostly seen DS9 in reruns on TV when I was a teenager in high school, and "The Visitor" is an episode that just never came up in the rotation when I was watching it. I've also never done a full watchthrough of DS9, so there's that. I do agree with you about season 2 of TNG (and about season 7). I appreciate what they tried to do, and while it does have its stinkers, those episodes were rushed because of the 1988 Writer's Strike that ended up compressing the production timeline for the season. It also didn't help that "Q Who" used up the budget for the season, which left a few episodes that came out after it, including "Shades of Gray", lacking. Also, I do think TNG season 7 is a very weak season for a few reasons. 1. Oversight was weaker because, while she was the showrunner, Jeri Taylor was busy working on development for Voyager at the same time. 2. The franchise's best writers of the time were either on DS9, getting Voyager ready to go into production, or writing Generations, and so TNG was being left behind. And 3. Too much was happening for Star Trek at the same time. TNG was in its final season, DS9 was in its second season, Generations was in production, AND Voyager was in development, and it ended up spreading the production people too thin. Including Piller and Berman as the heads of the franchise at the time. Probably my most unpopular opinion is that I think that I prefer Voyager over DS9.
Voyager better than DS9? Now them's fightin' words! (All kidding aside, Voyager was a fun show.) I forgot about the writer's stike during Season 2 and how so much was going on during Season 7. It didn't even occur to me that Season 2 had less episodes until I did my DVD review. Still a very solid season even if parts were budgeted.
@@JanelleWaz Lol. Yeah, that put a huge damper on the season. Particularly since the season premiere, "The Child", was a recycled script from the unmade TV series, Star Trek: Phase II.
My unpopular opinion- I really like Season 1 of Enterprise. I think the introduction to both the characters and the time period we’d never seen was great. I also think the Temporal Cold War was an idea with great potential, especially as a way to give a prequel something other than a fated ending. I think the Vulcan-Human relationship of the time was a lot more workable than a lot of fans claim, and I think Season 4 proved that very well
I love the Visitor, but I definitely see where you are coming from. I am VERY onboard with you for Season 2. I think Pulaski is underappreciated and had she been able to grow for several more years...who is to say? I would have loved to see the Pulaski and Worf friendship develop too, poor Worf. He loses everyone he's close to. AND (Unpopular to you) I LOVE The Royale. Sure it's crap, but I think it's fantastic fun. I'm not sure how unpopular this is anymore, but I REALLY like the slow start to Enterprise Season 1.
My unpopular Star Trek opinion.... I've never liked the Bajoran's or the Maquis. I just can't stand characters with a chip on their shoulder. Life is hard for a lot of people, so it doesn't give anyone a right to be a snippy jerk to everyone they meet. I think Kai Opaca was the only likable Bajoran I ever saw on DS9. To me at least. Excellent video as always! You're a credit to the Federation!!
Not like Bajorans? THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS! But fair points. I think it all started with Ro with a chip on her shoulder in TNG and it all went from there. Bareil was a chill Bajoran, but yeah: most of them were ready for a fight. I don't mind the Maquis, but I wish Voyager developed the concept more. They set it up as a big part of the show only to forget all about it halfway through the show. Glad you enjoyed the video!
@@JanelleWaz I like the Gowron image haha I always felt like they had the Maquis fall in line and become "Good Little Starfleet Officers" WAY too easily on Voyager as well. I thought it was corny how none of them decided to leave the ship when Janeway gave them the chance to.
I like the idea. Two of mine: I like Star Trek: Insurrection. Some people complain that it feels like a long episode of TNG. That's why I like it. Season three of Enterprise was by far my least favourite. Enterprise has a lot of problems, but the boring season long Xindi arc made me want to tell my TV to shut up all the time.
Disagree on both points, but I can see where you're coming from. I liked the Xindi Arc when I first watched it (heck, I still argue that Enterprise started to figure out what it was doing during it), but I'm pretty meh on it now.
Season two has two vital episodes in it, measure of a man and Q Who. That's the same number of great episodes that season 6 has (chain of command and tapestry). There's a lot of good episodes in season 2. The casino episode doesn't even bother me that much. Pulaski is hard to like because of how she treats data but she essentially has a better arc in one season than crusher or troi had during the run of the show. I don't think I agree with you on the visitor but it's a valid point. In that timeline maybe rick berman got hit with a sexual harassment suit and Terry Farrell stayed on the show. I hope the series continues on. In particular I'm hoping to see you touch on how DS9 dialed back worf's character development from TNG.
Might have to talk about Worf on TNG and DS9 in an episode. I would have liked to make a regular Treknalysis video about it, but there's nothing that stops me from doing that either.
I would say you presented balanced examinations of your examples, going on to offer solid support for your positions. Because of this I mostly agree with you. My unpopular opinion is that I think that the Ferengi are one of the best species in all of Star Trek. Because of their obsession with material wealth most species have a negative view of them. Because of the federation’s societal rejection of the pursuit of wealth this negativity becomes down right racist in some cases. The key here is a proper understanding of Ferengi religious beliefs which change them from greedy money grubbers, to terrified adherents to a belief where heaven is available only to the ultra rich. Consider that their belief in their lack of worth is so great that they have their body parts auctioned off in an attempt to ensure they did everything possible to pay the entry fee into bliss. That’s a hard life to live, especially among people who have rejected monetary gain.
I have a couple very strong unpopular opinions. 1) The "slavery" argument in measure of a man is a TERRIBLE argument. 2) Geordi was not creepy about Leah Brahms, etc. ...I'd love to share a drink and talk about it! But, I have no one to talk Trek with. :( I guess I'll just have to subscribe! :)
Welcome aboard! I do have a couple of Geordi/Leah Brahms videos, though I'm on the side of Geordi was being a creeper. Don't get me wrong: I like Geordi, but he wasn't very well written in those episodes.
1. Will do! 2. Okay, good! I'm not crazy for thinking it! Another example of the ending breaking a story for me was a game called Eternal Sonata. I still like the game, but the ending was pretty dumb and didn't even answer a lot of the questions in the story. 3. Yes!
@@JanelleWaz no you're not crazy. As a horror fan, #2 is absolutely a thing. So many movies ruined by a dumb/cheap/nonsensical ending. Worse is trying to explain to someone why you love this absolute garbage movie because the last 10-20min redeem it...
I gotta be honest, listening to you talk about the visitor.. you certainly praised it a lot more than you did talk about reasons not to like it. What always struck me with the visitor was the little snippets of the wider universe in that timeline. The dominion war just.. not.. happening? Klingons owning DS9? Things didn't seem.. that bad.. aside from klingons and bajorans probably not being the best of friends I would imagine. Don't get me wrong, I know they hadn't written it all yet and tipping the hand to the plot threads through this episode would have been a silly idea, it's just interesting how that world turned out. I've always had a hard time with 'alternate timeline' episodes, as the characters in it never seem to consider the massive world-changing implications of their actions, essentially killing millions, preventing relationships from happening, denying people an entire future (ahem ahem janeway ahem), it's unclear if these timelines exist independently, or if one just stops, since TNG has shown us how many parallel ones their are.. I dunno, it just bothers me
I think had the episode reached its conclusion a different way, I probably would have liked it. I'm not a big fan of alternate timeline episodes myself. I need to do a Voyager rewatch, but I think more than once, I made a joke on Twitter about the timeline snapping back and it's just an ordinary day on Voyager with the most exciting thing being Neelix baking a new cake.
Okay, have to give you that one. There are Trek episodes that address someone being r worded that don't sit well with me. Because that subject isn't one i need in my entertainment. Doesn't change my mind about how great The Visitor is, but I can see your point. And I agree for sure season 7 is let's see how many times we can blow up the enterprise and how many never before spoken of family members showed up. Seven was pretty weak tea most of the time.
Season 7 was pretty weak with the occasional gem thrown in. There are some pretty good episodes in Season 7 among all the meh or... just plain terrible ones.
I love this “Defend Yourself” concept of unpopular opinions. I agree with you on TNG S2, but disagree with you on “The Visitor” (which is one of two Star Trek episodes, along with TNG’s “The Inner Light”, that brought a grown man like me to tears). I thought the whole point of Jake killing himself was to show how much he loved his father and how far he would go to bring him back. Nonetheless, looking forward to future videos in this series! I’ll try to think of my own unpopular Star Trek opinions in the meantime (nothing immediately comes to mind, but I’m sure there are at least a few). Actually, now that I think about it I like the TNG S7 episode “Genesis”, which otherwise seems to have a poor reception among fans. And indeed, my general enjoyment of S7 (as well as Star Trek: Generations) seems to be higher than most. I also think DS9 peaked in season five. The Dominion War, while a good plot, also made the “filler” episodes in S6 and S7 frustrating, since there was a literal war going on. Filler episodes in the previous seasons didn’t bother me (and indeed some of them, including the aforementioned “The Visitor”, are among my favourite). Anyways, apologies for the rambling. Just excited to both hear another Trekkie’s unpopular opinions and to share some of my own too 😊
No worries about rambling. That's what comment sections are for! I enjoyed Generations. It felt the most like an episode of TNG. I hated that it killed off Robert and Rene Picard, but it did help juxtapose Picard's and Soran's reactions to losing their family. Personally, I don't mind the filler episodes of DS9 Season 6 and 7. It kinda helped break up the war and from keeping the show from getting too depressing. I've only watched a little bit of it, but I think Babylon 5 had a similar setup as well.
@@JanelleWaz It’s funny you mention Babylon 5, because I literally just started that show last week. Only two episodes in so far but enjoying it. Will be interesting to see how it compares with DS9, especially given the plagiarism controversy.
@JanelleWaz I believe it should be more towards the middle or even at the 75% mark, it feels more like it would be earned than before you've had a chance to decide whether you like the video or not.
I hear why you're not a fan of The Visitor, but i wholly buy a despondent Jake taking such a drastic measure. I mean, he is the son of a man who tricked the Romulans into the Dominion War. Also, i always thought i was in the minority about season 2 & Pulaski. Since the show was never gonna give us JLP&Bev, Pulaski offered a better narrative narrative. My unpopular opinion is that Trek would've benefited from more action episodes, like Starship Mine.
Season 2 often gets poopooed because of the negatives - Shades of Grey being the season closer didn't help. Peak Performance or even The Emissary could have been tweaked a bit to be decent season closers. Season 2 has some great episodes and some of them feel like it's steps in the right direction, but then you have others that set it back just as much. Popping in Pulaski for a season, and seeing her arc for the season was fun - and on the other hand, how many seasons did they play Geordie as the guy that couldn't get a date?
Ooo, unpopular opinions. Let's go! I think The Inner Light is overrated. It's a good episode, but it's got a "trying too hard" vibe, like it's gunning for a finalist spot at a film festival. I never really agree when it keeps ending up in people's top three. I like Neelix. At least, late-run Neelix. "Jealous boyfriend of a two year old" Neelix is cringe factor nine, but once Kes leaves the show and he has to be his own character, I like him damn it! They call him Trek's Jar Jar Binks (though Neelix is four years older) but they're wrong!!! The Xindi are SUCH A COOL IDEA and I'm sad we never got to see them again outside of ENT S3. An alien species made up of multiple distinctive biological splits based on the region they're meant for, forming a mostly pedantic bigotry for eachother but coming together in a tentative truce so they can respond to an existential threat? That's Star Trek, man! And I wanna see them again! I wanna see what other stories can be told with them! And finally, the one that'll get me in trouble: Garak gets WAY too much love, and the "snarky asshole who's also funny" stereotype he fits himself into is the basis of a character type I'd come to hate in the years following. I like Garak, but I can't join in on the undying love.
I think The Inner Light ranked #2 in my Top Ten TNG list, but you're not alone. I've run across a couple of people who aren't crazy about it. I need to do a full Neelix video, but I need to start my Voyager rewatch before I do. He does grow on you when given a chance. I do love Garak, but you're not completely wrong. He's a good character, but sometimes the fans go overboard.
I'd like to see you do a series on Red Dwarf. I've heard Sir Patrick Stewart or one of his agents, saw Red Dwarf and thought it too close to Star Trek and thought about cooy right infringement, but then realised it was a comedy and just enjoyed watching it. 😅
@@JanelleWaz if you want to watch them and I do fully recommend the show, search Red Dwarf S1 E1 Mister Ed Dail(y) Motion and go from there. The uploader had the first eight or nine seasons ad free. After that you have to just take what comes, but all the episodes should be up there, I am up to Season 11 anyway. Even if you never plan on doing a video(s) for the series, I still highly recommend watching it. One of the best British comedies, right up there with Are You Being Served. Also depending on your humour, it may take a season to feel fully accepted in their sci-fi universe/situation.
@@JanelleWaz if you want to watch them and I do fully recommend the show, search Red Dwarf S1 E1 Mister Ed Dail (y) (M) otion and go from there. The uploader had the first eight or nine seasons ad free. After that you have to just take what comes, but all the episodes should be up there, I am up to Season 11 anyway. Even if you never plan on doing a video(s) for the series, I still highly recommend watching it. One of the best British comedies, right up there with Are You Being Served. Also depending on your humour, it may take a season to feel fully accepted in their sci-fi universe/situation.
@@JanelleWaz if you want to watch them and I do fully recommend the show, search Red Dwarf S1 E1 Mister Ed "motion daily" (in reverse) and go from there. The uploader had the first eight or nine seasons ad free. After that you have to just take what comes, but all the episodes should be up there, I am up to Season 11 anyway. Even if you never plan on doing a video(s) for the series, I still highly recommend watching it. One of the best British comedies, right up there with Are You Being Served. Also depending on your humour, it may take a season to feel fully accepted in their sci-fi universe/situation.
After all the upsides of the Visitor you talked about, the fact that Jake kills himself in a timeline that's going to be reset anyway bothers you because you wanted a "more TNG" ending where a solution is found without any sacrifice? I'm shocked, but every opinion deserves respect. I do agree on Season 2 of TNG. Q Who and Measure of a Man save it for me, plus I strongly prefer Pulaski over Crusher (that's my unpopular opinion). The problem with TNG is that all of its seasons are full of stinkers; unlike, say, Voyager, it took risks and tried new things, some worked out and some didn't. Therefore, I tend to rate TNG based on its great episodes rather than overall quality and consistency. So season 2 is not worse off than the others (Sub Rosa still makes me want to vomit, for example).
Welcome aboard! I really started off this series with a doozy, but I do get why people love The Visitor and even why the ending works for a lot of fans. And as for TNG, when it's great, it's phenomenal, but when it's bad, it's notoriously bad. It probably has some of the best and worst episodes in Trek.
@JanelleWaz I understand where you're coming from, as I have some negative opinions concerning universally adored episodes myself. The ones I get the most flak for are Best of Both Worlds, Part II (TNG) and Far Beyond the Stars (DS9). BoBW Part I would have been a top 3, maybe even the best episode in all of Trek but I can't get over the wasted potential of the Borg, who in Part II started their unfortunate journey from being relentless, nigh invulnerable cybernetic zombies with endless redundancies into laughably goofy and gullible insect colonies which are owned by technobabble solutions to every problem they pose. This is also why I love Q Who so much because it's the Borg at their scariest. It's priceless to see Picard humbled and forced to accept that the universe isn't quite as inherently good as he thought. Far Beyond the Stars I just find overacted and bland, plus the asylum twist didn't work for me. I did enjoy seeing the actors without heavy makeup, but that's about it.
I don't mind Where Silence Has Lease, but I always hear about how people don't like it. It's not a great episode, but I don't mind sitting through it either.
@@JanelleWaz no worries if you didn’t I just found it interesting based in your preferences in your videos; it seemed like one u would be cool with. Love your silly takes; that’s what makes life fun- I am the same way
@@JanelleWaz I read that as well. Think we discussed it too. Also read she was excited to do it. Then discovered it was not what she was expecting. Plus Stewart and apparently the rest of the cast, was really pushing to get Gates back on the show. Gene said Muldaur was great though. Fans also had a problem with her bullying data, but it was how she was written and like you said, in one season she had a story arc/redemption. She also did the Klingon tea ceremony with Worf, had an old flame with Riker's father and saved Picard's life, for crying out loud. Even her first name was Katherine, if not spelled the same as Janeway's. A shame she could not have gotten on better with the original cast. Sort of reminds me of the actor who played Jonas Quinn. He took over and then the actor who played Daniel came back into the picture. Although, I do believe he left on better terms. But it is like "oh, we need you for this amount of time, about a season's worth and then you can go".
OK OK, first Jake had lived a full lifetime and had many successes. He had to die while Benjamin was present. From his point of view he wasn't killing himself, but allowing himself to have the life he was robbed of. Was he supposed to just die at a random time and trap his dad for all eternity? Second, PEOPLE DON'T LIKE SEASON 2? 🤯😜
That was always my impression was that people don't like Season 2 of TNG. I keep remembering a Stargate SG-1 episode where they sent a note into the past through the stargate to warn everyone not to make contact with a planet to prevent a terrible future. I would have preferred it if Old Jake had done something like that.
As 24 is one of my favorite shows, Day 6 had the best 4 hours opening the season, along with a shocking death and an even more explosive event, only to crap out in hours 5-24. Day 8 was dull until Renee Walker died in Jack's apartment and then it was live action cartoon violence. So yes, great shows have bad moments. I never saw the end of the DS9 episode so I can't judge DS9, but in the OS Trek I hate Mirror, Mirror. It just didn't click with me, although I did kinda enjoy Enterprise's mini mirror universe movie. I'm not a fan of the TNG episode Inner Light because it felt too much like Quantum Leap. A good episode but I always skip it in rewarches.
Ooooh! I'm not a fan of the Mirror Universe in general. Mirror Mirror is probably the best of the bunch (wasn't crazy about In A Mirror, Darkly), but even then I'd rather skip it.
hoo boy 24 was a show that was either great or terrible, I don't think there was ever a meh episode. I remember calling my parents every commercial break to have 3min melt downs about what just happened...
Love your channel Janelle. Since you don't have an 'About' section, I'd like to invite you to a weekly Trek discussion livestream called, Buffer Time, on this channel. It features a bunch of small Trek RUclips creators tackling a topic or latest episode review, and we think you'd fit in quite well. If interested, send an email in the about section or leave a comment on any video on the channel.
Let's see..my unpopular opinions: STNG is overrated, having one of the weaker casts of Trek. It's weird, they all got along so well in real life, but their on-screen chemistry wasn't nearly as good. As opposed to the original series famous conflicts behind the scenes, but beautiful chemistry on film. Worf was good, and I can see why people like Picard, but a lot of the characters were stunted because of Roddenberry's weird societal beliefs about "evolving beyond" personal conflict. I also dislike DS9 episode Far Beyond the Stars (Sisko torture porn based on a conflict that does not exist in his normal life), and Data is one of my least favorite characters. He feels less like a person and more like a coagulation of Roddenberry's weird beliefs.
The repeated stupid cosmic reset switch that erased all the stuff that started to make voyager and pushed it back to a bad captain getting he crew lost and passing on every opportunity to get back to the alpha quadrant is what made me stop watching voyager.
I haven't watched Discovery outside of a few clips to convince me that it's not for me, but yeah: that wouldn't make much sense considering that Worf's not leaving Jadzia behind in Change of Heart cost him a captaincy in his career.
Everything created entirely after Rodenberry’s death would be decent enough science fiction on its own… but should never have had the Star Trek IP attached to it. It’s not bad in and of itself, as is popular to opine. It’s only bad in the context of what GR originally envisioned.
Dr Pulaski is my favourite at Star Trek because Diana Muldaur is my favourite actress since 1976.
K'Ehleyr, "Measure of a Man", "Pen Pals", "Peak Performance", the Borg (before they got neutered)... Season 2 is great.
Both of TNG's first two seasons contain some serious gems. I get why they get some hate (Code of Honor and The Naked Now) were both pretty awful, but then you just can't forget that it was Home Soil that gave us the phrase "Ugly Bags of Mostly Water."
I wish that we could of had many more seasons of tng with catherine polaski. How many tng stories could of been made from her and doctor crusher on one ship
Unpopular Opinion: "Where Silence" has Lease and "The Royale" were excellent episodes.
I can see why suicide might not set well with some viewers and make the episode fall flat for them. The way I saw it, Jake worked his whole life to find a solution to bring back his father, ran out of time knowing he probably wouldn't have lived long enough to see his father in the next cycle. Jake had very little to loose at this point, and it was a solution. Not an ideal one for that version of Jake, but a small sacrifice at that point in his life to ensure his Dad wasn't stuck in "limbo" for eternity.
Love to see people still talk about Star Trek. Keep the content coming!
Unpopular Opinion: "The Inner Light" and "The City On The Edge Of Forever" are at best middle of the road episodes.
Season 1 is alright. "Lonely among us" is probably one of my favorite episodes. And having Tasha alive didn't hurt either. I also enjoyed the occasions when Geordie was in command.
But what annoyed me most was the lack of a chief engineer.
The visitor is one of my favorites. It's awesome watching with my son and daughter.
This is all a bit out of my wheelhouse. So I can't debate it. But I will say I enjoyed this segment, and I hope to see more of it. I've always gotten a kick out of someone discussing or ranting about something they're passionate about.
Maybe someday I'll have an informed opinion on the subject. Until then, have a view, a comment, and a like.
Thank you! I happily accept the view, comment, and like.
I LOVE THE THEME OF THIS SERIES.
Excited to see what u think.
You have earned my respect on your other thoughts.
I love the idea of this series! On this episode: I actually like Pulaski more than Crusher. Crusher was a constant Picard pushover.
Don't like the Bajorans? THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS!
But fair points. It probably all started with Ro having a chip on her shoulder in TNG, and it went from there. Bareil was another chill Bajoran, but most of them were fightin' people. I don't mind the Maquis, but I wish Voyager developed the idea more.
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Season 2 is fine. There's some good or decent episodes and a couple of really great episodes in it (who would ever have that that 'Q Who?' would be a setting-changer and given us so much at the time.
I don't have any problems with Pulaski fundamentally. I like her interactions with Worf, she's great fun in 'Elementary Dear Data' and she was is a genuine effort to shake things up and the first real sign the writers were trying to escape from the Roddenberry Box. If not for 'The Child' people wouldn't have gone "yikes" with her and then struggled to shake that negative first impression. I quite like her as a different take on Trek, she actually had a character arc and Diana Muldaur is a good actor in anything I've seen her in and does well with what material she is offered.
I agree, it would have been nice to return to the character, she might have been interesting in the Changeling disease arc in DS9, helping Bashir to treat it or having been blackmailed by Section 31 to help create it for example. Wow would she would have had things to say about that!
if you want to watch them and I do fully recommend the show, search Red Dwarf S1 E1 Mister Ed motion daily (in reverse) and go from there. The uploader had the first eight or nine seasons ad free. After that you have to just take what comes, but all the episodes should be up there, I am up to Season 11 anyway.
Even if you never plan on doing a video(s) for the series, I still highly recommend watching it. One of the best British comedies, right up there with Are You Being Served. Also depending on your humour, it may take a season to feel fully accepted in their sci-fi universe/situation.
Great video! Please do more like this! I haven't...this is hard for me to say...I haven't watched "The Visitor". There I said it!!! I've mostly seen DS9 in reruns on TV when I was a teenager in high school, and "The Visitor" is an episode that just never came up in the rotation when I was watching it. I've also never done a full watchthrough of DS9, so there's that. I do agree with you about season 2 of TNG (and about season 7). I appreciate what they tried to do, and while it does have its stinkers, those episodes were rushed because of the 1988 Writer's Strike that ended up compressing the production timeline for the season. It also didn't help that "Q Who" used up the budget for the season, which left a few episodes that came out after it, including "Shades of Gray", lacking. Also, I do think TNG season 7 is a very weak season for a few reasons. 1. Oversight was weaker because, while she was the showrunner, Jeri Taylor was busy working on development for Voyager at the same time. 2. The franchise's best writers of the time were either on DS9, getting Voyager ready to go into production, or writing Generations, and so TNG was being left behind. And 3. Too much was happening for Star Trek at the same time. TNG was in its final season, DS9 was in its second season, Generations was in production, AND Voyager was in development, and it ended up spreading the production people too thin. Including Piller and Berman as the heads of the franchise at the time. Probably my most unpopular opinion is that I think that I prefer Voyager over DS9.
Voyager better than DS9? Now them's fightin' words! (All kidding aside, Voyager was a fun show.)
I forgot about the writer's stike during Season 2 and how so much was going on during Season 7. It didn't even occur to me that Season 2 had less episodes until I did my DVD review. Still a very solid season even if parts were budgeted.
@@JanelleWaz Lol. Yeah, that put a huge damper on the season. Particularly since the season premiere, "The Child", was a recycled script from the unmade TV series, Star Trek: Phase II.
My unpopular opinion- I really like Season 1 of Enterprise. I think the introduction to both the characters and the time period we’d never seen was great. I also think the Temporal Cold War was an idea with great potential, especially as a way to give a prequel something other than a fated ending. I think the Vulcan-Human relationship of the time was a lot more workable than a lot of fans claim, and I think Season 4 proved that very well
Agreed! Actually, you reminded me of something I need to talk about in a future episode.
I love the Visitor, but I definitely see where you are coming from.
I am VERY onboard with you for Season 2. I think Pulaski is underappreciated and had she been able to grow for several more years...who is to say? I would have loved to see the Pulaski and Worf friendship develop too, poor Worf. He loses everyone he's close to. AND (Unpopular to you) I LOVE The Royale. Sure it's crap, but I think it's fantastic fun.
I'm not sure how unpopular this is anymore, but I REALLY like the slow start to Enterprise Season 1.
Enterprise Season 1 gets a lot of crap, but it's not bad. It's slow, but that's not a bad thing.
My unpopular Star Trek opinion....
I've never liked the Bajoran's or the Maquis. I just can't stand characters with a chip on their shoulder. Life is hard for a lot of people, so it doesn't give anyone a right to be a snippy jerk to everyone they meet. I think Kai Opaca was the only likable Bajoran I ever saw on DS9. To me at least.
Excellent video as always! You're a credit to the Federation!!
Not like Bajorans? THEM'S FIGHTIN' WORDS!
But fair points. I think it all started with Ro with a chip on her shoulder in TNG and it all went from there. Bareil was a chill Bajoran, but yeah: most of them were ready for a fight. I don't mind the Maquis, but I wish Voyager developed the concept more. They set it up as a big part of the show only to forget all about it halfway through the show.
Glad you enjoyed the video!
@@JanelleWaz I like the Gowron image haha I always felt like they had the Maquis fall in line and become "Good Little Starfleet Officers" WAY too easily on Voyager as well. I thought it was corny how none of them decided to leave the ship when Janeway gave them the chance to.
I like the idea.
Two of mine:
I like Star Trek: Insurrection. Some people complain that it feels like a long episode of TNG. That's why I like it.
Season three of Enterprise was by far my least favourite. Enterprise has a lot of problems, but the boring season long Xindi arc made me want to tell my TV to shut up all the time.
Disagree on both points, but I can see where you're coming from. I liked the Xindi Arc when I first watched it (heck, I still argue that Enterprise started to figure out what it was doing during it), but I'm pretty meh on it now.
Season two has two vital episodes in it, measure of a man and Q Who. That's the same number of great episodes that season 6 has (chain of command and tapestry). There's a lot of good episodes in season 2. The casino episode doesn't even bother me that much. Pulaski is hard to like because of how she treats data but she essentially has a better arc in one season than crusher or troi had during the run of the show.
I don't think I agree with you on the visitor but it's a valid point. In that timeline maybe rick berman got hit with a sexual harassment suit and Terry Farrell stayed on the show.
I hope the series continues on. In particular I'm hoping to see you touch on how DS9 dialed back worf's character development from TNG.
Might have to talk about Worf on TNG and DS9 in an episode. I would have liked to make a regular Treknalysis video about it, but there's nothing that stops me from doing that either.
I would say you presented balanced examinations of your examples, going on to offer solid support for your positions. Because of this I mostly agree with you.
My unpopular opinion is that I think that the Ferengi are one of the best species in all of Star Trek. Because of their obsession with material wealth most species have a negative view of them. Because of the federation’s societal rejection of the pursuit of wealth this negativity becomes down right racist in some cases. The key here is a proper understanding of Ferengi religious beliefs which change them from greedy money grubbers, to terrified adherents to a belief where heaven is available only to the ultra rich. Consider that their belief in their lack of worth is so great that they have their body parts auctioned off in an attempt to ensure they did everything possible to pay the entry fee into bliss. That’s a hard life to live, especially among people who have rejected monetary gain.
I like how DS9 really deepened the Ferengi. It's not so much that you can't do business with them as it is you need to learn their rules.
I have a couple very strong unpopular opinions. 1) The "slavery" argument in measure of a man is a TERRIBLE argument. 2) Geordi was not creepy about Leah Brahms, etc. ...I'd love to share a drink and talk about it! But, I have no one to talk Trek with. :( I guess I'll just have to subscribe! :)
Welcome aboard! I do have a couple of Geordi/Leah Brahms videos, though I'm on the side of Geordi was being a creeper. Don't get me wrong: I like Geordi, but he wasn't very well written in those episodes.
Jellico did nothing wrong.
I need to do a long form video about Jellico. I have a lot of mixed feelings about him.
1 - love this series, more please
2 - and ending can make or break a movie or show, absolutely
3 - Tony Todd deserves more love
1. Will do!
2. Okay, good! I'm not crazy for thinking it! Another example of the ending breaking a story for me was a game called Eternal Sonata. I still like the game, but the ending was pretty dumb and didn't even answer a lot of the questions in the story.
3. Yes!
@@JanelleWaz no you're not crazy. As a horror fan, #2 is absolutely a thing. So many movies ruined by a dumb/cheap/nonsensical ending. Worse is trying to explain to someone why you love this absolute garbage movie because the last 10-20min redeem it...
I gotta be honest, listening to you talk about the visitor.. you certainly praised it a lot more than you did talk about reasons not to like it. What always struck me with the visitor was the little snippets of the wider universe in that timeline. The dominion war just.. not.. happening? Klingons owning DS9? Things didn't seem.. that bad.. aside from klingons and bajorans probably not being the best of friends I would imagine. Don't get me wrong, I know they hadn't written it all yet and tipping the hand to the plot threads through this episode would have been a silly idea, it's just interesting how that world turned out. I've always had a hard time with 'alternate timeline' episodes, as the characters in it never seem to consider the massive world-changing implications of their actions, essentially killing millions, preventing relationships from happening, denying people an entire future (ahem ahem janeway ahem), it's unclear if these timelines exist independently, or if one just stops, since TNG has shown us how many parallel ones their are.. I dunno, it just bothers me
I think had the episode reached its conclusion a different way, I probably would have liked it.
I'm not a big fan of alternate timeline episodes myself. I need to do a Voyager rewatch, but I think more than once, I made a joke on Twitter about the timeline snapping back and it's just an ordinary day on Voyager with the most exciting thing being Neelix baking a new cake.
Okay, have to give you that one. There are Trek episodes that address someone being r worded that don't sit well with me. Because that subject isn't one i need in my entertainment. Doesn't change my mind about how great The Visitor is, but I can see your point.
And I agree for sure season 7 is let's see how many times we can blow up the enterprise and how many never before spoken of family members showed up. Seven was pretty weak tea most of the time.
Season 7 was pretty weak with the occasional gem thrown in. There are some pretty good episodes in Season 7 among all the meh or... just plain terrible ones.
I agree, 100%
I love this “Defend Yourself” concept of unpopular opinions. I agree with you on TNG S2, but disagree with you on “The Visitor” (which is one of two Star Trek episodes, along with TNG’s “The Inner Light”, that brought a grown man like me to tears). I thought the whole point of Jake killing himself was to show how much he loved his father and how far he would go to bring him back.
Nonetheless, looking forward to future videos in this series! I’ll try to think of my own unpopular Star Trek opinions in the meantime (nothing immediately comes to mind, but I’m sure there are at least a few).
Actually, now that I think about it I like the TNG S7 episode “Genesis”, which otherwise seems to have a poor reception among fans. And indeed, my general enjoyment of S7 (as well as Star Trek: Generations) seems to be higher than most.
I also think DS9 peaked in season five. The Dominion War, while a good plot, also made the “filler” episodes in S6 and S7 frustrating, since there was a literal war going on. Filler episodes in the previous seasons didn’t bother me (and indeed some of them, including the aforementioned “The Visitor”, are among my favourite).
Anyways, apologies for the rambling. Just excited to both hear another Trekkie’s unpopular opinions and to share some of my own too 😊
No worries about rambling. That's what comment sections are for!
I enjoyed Generations. It felt the most like an episode of TNG. I hated that it killed off Robert and Rene Picard, but it did help juxtapose Picard's and Soran's reactions to losing their family.
Personally, I don't mind the filler episodes of DS9 Season 6 and 7. It kinda helped break up the war and from keeping the show from getting too depressing. I've only watched a little bit of it, but I think Babylon 5 had a similar setup as well.
@@JanelleWaz It’s funny you mention Babylon 5, because I literally just started that show last week. Only two episodes in so far but enjoying it. Will be interesting to see how it compares with DS9, especially given the plagiarism controversy.
Unpopular opinion? Edward Jellico was a good captain.
I've never understood the request for subscription BEFORE one has seen the video.
My logic is that people are more likely to see it before the video starts rather than during the outro when most of them have checked out.
@JanelleWaz I believe it should be more towards the middle or even at the 75% mark, it feels more like it would be earned than before you've had a chance to decide whether you like the video or not.
I hear why you're not a fan of The Visitor, but i wholly buy a despondent Jake taking such a drastic measure. I mean, he is the son of a man who tricked the Romulans into the Dominion War.
Also, i always thought i was in the minority about season 2 & Pulaski. Since the show was never gonna give us JLP&Bev, Pulaski offered a better narrative narrative.
My unpopular opinion is that Trek would've benefited from more action episodes, like Starship Mine.
I also like a season 2, there are some good episodes in there
Season 2 often gets poopooed because of the negatives - Shades of Grey being the season closer didn't help. Peak Performance or even The Emissary could have been tweaked a bit to be decent season closers. Season 2 has some great episodes and some of them feel like it's steps in the right direction, but then you have others that set it back just as much. Popping in Pulaski for a season, and seeing her arc for the season was fun - and on the other hand, how many seasons did they play Geordie as the guy that couldn't get a date?
Ooo, unpopular opinions. Let's go!
I think The Inner Light is overrated. It's a good episode, but it's got a "trying too hard" vibe, like it's gunning for a finalist spot at a film festival. I never really agree when it keeps ending up in people's top three.
I like Neelix. At least, late-run Neelix. "Jealous boyfriend of a two year old" Neelix is cringe factor nine, but once Kes leaves the show and he has to be his own character, I like him damn it! They call him Trek's Jar Jar Binks (though Neelix is four years older) but they're wrong!!!
The Xindi are SUCH A COOL IDEA and I'm sad we never got to see them again outside of ENT S3. An alien species made up of multiple distinctive biological splits based on the region they're meant for, forming a mostly pedantic bigotry for eachother but coming together in a tentative truce so they can respond to an existential threat? That's Star Trek, man! And I wanna see them again! I wanna see what other stories can be told with them!
And finally, the one that'll get me in trouble: Garak gets WAY too much love, and the "snarky asshole who's also funny" stereotype he fits himself into is the basis of a character type I'd come to hate in the years following. I like Garak, but I can't join in on the undying love.
I think The Inner Light ranked #2 in my Top Ten TNG list, but you're not alone. I've run across a couple of people who aren't crazy about it.
I need to do a full Neelix video, but I need to start my Voyager rewatch before I do. He does grow on you when given a chance.
I do love Garak, but you're not completely wrong. He's a good character, but sometimes the fans go overboard.
I'd like to see you do a series on Red Dwarf. I've heard Sir Patrick Stewart or one of his agents, saw Red Dwarf and thought it too close to Star Trek and thought about cooy right infringement, but then realised it was a comedy and just enjoyed watching it. 😅
I've actually never watched Red Dwarf. Heard about it for years, though.
@@JanelleWaz if you want to watch them and I do fully recommend the show, search Red Dwarf S1 E1 Mister Ed Dail(y) Motion and go from there. The uploader had the first eight or nine seasons ad free. After that you have to just take what comes, but all the episodes should be up there, I am up to Season 11 anyway.
Even if you never plan on doing a video(s) for the series, I still highly recommend watching it. One of the best British comedies, right up there with Are You Being Served. Also depending on your humour, it may take a season to feel fully accepted in their sci-fi universe/situation.
@@JanelleWaz if you want to watch them and I do fully recommend the show, search Red Dwarf S1 E1 Mister Ed Dail (y) (M) otion and go from there. The uploader had the first eight or nine seasons ad free. After that you have to just take what comes, but all the episodes should be up there, I am up to Season 11 anyway.
Even if you never plan on doing a video(s) for the series, I still highly recommend watching it. One of the best British comedies, right up there with Are You Being Served. Also depending on your humour, it may take a season to feel fully accepted in their sci-fi universe/situation.
@@JanelleWaz if you want to watch them and I do fully recommend the show, search Red Dwarf S1 E1 Mister Ed "motion daily" (in reverse) and go from there. The uploader had the first eight or nine seasons ad free. After that you have to just take what comes, but all the episodes should be up there, I am up to Season 11 anyway.
Even if you never plan on doing a video(s) for the series, I still highly recommend watching it. One of the best British comedies, right up there with Are You Being Served. Also depending on your humour, it may take a season to feel fully accepted in their sci-fi universe/situation.
Not sure why RUclips kept deleting my post, but I posted separately on here how to watch the episodes, if you care to.
The Inner Light is .... boring. (runs away)
After all the upsides of the Visitor you talked about, the fact that Jake kills himself in a timeline that's going to be reset anyway bothers you because you wanted a "more TNG" ending where a solution is found without any sacrifice? I'm shocked, but every opinion deserves respect.
I do agree on Season 2 of TNG. Q Who and Measure of a Man save it for me, plus I strongly prefer Pulaski over Crusher (that's my unpopular opinion). The problem with TNG is that all of its seasons are full of stinkers; unlike, say, Voyager, it took risks and tried new things, some worked out and some didn't. Therefore, I tend to rate TNG based on its great episodes rather than overall quality and consistency. So season 2 is not worse off than the others (Sub Rosa still makes me want to vomit, for example).
Oh, and happy to subscribe. I love unpopular opinions :)
Welcome aboard!
I really started off this series with a doozy, but I do get why people love The Visitor and even why the ending works for a lot of fans.
And as for TNG, when it's great, it's phenomenal, but when it's bad, it's notoriously bad. It probably has some of the best and worst episodes in Trek.
@JanelleWaz I understand where you're coming from, as I have some negative opinions concerning universally adored episodes myself. The ones I get the most flak for are Best of Both Worlds, Part II (TNG) and Far Beyond the Stars (DS9).
BoBW Part I would have been a top 3, maybe even the best episode in all of Trek but I can't get over the wasted potential of the Borg, who in Part II started their unfortunate journey from being relentless, nigh invulnerable cybernetic zombies with endless redundancies into laughably goofy and gullible insect colonies which are owned by technobabble solutions to every problem they pose. This is also why I love Q Who so much because it's the Borg at their scariest. It's priceless to see Picard humbled and forced to accept that the universe isn't quite as inherently good as he thought. Far Beyond the Stars I just find overacted and bland, plus the asylum twist didn't work for me. I did enjoy seeing the actors without heavy makeup, but that's about it.
I also never liked visitor; it never was in my rewatch list- always skipped when I do runs of the series
Sometimes I watch The Visitor when it comes up in the lineup, but if I have something better to do, I'm also okay skipping it.
I don't like episodes that "never really happened". I don't hate this episode, but for me it's not the top 10 many think it is.
You didn’t like where silence has lease? Interesting. I think it gives character development pretty good for many in the cast
I don't mind Where Silence Has Lease, but I always hear about how people don't like it. It's not a great episode, but I don't mind sitting through it either.
@@JanelleWaz no worries if you didn’t I just found it interesting based in your preferences in your videos; it seemed like one u would be cool with.
Love your silly takes; that’s what makes life fun- I am the same way
I'd like to see Diana Muldaur make a return as Dr Pulaski on Picard, as she is still with us.
I don't think she would. I heard she didn't have a great time on the set of TNG and wants to leave it behind.
@@JanelleWaz I read that as well. Think we discussed it too. Also read she was excited to do it. Then discovered it was not what she was expecting. Plus Stewart and apparently the rest of the cast, was really pushing to get Gates back on the show. Gene said Muldaur was great though.
Fans also had a problem with her bullying data, but it was how she was written and like you said, in one season she had a story arc/redemption. She also did the Klingon tea ceremony with Worf, had an old flame with Riker's father and saved Picard's life, for crying out loud. Even her first name was Katherine, if not spelled the same as Janeway's. A shame she could not have gotten on better with the original cast.
Sort of reminds me of the actor who played Jonas Quinn. He took over and then the actor who played Daniel came back into the picture. Although, I do believe he left on better terms. But it is like "oh, we need you for this amount of time, about a season's worth and then you can go".
OK OK, first Jake had lived a full lifetime and had many successes. He had to die while Benjamin was present. From his point of view he wasn't killing himself, but allowing himself to have the life he was robbed of. Was he supposed to just die at a random time and trap his dad for all eternity? Second, PEOPLE DON'T LIKE SEASON 2? 🤯😜
That was always my impression was that people don't like Season 2 of TNG.
I keep remembering a Stargate SG-1 episode where they sent a note into the past through the stargate to warn everyone not to make contact with a planet to prevent a terrible future. I would have preferred it if Old Jake had done something like that.
As 24 is one of my favorite shows, Day 6 had the best 4 hours opening the season, along with a shocking death and an even more explosive event, only to crap out in hours 5-24. Day 8 was dull until Renee Walker died in Jack's apartment and then it was live action cartoon violence. So yes, great shows have bad moments.
I never saw the end of the DS9 episode so I can't judge DS9, but in the OS Trek I hate Mirror, Mirror. It just didn't click with me, although I did kinda enjoy Enterprise's mini mirror universe movie. I'm not a fan of the TNG episode Inner Light because it felt too much like Quantum Leap. A good episode but I always skip it in rewarches.
Ooooh! I'm not a fan of the Mirror Universe in general. Mirror Mirror is probably the best of the bunch (wasn't crazy about In A Mirror, Darkly), but even then I'd rather skip it.
I don't know about the Quantum Leap aspect, but I too don't care for that episode. It feels...weird.
hoo boy 24 was a show that was either great or terrible, I don't think there was ever a meh episode. I remember calling my parents every commercial break to have 3min melt downs about what just happened...
i actually also like Season 2. In fact, for me S1 and 2 > S 6 and 7.
Not that Season 6 is terrible, but that's the point where I can tell the show is running out of steam.
@@JanelleWazYea, i do like season 6, but idk, 1 and 2 at least have a "charm" :P
Love your channel Janelle. Since you don't have an 'About' section, I'd like to invite you to a weekly Trek discussion livestream called, Buffer Time, on this channel. It features a bunch of small Trek RUclips creators tackling a topic or latest episode review, and we think you'd fit in quite well. If interested, send an email in the about section or leave a comment on any video on the channel.
DUN DUN DUN
I didn't even know TNG season 2 wasn't well liked
That was my impression that people weren't fond of Season 2. Obviously not as much as people don't like Season 1, but not well liked.
Let's see..my unpopular opinions: STNG is overrated, having one of the weaker casts of Trek. It's weird, they all got along so well in real life, but their on-screen chemistry wasn't nearly as good. As opposed to the original series famous conflicts behind the scenes, but beautiful chemistry on film. Worf was good, and I can see why people like Picard, but a lot of the characters were stunted because of Roddenberry's weird societal beliefs about "evolving beyond" personal conflict. I also dislike DS9 episode Far Beyond the Stars (Sisko torture porn based on a conflict that does not exist in his normal life), and Data is one of my least favorite characters. He feels less like a person and more like a coagulation of Roddenberry's weird beliefs.
The repeated stupid cosmic reset switch that erased all the stuff that started to make voyager and pushed it back to a bad captain getting he crew lost and passing on every opportunity to get back to the alpha quadrant is what made me stop watching voyager.
Not that I dislike Voyager or Janeway, but they did hit the reset button a lot.
My unpopular opinion, DS9 was awful, Enterprise was great
Oof! Going after DS9 my favorite Trek show!
Nah it's cool. I really enjoyed Enterprise as well.
2:10 Candy Man, Candy Man, Candy Man 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 🍯👀
Never did watch that one. I'm not into horror movies.
oof then definitely don't watch that one@@JanelleWaz I mean, I love it, but...yeah avoid avoid avoid
Micheal bernham shoukd never been made captain of the uss discovery ncc-1031-a after starting the federation klingon war of 2256 2257
I haven't watched Discovery outside of a few clips to convince me that it's not for me, but yeah: that wouldn't make much sense considering that Worf's not leaving Jadzia behind in Change of Heart cost him a captaincy in his career.
Everything created entirely after Rodenberry’s death would be decent enough science fiction on its own… but should never have had the Star Trek IP attached to it. It’s not bad in and of itself, as is popular to opine. It’s only bad in the context of what GR originally envisioned.
I disagree, but I can totally see where you're coming from.