Do TNG's Final Three Seasons Hold Up?
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- Опубликовано: 22 июл 2024
- #startrek #tng #lore
Star Trek: The Next Generation's final three seasons were marked by subtle but real change. As the show began to drift away from moral and sociopolitical commentary and more towards character drama and pure sci-fi, some thought it was overstaying its welcome. Is this reputation deserved?
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- CHAPTERS -
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:02 Season 5
00:33:42 Season 6 Episodes 1-25
00:56:48 Descent
00:58:59 The Rest of Season 7
01:22:38 Outro
01:25:10 Bloopers 
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"Whatever this thing does, it must feel pretty good"
- Wesley Crusher
After spending this amount of time of the final 3 seasons, perhaps a good game of putting disks in the funnels is in order
'You have to understand that drugs - can make you feel good. They put you on top of the world. You're happy, sure of yourself, in control.'-Lt Yar
Hey, “The Game” was good if it only reinforced SOMEONE on the Enterprise learned something from Roga Danar!
This is the perfect example of how a “Wesley saves the ship” episode should go. While he’s still naive, Wes is the only character who actually embodies the honesty, integrity, and duty that Worf keeps preaching, but with the brains to do something about it.
Wes should’ve been a “mustang” (someone who’s promoted through the commissioned officer track in the field, not through the traditional academy route). Wheaton in his best moments reflects a young Jack Ryan, where Starfleet may be the start of his career, but not the totality.
90s 'tude 😅
@@Aragorn7884 It's like wearing a DARE shirt unironically 🙃
Worf didn't kill Duras for framing his father. Worf killed Duras for killing the mother of his child.
And it was a-GREAT-fight scene !!! Finally WORF went off on someone who deserved it !!! LOL. I was so glad Riker didn't get there in time to stop Worf and I under stood why Piker had to dig in Worf's &&& over that clean kill. LOL. That was a very GOOD episode.
"K'Ehleyr... was my MATE"
I said the same thing.
Such a fantastic episode, guest-star powerhouse with the most iconic and well cast Klingons
@@powerbadpowerbad at least it's a double whammy, he avenges his mate, but also his family and those that died at Khitomer.
Scotty's line "Oh, I may be captain by rank; but I never wanted to be anything else but an engineer." Hits so hard with me after I moved into Captaining from engineering years ago. I relate too much
The female changling does say in early s6 of DS9 that they used to be solids a very long time ago, considering the prehistoric nature of the message it may actually be the same person, this would bring a whole new meaning to the title of founders
🤯
It's one of those things that adds up seemingly perfectly but I don't think it's ever been acknowledged
This has always been my own tacit headcannon.
Alpha cannon has never gone in depth on where they came from, beta cannon I believe contradicts this, as all changelings come from one founder changeling who isn't the female changeling, but I don't love the changeling beta cannon, so this might be my new headcannon.
@@joeyshears1483 I have a love hate relationship with beta cannon, one one hand it's a shame that you have to discard a bunch of stuff that fills in the gaps, on the other hand it's so contradictory that I can understand why
What I really like about the episode "Disaster" is how everybody on their own immediately takes action and responsibility to organize, fix and control the situation from wherever they are, autonomously racing to repair the ship and solve the situation as a whole unit together in various ways, despite being isolated and out of communication with each other. Almost like an ant-hive all working together without a pre-made plan or having to wait for orders or information from others.
Not to mention how almost everyone was put into roles or forced to do something uncomfortable for them.
Picard with the kids, Worf delivering the baby, Keiko having the baby, Troi taking command, Ro taking orders from someone far less experienced, O'Brian dealing with Ro's brashness (especially when she recommends separating the saucer), Geordie and Crusher having to decompress the bay (probably the least interesting one, geordie being made to sing at the beginning served this theme better), Data having to absorb all those volts, and Riker having to remove Data's head and connect it to the Enterprise. All were moments of difficulty and discomfort.
That's just Starfleet way of conduct, baby.
Watching you get more and more unhinged in this series is almost as good as the nostalgia I felt while reliving my early teens watching them.
Tapestry is the episode where I think Picard may have finally stopped seeing Q as a pure enemy, but maybe like an abrasive guardian angel who knows him better then he knows himself. Q himself brought up the circumstances of Picard taking command of the Stargazer, something Picard wouldn't just share.
Plus, we can never forget "Gene Luck Pickerd." Peak Q humor.
@justfitz08 OH my gosh! Such a great line from one of my favorite episodes. Thanks for reminding me. I had to pause this and come back mid video because of this reply.
24:00 - Locarno later became the inspiration for Tom Paris in Star Trek: Voyager, even being played the same actor. The producers of Voyager claimed Locarno's actions made him irredeemable, and therefore a new character was required. But it seems more likely that they didn't want to pay royalties to the writers of "The First Duty" Ronald D. Moore and Naren Shankar to use the character every episode. Robert Duncan McNeill has said in a 1997 interview that while the two characters may seem similar, they were actually quite different. He remarked, "Locarno seemed like a nice guy, but deep down he was a bad guy. Tom Paris is an opposite premise in a way. Deep down he's a good guy. He's just made some mistakes." Having had almost a quarter of a century to think about it, McNeill stood by his assessment when he reiterated in 2020, "I think Locarno was a bad guy who pretended to be a good guy. Deep down inside, he was rotten. In contrast, inside Tom was a good guy who pretended to be a bad guy. He sort of wanted everybody to think he didn't give a damn and that he was a lone wolf, but deep down he wasn't like that."
The only reason Tom Paris and Nick Locarno aren't the same character is that they'd have had to pay the writer of the TNG episode every time Locarno appeared in Voyager.
Stupid behind the scenes meddling again ruins what would have been neat writing. I also recognised him as Paris anyway similarly to the way I consider Star Wars EU the "real" canon
@@fluffskunk Agreed.
@@EveryDooDarnDiddlyDay yea this was too early to expect much serialisation in ameri tv. Although DS9 and a handful of other shows did it well in the early/mid 90s
my husband and I say that Tom Paris' name is Nicholas Thomas Locarno-Paris. when he went to the academy he used his mother's maiden name in oder to distinguish himself from Admiral Paris and become an officer on his own merit, but stopped using that name after the whole debacle on First Duty and joined the Maqui since his Starfleet career was over and wanted to stick it to his daddy
I really love all the out of context clips of riker saying things.
Same! I found myself giggling uncontrollably at that part. I’m really a fan of Tyler’s sense of humor. 😂
As somebody who desperately wants to relive tng but doesn't have the time to rewatch it, i really appreciate what you're doing with these videos.
An excellent point to appreciate. Ties into something Orange was saying about how some of the episodes seem fairly weak on later viewings. This allows me to consider lower-rated episodes without having to rewatch them entirely before I'm really in the mood to. This video does a great job at distilling episodes down thoroughly while adding some insight and humour.
@@beefbusiness52 its a good point
There are other channels that also talk about TNG in different ways than Orange River.
@@BTScriviner Great! If anyone is interested they can use search bar to find them :)
@@beefbusiness52 I have time, it's more that I've seen them so much/recently that I don't want to over-do it on the rewatches. For example, i will rewatch parts of DS9 every year or so. Maybe a VOY episode here and there. I just don't enjoy watching them over and over to the point i start hating them
The way that you do short summaries of each episode is incredibly helpful, sometimes other trek RUclipsrs don’t and it always leaves me floundering a bit unless I’ve specifically searched for that episode because I wanted more content on it. Either way, thank you for putting out these series, your hard work is much appreciated ❤
An hour and a half of OrangeRiver?? HELL YEAH.
As a retiree with plenty of free time, I enjoy long form videos like this.
I think you did a really good job with the summaries and the humor was on point.
Thank you Benjamin!
Hey,since you're retired and have plenty of free time,why don't you start your own youtube channel ????
I recommend Toldinstone (nonfiction) history videos about Rome etc. for video essays. Interesting and I like his calm presentation. A lot of RUclipsrs tend to bellow excitedly at the viewer.
Yep, it's good!
@@powerbadpowerbad, I did but it's more difficult then people think, lots and lots of learning curve and also, content. What to put on your channel? I don't wanna carry a camera around with me everywhere which is what many of the travel channel do. I suppose I can do at home stuff but it is all just work. I retired for a reason. Not to work.
Data telling that lady that her son would be sad 😮😢❤
she deserved it though 🤭🤭🤭
@@mysticmarble94 yes, yes she did.
I disagree. She did what many parents would do. Avenge and revenge are words for a reason.
@@kennyhudson9201 yeah but TNG is beyond those notions
@@kennyhudson9201 words exist therefore 🤪😆
This video made me realize that many of my favorite episodes and episodes I have the most vivid childhood memories of were all from Season 5,6,& 7.
A longer video, but an excellent one! Brings me back to enjoying this wonderful series. Thanks for creating this!
One thing to watch out for in the episode Genesis is that Gates McFadden had them explain what those beakers of coloured liquid were in sickbay. There's an explanatory note in the TNG technical manual that she always wanted to know how things worked so I think it's hilarious that she took the opportunity of directing to explain why Crusher keeps beakers of blue and red liquid in her lab.
This was a GREAT video. Thank you, Tyler. To add to your point about Picard's memories of his life/simulation in the probe there's also his experience of carrying Sarek's katra. I'd imagine carrying an alien's mind would be traumatic even voluntarily. Especially considering how intense Vulcan emotions are said to be.
Picard's meltdown carrying the burden of Surak's emotions is one of my favorite performances.
The character dynamics between Geordi and Ro keeps making me think that pairing should’ve been explored. Geordi has some of his best, non-creepy interactions with a female officer, and Ro shakes off the chip on her shoulder whenever she’s around Geordi.
"SHE DID WHAT?!?" lolz to Geordi.
I think they were trying to build his confidence with women as the series moved on, but I was never able to buy into it. It was always cringe. The only times it works is when he interacts in a platonic sense, like in the episode Identity Crisis.
@@justfitz08 “Identity Crisis” is not only a good Geordi episode, it’s my favorite, as it was the one that scared the living daylights out of me as a kid when I saw it on its first airing.
The psychological horror in that episode is perceived subconsciously, but not as overt as “Schisms” or “Night Terrors”
@@chrisbullard5901 I also liked the episode The Enemy for Geordie.
"The fleets in commodore, the sky's full of federation ships."
"You're lying"
"I never lie when I have sand in my boots." 😏
The physics of it make absolutely no sense, but once you stop thinking about how it does or does not work, "The Next Phase" is a fantastic Geordie and ro episode
This was a masterpiece, I hope to see similar breakdowns of voyager and Ds9
Thank you so much! They may take awhile to arrive on the channel, but believe me, I know people will be excited to see them.
That Boothby is played by Ray Walston, who starred as the Martian in My Favorite Martian, is always worth a mention!
36:00 One thing I love about Relics is, they found out some guy had build a replica TOS bridge set just for his own amusement.
He must have completely lost it when they called, "Hey, can we come shoot a scene on your set?"
Not just that, but also James Doohan will be on set as Scotty! Total fanboy dream come true!
In S5E21, The Perfect Mate, the actor that plays Ambassador Briam is Tim O'Connor. He played Dr. Elias Huer in 21 episodes of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
Another excellent and entertaining video. I appreciate the stroll down memory lane. I had actually forgotten some of these episodes.
One note:
The Kataanians did not force Picard to destroy anything. While still involuntary, it amounts to basically an especially intense dream experience. What the Borg did was a violation many orders of magnitude more horrific.
If you've ever dreamt another life, one with decades of family and friends, connections that seemed real within the dream, then you might mourn their loss upon waking. Still it was only a dream. It lives on only within you.
To me it's a far cry from being coerced into slaughtering thousands. Struggling and failing to assert your will upon your own body. Enduring the violation of your very identity.
The effects of these experiences upon Picard, while lifelong, were very different.
Malachi Throne, who plays Senator Pardek, played Commodore Mendez in The Original Series episode, "The Menagerie."
Tyler, I've got to say, I've been a big fan of your work for some time now but I think this is the video I've laughed out loud at the most. Your comedy chops have done nothing but improve. Great work, mate!
Thank you so much!!!
I always wanted a series where Data was in command of a starship and how he would handle that responsibility.
Maybe they can reboot it one day like strange new worlds and make data a captain post enterprise
@@stevencoardvenice Come to think of it. An animated series would be interesting.
Fun little fact in the episode True Q that I'm sure most people already caught, the image of Amanda Rogers' parents sitting on the couch holding her as a baby is an image taken from the Season 1 episode When the Bough Breaks, where Wesley and a bunch of the kids are taken to help repopulate a planet.
Awesome, love how loopy this got, although this probably shows the stress and effort this has cost to produce as well! Thanks double for that. :D
The double/triple silent take of looking forward and to the side made me laugh. I appreciated a lot of your candid nature while reviewing these seasons. You condensed quite a lot of information but kept the pace going and did your best to not lose too much of the nuances each story was trying to convey whether they succeeded or not in their efforts. It was a very enjoyable video. I'm particularly fond of long form content on here so this was really fun.
Thank you Terry!
17:45 This episode was based on a grossly underrated movie from the 80's called "Enemy Mine". And that movie was based on real life events in WWII. An American and a Japanese pilot were fighting over a deserted island when both pilots were forced to bail out of their respective airplanes. At first they tried to kill each other but quickly learned they needed to cooperate to survive.
And their story was finished or at least homaged in King Kong I guess
The "are you winning son segment" was amazing and profound haha. Thank you for this video Tyler, I appreciate you, your insights, efforts, research and your humor.
Thank you!
Appreciate all the hard work. I am so glad you wrapped this up. I loved every minute of watching this...❤
Jellico had reasonable expectations for behavior, which the crew failed to meet, which soured his impressions of them. As for Jellico's timeline, remember that Data agreed the timeline could be met, which forced Geordi to angrily state what was required (instead of just continuing to claim it was impossible). This episode was written like a comedy where free-spirit students/employees/whatever fight against their authoritarian boss to continue their free-spirit lifestyle. The problem Chain of Command has is that the crew of the Enterprise are supposed to be high ranking adults who continually face critical situations with large scale ramifications, not a group of frat boys that are fighting the "evil" dean in order to hold a block-wide keg party.
Even so, the episodes' concept could have worked if the writers had made Jellico "evil" or even incapable, but they didn't. Jellico is a quite competent captain, and Picard confirms as much. So you end up with a story where the Enterprise crew are whining about being expected to do their jobs during a potential crisis, while Riker ranges from petty to flat out dangerous in his insubordination.
Honestly, if Picard hadn't been so traumatized by his own events, then the episode should have ended with Picard telling his crew how disappointed he was in their behavior, while giving Riker an extended dressing down in private, going as far as to state that Riker clearly *wasn't* qualified yet to be a captain.
Really love the longer format, Tyler! Been subbed since early days. Love your videos. Looking forward to next weeks one with chain of command and the chats with other trek tubers. ☺️ also loving the more personal stuff and personality. Haha it’s rad.
Thanks a ton!
@@OrangeRiveryeah Tyler! Ofc! I get so excited when I see a new video of yours pop up. The sarcastic dry humour and witty intelligence of it all is so infectious and delicious. Star Trek channels are a dime a dozen these days - but your unique take and insights on the universe is hugely valuable and appreciated! I hope you keep growing and can continue to pump out more great content.
Have you done Mass Effect videos? I should take a proper look before asking 😅. When I can afford it would love to support you properly. Until then - please accept random internet person from Australia love and adulation. 🫶🏼
@@OrangeRivernvm re mass effect. I just looked and saw one within 2 seconds 🫠😝. Thanks man!
25:01 the best scene in “Cost of Living” was Worf’s slapping and popping of the bubble sentry on the holodeck
Literally the only good part. 🤣
That Tali drawing is killer. As is the content! The fact that you put out 15 min, 30min, and hour+ videos is great!
Thanks a ton! 😎
Good summary, just the right length! There were a lot more decent (or better) episodes in season 5 and 6 than I remember.
It was fitting that in unification, they cast the actor that not only voiced the main talosian in the cage but also portrayed commodore Mendez in the menagerie as Pardek
Malache Throne
There's a bunch of things here I could talk about, such as how the imaginary friend one is actually one of my favourite standalone episodes, but I'll focus mostly on what you said about The Masterpiece Society.
I don't think it's thinly veiled eugenics at all, I think the episode calls it out in all but name. Not only is there Geordi's comment about how he wouldn't have even been allowed to be born, which as you say is brought up by a Romulan once, but there's definitely deeper critiques present here as well which were absent in that episode with the Romulan guy.
For instance, they constantly talk about how much progress they've made and how amazing they are, but they're really stagnating. They're completely behind-the-times technologically, don't seem to have any original art of their own, and nobody seems happy. That little kid's piano recital, albeit basically technically flawless, has no emotion to it whatsoever. It's played robotically, his heart not in it, he plays music because all his life he's been told he's been bred to play music.
I've also always thought the flat affect in the characters was a directorial choice honestly, given some of the actors who featured in other episodes of Star Trek show far more range.
While the romance itself is forgettable on its own, it ties into the themes explored also with the scientist lady and somewhat with the Mister Naysayer guy. Namely that even the slightest bit of unexpected happenings is deeply captivating to this utterly self-sheltered society. Seeing the ship is enough to make the scientist lady immediately fake a terrible radiation leak to force everyone to evacuate back onto the ship, because she can't bear to live in her sterile, dead, ossified world anymore. A simple change to his diary changes the Prime Minister's entire worldview about what makes a life a successful life. Mister Naysayer is there through it all, representing the reactionary voice which wants to keep everything nice and sterile like a museum exhibit.
After all, the world proposed by eugenics would indeed be homogenous and flat and dead. The episode does a fantastic job portraying that. I'm not sure why they shied away from the word eugenics in the final script, but I definitely never got the sense that the writers truly believed this was an ideal world - only that the characters they wrote believed it.
They didn't even have super strength, nor were they particularly intelligent, unlike with eg Khan. Their main characteristic was their interminable belief of their own superiority, despite the massive evidence in front of them in the form of the Enterprise which was powered by diversity of all kinds.
Basically the only big problem I have with it is how the group who wants to leave is convinced to wait around for a few months for a colonisation ship to pick them up and relocate them, because it feels like a copout non-ending to me. Plus thinking about it realistically, they're just going to be bombarded with all forms of pressure to stay the entire time. I wish it had ended with some portion of them leaving then and there. (That is also my only real issue with that DS9 episode with the primitivist cultist lady who traps Ben and Miles, it's the same kind of ending.)
First off, I love these retrospectives as there are episodes I always skip and after all these years, I don't always remember why. Sometimes I go back and watch an episode that is not well regarded but I enjoy like "The Perfect Mate" so thank you and great job!
I respectfully disagree about Chain of Command. While I think that Jellico is a little abrasive, it is Rikers job to carry out his orders and if the department heads push back, it his also his job to help them or immediately communicate their concerns to Jellico and ask for his help. Jellico keeps asking Riker about the change in shift rotation and it is only then that Riker tells him that it has not been done. Also, I don't believe it would be that difficult to rearrange shift schedules. We have HR software in the 21st century that could assist them with moving people around and it would make sense for Jellico to want each shift to be shorter so crew members would be well rested as they potentially could be going into battle. #teamjellico
Always had a soft spot for season 5 ... Mainly due to the arrival of Ro, who I just think is SO watchable and played brilliantly by Forbes.
It also felt like the 'ACTION' season ... with several episodes being easy to watch mini action movies.
Did you see FORBES guest star cameos on the new,rebooted Battlestar Galactica series,playing Admiral Caine ??? It was-BRILLIANT.
Definitely “watchable” 😍 hahaha
Season 3 is my favorite, but yeah, Ro Laren is apple of my eye. Plus her episodes are all gold. Ensign Ro, Preemptive Strike, Next Phase, Conundrum.
I can re-watch most of TNG. Sub Rosa though is where I draw the line. It just gives me vibes of a Murder, She Wrote but written by Barbara Cartland.
I remember watching Sub-Rosa when it first aired ( and hating it )and have never watched it again,ever. LOL.
The only episode I've literally never seen twice.
@@powerbadpowerbadyou don't like energy alien sex? What is wrong with you FREAK
I think Season 7 is definitely where it was overstaying its welcome, but its bigger problem was that it was trying to "wrap things up." So you had all the returning guest stars for an episode, and they introduced a bunch of family members you hadn't met before, with varying results. You met Geordi's mother, Data's mother, Worf's foster brother, Deanna's childhood sister, Picard's "son." Then you had "that episode with Barclay," one for Ensign Ro, one with Wesley, one with Alexander (and time-traveling future Alexander). Several of these episodes just didn't work that well for the episode premise was "what if we introduced a relative you didn't know existed" and then bolted some sci-fi thing on the side of it, like many a poor early-series episode. It was also clear that TNG was suffering from a lack of attention, as both Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Generations were taking away valuable creative time (and in some cases, staff members). I also think earlier seasons of Deep Space Nine suffered the same lack of attention and staff shortages, and didn't find itself until TNG's resources were freed up.
But still, some of the very best episodes of the series were featured here. The cast and writers were very comfortable with the characters, and those characters felt natural, unlike in earlier seasons where neither cast nor crew had real confidence in who they were yet. Episodes like Gambit, Dark Page, Attached, Parallels, The Pegasus, Lower Decks, Thine Own Self (not well regarded, but my personal guilty pleasure), All Good Things, and Masks (just kidding, lol). When it was on, season 7 was some of the best of the series. When it was off, you got some real filler that felt only partially saved by the excellent actors and character moments.
Season 6 starts off a little weak, but once it gets going it has the greatest uninterrupted streak of total bangers in the series. Season 6 was absolutely the best TNG series. I know everyone raves about seasons 3-5, but just having rewatched them, each of those seasons really does feature a lot of "meh" episodes.
Gambit and Pegasus were definitely bangers, no question.
Sub Rosa is such a great episode for season 7, that stood the test of time, it was almost as good as Voyager's Threshold. -said no one
Lol
Sub Rosa is the best episode of season 7, it tops all of voyager and most of ds9
This is some of your best work yet, Tyler. MAJOR kudos.
Thank you so much Gopher!!!
@@OrangeRiver By the way, you need to include Bloopers in all of your videos from now on.
Most of them aren't as funny as this video's lmao, but maybe I will more often
The pause before “let’s get started” always gets me hype
Excellent video! I'm sure it was slog getting through *so much* in a reasonable amount of time. (I don't generally watch videos more than an hour long, but I made an exception for this one.) However, the very best line, a line that made me laugh out loud, was right at the beginning. "BEST OF BOTH WORLDS." Well done, sir. Well done!
When Worf challenges Duras, he is definitely avenging the death of K'Ehleyr right?
Correct.The actress who played K'Ehleyr was-GORGEOUS-despite all that make-up on.I didn't think TNG would actually show Worf killing Duras,but,they did. LOL.
“Worf!”
I will say this, season 5 and 6 were still quite good imo. Final season is where it really kind of seems to drag. With that said, tng is one of the few shows I can think of that was good almost all the way through.
Eh, season one was pretty bad..
@@mementomori7825 that seems to be a common oppinion but I actually really like season 1. I mainline nostalgia a few times a day so that might explain it.
One and two can be hard work but it really picks up from three onwards.
@@CorvoFG disagree
@@worf7680 Same here. Watching it tickles some part of my memory that makes me feel warm and safe again. Suddenly I'm at my grandma's house playing on the carpet. Shes still alive and watching TNG on her ancient television that has a keypad on the front of it as well as knobs and dials. It doesn't have a remote - the remote isn't lost it just didn't come with that luxury! It weighed several hundred pounds because it was set in a large wooden frame that doubled as an entertainment center. Complete with slots for VHS storage!
My parents were abusive so Grandma's house was the only place I felt safe. She wouldn't let them beat me and put me down in front of her.
So yes I get the mainlining of nostalgia. I put it directly into my bloodstream and nod off to the comfort of my grandmother.
Fun fact, the Lysian command station is a reused model from a Season 1 episode, "Justice". In that episode, i appears as the planets "Godlike" entity in a half-transparent state, but its the same model.
Edit: Also, I hope you'll do this kind of deep dive with DS9, cause Im curious why you think Season 1-3 of DS9 is not good... cause DS9 is the one Star Trek series that when I recommend I tell people it doesn't have a "Bad season" like say TNG with Season 1 and some of 2. I thought DS9 kinda came out of the gate swinging and while later seasons definitely flesh out the characters a lot more to the benefit of the series, the Dominion War definitely focuses the series for better or worse, and Season 1-2 Bashir is downright creepy, but the episodes themselves I've always found to be enjoyable watches and none with as much "Hard skip" energy as some of TNG Season 1.
Your right. I think TNG taught them what to do and not do with the beginning seasons of DS9, especially with the pilot episode being considered by some to be the best pilot of all the Star Trek shows. I also enjoy every season of DS9 and the first season has what most consider one of the best episodes of all Star Trek series. The episode with the Cardassian war criminal that Kira talks with. When I watched all of DS9 a couple of years ago I realized I should have watched it more when it was new but at that time I never could get into it as much as TNG. We all learn and change with time. It truly is the best Star Trek series because of so many aspects.
I did say "great" not "good" in that sentence. There are some truly great episodes early on like "Duet." Long story short, for one thing, some of the acting in early DS9 is hard to watch.
@@OrangeRiver Yah, I understand its an important distinction here, something being only good isn't bad, just good.
I just rewatched it recently and I can kinda see what you mean in some episodes, might be related to my feeling of the characters not feeling as complete as in later seasons. Dr Bashir is the only one I think they just do dirty those first few seasons with his creepy obsession with Dax... but outside of that I can't think of any stand-out bad/mid examples. Regardless, this just furthers my want for a DS9 Deep dive if only so I can see your side of things!
And "Duet" is probably in my top 5 favorite Star Trek episode across all series, so you get no argument from me there.
I love that you brought up Spot's gender change. My personal head cannon was that Data kept accidentally killing cats with his android strength and would just replicate a new one and name them all Spot. The crew just plays along because he's trying to be more human or whatever.
Here are a few more facts:
11:43 - the whole concept of "Unification" came because of the studio's request that TNG should advertise Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. As that film was inspired by the collapse of the Soviet Union, the episode drew on the reunification of Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall.
43:12 - David Warner was chosen at almost literally the last minute. He had no time for more than a quick skim of the script before filming started and was reading off cue cards for the entire episode.
1:05:39 - it's also bitter as like Lwaxana, Deanna and Will also lost their first child, Thaddeaus.
1:08:35 - the episode was cited by Roberto Orci as providing the scientific rationale for the continued existence of both the Prime Timeline and the Kelvin Timeline in the 2009 Star Trek film.
The masterpiece society episode seems like a Roddenberry holdover from TOS that got shoehorned into TNG.
For a presenter talking to the audience directly, OrangeRiver breaks the 4th wall to great effect.
Another wonderful video, thank you as always for keeping us entertained. We as the fans greatly appreciate the effort and time you put into each video
Took two sittings to make it through this episode to the end... but totally worth it. This episode proved that Tyler's OrangeRiver Channel still holds up! Thank You!!
Thank you!
Sub-Rosa - You mention that it was crazy this made it on TV back then, but I think it was heavily inspired by The Witching Hour, back when Anne Rice was at the peak of her career and popularity. I never see anyone mention this...the basic plot points and "tone" are remarkably similar. Back when this was aired I had just read the book and just laughed as I watched it. You're right that it's so bad it's good.
10:29 at a very young age i accidentally viewed “the game” episode and it made such an impression that i had a recurring nightmare for years of a similar game infiltrating and taking over my immediate family and childhood friend group. i had no recollection of the episode and had no clue what the source of it was, until i watched TNG in full in my mid-20s. it blew my mind that the themes from the episode even registered that strongly in my subconscious to come back like that
Starship Mine is one of my favorite TNG episodes, because its the *last* episode of pre-2009 Trek I watched for the first time. I somehow missed it in my previous run throughs of TNG, so it was quite a treat to discover it "late" in life.
I think for Lawxanna being overbearing is also her dedication to the family legacy, with Kestra the eldest dead, Deanna is the only woman left in the family, as a matriarchal society, she needs a daughter or a grand daughter to carry on the legacy of the great hero and her family's traditions which Deanna has no interest in. hence her constant search for a husband and if not from her, a daughter from Deanna.
People often over look that Matriarchal detail for Betazoids
This was awesome and a great way to look back on some of the best seasons of the series. Thanks for another great video!
Thank you!
The comedy in this one had a nice manic charm lol. Thank you for your pain and suffering in putting it together though! I've quite enjoyed this series overall.
God be with you out there everybody. ✝️ :)
Peanut hamper is such a great evil character…. I hope to see more of her and badgey
I know we'll see them again
And Agimus
The best of both worlds 😂😂😂 killed me even tho I saw it coming
Yeah, the RUclips gods be cruel at times. I think finishing off the retrospective in this way is a good compromise. Once again, stellar work and I hope the algorithm treats you better soon!
Thank you Sephex!
I dont know why but it is really fun watching these, thanks for your work!
5 and 6 are pretty solid overall, I think because Time's Arrow and Descent were pretty weak as cliffhanger finales go at least compared to BOBW and Redemption they were not remembered favourably and 7 is when they ran out of gas but there were a few gems like The Pegasus and the series finale is great, one of the best finales ever.
My favorite 'worst' episodes of TNG are: The Royale, Devil's Due, A Fistful of Datas and Times Arrow... Times Arrow is awesome. Data driving that horse carriage is dope.
I also enjoy Devil's Due. Didnt know it was considered bad tbh. Anytime Star Trek goes into court room drama mode, I'm there for it. The payoff was a bit unsatisfying tho.
@@justfitz08 I could be wrong but I remember hearing somewhere that Devil's Due was an unused script from TOS. If you imagine Spock in Data's role and Kirk in Picard's it makes sense. But yeah, I enjoy that epp too.
I'm sorry you're struggling but I'm glad longer-form is back
While I understand that the algorithm is not kind to you. I do appreciate listening to you go on about Star Trek episodes.
If you ever wanted to do more Star Trek series I'd watch.
Love this series. Sucks that the algo has decided to poop right on it. Really appreciate you finishing it with this huge video. I hope you do DS9 but I wont hold my breath. We don't want you to starve after all!
Haha, I'll probably do DS9 at some point (maybe in a single vid, to be honest). I'm kind of thinking of doing TOS next... :D
@@OrangeRiver What do you think of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ????
I suppose a video about season 7 called “Not as good as you thought”, “it’s a good thing it ended here” or something similar would have gotten clicks. FYI, I don’t think season 7 is bad on the whole, but it is a step down.
@@OrangeRiver I think TOS would be great. There are some real stinkers there episode-wise so a recap would be a great way for people to understand the impact it had on the cannon without having to slog through every single episode. I love TOS but it can be a tough watch.
Seasons 4-6 is the peak of tng in my opinion, though i suppose thats a pretty common opinion 😂
Getting towards the end of a full rewatch: It sure as hell not 7! 🤦♀️
@@halfsourlizard9319 yea it's real rough, all the creativity was being spent on DS9 🤣
@@kobybarnes3035 I saw someone mention that the recurring characters (Nog, Garek) on DS9 have better writing than the main characters on TNG ... which I actually tend to agree with, even though, probably irrationally, TNG is still my favourite Trek🤷♀️
@@halfsourlizard9319 yea DS9 takes top spot for me for plenty of reasons but it doesn't always scratch that itch for episodic isolated stories the way TNG can.
@@kobybarnes3035 And there's no Blazin' Bev.
I appreciate you making this video, despite it not appeasing the algorithm gods. I can only imagine the the amount of work it takes to make these large retrospective videos.
I hope the algorithm will like this one a little bit better ;) Thanks for the kind words!
The "It is green" line is a callback to TOS episode 2-22 "By Any Other Name" when Scotty is trying to get an alien drunk to subdue him, and likewise falls short of identifying a drink and can only describe it as "green".
My problem with later TNG episodes is that the actors of the show got more input on the show. Directing episodes, story input, etc.
And what would you know, the main crew of the enterprise loves..... ACTING.
ACTING ON ten forward, acting on the holodeck, putting om actors work shops and plays.
What a coincidence!!! 😂
The drop off from S6 to S7 is astounding. The worst season of TNG.
Whenever the conversation of what episodes bookend the rise and fall of TNG, I've generally held to the sentiment that it begins with S2E8 "A Matter of Honor" and ends with S6E6 "True Q". While there are still some excellent episodes across 6 and 7 and, yes, absolutely some duds even in the "golden" middle seasons, if someone asked me "what is TNG at its best?", that's my answer.
While I appreciate some of the character development in the episode, S6E7 "Rascals" was where I started to feel that some of the premises were stretching a bit thin and I faced some significant fatigue trying to get through much of the season. Combined with the severe disappointment that was "Descent Part 1 & 2", it left the rest of the series feeling like it was running out of steam.
I enjoyed Rascals, but there is a bit of a “Home Alone in space” vibe to it.
@@pokepress I agree. I don't hate the episode overall, it just felt like a case of the writers/producers running low on ideas and turning to cliches to fill an episode. "I've got it! What if we turn the crew into kids?"
In *Chain of Command* Yelling "there are four lights!" was Picard's way of giving the Cardassian the finger
I LOVED 'Time's Arrow'. At the time it premiered, i was in grade school, reading Mark Twain. I was in love with the time period, and it was an amazing two-parter, for me. Bummer it was completely erased by 'Picard' Season 2, but that season was fun, so I'm ok with it all.
I used to follow the crowd in disliking the Worf/Troi romance but I've come around to being a huge fan of it in recent years. Much more than Roker/Troi
I don't hate it, it just feels like a bro code violation, and its coming from the dude you'd least expect. I know they try to resolve that issue, but it never felt quite right.
They had a lot of good episodes in seasons 5-7 but IMO they don't compare to seasons 3 and 4 in which almost all the episodes were great.
Might just be because it is your most recent upload, but this one did make it into my recommendations often when watching other Trek content today. I am very happy to see this is the tail end of a series on TNG and I will be going back to watch them all.
I had no idea you were doing an episode by episode analysis series! Very excited to go check that out
The Outcast pissed me off, noone has the right to force someone who be anything
Great videos as always! Any chance you would be interested in doing DS9?
@@subraxas I really hope it does! I love Tyler's work. He is my favorite trek tuber ❤️
I'd love to cover the other Trek series in this manner! However, given the eternal struggle of serialized content in RUclips's algorithm, I'd probably do each series in one video (or mayyyybe 2 or 3 "parts") rather than season-by-season.
@OrangeRiver maybe you could do each series like this, episode by episode, but all in one long 3-4 hour video? Super long videos have become quite popular on RUclips and the algorithm usually loves them
@megavolnutt4629 The thought of doing a purely original 3-4 hour video sounds exhausting, even though I know quite a few video essayists do them. I'll have to see haha. It'll depend entirely on how much I have to say about each individual episode of the other shows :0
thanks for making this series despite the inefficacy, I've been enjoying it
Im glad to see youre having fun and experimenting with your character.
Conundrum was the first new episode I ever saw, back when the show was airing....what I took from it, much later as a teenager and adult was that in the wrong hands, the Enterprise, could be used as an unstoppable juggernaut of death, brushing aside Lysian ships and one photon torpedo away from killing 10,000 people.
The battle scene in sacrifice of angels shows this great too. When the two galaxys blast the crap out of the cardasian ships in about 10 seconds shows off there firepower
Great review. However, Jellico was awesome. I hated him, too, at first but after watching the series probably at least a dozen times, I have come to believe he was an excellent Captain. Riker acted like a spoiled, selfish brat.
Jellico was cool just not likeable. He was also very efficient and very blunt. Absolute BRILLIANT WRITING on Jellico and his character.
Can't wait for the discussion in the comments section and reaction to my Jellico standalone video :D
I don't know how you don't have a million subscribers. Finding your channel is so awesome!!
Thank you so much!
I’m sorry you’re getting screwed by the algorithm, I really enjoy seeing your videos and all the hard work that goes into them
Worf killed Duras because Duras Killed Kheylar, the mother of his son.
It's all connected 👀
I wish we'd had more Kehlyr in TNG. She was bad-ass ... And it was nice to see someone with a more nuanced view than Worf's 'Klingons do not X!' and 'A warrior always does Y!'
I'd love to see how Inner Light affected Picard in some deeper way. And, none of us consents to be here in this life, which very probably is a simulation 🤷♀️
Darmok makes me want to rip all my hair out and run screaming from the TV
Thanks! Love this!! I’ll watch other vids to help out. Much appreciated!
I actually never watched these seasons, now I can cheat 🎉
Lol
new orangeriver video > proceed to be excited and get some food > click on it > it's an HOUR & 30 MINS > proceed to be absolutely ecstatic, nice
Thank you so much for doing this, I love your content and talking about each episodes to so nice now that I have watched them too. I hope you can eat, please keep doing your best!
Thank you!!!
I really, really appreciate the time and dedication this series took. It may not generate revenue, but you have my thanks for putting out compelling and humorous Trek analysis!
instant sub! i am going back to watch your earlier videos on TNG first!