The Viewscreen | Home of the Star Trek Re-Watch

Latest Headlines

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Angel One”

– February 23, 2012 8:00 amPosted in: TNG Re-Watch

“Angel One”
Written by Patrick Barry
Directed by Michael Rhodes

Season 1, Episode 14
Original air date: January 25, 1988
Star date: 41636.9

Mission summary

The Enterprise stumbles upon the remains of the Odin, a small freighter that collided with an asteroid seven years previous. While there are no life signs onboard, three escape pods are missing. The nearest class M planet where any survivors may have landed is Angel I, a matriarchal constitutional oligarchy with whom the Federation last had contact sixty-two years ago.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: everyone loves riker, half-naked man-chests, matriarchy, oh look what I found on the Paramount lot, oh the sexism it burns, patriarchy, romulans, sexism, sexy doom, sexy ladies, snoo-snoo, stop using sex as a weapon, troi is useless, very special episode, weird sexual politics, wesley endangers the ship

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Datalore”

Eugene Myers

– February 16, 2012 8:00 amPosted in: TNG Re-Watch

“Datalore”
Written by Robert Lewin and Gene Roddenberry, Story by Robert Lewin and Maurice Hurley
Directed by Rob Bowman

Season 1, Episode 13
Original air date: January 18, 1988
Star date: 41242.4

Mission summary

Enterprise is passing near the planet where the android Lt. Commander Data was found, so Picard decides to make a short detour in the hopes of unearthing fresh clues to the fate of the colonists who disappeared twenty-six years before.

Read the rest of this entry »

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “The Big Goodbye”

Torie Atkinson

– February 9, 2012 8:00 amPosted in: TNG Re-Watch

“The Big Goodbye”
Written by Tracy Tormé
Directed by Joseph L. Scanlan

Season 1, Episode 12
Original air date: January 11, 1988
Star date: 41997.7

Mission summary

The Enterprise is en route to meet the Jarada, an insectoid species whose punctilious nature makes it difficult for the Federation to establish friendly relations. The Jarada must be greeted by the captain (and the captain alone) in their native tongue with no errors. Any failure on Picard’s part will result in unspeakable consequences. Despite another lengthy cram session with Counselor Troi (reknowned exolinguist?), Picard is at an impasse. Troi suggests he take his mind off the Jaradans for a while and try out the latest holodeck upgrades. Recess! Picard brightens immediately and agrees that a 1940s hard-boiled crime game is just the thing to take the edge off.

He begins the program of “Dixon Hill,” a sort of 1940s Philip Marlowe-cum-Sherlock Holmes, and discovers a beautiful woman sitting in Hill’s–his–office. Picard’s mildly interested in her flirting but is more fascinated by the cars zooming by outside the window. He only half-listens to her pleas for safety; she’s convinced she’s about to be murdered. But Picard’s really got to be getting back, so he puts the program on hold and calls a staff meeting to tell everyone what an awesome show this holodeck thingy is and I guess there’s some diplomatic thing he should be worried about but LOOK CARS DID YOU SEE THEM? He invites a 20th century historian and Dr. Crusher to join him next time. My instincts tell me it still doesn’t excuse them from the company retreat, but maybe it’ll look good on next year’s review.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: death traps, dixon hill, handwaving mumblemumble, holodeck, illusions, mysteries, noir, not everyone loves riker, oh god it's real, sexy ladies, Wesley is a smartypants, wesley saves the day, why would anyone ever go into a holodeck

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Haven”

Eugene Myers

– February 2, 2012 8:00 amPosted in: TNG Re-Watch

“Haven”
Written by Trace Tormé (Story by Trace Tormé and Lan O’Kun)
Directed by Richard Compton

Season 1, Episode 11
Original air date: November 30, 1987
Star date: 41294.5

Mission summary

Enterprise visits Haven for a brief respite, but the peaceful planet is no safe harbor for Counselor Troi: Her eccentric Betazoid mother ambushes her there, along with Troi’s long-forgotten human fiancé and his parents.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: a rose by any other name, beardless riker, betazoids, breeding, gender roles, imzadi, love triangles, lwaxana troi, Lwaxana Troi Daughter of the Fifth House Holder of the Sacred Chalice of Rixx Heir to the Holy Rings of Betazed, majel barrett, nonsensical cultures, not everyone loves riker, plague, weddings

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Hide and Q”

Torie Atkinson

– January 26, 2012 8:00 amPosted in: TNG Re-Watch

“Hide and Q”
Story by C.J. Holland
Teleplay by C.J. Holland and Gene Roddenberry
Directed by Cliff Bole

Season 1, Episode 10
Original air date: November 23, 1987
Star date: 41590.5

Mission summary

The Enterprise is en route to Sigma III, where an explosion has threatened a mining colony. Hurtling through space at warp 9.1, the ship gets caught in a net–the same stock footage they saw back near Farpoint station. Sure enough and with his usual bad timing, Q blinks onto the bridge and informs Picard that the Q have become impressed by humans, and as such are offering Riker–and only Riker– “the realization of your most impossible dream.”

Alas, he doesn’t mean skipping to season 3.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: beardless wonder, costume closet raid, everyone loves riker, godlike powers, pinocchio syndrome, q, shakespeare, space douches

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “The Battle”

Eugene Myers

– January 19, 2012 8:00 amPosted in: TNG Re-Watch

“The Battle”
Written by Herbert J. Wright, Story by Larry Forrester
Directed by Rob Bowman

Season 1, Episode 9
Original air date: November 16, 1987
Star date: 41723.9

Mission summary

Dr. Crusher makes a house call to Captain Picard’s quarters. He has a headache, which is so rare in the 24th century, aspirin is apparently an old folk remedy, and thus no longer an option. The captain’s sudden malaise might have something to do with the Ferengi ship nearby, which summoned Enterprise to the Xendi Sabu system for some unknown purpose and has kept them waiting for three days.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: alien tech, Bok-blocking, everyone loves riker, ferengi, handwaving mumblemumble, illusions, it's a trap, mysteries, Picard acts weird, revenge is a dish best served cold, tractor beam, troi is useless, Wesley is a smartypants

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Justice”

Torie Atkinson

– January 12, 2012 8:00 amPosted in: TNG Re-Watch

“Justice”
Teleplay by Worley Thorne
Story by Ralph Willis and Worley Thorne
Directed by James L. Conway

Season 1, Episode 8
Original air date: November 9, 1987
Star date: 41255.6

Mission summary

After settling some colonists in the Strnad solar system, the Enterprise comes across a Eden-like M-class planet called Edo in the adjoining star system. A small away team has been down to make contact, and the locals are party animals. LaForge describes the Edo as “wild in some ways, actually puritanical in others. Neat as pins, ultra-lawful, and make love at the drop of a hat.” While Riker’s already got his bag packed, Picard thinks there must be some negatives. He allows a small party–including Wesley Crusher, for some reason–to beam down to test the place’s suitability for shore leave, but warns that they should “just hope it’s not too good to be true.”

Right on cue, the sensors start to go crazy–it’s reading that something else is in orbit around Edo, but no one can see it. Oh well. Nothing worth getting in the way of hot sex, right?

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: APPDEB, awful costumes, bad costumes, bad history, eden, Garden of Eden, godlike powers, horrible horrible children, justice, sexy ladies, silly costumes, skimpy costumes, space douches, the boy, the gods must be crazy, were they drunk when they threw this one together?, wesley endangers the ship, why did this have to happen to our beloved legacy

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Lonely Among Us”

Eugene Myers

– January 5, 2012 8:00 amPosted in: TNG Re-Watch

“Lonely Among Us”
Written by D.C. Fontana
Story by Mike Halperin
Directed by Cliff Bole

Season 1, Episode 7
Original air date: November 2, 1987
Star date: 41249.3

Mission summary

Enterprise picks up delegates from warring planets in the Beta Renner system, the animal-like Anticans and snake-like Selay, unlikely new candidates for Federation membership. En route to planet Parliament, where their guests can hopefully work out their issues peacefully, perhaps over a nice home-cooked meal, they happen across an unusual energy cloud. They swing by for a closer look, and a powerful electrical discharge from a sensor panel envelops Worf, knocking him out.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: alien possession, amnesia, computers, diplomacy, energy cloud, loneliness, mysteries, pedantic psychobabble, Picard acts weird, Sherlock Holmes, someone gets zapped, taxi service, transporter magic, Wesley is a smartypants

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “Where No One Has Gone Before”

Torie Atkinson

– December 29, 2011 8:00 amPosted in: Featured, TNG Re-Watch

“Where No One Has Gone Before”
Written by Diane Duane and Michael Reaves
Directed by Rob Bowman

Season 1, Episode 6
Original air date: October 26, 1987
Star date: 41263.1

Mission summary

The Enterprise accepts the assistance of a Mr. Kosinski, a propulsion specialist who claims he (along with his nameless alien assistant) can improve the efficiency of the ship’s engines. Data and Riker are not convinced–they’ve run the models, and the models indicate no improvement in speed or performance. Moreover, Kosinski is an arrogant, self-satisfied schmuck (and yet strangely not a commodore!), and both Riker and one of the chief engineers, Argyle, hesitate to allow Kosinski access to their engines at all. They eventually decide that if his calculations are gibberish no harm can come to the ship anyway, and allow Kosinski to go through with his experiment.

Beginning at warp 1.5, the Enterprise steadily accelerates–but something goes wrong. Suddenly the ship is zipping past galaxies at incalculable speeds. Picard orders an emergency reverse of the engines, and when the ship comes to a full stop they realize they are (improbably) in the galaxy M33: 2.7 million light years from home. It will take over 300 years for them to return their own galaxy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: curiosity, godlike powers, not a space douche, parallel universes, picard is french, sufficiently advanced technology indistinguishable from magic, the boy, the traveler, wesley saves the day

Star Trek: The Next Generation Re-Watch: “The Last Outpost”

Eugene Myers

– December 22, 2011 8:00 amPosted in: TNG Re-Watch

“The Last Outpost”
Written by Herbert Wright
Story by Richard Krzemian
Directed by Richard Colla

Season 1, Episode 5
Original air date: October 19, 1987
Star date: 41386.4

Mission summary

Enterprise pursues a Ferengi starship to recover a stolen T9 energy converter, with the hope that they will also be able to establish first contact with the mysterious race of space traders. Things are off to a rocky start when they face off in the unexplored Delphi Ardu system and the Ferengi open fire on them.

Read the rest of this entry »