The Bicks Pod

After another long hiatus, you know it would have to be something really good to bring us back. And what's better right now than Heated Rivalry? We do our usual chat about this wonderful Canadian romance series, talking production, context, music, and a deep dive into the characters, performances, and cultural zeitgeist of the gay hockey show. We also talk about the origins of the series in fanfic...

A sad goodbye to the origin character of our podcast: the one and only David Lynch. There are few organized thoughts, just vibes, in this podcast as we speak from the heart (and the gut) about the loss of one of our biggest creative and intellectual influences of all time.   Note: We are still working on figuring out our new recording situation, and Lindsay's audio is still less than optimal. We w...

The Bicks are back! Nearly 8 years after we started our podcast, and ten since the gum we liked was clearly coming back in style, we've returned from our year-long hiatus to revisit an old favourite: Twin Peaks. We talk about the fandom of the show itself, its lasting impressions on us, and whether or not it has impacted television the way the original Twin Peaks did way back in 1990. Our new appr...

Note: We will be taking a summer break for the next 4-5 weeks to coincide with some vacation plans, but will be returning in the second half of summer with Season 5. For this week, join us as we revisit the episode that had the largest divergence of opinions in our Season 4 breakdown, "First Contact" complete with Riker sex innuendo and reactionary martyrs. It may not be the perfect episode, but i...

Season 4 -- the first full 90s season, as Lindsay says -- doesn't feature a whole bunch of changes on screen or behind the camera, but did bring a lot of depth to the characters and the world they inhabit. Join us as we talk about family, friends, drama, and First Contact, one of the greatest episodes of the show! (Yes, Aidan wrote this intro...) Episode Sponsor: Ancestry.federation. To find out m...

Another season, another watchalong of TNG, this time the season 3's classic exploration of Star Trek's greatest philosophical topics, the Prime Directive. Join us as we chat and joke our way through "Who Watches the Watchers".

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 is widely considered the start of "good Trek" in the TNG era. Whether you agree with that or not, this season definitely ups the ante in terms of storytelling, characterization, thematic links, and philosophical import. This week, Aidan and Lindsay deep dive into the production history, some of the changes behind and in front of the camera, and explore the l...

Join us for another watchalong episode of TNG, this time the season 2 dark horse favourite "The Royale". One note: Fermat's Last Theorem had a first proof published in 1995, only a few years after this episode.

The arrival of Riker's Beard heralded the start of the shift towards a more updated, distinct Star Trek, ready for the Next Generation of fans. While many will tell new explorers of Trek to skip over season 2, we love it for its inconsistency and the truly high highs that you only get by introducing the Borg, or debating the nature of sentience (should be sapience but we'll let it slide) on behalf...

Watchalong episodes are back baby! Today we're watching Season 1 Episode 15 of Star Trek: The Next Generation "11001001" (the one with the Bynars).

Boldly going where no one in 1987 was really sure they wanted to go - 100 years into the future - Paramount greenlit Star Trek: The Next Generation. And a seed was planted. Join us as we talk about the behind the scenes work that eventually led to one of the most iconic of Star Trek series' and heralded the rebirth of Gene Rodenberry's vision of the future - ready to go for a new generation (your...

As we say goodbye to Star Trek: Picard after three seasons, lit in the warm glow of nostalgia, we'll take a look at the entirety of the series, our likes and dislikes, what's next for these characters and what we might have done differently to address the shortcomings we felt took away from our experience of these stories. Episode Sponsor: PokerGalaxy.net Bicks Log Double-Header: Question #1 - If...

You hear that? The voices of those we've come to know and those we've missed for years now, coming back to shepherd us towards the endgame for Star Trek Picard. Join us as we talk a lot about that one moment we were waiting for all season, as well as even more talk about many other moments of this episode that we could have frankly done without. Despite our ups and downs from this episode and othe...

Surrender with us as we mentally prepare for the final voyage of The Next Generation crew, finally re-united in this week's episode. While we found this episode repeated a few of the foibles from previous Picard that have turned up earlier in the season, we nonetheless enjoyed this week's outing and are eagerly looking forward to the final two episodes with the characters we grew up loving so dear...

As we continue on into the back half of Season 3 of Picard, we are starting to see the outlines of an endgame, and, well, we have thoughts. Less about the endgame itself than about how we're getting there, as we found this particular episode a little more uneven than the previous ones, all the while loving certain elements and craving more of others. It's another bickering filled episode for your...

For a show that we all knew was going to be (at least partially) about getting the gang back together, this week's episode of Star Trek: Picard did a lot of work getting the gang back together. Join us for a discussion of the sentimentality of those reunions, the plot mysteries still waiting to be discovered, and our thoughts about this season's level of fan service!   Episode Sponsor: World of Wa...

Season Three of Picard reaches its midpoint with a compelling mystery amping up to new heights of tension as a familiar face returns to confront an old mentor about new threats to the entire Federation. Aidan and Lindsay take a flyby of Episode 5 -- "Imposters" -- to discuss Captain Sassypants, Jack Crusher's subconscious, and that cameo in this week's Bicks Pod. Episode Sponsor: Bajoran's Box Bic...

Is "No Win Scenario" a winner? Join us to find out! We talk about the exploration of new characters like Captain Shaw and Vadic, as well as the (sometimes strained) characterization of old favourites like Picard and Riker. We also discuss the mysteries being presented, the cool moments and the heartfelt scenes that are starting to become the backbone of this season of the show.  Episode Sponsor: S...

Is the sophomore slump over for Picard Season 3? Join us to find out! We talk about the highs and lows of the third episode, start delving into some of the fan theories, and dive head first into that conversation from this week's episode. In summary: the wait between Thursdays is getting a bit too long for our liking!   Episode Sponsor: Hail - the Federation's Premier Home Surveillance System Bick...

Star Trek: Picard is off to rip-roaring start, introducing us to new villainy and adventures and reintroducing us to fan fave characters we haven't seen in decades. It doesn't mean there hasn't been any controversy with the various plot points and character moments we've seen in the past two episodes so far...and The Bicks are not immune to this. Join us as we bicker our way through Picard Season...

After a brief 5 year hiatus, we're returning to our roots with a weekly, episodic podcast devoted to covering a media in media res - in this case, Star Trek: Picard, Season 3. Join us for a look at this early hint of the storytelling to come, as well as our takes on the characters displayed so far, the numerous easter eggs, and which of our gripes about Seasons 1 and 2 of Picard are still ringing...

Modern fanfiction may very well have had its start with the original trio of Kirk, McCoy, and Spock. So today we're joining the numerous fans before us who decided to tell stories about the crew of the USS Enterprise (no bloody B, C, or D). Join us as we talk about our process for writing these stories, the issues we ran into along the way, and even have a bit of a mini writing workshop right on t...

The final farewell of The Original Series crew is a great summation of all the threads that we've touched on in our previous episodes and which have constituted some of the best parts of the series. The conclusion of the Klingon/Soviet cold war, the gathering of the film series' creative dream team, and the three main characters being front and centre - with Kirk being most central of all - provid...

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is widely derided as the worst (or one of the worst) films in the Star Trek canon. Despite this, Lindsay still has fond memories of watching this film as a child and she'll be damned if she lets Aidan bring her down to reality! Join us for a discussion of God, starships, and campfire singalongs in this week's episode Episode Sponsor: Prophetic Titles. Totally not a...

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, collectively known in The Bicks home as "The One with the Whales." A classic 80s film, a classic Trek film, and a unique entry in the series all at once. We loved chatting about this one and hope you'll enjoy our wandering discussion of the most populist of Star Trek movies! Notes: It was Alan Silvestri who did the music for Back to the Future. Moores is a Canadian m...