To Baldly Go

First-Time Watch - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5, Episodes 25-26 We've reached the end of Season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation! This week, Aaron and Nate wrap up another season with two very different episodes: The Inner Light and Time's Arrow, Part I. One is widely considered among the greatest episodes in Star Trek history, delivering a deeply personal story about life, memory, a...

Star Trek: The Next Generation | Season 5, Episodes 22–24 We're continuing my first-time watch of Star Trek in release order with three more episodes of The Next Generation! This week, we go from a mysterious imaginary friend, to one of the more difficult moral dilemmas we've encountered in Star Trek, to an episode that delivers almost everything we could want from the series. Along the way, we di...

Star Trek: The Next Generation | Season 5, Episodes 19–21 We're continuing my first-time watch of Star Trek in release order! This week, we're tackling moral obligations, questionable parenting, and the Enterprise's seemingly nonexistent security protocols. From Wesley Crusher's difficult choices at Starfleet Academy to Lwaxana Troi's unconventional approach to life, there's plenty to unpack—and n...

We're continuing our first-time watch of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and this week Aaron and Nate are discussing Season 5, Episodes 16–18: Ethics, The Outcast, and Cause and Effect. This week, we get: Worf confronting his honor, his mortality, and his responsibilities as a father A time loop, a poker game, and a familiar face from '90s television We covered: Ethics Worf suffers a devastating i...

Aaron and Nate continue their first-time watch of Star Trek: The Next Generation with Season 5, Episodes 13-15: The Masterpiece Society, Conundrum, and Power Play. This week, we get: A genetically engineered “perfect” society An Enterprise crew with no memories Some very off-brand versions of characters we know and love Another hostage situation We covered: The Masterpiece Society Conundrum Power...

Aaron and Nate continue Aaron's first-time watch of Star Trek: The Next Generation with Season 5, Episodes 10-12: “New Ground,” “Hero Worship,” and “Violations.” This week, we get: Worf learning some hard lessons about being a parent A child dealing with trauma by becoming Data A deeply uncomfortable attempt at Star Trek horror One of our least favorite episodes since season 1 We covered: New Grou...

First-Time Watch – Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Our release-order journey brings us back to the original crew for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Watching the films alongside The Next Generation continues to make the larger Star Trek universe feel more connected. This time around, we get another link between TOS and TNG, some major additions to the franchise’s history, and one la...

Aaron continues watching Star Trek for the first time from the beginning, joined by Nate as we continue through Season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation with “Unification I,” “Unification II,” and “A Matter of Time.” Spock has arrived on The Next Generation — which immediately raises the question: Why Spock? Why now? “Unification I” and “Unification II” give us a pair of seemingly disparate stor...

We continue Season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation with “Silicon Avatar,” “Disaster,” and “The Game.” This week, we get: An episode with a great premise that can’t quite stick the landing The Enterprise crew thrown into unexpected situations and unusual pairings A story about addictive technology that feels a little more relevant every year We covered: In “Silicon Avatar,” an old threat return...

We begin Season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation with “Redemption II,” “Darmok,” and “Ensign Ro.” This week, we get: A Klingon civil war on a massive scale A first contact where understanding the words isn’t enough The introduction of a complicated new member of the Enterprise crew We covered: Data in command and what happens when he decides not to follow orders The continuing legacy—and traged...

We’ve reached the end of Season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation! This week, Data tries his hand at romance in “In Theory,” and Worf finds himself caught between Starfleet and the Klingon Empire as a civil war begins in “Redemption.” This week, we get: Relationships and programmed behaviors Klingons We covered: In Theory Redemption In “In Theory,” Data decides to enter into a romantic relations...

Star Trek, The Next Generation First-Time Watch – Season 4, Episodes 22-24 In this episode of To Baldly Go, we continue our first-time watch of Star Trek: The Next Generation with three episodes that take us from questions about aging and societal rituals, to the nature of identity, to some good old-fashioned Romulan manipulation. This week, we get: Rituals and societal structure A story we've see...

First-Time Watch This week, we continue our first-time, release-order journey through Star Trek with three episodes from the fourth season of The Next Generation. We begin with Barclay suddenly becoming the smartest person on the Enterprise in The Nth Degree. Then Q returns to teach Picard a lesson about love by dropping the crew into his own version of Robin Hood in Qpid. Finally, an investigatio...

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episodes 16-18 This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, we continue our first-time, release-order journey through Star Trek with three episodes from the fourth season of The Next Generation. This week, we get: World building for the fans A potentially interesting, but possibly underdeveloped idea Incomplete victories We covered: Galaxy’s C...

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episodes 13-15 This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, we continue our first-time, release-order journey through Star Trek with three episodes from the fourth season of The Next Generation. This week, we get: Feeling like a TOS episode Ron Swanson’s favorite Star Trek episode What happens when a society learns they are not alone in the un...

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episodes 10-12 This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, we continue our first-time watch of Star Trek: The Next Generation with The Loss, Data’s Day, and The Wounded. This week, we get: Counselor Troi working through the five stages of grief after losing her empathic abilities Data documenting an ordinary day aboard the Enterprise The intr...

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episodes 7-9: Reunion | Future Imperfect | Final Mission This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, Aaron and Nate continue their release-order watchthrough with three more episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. This week, we get: Worf confronting the consequences of his past decisions Riker trapped inside Star Trek: Inception What appears to be Wesley Cru...

This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, Aaron and Nate continue their journey with the next three episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4: Suddenly Human, Remember Me, and Legacy. This week, we get: Different cultures, children making decisions, and abuse The importance of appreciating people when they are still around A not-very-good episode, so we talk about other stuff We covered: Su...

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episodes 1-3: The Best of Both Worlds, Part II | Family | Brothers This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, we kick off Season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation with the fallout from one of the biggest cliffhangers in Star Trek history, a quiet but powerful family story, and Brent Spiner putting on a full acting showcase. This week, we get: Triumph and cons...

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 3, Episodes 25-26 This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, Abbie is back as we finish Season 3 of Star Trek: The Next Generation with “Transfigurations” and “The Best of Both Worlds.” This week, we get: A conversation about evolution that may be more interesting than the episode itself A return to the Sarek discussion from last week More awkw...

This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, Aaron and Nate continue their release-order watchthrough with three more episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation: "The Most Toys," "Sarek," and "Ménage à Troi." This week, we get: Evil, terrifying characters Allegory Shakespeare We covered: The Most Toys Sarek Ménage à Troi In "The Most Toys," Data is left for dead and finds himself in the possession of a...

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3, Episodes 19-21: Captain’s Holiday | Tin Man | Hollow Pursuits This week on To Baldly Go, we continue our first-time watchthrough of Star Trek: The Next Generation with Captain’s Holiday, Tin Man, and Hollow Pursuits. This week we get: - An archaeological adventure looking for artifacts from the future - All the elements to make a great episode, but just mis...

This week on To Baldly Go, Aaron and Nate continue Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 with The Offspring, Sins of the Father, and Allegiance. We get a major Data episode that leads to a surprising split in ratings, a huge leap forward in Klingon lore, and a Picard mystery that feels a little like Star Trek: Among Us. This week we get: - Humanity and parenting - The Scarlet K - Do intentions m...

This week on To Baldly Go, we continue our first-time watch of Star Trek: The Next Generation with Season 3, Episodes 13-15: Deja Q, A Matter of Perspective, and Yesterday’s Enterprise. This week we get: Q becomes human and mortal Judicial standards in the 24th century A masterpiece? In Deja Q, Q returns to the Enterprise stripped of his powers and forced to experience life as a human. We talk abo...

In this lost episode of To Baldly Go, we return to early Star Trek: The Next Generation with Season 1’s “The Big Goodbye,” “Datalore,” and “Angel One.” This week we get a decent episode with a weak close, a possible “Enemy Within” redux, and an episode that may be a bit too clever for its own good. We discuss Crusher’s strong showing in “The Big Goodbye,” the limits and missed potential of the hol...