Newbie Star Trek

Ensign Ro! Well, Wesley's gone, and we need a new spunky low-ranking character that's constantly accused of committing war crimes. Why not Ro Laren? Also, this story is DEFINITELY not about the Israel-Palestine conflict at all. Not one bit.    If you want a closer look at Beverly Crusher riding a unicycle: https://fugitiveframes.com/star-trek-tng-beverly-on-unicycle   Looking for a stylish, compac...

Darmok! One of the most famous TNG episodes of all time! But how does it stand up to a bunch of complete newbies watching it for the first time? Sara, her arms wide? Ricardo, when the walls fell? Dan, on the ocean? Marvin, dildo accepted? Tune in and find out!   Looking for a stylish, compact wallet that can fan out your cards with the push of a button? Save up to 40% off Ekster 's Best Sellers wi...

Redemption II! A lot's happened since we've been away! Picard's starting a blockade, Worf thinks Klingons aren't so cool anymore, the Duras sisters try to eat Worf's chin beard, Data gets discriminated against AGAIN in a society that supposedly has completely eliminated racism, and I guess Yesterday's Enterprise Tasha had a daughter? Will any of it have any significance whatsoever? I dunno, I gues...

Redemption! Worf finally gets on with the honor and decides to take steps to reclaim his family name! Kurn gets involved, Gowron gets involved, Picard gets involved, the Duras sisters get involved, a lot of involving going on! And then a sudden twist at the end! But what does it mean?! We're gonna try to guess and find out!   Looking for a stylish, compact wallet that can fan out your cards with t...

In Theory! Scott re-joins us for another Data-centric episode! This time, Data delves into the deep matters of love, courtship, romance, and relationships, and so do we! Such a deep episode tends to elicit such deep discussions. Also, there's some sort of dark matter wrecking up the place, and Picard has to drive a shuttlecraft by himself for some reason? Tune in to find out why!   Looking for a s...

A Klingon Challenge! Hey, I don't remember this episode of TNG. Why's the Enterprise empty? Why are they using non-Star Trek font? Why aren't they shooting this with film cameras? Who's this Kavok guy? Why are we looking at some sort of game board? And what is this "VHS" you speak of?   Seriously, though, you should watch the video version of the podcast here instead: https://youtu.be/KUqQALBkx9w...

The Mind's Eye! Geordi's sexy trip to Risa gets interrupted when some sinister Romulans capture him and turn him into a Manchurian candidate! Will Data be able to figure out the sinister plot in time? Will the backstabbing Klingon ambassador get found out? Will Sara continue to be triggered by exposed crotches? Tune in to find out!   Looking for a stylish, compact wallet that can fan out your card...

The Host! No, not the bonkers Bong Joon-ho scifi classic or the romantic sci-fi novel by Stephanie Meyer, but the episode of TNG! Man, "The Host" sure is a popular title! And yes, the episode that introduced the Trill, and yes, Beverly totally gets her mack on. But how'll she take it when she finds out how the Trill really operate? Will Picard be jealous? Why is Riker so eager to volunteer for eve...

Half a Life! A deeply philosophical and somber episode straddles us with questions such as "Should we decide when elder adults become culturally obsolete?", "Should we interfere with the cultural customs of other societies, even when we find them deeply morally reprehensible?", and "Why is Lwaxana Troi still here?" All this and more, answered on this episode!   Looking for a stylish, compact walle...

The Drumhead! What happens when the show needs a cheap episode in the can, Jonathan Frakes puts back on his directing hat and starts referencing classic courtroom drama films, a nationalist zealot boards the Enterprise, Worf gets whisked away by the fervor and excitement of a witch hunt, and Picard's past mistakes are brought back to haunt him? This episode, I guess!   Looking for a stylish, compa...

Qpid! Picard's sexy sidepiece Vash returns on episode 420 of TNG, and we're releasing this episode on Valentine's Day! So get romantic and blaze it as we settle into our...Robin Hood adventure? Wait, what, Q is back? And he's starting a love triangle of some sort?! Oh boy, this is gonna get complicated!   Looking for a stylish, compact wallet that can fan out your cards with the push of a button?...

The Nth Degree! Barclay's back, and so's Scott! And together they trigger some pretty deep dives back into holodeck ethics, only this time even deeper! Wowee! *punch*   Looking for a stylish, compact wallet that can fan out your cards with the push of a button? Get up to an additional 25% off any order at Ekster by going to shop.ekster.com/newbie or by using our offer code "NEWBIE" at Ekster.com !...

Identity Crisis! We head into another kinda spooky but not really episode as we try to figure out why Geordi and his former crewmates are transforming into the intro from Belly ! Also, what is Belly ? Well, it seems like only Ricardo knew! Tune in to find out what Belly is!   Looking for a stylish, compact wallet that can fan out your cards with the push of a button? Get up to an additional 25% of...

Night Terrors! It's basically Nightmare on Elm Street, but without Freddy Krueger! Does that make it the worst episode of season 4? We wouldn't say so, but then we say lots of things, like that OnlyFans is willing to violate the Geneva Convention, Jesus just needed to sleep off the crucifixion, that it's hard to get to Hawaii, and that Dan has quite a large body count. What are we talking about? T...

Galaxy's Child! Geordi's old fake holodeck flame comes back to haunt him in this extra creepy episode of TNG! Nate Tang, the composer of our theme song, joins us this week as we dive into the extreme ooginess of Geordi insisting that he's done nothing wrong and the writers writing Leah Brahms to agree somehow! Wow, these were definitely different times!    Link to the Star Trek TNG casting memo me...

Christmas Mailbag 2022! We take it a bit easy this holiday season as we catch up on listener and viewer emails! This time, you can't blame us for going off topic, there's no topic at all! Wheeeee~!!! Merry Holidays y'all!   Looking for a stylish, compact wallet that can fan out your cards with the push of a button? Get up to 25% off any order at Ekster by going to shop.ekster.com/newbie or by usin...

First Contact! Wow, that got philosophical real fast! The episode itself is pretty great, a first contact episode from the perspective of other aliens meeting the Federation. But what started as a usual episode recap turned into discussions about political power, proof of aliens, religion, the Cold War, even random mathematical concepts like fast Fourier transforms! What led us down that rabbit ho...

Clues! John Velez, the designer and animator behind our wonderful YouTube video versions of the podcast, joins us this week to discuss a whodunnit! Why is Data acting like a huge jerk? Why is Guinan only in one scene? Why do we talk so much about oil? Tune in to find out!   Follow John Velez: YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCMw1UEhZMNA-qLk1Buw0RDg   Instagram: instagram.com/artdevice28/ ArtStation:...

Devil's Due! The Devil skips Georgia and heads straight to Star Trek, where she decides to take over a whole planet and (unsuccessfully) seduce Picard. But is she nothing but a flim-flam artist? The answer is yes. Scott joins us once again as we take another deep dive into a religiously charged episode!   Looking for a stylish, compact wallet that can fan out your cards with the push of a button?...

The Wounded! Basically, it's Apocalypse Now , but in space! And with Miles O'Brien as Martin Sheen! Will it be as poignant? I dunno, but we'll at least definitely get some weird marriage moments between Miles and Keiko, who apparently are just meeting each other for the first time! What a story, Miles!   Looking for a stylish, compact wallet that can fan out your cards with the push of a button? G...

Data's Day! Boy, we went on a TON of tangents this week! But in our defense, it was a while since we'd recorded, and Data's Day itself is full of tangents! There's tap dancing, a baby birthing, some barbershop banter, some gift shopping, but I don't care about what Romulans betrayed what Federation ambassadors, I'm here to save a wedding! Also, Jasmin's back to discuss her favorite TNG character w...

The Loss! Will we actually get a nice Deanna Troi-centric episode for once? Can a small idea be well-written and stretched out as a character story? Will the A story be dramatically overshadowed in terms of importance by the B story? The answers probably won't surprise you! Or will they?! Let's see how we can spin an hour-long yarn out of nothing!    Get an extra three free months of ExpressVPN wh...

Final Mission! *insert Poochy joke here* Unfortunately, the producers of TNG weren't treating Wil Wheaton very well, so he decided to leave. But hey, at least it was a much better send-off than for Denise Crosby! But were the emotional highs earned? And why is Riker spending so much time dealing with a garbage barge? Oh, because it's radioactive, fair enough.     Get an extra three free months of...

Future Imperfect! What if the crew of the Enterprise did a cool anime-style time skip, but Riker missed out?! That's the plot of this episode! Or is it?! More father-son issues! Nightmare on Elm Street/Inception references! They were trying to be perfect men in an imperfect time! Oh wait no, that's a weird random Dark Knight reference. Where were we? Mac and Me? Uh, tune in to find out!    Get an...

Reunion! Worf's old Katherine Hepburn-esque flame returns, with a surprise kid in tow! But get that kid outta the way, will Worf and K'Ehleyr get back together? Will the Klingon Empire survive the next election? Will Picard be able to put up with all of it? And what about that Donald Trump Jr. guy, are we finally going to deal with him or what? Also, GOWRON! EYES! Don't miss it!    Get an extra th...