Newbie Star Trek

Legacy! Tasha's long-lost sister, Ishara, shows up outta nowhere, and, of course, Data's immediately smitten. To be fair, the whole crew, save for Deanna, is pretty smitten with her, too. Who can blame them, with that haircut and jumpsuit? Though she's definitely cribbing the whole Sarah Connor look. But hey, let's see how this inevitable betrayal eventual plays out!    Get an extra three free mon...

Remember Me! Why did Pixar steal the entire plot of this movie? What a bunch of frauds! But in all seriousness, an actually really great script and great performance by Gates McFadden that's completely ruined by the reintroduction of the Traveler and Star Wars-style mystical BS! A spirited discussion this shall be!    Get an extra three free months of ExpressVPN when you sign up for 12 months thro...

Suddenly Human! What if The Searchers didn't end in such a toxic way? What if Picard was okay with children? What if aliens were allowed to listen to space prog rock? All of these questions, and more, too much more, will be answered in this episode!    Get an extra three free months of ExpressVPN when you sign up for 12 months through our affiliate link (a total of 49% in savings!): www.expressvpn...

Brothers! Data goes nuts and decides to hijack the Enterprise! Why? Maybe it's so he can find his brother? Surely the episode title didn't give it away! Also, watch as Brent Spiner does the Austin Powers/Klumps shtick before Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy ever did! Dan also informs me that he wanted to compare Lore meeting Noonien Soong to when Will Smith met his father again in The Fresh Prince of B...

Family! Wow, a ton of stuff happened in Best of Both Worlds, eh? Some mind control, some countless loss of life, tons of explosions, and I'm sure Picard came through all of it totally okay without any trauma at all. So this episode is just a long pleasant trip back home where he sips some wine and gets into sexy mud wrestling fights with his grumpy brother. Also, Worf is still butt-hurt over his h...

The Best of Both Worlds, Part II! The thrilling conclusion the cliffhanger that gripped America for three entire months! Will Borg Picard be exploded by Riker? Will Shelby become first officer? Will Wesley get to fulfill his dreams of mass murder? Will Worf ever get to hug Picard again? Scott returns to help us find out!    Get an extra three free months of ExpressVPN when you sign up for 12 month...

Ricardo and Sara have never watched Star Trek before! So Marvin and Dan are taking them on a journey to watch it all, one episode at a time! We're currently going through TNG! New episodes every Tuesday! Listen at NewbieStarTrek.com or wherever you find your podcasts! Newbie Star Trek is part of Fugitive Frames. Catch the rest of our projects at FugitiveFrames.com!

The Best of Both Worlds, Part I! The episode that is widely considered the best season finale of any Star Trek show and firmly put TNG on the map in mainstream Americans' eyes, but does it stand up to scrutiny by the Newbie Star Trek panel?! Scott joins us once again as he guides our hips through the re-emergence of the Borg, potential cast replacements, a cliffhanger that shocked America, and Pat...

Transfigurations! Is this episode a Jesus metaphor? Or is it an X-Men metaphor? Or, as Dan forgot to mention on the podcast and thus we're mentioning it here, a Digimon metaphor? We dunno, but at the very least it's a camel toe exhibition. Also, Geordi's arc is that he becomes a lady's man and then pretty much just stays that way. Wow! All's well that ends well!    Get an extra three free months o...

Ménage à Troi! Surprisingly, the episode isn't about a three-way. Instead, it's about Deanna's mom being an overbearing jerk, Ferengis committing multiple acts of sexual assault, Wesley's white privilege, and Patrick Stewart revisiting his Shakespearean roots. Unless, that's actually what three-ways are really all about? We've never been in one, so we wouldn't know.    Get an extra three free mont...

Sarek! Jasmin joins us for the official start of the Star Trek Cinematic Universe, where we get our first official crossover from the original series! Sarek's back! But not in pog form! Instead, he's a metaphor for old age and Alzheimer's! Oh no! Also, Jasmin wanted to point out that Sarek's failing mental state happened to parallel the mental decline of Gene Roddenberry around the time of airing,...

The Most Toys! Ricardo thinks this episode is actually a better Data episode than Measure of a Man, and Dan thinks this episode is annoying because of the Collector trope. But at least the one thing we can all agree on is that this is the most punchable villain ever. Consensus!   Get an extra three free months of ExpressVPN when you sign up for 12 months through our affiliate link (a total of 49%...

Hollow Pursuits! We have our first randy episode discussion with Scott as we talk about Howling Mad-- I mean Lieutenant Reginald Barclay's extreme social anxiety, general management skills, and the ethics of the holodeck. Spoiler alert: there's a LOT of steamy imagery, both implied and just directly transcribed from what's in the episode. Also, we open some Star Trek trading card packs live! Whee~...

Tin Man! Picard, crew, and some annoying Betazoid jerk decide to find a big living alien spaceship that's named "Tin Man" for purely metaphorical reasons. It kinda looks like a big blunt, which is appropriate since we recorded this episode on 4/20. It also looks like a gigantic turd, I hope that's not a metaphor for the episode or something.    Get an extra three free months of ExpressVPN when you...

Captain's Holiday! Marvin and Dan's old college buddy Dustin joins us for this especially randy episode of the podcast! What happens when Patrick Stewart wants an episode that has lots of fighting and fornicating? An Indiana Jones-esque weird time travel plot on a sexy pleasure/treasure planet, that's what!    Here's the truncated version of the Dan Avidan/Game Grumps Star Trek Experience video we...

Allegiance! Come, cheer up, my lads, 'tis to glory we steer! To add something new to this wonderful year! To honour we call you, as freemen not slaves! (Picard's only two black employees stare back awkwardly)   Get an extra three free months of ExpressVPN when you sign up for 12 months through our affiliate link (a total of 49% in savings!): www.expressvpn.com/newbiestartrek     Ask us a question...

Galaxy Quest! The 1999 sci-fi spoof movie that the fans at the 2013 Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas voted as the seventh best Star Trek movie of all time, so that means it totally qualifies for this podcast, right? Our discussion meanders more than usual as we try our best to discuss the movie, share some fan convention stories, and also discuss the very meaning of art itself! Wow! Happy April F...

Sins of the Father! Another very Klingon-centric episode, but this time we get to visit Qo'noS! What will happen when we combine a "long-lost brother" script with a "court trial to preserve family honor" script into one crazy Klingon politics-driven episode? Maybe not exactly everything we hoped it could be!   Get an extra three free months of ExpressVPN when you sign up for 12 months through our...

The Offspring! What if Measure of a Man came back as a band from the late 90's? Is that what this episode is? I dunno, but it's got some deep questions about gender identity, parenting new life, sentience, the unbearable burden of feelings, and the crushing existential dread of being alive, all of which go completely unanswered! Also, Jonathan Frakes directed this one, wow!    Get an extra three f...

Yesterday's Enterprise! Last podcast episode, we watched the episode live as a commentary track. This week, our resident Star Trek expert Scott rejoins us to talk about what many consider to be the greatest episode of Star Trek of all time! Just to remind everyone: Tasha Yar is Ricardo's favorite character. So what does he think now that he's finally seen the episode?   Get an extra three free mon...

Yesterday's Enterprise! Welcome to our first ever commentary track! We thought this would be a special one since Ricardo's favorite character is Tasha Yar, and we all know what that means! Watch the episode along with us as Ricardo reacts to Yesterday's Enterprise for the first time!   TECHNICAL NOTE: This commentary track only syncs up with the Blu-ray and Paramount+ versions of TNG. The Netflix...

CONTENT WARNING: Discussions of sexual assault and rape.   A Matter of Perspective! Rashômon meets a little bit of Measure of a Man, a little bit of Breaking Bad, and a little bit of Riker's worst tendencies. We dive through some heavy topics, some fun topics, some random topics. Come have a listen, won't ya?    Get an extra three free months of ExpressVPN when you sign up for 12 months through ou...

Deja Q! Oh how the turns have tabled, Señor Q. Now that Q has lost his power and must live like a miserable, squishy, worthless human, will he become easier to deal with? Will Data become his best friend? Will they both learn the true meaning of what it is to be selfless? Also, why is this moon falling? All we know for sure if that we don't need your fantasy women!    Get an extra three free month...

The High Ground! It's over, Picard! I have the high ground! In all seriousness, though, an episode about terrorism, specifically the IRA and the Troubles. Will Star Trek be able to handle this delicate topic tastefully and meaningfully? The answer to that question is no. Did George Lucas steal this title for yet another prequel concept? The answer to that question is maybe?    Get an extra three f...

The Hunted! Bonham (Tommy Lee Jones) teams up with FBI agent Abby Durrell (Connie Nielsen) to hunt down a trained assassin Hallam (Benicio Del Toro). With precision and skill, the predator remains one step ahead, and escapes into the city. Wait a minute, I think I'm talking about the wrong thi   Get an extra three free months of ExpressVPN when you sign up for 12 months through our affiliate link...