My wife and I started the journey through a couple of years ago, but put it off occasionally to go through a different show's entire run. We were going by publication date, just to make things easier.

Maybe with the sci-fi convention coming up, we'll get back into the swing of things.

Watched The Voyage Home last night and The Final Frontier today. Star Trek 4 is still my least favorite of the films with the original crew. I know 2 & 3 were really dark and they wanted to lighten things up but I think they went too far. My main complaint about the film is that is just doesn't feel like a Star Trek film. The fifth film is still the worse of the films but there were several moments that were strong and distinctly Trek and that almost makes up for the fact that the plot is a hot mess.

I decided I am going to go in chronological order so after I watch The Undiscovered Country I'm going to view TNG. I'm hoping the Action/Adventure Challenge will give me an incentive to zip the the first two seasons.

I mentioned earlier that I've seen all of the series but in deference to folks who haven't, if you want to talk about episodes from the later series, please use spoiler tags.

Finally, I started TNG! Though it didn't really help the story any, the remastered "Encounter at Farpoint" looks and sounds amazing. I can't wait for the rest of the episodes to become available on blu. The episode was a decent introduction to all of the characters though it was weird to see how formal and stiff Picard and Riker were in the pilot. Thankfully Riker mellowed by the second episode. Everyone always complains about Westley Crusher being annoying but in this episode it was Troi's character who was really cringe inducing.

"The Naked Now" was literally a retread of the TOS episode "The Naked Time" which, according to my Star Trek Companion was exactly what they wanted. Mission Accomplished.

"Code of Honor" gets more disturbing every time I watch it. I would almost expect the sort of racial stereotyping that occurs here in an episode of TOS but to see it in TNG just boggles the mind.

"The Last Outpost" our first encounter with the Ferengi. The writers did tweak their race a bet between this episode and when we meet Quark on DS9. Otherwise, this wasn't anything special.

"Where No One Has Gone Before" was always an interesting concept but I don't know that it was executed in the best way. I do think this will be one of the best looking episodes when they are remastered.

"Lonely Among Us" gave us a tried and true sci-fi story: ship's crew taken over by unknown entity.

"Justice" this was probably one of those episodes where viewers grew to dislike Westley Crusher; perfectly understandable.

"The Battle" we got a little info on Picard's past and a bit more about the Ferengi. I didn't remember the Ferengi being in this many episodes of TNG.

"Hide and Q" Oh I really forgot how annoying Q can be. I think I can say this without spoilers but I prefer Sisko's response to Q more than I liked Picard's or Riker's.

"Haven" Our introduction to Troi's mother. I think I like Majel Barrett better as the voice of the computer systems. I even liked her better during her brief appearance on Babylon 5. Lwaxana Troi as a character was just a wee bit over the top though.

What was the one where Picard goes on trial for Data to prove he is worth keeping "alive"? That was a good one.

That's "Measure of a Man" which its one of my favorite episodes but that's not until season 2.

The Action/Adventure Challenge is helping me steamroll though these episodes.

"The Big Goodbye" is our introduction to Dixon Hill, P.I. and the first of entirely too many holodeck malfunction episodes. This one has actually pretty good I think it's the knowledge of how many times the writers went back to this particular well that sours the episode somewhat.

"Datalore" provided another intro: Data's brother Lore. Lots of interesting background info on Data and I remember that the thought of another Data was cool.

"Angel One" was annoying somewhat. I guess the idea of a fully functional female-led society was just too much. This was also the start of framing Riker like Kirk when it comes to off-ship relationships.

"11001001" The title is cool, the interaction between Riker and Minuet was cool (I like Carolyn McCormick from her Law & Order years) but the explanation for the episode's events seemed rushed and thin. You can tell that the writing is improving but it's improving very slowly. Plus here we got to hear Frakes play the trombone and there's nothing wrong with that.

"Too Short a Season" was a solid episode. If you could reverse the aging process, would you? Kinda like the previous episode, the main story was interesting but the rationale for the character's actions wasn't interesting.

"When the Bough Breaks" The best thing about this episode is the presence of Jerry Hardin who I loved in The X-Files. I completely forgot he was part of the Star Trek universe. That's one of the reasons I like to revisit shows: an actor who you didn't know at the time but you are familiar with now always turns up. I also recognized Brenda Strong from Sports Night. The episode itself bordered on absurd - you have all this power and you call yourself civilized but your solution to infertility is to kidnap the children of the folks who are trying to help you. Really?

"Home Soil" gave one of the funniest descriptions of human life I've ever heard: ugly bags of mostly water. Glad to see the writers have a sense of humor. The main idea behind this episode - how we define life and sentience, seems like a precursor to "Measure of a Man" in season 2 but "Home Soil" doesn't have the same emotional impact.

you'll probably find this review interesting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WkVvfxbQmk

just wait, she gets worse and worse as time goes on, even shows up in DS9

I completely agree with that review of "Code of Honor." Since I teach classes on race in pop culture, sometimes when I see racism that blatant in contemporary stuff I think "that racism has to be a figment of my imagination." It's good to know in this case, it wasn't just me. That's an awesome website BTW, I'm going to watch more of their reviews. Thanks!

Oh yes, I know. There's actually one episode of DS9 she's in that I actually enjoyed but otherwise her episodes are a mess.

Was originally written with William Shatner in mind. And the planet they visited was originally supposed to be the one from TOS' "A Private Little War".

one of his DS9 reviews is the source of part of my sig line
unfortunately I don't remember which one and the direct link that I had stopped working
I find the listing on his youtube channel easier to navigate even though you have to watch the videos on blip

I've always regarded this as a retread of TOS' "The Devil in the Dark." I mean, if Data is supposed to be so f'ing smart, why doesn't he mention the previously known silicon-based lifeform, the Horta? Cool to see General Gogol from numerous James Bond movies as the head of the terraformers.

"Coming of Age" a dreaded Westley Crusher episode which isn't that bad. You knew he wasn't going to head off to Starfleet Academy but the testing process was interesting. The B story regarding problems in Starfleet seemed to come out of nowhere, it would have been more interesting to at least hint at problems in previous episodes, then have the investigation, and watch events snowball from there.

"Heart of Glory" Klingons! Provided some nice background info on Worf and Klingon culture.

"Arsenal of Freedom" Besides the coolness of having Geordi in command of the Enterprise, the episode overall wasn't anything to get excited about.

"Symbiosis" Just say no to drugs boys and girls. Here's where my interpretation of the Prime Directive gets fuzzy. They've already shown episodes where the Enterprise offers medical aid to less advanced civilizations, but in this case, which Crusher clearly defines as a medical issue, Picard declines to help. Now I understand and fully support the desire to not impose Starfleet morals on other cultures but they can only provide medical aid if the problem is fatal?

"Skin of Evil" Bye-bye Tasha Yar. The first time Star Trek has killed off a major character. Yar was not my favorite character so I wasn't sorry to see her go. The wake was well-done.

Season 1 is officially done! That was not pleasant to go through again. Watching these episodes really makes me wonder how on earth I managed to become a trekkie in the first place. Well to be fair, when these episodes originally aired I was in 7th grade (I think). My standards for quality television were very different then. Plus, even though his character could be supremely annoying at times, I had a huge crush on Wil Wheaton at the time. That kept me engaged until the writing and acting stepped up.

"We'll Always Have Paris" an attempt to give Picard some sex appeal and to inch forward a Picard/Beverly relationship. Neither worked very well. I never bought the unresolved sexual tension between Picard and Crusher though I can't put my finger on the reason why.

"Conspiracy" as I mentioned in my blurb on "Coming of Age" the whole takeover of Starfleet just happened too quickly and seemed to come out of nowhere. DS9 did this way better.

"Neutral Zone" sets up three expendable characters we'll never see or hear from again as well as the return of the Romulans. If the episode had axed the random humans they thawed from the past, it might have been a better episode.

I'm looking forward to the 2nd season. I know it's still really uneven but at least we get a few awesome episodes mixed in with the ones that make you shake your head.

I'm enjoying reading your synopses, please keep going.

Amen!

I watched all of the S1 sfdebris episodes last night and I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Since I know Season 2 was screwed by a writer's strike, I'm going to try to be nice.

"The Child" This episode is all kinds of wrong. Yeah I'm off to a forgiving start aren't I? So our A story has one of the main characters being raped and there's no anger and no lasting consequences. Given what's been going on in our national politics lately I thought the scene where everyone discusses Troi's pregnancy had a bit of foreshadowing in it: Troi's placed far away from the discussion which, except for Pulaski, has all men attempting to make a decision about Troi's body. Paging Senator Issa. Add to that the addition of Dr. Pulaski who was rude, dismissive, and an all-around annoying character and you have a really offensive episode. I know they were aiming for a Dr. McCoy personality for Pulaski but it was really inappropriate for TNG. The only redeeming quality about this episode is the introduction of Guinan who didn't have much to do here.

"Where Silence Has Lease" they almost blow up the Enterprise yet again. There's really nothing note-worthy about this episode: the antagonist was a void in space.

"Elementary, Dear Data" another holodeck malfunction episode. Dr. Pulaski was still condescending toward Data though on the bright side, the costumes for Data's turn as Sherlock Holmes were pretty cool.

"The Outrageous Okona" Data attempts to understand humor and he fails miserably even with Joe Piscopo's assistance. It was funny to see Teri Hatcher operating the transporter.

I know I said I was going to be nice but apparently that wasn't possible. I'm sorry.

I'm also enjoying this thread; keep it up!

I'm glad folks are enjoying my trek through Trek. Feel free to chime in!

"Loud as a Whisper" for some reason I didn't remember this episode at first but it was surprisingly good. I appreciated the idea of a deaf mediator who found alternative methods of communication and the discussion about people having different abilities. There was always people arguing that the visor Burton had to wear neutered La Forge but I always thought it was cool that they were showing that a disability didn't hamper his ability to excel. There was a wonderful scene in this episode where they addressed that. I also noticed that the writers planted the seeds for La Forge to lose the visor but thankfully Burton nixed that request.

"The Schizoid Man" so a crazy old man takes over Data's body. The beard they put on Spiner looked awful.

"Unnatural Selection" They had the chance to kill Pulaski and they didn't. It was also a retread of a TOS episode so that didn't help it either. You can really tell in this episode that the writers envisioned Pulaski as a female McCoy right down to the dislike of the transporter. Even as she was dying Pulaski still managed to be rude to Data who was trying to be polite and helpful. I can't wait for her to go away.

"A Matter of Honor" also not a bad episode. Riker on a Klingon vessel was amusing. Question: is there a sci-fi fantasy series that Brian Thompson HASN'T appeared in? Seriously, I think he's been in every sci-fi show I've ever watched.

I know you're not there yet, but man...The Inner Light is seriously one of the greatest episodes of any television show ever made, period. Probably among my top 5 hours of TV.

Oh I know, it's one of my favorites. I even have the sampler blu so I get to watch it in HD but I have a ways to go before I get to the fifth season.

I wanted to do a separate entry for "Measure of a Man" because it really is one of my favorites and this episode is when I finally "got" Star Trek and became a trekkie. Prior to "Man" none of the episodes really dealt with big issues in a successful way. Is Data sentient or, to quote Captain Louvois, does Data have a soul? If Data is simply a piece of property who does not have the freedom to choose his own destiny, what does that mean in terms of how the Federation would treat other androids? Could the Federation have a "race" of android slaves?

Besides the actual storyline, the performances really sold how important this issue was for the characters. There was a cool moment when Riker was researching the case and he found out about Data's on/off switch. Frakes has this enthusiastic smile because he's doing his job well but a split second later he catches himself and the smile turns to embarrassment because he remembers that he doesn't want to win the case. Data's conversation with Riker at the end of the episode where he essentially forgives Riker: Riker's prosecution of the case saved Data's life even though having to participate in this trial emotionally injured Riker. Stewart's closing argument was amazing "our goal is to seek out new life, well there it sits" and his conversation with Guinan when he finally recognizes the implications of the case was well played.

When I first saw the episode I understood the arguments in the case in its basic form. When I saw it years later after I understood more about slavery and the hypocrisy that was the words of The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence vs the reality on the ground when those documents were created, the episode resonates even more. If they wanted to go whole hog with the U.S. slavery metaphor, they could have made Maddox completely aware of Data's sentience from the outset but I don't think Trek was ready for that level of villainy among its human characters. Maddox shows us how easy it is to diminish an individual's worth by referring to Data as "it" throughout the episode. Maddox is slimy but ultimately it's not about the fact that the character is a totally ass, it's about the larger ideals the episode discusses.

I love this episode, seriously one of the my top 10 of all Trek episodes.

I also watched "The Dauphin" too and while I'm sure most folks dismiss this as an annoying Westley episode, it actually wasn't that bad. That said, I find most of the romance episodes to be unnecessary. The actual shape-shifting the guest stars do looks cheesy beyond belief.

you'd think with the outcome of Measure of a Man the questions regarding Voyager's doctor's rights wouldn't have been so hard to figure out. With the mobile emitter the doctor really wasn't any different than Data. A computer program that was sentient
I always hated that starfleet ended up using Mk1s as slaves in dilithium mines since it was proven that they were advanced enough to be sentient
if they wanted holo miners they should have created a new dumbed down program similar to a run of the mill holo character

The Doc was a bit different since he didn't start off with sentience but yeah, as the seasons went on, their treatment of him became problematic. I'm sure I'll have plenty of say when I get to VOY

Yesterday I checked two off the list. "Contagion" was OK. The Enterprise downloads a computer virus. It happens to the best of us. The only memorable thing about this episode is that it's the first time we hear Picard order Earl Grey, hot.

"The Royale" was completely forgettable. Seriously, I've seen every episode at least three times but when this episode began I couldn't place it for the life of me (and when the episode was finished I understood why). It's basically a holosuite malfunction episode without the holosuite.

Today I checked off "Time Squared" which gives us two Picards. The whole time loop issue is dealt with much better in the season 7 episode "Parallels"

"The Icarus Factor" lets us meet Riker's dad and good grief he was an insufferable mess. After not seeing each other for fifteen years and clearly a lot of hostility, that hug at the end seemed way too convenient. Everybody knew Riker wasn't going to leave the Enterprise at this point so there was never any suspense there.

"Pen Pals" overall wasn't a good episode though it did contain one of the better discussions on the nature of the Prime Directive. When does the Federation step in to help a pre-warp civilization? In theory, the Prime Directive is a great idea: you can't have Starfleet imposing its ideals, laws, and morality on the entire galaxy (the Enterprise episode "Cogenitor" is a great example of that). On the other hand, if the inhabitants of a planet are on the verge of extinction due to a natural disaster and they ask for help, are you seriously going to tell me that Starfleet shouldn't interfere? This was one of the few episodes where I liked Dr. Pulaski because she made the argument you can't just sit by and watch people die. Getting involved in wars is one thing, natural disasters and diseases are something else and I'm glad they saved Data's friend (even if they had to wipe her memory in the end).

"Q Who?" The other good episode from season 2. Q continues to get on my last nerve and I continue to prefer Sisko's method of dealing with Q. Seeing the Borg cube for the first time especially knowing everything that's going to happen from this point forward was really foreboding. What really struck me watching it this time around was not the fact that Q got them into this mess, it was the fact that once they were flung across the galaxy, Guinan told them to haul ass out of there and Picard didn't listen. I can understand telling Q to kiss off but everyone supposedly trusts Guinan. She's telling you: I've been here before, you don't want to stay and of course they stay. Even after the Borg carved up the Enterprise like a holiday turkey, instead of putting any distance between them and the cube, the crew sits there! Sometimes the characters on this show aren't not as bright as they should be.