The Next Generation, Season 5: Time's Arrow, Part 1

The Next Generation, Season 5

"Time's Arrow, Part 1"

Airdate: June 15, 1992

125 of 176 produced

125 of 176 aired

Introduction

The Enterprise is called back to Earth to investigate a startling mystery - sealed in a cave, untouched for 500 years, is a perfect duplicate of Commander Data's severed head. When the path of clues leads them to a cadre of aliens assaulting Earth's past, the crew finds it necessary to travel back in time to the 1890s. Can they preserve the past while also rescuing Data from his apparent demise?

Sometimes, two heads are better than one!

The Next Generation, Season 5: The Inner Light

The Next Generation, Season 5

"The Inner Light"

Airdate: June 1, 1992

124 of 176 produced

124 of 176 aired

Introduction

The Enterprise encounters a mysterious probe. It begins to transmit a beam, and Captain Picard falls unconscious. He awakens on another world, apparently named Kamin, with a life he knows nothing about. His wife insists he has been feverish and his life aboard the Enterprise a dream. Where is Captain Picard? Who is he really?

Santa Barbara? The Riviera? Pier One Imports?

The Next Generation, Season 5: The Next Phase

The Next Generation, Season 5
"The Next Phase"
Airdate: May 18, 1992
123 of 176 produced
123 of 176 aired

Introduction

The Enterprise races to respond to a Romulan distress call, sent by a small vessel whose warp core is threatening to breach. But when Geordi and Ro attempt to beam back home, there is an accident, and they are assumed dead by their comrades. Far from being dead, they have rematerialized on the Enterprise, having been rendered immaterial and invisible by some strange phenomenon. Now, not only must they discover how to rejoin the world of the solid and living, they must also prevent the Enterprise from being destroyed!

Hello.... is it me you're looking for?

Top 5 Trek: Wesley Crusher Episodes

Young Wesley Crusher gets a lot of grief from Trek fandom. But besides Wil Wheaton seeming like a cool guy and a good podcaster, I think Wesley Crusher the character gets a bad rap.

For one thing, I can see what Roddenberry was up to in creating him. He serves two functions. Firstly, he is the "Mary Sue" character that allows young people to imagine themselves on the ship with all the super-heroic Starfleet officers. Second, he is the wunderkind that allows young nerds to imagine that "it gets better." Now, it could be that for some, these two ideas work at cross purposes - one of the most commonly leveled accusations against the character is that he "saves the day" too much or is annoyingly smart. How can we identify with a character who is so exceptional? And to some degree this is fair. But then, some of us were exceptional children, nerds, geeks, spelling bee champs, and so on. So it is at least possible that we might still find Wesley comforting and charming to watch.

OK, all that said, Let's kick things off with Honorable Mentions.


Justice 

Do I... have to take off my sweater to play this... game?

I have to start with Justice. It's kind of a terrible episode, but in that "so bad it's good" way. Why does it rate an honorable mention? Because of how Wil Wheaton described trying to conceal his boner throughout the shoot. Just imagining a teen-aged boy surrounded by all these tanned, oily, half-naked actresses who talk about sex really boosts one's appreciation for the art of acting.

The Next Generation, Season 5: I, Borg

The Next Generation, Season 5
"I, Borg"
Airdate: May 11, 1992
122 of 176 produced
122 of 176 aired

Introduction

The Enterprise finds a crashed Borg scout ship, and a young injured Borg. Responding to Dr. Crusher's humanitarian instincts, Picard agrees to allow the Borg on board for treatment. He soon realizes this may be an opportunity to destroy the Borg once and for all, but as the lost drone begins to assert his independence, the morality of his plan becomes less certain. In the face of such an enemy, is any response to extreme?

We are the Borg. You will be a-blub-blub-blubb-gub.

The Next Generation, Season 5: Imaginary Friend

The Next Generation, Season 5
"Imaginary Friend"
Airdate: May 4, 1992
121 of 176 produced
121 of 176 aired

Introduction

When the Enterprise picks up an unusual energy creature from a nebula it is investigating, one of its youngest residents, Clara Sutter, gets the surprise of her life - her imaginary friend Isabella has come to life. Now, she and the crew must discover whether this creature's motives are friendly or foul.

Kill it! Kill it with FIRE!

The Next Generation, Season 5: The Perfect Mate

The Next Generation, Season 5
"The Perfect Mate"
Airdate: April 27, 1992
120 of 176 produced
120 of 176 aired

Introduction

The Enterprise is ferrying a Krisoian ambassador to Valt Minor, to finalize the treaty that will end a decades long war between the two worlds. Unexpectedly, it turns out that the ambassador is bringing a strange cargo with him: a stunning woman named Kamala. She is an empathic metamorph who can sense what a man wants and change herself to match it. She is intended to marry the leader of Valt Minor. Captain Picard is faced with a problem now - the Prime Directive bars him from interferring, but can this woman truly be freely choosing to be treated as property? Complicating matters is the fact that as he spends more time with her, Picard begins to become attracted to her.

Why yes, I do find bald men irresistibly attractive!

The Next Generation, Season 5: Cost of Living

The Next Generation, Season 5
"Cost of Living"
Airdate: April 20, 1992
119 of 176 produced
119 of 176 aired


Introduction

Lwaxana hijacks the Enterprise yet again in order to host her surprise wedding to some guy she met online. Worf is having trouble getting Alexander to put away his laundry. The Enterprise is beset by a puff of glitter, that threatens to reduce its systems to a pile of goo. What do these sentences have to do with each other, you ask? Damned if we know.

Hello, little boy! Come closer, so that I might EAT YOUR SOUL.

The Next Generation, Season 5: The First Duty

The Next Generation, Season 5
"The First Duty"
Airdate: March 30, 1992
118 of 176 produced
118 of 176 aired


Introduction

On the eve of the Starfleet graduation ceremony, where Captain Picard is due to give the keynote speech, Cadet Crusher is involved in an accident with Nova Squadron, the elite piloting team of which he is a member. While Wesley survives, one of his classmates is killed. An investigation is convened, but shockingly, Nova Squadron's explanation of the accident and the physical evidence don't seem to match up. Captain Picard must now confront the possibility Wesley may be hiding something.

I'm sure Josh would have wanted you to have this fugly sweater back, Wes.

Top 5 Trek: Beverly Crusher Episodes

I have waxed rhapsodic many a time about what a MILF Dr. Crusher is. So I thought, why not catalog her greatest hits in a top 5 list?

Now, it should be said, that I have two criteria for naming something a "Top Crusher Episode." First, of course, is an episode that kicks butt on its own terms, and showcases her character to great effect. But also, there is the episode that is average or even below average, but falls into the category of "fan service" - an episode with moments to satisfy the perviest of Bev pervs.

OK, so without further ado...

Honorable Mentions


Cause and Effect

Good old Aunt Adele... How many babes has she bagged me?

This is a superb episode. Beverly isn't the main character per se, but she is a main focal point in terms of discovering the repeating time loop. Gates McFadden gives some really nice solo performances that show us silently her thought processes.

Red Alert! Certain TOS podcasts are being taken down temporarily...

Hi everyone,

The server we have been using to host our podcasts has been getting hit very hard lately, to the tune of hundreds of gigabytes of traffic per month. We can't afford to keep this sort of thing up. So we are going to take down and relocate some of the most downloaded podcasts. So you may see some broken links for a few days while we shuffle things around.

The traffic, frankly, is not believable. Are 500 people really downloading "Amok Time" in the space of 2 days? We don't see that sort of traffic on the site, and it's difficult to believe that that many people are finding us on iTunes The thinking here is that there is maybe some sort of spamming behavior occurring.

So, if any of you 500 downloaders are out there, what's up? Who are you? Are you real people, or Russian spam-bots? Do you care where the podcasts are hosted? Why in the name of the Great Bird of the Galaxy don't you comment on the blog?

The Next Generation, Season 5: Cause and Effect

The Next Generation, Season 5
"Cause and Effect"
Airdate: March 23, 1992
117 of 176 produced
117 of 176 aired


Introduction

The Enterprise has entered an area of space known as the Typhon Expanse. They are the first Starfleet vessel to chart this unexplored region.... Or ARE they?

I'm sorry... I'm afraid I don't know your name.