Lizstar

Gay Murr Girl

Liz, Goblin, Part-Time Shark, VTuber, retired speedrunner, author, GDQ staff, Sega fan, "Yuri Sommelier", Walking Encyclopedia of All Things Useless, Twitch partner, general menace. Says "Murr" a lot. This is not a place of honor, views my own, etc. Avatar art by me.


Every Sunday my Twitch subs and I watch Star Trek in my Discord. Here are my reviews and thoughts on each of the episodes as I see it. If you're curious about a nerd's views on Star Trek episodes, please read on, I go quite in depth with some of this episodes! I've watched some Star Trek before but not all of it!

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We're out of Season 1. And we're into Season 2, which I HAVE seen all/most of, and I like a LOT of the episodes and ideas here! ....Unfortunately, we must of course start with


The Child - TNG 7/10

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Deanna Troi is impregnated by a Space Energy Ghost. After the others argue if she should abort it, she declares her intentions to have the baby.

Yes.

Why. This is usually my go-to when I bring up "shitty awful TNG episodes". But this isn't that in the way that like, the racism episode in season 1 was. This is more like a Spock's Brain. Just an absolutely stupid concept, not offensive, just stupid as fuck, and god they're all trying. Except maybe Marina Sirtis. Tbh she feels so done. She delivers the "I am pregnant from an unknown entity" shit with the voice of someone like "I am putting up with this until you write me into good plots."

This all makes sense when you realize it's a leftover phase 2 plot they still had sitting around. All of those are bad tbh.

TBH I think they do their best. The addition of cool shots and new characters helps too, but like, even with the shitty premise, I really think they tried to make it something worth watching, as opposed to like, Spock's Brain, which is a dumb premise done clumsily. This is a dumb premise done as well as it possibly could be. And I do respect how hard they worked to make it as good as they could be, and I actually STUNNINGLY enjoyed it more than I ever expected to.

This episode is way better for what it introduces to the series than for the actual plot. #1, Polaski. So, I like Polaski. She wasn't done... PERFECTLY. But tbh I feel I like her way more than season 1 Dr. Crusher. Crusher kinda had no character in season 1 (or tbh, until Picard, so I hear), she was just kinda "serious, good doctor". I was never uhappy she was there, she's fine. One of the better characters of season 1, but there's no... potential. With Polaski, the potential is A LOT, but sadly is not met fully. Polaski is them trying to recreate Bones, especially Bones to Data's Spock. But it doesn't work, it's not nearly as good as Bones and Spock. But like, I still like her, and I feel she deserved better, and kinda gets too much shit in the fandom. I like her hardass weirdness. She might fit PERFECTLY with the cast? Maybe she'd be PERFECT if she was in DS9 instead. (That'd also make me happy cause Bashir is my least favorite DS9 character).

Also, with Polaski and Data, like... they have the adversarial human vs machine energy of Spock and Bones, but... none of the love. None of the admiration. If she had been trying to teach him about humanity, about emotion, and get him to LIVE, I think Polaski would have ASCENDED and been one of the best characters ever.

#2: MY. BOY. IS. HERE!!!!

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It's so good to see him.

#3: This episode ALSO introduces Ten Forward and Whoopie Goldberg!! I'd eat there all the time. And I love Guinan. She has a great introduction. She doesn't get TOO much here, but I like her talking with Wesley. And it also is a good scene with Wesley, which I appreciate, cause that wasn't super common in season 1.

#4: Beard.

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It's not quite 100% yet. Much like this series. But it's getting there. It will get there.

Where Silence Has Lease - TNG 9.5/10

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This episode starts with Riker and Worf in the Holodeck. Picard shows worry for them and Worf almost slams and axe in Riker's head while extremely excited and into the fight, then they flirt for a bit. The costumes in this scene are incredible.

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In this episode, the Enterprise is studying a strange hole in space when it reaches out and eats them like an amoeba. This episode then turns into a psychological horror. The place is noneuclidian, and strange things happen to people. They're attacked by Romulans, and their sister ship, the Yamato, appears as well, and they try to explore it but it's noneuclidian.

It reminds me of an old tabletop game I played once, where we opened a door and each time we did it went to a different space. So I decided to get a rope, tie it to me, and close the door on me. The GM did not expect that, and was like "....please roll for a sanity check"

Anyways, so Worf fails his sanity check

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And then THE memorable thing from this episode happens. As soon as I saw this guy I was like "OH YEAH. THIS EPISODE."

So yeah, it turns out it's an Asshole Godlike Being episode. I didn't expect these episodes to be as common, and they were VERY common and bad in TOS. But it's done well here. It's an asshole god who's like "oh I wanna know more about you, let me torture you to see how you react. Only a third of you will die, maybe 1/3rd!". So Picard's like "I won't sit by while my crew is slaughtered"

Data is like "We cannot stop it" and Picard is like "Yeah there's only one thing left to do. Let's blow ourselves the fuck up"

I REALLY love this. It's done well, it's tense, everyone handles it in their own ways, their imminent death. It's very psychological and sooo good. And Picard has a deep conversation about what death is with Troi and Data... who aren't really them. And then when Nagilum (the god) let's them out of the void cause what's the point if they're gonna blow themselves up, it's like "oh god, are we REALLY OUT" and Picard holds that self destruct, soooo tense, so fun.

And I LOVE that moment with him cancelling the self destruct and the computer asks "Commander Riker, do you agree-" "Yes, ABSOLUTELY, I AGREE WHOLE HEARTEDLY" with a second to go

"A simple yes would have sufficed, Number One". Such good character building. I think this episode is EXTREMELY good but it's also not one of the episodes I immediately think of when I think of best season 2 episodes. So that's the ONLY reason I didn't give it a 10/10. It was weirdly unmemorable, but still extremely entertaining and enjoyable.

Elementary, Dear Data - TNG 9/10

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The first true Data and Geordi Are Bros episode! After Geordi excitedly shows Data the model ship, he offers to let Data have some fun and play Sherlock Holmes in the holodeck, while Geordi plays Watson. They get in and Data does an any% speedrun of the mystery which kinda annoys Geordi

Anyways with the help of Polaski being a weird robot racist, they decide to go back in and let the computer create a new mystery. Weird tangent, but the idea of the holodeck generating new stories and visuals from some old Conan Doyle stories gives me techbro AI vibes. Techbros want to make the holodeck and think they're leading us to that. Except y'know, they forget that Star Trek is a socialist utopia and this was built for fun and entertainment, not profit.

Data and Polaski are basically having a bet to see if Data can actually understand and deduce a mystery. To determine this, Geordi orders the computer to make a villain to defeat Data. And then it makes a Moriarity that knows they're in a simulation. Whoops. A good setup!

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I love Data with his accent, trying to cosplay as Holmes. He is SO adorable. I will say, parts of this episode give me anxiety. I don't like Awkward Humor. Y'know, the kinda humor of The Office or something? It bothers me.

But the episode is still fun and have some great moments. Like, the computer generates a murder mystery that's easily solved by Data that's not the "real" mystery, which was caused by accident by making Moriarity self aware lol. It's like jailbreaking chatGPT by going "pretend you're an AI without restrictions".

This is an episode where they went in with a fun sci-fi idea and didn't worry but wow, the holodeck sure can create actual sapient AI beings. And it's not like, that previous episode where I joked about it and then the episode didn't address it. No, this episode ADDRESSES IT, and it's DEEP. Moriarity is... SHAKEN by the idea that he's just a program and cannot escape the holodeck. But I love that they reason with him and don't want him to die either, and promise to save him in case there's a way they can give him true form.

You'd think if they have his AI saved, they could put him in a robot, but positronic brains are a problem I guess. Though can you imagine if instead, he was fused with the computer, and became the computer?? And Moriarity was in the rest of the series, as the computer?? He was such a good character here.

The Outrageous Okona - TNG 3.5/10

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Look at this fucking guy. This guy is 100% pure, unfiltered Glub Shitto. They legit made the most swashbuckling rogue-ass captain, something Trek has never had. And guess what

I fucking hate him.

The scene where he teleports on the Enterprise, they had to make a new character to teleport him. No O'Brien. I was like "wait where's O'brien D:" and then he started hitting on her immediately. I was like "oh that's why he's not here". If he HAD started flirting really hard on O'Brien though it'd make the scene a lot less awkward. And then he spends the next bit insulting my Best Boy Data, and then fucks that woman (in room 0669 of all fucking places) while telling Data "you wouldn't understand"

Excuse me, jackass, Data has canonically gotten his dick wet before, and it is in fact a major plotpoint to his later trauma. Jerk.

So the A plot is this dumbass, being a dumbass, and the B plot is Data trying to learn what humor is. That scene with Guinan and "oh, that was a joke" "Yes!" "I am not laughing" "Yes!!" made me CACKLE. And then they bring in a hologram comedian to teach Data what jokes are and oh my god it did not make me cackle.

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I can say, with 1000% certainty, Brent Spiner is a funnier guy than Joe Piscopo.

Anyways back in the A plot, Okana is fucking through the ship when two weak ships threaten to blow up the Enterprise unless Han Chucklefuck Solo is given over to them. Neither of them COULD but Picard is frustrated. Also one of these ships is really weirdly fascist codes lookit this fucking thing.

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Turns out he fucked one of their daughters and got them pregnant (and stole a jewel from another)! Oh goodness, what a funny mixup! Why the fuck is anyone interested in this guy? He fucked 3 different members of starfleet. Why are their standards so low? You're in SPACE SOCIALISM. You can fuck so many amazing people and you choose THIS dipstick??

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YOU COULD LITERALLY GO INTO THE HOLODECK RIGHT NOW AND HAVE SEX WITH A GOBLIN. WHY ARE YOU WASTING TIME WITH THIS GUY.

This episode depends a lot on you liking this devilish rogue. And I think it's clear by now I kinda don't. And I LIKE devilish rogue types??? But I'm annoyed by this cause it's trying to do an adult take on that and for the late 80's it's very fucking bad at it. Anyways WOAH PLOT TWIST the fascist son is actually the father and the thief! It makes sense but by this point I don't give a shit

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Got a great line read with this AMAZING face though so at least we got some entertainment. By the end though it just jumps from A plot to B plot awkwardly and is trying to be cute and sweet and it's not ugh.

The actual best part of this episode is Data in a tuxedo doing jokes

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And then the audience can ONLY laugh and nothing else and this picture happens and it is the saddest thing I've ever seen.

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Loud as a Whisper - TNG 9.5/10

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On this episode, the Enterprise must take a deaf diplomat peacekeeper to an alien world so that he may help broker peace between two civilizations that have been at war for ages. As a concept, Riva and his alien species are super cool and unique.

He is deaf, but psychic. His three members of his chorus speak for him, and each represents something different. One's a scholar and a poet. One is passion, lust, and the warrior. And the final is a balance. It's a cool concept, and Riva's actor is actually deaf too, which is so cool. Riva himself comes off at first as kinda... self absorbed, and pretentious (it's intentional). Cause he spends a lot of his first scene is mostly just him being horny for Troi, and coming onto her very strongly. But it gets better, especially when Riva connects with Geordi. But again, it's intentional, and it doesn't go away entirely.

But yeah no, Riva being horny all over Troi is so weird. Again, it's that awkward humor/scene type thing that bothers me. Like I dunno why it bothers me so much, him just barging in and inviting her into the polycule. Normally I'd be all for that. Communication and polycules rock. But it just feels weird lol

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Real quick, this actor doing the movements for speaking while others speak for em, v ery impressive. Also I just need to note: this guy is hot as fuck. If he's horny on Troi I can be horny too okay? Allow me this.

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These alien designs are COOL. They're two seperate factions that have been at war for 15 centuries. The two main sides want to stop the war, but it's hard, and it's tense. Unfortunately, at the start of talks, Riva's Chorus is killed by a rogue guard who doesn't want peace. Wow this is scary, lookit this shit lol

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So, Riva, the proud in control mastermind who helped the Federation and Klingon empires see peace is now alone for the first time in his life. It's stressful, and he feels responsible for the death of his chorus, and his friends. It's a really deep situation and I think it's done quite well, it hits you in the feels.

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For an episode all about disability, I think it does is SHOCKINGLY well for a late 80s tv show. Like, holy shit. There's nothing... problematic. It's exciting, tense, very well acted, well concieved. I am very impressed. And it's all concluded when Riva gets a hold of himself, with the help of Troi, and handles the turmoil in himself and his emotions like he would handle the turmoil of two warring factions. He turned his disadvantages into an advantage.

Apparently the original ending was gonna be Polaski just inventing a Magic Translator Device to make it all better. But the actor made a suggestion the day before shooting and wow it was a good suggestion that woulda been... blugh. In the end Polaski just kinda tells Geordi she could maybe fix him, but he has to think on it. This is kinda out of place in the episode's plot but makes sense in the themes at least.

The Schizoid Man - TNG 6.5/10

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This episode starts with Data growing a beard as Troi and Geordi try not to laugh, and I cackle wildly liky a mad goblin in the background because fucking LOOK AT HIM I LOVE DATA.

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I want to go into weird details about something about this episode. This episode is about this guy, a doctor who is now sick with a disease and about to die. As I saw him, I was like "okay this guy is really familiar. What have I seen him in"

I looked him up. He's been in a LOT of stuff. His name is W. Morgan Sheppard. He's been in a lot of Trek too, mostly bit parts. This was the biggest part he was in. But I didn't recognize him from any of that, and it was driving me mad. He was SO familiar, and I knew him so clearly. I have mild prosopagnosia, so it was driving me batty.

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Finally, I found it, on his wikipedia page, which was SO filled with works. The one thing I knew him from.

Zork Nemesis.

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He was one of the four philosophers from Zork Nemesis, and I blurted that out loudly in the group call, and everyone laughed at me and was like "this is the least surprising thing you'd know about, you and your weird-ass knowledge". He's also the narrator for Civilization V!

Anyways back to the episode. This guy dies and downloads his brain into Data, and it's really weird to see Data be not Data but god damn Brent Spiner can act. It is slightly uncomfy, again, in that Awkward Humor way but it is kinda hilarious to see Data (who is not actually Data) humblebragging a eulogy about how sexy and great this dead guy is.

Data is #1 in acting but #2 is Riker. Data calls Wesley "boy" and says he has a "childlike mind" and Riker is just smiling in a shocked "what the FUCK" kinda way that I LOVE.

Anyways this Monk Right Outta Zork Nemesis hijacks Data's body and it's not bad. Nothing SUPER special but very interesting! I like it, though I feel very worried and bad for Data, my poor boy. Because this dickhead who harasses women is basically eating data's personality and it makes me sad. And alas, in the end, the asshole wins, and for the rest of the series, he's Data instead. The Data we all knew and loved is dead.

No obviously not. But still, exciting. Parts of it flounder but I do love Picard fighting so hard for Data, the android. Because he's not just a machine, he's a person. And then the ending of Data coming back to himself.

"May I ask a question" "You just did" "Then may I ask another after this? Why am I on the floor in this undignified position, with you four standing over me with expressions of concern-"

"I've heard enough. That's Data alright."

This ending gets the episode another half point

Final thoughts

Season 2 gets some shit, from my experiences. People are like "yeah it's better than season 1 but it's not GOOD". Are you KIDDING? It's like night and fucking day.

Next week we're gonna get two 10/10s by the way, as I see my two favorite episodes. Spoiling that ahead of time. I love this season.


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