Star Trek: TNG 5x06 Full Reaction!
Added 2025-11-29 18:00:19 +0000 UTC
Comments
You can tell that Wil was happy to not have the boy wunderkind mantle on his shoulders, though the episode still has shades of that, albeit even then, it still never feels as bad as everyone made it out to be. Or maybe the level of bile just sets the expectations too high or something. Everyone does the good work of the creepiness, leading us to expect the ending to feature poor Veronica Cartwright screaming in despair. Tis true about Riker’s line making one sound like Nathan Lane telling Matthew Broderick as Leo, “There’s shots for everything these days, so don’t worry.” in response. Ashley Judd is good here. I know she appeared once before this. Not recalling any future appearances off the top of my head. The allure of stuff like Double Jeopardy being too strong. She is really good in Heat. It is an interesting story that is done well enough. Just pulls you out of it with the intended subtext of the The More You Know style thing with video games. There are better episodes, and definitely worse episodes. Nice to see Jess have fun with it.
Thomas Corp
2025-11-29 22:44:38 +0000 UTCA rather more "meat and potatoes" story as Walt Disney called them than we've gotten for a while, something that Brannon Braga would pretty much be the franchise's go-to guy for over the next decade plus. It's of course most interesting for the return of Wesley, with Wil clearly relishing getting to just play a regular guy rather than a supergenius who gets to go through his own personal Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The other actors all do great work racking up the creepy until you expect Donald Sutherland to point and scream, though I do wish the early dialogue didn't have Riker so often saying "I brought something back from Risa" in a way that just makes me think "Well, there are pills for that, just use some aloe for now." A then-unknown Ashley Judd also makes quite an impression, clearly being set up as a potential recurring character though as I recall she only appears once more. I guess the siren song of stuff like Double Jeopardy couldn't be ignored. Really not much more to add; it's a reasonably interesting story done reasonably well, and sometimes that's what you get from the days when seasons had two dozen episodes to make and not every one needed to knock your socks off to keep binging.
Ryan
2025-11-29 22:11:36 +0000 UTCAnd the moral of this The More You Know story is that this is what happens when Riker fucks someone other than Deanna. God, I’m glad that I wasn’t drinking anything when you said that one, Jess. Think we might share the opinion of season five being our season. As of my own top chapter-and-verse episodes three of them (technically four, if we count two-parters separately,) are in this season, which is the most per season. Beginning this one on Risa. We have similar responses to the opening scene with Riker. At one point I ask the serious question, “...Do people really like doing that whole playful running around thing during nocturnal activities? Wouldn’t that just tire you out before you even get to second base?” Sinister shenanigans start there. They do have the good slow burn of how nefarious all of this is. Of course, you protest about Geordi being brought into this chicanery. One amusing thing is fellow pedants posed the reasonable question of how they showed the game to Geordi. I would assume they piped it into his visor. Curious how they got Worf hooked on this game. Big thing of the episode is the return of Wesley. I would have gotten madder about Wil’s name being in the credits, spoiling the surprise, but the time between that, and Wesley being mentioned is short. Plus, I’d imagine the adverts back then drummed up some hype. Your own reaction to catching Wil’s name in the credits was precious. See, you had the wholesome response to the sneak attack surprise party. I LOATHE that, I’d yell, “You sons of bitches, DON’T FUCKING do that!!” Though you do have the comment of the surprises aren’t always great. I do like Picard and Wesley having the Latin talk, and Worf baking the cake was sweet. Ashley Judd is great as the girlfriend. Zero experience in this regard, and I wholeheartedly concur with saying “NO!” to first date hanging out with your mom. Love his talk with Picard. Patrick and Wil are so good in that scene. Great words you had on how Wesley being more straight-and-narrow allows him to clock shit early. Leads to how you say you rather enjoyed this one. It feels middle of the road for me. Whole thing’s such an obvious The More You Know style message of quit with all the gaming and go outside and get some fresh air. Another reason as to why Data got taken out of commission as the moral wouldn’t work for him. Oxygen isn’t a concern for Data as he rarely uses it himself. It promotes rust. Of course you got protective of Data, and it’s horrifying how the crew is made to act. Think Beverly nearly doing what they wanted to do to Wesley was the point where I snapped and yelled at the mastermind of this plot, “You SICK FUCK, I’m going to kick your ass!!” The general concept isn’t bad, just odd. What’s weird is that this feels like a season one script where the adults end up being useless in solving the crisis, and Wesley is the one to save the day. It feels like the sort of thing everyone carried on about in the first season. Odd thing is this is season five, and now Wesley is, say, nineteen, (or at least Wil is here,) almost a full-grown man, so the complaint about him being the kid doesn’t really fit anymore. It’s one of the more surreal things. Again, you say that you had fun with it, and that’s terrific. Wesley and Lefler did some good work. You join the chorus of fans of asking how Wesley didn’t notice Picard having the game. It was just lying there. Was a bit mean to them at the one scene, by saying, “You’re supposed to look like you’re playing the game, not like you’re wearing the sensor rings in Coneheads.” Love your reactions to the big chase. Gets scary when they try to subject Wesley to Ludovico by way of blood of Kali. Adore your reaction to Data-ex-Machina. Figured you’d make the Epilepsy comment, yeah, those lights were bright. We both lived for how the mastermind of the plot got sweet karma. Imagine that the Borg would have loved to get their hands on that game. And it’s a fond farewell between Wesley and Lefler. Do we ever see her again? I mean, given certain recentish developments, it’s a moot point anyway, but I fail to recall her ever appearing again. Ah, well. Other highlights: We both had the response to Deanna being very... intimate when eating the Deanna Special as you call it. Subtext’s blatant enough that you expect Rob Reiner’s mom to pop up out of nowhere to tell Guinan, “I’ll have what she’s having.” at the end of the scene. The idea you propose of Data teaching Wesley to dance for the next seventeen episodes... definitely would be worth it to see you react to that, Jess. Wesley’s not acting with the not dancing. That’s Wil as well, by his own admission. Though not the strongest episode, lovely to see you have fun with it, Jess. The update on Rocco. Yeah, your earlier video with the certain show that’s put the kibosh on holiday festivities, you mentioned that he was struggling some still. Good to hear he’s at least doing ok. Sounds better than me, though yesterday’s Batman reaction has been very healing. Just hope both of you continue to do reasonably well. All the best to you and Rocco both, Jess, take care.
Thomas Corp
2025-11-29 19:09:48 +0000 UTC
