XaiJu
Target Audience
Target Audience

patreon


PATRON TAKES - Star Trek TNG S4E8

TAKES WILL BE READ Wednesday 9/4 at 8pm eastern

Make sure you read the other takes and give a like to your favorites.

Most liked comments & choices from Alex & Josh will be read for the video

Comments

Some people didn’t like the little alien at the end, but he’s always reminded me of the “greys” that like to abduct drunken humans. I’d like to think that his race had visited Earth in earlier centuries.

tyranusfan

...but THEN it turns out that Josh and Alex were in a simulation all along and TNG ended with season 2!

Tim b

We can never really tell the boy is doing it until Riker figures it out. They keep the true twist well hidden till the end.

Evan Guthrie

Some great lines from Riker in this one. "Shut up! As in close your mouth and stop talking!"

Ron Hubbard Jr

Yes, in combat too.

Evan Guthrie

He's fine, but he's still IMO, the weakest link in the episode. Largely because he's kinda the most important part of the episode and he's fine, while everyone else more or less excels. I don't blame the kid. This is the Next Generation Crew as a well-oiled machine, an ensemble cast that have been together for almost three and a half years now. They're a great crew plus Troi, and dropping any guest into the mix is challenging, especially so for a child actor.

John

The "kid" is fine.

Jovet

When Deanna casually drops "Min" as a diminutive of Minuet's name, you should instantly know something isn't right!

Jovet

His speech to the Council near the end of Season 2 and his monologue at the end of Season 3.... Chills. There are other great moments too throughout, though if you've seen three seasons, those are probably the top ones for me. Yeah, he's one of the best in Babylon 5, but even if he only gets a handful of Star Trek Episodes he absolutely crushes it every time, 'cause he's a professional.

John

Plot twist #3: Barash's enemies were the Husnock! I wish. Would have been a great callback.

Chris Mickelson

My only problem with TNG, even at its best, is the endings sometimes feel like someone in the writers room remembered they have to wrap things up before the end credits.

Glenn Johnson Barnes

Excellent episode, with a solid double twist, and an outstanding performance by Jonathsn Frakes. Another excellent chapter in season 4.

Cirk Bejnar

I enjoy the double twist, especially the callback to the Bynars episode. If you remember Minuet, you figure out that the future is fake before the rest of the audience. I thought that was a lot of fun. When the prison was also a fake, eh that was still fun but not as good. The episode would actually have been better if Riker were just beamed up from the prison by the Enterprise in a rescue that the audience was unaware was going on until the climax of the episode.

JoeCensored

Do the Enterprise conference room windows look green-screened this episode? Or is it just me? There is something janky about that scene( with Captain Riker, Admiral Picard, Troi)

Patrick Smith

Deanna dropping Minuet's name first was a master play by the writers.

Jovet

Good catch! Though that tense does exist, just not in every language.

Jovet

The ending is kind of underwhelming, but it is interesting to see the writers depicting a possible future. This episode also has one of my favorite Riker moments of all time. I give it a B.

Jared Curry

Good point

Brian Moore

This episode also contains two of the best of the TNG outtakes: Worf clarifies his scar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K1RiiNTWuo Georgi and Worf celebrate their rescue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgPy2kU9nEk

Ian Westcott

Well ..... SORT OF in person

JGoss

The episode title is a clever pun. Past and present imperfect are verb tenses, but there is no such thing as future imperfect, a hint that what's happening is not real. Also note the lack of external Enterprise shots.

JGoss

This one had me going. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. It kept my attention because of that. And it holds up to a rewatch. Not the best ever episode but one I still very much enjoy. I expect you will enjoy this and probably give it a solid B

Crankygrandma

We finally get to see Tomalak in person and not just on the view screen. I enjoyed this episode, and the glance into the possible future. I’ll be waiting to see if you recognized Min or if you were like me originally where I had no clue and had to go back and watch it again to see if it was the same actress. It’s super cool that it was her, even if her part only lasted a few seconds.

Brian Moore

I hope you didn't put together the pieces too quickly. If you didn't, I think it's a lot of fun. I'll like any episode that gaslights Riker. This episode gives a glimpse of the future -- what aspects of this episode do you think end up coming true?

Ian Westcott

A new reacuring character will make a debut in this episode. Sadly the actor who played this character died about a month ago. Hopefully that was vague enough so it won't spoil anything

Keith S

A new c

Keith S

Great point, I think the difference between what Riker did and Barclay ( and Jordi ) did was that Riker did not conjure up a hologram of someone he knew or even a real person. She was just a fantasy girl that he developed real feelings for. I have to wonder if the binars had not deleted her, would Riker had continued that ‘relationship’?

marty63026

So...will we ever see "Jean Luc" again?🤷‍♂️🤔

Greg Quinn

The alien at the end looks like a cheap Halloween costume you'd see at a dollar store. Was money really that tight?

Spencer Loften

I solid B to B+. I think you guys may rate it higher possibly but I can't really let the actual alien at the end pass so that holds it back. They have shown they can do much better (pen pal for example). It's a cool mystery, good twist within a twist bottle episode. But it just kind of falls flat at the end for me. Which I think you may possibly agree.

s0rd3z

The good: unexpected twists, continuity, Riker as captain, aging makeup (makes you appreciate how great LaVar is with the visor), Tomalak, Minuet. The bad: middle to end feels like S2 Shades of Grey done with an actual budget, except for the ending alien costume; high tech bug-eyed race with the fancy cave close to the neutral zone will likely never be seen again.

C

Prediction: The guys will love the constantly-evolving mystery. But won't be particularly satisfied by the final ending.

Jovet

Even knowing what is going on, this one is very re-watchable. The base premise is bit sketchy, but I enjoy this one. I like seeing all the "realities" come crashing down.

Jovet

Tomalak can be a bit of a characture because of his limited screentime, especially now that I've seen the depth he can bring in the 3 seasons of B5 that I've watched so far.

Nolan

Man, this season is just throwing everyone into fatherhood roles. First Picard, then Worf, now Riker. And another episode pulling on elements from past seasons. I wonder if you'll recognize Min right away or not.

Nolan

My personal highlight of the episode is seeing Deanna in a standard uniform.

Phillip Grischa

This is one of my favorite episodes of Season 4. It's not going to be everybody's cup of tea, but I do love the double-bluff, even if the kid is, once again, the weakest link in an episode where he's supposed to be the most important part of the episode. Andreas Katsulas is at the other end of the spectrum of guest cast; he elevates anything he appears in, Next Generation's loss in his rare appearances is Babylon 5's gain, in that he appears in nearly every episode of B5, and elevates that show just as much. I like a good mystery episode, where it isn't all given away first, and who doesn't love a holodeck episode? You get both wrapped into one, even if you don't truck to it until the end.

John

Me when someone is posting spoilers in the Patron Takes: “Shut up, as in close your mouth and stop talking!”

Evan Guthrie

This is a clever episode, does a good job of making you think it's a ruse but tricks you into thinking about the wrong ruse.

Angarl

Even though everyone knows the whole thing is not real, I still find this episode to be an incredibly fun watch. Riker telling the crew to shut up and telling Data he's full of shit is worth it.

Deep Red

I love how the Romulan guards in the room look at Riker after they know his greatest love was a hologram...like they think this guy's sad and kinda gross.

Alexander McKechnie

First time seeing an alien holodeck, so that's interesting. Riker was really horny for that season 1 hologram lady, eh? Kind of ironic in retrospect how much he bullied Barclay for his holodeck perversions. This is another typical B or C TNG episode to me. Some fun moments, but nothing super noteworthy.

EnigmaticPenguin

I like this one, not S tier but a banger for sure! I like the mystery and the Romulans in this one. The twist of Riker’s holographic side piece bring the mother of his fake kid was great, what a sentence. Only on Star Trek…

marty63026

An OK episode but the final act where Riker realises what's going on is one of the greatest TNG moments ever. Riker telling Picard to "SHUT UP! As in close your mouth and stop talking!"is possibly the greatest line delivery in all of Star Trek :D

Alan F

Riker's horniness gets him out of danger for once.

Ramen Nudels

I like the badge on this “ Future” A LOT. I don’t really care that much for the rest of the episode.

Sixto


More Creators