UNCUT REACTION - Star Trek TNG S1E18 - Home Soil

This is a pretty solid S1 episode. There's a pretty obvious parallel to Devil in the Dark, with a little bit of "captain vs computer" mixed in. It's in my opinion not as memorable as that episode, being that DitD is my favourite TOS episode, but it certainly has it's own charms, and it does push even further the idea of recognizing life that is very different from us. The "microbrain" is significantly more alien than the horta. The whole "you're still primitive, come back in 300 years" thing is just typical Roddenberry. That kind of thing always came off as cheesy and VERY overused. Compare that to how Picard talks to the Mintakans in Who Watches the Watchers, and they were way more than 300 years behind the federation. Like, bitch, you sit underground in a puddle, you're basically a plant, while we run around all over the galaxy. Just always thought those kinds of lines were corny writing. I do like that there are no real villains. The terraformers were just caught up in their work and dismissive of what they thought were weird anomalies, and of course the aliens were just defending themselves. One thing that bugs me is the whole powered by light thing. They're talking about all this huge amount of energy the microbrain is using to reproduce(also where was it getting the minerals to reproduce on that pedistal?) and control the Enterprise systems, and all of it is coming from light. It can't be pulling more energy from that light than is being put into the actual light fixtures in the lab(a tiny amount), and even then it's only absorbing the fraction of that light that's shining on the alien itself. Basically, how much energy would a little calculator solar panel absorb in that room? Even if you say like 30x as much once it grew, that's barely enough to give you a small shock. Plus when they lowered the light, it's not like it was pitch black, and certainly even under an inch of sand you would get less light than in that room. Not to mention the wind and sand we see blowing around would affect the light the aliens were getting. Of course the worst problem is if it started dying seconds after the lights were dimmed, how do they survive at night? I guess you could say since they're connected through the salt water, whichever ones are getting light share the energy with the others across the whole planet. Anyway, solid episode, and a good look at a more realistic type of terraforming.

Timothy Nikiforovs

The Federation is the government and starfleet is the navy.

Derek Orr

It’s actually getting worse now…people seem to prefer a fake video game look to their CGI rather then going for realism

Derek Orr

Its the comic book superhero marvel style thats spread like a cancer

Derek Orr

He picked up a very damaged and neglected show in the 3rd season. He did an amazing job with what he had to work with

Derek Orr

Google rizz

Josh (Target Audience)

Brilliant and accurate description of nu trek and unfortunately too many new tv shows

Derek Orr

Ok what does Rizzed mean? You guys keep saying it

Derek Orr

I forgot how often they still used old fashioned terminology over and over…”memory banks” and “readings” and “circuits”

Derek Orr

In person videos?

Derek Orr

@Nolan And still the absolute best Trek in 20 years.

StonyD

"We need a proper court episode" I can't wait

Ryan Baillie

wow great catch!

Badger

It was refreshing that Wesley didn't save the day..

Badger

This episode was written by the same guy who wrote the ST: TOS episode The Immunity Syndrome. Interesting similarities re: organisms dividing and reproducing etc.

Glenn Johnson Barnes

Yeah while the supporting cast got better over the years , especially Dorn and McFadden, Stewart and Spiner were the best to start off with

Scarpad’s Domain

I was trying to remember when they did. Picards shirt pull down became legendary after that.

Monty Crawford

It certainly wasn't for her acting. It was just bad.

Monty Crawford

Scarpad’s Domain

They hired her cause she’s Riker’s squeeze

Scarpad’s Domain

That’s why, beyond forgetting the craftsman that worked on TOS, I like the original effects of the CGI reboot

Scarpad’s Domain

Absolutely without spoiling anything Nutrek has taken has dumbed down trek into the lowest common denominator. It’s Horrible

Scarpad’s Domain

This was like a remake of the Horta episode, but that was way better. There was some writing and directorial choices here that were basically fake outs. Why was the guy frightened and alarmed in the opening if he had no idea there was life. The dead scientist had a theory about the water and then 1-2 first the blond guy basically tells him to shut up, then the chief guy tells him to go into the laser room and the guy was afraid "now??" like he knew the danger. What was any of that about?

Ken R

Even being given only partial Betazoid telepathy was too over-powered for most stories, with the writers having to either further limit Troi's perception, play fast and loose with it, or remove her from the episode to allow the story events to flow. The character needed to be better thought out from the beginning, or to have experienced some transformative event that changed her abilities to a level the writers could be consistent with.

Numinous2019

I forgot about this episode; it's really well written.

Castanea

great watch a long! my impression is that TNG didn't reuse in person videos much except in emergencies but sometimes outside shots and planets.

Castanea

Definitely..even as the series progresses her abilities seem to change depending on the writer..even almost clairvoyant, sensing danger before it even happens.

Glenn Johnson Barnes

@Ca$h Eh, based on what I've seen and read, Matalas' season still had a lot of the same problems as Kurtzman's: Too dimly-lit sets, snarky, edgy, anachronistic dialogue, melodrama, over-wrought music, poor world-building and overly convoluted plotting to stretch out a season story based on a mystery box that then gets hasilty and slip-shoddily wrapped up in the final episode. Only it happened to be doused in syrupy nostalgia. IMO, of course.

Nolan

Troi seems to be able to sense a lot of feelings across a vast amount of space, especially in this first season.

Collin Freeman

That's the biggest Star-Trek-ish understatement I've EVER heard! Collin is right about that. Keep watching, gentlemen. Keep watching.

Rhett Coates

Yeah, along with the rest of us! Wow, J&A - you will be so incredibly and pleasantly surprised at what's in store. I will say this - and it does NOT spoil anything - YOU ARE BOTH ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS, and those of us who know what's in store have Cheshire Cat grins on us right now. (--"HAHAHAHA" expressed out loud with fast rubbing of both hands together--). Just keep watching, fellas. YOU'LL SEE.................!

Rhett Coates

This episode reminded me of the book and movie The Andromeda Strain.

Monty Crawford

This resembles The Devil in the Dark.

Geoffrey Linehan

Despite having watched a better (and scarier!) version of this episode in TOS (Devil in the Dark), I'd be a liar if I said this didn't work for me. I just wish they had introduced a little something more just to spice things up.

Captain Proton

Troi: captain! I’m sensing terrible danger down there! Picard: danger? What is it that you’re sensing, counselor? Troi: I don’t know.

Rich Cirivilleri

I got a kick out of the Orci and Kurtzman ending lol. But yeah, he's a hack fraud. Give Trek to Terry Matalas to run.

Ca$hWednesday

The terraforming station was a matte painting by Syd Dutton.

tyranusfan

@Stephen Wright You mean "24th-century MacGyver?" He's probably related to what's-his-name who crashed on Angel One...

Jovet

1:00:50 I don't think the ending of this was "weird". The only thing weird about it was Data channeling Lore's forceful 'I know better than you, listen to me' voice when talking to the captain. They had to reduce the thing's grip on the ship, so turning down the lights was the obvious avenue. It also allowed the crew to provide they are ultimately benevolent. They also were NOT saying "Enhance." They were saying Zoom. Those are two different things. Zooming is a real thing. Enhancement isn't.

Jovet

Ouch... that Orci and Kurtzman ending you added there. That was a gut-punch into this nice little escape into old Star Trek. Kurtzman and Orci wrote the reboot movies, you see, and Kurtzman is currently in charge of and running Star Trek into the ground, dragging it's desicated corpse behind his key-jangling, narratively incoherent plot, shallow characters, trying too hard dialogue, lazy and immaturely edgy inconsistant a-tonal themes/narratives and corporate yes-manning. Basically, your attempt at "If Star Trek were made in 2016" is more on the money than not. And I can't stand that's what it's become now. I honestly feel dumber for having watched as much of this new era as I did. Thank goodness I stopped.

Nolan

Sensing emotions means feeling them. It's just that some of them are harder to detach from. And yes, I am thinking of that one episode... which I can't remember the name of right this second...

Jovet

I like it any time that Data can instead of wide-eyed Pinocchio can be the hyper-competent android badass he's capable of being.

JD Nevesytrof

Ugly bags of mostly water!

Troy Massey

I absolutely did not recall ever seeing this episode until I watched it today with you guys. It was nice to see an episode that felt as fresh to me as it did to you seeing it for the first time. As for a good courtroom episode, just you wait. Season 2 will bring what I consider the ultimate Star Trek courtroom drama.

Collin Freeman

I agree

Collin Freeman

Starfleet has some jurisdiction over the scientists because the project is like a Federation-sponsored thing. Which was pretty much how they seemed to treat the Wrath of Khan scientists. Starfleet is aimed at exploration of course, but they're also like the military or police force of the Federation. Think about it, all the way back in The Man Trap, they had this kind of thing happening. Kirk was going to check up on that scientist whether he liked it or not.

Joe Concepts

Star Trek was still using practical ship models into the TNG movies, which I always thought was cool.

Ca$hWednesday

This is definitely a hint of better use of Troi going forward. They also will make use of her as a literal "counselor" later on, too. I always felt they changed her character even from the pilot. In the pilot, she wasn't just sensing emotions she was really FEELING them. Which is why she seemed to be on the verge of tears throughout, which always annoyed me. Here she's more in control. And even with that, of course she changes over the 7 years.

Joe Concepts

I think the younger viewers tend to think that "CGI" just means "special effects." Where us old timers knew it meant "computer generated imagery" back when it was introduced. Personally, I didn't think that station looked so bad here. This show does really great work with many CGI ships during the series, but they also keep with the traditional model work for many things.

Joe Concepts

Yes! Great stuff. Josh, you should do more of these. Would make for great shorts hehe.

Andreas Schmitt

I never notice this stuff either, but I grew up in Germany where every movie was dubbed into my language. So my brain probably turned off the lip sync detector at some point lol

Andreas Schmitt

I feel this was your best TNG discussion yet :)

Andreas Schmitt

Could be, I've not watched many dubbed films, myself. But it really jumped out at me when I first saw this episode 30+ years ago. It's even more obvious when you can hear the sound of the walls the overdub is recorded in echoing her voice. I'm reminded of when I finally saw the film Frozen. The movie's big song started up, and throughout it all I could hear was the percussion echoing off the walls of the studio it was recorded in. *sigh*

Jovet

It doesn't bother me. It was just an establishing shot.

Jovet

I *just* got the double meaning of this comment! I also now find the "all life is beautiful [to us]" comment a bit ironic, too...

Jovet

I’m heading to Elyria III to watch along the reaction video for this episode. I seem to remember that I kind of liked it.

Rich Cirivilleri

LOLOLOLOL GREAT ending to the reaction

Prof Moff

Solid episode with lots of cast involved

AzoriusMage

Maybe I'm oblivious, but I didn't even pick up on it until it was mentioned. I think maybe I've watched so many Hong Hong films with english dubs that my "dub-dar" is off.

Ca$hWednesday

I was almost screaming at my screen when they said that :D

Ca$hWednesday

Well Bjorn Borg's shitty mullet was worse than the CGI! Even then, CGI was always kinda meh. It certainly has come a long way but when used correctly it's great, but too often it's not.

Stephen Wright

Yeah, it really irritates me when I watch a reaction to one of my favorite older movie on YT (I'm 63 and prefer older movies) and the reactor either doesn't like it because there's no CGI or it's in *gasp* black and white, or they say it's pretty good despite no CGI and being B&W. Someone actually said the CGI in Casablanca was pretty good for 1942. *sigh* Then there are those who think any movie made before 1990 is terrible just because it's "older" and might make them actually think about the plot. I have chewed out (or rather "tried to educate") more than one of them in their comment sections. /rant mode

KatWithAttitude

The odd-sounding overdub of the woman scientist's voice in this one gets me every time...

Jovet

Sometimes you two make it difficult to not advise of what's coming down the pike. (Capt Pike reference not intended) :D

Jovet

Let’s goooooo - Alex

Josh (Target Audience)

“We need a court episode.” Ohhhh, don’t you worry, lads. Don’t. You. Worry.

Ragnarok

Thus the biggest problem with CGI… it will always eventually age poorly compared to practical

Josh (Target Audience)

That was 80's cutting edge shitty CGI!

Stephen Wright

Great hard sci-fi story. This is in my opinion, the best episode of Season 1. In addition, you start to see the actors / characters begin gelling together when they interact.

Ca$hWednesday

Get set for more Worf...

KatWithAttitude