Mike and Rich's Top 5 Star Trek TNG Episodes! - re:View (part 2)

I love all your top episode picks. I suspect the reason why Chain of Command was not the season cliff hanger that season was because they had done that with Best of Both Worlds (teasing changing the status quo) and they didn't want their writer friends to make fun of them. "Will Picard survive?!?! Tune in a few months to find out." I also speculate they had Captain Jellico beg Riker to pilot the ship to show that Jellico had to bend his will to ultimately get his way.

DS9 is like the last bastion of 24th century Starfleet to remain unscathed by the retread reboot madness. We should probably never speak of it on unsecure comms. Just so they can't fuck things up with "Star Trek: Sisko" or whatever horrid idea they are already probably trying to cook up to revisit Bajor or Cardassia or the Dominion Wars again. You know, like if anyone out of uniform ever asks, just draw a completely blank stare. Keep it full Garak. Deep cover

Jason Clark

Patrick Stewart currently seems to have a mirror universe Van Dyke. Guarantee you Alex Kurtzman is going to say, “the one thing we never got in TNG that the fans always wanted was a mirror universe episode.“ Mirror universe Picard will just be a way to connect that show to their discovery bullshit

J.R. Shartzer

Love seeing you two talk about Star Trek! Please make more videos like this.

Hope you keep going with this...I'd be over the moon with this same format for DS9 episodes!!

https://youtu.be/PZ4AF0PBzE0

More good Trek discussions please!

interlinked Media

Would love a Worst 5 Episodes of Voyager :D

You guys should make a top 5 TOS and a bottom 5 TNG

Joshua Greenman

These episodes were really delightful. I’m sure it would get boring talking about Star Trek all the time, but since I’ve never really watched it, I’d love to see more discussions about the various incarnations.

Christoph

I could watch you guys talk about trek all day. You're both very knowledgeable about it and you can see how much you both love the series. I know voyager is the red headed step-child of the trek series but I think it would be great to see you two do the same for voyager. Maybe a bit of a challenge but I think there are some hidden gems in that series.

Andrew maresh

I've never watched Star Trek so I really like these episodes.

Harold

Everything with Troi's mother in it qualifies as aggressively awful...

Manuel Johnen

I would actually like to see a 5 schlock episode review too. TNG is so over-glorified by Trek fans, especially in this Dark Ages period, that it is time for it to be put in its place.

David Perek

Yay! Part 3 soon please x

Paul Murphy

Mike and Rich, 5 Episodes from each season would be cool. And maybe get Jay to sit in every once and awhile and get his hipster, art house, opinion from a non-fanboy perspective

いいね

David Perek

Yes, Mike and Rich. Five more episodes each please! Thank you!

Mike St Louis

The rumor I had heard about Kelsey Grammar’s cameo is that they wanted Lt. Saavik to be the commander of the ship (and played by Kirstie Alley). When they couldn’t get permission to use the character, they cast Kelsey Grammar.

Daniel Frank

Another very Star Trek thing about Who Watches The Watchers is the extensive Vasquez Rocks location photography.

Katy

I'm glad there was no overlap between episode picks because I got to be exposed to more of what you guys think makes TNG great. It was interesting to see the differences in what you both kind of value in terms of storytelling. Mike seems to really enjoy episodes that focus on individual character dynamics and relationships and Rich's episodes tied in more with those larger, overarching themes of humanism and empathy (minus Cause and Effect I guess). Even though it was listed as a guilty pleasure, Disaster might be what gets me to finally watch the series.

Rhea

Oh, yeah! Almost forgot about him/it. Kinda like Q, but much creepier and more alien.

Rob Ward

I can say it is nice to have an episode have so much Gates McFadden screen time.

Daniel E. Passaro

Immensely enjoyed the discussion. My only regret? Not one mention of Nagilum!

Daniel E. Passaro

I'm all for more trek love re:Views from you guys! Another top 5 TOS/TNG/DS9/Voyager, bottom 5, missed opportunities, anything really. It's nice to see you guys genuinely enjoying what you're talking about lol.

He also tried to build a Star Trek theme park in the country, which was announced on multiple occasions, but it never materialized (suspicious transporter accident?).

Neil Peart, Lord of Drums

I was really sad about that, mostly because I just wanted to hear them talk about it. It's such an interesting episode in so many ways, from what it says about communication, to its commentary on interpretation/viewpoint (regarding customs, actions, metaphors, etc.), to what it reveals about Picard, to the introduction of the super badass and fashionable "captain's jacket." There was actually a great article written about the episode's language and the ideas behind it in The Atlantic, though I don't endorse all of the ideas in it: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/06/star-trek-tng-and-the-limits-of-language-shaka-when-the-walls-fell/372107/

Neil Peart, Lord of Drums

Both the #1's exemplify what's so great about this show. You've got your big cliffhangers, Picard speeches, Q episodes etc. But in the epic pantheon of TNG episodes, it makes perfect sense that a "favorite" would be boiled down to something more random that just spoke to you for whatever reason. Love it.

Charlie

The King of Jordan Abdulla II was a Trekkie and made a cameo in an episode https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Abdullah_bin_al-Hussein

MoAr

Tomas

This miniseries has been really fun. It has reminded me of some episodes I need to revisit. Also, that muted green is a good color on Rich.

Amy Hitchner

This is a fantastic idea. I second.

Ok, more than anything now I want a Mike and Rich commentary for each and every episode of TNG. Either a video of them talking about each episode, or a commentary overdub you can watch with the Episodes. This is like talking about Star Trek with the pals in your life that loved it as much as you did. If not those ideas than something else. I cannot get enough of those two talking about TNG! I believe doing this would qualify them as an Essential Workers to help us all get through the the 2nd part of this episode of real life episode entitled "The Year of Hell".

Scott Cummings

Just wanted to pop in and thank you guys for this two parter TNG re:View. I've been supporting you guys for 6 years now and don't comment often, but I just wanted to let you know that this one hit particularly hard. Lots of great, positive memories in a bunch of the episodes mentioned, some of which I had completely forgotten about. While I would like to see more TNG talk, I'd honestly you just prefer you do your own thing. That's what makes you guys worth watching in the first place. Thank you.

Hidde Jansen

Thanks for making this TNG top 5. Please expand to a top 10!

Tony C

Hey guys! Great 2-part episode. I've been a long time fan, and I started watching TNG because of you guys ( I wanted to understand your many tangential jokes) . I finished the series a little over a year ago and I have to say, it's my favorite show of all time. So first of all, thank you for introducing me to TNG. Secondly, I was extremely excited when Mike first said his favorite episode was Sub Rosa ( The Beverley romance novel episode) because honestly, that one is one of my favorites. Before Mike reviled that he was trolling Rich, that brief moment I was validated! I've tried to have conversations about that episode and people either hate or do not remember it. I hold firm that it's a great, weird, emotional episode (which are the ones I typically gravitate to). Anyway, thanks again for the great content! Listening to you guys gush about stuff you like is great entertainment.

Damnit Mike, Kelsey Grammar’s ship in Cause and Effect was a Soyuz class ship, not a Miranda class. How dare you not know this pointless piece of information about a 30 year old TV show.

Poo In An Alleyway

Hey guys. Just wanted to thank you for doing this pair of re:Views. I'm right around the same age and started watching TNG in first-run syndication right around the same time (Season 3-ish). Watching you talk about the reasons you love TNG, even with all its clichés and flaws, was just the nostalgia trip I needed to get my mind off of what a shitshow life in 2020 is shaping up to be. It was also great to reconsider these 10 episodes, a good number of which I honestly hadn't thought about since they were first on TV. Thanks again, this was awesome.

Wow, The Inner Light was not on either list.

Ryan Fitch

Frasier wasn't able to escape the time loop because he didn't have Data on board to transfer information through. Or maybe he was just busy tossing salad and scrambled eggs.

John Radoff

Mike’s shirt in these videos is awesome.

Dan Hiestand

Surprised "Darmok" didn't get a mention. "Shaka, and the walls fell."

Nathan Campbell

5 Deep Space 9 one boys, come on I know both of you have watched it :P

Alnarra

What's the name of the episode where Troi turns into a fish and the A Team guy turns into a giant spider...? That was a good one...

Manuel Johnen

Do this with Simpsons. :D

Michael Matzat

I'd say the same thing about TOS. Underrated. Mike and Rich don't seem to like TOS much though, besides of the movies. An aspect about Star Trek I recently discovered is that much of Trek was inspired by the adventures of Captain Horatio Hornblower. Kirk is less of a cowboy in space, more of a naval officer in space, as well as Picard. Even Janeway shares some characteristics with Hornblower in her early portrayal. Star Trek as a whole makes more sense with Horatio Hornblower in mind, not only with regards to the concept of the show, and the captains, but also with regards to side characters like Spock and Riker. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Horatio_Hornblower

Marvin Falz

That description text.

Kate HL

It's all well and good to hear people discuss things that they like or whatever, but what the people really need is for you guys to make a bottom five episodes list and then make Jay watch them all.

This was good guys, thank you.

Rattslinger

I just remembered, I have seen Cause And Effect, specifically because I wanted to see Frasier in space. Bebe Neuwirth also appeared in an episode, in season 4 titled "First Contact."

Marvin Falz

This was nice. I like seeing y'all talking about stuff you love and why you love it, so I'm glad one of the Star Trek shows finally made it to Re:View. I would be excited to see y'all do the same thing, 5 episodes per person, for Deep Space Nine and Voyager. I know Mike, at least likes, Voyager, and having watched it for the first time in the last few years, it's seriously underrated.

The Constable

I wish my life was just "hanging out in bar and doing jazz."

Neil Peart, Lord of Drums

I am completely ready for more of this. And how about a top 5 Deep Space Nine episodes?

DukatDidNothingWrong

I am all for 5 more. Hoping for an "I, Borg" breakdown, which, among other things, had one of the better "science solution" elements of any TNG episode (sending Hugh back with the Trojan horse, halt and catch fire, infinite regress mind virus).

It's on Netflix. Give it a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised. And if you are, you have a hell of a fun binge ahead of you. ;)

Helvetica Bold

Temba, his arms wide! ... Mike on the ocean. Mike and Rich at The Wheel. The beast, Turtle Dreams. Mike and Rich on the ocean. ... (my favorite episode, tied with The Inner Light) EDIT: Anyone else catch Rich subtly call the character "Admiral Bitchayev"?

Neil Peart, Lord of Drums

I wish I'd seen TNG, but I feel like it's probably too dated for me now, never seen any star trek except the Chris Pine trilogy.

hamish smith

Definitely check it out. Fair warning: the first season of TNG is not the best, but episodes from season 2 and beyond all range from "good" to "great." And TOS is just all good, IMO. ;) Campy at times, but good.

Helvetica Bold

Awesome. I'm going to cook some meal, then eat while I'm watching this video. Thanks, Mike and Rich!

Marvin Falz

A couple of more of these and I might actually watch some Star Trek (never seen a single episode). It looks smart and your enthusiasm are selling me on it. Keep it coming!

David Vass