I also had no idea the top portion of the Starship Enterprise could separate like that. That was pretty sweet.
He’s a pretty major character, but that only means one or two episodes per season. He’s just got a thing for Picard
Yeah, a thing. Minor spoiler.
I don’t know why it’s hilarious to me that Picard pulls up his covers like he’s ashamed at Q seeing him in the nude, as though he isn’t a multidimensional demigod who probably can see through Picard’s clothes anyway if he so wished.
It’s just such a cute and pointless attempt at privacy with a nearly all powerful being. Like dude he just magicked himself into your bed, you think he didn’t already get a good look?
Patrick Stewart : So in my film, I play a man who controls the world with his mind.
Andy Millman : Right. Oh, that’s interesting.
Patrick Stewart : Yeah. For instance, I’m walking along, and I see this beautiful girl, and I think I’d like to see her naked, and so all her clothes fall off.
Andy Millman : All her - clothes fall off?
Patrick Stewart : Yes, and she’s scrabbling around to get them back on again, but even before she can get her knickers on, I’ve seen everything. Yeah. I’ve seen it all.
Be honest: you just wanted an excuse to post that reference, didn’t you?
I actually remembered it after I made the comment, and edited it in. Realized how Patrick Stewart at least already understands.
But it’s also true that I’ll drop this reference any time I get a chance because it never fails to crack me up.
deleted by creator
And miss “The Measure of a Man”?
deleted by creator
His transformation during the series is interesting. He’s developing as he learns about humanity.
Also don’t miss the episodes in Voyager featuring him ;-)
Honestly, if you started from scratch nothing you see in season one applies.
Just… assume everything reboots after but they keep the lore. It’ll be fine.
deleted by creator
Thanks, you talked me back into sticking with it from the beginning. I’d wonder what I missed if I skipped a whole season or two, I think.
Before it’s too late: Skip episode 4. “Code of Honor,” alternate title: “The Gang Gets Racist”
Don’t forget “Racism 2: Irish Boogaloo” when O’Brien beams up that colony of goat herders.
A lot. People here keep mentioning “Q Who?” as important. It very much is, to the entire franchise, not just TNG. And in the end, when Picard is musing aloud over what happened, it’ll be your first opportunity to consider that Q might have done them a favor in his way and is more complex than you thought.
I saw some people say to start with Season 3, but it felt weird. Should I just skip Season 1?
When I first started TNG I just looked up a list of the best episodes from season 1 and 2 and watched those then went straight to season 3. After I finished the show and loved it, I went back and rewatched seasons 1 and 2 fully. So that’s a good option if you just wanna get to the good stuff quicker, and each episode is (for the most part) it’s own self contained episode so you don’t miss much by skipping parts of seasons 1 and 2 IMO as long as you watch the good episodes.
I’m on break at work so I don’t have time to find the list I used but sure you can find something easily with a Google search or someone else here might recommend the best episodes of those seasons.
I’d agree with the other comment as well. The first two seasons are bumpy but they build a lot.
Skipping them, even where they’re rough, does you a disservice in the long run. It’s well worth the trouble.
The first couple seasons were still under Gene Roddenberry’s control. He maintained that there should not be any conflict between the crew members. That made the first couple seasons a little strange.
Interesting that it’s considered to have gotten better when he wasn’t controlling it? I didn’t realize that.
He had his eccentricities. It’s hard to make a compelling show about human stories when the main cast aren’t allowed to have interpersonal conflicts. But his vision of the utopian future would be that society wouldn’t have in-fighting anymore.
I’d say no, but muscle through it even if it’s not clicking.
Frankly, there are great episodes in the first two seasons, it just hadn’t fully hit a groove where you can just watch it and at least expect it to be ok to good (or hilarious) every time. The hatred for the first seasons is overhyped.
But yeah, a lot of the creaky joints, be it Picard being weirdly hostile and disengaged from the action, Q being weird and grating and Wesley being mishandled do go away eventually.
Just skip the Riker Clip Show at the end of season 2, and you’ll be fine. Apparently that episode was created because writers were on strike at the time
In season 1 Riker doesn’t have a beard, which is your first clue it’s a holodeck simulation.
I’m jealous that you’re getting your first go through, that was a pretty magical experience.
I usually watch the whole series every couple of years, and I’m due for a watch now, but I can’t. Star Trek was something I shared with my dad, who died two years ago, and I just can’t seem to make myself watch it anymore.
I watched Star Trek because my dad introduced me to it. I’m now a dad and I am sharing it with my kids.
I don’t know you, and I don’t know your family, but if your father liked Star Trek enough to introduce you to it, my guess is that he wouldn’t want his death to take that away from you. If anything, my bet would be he’d hope it would bring you comfort and fond memories and hope for the future.
I hope you can get there when enough time has passed, and I hope this message might help it all hurt a little less.
Oh yeah he totally would want me to keep on going, and I’m trying, but there’s just too much emotion there. It’s a show that I love because it’s a testament to what humanity could accomplish if we just got our shit together, and I’ve always felt emotionally attached to the show… it’s just too much right now.
Eventually.
Grief is complicated, and two years is no time at all to recover from the death of a parent. It makes complete sense that watching something you associate with him would still be painful, and there’s nothing to be gained by forcing it.
Eventually you’ll reach the point where reminders of your father bring up happy feelings, with the pain of losing him still present, but not overwhelming. That won’t happen fast, but you will get there. That’s the time to give TNG another go, and see how it makes you feel.
Hang in there, friend.
I hate Q also… To me he was always just an excuse for the writers to take a mental break
Unless you are a completist who’s willing to sit through the less than good episodes, you may want to use an episode guide such as this one which I found useful when I went back to rewatch it. Yes Q is kind of annoying, that’s actually his character and how everyone in the show feels about him too. But there are also some fantastic episodes with him, so once you get to those, you may not hate his presence as much.
I feel compelled to recommend this guide by a long time Daystrom Institute contributor. It does an excellent job identifying episodes as essential, unnecessary but fun, mediocre, or outright bad. A good place to work from if you want a more flexible recommendation of what to try and what not to.
Idk John DeLancie has that “Tim Curry” energy where he chews the scenery well and is fun to watch but wasn’t much a fan of Season 1 Q.
It gets better.
I agree. It got unexpectedly trippy and weird at times, which was a pleasant surprise. He just came across really cornbally. I could imagine him maybe growing on me.
Penalty!
His best line: “Eat any good books lately?”
I had no idea there were people who didn’t like Q. His introduction is by far the weakest thing about him but Q is honestly hilarious in subsequent episodes and I think his race are a very poignant commentary on what an actual race of godlike beings would be like if real.
Since others have fully covered the Q portion of your comment I came to say that that cool saucer separation that’s so bad ass happens like 3 times max!
I get that maybe it’s “expensive” or awkward to write or something from the production standpoint that makes it underused, but seriously, is it “expensive” in-universe?! Because they spread that shit out more sparingly than me buying pine nuts!
Other show reference alert: it’s a lot like on Deep Space 9 how rarely Odo changes. If I had that fucking power I wouldn’t hold back! Let’s see, can I squeeze any more complaints in? I never understood the premise on Bewitched that Darren & Sam wouldn’t want to use her powers to make things better constantly! Ok I’m done. For now.
FOR NOW
I remember complaining about things like that when my parents watched Bewitched. I always preferred I Dream of Jeannie for the plot.
You’re supposed to hate Q. The Enterprise crew hates Q. He is an annoying trickster god.
Au Contraire Mon Capitan! You are gonna love me!
Your supposed to hate Q thats part of the fun. Picard hates him
I’m not sure Picard actively hates him. However, I do think his reaction is basically the Picard facepalm jpg whenever he interacts with Q.
Picard doesn’t hate him, but Picard understands that Q isn’t operating in good faith and is always aimed at undermining humanity.
The problem I would think, as Picard sees it, is there is no reasonable way to do battle with Q or stop him, and so instead of a radical path of eliminating Q’s ability to interfere entirely, we’re given what appears to be a very tepid, liberal response where we’re supposed to work with terrible people who aren’t operating in good faith simply because they have power and aren’t afraid to use it.
Picard is from a strictly socialist society, and that means at some point, they understood how to deal with people like this, who are operating in bad faith. The new wrinkle is that Q is so powerful, you have to hope that you can just talk him down, because there is no way to remove him from the equation or remove his powers.
I think to Picard, Q is just this buffoon with god powers and chooses to use them purely for wind ups. He knows he can’t do jack to stop him but scolds him at every opportunity.
I would have loved one character to just disappear on a massive bender with Q for a while and come back totally fried but just slot back into their spot on the ship
but scolds him at every opportunity.
Which is exactly why Q keeps doing it.
Like that Skyrim quest where you party with a Daedric prince and wake up all the way across the map.
A Night To Remember! One of my all time favourites.
Yeah, whereas Sisko punched Q.
I’m with Sisko on that.
Sisko understands that you can’t negotiate with the powerful, he knows you need Direct Action.
So were the Prophets, apparently. I bet Q felt their energy behind that punch and noped out of there.
I was so disappointed in Sisko. So much opportunity, and he punches it in the face.
Picard officially stopped hating Q after s6e15 “Tapestry”
I’m pretty sure the Picard face palm is a shot from S3 episode “Deja Q”. He literally is facepalming at Q.
I haven’t watched Picard, but I assume the finale is a Qwedding.
If you hated him on Next Gen, you’ll really hate him on Deep Space Nine. Fortunately, he only appeared there once.
Voyager. You’ll see.
They saw then Picard
He gets better. I remember not being a big fan when I first saw him too.
He doesn’t really get better, but later on the circumstances that appear around him make Q more palatable.
