JC's Trek Talk

Hot Take TNG's Masks Hot take: I actually like TNG's episode Masks.  The one with the ancient alien archive transforming the Enterprise into parts of its long dead civilization and Data taking on the personalities of people from the civilization.  People shit on this episode for the perceived campiness of Brent Spiner's acting and the characters he's portraying.  I disagree.  I think it really showed Brent Spiner's range as an actor and skill at playing different characters and rapidly switching between characters (Eehat, Masaka's father, Masaka, etc).  The overall concept of the episode, an alien archive from a long extinct civilization reveals it's contents by transforming the Enterprise (and Data) is neat, a sort of space "lost library of Alexandria" story.  An interesting, fun twist on learning about new civilizations, and a great chance to see Picard in full archaeologist mode.  The idea of Masaka and Korgano, the two rulers, the "sun...

TNG Episode Tier List Season 1 1/2 Encounter at Farpoint    The pilot.  I personally don't think it's that bad.  Probably biased because I'm a TNG fan.  A Tier 3 The Naked Now  This one always got a bad rep because it was so close to the TOS episode.  I thought it was a good thing.  Really ties the two series together.  A Tier 4 Code of Honor Uggh.  Bad.  Just bad.  Racist, sexist episode, even without all of that it would have been mediocre at best.  As it is: total crap.  F tier 5 Haven  The one where we meet Troi's mother and Troi is supposedly getting married to her betrothed. C Forgettable.  There's a reason I never watch this one 6 Where No One Has Gone Before   Definitely A tier.  Very underrated episode.  I'd almost say one of the best of the season. 7 The Last Outpost   The first Ferengi episode.  Not a bad episode, but there are definitely much better.  Nothing th...

Episode Spotlight ENT's First Flight Enterprise has detected a nebula which they think contains dark matter.  Excited, Archer wants to examine it closer, using a shuttlepod to duplicate a Vulcan experiment to excite the dark matter with metreon particles.  Archer then receives a message from Admiral Forrest: his old friend and fellow NX test pilot A. G. Robinson has died in an accident.  In the shuttlebay Archer prepares to go on the shuttle alone, but T'Pol arrives and insists on going with him, citing ship regulations.  After launching the shuttle and moving to the first set of coordinates T'Pol asks Archer about Robinson, having heard some details from Trip.  At first reluctant Archer finally tells her that he and Robinson were in the NX project together as test pilot, and that they both wanted to be the first to break warp 2.  In a flashback to 2143 Commander Archer meets with Commodore Forrest to discuss warp reactor simulations.  Forrest tells hi...

Coming Soon Season by season tier lists of all episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.  These will obviously be a bit-ok maybe more than a bit-biased as I am an old school TNG fan (TNG was my first trek series, and I still contend that is the best trek series.

Star Trek Trivia Quiz Delta Answers 1. Robert Picardo as the Doctor (EMH) 2. Delta Quadrant 3. Commander Sonak 4. Terra Prime 5. Altimid 6. Ni'Var 7. Craft 8. Tulaberry Wine 9. Landru 10. Valdez, Alaska 11. The Narada 12. Nacene

Star Trek: First Contact 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the best TNG Star Trek movie and arguably one of the best movies in the franchise.  The movie that introduced the sovereign class USS Enterprise-E, used one of the franchises best villains (the Borg) and showed us the biggest moment in Star Trek's future history.  Starting with the Borg invading the Federation and the Enterprise saving the day at the battle of Sector 001, we see that the Borg have a lasting effect on Jean-Luc Picard ever since TNGs "The Best of Both Worlds".  As the Enterprise helps the fleet destroy the Borg cube a new smaller ship, a sphere undocks from the cube and travels back in time.  The Enterprise follows it into Earth's past to stop the Borg from preventing humanity's first contact with the Vulcans and assimilating Earth.  Arriving in 2063 the Enterprise destroys the Borg sphere, but not before it beams drones onto the Enterprise.  Picard takes an away team down to Bozeman...

Star Trek Trivia Quiz Delta 1. What actor appeared as the same character in Star Trek Voyager, Star Trek Prodigy and Star Trek Starfleet Academy? 2. The planet Tars Lamora, on which the USS Protostar was found is located in which quadrant? 3. Who was appointed science officer of the USS Enterprise under Captain Decker by Admiral Kirk, but later died in a transporter accident? 4. What xenophobic group led by John Fredrick Paxton attempted to stop the formation of the Coalition of Planets in 2155 before being defeated by the NX-01 crew? 5. In the Kelvin timeline, the USS Enterprise was destroyed by Krall's swarm and the crew temporarily stranded on what planet? 6. After Vulcan reunified with the Romulans, what was the name of planet Vulcan changed to? 7. What was the name of the human soldier from Alcor IV who found the abandoned USS Discovery in the 43rd century? 8. In 2370, the Ferengi attempted to open trade relations with the Dosi, a Dominion member species from the Gamma Quadran...

Star Trek Trivia Quiz Gamma Answers 1. USS Constance 2. Vaughn Armstrong 3. USS Stardiver 4. Suus Mahna 5. Goes Nowhere, Does Nothing 6. Destruct sequence 2, code 1 1 A 2 B 7. Joe Piscipo 8. Nothing/Unknown Sample 9. "It was...fun.  Oh my!" 10. Pop Goes the Weasel 11. Ex Astris Scientia (From the Stars, Knowledge) 12. Vau N'Akat

Episode Spotlight TOS The Menagerie, Parts I and II Part I Stardate 3012.4.  The USS Enterprise arrives as Starbase 11 in response to a message apparently received from the base from the Enterprises former captain, Christopher Pike.  Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down but are told that the base sent no message to the Enterprise.  Inquiring further Kirk and co. are informed by the base commander, Commodore Jose Mendez about the condition of Captain Pike, critically injured and now paralyzed after a recent disaster aboard a training ship.  In the medical section they meet Captain Pike (played here by Sean Kenney), now horribly radiation scarred and confined to a wheelchair.  Unable to even speak Captain Pike can use his brain waves to signal yes or no responses to questions via a light and beep built into the chair (one been for yes, two beeps for no).  Spock speaks to Captain Pike alone, telling him "I have it well planned", "It's only two days away from here a...