r/startrek: The Next Generation
Star Trek news and discussion. No slash fic...
Maybe a little slash fic.
New to Star Trek and wondering where to start?
Rules
1 Be constructive
All posts/comments must be thoughtful and balanced.
2 Be welcoming
It is important that everyone from newbies to OG Trekkers feel welcome, no matter their gender, sexual orientation, religion or race.
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5 Spoilers
Utilize the spoiler system for any and all spoilers relating to the most recently-aired episodes, as well as previews for upcoming episodes. There is no formal spoiler protection for episodes/films after they have been available for approximately one week.
6 Keep on-topic
All submissions must be directly about the Star Trek franchise (the shows, movies, books etc.). Off-topic discussions are welcome at c/quarks.
7 Meta
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Upcoming Episodes
| Date | Episode | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 11-21 | LD 5x06 | "Of Gods and Angles" |
| 11-28 | LD 5x07 | "Fully Dilated" |
| 12-05 | LD 5x08 | "Upper Decks" |
| 12-12 | LD 5x09 | "Fissue Quest" |
| 12-19 | LD 5x10 | "The New Next Generation" |
In Production
Strange New Worlds (2025)
Section 31 (2025-01-24)
Starfleet Academy (TBA)
In Development
Untitled comedy series
Wondering where to stream a series? Check here.
My favourite line in the whole thing is right at the end when Commander Jack Ransom (played by Jerry O'Connell) walks past the poster of Lieutenant commander Una Chin-Riley (played by Rebecca Romjin) and calls her "The hottest first officer in Starfleet history."
For those who don't know, the Jerry O'Connell and Rebecca Romjin are married to each other.
I thought it was weird and a touch sleazier than we normally see from Ransom, but out of universe that is very sweet!
Anyone else see Boimler do the Boim-walk to get away from Una the second time with Mariner there? I did not realize human hips could move like that.
Loved having a Sunday morning cartoon 🖖
This episode was way better than it needed to be. I was genuinely moved seeing Una's reaction to the knowledge of her being the "poster girl", as well as the reaction of the Orion captain at the end.
Seeing Boimler and Mariner in this context really drives home how much Lower Decks is essentially "what if Trekkies could serve in Star Fleet" and it worked so well!
Especially the poster girl part being how she (and her lawyer) presented her self in the trial in ep2
Yes exactly! To Boimler it was a major and inspiring story out of history, but to Una it was a personal moment that happened only recently. Imagine being told something you did that you thought was relatively minor (and over) would inspire generations of people in the years to come. Her reaction was perfect.
Poor Christine Chapel! Now she knows what the audience has always known: her relationship with Spock is ultimately doomed. Plus a delightful mix of guilt and fear that she could unwittingly cause Spock to never measure up to the vague but crucial future that Boimler mentioned to her in the turbolift, simply by trying to make the two of them happy.
That suuuuuucks.
I really didn't expected the emotional moments, but they were all done so well
THAT WAS SO GOOOOOOOODDDDDD!!! Couldn't stop smiling through that whole episode!!
They were perfect for their roles in live action as well. Love how they kept their cartoony energy.
When they're in the corridor and Boimler husslea off, and you see him walking a crazy walk in the background, that really cracked me up.
Section 31 speed walking!
This episode is one of the best episodes in the modern era of Trek, it's lighthearted it's funny it celebrates Trek and it's done so tastefully that I genuinely have nothing bad to say about it. It reminds me of Trials and Tribble-ations.
Plus that line at the end where they tell Una ad astra per aspera and that's why boimler joined Starfleet is just the right kind of emotions.
Honestly, they smashed it in this episode and ofc the 2d animated intro was chefs kiss.
Pelia is quoting Carey Grant when she talks to Boimler. I thought that was neat.
I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me.
Holy smokes, I can't believe how awesome that thing was that I just watched. I'm awestruck at the talent it must have taken to pull it off so perfectly.
Oh man, I really loved this episode. Very fun. Kinda sad we didn't get to see Tendi and Rutherford live action though. Would be great to see maybe some of the SNW crew end up on the Cerritos...
In The Break Room it is Tawny and Jack heavily suggest they hope they get to return to the set of SNW. That with Pike repeatedly like "please don't break things" suggests the two crews will run into each other again... I'm hoping Enterprise crew accidentally find themselves on the Cerritos next time!
They NAILED it. They, somehow, took the loving but self aware fan service of lower decks and jammed it into SNW which has been the most consistent reboot back to the core of this series. This was absolutely some of the best show writing I've seen in a very long time.
An extremely fun episode, had a stupid grin on my face right from the opening.
One thing that jumped out at me was the adjectives used: "scientists, explorers, adventurers." The episode reinforced what Starfleet as an organization and Trek as a concept are all about.
That was amazing, on par with Trials and Tribble-ations for a crossover. Loved how well they integrated Boimler and Mariner without losing any of the character as LD has presented them.
This is truly the best Star Trek episode, bar none. Hadn't had goosebumps like this since watching "All Good Things..." back in 1994.
I loved it. I was ready to be annoyed they didn't do a LD animation style intro sequence but they nailed it; nacelle monster and all. Same for the ending; I was hopeful they would do the end scene LD style and again they just nailed it.
The danger with these "very special fun episodes" is that they can be confined to being just that. But what elevated this episode is how it used the time travel/crossover conceit to foreshadow, progress and pay off SNW character arcs, including Chapel and Spock's ultimately doomed relationship (something that I've previously said could be incredibly poignant, if handled right), Number One's legacy, and the way Pike confronts his fate. I hope the musical episode does the same.
They also tied in to Tendi's story on LD (her constant reminding to people that Orions have a culture far beyond pirating), even though we didn't see her in Live Action.
The hidden line in the episode is that the crew knows they end up as historical icons of Starfleet and thus the line 'I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me.' this applies to the crew now. It allows them to be more confident in their decisions and become the icons they are meant to be. This episode likely has one of the largest impacts on the character direction of the crew going forward.
Small note I LOVE that they're extending the "not all Orions are pirates" theme!!! LD did such a great job demystifying a race of people with Ensign Tendi and it only makes sense that their people have always been more than just a stereotype even during the TOS era. Was cool to see Boimler help change that perception with the Enterprise crew and confirmed when the Orion science captain saying "that's all we wanted" about being seen as explorers just like Star Fleet!
Frakes has directed two Orville episodes (so far), and arguably brought his experience over to SNW, as Boims and Mariner were fan[boy|girl]ing about, it had serious "Orville" vibes to it. I don't think they could have picked a better director.
The bit where Ortegas and Uhura were gushing about the NX-01 crew and suddenly realizing that's why their guests were gushing was priceless.
"What would come after the dash?"
And both Jack and Tawny crushed it as the live action versions of their characters. (Both were over-the-top, and that was the point).
I wonder if that "Riker!" Gag was improvised and if so, how long it had Frakes (and/or the crew) laughing.
The LD-style intro was chefs kiss perfect. The coda was, likewise, a perfect capstone.
Thoughts and observations as I watched over at the "other place", special Saturday night/early Sunday morning edition:
Of course Ransom calls Una the hottest first officer in starfleet history.
It's because they are married in real life. Jerry O'Connell and Rebecca Romijn that is, not Ransom and Numero Una.
Boimler exclaiming “RIKER” as he hopped on the saddle had me howling. Frakes is such a sport!
I saw somewhere that the actor improved that line which means he blurted it out with Riker standing right there which feels totally in line with the tone of the episode they were shooting. It's funny to me on so many levels.
Yep, they confirm it in Ready Room. Apparently Frakes' wife was dying from laughter watching the episode when that happened.
My expectations for this one were high, but I'm really impressed with how well they pulled it off. Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid did a great job of dialing their performances back just enough, and the SNW cast went just a little bit broader.
Frakes is, in addition to an iconic Actor, the best Trek Director of the modern age. 11/10.
What an absolutely fantastic episode. Loved every second of it! As soon as it finished I just wanted to watch the whole thing again (but couldn’t because of stupid work)
Fun episode. I lost track of all the references but I'm particularly delighted that they brought up the NX-01 and her crew, and that the NCC-1701 crew (what even comes after the dash?) is gushing over them, like we all are gushing over all the different Trek crews.
I deeply appreciated seeing some on-screen Enterprise love, because I feel like Enterprise gets a bum wrap.
Sooooo many people that never watched Lower Decks are going to be asking why there was a koala in the opening and I'm delighted by that.
"Why is he smiling? What does he know?"
I cannot believe they had Boimler and Mariner move like physical cartoon characters and pulled it off that well, holy shit. We absolutely lost it when Boimler was tangled in the control panel
The episode was really good. I like the appearance of the Orion Scout Ship we see in "Journey to Babel", one of my favorite ships. It may raise some slight continuity errors, but who cares. Nice ship, nice episode, nice show. Probably one of the best episodes of Trek I've seen.
It was ... the best of both worlds.
I enjoyed it, fun and different and the ending did make me laugh with Spock's arm. I found I was less invested in the story as I was focused on the character interactions. Overall, I'm fine with it and it didn't have to be anything that is not trying to be.
So many people were ragging on this idea. I think the episode firmly shut them up. This was top notch Trek! Fantastic from start to finish. I want more! Now they're complaining about the upcoming musical episode? Haters gonna hate I guess.
I'm seeing lots of positivity here, so I'll be the boring one. I enjoyed it but they didn't quite land it for me. Things that would have been funny in an out-and-out sitcom felt wrong in the context of a 'serious' Trek show. For example, Mariner and Boimler having a really inappropriate discussion about how hot Spock was, while Spock was right there, during a senior staff meeting - it was a bit too jarring for me. You kind of got the feeling the 23rd century officers were all left wondering why 24th century Starfleet is so unprofessional. I think they got this the wrong way round by making it a SNW episode instead of a Lower Decks episode.
Separately though, given that we know Spock and Chapel don't make it, I like that in the two episodes since they got together they have hinted at two separate reasons why they might split up: first the possiblity it's triggered by them having different attitudes to reporting the relationship to Starfleet, and now Chapel's Boimler-induced insecurities about whether she might hold Spock back from doing something great with his life.
I think Mariner was just in true form. Nonchalant and flippant. The cultural differences are huge especially the technology they've deployed 130 years since the NCC-1701. The way Mariner casually suggests just making more of the element like it's getting a glass of water from the replicator and Boimler gives her a hard side-eye gives you an idea just how different their day to day lives are. Boimler was able to reconfigure the ship and navigate it on his own because the Enterprise is just so archaic by comparison to the Cerritos.