Transfigurations (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 25) Injured Humanoid Charms Beverly, Glows

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. A low-key story that revisits the “corporeal species evolving into a higher form” trope, this time from the perspective of Dr. Crusher, who observes the physical process, as an injured humanoid with lumpy face bumps gradually starts to glow. Not a great episode, but new to me, so a treat to watch. A nicely framed shot of a row of mountains at first looked…

Sarek (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 23) Aging with Dignity and Vulcan Mind-melds

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. The Enterprise-D ferries Spock’s father to a diplomatic meeting that will define his career — but the 202-year-old Sarek is not well. The Vulcan’s entourage includes his human wife Perrin and two aides, all of whom get decent story arcs. Wesley gets some good scenes with LaForge and his mother, and Riker and Worf set up a laugh-out-loud sight gag in Ten Forward. The…

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Captain’s Holiday (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 19) Picard’s Archeological Romance

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. In the comic first act, the crew conspires to send a grumpy Picard on shore leave. Crusher: You told me your four days on Zylchin Three were wonderful. Picard: I lied. Later on the resort Planet Risa, Picard tries to relax, but he’s interrupted by a meet-cute with a femme fatale, an ethnic stereotype in a loud shirt, and their ongoing dispute over coded…

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The Offspring (StarTrek:TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 16) Data Experiences Fatherhood

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. Data builds an android derived from his own positronic neural pathways, and intends to raise it as his child — a prospect that invokes Picard’s iconic facepalm. Picard (to admiral conjured up by writers who needed an antagonist): “There are times, sir, when men of good conscience cannot blindly follow orders. You acknowledge their (Data’s and Lal’s) sentience, but you ignore their personal liberties…

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Yesterday’s Enterprise (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 15) Alternate history featuring the Enterprise-C

Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break. A space anomaly activates an alternate timeline in which the Enterprise-D is a bustling battleship, Picard is a hard-edged militant facing defeat after decades of war against the Klingon Empire, and somehow only Guinan realizes something’s wrong. This version of Picard struggles with ethical complexities that “our” Picard could resolve after only a few sips of tea, Earl Grey, hot; however, great scenes with…

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Déjà Q (#StarTrek #TNG Rewatch, Season Three, Episode 13) Amusing, insightful study of human nature

(Rewatching ST:TNG after a 20-year break) The meddlesome entity Q, stripped of his powers, throws himself at the mercy of Captain Picard: “in all the universe you’re the closest thing I have to a friend, Jean-Luc.” Lots of well-done banter and self-absorbed patter from actor John De Lancie. While Worf and Crusher have memorable reactions to Q’s newfound mortality, the story really gets rolling when Data takes charge of Q’s adjustment…