Welcome to another episode of the To Baldly Go Podcast, in which I – a newbie to the Star Trek universe – am watching through Star Trek from the beginning, in release order, and discussing with some of my long-time Trekkie friends.

This week, we get:

We covered:

Season 3 kicks off with what may be the most solid premiere episode of The Next Generation so far. Wesley’s experiment with nanites spirals into a crisis aboard the Enterprise, raising questions about intelligence, responsibility, and what qualifies as life.

We also talk about Wesley owning his mistake, Nate — usually our resident Wesley apologist — having to wrestle with Wesley’s role in the crisis, the continued production-quality upgrade, Beverly’s return after a season away, baseball, vinyl versus streaming, and, of course, twister in space.

Data is sent to evacuate a human colony before an alien race arrives to destroy them, but the colonists are not especially interested in being saved. What follows is part land-rights dispute, part diplomacy problem, and part lesson in creativity.

We discuss whether you can save people who refuse to be saved, the value of guile in negotiation, Data’s brutally honest approach, and a little behind-the-scenes talk about ADR.

The Enterprise finds an entire colony destroyed, except for two elderly survivors who remain mysteriously untouched. As the crew investigates, the episode becomes something stranger, darker, and more morally complicated than it first appears.

We talk about how The Next Generation feels like it is operating at a higher level, Riker’s skepticism, the emotional weight of the reveal, and what happens when someone commits a crime so enormous that no law seems big enough to cover it.

Season 3 is off to a really solid start.

Next time: Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 continues with episodes 4-6: Who Watches the Watchers, The Bonding, and Booby Trap.

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 02, Episodes 19-22

Welcome to another episode of the To Baldly Go Podcast, in which I – a newbie to the Star Trek universe – am watching through Star Trek from the beginning, in release order, and discussing with some of my long-time Trekkie friends.

This week, we get:

We covered:

“Manhunt” – Lwaxana Troi returns to the Enterprise for an episode that is silly, awkward, and strangely effective. We talked about whether the comedy works, whether Lwaxana is basically the ultimate Boomer, and some of the odd Betazoid details the episode throws into the mix.

“The Emissary” – A strong Worf-centered episode that adds real depth to Klingon culture, identity, and codes of honor. We talked about how K’Ehleyr completes Worf, Aaron’s confusion between this episode and the Deep Space Nine premiere, and yet another moment where ChatGPT failed us.

“Peak Performance” – Strategy and competition take center stage as the Enterprise crew faces war games, shifting victory conditions, and Data confronting failure. That opened the door to discussion about knowing your opponent, Deep Blue and AlphaGo, AI versus humans in games, chess timers, and whether changing the rules is clever or just cheating.

“Shades of Gray” – The infamous clip show finale gives us a weak setup, recycled footage, and a reminder that budget problems are very real. Even so, it gave us plenty to talk about, from Aaron’s wandering train of thought to whether clip shows are automatically bad in the first place.

We also wrapped up Season 2 of The Next Generation, including Abbie ducking out while still giving the season a 10, whether sometimes less is more, and why this season may be greater than the sum of its parts. For Aaron, it also reinforced the sense that TNG is already showing greater depth than The Original Series.

Next time: Star Trek TNG S03E01-03 — Evolution, The Ensigns of Command, and The Survivors

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier – “What Does God Need with a Starship?” | First Time Reaction – To Baldly Go Podcast

First-Time Watch – Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

This time, we get:

We covered:

In this episode, we talk about a movie that feels like it might have made a solid TV episode, but struggles to work as a feature film. Even so, it still gives us a few memorable character moments and some big ideas

We discuss the group’s surprisingly consistent ratings, the movie’s reputation, the “Great Barrier” premise, reused sets, missing a key reveal thanks to Paramount+, and why the film seems to aim for something bold and philosophical but never quite lands. We also get into Rotten Tomatoes scores, trivia, quiz time, and whether directors’ cuts can really rescue a movie like this one.

If you’re watching along with us, this is the one where they go looking for God.

Star Trek TNG S02E16-18 Q Who?, Samaritan Snare, Up the Long Ladder – “Nobody Asked Your Opinion” | First Time Reaction – To Baldly Go Podcast (Ep. 046)

First-time watch of Star Trek: The Next Generation continues as we cover Season 2, Episodes 16–18.

This week, we get:

We covered:

Episode highlights:

Q, Who? – First encounter with the Borg. A massive shift in tone as the Enterprise faces an enemy unlike anything before—and survives only through Q’s intervention.

Samaritan Snare – Picard opens up about his past while Geordi and Wesley deal with the deceptively dangerous Pakleds.

Up the Long Ladder – Two human colonies, two extremes: one rejects technology, the other depends on cloning. Classic Trek morality play—with mixed execution.

Key discussion points:

Final thoughts:

Next time: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

As always — Never give up! Never surrender!

Star Trek TNG S02E13-15: Time Squared, The Icarus Factor, Pen Pals – “Podunk Bunnyville” | First Time Reaction – To Baldly Go Podcast (Ep. 045)

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episodes 13–15

Welcome to another episode of the To Baldly Go Podcast, where I – a first-time Star Trek viewer – watch through the series in release order and discuss it with long-time Trekkie friends.

This week, we get:

We covered:

“Time Squared” – Would you like to meet your future self?

“The Icarus Factor” – Character over career

“Pen Pals” – One does not simply walk into Mordor!

Things we discussed:

Additional discussion:

Final thoughts:

As always—Never give up! Never surrender!

Star Trek TNG S02E10-12 The Dauphin, Contagion, The Royale – “Junk Food Episodes” | First Time Reaction – To Baldly Go Podcast (Ep. 044)

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episodes 10–12

Welcome to another episode of the To Baldly Go Podcast, where I — a newcomer to the Star Trek universe — am watching through the entire franchise from the beginning, in release order, alongside my long-time Trekkie friends.

This week we discuss:

• Shape-shifters, first love, and growing up

Episodes covered:

• The Dauphin – Wesley’s first romance comes with unexpected complications when his love interest isn’t what she seems.

We also talk about:

• Worf getting humbled (and wanting revenge)

This week introduced a new category: “Junk Food Episodes” — episodes that may not be great, but are still enjoyable for what they are. Even when TNG stumbles a bit, it continues carving out its own identity separate from The Original Series.

As always — Never give up. Never surrender.

Star Trek TNG S02E07-09 Unnatural Selection, A Matter of Honor, The Measure of a Man – “If You Don’t Give this Episode at Least a Six…” | First Time Reaction – To Baldly Go Podcast (Ep. 043)

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episodes 7–9

Welcome to another episode of the To Baldly Go Podcast, where I — a newcomer to the Star Trek universe — am watching through the entire franchise from the beginning, in release order, alongside my long-time Trekkie friends.

This week we discuss:

• The ethics of genetic engineering

Episodes covered:

• Unnatural Selection – Genetic research leads to a rapidly aging disease that infects the Enterprise crew, forcing them to find a cure before it’s too late.

We also talk about:

• Klingon worldbuilding

This week gave us a solid episode followed by two of the best episodes we’ve seen yet. Season 2 is definitely starting to find its stride.

As always — Never give up. Never surrender.

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episodes 4–6.

Welcome to the To Baldly Go Podcast, where I experience Star Trek for the first time by watching the entire franchise in release order with some long-time Trekkie friends.

This week we discuss:

Picard joking about surrendering… or is he?

When a disability becomes an advantage

Where does our humanity really lie?

Data trying to learn stand-up comedy

Geordi’s choice and Troi’s abilities

Nepotism in Starfleet?

Transporter capabilities

Consciousness and identity

The disturbing origin story of the Tin Woodsman

Episodes covered:

The Outrageous Okona

Loud as a Whisper

The Schizoid Man

Some episodes swing for the fences and miss. Others ask deeper questions about communication, identity, and what it means to be human. This week gives us a mix of both.

What we learned this week:

Worf is already more effective than Tasha ever was

Prompting people is a lot like prompting AI

The Tin Woodsman story from the original Wizard of Oz is deeply unsettling

TNG still feels like it’s discovering its identity, but it’s getting closer.

As always: Never give up. Never surrender.

Star Trek TNG S2E01-03 – The Child, Where Silence Has Lease, Elementary, Dear Data

Season 2 begins… and Riker grows the beard.

This week, I continue my first-ever watch of Star Trek in release order, joined by my long-time Trekkie friends. We’re covering:

The Child – Space curiosity, questionable execution, and character shifts

Where Silence Has Lease – A void, a godlike entity, and questions about reality

Elementary, Dear Data – Sherlock Holmes, self-aware holodecks, and AI vs. humanity

We discuss:

Whether The Child is truly that bad

Primitive humanity in the face of cosmic beings

Another version of Q?

AI debates in the 1980s… that sound exactly like today

Data, originality, and what it really means to understand

Plus: Star Trek vs. Star Wars trivia, Abbie officially loving the crew, and why “effective” became the word of the day.

A generally strong start to Season 2 — The Child notwithstanding.

Star Trek TNG S1E24–26 – “The Biggest Trekkie” | First-Time Reaction | To Baldly Go Podcast (Ep. 040)

We’ve reached the end of Season 1 of Star Trek: The Next Generation — and apparently… I’m now the biggest Trekkie on the podcast.

In Episode 040 of The To Baldly Go Podcast, we break down:

“We’ll Always Have Paris”

“Conspiracy”

“The Neutral Zone”

This week’s highlights include:

Exceptional mediocrity

Practical effects worthy of a Michael Scott production

Alien parasites and exploding heads

A Romulan setup that could have been great

Cryogenically frozen 20th-century humans

Writers’ strike fallout all over the place

So mediocre… we barely had notes.

Federation intrigue. Paranoia. Callbacks.

The Romulans return… sort of.

We close out the season with:

Season 1 trivia & quiz

Robin Williams discussion (including why you should not watch Whose Line Is It Anyway? post-appendectomy)

Full Season 1 retrospective

And the shocking revelation that I may now be the most committed Star Trek fan on our little away team

Having now completed:

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Animated Series

Four original films

And Season 1 of TNG

…it feels less like the end of something and more like the beginning.

Unlike TOS Season 1, which felt like it peaked, TNG feels like it’s just getting started.

Season 2 begins next week.

Never give up. Never surrender.