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.

This week on the To Baldly Go Podcast:

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These and more as first-time reactions meet veteran Trek opinions

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