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TNG: "Unnatural Selection" (s2e7)
161 Plays1 year ago
RAPID AGING SUCKS. Well, that's one of the main lessons of this episode where Dr. Pulaski is exposed to a virus that makes its victims age rapidly. Meanwhile, Bryan and Kristen explore the IMDb of one of the guest cast, wonder who lines up to get Diana Muldaur's autograph (when she used to attend conventions), and discuss how the high res conversion of the season two episodes actively disrupts the viewing experience by calling attention to smaller details that otherwise would've been ignored and making everything look not so good. Does that ding the episode enough points to merit a KILL?
The grades begin at (24:03).
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Transcript
Introduction & Podcast Format
00:00:00
Speaker
This week on Trek Mary Kill, Pulaski O'Brien, Styrolyte. Next time on Star Trek, the next generation. The crew destroys a vessel infested with a mysterious disease. They died of old age. Dr. Pulaski risks her life to find a cure. Doctor, I want you back aboard this ship. Now, she's old before her time, and her time is running out. On Star Trek, The Next Generation.
00:00:44
Speaker
Hi, I'm Brian. Hi, I'm Kristen. Welcome to Trek Mary Kill, a Star Trek podcast that's not exactly up to factory specs. We're talking about one of our wildcard episodes that we selected at the beginning of the season and trying to pair it with an episode of Strange New Worlds. ah So like ah an appetizer in a mane. And so this week we're looking at unnatural selection, an episode from the next generation about Dr. Pulaski. And next week we'll be looking at an episode of Stranger Worlds that focuses on Dr. Mabenga. This was all my fault.
00:01:17
Speaker
Well, why? Because you picked it out of the hat? Yeah. Well, it's both of our faults then because I put it in the hat.
Brunch & Beverage Banter
00:01:25
Speaker
That seems so long ago, Brian. That seems like if you told me it was like five years ago. i believe How many mimosas for you do you think it's been since then? Oh, Jesus. um
00:01:41
Speaker
I don't know. It's it's a lot, I'm sure, since um like if I don't. That was the last brunch that I formally attended. OK, the thing is, they kind of got rid of the ah bottomless mimosa thing during the pandemic. So I usually my yearly mimosa intake is probably very high. But since then, it's it's dwindled a bit. I don't. But to say it is in the dozens would be accurate, I'm sure. I love a mimosa. Is there? Do they fluctuate in quality? Well, I guess they would. Of course. chaagne So, OK, I am of the belief that you need a dry champagne or sparkling wine and it should not be very good. Like you don't use a vous cliquot and mix it with orange juice. This is like Prosecco or Kava, like $20 a bottle. I say it was the maximum you should be spending.
00:02:44
Speaker
So anyone out there listening who's ah wondering the right way to do a mimosa, here you go from the expert herself. Yeah, and you want a no pulp orange juice. And I honestly think like the generic orange juice you get at the grocery store, like whatever their brand is, is is fine. you're kind of It's kind of like a morning for loco because you're really just talking about sugar and alcohol. so I thought four loco had caffeine in it, right? Sure, but that was like the the ingredient that made it like lethal. That's true. Yeah, no, it's well, alcohol is sugar anyway, Brian. Yeah, I'm sure. Well, yeah, but I wonder if there's like less sugar in, say, a mimosa than your average Bloody Mary. Let's go to the tape. No, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. It's probably. Well, Bloody Mary's are usually pretty big, I feel right.
00:03:38
Speaker
Oh, yes, they're they're kind of like comically large. I. Try to get into Bloody Mary's. I can't do it. I'm sorry. I don't know how you people do it. That's a real. That's a real alcoholic's drink right there. I'm going to be real like a hair of the dog situation. Oh, my God. I've only ever heard it pitch that way. of I just yeah. Spicy tomatoes juice with like some people, but clam juice, clamato, clam juice. Yep. And vodka first thing in the morning. Insane. crazy. Now, champagne with orange juice, orange juice you're already gonna have in the morning, right? Or I mean, yeah, if you're out and it's like, sure, I'll have some orange juice and then I want yeah a little champagne
Unpacking 'Unnatural Selection'
00:04:20
Speaker
to it. Okay, sure, sure. I actually like tomato juice. But yeah, I mean, I'm not I'm not interested in spicing it up.
00:04:26
Speaker
with a boozy component. I think the best part of the Bloody Mary is the celery and olives and the the garnish, right? That's what like... Well, I don't... I mean, i'm I've aged into being fine with celery, but i not so much olives where they're just on their own. You can sneak it into a pizza for me but and maybe a couple of other things, but I don't... If I see them, I try to avoid them. When you were in in Greece, you didn't like eat a bunch of Greek olives or anything? i guess sure they i did with me did to do as to do as the locals did sure but it's not a I don't enjoy them you'll catch me honestly at the at the olive bar at your local Whole Foods any given time
00:05:13
Speaker
Kristin, author of How to Make a Mimosa, that was a long time ago, yeah but still the standard. yeah That was a quote of exchange from the episode we're discussing today, which is a natural selection, the seventh episode of Star Trek. Let's get back on track. Let me know how much I drink in the mornings. We've received some very nice feedback on on Apple podcasts. I'd like to think for you. Did we? It's our 170. Yes, a very nice review. ah Thank you for all for your nice reviews and any ah feedback you send us. It's great. Which episode? I don't know which one it was in specific reference to, but like one of our winning aspects of our show is that we just jump straight into the episode we're discussing.
00:06:00
Speaker
yeah
00:06:03
Speaker
A Natural Selection, the seventh episode of Star Trek Next Generation's second season. It premiered in syndication on January 30th, 1989, so it's over 35 years old now. It was written together by John Mason and Mike Gray, directed by Paul Lynch. ah Memory Alpha describes that the Enterprise investigates the deaths of the crew of the USS Landtree, who all died of old age. What Memory Alpha doesn't tell you is that Dr. Pulaski becomes infected by the same super aging disease as the Landtree crew, which they contracted after encountering a group of genetically enhanced Gen Z kids. Can Picard and the crew find a cure in time?
00:06:39
Speaker
Gosh, I wish we could all find a cure for old age. um Sometimes. Sometimes i'm I accept my mortality and I think there's a ah grace and a you know a beauty and pass. you know We live and we die sometimes. And then other times I'm like, I don't know, eternal life. I think I could do it. Yeah. All right, Kristen, do you remember the first time you saw this episode? Yes, it was yesterday. Or no, only two days ago. It was two days ago. it Really? Wow. Okay. I don't have any other memory of watching this. I think I would remember very old Dr. Pulaski. Very old, which the the makeup people were very happy to be like, we actually didn't have to do that much. Yeah, I bet they fucking like they hate her ass if they were like, let's make her old and decrepit.
00:07:29
Speaker
I very much remember this episode. It was when I was really getting into Star Trek. It was one of the episodes that helped push me even more into liking, you know, more than just the bangers, the headliners, that all the episodes that people like. It used to be on every night at 11 30 p.m. in Sacramento or in the Sacramento station that I could get from my house. So it was it so it was like a creepy one. Like I'd watch it during the summer. I'd stay up every night till 11 30. I was I've always been a night owl. So like, all right, everyone's a bet in bed. You know, sisters, mom, all everyone's leaving me alone. It's just Brian time. So so that you can watch Star Trek. And then did you have a TV in your room?
00:08:09
Speaker
I did, but it was black and white. So I have, so I would, this was when I would watch in the living room and that would be great. um And, but it would be like dark, you know, it was dark in the house, dark outside. This was like a good episode to watch because it doesn't have that much of a score and the score is not designed to like make it creepier. So you just have like the cold silence of space and then this like unknown thing that they're encountering and trying to deal with. It has like an Andromeda strain vibe to it almost. And so, I don't know, I really liked it. I was like still not understanding why there was a Dr. Pulaski, because I started, like I said, many times before. You and me great both, Brian. So this episode is obviously very similar to the Deadly Years from TOS, insofar as the conceit of like a super old disease. But also, a little bit, or at least it reminds you a little bit of the Lorelai signal from the animated series,
00:09:04
Speaker
one of our favorites, the horny the horny women, making yeah draining the men of their lives. This is a little bit different where you've got the the young kids stealing what's left of the life of the people around them. um I really thought there was maybe and and like a Nova episode or something that came out in 88 or 87 that talked about DNA some more that could have inspired the writers.
Science, Ethics & Star Trek Themes
00:09:26
Speaker
DNA was labeled as such. It had been discovered in the 1850s. I believe it was called Nuclein. But yeah by the time like 1953, it was like DNA. We understood it more. So I don't know, we're like 30 some years out. I'm sure there was some something in the newspaper or magazine that kind of inspired this. It also made me think of like what COVID infections
00:09:47
Speaker
You know, some of the infections seem to suggest that, you know, it actually ages. Anyone who contracts it in specific ways. So I don't know. And also all the stuff about quarantines and all that. When you're a little kid and you're you're in the 90s watching this, it has like a weird vibe to it. And this was the summer before I got the book on reading about Ebola, which was a formative summer for me, where I learned a lot about just so white some light summer reading. Oh, I read about pandemics and what what we might do in those situations. So it was very strange when ah when COVID hit. I was like, oh my God, this is the summer of a nightmare for me that all this is coming back.
00:10:25
Speaker
And then watching us do the exact opposite of everything we were supposed to do was really tough. Anyway, Kristen, remember when we talked about Dr. Pulaski or Diana Moldauer? The last time we talked about TNG. And ah I think it was when we did the season two premiere when she joined the cast. Yeah. And I read that passage about how the cast didn't like her. And I think I still am unclear. I think she made more than most of the cast. And so there's there's like a lot of ah anyway. I'm just going to read this that was on her IMDB page in like the trivia section. After a 10-year absence from attending Star Trek conventions, in 2006 she returned and said, one of the main reasons I'm here, if not the entire reason I'm here, is to celebrate Gene Roddenberry. He discovered me in many ways when I was a kid in Hollywood, and he put me in two different segments of the original Star Trek.
00:11:18
Speaker
which were a total joy to do. I cannot tell you how inventive and how creative everybody was who worked on that show, from the actors, the makeup, the hair, the camera. I will never forget it as long as I live." Also, she said, a lot of people asked me why I did Star Trek for a year, and I said, because it sounded wonderful and creative, fun and child's theater. It wasn't any of those things. That was a mistake of mine. Salting. Set in the same convention.
00:11:48
Speaker
She was like, the original series? Awesome. The next generation, everyone can go jump off a cliff. Like who by the way, who's lining up to get her autograph at a Star Trek convention? Every every Star Trek conventions will use every part of the buffalo. Oh, I see. So that's that's all there is to it. So you're on Star Trek. You're probably going to ah get invited to a convention. Well, and and not just invited. I mean, like, don't. I mean, that's how you make money when you go to the conventions as you charge money for autographs. Right. Right. Well, back then autographs now it's photos.
00:12:22
Speaker
I'm sure there's appearance fees as well. But my point is, is like she was the chief medical officer of the USS Enterprise. I mean, why wouldn't she be invited to thee to a convention? i'm ah I'm just saying, who's lining up to meet her? well diet Well, also you're forgetting the L.A. law component of it. She was she's very popular actor in the 80s, 90s. I like I understand. Oh, she's on a panel. OK, I'll go see that. But like, you know, as the liner, you don't wait for hours if you want to meet someone at a convention usually.
00:12:55
Speaker
Sometimes they have the big ones, though, where they have multiple. So it's not a panel necessarily, but it's a at one o'clock, it's Dinah Moldauer at three o'clock, it's William Shatner. I figured it would be like, oh, we're yet we have like these these people from the next generation. Yeah, that's what a lot of them are. yeah You know, one on one in conversation with Dr. Pulaski. but I think it's both. They have different configurations for a lot of them. Well, either way. Weird. Also, it just made me go, that's a lot of ah love for Gene Roddenberry. And, you know, she's a very beautiful woman in and the 60s there. I'm just wondering if they hooked up. That's all. I'm just wondering. Just wondering. I don't feel like i'm casting aspersions are being mean. I'm just wondering. That's all. Just asking the question. I mean, he hooked up with Michelle Nichols. If Gene Roddenberry could get it.
00:13:50
Speaker
we have to entertain the question. So, okay. I mean, it's very possible and it makes sense then why he was like, we gotta get her on on this one. I guess one other thing I want to say about this episode before we get in like specific notes is, um I don't know if it's like of its time, like say the old age makeup is, but I think it's kind of worth pointing out how the scientists in this episode, Dr. Kingsley and and her group, how they're doing genetic engineering, There's a version of this where it's like they're doing it in the way that like science fiction usually thinks about these concepts of like they're doing it for the betterment of the human race or to like advance us in some way and it's not for personal gain. Like it's not pitched that way. I'm sure if you were to spend more time with these characters that would be a dramatic device they would introduce.
00:14:38
Speaker
But just on its face, the idea of like, they're not using it to be like, how do we extend our life? How do we understand this? How do we use this for human benefit now? And they were just very much like scientists being like, we can, we can be God and create something even better. You know, they're not being used to extend the, the older people's lives. You know, they're not, good their blood's not going to be harvested because that's happening now. We're like tech tycoons. Well, that guy's an idiot. That guy's just a lunatic. That's not like something that works. Well, there's other ones besides that guy that is that are doing it. But like the point is, regardless, it doesn't work. It's just a gimmick. The quote, a quote, not, you know, OK, whatever. I guess what I'm saying is it's not being the just the idea that's just being plainly presented as like purity in it. I just decided I wanted to point it out like this episode made you wonder a little bit about and then in a way that's today is only really one angle of like it's always bad.
00:15:31
Speaker
Like there's no, we can't do anything to improve ourselves without it having some sort of weird attachment to personal gain or some, some evil intention behind it. But I think like them creating the kids, it's more of an ego thing. It's like, well, look at all this cool things we did. Like, it doesn't mean like we personally are going to live forever. Yes. But look at what you did. You have to save the kids at the great risk of another crew. No, and what I'm saying is like, there's something, I don't know, not noble and not pure of heart about it. but No, it's mela it's called megalomaniacal. The point is it's not, it's basically showing you the consequences of doing this without making it like a ah lecture on how bad it is to try to do this kind of stuff. That's all I'm saying. it's It's a pretty scary idea that they're dealing with here. Today, we would do it differently. That's all. That's the main thing.
00:16:27
Speaker
But can we talk about how like the quote unquote tech tycoon who's trying to reverse reverse aging, he's like 45 and he looks exactly as age. He does not look a day younger. Right. And in fact, in some cases, I think his very pale skin and like. loss of facial volume kind of accentuates, like accentuates his age. Like he is absolutely 45 and not a day younger. And he does all this weird shit. Well, he does exercise. So maybe his insides are are pretty healthy. Sure. But I think that's not the point. The point is like, I mean, yes, that, but like outwardly he wants to look young.
00:17:13
Speaker
But also the stress of wanting to not die could probably be nullifying. I'm like, he should just get it's called sculpture. It's like an injectable that just stimulates your body to create more collagen, your own collagen. And so it's not a filler like if you just did a little bit of that. And like some micro needling. He'd be fine. He doesn't need to do all the other stuff, mimosas and face structure. Yeah. This is your expertise areas we have. Yeah. Like I don't know who his practitioners are, but notice none of them are out there going. Yeah, this is me. Like nobody's out there trying to hype themselves because yeah that's true. They're disguised dermatologist. But I say please, please don't don't. mentioned But he also seems like one of those people that sits in front of a computer all day. And so I'm sure he would say, I'm doing this all by myself. This is all me. I've read about this. And I've done my own research. None of it was in medical school, though. Exactly. Obviously, this episode came out. It was conceived and produced before they landed on the idea that, well, because of Khan, we don't allow genetic engineering. And fashion and although although it was
00:18:33
Speaker
suggested that kind of what they're doing is a little bit off the books. I absolutely agree. like let's just race you doing there Research facility or something and then like we've genetically modified these kids and everyone's like. ah Yeah, I think you're on to something there that you could retcon it in a way that it fits with canon, I guess. I don't know. It's an interesting story. If they had had the rule, I guess you could say in place before they did this one, would they have done this episode at all or any version of it? So um I just want to put that out there.
00:19:03
Speaker
Alright, some specific notes. This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hairstyling for a Series at Lost to Quantum Leap, which makes sense. Yeah. ah From Memory Alpha, you know, from Quantum Leap. If I already said this, the only episode I can ever remember is the one where he jumps into, he leaps into Elvis's body. but No, I remember two, sorry. Then there was one was one where he goes works in a circus. That doesn't make sense. he can only I thought he could only leap in the time he was alive.
00:19:35
Speaker
Oh, I don't know. I think this there was something a ancient Egyptian going on because we watched it in school. I see. Because public schools created everybody. um I just he also he was in a circus and ah and there was like a triple flip like the um the acrobats. And he you know, but then he discovers that someone's been sabotaging the circus and trying to pick up the P.T. Barnum. so I don't quite remember. These are the only two quantum leaps with Scott back. It was a day rival circus. No, no, no, I can't remember. I cannot remember. Barnum Bailey, Barnum Bailey or whatever. remember the What's the um there's two rival circuses and then they combined. But up until then, they like fought for acts and stuff. So that's probably who did who who had done it.
00:20:31
Speaker
if you're going to look for a circus saboteur. Also, I'm not sure when that episode was because my recollection also is like the first two seasons of the show was like very straightforwardly just people that he would leap into. And then at some point they landed on it should be famous people. I've only seen that one episode, so I cannot give I cannot illuminate. But like the ratings were always soft. So then like the network note was like he should leap into famous people. Like that. Oh, I don't know. So they change kind of like what the show was a little bit anyway. According to director Paul Lynch, Diana Moldauer had some difficulty remembering her lines in this episode. The producers solved this problem by putting her lines on cue cards. Unbelievable. This comes from captain's log, the unauthorized. Oh, my God. treking imagine Like.
00:21:22
Speaker
Patrick Stewart being like, what is this? This bitch doesn't know her lines. No wonder they hated her. yeah yeah like Yeah. Everyone is sitting around just being like, this bitch don't know her lines. She's getting paid all that money. to my She doesn't know her lines. But this stuck because I know it's unclear right now. like I mean, i'm I'm sure as we do these episodes, we'll find out more information. But this to me is like she needed her cue cards all the time for every episode. And I'm like, well, I don't remember seeing that for L.A. law. I don't know. You know, this one has like some weird. This has some like technical stuff that I don't think she really has in other episodes, probably because they're like, oh, she can't really do the technical stuff too well. So I don't know. Maybe that's all part of that. Anyway, this episode marks the first time that Miles O'Brien is referred to as both the transporter chief and by a last name. ah Call Meany remembers a script arrived and suddenly he had a name.
00:22:21
Speaker
oh And then he says, ah of course, then he says, I like the episode a lot. I thought it was really good. It held your interest. It was a marvelous sort of story. It was a marvelous sort of detective story in a way. Well, at the same time, it was making a statement about the dangers of those wonderful scientific developments that can be used for great benefit. It also said something deeper about the dangers of them. And in a sense, it begged the question, should we really be trying this? Which is what I was getting to, I guess. They were like very aware, very aware of it at the time. But I think I like the idea. Maybe we've done too much TV in the last 20 years or so of like it's has a slant right away of and like everyone's talking to that point. It becomes like dogmatic almost like this is bad. Don't play God, blah, blah, blah.
00:23:07
Speaker
And maybe I kind of yearn a little bit for some variety where they mix in there like these people were trying things. Yes, we can. They have egos and it's a huge problem. but Like that's clear. But like what were they actually
Key Scenes & Storytelling Analysis
00:23:19
Speaker
trying to get at? It's an in it's an interesting concept. So and it predates the Jurassic Park film. and yeah I don't know when the book was actually published, but probably slightly after this episode aired of like, we can do this, but should we? Yes, I think and I like that idea because you could do that with a lot of DNA like that was just Jurassic Park, the book, at least it predates the novel as well in November 7, 1990. Yeah. So things about DNA were coming out being published around this time. Yeah. About, oh, is in the air we can do so much stuff. And then, of course, oh, what if we can recreate dinosaurs?
00:24:01
Speaker
All right, let's get into the grades. Get right into it. Great scenes. Kristen, kick us off. When they get to the ship. The Landtree? The Landtree. I liked it when they remotely took control of the Landtree from Landtree's bridge camera, and then they zoomed in and enhanced on what a guy who looks like Abraham Lincoln. he took My God, he does. He looks just fucking like Abraham Lincoln. Unbelievable. I was like, and then I don't know. I don't know what the episode was about. It's a cold open. Or I, I think we're first that it's early in the first. that Like, like, my God, I'm like, oh, my God, it's Abraham Lincoln. Because I know what the episode is supposed to be about at this point. And then they're like, they're so old. I'm like, oh.
00:24:55
Speaker
I remember because when I first saw this, it's not in high def. So it's like not totally clear what you're seeing when it first appears. And I like that. I actually thought that was a good choice because today they were like make it very it would be unambiguous immediately what you were looking at. And like they kind of zoom around the bridge to look at everybody, which I thought was cool. I liked I actually like the little bits coming into that moment where There's like a there's a lack of score and they're just they're coming upon the land tree and it's all quiet. And then Troy finally like joins Picard and Riker near the view screen and they're like, what's going on here? um I do. Yeah, it was really weird and kind of creepy. um Yeah, but actually I have a question about the Abraham Lincoln thing, because that guy that guy had a disturbing amount of skin tags. Yeah, that's what made him he looks like
00:25:50
Speaker
Uh, almost like a Frankenstein's monster too, with like the hair. My question is, is this so that it would play on the old standard deaf TV sets that he has old age skin tags? Yeah, or not or just like moles or liver spots or something, I guess. They're all like really large bumps. They weren't even like dark and like liver spots. Yeah, I don't know. Or was it like a misdirect to kind of like like a visual red herring in a way to be like, well, we don't want to give away that it's just old age. It could just be some weird virus. Like I'm not sure. It just seems.
00:26:23
Speaker
Now that I look, I don't know. it's I think it's just like we don't have time to do a whole lot of makeup. Let's just i don't know make him look. Give him that. Yeah. Give him that color with all the warts on it. Yes. ah Any other great scenes? um Anytime Picard is arguing with Pulaski, um like I'm obviously on do on a Captain Picard side, but I enjoy those times. So when Dr. Pulaski gets data to go on the shuttle craft with her, And it's like this hot young guy in the in the stairlight. Do you remember this was what you remarked upon when I forgot for some reason, I forgot what episode a natural selection was. And then you looked it up and you saw that picture and like, who is that? Yeah, it's a 12 year old boy. I don't know who that is, but I'm watching it. Yeah. OK, so this must be a boy.
00:27:17
Speaker
It's it so there's clear and like well into his 20s, though. OK, like to be clear by every they said it's ah a child. It is not a child. OK. And he's communicating with Dr. Pulaski telepathically and data is just looking at her like, what the kind of weird shit is going on here? And then she's talking to him out loud, which she doesn't need to, by the way. That's true. And this this hunk guy has zero lines in the entire show. That's right. He just looks pretty. Which I appreciate. I don't need to hear him talk. You've identified two great scenes. I also had that that sequence. So before they're on the shuttle and before the styrolyte, there's like a quartet of scenes. It's like a little mini sequence where Picard's like,
00:28:11
Speaker
If you can figure out a way to study this person with zero danger to the ship, I'll let you do it. But good luck. ah She has four conversations basically to get onto the shuttle. I didn't really like the scene with Troy. I just didn't think it was anything interesting. It's kind of out of place too. yeah But I liked the beat with Geordi. And then I liked the beat with Picard where he agrees even though it seems like it's going to ignite into another fight. And then I liked when she just grabs Data as she's heading towards the shuttle. Yeah, she's like, are you sure the captain authorizes? She's like, hey, don't worry about it. Yeah, but I like that because she had a purpose and you could see how driven she was. And i so I thought it was a nice little sequence there.
00:28:55
Speaker
When Picard greets Data in the transporter room after he returns from Darwin Station after Dr. Pulaski announces that she's doomed and all that stuff. I liked the scene where the crew is coming up with a solution involving the transport patterns. I liked her giving her final log ah on the view screen. Yeah, when they see her and she realizes. I love seeing her old as hell. I got so old. So in with the voice. I am 100 percent certain that they use that image to draw a I think it was a Vulcan character or something in urrek the next generation video game for the Sega Genesis, because it is the same position, same like old look. And they just like traced it and put it into a video game. It's great.
00:29:44
Speaker
Yeah, I liked when Picard greets Data in the transporter room after he returns from the station, though. And they he suddenly has basically taken all the facts from the episode and he's been thinking about it because he can't believe that he's going to lose Dr. Pulaski and his priority is saving her. And then he kind of, using Data and O'Brien's feedback, is able to put together a solution or a directive to give them. And I don't know, it was just, I've been watching The Last Strange New Worlds lately and it's just refreshing to see a captain drive the action and have ideas. It was like a relief and Patrick Stewart's great. So it was nice seeing him think and figure things out. And then there's there's literally a moment where O'Brien starts using some techno babble and Patrick Stewart, you can see.
00:30:29
Speaker
Patrick Stewart going, what show am I in still? I can't believe I'm doing this. But also he's like Picard being like, yeah, yeah, yada, yada, yada. He's like playing it in his mind. Like just say you're techno babble nerd. I have an idea. ah So I thought that was cute. um And then the last scene where they torpedo the land tree. Yeah. Give it the appropriate honors and all that stuff. And then they just blow it into oblivion. I thought that was a great scene. Any others? No. Best trek tropes. Well, we got a virus. A garbled distress call. Yes. Which I think was a little bit schmuck bait because there's no reason for it to have been garbled or weak, but they had to kind of make it seem like something else is going on. Where do you stand on episodes with viruses? Are you generally open reception to them? I'm fine with it. I don't have a problem with the virus. What about old age viruses? Fine. As long as it's not given to me.
00:31:28
Speaker
These are also the three that we've mentioned are all kind of basically different. You know, there's kind of like an airborne virus that just turns some people old unless you're really scared. That's the deadly years. And then and then you've got this genetically modified immune system creating a situation where people age who are infected. And then you've got the the women draining the life from the men. Those are the three prominent ones. Yeah. And then Dr. Bashir gets really old in an episode, but he's been zapped and it's in his mind that he's getting really old. That was an episode. It's all psychosomatic. Yes, exactly.
00:32:03
Speaker
I'll always remember that one because he falls and he goes, I've broken my hip. this
00:32:11
Speaker
Coming upon a doomed ship, ah yeah especially when it's like a Starfleet ship, that's always creepy because it's like these are supposed to be magic ships, basically. So what could have gone wrong for it to stop being magical? Any other ones? Data took advanced training in auxiliary spacecraft at Starfleet Academy. We get, you know, the names of the courses from Starfleet Academy. It's fun. That's true. I also put. ah Data isn't human because Dr. Pulaski, it's like, well, yeah, you're coming with me, buddy. That's a good one for this discussion, because it's not yet settled that data is the data that we understand him to be, where he's just a bunch of computer hardware put together with some
00:33:01
Speaker
you know, fake skin and some fluids inside of him. It was much closer to what, you know, Gene Roddenberry was inspired is the kind way of saying it by aliens and maybe alien as well. but especially aliens, he had a lot of characters and stuff. So he's like motivated by like the Lance Henrickson android that's in the alien universe where they're very milky. They have like kind of quasi emotions, but they're not quite human. And this is still reflecting that. like the Blade Runner version of Data that they had essentially conceived of. She says, you're I don't have to remind you, but you're a machine, so you'll be fine. And then Data says that's by no means certain. I mean, the second episode of the show was not a good episode, the Naked Now, but he becomes infected by the Polywater virus. So yeah at least they were playing along the lines of like, Data's probably fine since he doesn't actually age in the but and this biological sense.
00:33:59
Speaker
But that's a good one. I like that. Oops, our experiments went awry.
00:34:06
Speaker
Time and time again, you'd think they'd learn. But now. Yeah. And I like that Dr. Kingsley's point of view in this episode is really just more like she was I think the earlier drafts like she's a beautiful young upstart scientist. there You know, she's a brilliant and beautiful scientist. And we were going to see her at the end, beautiful and young again. But here she's just like a crabby old lady. I thought that was. a good You can even be a mad scientist. She's a crappy scientist. like be scientist all of your like your mom's friend yes from down the block, like around the corner. You're like, she was married? She has a kid? Yes.
00:34:47
Speaker
What's her problem? She's had a hard life. ah Yeah, so did you already say this? The the prefix code, accessing another ship's command console, Picard, Omicron, Omicron, Alpha Yellow Day Star 27. I don't know, Star Trek II, we've got the prefix code. but And then in the wounded, they give the code to the Cardassians. But just taking over another ship, computer and then snooping around remotely is, that's, I like that for Star Trek. I don't like it now. Like the real world is kind of ruined that, but yeah but it it was, it's cool in Star Trek. Here for a best Trek trope, I have the small universe problem, which I usually put in the worst Trek trope where everybody somehow knows everybody, but here it's like a little bit better than usual or maybe like the optimal way to use this. Dr. Plast, since they're all humans, Dr. Kingsley, who's a genetic researcher,
00:35:41
Speaker
has read Dr. Pulaski's paper on genetic research, which he says is still the standard.
Character Dynamics & Themes
00:35:47
Speaker
And I think that's great because that places Pulaski not as like a celebrity, like, you know, and in the new treks, everyone's like famous, you know, it's just like they're in a similar field. And here's the show why Pulaski being on the enterprise is so Interesting because this like renowned scientist is now on the frontier starship basically like it's kind of character revealing it's and it quickly establishes that Kingsley and is going to respect Pulaski being involved in the situation at all so we're not going to have to deal with the egos quite as intensely as you might think. Let's see any other best trick tropes? No.
00:36:27
Speaker
OK, I have a few more. Oh, wow. Styrolytes. I like it. It's their version. It's like ah another it's like transparent aluminum where it's like it's a Starfleet tech or a Star Trek tech that like makes sense. it Is it it's not quite styrofoam? It's not cut quite. ah What is it? I think it's not shrink wrap. Yeah, exactly. So it's basically like ah transparent styrofoam. So I like the way she zaps it to unpack the kid. That was cool. I liked everyone being professional. It's like a, you know, Star Trek while it captured a lot of hearts and minds is because it shows really smart people doing their jobs really well. And here as they're coming upon the Landtree, we've got Jordy coming aboard or coming onto the bridge and Pulaski coming onto the bridge. And they're all like doing their jobs very well, very specifically. And we see just
00:37:18
Speaker
the the procedure that's involved in what they do on a daily basis or whatever and that was it was very simple like this is where the strengths of 22 episodes ah are as opposed to the 10 like in 10 you're basically like every episode has to be as like ah fulfilling or as epic as a movie here it's like this is almost a day in the life Like it's so, you know what I mean? Like it's so slice of life. Like this is just them going about doing their jobs um that I thought it was really interesting. And then this is the best. This is the best one for me. We've talked about captain's logs before, personal logs, Pulaski's live log entry over the view screen. I mentioned it as a great scene, but it's also one of the best logs in Star Trek history, I think.
00:38:04
Speaker
Well, ah it's just funny to think of the internal logic because it's like there's no way any human being would come up with that off the cuff and saying it as cleanly as she does. Yeah, and so it's not realistic. But in the world of Star Trek, she's giving her final report as the chief medical officer. And that is a she does. It's written in a way and it's performed in a way like how you would hear it if it was just a voiceover over footage at the enterprise or something like that. So it's like very artfully done in the style of Star Trek. And it also fulfills the story requirement. And it's kind of sad. And it's
00:38:42
Speaker
It's really cool. I've got the the line later on and I thought it worked really well. Worst trek tropes. Dr. Pulaski ah character inflation. So at the beginning, Picard's like, Troy, what do you think of this? Dr. Pulaski, she's like, oh, she's fantastic. I've never seen about a more dedicated officer or something. It's like, shut up. like It's a tell don't show situation, which I don't like. The captain of the repulse being like, I would have given her a shuttlecraft if it would have kept her. That's amazing. Yeah, so she's such a freaking old fuddy duddy she won't use the transporter and just wants to be shuttled everywhere.
00:39:27
Speaker
Well, that was just you know ah that was just them wanting to have um ah Dr. McCoy in there. Wow, whatever. Any other words for Drew? Yeah, we'll just use a force field. Yeah. Okay. That doesn't always work out, but OK. I mean, it's pointed out that doesn't always work out, but whatever. Well, in the later seasons, that it's they're very much like force fields. Perfect. So it's like they don't even question. You know, I like that Jordy being an engineer. It's it's closer to our reality, which maybe that's why they don't do it now. They're like, why wouldn't it be perfect? Because, you know, Jordy's like, you know, nothing's 100 percent.
00:40:13
Speaker
You know, there's always a slight chance of something going wrong as force field failing randomly, all that stuff. And in the later seasons, they're like, oh, it's fine. Let's throw up a force field. It's an impenetrable force field. Yes, exactly. um No PPE on any of the crew when they beam up the man child. This, I guess, could also be most of its time quality. and any time they Anytime any time any Star Trek crew encounters a virus. Nobody is doing one thing to prevent coming in contact with it. Dr. Pulaski would have been fine in the shuttle if she had worn like an environmental suit. Yeah, like a like I'm sure a hazmat suit there looks a little bit nicer than it does these days. But yeah, double protection. And you could have you could have had it. Yeah, it's
00:41:03
Speaker
And you believeev it they probably may be considered it, but then they were like, we have to put Diana Moldauer in this environmental protection shoot suit. That's not going to go well. I know they don't they don't want to do that because it. looks bad aesthetically. You can't see their face. Yeah. But then also, good but also, you know, what are you really doing? You're adding time and money to what will wind up having to be the case. like So let's say they go to the shuttle. She wears the environmental suit and then they she does all the scans. She's like, he's fine. And her whole purpose was breathing the same air as this person and seeing if they're fine.
00:41:38
Speaker
So then she would just wind up taking it off anyway, and we would wind up exactly where we were. That's dramatically how it would play out anyway. But you're totally right anyway, in Sick Bay, when he's first beamed aboard, that's the extra level of protection. He's in the force field, they're all in PPE. Why is everybody in the room? The captain is there. but You have like ah high definition monitors that that can somehow do camera angles. He can watch this all on on the view screen from the comfort of the bridge. Why would he even want to watch to begin with? Who cares? I don't know. It's like, oh, we're getting more copy paper, Kristen. You want to see how it's being loaded into the loading? Like, no, I don't care. Just take care of it. Like, okay, fine. Like, it the minutiae that they involve the captain with bothers me. But anyway. And then Dr. Pulaski is an asshole of data to the very end. Like, she...
00:42:36
Speaker
is still an asshole to him about him being not really human up until the very end. Just little snide comments here and there. It feels like they modulated it a little bit. It feels a little toned down. They softened it slightly, but it's still like, how dare you? She's just mean.
00:43:00
Speaker
Don't trust the transporter. Do trust the transporter. Very unclear. It seems weird that they didn't have her molecular pattern stored anywhere. They did eventually at the end kind of make it clear, like, we're still waiting for her records from Starfleet to catch up to us. I'm like, okay, I guess that's weird. And then like the last, she was like, oh no, we threw that away. Yeah, exactly. Well, if you love her so much, you didn't think that you would be coming back. How would you keep her transporter parent? Why the f*** would he have done that? Now he threw that shit away. Oh, I forgot to please him. As a best trek trope, I love the captain's priority channel. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I forgot that. Damn.
00:43:38
Speaker
That was a good one. they They don't, they got away from it and and I miss it a little bit, to be honest. Like I just love that there's a group chat with the Starship. Yeah. it's Bring that back. Strange New Worlds. Bring it back. um I guess what I'm saying about the transporter, the worst trans, you know, it works as well as they needed to, obviously, for drama. O'Brien Riley points out, I don't think the biofilter is going to work here, fellas. No. This, this kid was beamed twice. She still got sick. That's correct. Yeah, the implications, it's kind of like the implications of what they did, though, are kind of grander as grand as what the scientists did on the planet. And maybe they realize that as they wrote this, but they didn't want to make that connection because they basically have set up eternal life.
00:44:26
Speaker
or eternal youth, you know, with by doing that. And then there was a wharf gets denied. Yeah. um But not super bad. It wasn't super, like it wasn't a windmill. We must board the ship and then Picard says, well, possibly. Yes. And it turns out it's a good thing they didn't. It was there just to make it so that Worf had both something to say, but also to get denied. And it was like, there's no reason for Worf to have said that. Worf's always the one saying we should proceed with caution and be ready to fight. You know what I mean? But they just need to have that noise in there, I guess. Anyway.
00:45:02
Speaker
Most of it's time quality. I could see the hairspray in Marina Sertes' hair in that first scene where she's talking to Picard. Yeah, I don't know why this episode was nominated for Best Hair because I didn't like Worf's wig. I mean, I know it's early wig. but It was whatever. And all the old lady wigs. Yeah, I didn't like it. I just whatever. You could kind of see the hairspray and Brent Spiner's hair, too. There are a couple. yeah There was a lot of like kind of weird lighting that was sort of just like I could see all the makeup on everybody. Yep. And all the wigs, like obviously, I know they're all wigs, but like.
00:45:46
Speaker
You know, it was the way the show is produced. They they got a new DP and they changed the look for season three. But also for us in the 21st century, this season of the show was remastered by a different company than the other seasons of the show. Oh, OK. So it actually does look different. Yeah, I might. Because it looks like they're not doing anybody any favors. No. what ah With what? I don't know. It looks strange. It looks like someone tried to like I don't know. Do stuff. I don't know. It's hard to explain. Any other most of us. time Yeah. Well, OK, so the the wig and then the wigs and the makeup, old people makeup, but also they don't quarantine quarantine data at all or Dr. Pulaski.
00:46:31
Speaker
at all. Well, Dana gets the long beam back where they do use the biofilter and make sure nothing alive is on him. But like, that he's a machine. It could be on his clothes. It could like, they're just like, Oh, here, here he is. That's why he was in the longer beam. I don't know. I just okay. But they were if we done just if it were done today, they would say, well, we'll quarantine him for like an hour or something, whatever. Yeah. They would have just blasted. Yeah, exactly. When he was being transported. Okay. That's true. Also in the new episodes or the new seasons, I think in Voyager and even next generation, it's like you beam something aboard. You're not sure you put up a force field around the transporter bay.
00:47:11
Speaker
Yeah, I was like, and so it's like they didn't even they didn't even do that. No, no. Curtain down. but No precautions whatsoever. ah Picard asks Data to replay the final transmission from the Land Tree right after we come back from commercial after the opening credits. That is 100% for the people just tuning in. like You're like, oh shit, I gotta get home. Star Trek starts. And it's like you just miss it or you just get there for the credits. yeah You literally get what you missed in the first minute of the of when you come back from commercial. ah They still do this, of course, today. And I think they the fact that they still do it when it's streaming is absolutely insane that they do that.
00:47:50
Speaker
they they both you know you can always reverse it now everything's like on streaming but they still have the network mindset of like at the top of every act and sometimes at the top of every scene we need to restate what's going on and captain's log yeah exactly oh yeah ah two of the names in this one are very
00:48:10
Speaker
they would, I don't know, the Darwin genetic research station which on
Production & Writing Elements
00:48:15
Speaker
the nose. kid And then orbit orbits a planet called Gagarin for, you know, Yuri Gagarin. So it's like, ah whatever. ah That's just of its time. I guess they're trying to tie it into today. And then the cop it You can clearly see in the scene with the kid in Styrolyte that they've cut into a piece of carpet as a board to then set the plastic over. By the way, I don't know how I could not have done that role. I mean, I'm I'm as hot as that guy.
00:48:45
Speaker
but I was thinking when they were going through there, I'm like, my belly would have pushed that. That would have been a funny bubble if it was like an out of shape person. But it was. Yeah. I'm like, that is not for the the timid. So they had to find someone that looked good in their underwear and looked, you know, basically like, yeah, but he can't speak. Yeah. Well, and all he can't remember lines. He's making funny faces of claustrophobic. He's gonna have a piece of plastic. Not giving him any lines. yeah Don't worry about it. ah But you know, carpeting everything was like a big next generation thing. There's even carpet on the view screen, which I did not know that until they rebuilt the Enterprise D for Star Trek Picard season three. And they're like, yeah, it shocked us too. It turns out there was carpet everywhere.
00:49:33
Speaker
At the fridge. Yeah, anyway now it's time for the line was to join. Yeah great lines So in the beginning when they see the old people on the view screen Riker says it looks like they had a battle with time and wharf immediately says and lost i wrote it so i was like yeah their ass yeah I wrote that down too and I was like, I have to give it to them. That's TV, man. You got to do those slides. Yeah, you have to. Well, Picard along those same lines after Pulaski says, for the record, they died of natural causes and Picard goes, natural causes? What in nature could have caused that?
00:50:21
Speaker
Yeah, he's so ugly. never the so or no one get older yeah ah yeah and It's like, honestly, just like a guy who looks maybe 50 with that. They caught him while he was napping. yeah
00:50:40
Speaker
ah pulas i The makeup they had on Dr. McCoy and the pilot Oh, right. Yes. you Way older looking than this Abraham Lincoln guy. Yeah. Well, he's older too. I mean, yes, but like you know, you just, oh my goodness. So they died of natural causes, but then they should have looked as old as Dr. Because people live longer in the 21st century. Yeah, they should at least, but they're like, no, we'll waste the makeup on Dr. McCoy. We're not going to waste the makeup on these day players with no lines. Glorified extras. Yeah, they're asking around. Like, anyone, grandpa, want to come in and yeah take a nap on the Battle Bridge set? if you I have one more, though. I have a couple more lines.
00:51:37
Speaker
My next one is Worf as well when they um beam aboard the man child and it's not a child. And Worf goes, a trick! And it kind of is a trick. Like, they're like, oh, save the children. They don't, they're not carriers, but they just only want the children saved. So like, their megalomaniacal work could be preserved, really. One more. When Picard says to Dr. Pulaski, I'd appreciate it if you let me finish my sentences once in a while.
00:52:09
Speaker
That we see God, we hear the word God like a couple of times in this episode. It's just like, ah most of its time could have been the the way that people speak in this episode. It's very much like 1980s network procedural, like a cop show almost. And that makes sense. That's what a lot of the writers, there's some overlap there. Pulaski, we could be looking at the future of humanity. Picard, me at least Dr. Kingsley's version of it. I like Picard's hmm there. ah Data scans Dr. Pulaski in the shuttlecraft. All systems are functioning with the normal specifications, Dr. Pulaski. The manufacturer will be pleased to hear it. I appreciate your help, but your bedside manner needs work. So, i like like you know, that line is not quite as mean, but she delivered it mean. Yeah. Like, even when she knows she is dying, she's still fucking asshole to him.
00:53:03
Speaker
So maybe, maybe they hated her because she was the one putting the pedal to the metal with the data stuff. She's like, I don't like i mean i'm like a bridge by wayship i am to work, not knowing her lines. I mean, someone write out cue cards, some port, yeah. Writing out cue cards or she's probably, it's not big enough. I can't see. All right, any more? I have a few more. No, I'm done. OK, I'll read the two short ones and then the long one. Oh, Brian, I put this techno babble in there because it's not the techno babble that would evolve what it evolved into. It's the.
00:53:38
Speaker
old craggy TV writers' version of what Star Trek technobabble might sound like. And I thought it was charming and also Patrick Stewart's reaction to it. Chief O'Brien, when ah he Picard's asking, is it possible to fix the biofilter, O'Brien says, well, I'd have to get into the biofilter bus and patch in a molecular matrix reader. That's no problem. But the waveform modulator will be overloaded without the regeneration limiter in the first stage circuit. did my want rep or And then Pulaski says, well, I'll tell you one thing. If I live through this, I'll have a much better understanding of geriatrics, that that was cute. And then her log entry.
00:54:20
Speaker
Chief Medical Officer's Log, this will be my final report to the Enterprise. Just as changes in evolution are known to be caused by changes in the environment, we now know the process also works in reverse. An attempt to control human evolution has resulted in a new species, which is lethal to its predessors predecessors. The children will be condemned to live out their lives in isolation. The quarantine of the Darwin Station must be maintained forever. Stuck with me all these years. Good job. The Anton Krudian Award for Best Performance. I don't know. I'm Diana Muldar. Okay. atham pe blaski
00:55:05
Speaker
okay Why not? What's the harm? Do you think Jonathan, do you think Jonathan Frakes isn't going to talk to us because we selected her. We liked her performance in this episode. No, he's not going to talk to us because he knows where we are. yeah know i i talked to us We'd like to come on the show and talk about an episode that he had nothing to do with. That'd be great. um The Shatner. I got one, but I want to hear what you have. Yeah. ah Dr. Kingsley. Oh, come on. Okay. dr kiley Believe it or not, I just celebrated my 35th birthday. This is the oldest woman who's ever lived. like she would find it It would find the virus and destroy it. why Yeah, that's true. I have an honorable mention. that the genetic old Like, well, now we'd say boomer, but I think she's even older than that. Yeah. Like old woman.
00:55:55
Speaker
ah The children. Yeah, yeah. Children and her frickin and her old mom haircut, everything. That's right. God. She really leaned into the aging. Oh, my goodness. Like ah you. OK, yeah, you just celebrate your 35th birthday and you had that haircut. I like this episode as like, let's get all of our friends, because a lot of the people running the show by this time were also older. And I like the idea that they're like, let's get all of our friends, let's extend their healthcare through the guild. but So let's get there. Which is a noble goal and I think that's perfectly fine. But I'm giving an honorable mention to the genetically modified Hottie, who only emotes with his eyes because that's all he could do. Listen, I hope that that gentleman had, I don't know,
00:56:50
Speaker
a degree in mechanics or something because I don't think the acting is it, I gotta say. i i you know I don't think he's got it, but who knows? How many other credits does Man Child have? Do we know? Played by George Baxter, uncredited. Let's see if he has an IMDb page. He does. He's also on Twitter. Is he an only? Well, he's too old. His name is George Baxter Holder. That's his ah on IMDB. His last credit is from 2010. He did an episode of a TV show called Emerald Nights. And it is, in fact, his second screen credit after being a Darwin child on The Next Generation. okay Emerald Nights is a TV show
00:57:41
Speaker
um I guess it looks like it might have been like an independent show. He also, but most importantly, he is Dr. George Baxter holder. So okay. okay He had two websites. One of them was Baxter, actor.com. Oh, he injects Botox and stuff. That would have been my guess. He's like a kind of kind of like a dermatologist or something. and Okay. a medical practitioner of some kind. I found him on Instagram. Oh, he's also a novelist. Well, you know what? Good for him. Yeah. Yes, he has an Instagram hand handle at Gorgeous by George. OK, so this episode went right to his head. I know. They're like, we need to get a hottie who looks good in underwear and doesn't mind being smothered by plastic for two hours. Yeah.
00:58:39
Speaker
um Amazing. Yeah. What part of this will they teach at Starfleet Academy? um Well, we know they already are teaching auxiliary spacecraft good training. Also the quarantine procedures. Yeah. Perhaps maybe wear a fucking mask or something. out Do something, right? not just the shipboard quarantine procedures, but maybe also the command console, the interlock that they discuss. Basically what I have mentioned, them being professional, like all things you would do when you come across a derelict starship and what you would do, how you would deal with that. And I'm sure they will teach something about the genetic mystery here. And I'm sure there's probably some beta canon or someone's written a short story or something involving these kids. They seem pretty powerful.
00:59:32
Speaker
They'd be good. Good story to revisit or maybe mention. I don't know. Maybe not good, but they could. yeah Could this episode have been a hornier and would that have made it better? Yeah. You think? It but it could have been hornier. I don't know if it would have made it better. I mean, yeah, Star Trek can always be hornier, but I mean, we do get a we get a hairless dude in underwear. It's on the way to being horny. But I think that they because of the subject matter, they probably thought let's not I don't know. There's definitely ah ah an idea of like getting old is gross. And so it's like it's almost like a horror movie in a way. So I don't know. maybe OK, by the way, the man child, he's not a medical doctor. OK. But he has a doctor of nursing degree and an MBA.
01:00:22
Speaker
OK, he's like he has two master's degrees and a doctorate from Duke University. OK, so you know what? Good for him. So ah as if I'm understanding this gentleman correctly, he looked super good in the 80s, 90s, and he has an MBA and he has two master's degrees. So his cup runneth over. he Yeah, he was doing great. He still looks great. like he like he doesn't look like he must be like at least in his 50s right uh well this episode's 35 years old yeah so he yeah he's gotta be almost in the 60s he looks pretty good for the 60s
Final Verdict & Next Episode Preview
01:01:04
Speaker
like you could tell he's not like a child like a you know teenager yeah so yeah i guess when i was when i said i hope he has a degree in mechanics it's even better than that apparently right so he's like i was in this episode about
01:01:18
Speaker
You know, old person disease and I've dedicated my life to making sure that never happens.
01:01:29
Speaker
I've dedicated my life to making sure nobody ever ages. All right. So Trek, marry or kill a natural selection? I don't know.
01:01:38
Speaker
It's not a Mary. No, it's not a Mary. I think it's a solid trek. Solid trek? Yeah, trek. OK, you know what? If this if it weren't Dr. Pulaski if this happened to Beverly Crusher, I'd probably say it was a solid trek. So you're carrying a bias against Dr. Pulaski whenever you see her. you're like It's only because she's very unlikable. yeah
01:02:06
Speaker
In my defense, everybody hates her, yes. In my defense, she's horrible. Nobody likes her. I mean, I don't, I can't, I can't see what was, what makes it bad. Is it boring? I don't think it's boring. I don't know. Okay, I guess, fine. It's a trick. I will say that like, I'm sure when it comes to jobs, not every job is a good fit for every person who works at it. But that doesn't mean they're bad at their job, right? Yeah, but I think she was- I feel like i'm I might be a little too harsh.
01:02:42
Speaker
They gave her a lot to do, and I don't feel like her performance ah lets that down. Now, it seems like getting that performance was enough where they were like, well, that's the last time we put her front and center. That makes sense to me. But like what wound up being on screen didn't really feel like a letdown. No. um So there's that. And I thought, you know, I think the stuff with the land tree is creepy and interesting and kind of everything we hope for. And, you know, just a random Star Trek episode where there's some sort of mystery. um It could, you know, an aging storyline isn't all that unique or all that fun. And I think the little twist with the mad scientist egos thinking we've evolved humans. Oh, this version can kill us that we've made the X-Men and they don't want us around anymore. um I think that's.
01:03:34
Speaker
and I don't think it's interesting enough. And I think the fact that they centered it around Pulaski and Patrick Stewart and Captain Picard, I think that's what ultimately makes the episode worth watching. um Yeah. So that's why. Okay. Was it a big swing that can I go? We're not asking that question. Okay. So then we're, we're this isn't bad. This is like the definition of we have 22 plus episodes to do. we to come up All right. An old age storyline. Great. Um, yeah. So next week, Dr. Mabenga.
01:04:06
Speaker
We are doing a Dr. Mabenga episode. I, I think I've enjoyed this part of the scheduling because we're getting away from focusing on just the big swings and I'm using the rest of our, um, you know, our wildcards kind of pair with what's left of the Strange New World second season. And so I like, Oh, we, we, we drew a wildcard doctor episode. Let's do, let's put that next to the doctor episode of Strange New Worlds. We're going to find out Dr. Mabenga not only was, uh, abusing his daughter for who knows how long. But also concurrently was a secret assassin. He did Federation wet work. Oh my God. And he will use his skills to take out a Klingon who has turned against his people and is now a Federation ambassador. Or does he? Well, we'll have to tune in and find out. Yeah.
01:04:56
Speaker
You can always rate and review us if you're so inclined on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen. We're at Trek Mary K Pod on social media and Trek Mary Kill Pod on the web. ah So until next week, TMK out.