PATRON TAKES - Star Trek TNG - Season 2 Episode 17

When is this one getting released? I am excited and it is hard to wait patiently. :-)

Unfortunately, some of the reasons why I like this episode includes spoilers for later Star Trek, so I’ll try to restrain my spoilers. I do like this episode some what the Packleads are funny. The way they fool the Pakleds in the end is stupid because it’s so obvious that they are trying to fool them but then again, this isn’t exactly the brightest species in the galaxy. It is an interesting idea since last episode we see the enterprise having to deal with a far superior foe and now they have to deal with an enemy that is weaker and stupider, but nonetheless very cunning.

Pakleds getting technology too quickly and all at once, misusing it and not fully understanding how it works. It pretty much paralleled humanity getting the internet a decade later.

The time between Picard and Wesley, and the peek into Picard's past are the only good parts of Samaritan Snare. The rest is a terrible, poorly plotted mess. According to one writer, Samaritan Snare is "the most abysmal piece of Star Trek ever filmed." and it inspired him, along with two others, to write an episode for season 3.

I have mixed feelings on the Pakleds. This deceptive race that manipulates people by using their underdeveloped intelligence. They don’t really hit on first meeting. My favorite part of the episode is Picard and Wesley in the shuttle.

(I have nothing against Pulaski) But the silly twist that the heart surgeon is unable to deal with a surgical complication??? ONLY Pulaski can…feels like more desperate overcompensation in the hopes the audience will start to like her.

Sonja Gomez was introduced to be a recurring character who would become Geordi’s girlfriend eventually. This is the second and last appearance of the goofy ensign. She wasn’t asked to return after Samaritan Snare. The actress was interviewed by StarTrek.com in 2018 about what happened: Ensign Sonya Gomez and Geordi La Forge seemed primed for a romance when Star Trek: The Next Generation fans first saw them together in the episodes “Q Who?” – which aired 29 years ago today -- and “Samaritan Snare,” but those ended up being the only two hours in which the Gomez character appeared. That was a shame, as guest star Lycia Naff shared terrific chemistry with LeVar Burton and such an arc would have benefited Geordi’s evolution. "I was told that Gomez was going to evolve into Geordi's love interest, but the dialogue and the way I was directed to play the part was more comic relief than love interest. When it came time to possibly renew me as a recurring role in the next season, I was told that producers thought Gomez was too funny to be the type of love interest that would cause Geordi to get a possibly fatal operation to see me."  "That was the endgame. Geordi was to fall so deeply in love with me that he'd risk his life to have eye surgery in order to see me. Apparently, the character of Gomez was written comically and didn't match what they really wanted in the end. I was super-bummed when I got the news." 

Honestly quite as horrible as I remembered. Character development on Picard was good.

Things we learned about Picard this episode- he has an ego as the doctor points out, he's very insecure of even the appearance of weakness, he can be a big moody baby sometimes, he hates "Starfleet gossip," he does not like revealing personal details of his life with anyone, especially kids, he was very cocky and undisciplined in his youth, he studies philosophy, art, and history.

Data- fond farwell Geordi! Riker- I shall miss you Worf- YOU WILL DIE WITHOUT HONOR 🤣🤣🤣

Picard arriving on the bridge after surgery: Everyone- claps Picard- "I beg your pardon?" Classic :)

The ending line Picard delivers of the rumors of his brush with death being greatly exagerated, I believe is a nod to Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens, even though he didn't actually say it. Just putting that out there... :)

We have placed an order with Amazon Galactic for 14 million rubber bands to be delivered to the stranded pacled ship of fools

Oh Hey, it's you guys during a discussion video. Also, Picard's artificial heart. Remember that for Later...

This episode is the second in the season to star Christopher Collins (AKA Chris Latta), who played Klingon Captain Kargan in "A Matter Of Honor." Can you guess who he plays in this episode? (Collins was also the voice of Cobra Commander on GI Joe: A Real American Hero and Starscream on Transformers.)

Riker (thinking): "I know I turned down that promotion to Captain a while ago, but how can I make sure I don't get offered another one...." Seriously though, the Picard and Wesley stuff is the only redeemable aspect of this otherwise awful episode, in my opinion. I predict that's all you guys will remember in the future as well.

Another instance where they should have listened to Worf. No reason to send their chief engineer over to the Pakled ship. The real meat of this episode is the relationship between Picard and Wesley, and I’ve usually rewatched that part more than the Geordi stuff. Picard is revealed to have been a bit of a hellraiser in his youth, which is nice counterweight to the straight-laced captain we know now.

Ah yes the pakled’s the dumbest/smartest villains in all of trek lol.

Episode fact: the writers of a future Trek episode were “inspired” to submit their own story after watching this episode and deeming it “the most abysmal episode of Trek ever filmed”.

Similar to Datalore in that the premise relies on our bridge crew being REALLY STUPID..

The Pakleds have become a meme for a reason. Working in tech support, I often feel like everyone that calls is a Pakled.

I really enjoyed this episode. You really are concerned for Geordi’s safety. As the B plot, we really get to flesh out Picard’s character a bit more, and since you guys love lore and character-building, what did you think of this background on Picard?

This week on TNG: Wesley takes the Starfleet entrance exams, Picard gets his pacemaker replaced, a well-timed distress call by the Pakled ship & Chief Engineer Geordi gets kidnapped by the least threatening species ever, literally. The Wesley/ Picard scenes are nice with some backstory on Picard's youth. I particularly get the sense that a long shuttle ride with JL felt to Wes like a fishing trip with my dad... long awkward silence punctuated with one or two sentences of water-cooler chit-chat. Finally they break the ice over a sandwich 🥪 good to see those stood the test of time, but seriously, it's nice that the Captain could relate to (or at least makes an effort to relate to) an Ensign, I guess he doesn't completely hate ALL children... either that or young Wesley is becoming a respected member of the crew in his eyes. The Pakled get their name from the way they behave, pack-led or group think which may be why they can't think for themselves or act individually. Oh one last thought; Worf was right, Troi was ignored, don't trust space strangers!

Through Picard's backstory in this episode, we learn that his character progression is a reversal of Kirk's. Kirk was a straight-laced, reserved cadet who then becomes a more action-oriented captain, while Picard was a wild cadet who becomes a straight-laced, reserved captain.

Fireball, it makes us go.

A fascinating bit of Picard backstory is the only saving grace for this one. As for the Pakleds, Riker had to be written as a moron for the plot to work. No way should he have sent over Geordi like that. When the hothead Worf protests but is proven 100% correct, you know you screwed up. Then on top of that, he ignores Troi.

This one cracks me up. Is it great? Nope. Do I skip it? Hell no.

I'll bet you never guessed that Picard has an artificial heart that needs replacing. In other words, it's broken and needs things to make it go, just like the Pakled ship. There are other things I would like to say but...spoilers. I have this one ranked as “Excellent”.

yeah..... I don't know about this one

Another episode where Wolf brings up legitimate security concerns and everyone looks at him like he's the biggest idiot ever.

Which is the A plot and which is the B plot? I sure like the Picard and Wesley side of the episode. More great backstory for Picard

We gone now ….. after hitting the top bar the only way is down …. It can only improve from here right ???

I like the Wesley/Picard stuff, but every time I start to watch this and remember it's about the Pakleds, I skip ahead to the next episode.

I love/hate this episode. Love the Picard story. The scenes with Wesley provide excellent insights into Picard’s past. I very much like the resolution of Pulaski having to swoop in and save Picard’s life. What I absolutely hate about this episode is that Riker apparently took stupid pills before his shift. Everyone and everything in the universe is pointing to Geordi’s situation being a trap and yet he falls for the snare. The only reason the plot works is at the cost of Riker’s intelligence. Next time just read the title big guy.

This episode might make you go, fast. Pakleds aside though, it's actually a fascinating delve into Picard's history, giving us an entirely different side to the man. Dude's actually hard-core enough to be near fatally stabbed and LAUGHED. It also humanizes him because don't we all have things in our past that we look back at and think "Geez, was I a £#€%ing idiot, don't be that stupid again." Plus the fact Picard has a tin heart might explain his emotional distance.

This isn't a great episode and it's not a terrible episode. It's kinda weak that they can't retaliate to the Pakleds over their treatment of Geordi. They should be able to get him back very easily. Picard's prideful concern over his image seems pretty misguided, for a British-acting bald French man in the 24th century. Don'tget me started on the logistics of "having" things like photon torpedoes and then NOT having them... I've always appreciated the interesting look into 24-century serious medical procedures (surgeries). I always remember this happened but never which episode it happened in.

This one has a good character history background development for Picard, but I found the Pakleds to be ridiculous. I really don't think a species that stupid could develop a technology beyond the stone age, much less get into space. Only way I could see it is if they were slaves or workers for another space faring species and somehow overthrew their masters through malfeasance or deception or violently. Thoughts on that please.

Pretty iffy episode. I think the part with Picard and Wesley in the shuttcraft is great, but the A plot only works if the bridge crew are dumb and easily duped. Also, an episode where I actually like Pulaski.

Worf was right. For once.

Does anyone think Worf, watching Geordi get beat up by the Pakleds, was thinking, "Finally! Someone else gets his ass kicked for a change."

Ok, I'm back after missing the last 2 Patreon Takes. A Picard, Pulaski, Geordi & Wesley Episode! This one had a lot going on and for me the Picard/Wesley time in the shuttle was the best part and those Aliens that take Geordi were annoying back in 88 and now. All I wanted to do then and now is slap that shit hanging on the alien leaders lip off! you will probably like this one....That's it! 🖖

PICARD LORE

What do you think about how the Pakleds were portrayed? My father finds them mildly offensive to people with developmental disabilities (he himself has a physical disability).

Ensign Gomez makes a return appearance! She's not a one-off!

Nice little bonding moment between Picard and Wesley. Picard getting more comfortable around him to share some of his past is some character development.

I don’t understand the hate for this episode. It’s always been one of my favorites of the season. The wonderful storytelling in those great scenes with Picard and Wesley on the shuttle are Great stuff. And the packleds are priceless.

I've been feeling thoroughly useless for Patron Takes for the last few weeks. I don't think it was before halfway through Season 3 that I used to watch the show (on UK channel BBC2, every Wednesday at 6pm, while having my evening meal) with any regularity. Most of these recent episodes are ones that I've seen on repeat, but haven't really stuck in my mind enough to comment on. I just posted this because I wanted you to read it.

Exactly which of the two star ships is the one crewed by idiots? The Enterprise crew make such inept decisions that Worf has to call out each one. What was happening in the writers' room at the time needs to be retrospectively investigated.

Riker must have watched "The Corbomite Maneuver" recently. Not the worst of the season, but certainly a weaker one. Surprisingly, the B-story with Picard and Wesley in the shuttle is more engaging than the A-story - definitely one of those "building blocks" for the characters that you've been noticing this season.

So the Captain of the Pakled ship? Same actor that was Captain Pouty-Lips of the Klingon ship in MATTER OF HONOR. We call that "range".

The sub-plot is ludicrous. Pissing and crapping in front of each other in that tiny shuttle. Zero privacy. If the shuttle journey took days, the Enterprise could take him in seconds.

Red Alarm! Red Alarm! It’s… ugh The Packleds. At least we get Picard and Wesley bonding in the shuttle, Picard’s story of his artificial heart and not knowing why he laughed when he got stabbed. And a blink and you’ll miss it scene, but just as they get to the star base Wesley doesn’t understand why the glass door is not opening, and Picard shows him how to manually open a door.

It wouldn't have made sense with the plot and would have just been compete fan service but it would have been nice if the only person that could have helped picard survive had been bones instead of pulaski.

Curious as to how you view Rikers style of command vs picards as we saw a bit more of it this episode.

Phenomenal episode for some picard lore, I bet you wish they could have shown you the incident he had in his youth where he got stabbed but it would have probably overloaded the episode unfortunately...

You'll probably throw some ideas out during your watch but just in case I'm wondering what went through your mind as to what picards procedure could be before it was revealed.. Like He was getting some warp nacelles attached to his junk or something? 😅

Good Picard LORE, the foes in this episode are interesting, betting by on belligerent stupidity.

Picard and Wesley... GOOD! PAKLEDS... HUH!? This episode, it makes me go... ...To the bathroom!

The bonding between Picard and Wesley was a nice moment at least.

The Pakleds were a choice.

Not what I'd call a great episode but let's be real, the Pakled quotes are extremely meme worthy.

Not a fan-favorite, but I really like this episode. The chemistry between Picard and Wesley is pretty good, the Pakleds are a really creative adversary and even Troy's abilities are somewhat useful (although ignored again).

A solid Star Trek episode with some lore building for Picard and a fun side story of "broke down" ship. I don't think this will be top of your list episode but definitely not at the bottom either.

“We look for things that make us go” has been rattling around my brain for three decades.

I find the B plot with Picard and Wesley more interesting than the A plot with the Pakleds

Here's the moment where sick old man Picard is gone forever. Gone are the days of "Oh, I have a headache, Riker you take over." Instead it's "I got stabbed through the heart and I LAUGHED at it." Amazing and unexpected backstory for the captain.