PATRON TAKES - Star Trek TNG - Season 3 Episode 11

The episode with the most exciting “walking through corridors” chase sequence. Seriously Worf, pick up the pace there buddy! No wonder why shit goes down on this ship every week! BTW: this is the infamous “sugar lift” episode. IYKYK

I love everything about this episode - the Enterprise has to use tactics and wit instead of technology. Troi gets some truly great scenes that USE here character. (plus O'Brien yelling "More security!" cracks me up every time).

The most memorable moment of the episode is definitely that one Geordi scene on Engineering. LeVar Burton probably got two episodes in a row this season upon yelling "DOUBLE IT" to the producers. What is your favorite Geordi/Levar moment or line so far?

Ah fun episode with a good message and I always liked the ending. Not amongst the great episodes of s3 but never dull

A relative low point for the season, but I like this one - don't get me wrong, it fails to make sense on multiple levels: How is this guy basically magic? Why has the Federation seemingly not done any recon on a planet they're considering for membership? And so on. The script needed a few more passes. But despite all that, the character interactions (and some nostalgia as this was one of the episodes my dad had when I was a kid) save it for me.

Was I the only one who had a problem with the idea that Roga seemed to have too good an understanding of Federation technology, which was presumably far more advanced than that of a culture applying for Federation membership? The conclusion was great because, as others have pointed out, it made excellent use of the Prime Directive but it wasn't enough to salvage the episode for me.

This isn't a bad episode at all it's just not a very good one. It seems to me that they must have needed a script because this one I believe would have benefited from another once over. It's got all the parts for an excellent excellent story it just doesn't gel for me.

I think you're going to like this episode. It's inspired by stories of soldiers coming home from the Vietnam war only to find that their own country seems to have abandoned them. It's Rambo-esque in many ways. I like this one a lot.

I love this non-evil version of Khan

Something to keep in mind - at the time it was filmed, the last major US military action was Vietnam, and this episode was made in reflection of how the veterans of that war were treated. I'm not saying post-action mental care for veterans is good now - but I think that in general society doesn't treat returning vets as criminals, the way many Vietnam vets were made to feel.

it's alright. I think the guest character is overpowered as fuck but at least his backstory is interesting. Personally I don't really know that you will like this.

John Rambo comes to Star Trek

Finally, an episode where the crew actually follows the Prime Directive! When I was younger, this episode completely went over my head. Now that I can appreciate what it's about, I like it. But I only LIKE it. There are far better episodes this season and this one unfortunately, is ultimately forgettable.

We have our third Robocop bad guy actor connection this season. This guy played the the OCP lawyer in Robocop 2 and we had the drug lord kid in The Bonding and the crazy guy in Who Watchers who was a Boddicker goon.

Good solid episode. Not great but definitely not bad.

Okay, I think you guys will like this episode but not love it. The guest performance by Jeff McCarthy comes across a bit flat to me, but that may be a symptom of the character's PTSD. The ending though...whew. I think Picard toes the line with the Prime Directive here, but it honestly feels like just desserts for the Angosian government. Interested to hear your guys' thoughts on that.

Since this episodes features a plot point of a prisoner escaping and going loose on the Enterprise, this might be a good time to think about the scale of the TNG Enterprise. Kirk’s Enterprise had a regular crew complement of a little under 450 people. Picard’s Enterprise has a regular complement of crew and civilians of around 1,000 people. But in terms of overall size, Picard’s Enterprise is gigantic compared to Kirk’s, twice as long and high, and four times as wide. In an emergency, it could pack in something like 15 thousand refugees, along with all the food, water, equipment, and other necessary material. So that means in everyday situations, huge portions of the Enterprise are completely devoid of regular crew activity. The fact that when we look into corridors, you routinely see people walking around suggests that most of the time, everyone sticks to a very small number of specific areas in the ship. That means if someone gets loose on Picard’s Enterprise, they could presumably hide out for quite a while, if he or she sticks to ventilation shafts, service corridors, and the like.

I honestly used to get this episode and the next episode mixed up. Solid action sequences though.

I like that this is the first time the Prime Directive is the solution and not just the problem.

If you're Picard, how do you not fire every single yellow shirt on the ship after that?

I think this is a solid episode, but it's definitely one that lives or dies by the guest star's performance, and ever since your rather extreme reaction to Dr. Stubbs, I'm not sure I want to try to predict which guest stars you'll like or dislike! Some people complain that the ending of this episode is a cop out, since we don't actually see what happens once our crew beam away. But in my opinion, the implication we're supposed to draw is clear: that the government is going to have to take serious action now. I don't think we need to see the results spelled out for us.

I always liked this episode. Actually I had missed this episode for years and years and only first saw it when I bought the DVDs. This makes this the last "new" episode of TNG I ever saw. And I thought it was great!

This is another one of the episodes that I enjoy... if I don't think too hard about it. There are a number of lore-breaking items in this, not the least of which was a man who was somehow able to break out of a transporter pattern while he was being transported. I think it depends on how you're feeling. If you're just along for the ride, this is a good episode (and Troi exists in the first half of the episode, though she reverts to her usual furniture in the second half) but if you look at it analytically, you'll discover a number of holes. I think you'll find it fun in the moment, but I don't know if you'll like it as an episode after the fact.

The first mention of the Jefferies Tube (named for Matt Jefferies) - a mainstay of Trek going forward. Though they look nothing like they do here going forward.

Season 3 episodes range from OK, good, and freaking amazing. This one is somewhere between OK and good.

More Security! Well, Obrien, ya tried your best. Pretty good action-packed episode with the crew basically saying: "welp, frak y'all, good luck byeeee!"

i always enjoyed this episode....it always cracks me up how Worf peaks his head out of the turbolift....but I always thought that this episode was part of the culture at the time where many people were realizing just how bad Vietnam Vets were unfairly mistreated when they came home after the war. It was pretty bad. I've wondered if the writers were vets or had friends or relatives who were. This episode is like an apology to them.

I always enjoyed this one, but in hindsight, Danar seems kinda OP. I get that he’s a super-soldier, but they really play it up a little too much. (Being able to redirect himself out of a transporter beam pushes him over the top, I think.) Still, a fun episode.

This episode is a poignant reminder that your "internal affairs" do, in fact, affect other people.

While I personally think this episode is extraordinary, mostly because of the characters, I want to take a guess that you'll think it's okay. Which is fine, because it's not really the best episode, but there's a lot of good in it. But Picard at the end is the GOAT.

This episode isn't exactly winning any awards, but I do really like the extended chase/ cat and mouse sequence.

My first thought when I watch this is always "That'll do, pig."