PATRON TAKES - Star Trek TNG S4E1

Riker got the best of both worlds. Stayed on the Enterprise, became captain. I think that's what the episodes are about. Would have paid off more if Stewart's contract was not renewed, but I'm glad it was!

Most agree this is a great episode, but slightly below the caliber of the first part. But for 12 year old me, this was a satisfying conclusion after months of waiting. Even today, it holds up well.

Has it been three months already?

Im super confused…it says they are doing patreon takes for season 4 episodes 1 and 2 on Wednesday…..its Friday now and I cant see where they have posted viewing and reacting to those episodes

Alas, with the fleet all but destroyed there is no ship for Riker to take command of. I know you guys said a couple times in you discussion that you wondered how they (the producers) could have Riker turn down another promotion without it seeming implausible but that resolved it pretty well.

People forget that over the summer there was a question if Picard would survive, because we heard Patrick Stewart was re-negotiating his contract. So, Picard could have really died as Locutus.

Fun fact, Wolf 359 is the name of a real star less than 8 light-years from earth.

One of the few I saw back in the day and I remember being baffled by people wondering about the cliffhanger from part one when it was obvious to me the weapon was going to fail because the Borg learned what was coming from Picard. There was only one other person I knew at the time (another Trek fan) who agreed with me. She is my wife now.

Finally a good season premiere!

Sorry second comment: At least Riker didn't take the Melbourne chair.

When they are hooking up Data to the Locutus/Borg Net it is O'Brien doing the IT stuff instead of La Forge. The real world reason is LeVar Burton was in the hospital for emergency surgery. So they put Miles in there with a bit of throw away tech dialog that they were running the borg signal through the transporter (hence it makes sense to have O'Brien do it...even though in past episodes La Forge was portrayed as the main transporter expert). But...would you like to see more from O'Brien? Do you think you will?

Season 3 was when I first got into TNG. I remember how torturous it was waiting all summer for the conclusion of Best of Both Worlds. But this is uo for debate, whether or not TNG would have done as well if the season format is like what it is now. 10 episodes. Then a year off. 5 episodes, then 6 months off. Next 5 then a year and a year and a half off. I hate that. Might work on episodic shows, but long story arc shows, you forgot details as to what you watched and it becomes hard to watch and less enjoyable. I miss 25 episode seasons.

Never forget the battle of Wolf 359... because this series and those that follow wont. This is one of those major episodes that had a huge impact on this narrative timeline, and you'll enjoy revisiting that impact not only in TNG, but several series that follow. This two part episode is probably one of the most important events in all of modern Star Trek series lore.

I think Admiral Hanson breaks the streak of bad Starfleet representatives. He believed in Picard until the end. This episode’s music score was very popular, and was released on cassette/CD, the first such release since Encounter at Farpoint in 1987.

I always thought that Best of Both worlds when paired together, has a bell curve in quality. Meaning that it starts off slow, end of part 1 and beginning of part two is Star Trek at its best, but then slows down second half of part two. While the last scene ending on Picard is great on its own, I think the last shot should have pulled back on Riker. It would have served the two parter better, as he is now back where he started.

That last shot of Picard, too uncomfortable to finish his tea, staring dead in the eyes out the window. Terribly trying the process the fact that This was almost it, the Borg had defeated him & they all almost didn't make it.

One thing that always bothered me was why weren't the civilians and families evacuated to a starbase when it was made clear Enterprise was soon going into battle. That said, despite a great opening, the second half of he story was a bit flat and dependent on technobabble. I totally agree with a fan who wrote, after the episode aired that the Borg conflict should have been decided in the vastness of space, not a laboratory.

The Battle of Wolf 359 is such an intense moment in Star Trek history, with reverberations throughout the franchise to come. But here it is, and boy, is it something. You feel the losses as if they were real people in actual combat. It's incredibly sad but so moving for our friends on Enterprise D.

My problem is that I Like or ❤️ just about every comment I believe contributes to the discussion.

How do you think Wesley feels about all of this? All those people—dead! His father figure—Picard—used, abused, and lucky to have survived when so many others did not?

FINALLY....Star Trek The Next Generation BEGINS.........

So many great moments in this one, Guinan and Riker ready room scene, Wolf 359, saucer separation, and that haunting final scene. It’s a strong start to s4 and its fun to notice that all the extras got changed between Riker saying fire and the opening credits… Not as good as part 1, but a fun ride

Wolf 359 feels like a huge departure from previous Trek, in that the Federation took massive losses. Even single ship losses on the Federation side were quite rare up to this point. It's hard to describe the sense of loss felt when the aftermath of the battle is revealed, not just because of the direct impact, but because it felt like a turning point in the show. It no longer felt safe.

I loved this episode for the way it handles the in-universe effects from what is happening and the implications it raises. Seeing Riker step up and prove that he can wear the big boy pants after all of the build up towards his hesitation at taking a promotion was also cool. My favorite part of the episode is that Data sends the Borg to their room like the naughty children they are. Lots of people ragged on this plot point, but this is 100% realistic and would be how it would happen. You would find some minor system that no one thinks is a problem and use it as an attack vector. Hackers use this method every day to hack into corporate databases and steal data.

The collision course scene was preposterous. Why not separate the saucer or evacuate in lifeboats? Picard took the Conn to fly out of that asteroid field yet Riker would have teenage Wesley kill 1,100 people.

Although TNG doesn't totally hit the reset button after this one for the status quo, I think they really missed a trick by simply demoting Riker. He finally got a major character change and it was undone in the episode it was introduced. Part 1 was defintely stronger, but it's still the best season opener we've gotten so far. They really pulled out all the stops on this one with us getting a saucer seperation, new ship models and a stunt man eating shit when Locutus smacked him.

The ending scene (minus the ship in orbit which something they shouldn't have used), to me is one of the best moments of TNG up to this point (psychologically for me more powerful then Worf's discommendation in Sins of the Father, or Kirk's "let's get the hell out of here" ending line in City on the Edge of Forever.). How do you feel with this quite understated moment, for what to this point was Trek's biggest TV spectacle to date?

There was a criticism of the resolution of the episode, that it was unrealistic of the Enterprise crew to have planted such a flaw in the Borg collective. As a tech professional who works in the security field, I deal with amazing, complex, advanced systems every day... that are vulnerable to the most basic, head-scratching security flaws. I thought this was a great way to end it. Also, this was the early early age of computers -- no one had antivirus software, most computers were not networked, security exploits were a new frontier. We're used to them now, but this was advanced stuff for pop culture in 1990.

Did you catch that one of the destroyed ships at Wolf 359 was the Melbourne - The ship Riker was offered command of right before all of this?

Riker's combat style remains consistent - The man never comes at you straight. In Peak Performance it was all about trickery and 'guile', and once again we see misdirection instead of head on tactics. Will someone please give this man his own commission??

Love the episode but I'd be hard pushed to think of a duller depiction of hacking on TV or Cinema. " ...Processing...Processing..."

I would absolutely watch a spin-off show about Captain Riker and Shelby on their own ship.

So from neutral zone (s1) QWho (s2) and now BoBW (s3-s4) there has only been 1 borg ship do you think we will ever see any others or style of ship

I have to say that like some other TA members I found that coming off of a big-banger closing episode for season 3 I was disappointed overall with this episode. It is still a good episode but does not measure up (imo) to part 1 by a long shot. I think Michael Pillar screwed himself when he wrote the crew into a tiny corner in part 1 and then had to scramble to come up with a way out for part 2, which, when you think about it, was not that unexpected.

Season 4! This is my favorite season. There is one episode I think is silly and one I just don't like and all the rest are bangers as far as I'm concerned! Really looking forward to the TA discussions coming up.

always thought it odd they let Picard just go back to work at the end, i mean they dont know if he got PTSD or left over borg tech inside him that could be a threat, if anything he should have been sent to starfleet for a full evaluation

My one big critique of this episode is that I wish Riker gave the opening "Space, the final frontier..." speech instead of Picard. Really hammer the fact that he might actually be lost.

Didn't make it three weeks, I see.

While this episode is not a strong as part one I like seeing Captain Riker in this one. His conversation with Guinean is great. Also the fact he used Shelby’s plan shows a lot of growth. As Locutus, Picard did not believe Riker would separate the saucer (which was Shelby’s idea to protect the majority of the crew) let alone think Riker would use the saucer section to attack/distract to Borg.

"Your resistance is hopeless ..... Number One" was such an incredible, chilling line. The Borg didn't just take Picard, they became Picard.

The ship models seen at Wolf 359 were assembled with various pieces of commercially available Star Trek models. Then they were smashed and set on fire to simulate battle damage.

The episode ends with the feeling that this will always be with Picard. Only someone with his strength of character could ever move on. Also, try to keep in mind that this was episodic tv. Every week they must come up with a brand new story. But to me, they hit it out of the park nine times out of ten. To fully enjoy the point of the stories, sometimes you you have to strain your suspension of disbelief. Serialized tv always has way too much filler bullshit to fill in the gaps created by stretching a story into a full season. It's way too boring for me.

What do you think is implied in the last scene? How do you think Picard’s experience will (or should ) impact his character, or future Borg appearances in Star Trek? (If there are any more)

The Borg cube spontaneously exploded while charging their batteries. Clearly the Borg at some point assimilated a Tesla.

This episode kind of sucks. It is an obvious way to get to a conclusion without much imagination involved. Kind of bad for a season opener. I like it, but I don't know how much of that is just good faith or grace from the previous episode.

The cliff hanger choice was made because even though STNG had been renewed Patrick had not signed in for the 4th season. They left the result in case they needed to make Riker the new captain. Always wondered how that would changed the rest of the seasons

A bit of a let down from Part 1 but still a great episode. The 4th and 5th acts suffer from being overly talky. Would like to have seen the Borg once again try to invade the Enterprise. Give Shelby something to do: fight the Borg in the corridors outside Data’s lab, then we see the Borg fall asleep right there in front of us. Would’ve been more exciting than watching Data’s head lights. One note; Colm Meaney had a bigger role in this episode because Levar Burton had emergency surgery and was unavailable most of the filming of this one (you’ll notice that all of his shots are closeups and he never appears on screen with any other actor). As much as I like O’Brien, I do wish they had given Geordi’s lines to Shelby. Makes so much more sense to have her in that lab given her knowledge and experience. But you do see here how in an alternate universe a Picard-less Enterprise would’ve been a great show with Riker as captain and Shelby as his Ex-O.

Would you consider the Battle of Wolf 359 an inside job, technically?

Did you spot the Constitution-Class ship amongst the Wolf 359 wreckage? They used the destroyed Enterprise model from Star Trek III.

Rip to the chillest Starfleet Admiral J.P. Hanson. Bro was a real one.

Oh, and the reason O'Brien got to have such a highlight role in the scene in Data's lab rescuing Picard and stopping the Borg was not just because he is awesome, but because Levar Burton had had emergency surgery between seasons and had to take it easy.

Notice how the last scene with Picard looking out of the window is a contrast to a similar scene in Encounter at Farpoint. A real “look how far we’ve come” moment for the characters and show.

Although it’s not major theme of the episode, I think this is the first time that the entire crew has come together to save the day. It really cemented the idea in my mind that this crew is a family and I think it’s a theme that carries through the entire series.

The crew proved resistance is NOT futile.

Will Picard be OK? He was more than a PoW, he suffered abuse to his core, and he (and others) must now deal with the many consequences of this event. As many victims of physical or mental abuse will confirm, a victory (or an escape) is only the first step out of the dark. How do you think this will affect Picard, and Starfleet?

Love the episode, particularly the Guinan/Riker scene. I'm just not sure if I find it believable that the Borg cube would self-destruct just because of a 'sleep command'. Plus, imagine if the cube were disabled by the command, but not destroyed, and now Starfleet has to very cautiously try to study the Borg with the looming tension of what happens if they were to wake back up while parked just outside of Earth? Could have potentially been used for a future story.

You guys were speculating about the resolution to the "Riker moving up to Captain" plot. I imagine the ship he was in line for, The Melbourne, along with a good chunk of the fleet being demolished was not at all something you suspected.

This was perhaps the most important episode in the Star Trek franchise... if for no other reason than it represented TNG surpassing TOS in number of seasons.

While this episode has bigger, more meaningful moments, some that will reverberate throughout the franchise, it's also not _quite_ as good as part one. Still great, just not as cohesive as the first half.

Let’s face it the ultimate goal of this episode is to get things back to status quo and given there’s only 45 minutes to do so I think they done a good job but the real success was convincing the studio that the episode after this was badly required.

Wondering how Riker would do as captain after this example was rough. He did so well… but Picard gloomed so huge over him!

Overall, the resolution to one of the top episodes of Season 3 is a little bit underwhelming to me. I still think it's a great episode, but I find this episode to be the lesser of the two parts of the two-parter. Still, there's plenty to like in this episode. (But there are definitely better episodes of Season 4, which is up and down, but much more up than down, like the last half of Season 3.)

What's your opinion of Captain Riker's command style as compared to Captain Picard's command style?

The episode where Patrick Stewart wasn’t even sure he was coming back! How do you think Picard will deal with the trauma he faced? You saw how the back half of season 3 overall picked up, and that greatness continues into season 4. Strap in and set a course for awesome, warp 9.