UNCUT - Interface (TNG S7E3) | Star Trek Journey 282

Once again, not to harp on the Blind thing too much, I as a Blind person have a Guide Dog, which is my interface to the world, Jordy‘s primary interface to the World is his visor, If you change the interface to which you interpret the world Say from Geordi‘s visor, to the probe, you have to start questioning what the inputs are. If I were to use somebody else’s Guide Dog, which I am not familiar with and in return, that dog is not familiar with me, I would have to question all interpretations, and if the dog acted as if somebody was my family member, I would have to question if that was truly a family member or a family member that the dog is familiar with from the other users family or is it just somebody that the dog thinks could be acceptable in the family environment the whole point is as a blind person you do learn to interpret the world, but you also learn to take all interpretation with a grain of salt. Therefore, when I say that Geordi sort of look like a fool there to me. It was a case of he wasn’t listening to anyone around him about the false interpretations and that should have given him at least enough pause to think that he was reacting, emotionally and not professionally No one is perfect and no blind person has the complete corner on how to view the world, But a lot of people who are blind have deep questions before they make a decision about anything that has to be interpreted And a simple fact that could also help explain Jordy‘s actions are, that as a blind person when you do ask other people for interpretations of the environment whatever even the simple color of a house you will probably get five separate answers if you ask five separate people, and none of those answers will match any of the others For example, I am not interested in signing any documents unless I have a recorded copy of the entire contract that is officially registered by that contract negotiator, just listening to people say words is just that listening to people say words it doesn’t really embody the contract and you cannot refer to it again for solid answers Even people with site have to work through their own interpretations of reality and I see that in contract negotiation every day

Never liked this episode. Whatever it was supposed to be was definitely wasted. Love Madge Sinclair, though! This is a "D" episode if there ever was one. "D" for boring and phoned-in.

Not sure if anyone mentioned thar Ben Vereen was Lavar Burton's co-star on Roots.

I think this is the only TNG episode that I don’t remember at all, which kind of sums it up

I don't get the hare vor this one. Is it thr greatest ever no but its an interesting idea. Thia ia before the matrix and ideas of perception are legitimately exploring perception is interesting to me. I liked it, really.

You know, I'm on team Geordi here. Weird techno babble explanations happen all the time in Star Trek, and the explanation he gave sounded like something that easily could have happened to the enterprise itself. I mean just a few weeks ago, the enterprise shattered the space time continuum. Geordi himself has been "dead" before, and it turned out that he really wasn't. And the crew was far more willing to entertain Beverly in Remember Me when she insisted that 1000s of people who had never existed had gone missing. You'd think the crew would at least be willing to think of other alternative explanations to explain why Geordi saw his mom, and entertain that maybe Geordi had legit reasons for that other than grief. But everyone is just "nope. You're in denial. End of story." When the episode hasn't even managed to convince me that that's the only possible explanation. If they had just validated Geordi and brainstormed for a bit, they probably would have figured out what was actually going on.

there's a few good ones coming. hang in there lol

Okay, I went through the whole IDMB S7 list again to refresh my memory, this is my list: 14 B-tier or higher episodes 10 C-tier or lower Episodes (the first 3 of S7 are in this for me) And 2 unratable episodes but in the category of unfathomably strange and awesome and bad and I love them come at me tier. So you have way more interesting episodes to look forward to than boring or meh ones. Small note, regarding Picard in Remember Me, technically the Picard Beverly was interacting with was a recreation from Beverly's mind, she created the fake pocket universe she was living in until she escaped back to reality. In her mind, that's how Picard would react. Now, to be fair, I think that IS how he'd react, her word would always be good enough for him. So I guess, a nitpick with no substance lol, but still.

This season really is missing something, isn't it? I mean, after the fantastic Season 6, this is just a "failure to launch."

Boy you guys are being seriously dense about the probe. The showed it in the very first scene!

Season 7 picks up, for SURE, don't worry. But you've got a few episodes to go... ;)

Not to worry... season 7 will have its bangers. But it will also have at least one batshit crazy episode I can't wait for you two to experience.

All of this episode feels like it's on auto-pilot. A lot of predictable moments. Even the character moments are devoid of emotion and energy. I feel like we've seen so much of this before. The metaphysical aliens trapped in tech is the same as the Barclay episode and Timescape. Picard reprimanding someone and then telling them on their way out, "I'm sorry" has been done before. You could almost chart out the script as it was going.

This episode is very on point for the average quality of season seven. Even season two is better IMO.

Can't wait for DS9! :P

This looks like a job for the ExoComps San Geordi 😆 I always wonder about him grabbing his mom? Climbing, of course they explain that his movements get interpreted to the probe. But doesn’t that mean it has to go slower than a probe could go? Geordi speed.. The Ramon set looks like the same as hero Worship and Relics? Scotty’s ship.

Did they totally miss the probe in the reflection?

I just did my count of ok,good and great eps of season 7 and by my count 10 0ut of 25 show fall into the good catagory, the rest ar mid to terrible. S7 to me is the wort season, this is gonna be a slog

Ugh almost want to pass up this one anoth terrible s7 ep

I did like it but it would have been better if there wasn't the super coincidental thing that the telepathy work with his probe interface at the end. They could have just left that out and said they accidentally killed them some other way. You are already doubting this crazy coincidence that his mother ends up on the planet he is working with, and then the switch up is a different coincidence.

Geordi's Holiday. (Too soon?)

And I had no difficulty after the intro understanding where Jordy is and what the probe is and what's going on with that

I like it. I like the interactions with geordi and data

It's not bad, for a Season 7 episode It's very good, for a Geordi episode No, it's not "The Bonding", but it is a masterpiece compared to "Liaisons". B+

There “might” have been an interesting story concept that they started with, but they definitely lost it along the way in making this episode. It’s a shame too, with two well-known guest stars playing Geordi’s parents. D

Comparing this episode to the Bonding is wild for me. I always thought the Bonding was just good, but recently rewatching it made me realize how great it truly is. This one still sucks though

This is an episode I forgot about because I normally skip this one but this is boring and should have been much better. It gets a D rating

Don't worry it gets better, or not. Who knows. (o. o )' '( o .o) Really makes me appreciate 'The Enemy', where Geordi gets to be a MacGuyver and a Diplomat

I find your thoughts on the episode spot on. It has good potential, but I usually skip this on rewatch. Not bad, but not entertaining at all on rewatch once you know what's up.

You are going to get better episodes this season. It's definitely more uneven than season 6, and there are some "meh" stretches like this, but there are a few absolute bangers, like series-best kind of stuff. And then there are several episodes that I guess aren't objectively very good, but the premises are so loopy and out there that they're genuinely fun to watch. It always seemed to me like the showrunners let their hair down this season because they didn't have to worry about getting renewed.

Guys, they literally told you he interprets the probe as himself, and they showed his reflection was the probe.

Another episode that I don't think I've ever seen! I thought it was pretty good [B average] and was it great to see a TNG fresh after so long ago. To see Geordi's parents for the first time, after so many years of watching, was incredible.

About the ending, a note in Geordi’s record saying he disobeyed a direct order is a big deal. That was enough to bust Kirk from Admiral back to captain. Yeah he’s on the flagship but he won’t be forever and his chances of promotion will depend on his record. IRL, yeah who cares? He’s a main character. 😁

Sometimes I imagine the writers spitballing story ideas and choosing two that they like and then trying their best to combine them into one episode. This is one of the"eh" results, as far as I'm concerned.

I honestly don't remember writing that comment but I think I meant that Alex would burst a blood vessel because of how much you both are stereotyped as the "characters over plot" guy.

Incidentally, the whole "stages of grief" thing has been debunked. People experience all those things, of course, but there's no scientific basis for the idea that people experience them in any particular order.

I can't give this more than a D+. I want to give it a C because Geordi finally got an episode that wasn't build around him being awkward and creepy with a woman. And also I did like a few scenes with him talking about regrets over not staying in touch with family, and also for Riker talking about his own mom, which I think was solid acting on Frakes' part. But, this was such wasted potential. The episode really should have been the Enterprise on some bland survey mission, and they get word the Hera is missing, immediately join the search, and chase one clue after another that turns into a dead end as Geordi starts to unwind as he comes to the realization that his mother is gone. That could have been a solid episode. Instead this stinks of studio interference, or at least mismatched story elements. It felt like some producer felt a story focused on Geordi's emotional state would be too boring, so they had to throw in this futuristic remote control probe BS to keep the tech nerds invested. In the 90s, the idea was pretty novel, but in 2025 when you can buy FPV drones for a couple hundred bucks and seemingly have far more control than we saw here, it's just not remotely interesting anymore. The whole probe crap and the fire nation aliens sabotaged this episode hard. Geordi dealing with his mother's disappearance/death could have been an A tier episode if they played it right, but we got this garbage instead.

I guess I am going to be the contrarian and give this one a B-. I liked the character stuff with all of the main players. I could relate to Geordi and wanting to say to good-bye to his mother. The main downside to me is the whole alien-posing-as-his-mother part. They could've come up with a better answer than that. Even if it was just in Geordi's head, it would've come across better.

As I've said before, I'm a big fan of season 7. These first few episodes of the season, though, are definitely mediocre. There are still some real clunkers later in the season, but in my opinion, it's uphill from here.

Just realized that Data's "I cannot confine you to quarters for something you have not yet done" reminded me a little bit of something. It was Kirk in This Side of Paradise: "Well, if we're both in the brig, who's going to build a subsonic transmitter?"

At this point in Star Trek history, they knew the end was coming. They were making S7 TNG, they were making S2 DS9, they were planning for the Star Trek movie AND the next Star Trek show. They had a a lot of balls in the air. And it shows. There is gold in Season 7. But you have to pan pretty hard for it. Hang in there.

Once again, an episode I watched when it first aired, and don't really care to watch again. Thing is, I *do* have fond memories of Season 7... for a reason I can't remember

You go into an episode about grief thinking it's going to be another The Bonding, only to end up getting served The Blanding

Actually, I DO have something else to add. I just thought about it. Does anyone think Data was going to such crazy lengths to help Geordi because he feels guilty about the events in The Decent?

This is one of the episodes of all time.

I don't think this is the worst episode of TNG. Still, it's pretty forgettable.

After the last episode Liaisons I knew you were longing for a good TNG episode, but then I felt like; Nope, It is not going to be the next one. At least DS9 brought some joy : )

You guys are the only reason I'm bothering with this one again

As the episode began, I was really excited. We’re gonna get another Geordie story and it might be better than the last! By the time it was over, I just wanted to burn my TV. I am completely blind now, I was legally blind, then, and to me any story that involve Geordie gave more credibility to the things I would say to other people about my visual abilities and my perception beyond my vision. This episode only made me and other blind people look like emotional fools

C I have nothing else to say, because there's not much to say at all. C

Better than the two preceding it but that’s not really saying much. File it under meh 🤷‍♂️