To Baldly Go

Aaron continues watching Star Trek for the first time from the beginning, joined by Nate as we continue through Season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation with “Unification I,” “Unification II,” and “A Matter of Time.”
Spock has arrived on The Next Generation — which immediately raises the question: Why Spock? Why now?
“Unification I” and “Unification II” give us a pair of seemingly disparate storylines that slowly move toward one another. We talk about the advantages of having the time to properly tell a story on television, narrative storytelling versus how information might actually be communicated, and the effectiveness of bringing one of Star Trek’s most recognizable characters into TNG.
But watching in release order adds another layer. With Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country right around the corner, we discuss the timing of Spock’s appearance, using a television series to promote a movie, movie-release strategy, and how differently audiences consumed media in 1991 compared with 2026.
Along the way, Aaron makes a painful admission, we ask why everyone calls the planet “Vulcan,” revisit Sarek’s relationship with humans.
Then there’s “A Matter of Time.”
Nate doesn’t like it. Aaron thinks it’s...fine.
Naturally, that sends us into a deep dive through Matt Frewer’s IMDb profile, the Dumb and Dumber cartoon show, Robin Williams nearly playing Rasmussen, Foo Fighters, and whether an otherwise average episode is lifted by just how good The Next Generation has been lately.
Never give up! Never surrender!

We continue Season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation with “Silicon Avatar,” “Disaster,” and “The Game.”
This week, we get:
An episode with a great premise that can’t quite stick the landing
The Enterprise crew thrown into unexpected situations and unusual pairings
A story about addictive technology that feels a little more relevant every year
We covered:
In “Silicon Avatar,” an old threat returns when the Crystalline Entity attacks another colony. The Enterprise picks up a scientist who has dedicated her life to studying the Entity, but her interest turns out to be a lot more personal than scientific. We discuss the callback to Data’s origins, whether this episode ever had a chance at a satisfying ending, subtle character development, actors pretending to play instruments, and what it means to dedicate your entire life to finding and destroying something.
In “Disaster,” the Enterprise is crippled and the crew is scattered into some very unusual combinations. Picard gets stuck with a group of children, Worf finds himself delivering a baby, and Troi unexpectedly ends up as the senior officer on the bridge. We talk about why these unlikely pairings work so well, Troi being forced into command, whether her empathic abilities should have been more useful, questionable space physics, science words, and why sometimes a little cheese is exactly what Star Trek needs. Galaxy Quest also enters the conversation.
Finally, in “The Game,” Wesley returns to the Enterprise just in time for nearly everyone aboard to become hopelessly addicted to a new game. On paper, it has everything we should love...a mysterious conspiracy, addictive technology, a solid discussion of screen addiction, and even the return of Wesley. But, we just couldn’t get invested. We discuss social media, phone games, dopamine hits, South Park, Neuralink, Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, jigsaw puzzles, anti-drug specials, and, of course, Kwazy Kupcakes from Brooklyn 99!
Three episodes with plenty of interesting ideas — even when the execution didn’t always work for us.
A quick production note: I had some internet issues while we were recording, so there are a few moments where the audio might get a bit jumpy
Next time: TBG 069 — Unification I | Unification II | A Matter of Time
Never give up! Never surrender!

We begin Season 5 of Star Trek: The Next Generation with “Redemption II,” “Darmok,” and “Ensign Ro.”
This week, we get:
A Klingon civil war on a massive scale
A first contact where understanding the words isn’t enough
The introduction of a complicated new member of the Enterprise crew
We covered:
Data in command and what happens when he decides not to follow orders
The continuing legacy—and tragedy—of Tasha Yar
Klingon politics, culture, and the difference between a society and its government
Whether Data actually gets angry
Communication through metaphor, memes, GIFs, and shared stories
The Epic of Gilgamesh and the stories we use to understand one another
The limitations of the Tamarian language
How “Ensign Ro” builds an entire history around a character before she even appears
Riker’s immediate reaction to Ro
Competing loyalties and what ultimately motivates Ro
“Redemption II” brings the Klingon Civil War to a satisfying conclusion while giving Data one of his strongest command stories yet. The episode operates on a huge scale without losing sight of its characters.  And we thought we already knew Tasha Yar's tragic story...
Then comes “Darmok,” one of the best-known episodes of The Next Generation. The words are understandable, but their meaning isn’t, leading us into a conversation about metaphor, shared cultural references, memes, ancient storytelling, and what communication actually requires beyond simply translating vocabulary.
Finally, “Ensign Ro” introduces a character who somehow feels established before she even walks onto the bridge. We talk about the episode’s worldbuilding, Riker’s visceral response to Ro, her competing loyalties, and the motivations behind a character who immediately makes the Enterprise a little more complicated.
It’s a great start to Season 5.
Join us as we continue watching Star Trek for the first time, in release order, one episode at a time.

We’ve reached the end of Season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation!
This week, Data tries his hand at romance in “In Theory,” and Worf finds himself caught between Starfleet and the Klingon Empire as a civil war begins in “Redemption.”
This week, we get:
Relationships and programmed behaviors
Klingons
We covered:
In Theory
Redemption
In “In Theory,” Data decides to enter into a romantic relationship and approaches dating in perhaps the most Data way possible: by creating a program for how a boyfriend is supposed to behave. We talk about projecting expectations onto other people, Data’s attempts to understand human behavior, and how Brent Spiner continues to somehow make all of this work.
Then, “Redemption” takes us deep into Klingon politics as Gowron’s claim to leadership sparks a civil war and Worf finds his Starfleet duties increasingly at odds with his family and his people. We talk about the continued Klingon world building, Picard’s role as arbiter and kingmaker, and how this episode feels less like a self-contained story and more like one piece of something much larger.
Finally, we look back at four full seasons of The Next Generation, talk a little about “New Trek,” and compare Seasons 3 and 4. Season 3 still gets the slight edge, but four seasons in, the series continues to be remarkably strong — and Aaron is still loving it.
Next time: We begin Season 5 with “Redemption II,” “Darmok,” and “Ensign Ro.”

Star Trek, The Next GenerationFirst-Time Watch – Season 4, Episodes 22-24
In this episode of To Baldly Go, we continue our first-time watch of Star Trek: The Next Generation with three episodes that take us from questions about aging and societal rituals, to the nature of identity, to some good old-fashioned Romulan manipulation.
This week, we get:
Rituals and societal structure
A story we've seen before
Romulans
We covered:
Half a Life
The Host
The Mind’s Eye
In Half a Life, Lwaxana Troi unexpectedly finds herself at the center of one of an uncomfortable moral dilemma. We talk about different cultural approaches to aging, euthanasia, finding nuance in what initially feels like a black-and-white decision, and the difference between knowing your days are numbered and actually knowing the number of your days. Along the way, Aaron develops a newfound appreciation for Lwaxana, and we establish that it’s Worf, not Woof.
In The Host, the Trill make their first appearance, giving us a story with some genuinely interesting questions about identity, relationships, and how much of our essence is tied to our physical bodies. Unfortunately, the execution doesn’t always live up to the premise. We discuss some questionable character decisions, what exactly happened to Riker’s personality while he was serving as the host, bottle episodes, missing Dr. Pulaski, Men in Black, and, naturally, The Amazing Race Season 7.
Finally, The Mind’s Eye brings the Romulans back into the picture with a Geordi-centered take on The Manchurian Candidate. We talk about why the Romulans work so well as villains, the value of recurring adversaries, episode Easter eggs, who actually benefits from the Klingon conflict, and one of the reasons TNG’s developing continuity works better for us than the largely standalone nature of TOS.
Join us as we discuss Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episodes 22-24: “Half a Life,” “The Host” and “The Mind’s Eye.”

First-Time Watch
This week, we continue our first-time, release-order journey through Star Trek with three episodes from the fourth season of The Next Generation.
We begin with Barclay suddenly becoming the smartest person on the Enterprise in The Nth Degree. Then Q returns to teach Picard a lesson about love by dropping the crew into his own version of Robin Hood in Qpid. Finally, an investigation into sabotage aboard the Enterprise grows into something much larger in The Drumhead.
This week, we get:
The next stage of human evolution
Q and his Merry Men
Conspiracies
We covered:
The Nth Degree
Broccoli
Another trip to the center of the galaxy
Data's IQ
Life 3.0
Becoming one with the computer
A strong ending
Barclay's redemption
Qpid
Was this a fun episode to make?
Q is back
A disjointed, forced plot
Nate sounds like Gregg
Weird and disappointing
What did Q actually add to the episode?
The Princess Bride
Swearing
Robin Hood vs. Camelot themes
The Drumhead
Sabotage and treason?
An ambitious episode
Was the ending deliberately unsatisfying?
Did they try to do too much?
Not all conspiracy theories are real—but conspiracies exist
The difference between asking questions and drawing conclusions
When our discussion is more compelling than the episode
Picard's pronunciation of "Aaron"
Parallels to McCarthyism
Final Thoughts
Three very different episodes give us plenty to talk about this week. Barclay gets an unexpected chance at redemption, Q returns for an adventure that doesn't quite work for us, and The Drumhead takes a swing at paranoia, conspiracy, and the dangers of reaching conclusions before the evidence supports them.
Next time, we continue Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 with:
Half a Life
The Host
The Mind’s Eye
Never give up. Never surrender.

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episodes 16-18
This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, we continue our first-time, release-order journey through Star Trek with three episodes from the fourth season of The Next Generation.
This week, we get:
World building for the fans
A potentially interesting, but possibly underdeveloped idea
Incomplete victories
We covered:
Galaxy’s Child
Night Terrors
Identity Crisis
In “Galaxy’s Child,” the real Dr. Leah Brahms visits the Enterprise and discovers the holodeck simulation Geordi created in her image. Meanwhile, the crew accidentally kills a massive space-dwelling life-form and must save the newborn creature left behind. We discuss creepy Geordi, the differences between Geordi and Barclay, Easter eggs for longtime fans, speed and distance in Star Trek, radiation measurements, Picard’s speech about destroying a life-form, Guinan messing with Geordi and whether the creature looks more like an empanada or a calzone.
“Night Terrors” begins with the Enterprise discovering the USS Brattain adrift, its crew dead except for a single traumatized survivor. The Enterprise soon becomes trapped in the same region of space as its crew gradually loses the ability to dream. We discuss whether the episode’s central idea received enough development, its similarities to other episodes, Starfleet ship classes and crew complements, real-life lessons from Star Trek and old Star Trek DVDs from China.
In “Identity Crisis,” Geordi reunites with Susanna Leijten, a former member of an away team whose surviving officers have begun disappearing five years after visiting Tarchannen III. As Geordi and Leijten undergo a mysterious transformation, the Enterprise attempts to reconstruct what happened during their original mission. We discuss why Geordi could seemingly have done everything from Sickbay, another round of Enterprise security problems, shuttlepods versus shuttlecraft, How I Met Your Mother, Earth: Final Conflict and a resolution that only feels partially successful.
Join us as we discuss Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episodes 16-18: “Galaxy’s Child,” “Night Terrors” and “Identity Crisis.”

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episodes 13-15
This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, we continue our first-time, release-order journey through Star Trek with three episodes from the fourth season of The Next Generation.
This week, we get:
Feeling like a TOS episode
Ron Swanson’s favorite Star Trek episode
What happens when a society learns they are not alone in the universe?
We covered:
Devil’s Due
Clues
First Contact
In “Devil’s Due,” the Enterprise arrives at Ventax II just as the planet’s people prepare to surrender themselves to Ardra, a supposedly supernatural figure returning to collect on a thousand-year-old contract. The episode feels like a lost TOS story performed by the TNG cast, leading us into discussions about Q, religion, explanations, knowledge problems, Troi’s empathic range, and whether Ardra would make a good Dungeons & Dragons villain.
“Clues” gives us a tightly constructed mystery after the Enterprise crew apparently loses only thirty seconds while passing through a wormhole. The evidence says otherwise, but Data refuses to explain what really happened. We discuss the episode’s handling of time, warp speed, relativity, the one explanation that might have improved everything, and plant reconciliation studies.
In “First Contact”—not the movie—Riker is injured while secretly observing a civilization approaching warp capability. Picard must decide how and when to reveal that the people of Malcor III are not alone in the universe. We discuss fear, uncertainty and doubt, the Prime Directive, Bebe Neuwirth’s unmistakable voice, and the discovery that Riker is apparently a freak.
Join us as we discuss Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episodes 13-15: “Devil’s Due,” “Clues,” and “First Contact.”

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episodes 10-12
This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, we continue our first-time watch of Star Trek: The Next Generation with The Loss, Data’s Day, and The Wounded.
This week, we get:
Counselor Troi working through the five stages of grief after losing her empathic abilities
Data documenting an ordinary day aboard the Enterprise
The introduction of the Cardassians
Great performances elevating material that does not always live up to them
A tense confrontation with a decorated Starfleet captain who may be right for the wrong reasons
We covered:
The Loss
Troi suddenly loses her empathic abilities and struggles with the possibility that an essential part of her identity may be gone forever. We discuss the episode’s exploration of grief, Marina Sirtis’s performance, the infamous “space seed,” and whether this story needed more than a single episode to reach its full potential.
Data’s Day
Data records a day aboard the Enterprise for Commander Maddox, giving us weddings, dancing, mispronounced names, Spot the cat, and something pulled directly from Nate’s nightmares. We discuss Brent Spiner’s performance, the passage of time aboard a starship, missed opportunities, and the question of what “night” means when traveling through space.
The Wounded
A celebrated Starfleet captain launches unauthorized attacks against Cardassian ships, forcing Picard to stop one of his own officers while navigating a fragile peace. We discuss the introduction of the Cardassians, the episode’s constant tension, its restrained use of action, combat distances, and the uncomfortable possibility of being right for the wrong reasons.
Final Thoughts:
The Loss and Data’s Day both give talented performers material that does not completely work for us, but The Wounded delivers one of the strongest episodes of the season so far. It introduces a major new adversary, raises difficult questions without offering simple answers, and keeps the tension high from beginning to end.
Next time:
Devil’s Due | Clues | First Contact
Never give up. Never surrender.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episodes 7-9: Reunion | Future Imperfect | Final Mission
This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, Aaron and Nate continue their release-order watchthrough with three more episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
This week, we get:
Worf confronting the consequences of his past decisions
Riker trapped inside Star Trek: Inception
What appears to be Wesley Crusher’s final mission
We covered:
Reunion
K’Ehleyr returns to the Enterprise with a surprise: Worf has a son. Her investigation into the Klingon succession brings Worf face-to-face with Duras and forces him to decide how far he is willing to go to protect his family and restore his honor.
We discuss IMDb burying the lede, the return of K’Ehleyr, the increased depth of TNG compared with The Original Series, Picard being both disappointed and angry, and whether the bat’leth is a decent weapon after all.
Future Imperfect
After an away mission goes wrong, Riker awakens sixteen years in the future. He is now captain of the Enterprise, has a son he does not remember, and is negotiating peace with the Romulans—but pieces of his new life do not add up.
We discuss a well-constructed mystery, callbacks to one-off characters from the first season, Riker recognizing the flaws in the illusion, and a strong episode weakened by a dumb ending.
Final Mission
Wesley joins Picard on what is supposed to be a routine diplomatic mission before leaving the Enterprise. When their shuttle crashes on a desert moon, Wesley must solve an ancient mystery while Picard’s condition grows worse.
Aaron and Nate see the episode differently, despite giving it similar ratings. We discuss strong character moments with weak setups, Beverly’s absence from the bridge, protection from the “sun,” comparisons with Tasha Yar’s departure, Code of Honor, and the show’s attempted sendoff for Wil Wheaton.
Join us as we discuss Reunion, Future Imperfect, and Final Mission on The To Baldly Go Podcast.