Episode 1: “Encounter at Farpoint”
This is the double-length pilot that introduces us to the shiny new USS Enterprise-D, the equally shiny new crew, and of course, the omnipotent chaos goblin that is Q. I actually love the premise here: before humanity gets to venture any deeper into space, Q puts them on trial for being a bunch of bloodthirsty Neanderthals with shiny toys. And honestly, fair.
The tone is very “made-for-TV movie,” and not in a good way. The costumes are too tight, the acting is too loose, and the pacing is all over the star map. But under all that awkward blocking and cheap lighting is a great idea: prove to the galaxy (and the audience) that we deserve to be out there. That we’re explorers, not colonizers. That we’re more than just our warlike history.
Unfortunately, Captain Picard spends most of the episode just... reacting. He doesn't really do much. Q shows up, throws on a judge’s wig, yells about humanity, and the crew kind of stands around blinking in various directions. There’s a vague mystery about a space station that might be a space jellyfish, and the solution comes not through any brilliant Starfleet maneuver, but mostly by stumbling into the answer and apologizing a lot.
Still, the idea of Q putting humanity on galactic probation is solid and the moment Q says he’ll be watching humanity, I thought - yeah, same. I’ll be watching this trainwreck too.
All in all - Not great but certainly not bad.
Episode 2: “The Naked Now”
I hated this. No other way to say it. This is apparently a “remake” of an episode from the original series, and I can’t for the life of me understand why someone thought that was a good idea - especially as the second episode of your brand new show.
The Enterprise encounters a ship where everyone’s frozen, pants-less, and very much dead. Turns out there’s a virus - sorry, “intoxication contagion” - going around that makes everyone act like they’re at a college dorm party in 1999.
People get flirty. Data reveals that yes, he’s fully functional (why, thank you, Lieutenant Yar). And Captain Picard almost starts singing French drinking songs. It’s campy, goofy, and completely tone-deaf. And when they figure out how to fix it? They literally just dig up the cure from the original series. This is what Starfleet calls a “temporal handwave.”
If you were a first-time viewer in 1987, you probably thought, “Is this what the show is?” And if you were a fan of the original, you probably said, “Did they just copy-paste that episode and make it hornier?”
I did not like this episode - at all!
Episode 3: “Code of Honor”
Oh boy. This one is... also rough.
The Enterprise visits a planet populated entirely by Black actors, who all speak in a pseudo-regal tone and challenge people to fight over women. The crew needs a vaccine from them, because of course they do, and the plot quickly spirals into a weird mess of kidnapping, ritual combat, and marriage loopholes. It’s uncomfortable to watch, not because of what it says - but because of what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t challenge its own problematic setup. It just rolls with it, awkwardly smiling through the cultural insensitivity like a kid in a school play who forgot their lines.
Lieutenant Yar is forced into a fight to the death with the leader’s wife, and after the dust settles and she technically “dies,” the Enterprise just revives her off-screen with some medical technobabble. Boom, loophole unlocked. Everyone shrugs and goes home.
Apparently, the writer of this episode was never hired again. Good call, Gene.
Final Thoughts:
So, yeah. Not exactly warp speed out of the gate. These early episodes feel like they were written by a committee of aliens who had only heard about human storytelling. The characters are still finding their footing, the dialogue is clunky, and the vibes are... deeply weird.
But here’s the thing: I’m not quitting. Not even close.
Even through the awkward dialogue and questionable plots, I can see the seeds of what this show will become. I can already tell that Patrick Stewart is going to be the backbone of the series. Data is interesting. Worf has presence. Riker is one leg swing away from becoming an icon. The show wants to be good, and that counts for something.
So I’ll keep watching. Reporting in. Cataloguing my Starfleet logs like a good officer.
This is just the beginning of the mission - and to borrow a phrase from a very smart bald man - I say, “Engage.”
