Star Trek: The Next Generation analysis of season 1 episode 18 (Coming of Age)

Hey babes, remember us!? We'rrrrrre back! After a long hiatus, Mike and Nic are back to analyze a relatively tame but lovely episode of TNG where nothing much happens except for everyone being really good friends. It's all #WholesomeContent.

Our analysis focuses mainly on the Starfleet entrance exams aspect of the episode - as two people with careers in learning and development, we have a LOT of thoughts about how Starfleet tests candidates and the limited vision the show had for the pedagogy of the future.

Besides that, we note that this episode was well-written and that all the characters were fully themselves. Interpersonal relationships were on full display, which is always our favorite. Overall, a nice, cozy episode to come back to!

Our amazing intro and outro music was created by the supremely talented Trevor Andrew Hamer. If you'd like to work with Trevor or see more of his work, you can find him on: Instagram | YouTube

Financially support us on Patreon! You'll get access to rad merchandise and bonus content at https://patreon.com/redshirtcollective

Follow us on Instagram to enjoy our juicy episode-related memes at https://instagram.com/redshirtcollective

Share us with others by leaving us a review on iTunes or your preferred podcasting app, sharing us on social media, and/or recommending us to friends!

Star Trek: The Next Generation analysis of season 1 episode 17 (Home Soil)

Hey babes, happy 2023!!! We're are thrilled to kick-off the new year with one of our all-time favorite episodes of TNG - Home Soil - where the crew get told to fuck off by an indigenous lifeform.

Though this episode has the typical issues with a plot that has threads to nowhere (in a way that reeks of network/executive intervention), the acting is topnotch and has some of the best dialogue of the series - a highly quotable episode!

In our analysis, we explore what it means to terraform (or colonize) "uninhabited" lands, how this episode accurately reflects the way European colonizers viewed the rest of the world, and the powerful message of the ending where Starfleet is rejected and told to leave and not come back for a long time.

Our amazing intro and outro music was created by the supremely talented Trevor Andrew Hamer. If you'd like to work with Trevor or see more of his work, you can find him on: Instagram | YouTube

Financially support us on Patreon! You'll get access to rad merchandise and bonus content at https://patreon.com/redshirtcollective

Follow us on Instagram to enjoy our juicy episode-related memes at https://instagram.com/redshirtcollective

Share us with others by leaving us a review on iTunes or your preferred podcasting app, sharing us on social media, and/or recommending us to friends!

Star Trek: The Next Generation analysis of season 1 episode 16 (When the Bough Breaks)

Happy LANDBACK Day! Mike and Nic come back after a long break full of piss and vinegar, ready to review an episode jam-packed with complex themes. What we lack in regular posting, we make up for in rowdiness. And conversations about dog poop (you'll see!).

When the Bough Breaks is doing a LOT - we ended up identifying something in the range of 10 major ideas that this episode introduces and tackles to varying degrees of completion.

We do our best but can't cover all of it; most of our analysis focuses on the idea of family, parental expectations of their children, the dangers of insinuating some races (species) don't care about their kids, and what it really means for a culture (or a people) to persist.

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To support and learn more about the LANDBACK movement to build lasting Indigenous sovereignty, go to: https://landback.org

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Our amazing intro and outro music was created by the supremely talented Trevor Andrew Hamer. If you'd like to work with Trevor or see more of his work, you can find him on: Instagram | YouTube

Financially support us on Patreon! You'll get access to rad merchandise and bonus content at https://patreon.com/redshirtcollective

Follow us on Instagram to enjoy our juicy episode-related memes at https://instagram.com/redshirtcollective

Share us with others by leaving us a review on iTunes or your preferred podcasting app, sharing us on social media, and/or recommending us to friends!

Star Trek: The Next Generation analysis of season 1 episode 15 (Too Short a Season)

We come back from a mini-hiatus to an episode that we had mixed opinions about. Mike enjoyed the exploration of men broken by toxic masculinity, while Nic was bored and missing her sweet baby boys. What we were definitely in agreement on was that the makeup/prosthetics and acting were lacking in this one.

The show explores several interesting themes (which it sadly never pays off) - feeling useless in old age, internalized ableism, making up for past mistakes, the hubris of white men with authority, and who deserves to live forever (or at least, get a second life).

Our amazing intro and outro music was created by the supremely talented Trevor Andrew Hamer. If you'd like to work with Trevor or see more of his work, you can find him on: Instagram | YouTube

Financially support us on Patreon! You'll get access to rad merchandise and bonus content at https://patreon.com/redshirtcollective

Follow us on Instagram to enjoy our juicy episode-related memes at https://instagram.com/redshirtcollective

Share us with others by leaving us a review on iTunes or your preferred podcasting app, sharing us on social media, and/or recommending us to friends!

Star Trek: The Next Generation analysis of season 1 episode 14 (11001001)

11001001 brings us a contradictory episode - on one side, an interesting premise of a nonbinary binary species from a planet where technology and organic beings have fully integrated; on the other side, a misogynistic, weird male fantasy.

We dig into the analysis, exploring holodeck created Minuet as TNG's version of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl (Nic mistakenly attributed the creation of this term to Garden State, it was actually Elizabethtown, you can read the origin of it here) and how this perpetuates rape culture and the patriarchy.

Reference: The Bataan Death March of Whimsy Case File #1: Elizabethtown https://www.avclub.com/the-bataan-death-march-of-whimsy-case-file-1-elizabet-1798210595

Our amazing intro and outro music was created by the supremely talented Trevor Andrew Hamer. If you'd like to work with Trevor or see more of his work, you can find him on: Instagram | YouTube

Financially support us on Patreon! You'll get access to rad merchandise and bonus content at https://patreon.com/redshirtcollective

Follow us on Instagram to enjoy our juicy episode-related memes at https://instagram.com/redshirtcollective

Share us with others by leaving us a review on iTunes or your preferred podcasting app, sharing us on social media, and/or recommending us to friends!

Star Trek: The Next Generation analysis of season 1 episode 13 (Angel One)

Hoo boi, this episode was fucking BORING. Despite that, we managed to have a lot of fun recapping and analyzing this snoozefest.

We spend most of the analysis portion of the show talking about the irresponsibility and laziness of the "reverse oppression" trope - how it usually serves to excuse hierarchies and abuse of power, obfuscate how and why power structures were created in the first place, and typically reinforce the objectification and dehumanization of those who are actually oppressed.

We also discuss all the missed opportunities to let the female cast members have center stage - ironic that in an episode about matriarchy, all the women were completely sidelined🙄

Our amazing intro and outro music was created by the supremely talented Trevor Andrew Hamer. If you'd like to work with Trevor or see more of his work, you can find him on: Instagram | YouTube

Financially support us on Patreon! You'll get access to rad merchandise and bonus content at https://patreon.com/redshirtcollective

Follow us on Instagram to enjoy our juicy episode-related memes at https://instagram.com/redshirtcollective

Share us with others by leaving us a review on iTunes or your preferred podcasting app, sharing us on social media, and/or recommending us to friends!

Star Trek: The Next Generation analysis of season 1 episode 12 (Datalore)

In an episode so wonderful it's as if it was plucked fully formed from Nic's head, today we revel in the pure joy that is Datalore - an episode that is BOTH Data- and Wesley-centric. Whoowee!

Datalore hits on several deep topics while dancing along a delicious camp edge. We explore the episode's themes of found vs biological family, are we ever really known by the people around us, correct pronoun usage, ageism, neurodivergence, and more!

Resource: @startrekmemes_ Instagram post for Nic's dad joke.

Our amazing intro and outro music was created by the supremely talented Trevor Andrew Hamer. If you'd like to work with Trevor or see more of his work, you can find him on: Instagram | YouTube

Financially support us on Patreon! You'll get access to rad merchandise and bonus content at https://patreon.com/redshirtcollective

Follow us on Instagram to enjoy our juicy episode-related memes at https://instagram.com/redshirtcollective

Share us with others by leaving us a review on iTunes or your preferred podcasting app, sharing us on social media, and/or recommending us to friends!

Star Trek: The Next Generation analysis of season 1 episode 11 (The Big Goodbye)

Oh boy, it's a holodeck episode and we are NOT happy about it! We're stuck with a Dixon Hill theme and 1940s San Francisco, questions about how tf the holodeck works and whether or not the crew is creating and destroying sentient life every time they use it, and poor Bev thinking she's finally getting her some alone time with the Captain only to have their private party crashed by aloof others time and again.

Though we do not like the setting, we begrudgingly admit that this episode was actually pretty damn good. The writing was tight, the dialogue was funny and snappy, the actors were all at their best and reacting off each other to perfection.

We get some great character development as well, even in smaller moments like Deanna coaching Picard on how to properly deliver the Jaraden greeting.

Fun was had by all, even by us!

Our amazing intro and outro music was created by the supremely talented Trevor Andrew Hamer. If you'd like to work with Trevor or see more of his work, you can find him on: Instagram | YouTube

Financially support us on Patreon! You'll get access to rad merchandise and bonus content at https://patreon.com/redshirtcollective

Follow us on Instagram to enjoy our juicy episode-related memes at https://instagram.com/redshirtcollective

Share us with others by leaving us a review on iTunes or your preferred podcasting app, sharing us on social media, and/or recommending us to friends!