With The First Link: A Star Trek TNG Podcast

It's SEASON 3 of TNG and the series seems to have gotten a bit of a revamp with new uniforms, new opening sequence, and new lighting on the sets! Did our 80's Star Trek just become 90's Star Trek!? We think so! Also Dr. Crusher is back! Join us as Wesley Crusher accidentally creates a new microscopic civilization, Doctor Paul Stubbs is willing to sacrifice the Enterprise just to make the history books, and Ruthie and Matthew talk about the darker side of success obsession.

It's the finale of Season 2 of Star Trek the Next Generation - where, during a real life writer's strike (not the one that just happened but back in '89) - we're left with a somewhat anticlimactic finale that is nevertheless a semi-charming flashback of the first two seasons of this legendary series. We thought plants could get you high but wow, wait until you see the fever dream that Riker has as he beams down to an alien planet with absolutely zero PPE and is stabbed by an alien vine. Ruthie and Matthew reflect on the episode as well as completing the first two seasons of their podcast! Thank you all for being along for this ride across the light years. Season 3 inbound!

Did Yoda get it wrong when he said "Do or Do Not, There is No Try?" Picard has an answer to that when this episode features one of his most quoted lines "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." In this episode, Ruthie and Matthew talk about failure, the difficulty in being bad at something before getting good at something, and how we handle the burden of perfectionism - especially as an android! It's Peak Performance!

When on a mission to intercept a Klingon Battlecruiser, the Enterprise rendezvous with a probe carrying, K'Ehleyr, a Federation Ambassador who is half-Klingon and seems to have a place in Worf's past. Will Worf and K'Ehleyr be able to heal a rift between them and can they work together to stop a potentially violent encounter with the Klingon ship!? Ruthie and Matthew talk about how you would help somebody acclimatize to a new decade (or century), Klingon foreplay, and the meanings of physical intimacy.

While ferrying the fish-like Antedeans to a diplomatic conference, the Enterprise is intercepted by a shuttle transporting Lwaxana Troi! Not seen since season 1, Lwaxana has returned and is experiencing "The Phase", a time in the mid-life of a Betazed woman where her libido has quadrupled - she's on the hunt for a new husband! Also, Dixon Hill comes back this episode! Ruthie and Matthew talk about consent in dating culture, trigonometry, and how they actually enjoy Data's anecdotes.

When the Enterprise receives an automated distress signal, two human societies on the verge of collapse are discovered. One steeped in stereotype and the other experiencing replicative fade, a dangerous secret leads to the abduction of Enterprise crew members. This week Ruthie and Matthew are joined by Ruthie's sister Jake Szamosi, a biologist who weighs in on the ethics of cloning, spinning wheels, and if we indeed own our own genetic material.

LaForge is placed in grave danger when the Enterprise responds to distress call from the Pakleds who need things to make them go...like our chief engineer! On a shuttlecraft road-trip with Wesley, Picard shares details of his "cocky" youth which led to a (literally) broken heart requiring surgery. But the surgeons can't stop the "heterocyclic declination"!! Matthew and Ruthie talk about being awkward in social situations, the soul of exploration, and geometry in SPAAAAACE!

Q is back! This time he wants to join the crew on their adventures through the galaxy. But when Picard refuses Q's request, the omnipotent entity hurls the Enterprise thousands of light years to face a new deadly threat to the Federation. Confronted by an overwhelming adversary, will Picard acquiesce to Q's demands? A brash starry-eyed ensign faces a loss of innocence, Picard needs dry cleaning services, we see shield VFX for the first time, and Ruthie and Matthew catch up with each other after a long recording hiatus.

When Data receives a distress call from a planet on the verge of collapse, he needs to decide whether to ignore the distress call or violate the Prime Directive and send a reply. Data's decision not only shocks the crew, but leaves Captain Picard in the dark for weeks. Pulaski finally stands up for Data. And Wesley learns about the Ensigns of Command. Ruthie and Matthew talk about the implications of the Prime Directive, stories set in the Star Trek Universe that discuss the Prime Directive, and how the Prime Directive has had real-world influence on their own lives and decision making.

When a special envoy to the Enterprise turns out to be Commander Riker's father, some hard hitting blind martial arts fighting ensues as both men need to have it out in the ring. Riker has a hard decision about taking a promotion to leave the Enterprise. A grumpy Worf needs some acupuncture - Klingon Style - and Ruthie and Matthew talk about decision making, ambition, and how we know staying in a place or leaving is right for us. And remember that TREKtalks 2 is Saturday January 14th - an all-day telethon with your favourite Star Trek actors in support of the Hollywood Food Coalition hosted by the Trek Geeks network. The event (both live stream and recording afterward) can be found at Trektalks.net. AND Matthew will be in the event for the TREKtivism panel joined by Jonathan Frakes, Armin Shimerman, John Billingsley, Kitty Swink, and Heidi Roddenberry to talk about how fandom can catalyze social change! Matthew will have a chance to share a recent example - the Star Trek community fundraiser for Esther's Echo, his non-profit organization supporting a school for women and girls in Sierra Leone. So be sure to tune in!

The Enterprise encounters a derelict shuttle craft which appears to be from the future. But when the shuttle is determined to be one of the Enterprise's own containing a second version of Picard, the crew fear the premonition of doom the craft contains. Ruthie and Matthew talk about how we sometimes become trapped in a cycle of poor decisions and how we can face a version of ourselves we may not like to escape the cycle. Please also consider donating to Matthew's Star Trek community fundraiser for his non-profit organization, Esther's Echo. Esther's Echo supports Sierra Leone community leader Esther Kanu who founded and operates a school for vulnerable women and girls called the Women in Action Development Program. https://www.gofundme.com/f/esthers-echo-star-trek-fundraiser

Riker, Worf, and Data become trapped in a recreation of "The Royale" a hotel featured in an Earth novel of the same name written in the 21st century. But why is this novel, with its cliché setting and characters, being played out in the frozen layers of a gas giant planet surrounded by debris from an ancient Earth NASA spacecraft!? Ruthie and Matthew talk about which fictional worlds they would most want to be trapped in and those they would definitely NOT want to be trapped in.

The Enterprise responds to a call for help from Galaxy Class sister ship U.S.S. Yamato. But when the Yamato suddenly explodes the Enterprise crew must determine if the ship's destruction is caused by Romulans or by the relics of a long lost civilization. Data gets to do some physical comedy, Romulans are terrible bluffers, and the city of Toronto is featured as an alien space building. Ruthie and Matthew talk about the coolness of space archeology but also the destructive effects of colonial archeology and anthropology in our own history.

Wesley falls in love with a mysterious young woman named Salia who is destined to lead her world out of a civil conflict. But when Wesley gets too close, Salia's guardian demonstrates a power that may threaten the safety of the whole ship. Will Wesley's love threaten the Enterprise as well as the peace of Salia's homeworld? Ruthie and Matthew talk about love, abusive parenting in the episode, and ways in which Salia's species raises questions around fluid identity and what it means to be your "true" form.

Data's sentience and freedom of choice is on trial when he refuses orders to undergo a dangerous procedure. Ruthie and Matthew talk about parallels from this episode to the present-day crisis of body autonomy and how society excludes some humans when considering human rights. With the First Link is excited to cover this first of the "classic" TNG episodes in our review of the series. Join us as we get into the deep metaphysical stuff while also stopping to throw shade at the ultimate TNG entitled whiner - Bruce Maddox. Main Cover art by Nathan Nun, www.nathannun.ca Theme Music by Flame Lion Studios

Crew members are going on officer exchange! Riker eats Gagh in anticipation of serving aboard a Klingon Bird of Prey, Ensign Mendon almost starts an interstellar War by over-analyzing space bacteria, Matthew and Ruthie also swap roles while talking about how it feels to be out of place. Main cover art by Nathan Nun, www.nathannun.ca Theme Music is An Amazing Adventure by Flame Lion Studios

In this episode, the scientists at a genetic research station all suffer from rapid onset geriatric phenomena. But when Pulaski tries to save their genetically created children, she finds out that they are, in fact, the cause of it! Matthew and Ruthie talk about aging and try to figure out the difference between genetic engineering and genetic creation, and Ruthie interviews an actual real scientist about DNA and the immune system! Main cover art by Nathan Nun, www.nathannun.ca Theme music is An Amazing Adventure by Flame Lion Studio

In this episode Data meets Dr. Ira Graves, the grandfather of cybernetics whose plans for immortality place Data in...Graves Danger! Ruthie and Matthew talk about whether they would want to live forever, and Matthew questions why other starships in the Federation can't patch leaks.

The Enterprise transports Riva, a deaf mediator, to the Solais system to help negotiate an end to 1500 years of civil war. Troi helps Riva cope with failure, Data learns a new language, and Matthew and Ruthie talk about how much better our society could be if we acknowledged our interdependence. Main cover art by Nathan Nun, www.nathannun.ca Theme Music is An Amazing Adventure by Flame Lion Studio

A charming smuggler arrives on the Enterprise sparking an interplanetary conflict. Data tries stand-up comedy. Ruthie and Matthew talk about the importance of humour and who in society gets to decide what is funny. Matthew tells bad space jokes. Main cover art by Nathan Nun (www.nathannun.ca) Theme Music by Flame Lion Studios