Clues

,

Star Trek TNG S04E13-15 Devil’s Due, Clues, First Contact – “Ron Swanson Loves Riddles” | First Time Reaction – To Baldly Go Podcast (Ep. 062)

,

First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episodes 13-15

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 a story that feels more like an episode of The Original Series performed by the TNG cast. We then move into a mystery built around missing time, inconsistent evidence and Data’s refusal to answer a very important question. Finally, the Enterprise attempts to make contact with a civilization that is about to discover it is not alone in the universe.

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

Devil’s Due

The Enterprise answers a distress call from Ventax II, where the population believes the planet is about to be claimed by Ardra, a supernatural figure who supposedly negotiated a contract with their ancestors one thousand years earlier.

Picard is unwilling to accept a supernatural explanation when deception and sufficiently advanced technology remain possibilities. The result is an episode that feels like a TOS concept transplanted directly into The Next Generation.

Things we discussed:

  • She Who Must Not Be Named

  • EbeData Scrooge

  • A TOS episode with the TNG cast

  • Deus ex Machina

  • Q discussion

  • The Beginning of Infinity, explanations and knowledge problems

  • A good Dungeons & Dragons villain?

  • Star Trek and religion

  • What is the range of Troi’s empathic abilities?

  • Cinematography discussion

Clues

After the Enterprise passes through an apparent wormhole, the crew awakens believing that only thirty seconds have passed. Evidence throughout the ship suggests they were unconscious for much longer—but Data insists there is nothing more to explain.

The episode gives us a lot to unravel as Picard and the crew investigate their own missing time and Data becomes increasingly unwilling to cooperate. One additional explanation might have made the episode work even better, but the central mystery still gives us plenty to discuss.

Things we discussed:

  • A lot going on in this episode

  • Problems with the handling of time

  • Warp speed, time dilation and relativity

  • One explanation could have improved the episode

  • Plant reconciliation studies

First Contact

Not the movie.

Riker is injured during a covert observation mission on Malcor III, a planet on the verge of developing warp technology. His discovery forces Picard to begin first-contact procedures earlier than planned.

The Enterprise crew encounters scientists who are eager to learn, political leaders who understand the significance of the moment and members of society who fear everything that contact with an alien civilization might mean. The episode explores how a society might react when it learns that it is not alone—and whether that society is ready for the answer.

Things we discussed:

  • Not the movie

  • Fear, uncertainty and doubt

  • Bebe Neuwirth’s distinct voice

  • Riker is a freak

  • Exploration of the Prime Directive

Final Thoughts

This group begins with an episode that could almost have featured Kirk and Spock, continues with a mystery built around Data and ends with one of Star Trek’s clearest examinations of what first contact might actually look like.

“Devil’s Due” gives us questions about religion, technology and the quality of explanations. “Clues” provides Ron Swanson with his favorite Star Trek episode. “First Contact” considers how individuals, governments and entire cultures might respond when their understanding of the universe suddenly changes.