First-Time Watch – Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 4, Episodes 7-9
This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, Aaron and Nate continue their release-order journey through Star Trek with three episodes that force members of the Enterprise crew to confront family, false realities, and the consequences of their decisions.
Worf learns that one past relationship came with a lasting responsibility. Riker wakes up inside a future that appears too perfect to be true. Wesley prepares to leave the Enterprise, provided he and Picard can survive one final mission together.
This week, we get:
Accepting the consequences of our decisions
Star Trek: Inception?
Three very different versions of family and responsibility
We covered:
Reunion
Future Imperfect
Final Mission
Reunion
K’Ehleyr is back—and she has brought little Worf with her.
The Klingon Empire is preparing to choose its next leader, and Picard has been selected to oversee the succession. K’Ehleyr’s investigation soon connects the political conflict to Worf’s discommendation and the actions of the Duras family.
The episode moves with little wasted time. It expands Klingon culture, revisits Worf’s history, and gives his choices consequences that cannot be erased when the credits roll. It also shows how much more depth and breadth The Next Generation can now bring to its stories compared with The Original Series.
Things we discussed:
IMDb should bury the lede
Wanting to revisit The Emissary
K’Ehleyr’s return—and Worf’s unexpected son
The strength and pacing of the episode
The continuing expansion of Klingon society
Of course, it is Duras
Picard is not mad; he is disappointed—and mad
Whether the bat’leth is a decent weapon
Future Imperfect
Following an accident on an away mission, Riker awakens sixteen years later. He is now captain of the Enterprise, has a son, and is helping negotiate peace with the Romulans. There is only one problem: he remembers none of it.
The episode builds its mystery with clear thought and planning. Riker notices small inconsistencies, questions the people around him, and begins pulling apart the reality constructed for him. Details and returning characters that might once have passed us by now become important clues.
It is a great episode with a dumb ending.
Things we discussed:
Whether the Romulans are Inceptioning Riker
Picking up on details we might have missed earlier in the series
The return of one-off characters from Season 1
How Riker recognizes that something is wrong
The careful construction of the mystery
A strong episode undermined by its final reveal
Final Mission
Wesley joins Picard on a diplomatic mission before leaving the Enterprise for Starfleet Academy. Their routine trip turns into a survival situation when their shuttle crashes on a desert moon and Picard is injured.
There are good moments between Wesley and Picard, but many of them depend on weak setups. Aaron and Nate came away with different reactions to the episode, even though their final ratings were not far apart.
The episode is presented as a farewell for Wesley, inviting comparisons with the show’s handling of Tasha Yar’s departure. It also gives us plenty of opportunities to nitpick the danger posed by the “sun,” the decisions made aboard the Enterprise, and the mechanics of the episode’s central puzzle.
Things we discussed:
Is this really Wesley’s final mission?
Where Beverly was during the bridge scenes
Good character moments built on weak setups
Aaron and Nate’s differing reactions
Wesley’s sendoff compared with Tasha Yar’s
Protection from the “sun”
A return to our Code of Honor discussion
Wil Wheaton’s apparent departure from the series
Final Thoughts
These three episodes explore different kinds of responsibility.
Worf must accept that his relationship with K’Ehleyr created obligations he cannot ignore. Riker must reject a comfortable life when he realizes it is built on deception. Wesley must prove that he is ready to move beyond the Enterprise, even when the episode surrounding his departure does not give him the strongest material.
Reunion is the standout of the group, delivering an important chapter in Worf’s story with strong pacing and lasting consequences. Future Imperfect builds an effective mystery before stumbling at the finish. Final Mission contains meaningful moments for Wesley and Picard, but struggles to earn them.
Where we are on our Trek:
Last week we covered:
Next week we will continue with:
If you want to see my journey from the very beginning, start here:
Also, be sure to check out Nate’s and my other podcast – The In Lap with Aaron and Nate – to listen to us discuss all things Formula 1 on race weekends, wherever you listen to your podcasts.