Re:Engage TNG

Home Soil - s1e17

There are dialogue lines that resonate beyond the context of a TV show or film, and for Greg that was "ugly bags of mostly water" from this episode of Star Trek. That way of describing human beings from an alien source has been rattling around in his brain for decades. The set up for Home Soil is that of a Whodunnit, but the script was difficult and production was strained in this investigation of hard sci-fi ideas. Greg hosts this episode and waxes poetic about the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Jimmie G gives some good advice on not stabbing people as an actor, Kate liked the interesting way this episode was shot though Erik is distracted by some of the longer shots.
 
Host: Greg Tito (@gregtito on Twitter, @greg_tito on IG) 
Panel: Kate Jaeger (@jaegerlicious on Twitter and IG), Erik Gratton (@erikfallsdown on Twitter & IG), and Jimmie G (@thejimmieg on IG & Twitter)
Audio Editor: Krista Curry (@kristafromglee on Twitter, krista.curry on IG)
Logo artwork: @mojojojo_97 on Twitter, mojo97.com
Theme music: Ryan Marth
 
Next up is "Coming of Age" s1e18 hosted by Kate!

When the Bough Breaks - s1e16

Re:Engage welcomes its first Andorian! Noah Averbach-Katz plays Ryn on Star Trek Discovery and he was gracious enough to join us in discussing this star turn for Wesley Crusher and the children of the Enterprise. Everything is not what it seems on the legendary planet of Aldea, and the powerful beings there capture several of the younger kids against the will of Captain Picard. Wesley leads a hunger strike and figures out the Custodian is just a snarky computer. Kate hosts this episode and, of course, gushes about Wesley, Erik is sad about no prat falls, Jimmie admits to Wesley being not-annoying in this episode, Greg hates calculus too, and Noah offers his millennial perspective on it all since he was born the year AFTER this episode aired in 1988.
 
Host: Kate Jaeger (@jaegerlicious on Twitter and IG)
Panel: Greg Tito (@gregtito on Twitter, @greg_tito on IG), Erik Gratton (@erikfallsdown on Twitter & IG), Jimmie G (@thejimmieg on IG & Twitter), and special guest Noah Averbach-Katz (@N_A_K on Twitter)
Audio Editor: Krista Curry (@kristafromglee on Twitter, krista.curry on IG)
Logo artwork: @mojojojo_97 on Twitter, mojo97.com
Theme music: Ryan Marth
 
Next up is "Home Soil" s1e17 hosted by Greg!

Too Short a Season - s1e15

The Benjamin Button episode grows a little old. Strong guest star roles like Karnas the warlord on Mordan IV, Hollywood royalty Marsha Hunt as Anne, and Admiral Mark Jameson as her lying husband who takes two doses (!) of a wonder drug to de-age himself. The episode is ultimately about living with the guilt of repercussions from bold actions taken while young, but the plot doesn't necessarily pay off that premise well. Greg believed the makeup was pretty OK, Jimmie doesn't but loved the voice affection, Kate shouted out the girl talk scene with Anne, Troi and Crusher as notable, and Erik tries to hold it all together as retired pastry chefs do.
 
Host: Erik Gratton (@erikfallsdown on Twitter & IG)
Panel: Greg Tito (@gregtito on Twitter, @greg_tito on IG), Kate Jaeger (@jaegerlicious on Twitter and IG), and Jimmie G (@thejimmieg on IG & Twitter)
Audio Editor: Krista Curry (@kristafromglee on Twitter, krista.curry on IG)
Logo artwork: @mojojojo_97 on Twitter, mojo97.com
Theme music: Ryan Marth
 
Next up is "When the Bough Breaks" s1e16 hosted by Kate and featuring special guest Noah Averbach-Katz (@N_A_K on Twitter) from Star Trek Discovery!

11001001 - s1e14

It's Bynar time! Riker has a special moment in the holodeck with his bone, er, trombone, and a woman named Minuet created by the Bynars to distract him. There's something special about this episode as we see the crew in some downtime moments: Worf and Yar play the sport of Parisees Squares, Geordi helps Data paint, and Dr. Crusher gets her motor running for a science talk on Starbase 74. Picard and Riker eventually save the day for the Bynars after spending time in 1920s New Orleans, and all is well again. Greg mostly holds it together as host here; Kate does an intensely perfect Bynar impression, Jimmie is excited for a extras in shots (including himself), and Erik has a lot to say about Riker's horniness.
 
Host: Greg Tito (@gregtito on Twitter, @greg_tito on IG) 
Panel: Erik Gratton (@erikfallsdown on Twitter & IG), Kate Jaeger (@jaegerlicious on Twitter and IG), and Jimmie G (@thejimmieg on IG & Twitter)
Audio Editor: Krista Curry (@kristafromglee on Twitter, krista.curry on IG)
Logo artwork: @mojojojo_97 on Twitter, mojo97.com
Theme music: Ryan Marth
 
Next up is "Too Short a Season" s1e14 hosted by Greg!

Angel One - s1e13

It's all full of Riker's chest hair. It's really hard to get past all that glorious fur to the meat of this episode, but we your cultural bridge crew boldly go there and try to figure out how exactly it has to do with Apartheid, as the writer originally intended. There's something compelling hidden here about objectification of the sexes, as well as the question of intervening in the politics of a world, but it's muddied by a weak, tacked-on, virus B-plot and incomplete theming. Interesting scenes are certainly in Angel One as we remember comic moments like Data chewing on the word "aphrodisiac" or Troi and Yar giggling at Riker's costume. I mean, really, we just can't stop looking at Riker's chest.
 
Host: Kate Jaeger (@jaegerlicious on Twitter and IG) 
Panel: Erik Gratton (@erikfallsdown on Twitter & IG), Greg Tito (@gregtito on Twitter, @greg_tito on IG), and Jimmie G (@thejimmieg on IG & Twitter)
Audio Editor: Krista Curry (@kristafromglee on Twitter, krista.curry on IG)
Logo artwork: @mojojojo_97 on Twitter, mojo97.com
Theme music: Ryan Marth
 
Next up is "11001001" s1e13 hosted by Greg!

Datalore - s1e12

Is it Data? Is it Lore? Double dose of Brent Spiner as double androids and we learn where they come from with tons of backstory (mostly) expertly peppered in the dialogue on Data's home planet. The episode makes use of mirrors as a motif and that certainly hits differently watching now as we collectively realize how much meeting an evil twin version of yourself would mess you up. Kid Trek returns so you get to hear what Greg's daughters have to say about all that, Jimmie G maybe joins the Wesley fan club for a little bit, Erik sneezes for realzes, and Kate wishes she could play an evil twin.
 
Host: Erik Gratton (@erikfallsdown on Twitter & IG) 
Panel: Greg Tito (@gregtito on Twitter, @greg_tito on IG), Kate Jaeger (@jaegerlicious on Twitter and IG), and Jimmie G (@thejimmieg on IG & Twitter)
Audio Editor: Krista Curry (@kristafromglee on Twitter, krista.curry on IG)
Logo artwork: @mojojojo_97 on Twitter, mojo97.com
Theme music: Ryan Marth
 
Next up is "Angel One" s1e13 hosted by Kate!

The Big Goodbye - s1e11

Gotta go BACK in time! There's always something thrilling about taking the odd uniforms and social norms of the 24th century and putting them in modern genre settings like the hard-boiled detective stories we know from Raymond Chandler novels and L.A. Confidential. "The Big Goodbye" puts Captain Picard in the role of tropey Dixon Hill on the holodeck, and introduces another trope Star Trek will visit again and again: holodeck malfunctions. Greg hosts this discussion and loves taking the piss out of 80s genre television, Kate jumps into the palpable sexual tension between Crusher and Picard, Jimmie G loves Data's origins in Brazil, and Erik is available to writer's rooms to make up names of said 80s genre television.
 
Host: Greg Tito (@gregtito on Twitter, @greg_tito on IG)
Panel: Erik Gratton (@erikfallsdown on Twitter & IG), Kate Jaeger (@jaegerlicious on Twitter and IG), and Jimmie G (@thejimmieg on IG & Twitter)
Audio Editor: Krista Curry (@kristafromglee on Twitter, krista.curry on IG)
Logo artwork: @mojojojo_97 on Twitter, mojo97.com
Theme music: Ryan Marth
 
Next up is "Datalore" s1e12 hosted by Erik!

Haven - s1e10

Lwaxana Troi is a treasure! This episode goes full-on rom-com with the impending matrimony of Counselor Troi to Teabag from Prison Break, er, Wyatt Miller. So many guest stars make this episode work as a comedy, especially Majel Barrett the First Lady of Star Trek. It's really funny to see Picard squirm under the ministrations of Lwaxana, and Data working off of Mr. Homn during the rehearsal dinner. BONG! Kate hosts this episode and notes the harp-core porn Riker enjoys, Jimmie G loves silver boxes puking gems, Greg misses Wesley & Worf but enjoyed the character work, and Erik recalls in excruciating detail the plot of Three Men and a Baby.
 
Host: Kate Jaeger (@jaegerlicious on Twitter and IG)
Panel: Erik Gratton (@erikfallsdown on Twitter & IG), Greg Tito (@gregtito on Twitter, @greg_tito on IG), and Jimmie G (@thejimmieg on IG & Twitter)
Audio Editor: Krista Curry (@kristafromglee on Twitter, krista.curry on IG)
Logo artwork: @mojojojo_97 on Twitter, mojo97.com
Theme music: Ryan Marth
 
Next up is "The Big Goodbye" s1e11 hosted by Greg!

Hide and Q - s1e9

We welcome Tessa Gratton, author of speculative fiction such as the recent Lady Hotspur (available now!), to the cultural bridge crew of Re:Engage to discuss the second appearance of Q in Star Trek canon. After we go into the lyrics of Billy Idol's "Mony, Mony" and Richard Dawson's terrible-ness in "The Running Man," there is talk of Gene Roddenbury's vile behavior around the creation of this episode before we delve into what worked and what didn't, story-wise. John Delancie's performance is solid, but Tessa points out what a world-building paradox it is to have an omniscient power like Q's offered to Riker so easily. Kate points out we do get to see Picard out-Shakespeare Q, which is fantastic, although Jimmie G disparages Delancie's phonetic learning of it. And Greg learns what a trochee is. (I HATE IAMBIC PENTAMETER!)
 
Host: Erik Gratton (@erikfallsdown on Twitter & IG)
Panel: Kate Jaeger (@jaegerlicious on Twitter and IG), Greg Tito (@gregtito on Twitter, @greg_tito on IG), Jimmie G (@thejimmieg on IG & Twitter), and special guest Tessa Gratton (@tessagratton on Twitter or at tessagratton.com)!
Audio Editor: Krista Curry (@kristafromglee on Twitter, krista.curry on IG)
Logo artwork: @mojojojo_97 on Twitter, mojo97.com
Theme music: Ryan Marth
 
Next up is "Haven" s1e10 hosted by Kate!

The Battle - s1e8

Captain Jean-Luc Picard had an illustrious career before he joined the Enterprise, and we get to see it in all its glory aboard his old ship, the USS Stargazer. "The Battle" also features the second appearance of the Ferengi in this voyage of the first season of TNG, and we all (mostly) agree it's much better than how they come off in "The Last Outpost." Riker has some good scenes with the Ferengi first mate, but the episode is definitely carried by Patrick Stewart's illustrious acting chops, Picard Maneuver notwithstanding. Greg hosts this episode; Erik does his best to lovingly derail the conversation and Jimmie gets a little more comfortable with Ferengi while Kate expounds on Picard's sexiness ... again.
 
Host: Greg Tito (@gregtito on Twitter, @greg_tito on IG)
Panel: Erik Gratton (@erikfallsdown on Twitter & IG), Kate Jaeger (@jaegerlicious on Twitter and IG), and Jimmie G (@thejimmieg on IG & Twitter).
Audio Editor: Krista Curry (@kristafromglee on Twitter, krista.curry on IG)
Logo artwork: @mojojojo_97 on Twitter, mojo97.com
Theme music: Ryan Marth
 
Next up is "Hide and Q" hosted by Erik with special guest Tessa Gratton (@tessagratton on Twitter) joining the discussion!