Here we are, friends.
This is the moment we've been waiting for. My massive Star Trek rewatch has made it to what I would say most would consider the “golden years” of the franchise: Star Trek: The Next Generation! There's a whole new crew, a whole new Enterprise, and no more Shatner! Sadly, it does mean none of the rest of Shatner's crew either, with the exception of guest appearances here and there. The very first episode, in fact, features a cameo from DeForest Kelley, portraying an extremely aged Bones. We'll get to all that down below! But first...
This is the latest installment in reviews I'm writing for each entry in my Star Trek rewatch. You can catch my thoughts on the entirety of the original cast's series, animated series, and six films over on my blog! You can also follow me on Bluesky for running commentary while I'm watching and pretty much anything else I'm up to. My personal website is also at jiggyflyjoe.com!
I understand that the original series with Captain Kirk, his crew, and creator Gene Roddenberry were the original trailblazers that created the Star Trek concept entirely, but in my personal opinion, I think it is this series, The Next Generation (which may, henceforth, be referred to as Next Gen) that really defines the franchise overall. Most of the story beats, fictional elements, locations, events, etc. that all future Star Trek tends to reference start right here. And it helps that, while there are a few bad apples in the bunch, both the acting and writing are light-years ahead of where the original (and even some of its films) were. Next Gen is the Star Trek most people today grew up watching, too. It dominated syndicated television during its time and by the time the show had hit its stride, it was practically must-see science-fiction television.
After the original series cast started getting rather pricey1 to keep on Paramount's payroll, the company decided that Roddenberry needed to create a new series for Star Trek, that way they could continue the science-fiction adventures but with considerably lesser-paid actors. This prompt resulted in the creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a series set approximately a century after the original series with a new crew and a new Galaxy-class Enterprise-D.2 If you're among the uninitiated, this new crew is led by Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his first officer Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes). The rest of the regular cast includes LeVar Burton as Lieutenant Geordi La Forge, Denise Crosby as Lieutenant Tasha Yar, Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf, Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, Brent Spiner as Lieutenant Commander Data, Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi, and Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher.
Paramount paid a hefty amount for Next Gen, upwards of over $1 million per episode3, and were a little salty that none of the traditional television networks were willing to pick up the series. This led to the studio's decision to air the show in first-run syndication on stations across the United States that were not network affiliates, and reportedly began offering reruns of the original series to stations that also agreed to air Next Gen. Their decision worked out: Next Gen wound up on over 200 stations almost covering the entire country, and as a result the first episode, “Encounter at Farpoint,” saw better combined ratings than much of the primetime network programming! (Remember when I said this show was must-see TV at the time?!)
Don't take after me though and rush into this first season of Next Gen thinking it's immediately going to be groundbreaking television. The show does have its rightful, unforgettable pop culture moments, but like most Trek series, it does take a bit to find its footing. The aforementioned “Encounter at Farpoint,” for example, feels extremely half-baked. Which makes sense. At the time, most TV shows created their pilot episodes well advance of the rest of their first seasons. This is because you don't want to go full-steam ahead and spend money putting together a staff of writers, build sets and wardrobe, etc. without knowing whether or not a network is going to pick up the show to begin with. We also spend a lot of time meeting all the new characters and setting up what's what. By the end of the first episode, things are in an excellent place though: we know the crew, we know the ship, we've met Q4 and seen what he can do, and the subplot ends on a happy note with two space jellyfish(???) being reunited with one another. The episode also features a cameo from Bones, now over 100-years-old, as he walks through the halls of the Enterprise with Data reminiscing. You definitely get the sense that Bones is handing over the torch to these total newbies as he heads toward retirement himself.
By the time we get to the fourth episode “Code of Honor,” things get pretty rough. This is almost universally considered one of the worst episodes in all of Star Trek, featuring story elements that were overtly racist in its casting of all black actors to play a “tribal” alien species and sexist in its gender roles. A later episode more or less inspired by apartheid in South Africa, titled “Angel One,” doesn't do much better. Cast and crew of the production alike hated it. Gates McFadden, the actress behind Dr. Crusher, even described it as “one of the most sexist episodes we ever had.” To be fair, Next Gen began airing in 1987, and a lot of folks might feel inclined to talk about how it was a “different time” and everything, but I do get the sense that in some of these cases that they were intending to tell a different story than the one we wound up being presented with. And for the record, I don't think that it excuses that kind of behavior at any time, but it's still important to frame these kinds of things with behavior of that time period.
Thankfully, there are a few gems among the first seasons selection, too. We learn considerably more about the Romulans in the season finale and meet the Ferengi, laughable as they were, in the episode “The Last Outpost.” Deanna Troi's mother, Lwaxana Troi5, makes her first of many colorful appearances in “Haven.” While I found Q annoying in the pilot, his second appearance on the Enterprise in “Hide and Q” is a much more interesting examination of what kind of decisions and changes a normal human being (Riker in this case) would make if given the same powers as Q. Worf is also offered a chance to help another set of Klingons hijack the Enterprise in “Heart of Glory,” providing an interesting examination of where Worf's loyalties lie as the first Klingon in Starfleet. And while the villain they came up with was kind of silly, “Skin of Evil” is a highlight of the season as it features the departure of security chief Tasha Yar after she's killed during an away mission. The end of the episode is sad and her departure leaves an emotional void behind that impacts Data's attempts at being human. It also provides Worf the opportunity to become the new security chief, giving up some much-needed purpose on the bridge.
Weirdly, “The Neutral Zone,” the aforementioned episode centering on the Romulans, doesn't really seem like a finale. It feels like just another Star Trek episode where things happen and it's all wrapped up by the end. This in spite of the fact that the cast looks considerably different at the beginning of season two with Dr. Crusher also departing, a new doctor entering the fray, and Whoopi Goldberg boarding the Enterprise as a mysterious new recurring character who has history with Q. Unfortunately, the 1988 Writers Guild strike meant that this final episode of season one needed to be written quickly and the idea of introducing the Borg, which was supposed to be in this episode, don't happen until later next season. Fun fact about this episode, however: Marc Alaimo, who plays one of the Romulans, turns up much later in Deep Space Nine as Gul Dukat!
Anyway, batten down the hatches kids, because season two shall soon be on its way! Engage!