Yeah, I recently rewatched that episode and was really annoyed by it. The story only works because every crewmember behaves like a completely naive idiot.

So it kind of depends on how strictly you define “important.”

You’re right. Your list makes it quite clear that when the bar for importance is too low, 90% of all episodes end up being important. From season 1 I’d include 5 episodes in the list of important episodes: Encounter at Farpoint (setting up Q and everything), Where No One Has Gone Before (introduces the Traveller), Datalore (introduces Lore), Skin of Evil (kills of Tasha), The Neutral Zone (Romulans and Borg implied). Those episodes are a good example of what I was going for: none of them is above average but they’re still important. “Where No One Has Gone Before” maybe comes the closest to being good.

Sidenote: I recently rewatched TNG season 1 and found it oddly charming. There are a lot of bad episodes but almost every episode had something going for it. You could see what they were aiming for but often couldn’t stick the landing. And the music was really great, unlike in the rest of the Berman era.

I’ve also frequented Jammer’s Reviews for years because most of the time I agree with him. I also used it for the watchlist for my GF but building that list purely on good episodes gave me the idea to ask what the important episodes actually were.

I didn’t know about Kethinov. Thanks for that.

I see your point. What I tried to assess is: which episodes enhance the viewing experience by rewarding the viewer for sticking around. For example, watching “Datalore” before “Brothers” is definitely not required. But it gives you some good backstory on Lore. Similarly, watching the various Maquis episodes on TNG and DS9 is not necessary to understand the Maquis characters on VOY but it’s a nice slow buildup that contextualizes a few things. Or TNG’s “The Price” and VOY’s “False Profits” – neither of them are really good episodes but it’s a “oh hey, they picked up that storyline from years ago” moment that I feel is very rewarding.

And of course my all-time favorite joke when Worf hears that Keiko is having another baby and he reacts with “Now!?!?”. It only really works when you’ve seen “Disaster” before.

Well, at least they recognize Worf as one of the greats. {{:-)

But I find that “Duty! Honor! Service!” shouting really repulsive. I find it rather undignified. I can’t for one second imagine Picard, Riker or any of the other classic characters doing that in their academy years.

Wow, that looks great! I’m a bit envious. I need to learn how to do that to PRINT ALL THE SHIPS. 😄

Thanks for sharing.

You can’t just talk about your 3D-printed Akira Class and not show it. 🙃

Check out this video at 4:00 to see how the saucer separation works.

In the episode “Lessons” Patrick Stewart had a hand double.

It’s shown in this YouTube Short. Couldn’t find a better source.

Wait until you find out about Picard playing the flute.

Did they swap La’an’s and Erica’s characters? Now Erica has Gorn PTSD and La’an is the easygoing one? At least the latter seemed like a very abrupt character development.

And can the SNW costume designers finally get an Emmy Award please? Or all the awards for that matter? The costumes in this series have been amazing since day 1, and the second episode (particularly the wedding scene) is no exception.

Also, that cameo at the end was chef’s kiss.

So 46 episodes in total. Could have at least made it 47. 🙄

Interestingly the base Pixel 10 seems to have a telephoto lens.

I hope it’s not just a misdirection.

Some random thoughts:

• I like that this current era of Star Trek tries out new styles instead of simply copying the “7-ish crew members stand around on the bridge of a Starfleet ship and go on weekly adventures” formula. Some of those new styles work, others don’t. Section 31 unfortunately didn’t work. But this TV Movie format could be a neat way to try out new things.
• As a lifelong Star Trek fan I liked the species they’ve brought back (Deltans! Cherons!) and giving the tricorders the TNG sound effect was neat too. Also, I’ll have a closer look on the Federation map. I always love those canon tidbits.
• Speaking of canon tidbits, at the end of the movie they go on a mission on Turkana IV. That’s Tasha Yar’s home planet on which the government breaks down sometime in the 2330s. And judging by Rachel Garret being a Lieutenant Commander she’s probably still a decade or so away from commanding the Enterprise-C, so the Section 31 movie is set in 2330s. That means that Section 31 could have a hand in Turkana IV’s government collapse (either causing it or trying to prevent it).
• The characters in this movie behave just as nonsensical as the DISCO characters. They condemn Georgiou for being Literally Space Hitler but in the end they all hug and become best friends. WTF?
• Other than that, this is a generic sci-fi action movie. If it weren’t for the couple of species and namedrops, this wouldn’t have any connection to Star Trek.
• If I had a bar of gold-pressed latinum everytime they produce Star Trek movie featuring Section 31, and that movie then became the worst Star Trek movie at the time, then I had two bars of gold-pressed latinum. Which isn’t a lot but it’s still weird that they made that mistake twice.

Thanks for the chuckle. I needed it today.

It’s fitting that Lieutenant Woof isn’t in the picture.

My favorite little easter egg is that the LOWER DECKS font in the title card now has those blue streaks in the background. Because it’s the 5th season. Just like TNG added those blue streaks in its 5th season.

By the way, that’s why Ransom calls Una “the hottest First Officer in Starfleet history”.

“…nice hat.”