A Look at Tin Man (Star Trek TNG)

[@Eyetrauma]

Yeah Will it must be awful to be someone that caused a catastrophe, that’s very troubling. Say, how is the Pegasus doing?

[@andrewshearsby8125]

And Will? It was your mates fault the mess happened he didn't listen to Tam telling him don't do A do B...

[@scockery]

They revisit this with Ensign Ro.

[@ravenwilder4099]

Outside of Psycho Janeway, Chuck usually isn't that great at character voices, but that delivery of "Oh, the courthouse ..." just SLEW me.

[@Thraim.]

How dare you, Picard's "Not in the face, not in the face" is iconic!

[@idiotsloveboxes]

I’ve always believed this is a really important episode of TNG, alongside Hallow Pursuits. Why? Because it shows a citizen of the Federation who isn’t happy or Roddenberry style “perfect.” Tam & Lt Barclay don’t live in “paradise.” They live with all the personal & emotional & relational conflicts that we live with in real life. I love the episode Tin Man because it brings the world of Star Trek down to Earth.

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

You ae railing against a strawman version of the Federation you made up. Nobody ever said Federation citizens, or let's look at Earth humans in particular, _are_ "perfect". But that the Federation's ethics, educational standards and level of socioeconomic and technological development allow for a society where things like malnutrition, slavery, economic exploitation, social hierarchies, religion and ecological pollution are gone, people are educated to value the virtues of the Enlightenment (rationality, end of prejudice and superstition), where neurological knowledge and medical/psychological treatment allow most physical and mental conditions to be diagnosed and treated early in childhood so children don't have to grow up suffering from debilitating illnesses, life-shortening inherited genetic syndromes, disfigurements, depression, schizophrenia, brain damage from prenatal malnutrition or parental alcoholism, drug use, and all the other problems that block you from exploring your potential. Yes, Barclay has hefty emotional issues that impact his life and work... but he can easily get help and treatment for it, for free, and no-one looks down on him for getting said treatment! They just expect him to make the damn effort, because let's be frank Barclay _chose_ a job in Star Fleet, working with sensitive technology in outer space, so any screw-ups he makes _might directly endanger the lives of other people!_ Barclay's main problem is _himself;_ when he skips work and skips therapy sessions and instead goes to the holodeck to indulge in a fantasy, that's not compatible with being a Star Fleet officer or scientist. If Barclay wants to spend all his time in holodecks, he can do that... on Earth.

[@isaaco5679]

Being a devout introvert i fully sympathize with his annoyance with other humanoids.

[@kevinramsey417]

I have always theorized that much like B'Elanna Torres only got three plot lines on Voyager, Deanna Troi only got three kinds of storylines on TNG and those were Sleeps WIth Someone, Mommy Issues and Psychic Shenanigans.

[@jimibaboza]

Deanna Troi: Psychic Shenanigans. The spin off I never knew I needed till now.

[@Talisguy]

It's so limiting. This is a story set in her supposed area of expertise and one of the times having a therapist be a bridge officer and regular cast member should have paid off, and she _still_ plays second fiddle to Data. I mean, part of the problem is that the writers didn't understand how to write her on the job - Troi is constantly doing things that real counselling students are taught not to do in their first year, and Guinan is a way better counsellor because the writers just gave her a personality that matched the skillset an actual therapist would need - but they also never seemed interested in having her supposed expertise in psychology actually matter to the plot.

[@andrewklang809]

Also possessed by aliens: Clues, Man of the People, and Power Play. Could even throw in The Child, in a way.

[@anjetto1]

She also got raped a bunch

[@MrGranten]

@@Talisguy It is odd that they decided to make Guinan do everything Troi was supposed to be doing.

[@Willpower-74205]

Cool trivia: The sound effects of Tin Man's interior were created by sound editor James Wolvington, who recorded his own stomach noises with a stethoscope to create an unearthly alien sound for the creature. 🖖😝👍

[@ThomasRoiloup]

The version I heard is that he ate an entire pizza first.

[@darktenor4967]

Surprisingly, I always liked this one. when I watched it as a 12 year old in the mid nineties, I loved all the weird alien shenanigans, especially the design of the alien ship and Ron Jones' great score. When I watched it as a young adult, I actually appreciated that the guy who; through no fault of his own, is a bit of an abrasive arsehole is given a fairy tale ending and a place where he belongs. He doesn't need to "learn a lesson", or "change his ways", because in this instance, he's already trying his best to fit in with people around him, creating screwups along the way, but he gets his fairy tale ending anyway. Interestingly enough, I've been rewatching the series with my wife recently; who hadn't seen it before, and we both enjoyed this one again, just for the pathos.

[@davidrohde2636]

My annoying character award goes to Riker for his dismissal of Tam being proven innocent in the incident that caused him to abandon humanoids.

[@marshallhuffer4713]

1:20 - Dennis Russell Bailey even said that he considers "Samaritan Snare" as "the most abysmal piece of Star Trek ever filmed."

[@andrewshearsby8125]

I do hate Will hating Tam when it was Will's mate who screwed up...

[@kradeiz]

At least Tam got to call Will “Billy boy”. That one lives in my head rent-free.

[@andrewshearsby8125]

@kradeiz agreed

[@IamMeHere2See]

I had completely forgotten about this episode of TNG. As such, the rating fees appropriate.

[@ImperatorPenguin]

Tin Man: When a man's an empty kettle He should be on his mettle And yet I'm torn apart Just because I'm presumin' That I could be a human If I only had a heart I'd be tender, I'd be gentle And awful sentimental Regarding love and art I'd be friends with the sparrows And the boy that shoots the arrows If I only had a heart Picture me a balcony Above a voice sings low Dorothy: Wherefore art thou, Romeo? Tin Man: I hear a beat, how sweet! Just to register emotion, jealousy, devotion And really feel the part I could stay young and chipper And I'd lock it with a zipper... If I only had a heart ...yeah I know, but I'm like Bob Hope. Someone tee's a joke, I have to hit it!

[@Maxdoll-v1q]

For those unfamiliar with the Wizard of Oz concert, picture Roger Daltrey!

[@ThomasRoiloup]

I loved this episode back in the day, in the "old man looking back" sort of way I guess, because I remember when this show was still airing, almost any episode was nice and comfy to watch the crew deal with a self-contained mystery. There was something about watching a really solidly made "business as usual" episode that is the whole reason I wanted to watch the show in the first place.

[@anjetto1]

I watched this episode as a young teen. And it helped me realize that people think before they speak. The concept that he read peoples minds as they figured out what they were going to say before they say it was completely foreign to me.

[@TF2CrunchyFrog]

Now I am baffled. Do you _not_ have constant thoughts in your mind, even when you are not speaking? Do you not have several layers of thoughts, both voiced and unvoiced, visuals and emotions running on in your head at all times (with perhaps a side order of music snippets playing in the background), coming together to form a sentence? Especially when you have to i.e. give a presentation speech, instead of just making random casual conversation (where you can get away with um and ah and half-finished sentences)?

[@anjetto1]

@TF2CrunchyFrog If I have to give a presentation, I memorize my script and just recite it verbatim. I used to do stand up so between bits id vibe crowd mood. As I've gotten older I've made a deliberate effort to "do the math" on what I'm gonna say. But still, about 75% of the time, things just come out and I keep going until it's funny. Still when I talk there is no buffer or delay unless I'm very, very deliberately in a serious conversation but then people have commented that I take so long to reply that they can see me do the math. Outside of that, nothing. I wrestle now and I just have nothing in my head except the spots and bumps. Edit: I can listen to music in my head or replay movie scenes or imagine a drawing, but that's when I'm deliberately trying to do that. Whatever I'm doing, there's nothing but that going on and there was never any thought in what I was saying

[@bradwolf07]

Looking pretty bad (in hindsight) there COMMANDER RIKER. Those in Glass Starships shouldn't throw Romulan stones... I remember this review. The anology Chuck used to explain Tam's power always struck me as tragic. It definitely made me realize what torture Tam experienced from the vast majority of people

[@All2Meme]

Sad as it is, there are people who have a similar problem to Tam Elbrun's in real life. Being around other people presses in on them, and so they isolate themselves in order to get away from what seems like everyone trying to get inside their head.

[@rosswieloch1115]

Hello could even become mayor with that power. Me who also watched Buffy: 😂😂😂

[@murrvvmurr]

I love love love 💓 the music of the romulan attack. Chef kiss 💋

[@lexington476]

5:02 this is how I'm going to start giving directions now 🙂.

[@andylikesstuffchannel]

Tim Man always a Stand out of TNG funny the actor is the main Bad Monster in Buffy the Vampire season 3 he's the Mayor so many years later

[@boobah5643]

Hence 8:05 in the video.

[@Maxdoll-v1q]

I think your banana peel skit could work. Lots of tense near-misses, with self-important people; then an 'ordinary' person (janitor, child, dog) actually picks up the banana peel and disposes of it.

[@Afterburner215]

Its silly, but I find this episode among my favourites of TNG. I felt connected to Tam and Data's dichotomy and feelings of alienation and being 'different', although maybe that's just me.

[@killerbee2562]

Hey that's the mayor from Buffy!

[@Dragonangel426]

4:33 Well looky here, Nicotine Nemo telling some stories.

[@jonahfalcon1970]

I wonder if Janeway evokes howls of anguish and fright more than Archer or Tam.

[@andrebrynkus2055]

Definitely for Braxton of the Federation time cops.

[@andrewklang809]

She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

[@jonahfalcon1970]

@@andrewklang809 The third part of the Thomas Covenant Saga?

[@sirequinox4874]

I think the episode is saved by having an interesting idea at its core, which so many episodes of ST:TNG lack. Better an interesting idea with a dearth of emotional involvement than a dull idea and nothing but emotional involvement.

[@stevena488]

Why do I get the feeling that Court House guy happened?

[@dan-juderobinson7555]

This was my first ever Star Trek episode.

[@anjetto1]

Not the worst way to start

[@tarvoc746]

I have no idea if that was intentional, but I have an Asperger's Syndrome diagnosis and this episode resonated with me.

[@rurrjh]

I was going to post similar. Essentially listening to people tell you what they already know is essentially high functioning ASD

[@BobSentell]

This episode is why I call “baby yoda” Gumtu instead of its real name.

[@SteveMacSticky]

Picard is such a limp wristed officer. Rikers a doosh.

[@Tomwithnonumbers]

Chuck celebrating the debut of Wicked?

[@postjm9]

This seemed like such a waste of Harry Groener, who is really a great performer.

[@MKDumas1981]

He came back as United Earth minister Nathan Samuels in _Enterprise._

[@scockery]

I disagree. He pulls off the "guest of the week taking the spotlight" role well, Tam's cursed and it makes humanoid interactions painful, he but sells it as such that he's more sympathetic than another actor might have been in the part.