Star Trek The Next Generation Ruminations S1E26: The Neutral Zone

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[@TassieDinkum90]

If I remember correctly, in the ST Novels Ralf Offenhouse ('The Businessman') eventually joins the Federation diplomatic corp and is assigned to the Federation embassy on Ferenginar.

[@tubeviewerX20]

Cool.

[@jesuszamora6949]

He would be at home there if nowhere else.

[@joluoto]

Honestly I'm also quite amazed we survived the 90s.

[@ThePoshboy1]

I'll be surprised if we survive the 21st century.

[@randms2fake]

13:00 There's far simpler explanation. There are two different Borg ships. One that had been travelling near Federation space, eating colonies. Another that was 2 years off and to which Q took the Enterprise to show the threat of the Borg. That would also mean that Q didn't cause the Borgs attack but just prepared Federation to the inevitable confrontation with their local Borg cube.

[@ZonkPJ]

As a note, in the novels, the businessman will end up being the equivalent of Minister of Economy in the Federation. And the woman will become a member of the Departament of Temporal Investigations, and arguably one of their best field agents, if not the best. :D

[@1300l]

What about the musican? :P

[@BlueSatoshi]

@@1300l He goes on tour, performing at various starbases, bringing about a revival of country music.

[@lucasvincent2875]

The singer asked Data to join him later, "find a couple of low-mileage pitwoofies and help them build a memory". I'm pretty sure that's slang for picking up young women.

[@brianstraight9308]

Two, virgin, women in fact.

[@jasoncrowell8863]

The two worst groups of security guards are Federation and in professional wrestling.

[@peterkottke2570]

Ralph Offenhouse: I was just in a turbolift with a grade schooler who told me that Earth's global economy collapsed in the late 21st century and that my money no longer exists. And then he called me Doodyface. Claire Raymond: My kids used to call people Doodyface all the time! ( cries ) Ralph Offenhouse: My point is that you could have just told me! Why would you just let me ramble on like that? Sonny Clemonds: I just asked that sweet talking honey in the computer for a brief summary of all the bygone stuff from the last three hundred years. And then i asked for some cocaine. Whew-ya. Riker: Riker to Data. Who had he figures it out at at the 16 hour mark? Data: That would have been Dr. Crusher sir. Ralph Offenhouse: What a minute! You had a betting pool? What sort of people are you? And without money what did you bet with? Riker: Holodeck time. Normally we use the holodeck to mock and laugh at people from ancient times. but when we found you we just couldn't resist. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I always viewed it as a borg ship simply passing through. A ship grabbed some Federation and Romulan colonies. ( probably some klingon as well ) and moved on. The borg collective didn't find anything interesting enough to warrant further attention. They knew the Federation existed but didn't care. And then in the second season, that changes when a Federation ship does something that piques their interest. ( manages to escape ) And that is enough to warrant the attention of a single borg vessel. The romulans are probably the most biggest enemy in STNG. But that wasn't really established until season 3. While i get Offenhouse's attitude, the simple fact that he doesn't even try to look up the history of what has occurred over the four hundred years makes him an idiot. That he compares the ship to a cruise ship despite knowing he's talking to a military captain doesn't help either. While the security guards are the biggest example, multiple people were told to watch the survivors and either did nothing or picked one survivor and focused their attention completely on that one ignoring the others.

[@wcoleman99]

Then we get the retconn with first contact and it makes me wonder why the hell it didn't head straight to Earth

[@paulscott2037]

I often wondered if the Romulans were at war with a race on the opposite end of their boarders to the Klingons and Federation. Obviously their space extends pretty far into areas of the Beta quadrant Starfleet has never visited.

[@danielyeshe]

I’ve always assumed they were at war with the Breen.

[@resurrectedstarships]

Based on his interactions with the Romulans, that businessman would be a great ambassador to the Romulans, Ferengi, Orion Syndicate, I think he would've found a place specializing in interactions with such people.

[@Kinepho]

Maybe if you want to start another war with the Romulans maybe.....

[@StormsparkPegasus]

Actually, in one of the novels, he does indeed become the Federation ambassador to the Ferengi.

[@thedragondemands5186]

36:00 - "What have the Romulans been doing for 50 years?!" Romulan: "Oh...wouldn't YOU like to know!" They're secretive. It's what they DO.

[@darkskythe1979]

I imagined that the buisnessman would have went back to earth and would get caught up with the centuries polotics or trade guilds. Im sure he would find The Ferengi interesting. He would make a formidable tradesmen with 20th century drive and an understanding of The Rules of Acquisition I believe he would do ok.

[@rdtradecraft]

Regarding the scene between Picard and Offenhouse-virtue signaling does not become you, mister Picard. I can largely forgive Picard this attitude, though. Picard was born into an advanced post-satiation civilization. He has never wanted for anything his entire life and could always take for granted he’d never be hungry, homeless, thirsty, freezing, or without excellent health care if he was sick or injured. It’s easy not to obsess over the accumulation of things when you’ve had certainty of resources just for the asking from the moment you emerged from the womb and your only worry about future supply is purely abstract and relative. He can no more relate to the world Offenhouse and the others come from than we can truly relate to life in the 1500s. For example, 99% of the poor in the US can take for granted access to clean running water, flush toilets, and electricity. A king in the 1500s had none of these. I really like Offenhouse’s reply here, who, unlike Picard, has had no certainty of resources unless he could offer economic value in trade. Offenhouse’s answer speaks to the difference between the accumulation of things, mindless consumerism, and accumulating wealth to secure ourselves against unexpected future costs, injuries, and shortages. (power to control your own life). Picard can call that an illusion if he wants, but he’s in absolutely no position to judge and wholly hypocritical if he thinks he’d do any differently in the same circumstances.

[@MrDalewin]

You know, the title of this series fits perfectly in more ways than one. Yes, it is the next generation, but the actions of these people accurately defined what the next generation would act like towards the last one, at least at first. What I like is that we see them grow as they learn more. They developed, you know, kind of like the next generation.

[@devonanderson2902]

What if the Crystalline Entity wiped out these planets? It would have just gone off to another part of the galaxy after feeding. This could be an incident where the Borg are actually blamed for something they DIDN'T do.

[@Lorerunner]

I like that idea.

[@paulscott2037]

You know I've often thought that the businessman was ultimately asked by the Federation to become a diplomat to deal with the Ferengi.

[@christadaniels1293]

Paul Scott In some of the books he was.

[@TheRetrostorian]

I actually LOVED the mucisian. He was fantastic. I was really hoping his music would be a galactic success and he would be mentioned in future episodes.

[@MrRandomcommentguy]

Neutral Zone was a bizarre episode, it felt like the A and B plots came from entirely unrelated scripts...

[@andrewthorne3570]

You asked "What were the Romulans doing for 50 years?" well, they cloned Picard for a start

[@wcoleman99]

And busy trying to stop a synthetic life uprising

[@ThePoshboy1]

@@wcoleman99 And not preparing for their sun going nova.

[@Eudaimonist]

The businessman is unfortunately the "lone Republican among Democrats" character. The trope can be found in the tv show Family Ties, where of course Michael J. Fox's character (Alex P. Keaton) is the lone Republican, and all of the other characters exist to roll their eyes at how insufficiently Democrat he is. The funny thing about that is that Michael J. Fox's character often made a lot of sense, when he wasn't being straw manned, that is. The businessman is intentionally made stubborn and demanding in order to make his reasonable motivations seem unreasonable. I see him as the hero of the episode, because I hate the utopian preachiness that emerges in a few episodes of TNG.

[@supernoob17]

yes country musicians are widely known to be democrats

[@dirtywashedupsparkle]

This episode was cool. Romulans: 'We are back.'

[@EnvisionerWill]

My guess on the 50-year Romulan silence is that it was politics. There was a dynasty that opposed expansionism or promoted xenophobia, and pushed for the Empire to look within and avoid outside interference. Then eventually that regime was toppled, and a new group of aggressors came to power.

[@obytay]

i vote the holodeck being the main enermy of TNG

[@AnacreonSchoolbagsJr]

The disdain for the people of the past from even the most dignified and generally reasonable character in the series is a view into the limitations of the utopian vision of the future that Roddenberry enforced on the writing for Star Trek. Worth noting that in the 80's the prototypical hated villain character was the wealthy businessman. The lack of followup or character-development culmination on the narrow viewpoint of the crew betrays the shallowness of the writing on this particular episode, likely due to production difficulties you mentioned, but IMO it's just a more obvious example of a problem in tone/premise, a lack of genuine humanity in the writing of the characters, that didn't get fixed until much later in the series

[@resurrectedstarships]

Well IDK...As someone who is an artist I have problems with people who are very materialistic. I did not read Picard as preachy so much as educating the man that the society can exist that is not materialistic. To say we strive simply to 'better ourselves' rings true for someone like me. We strive to improve our best qualities and gifts, without someone else telling us what that is. For me its art, storytelling, and exploration. For you perhaps it is communication, education, engineering, even combat and tactics. Are we not taught in our society that material gain is the ultimate goal and shouldn't we question that value?

[@francoislacombe9071]

I always thought that the Borg in this episode were on a recon mission, one of many that the Collective would send all over the galaxy to pick up samples of interesting technology to assimilate, and that it was only their encounter with Enterprise prompted by Q that singled out the Federation as something they should look into more closely

[@resurrectedstarships]

\o/ Seen this one about 5 times. :D I remember vividly seeing that D'deridex for the first time.

[@nehor90210]

I always loved this episode as a kid watching reruns, but I think it was mostly because I knew it was the last episode of Season 1, and I was always happy to put the season behind me and enjoy better, later episodes. What kept the Romulans busy for 50 years? I have no idea. We do know that in the timeframe of about 20 years before TNG that they were attacking Klingon outposts, Khitomer and Narendra 3, at least, so a prolonged war with the Klingons during some of that time is possible. (Though the Klingons had been allies with the Romulans directly leading up to Khitomer, and if the Klingons had allied with the Federation soon after, wouldn't the Federation have had some direct contact with Romulans as part of assisting the Klingons in a war?) Now that you mention the undefined history gap between the TOS movies and TNG, I'm wondering why the powers that be keep going back to pre-TOS for prequel ideas, when there's a lot of good stuff they could do with that interim period, if they had a mind.

[@DarthRagnarok343]

The business man should become the federation’s main point of contact to the ferengi.

[@Vandalia1998]

DarthRagnarok343 I forgot all about the Frozen people sub plot

[@sirjaunty1]

Another superb rumination Lore. Loving the CGI intro. Brought another Ray of light for me here in the UK. Thanks for the PM. Was really appreciated.

[@EvoPortal]

Dude you look way cooler with your head buzzed like that than you did with the long hair.

[@thedragondemands5186]

20:55 - I thought the pairing off for each of the past people actually made sense; the business guy is the biggest contrast with Picard's high morals about 24th century humanity no longer being driven by the very things that made this guy "successful"; as for pairing off Troi with the housewife...I don't think that was sexist to Troi, I mean logically, she was the only one who was frozen without her knowledge (sudden brain aneurysm), who actually had family she cared about (husband and sons) who she's just learned died hundreds of years ago - she'd be the most traumatized, and logically, the one you'd want the ship psychologist/counselor to stick around most of all. Data and the musician was interesting because a musical instrument is a technical skill, and that whole question of Data exploring human artwork (he can be very technically proficient, he can make an exact replica of master paintings, but making your own art is different - creativity and expression).

[@resurrectedstarships]

What were the Romulans doing for 50 years, good question. There was a Lost Era novel about this, where basically the Tomed Incident was a highly embarrassing awol incident that embarrassed the Romulans to such an extent, along with the new isolationist government, they closed themselves off. But it is still a very long time, perhaps they had to deal with some other rival.

[@danielyeshe]

Resurrected Starships I heard a theory that the Romulans had a war with the Breen. The reasoning being the mention of the Romulan phrase 'Never turn your back on a Breen.'

[@danielyeshe]

Resurrected Starships I heard a theory that the Romulans had a war with the Breen. The reasoning being the mention of the Romulan phrase 'Never turn your back on a Breen.'

[@timriggins70]

The businessman returns in one of the novels as a Federation ambassador.

[@SchneeflockeMonsoon]

I think the reason the Romulans ripped out for 50 years is because their last gambit failed, and the policy changed. We know the last time they popped up they tried to antagonize the Klingons into fighting the Federation, which the Enterprise-C prevented. You can’t tell me they weren’t doing all sorts of plots between them and the Khittomer Accords in Undiscovered Country. But when their biggest gamble failed and the Klingons got pissed at the Romulans directly: they realized “oh shoot, both other major powers have their guns on us, and won’t shoot each other like the old days.” They withdrew and used Starfleet as a buffer against the Klingons while they attended to lesser powers on the other side of their space. They waited for the other two big players to grow tense again or even fight and weaken each other. They waited until they would have the upper hand again, and not get ganged up on. But then the Borg bothered them, and they realized they needed to check on that *now* and would have to move up their plans. Luckily: the Borg, Gowron, Duras, the Dominion, & Q were busy playing “who can make the Federation hit back” enough they didn’t end up getting steamrolled like they feared. As for said Borg incursion: I like to think a cube just came by, saw an odd lane of space where species would cluster around but not go in, and started grabbing colonies to figure out why. It got bored, saw there wasn’t anything worthy going all in over, turned around and went home. It only became interested when the Enterprise showed up way further out than it should have, and they couldn’t for the life of them figure out how it had done that.

[@gallendugall8913]

In short; Star Trek has the worst continuity of any ongoing franchise. Warp and impulse speeds have no set meaning. Maps change radically from episode to episode. Every time the Borg show up they're effectively a completely different species. It is a franchise supported by a small number of excellent episodes like a tent supported by tentpoles.

[@corssecurity]

Good point about Security. Guards are supposed to be in the background and not get in the way. Not bridge officers nor is maintenance but repacking the explodium into the consoles. But they have access to restricted areas on an as needed basis. Standing around gawking, or becoming the focus of attention is unprofessional

[@cjc363636]

I tend to forget that "Conspiracy" isn't the last S1 episode. This wasn't a terrible episode, and did set up the tone of S2.

[@thedragondemands5186]

38:00 No, it is not linear. *It is not linear!*

[@mikebell2112]

All I remember is "We... are back."

[@bernardwalker4282]

I know it’s probably long past the time for this answer but I always think of the main villains of TNG (including movies) as the Borg. It’s simply because of Best of Both Worlds and the fact that it has such a huge impact on Picard and the show. The Romulans never do all that much really do they.

[@evalramman7502]

The strangely cold and indifferent attitude the Enterprise crew displayed towards reviving the 20th Century humans reminds me of the very strangely cold (even awful) attitude the crew of the Enterprise (and presumably Starfleet and the rest of the UFP) displayed towards the species whose planet was dying in the episode 'Homeward.'

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

I feel the isolation of the Romulans is very organic for them... They are a super-secretive race that is really concentrated on developing a new technology & new society with which to take over the universe... 50 years is a long time, but does not feel too long for a project like that.... probably a bit of internal cleansing/purges and politicking too of course...

[@grumpyotter]

In 1995, there was a massive amount of hoopla about a show called "Murder One," that had a storyline that would stretch for the whole season. If I recall correctly, the guilty party was not revealed until the last episode. I remember though, that the advertising and "Oh how groundbreaking!" was very hyped. So I think you are completely right that a season-long story just hadn't previously been done. Fun bit of trivia--the star of Murder One was Daniel Benzali--and he played a Starfleet surgeon in "Samaritan Snare."

[@grumpyotter]

Oh, but about this episode -- I love the idea of this episode, but it was handled in such a clumsy fashion. I like the people from the 20th century, but the way the 24th-century people acted toward them was absolutely ridiculous. Tell me that nobody thought it might be a good idea to have Deanna present when the 20s were awakened? And oh yes, let's have Worf there to scare the crap out of them? I think Clare's story was handled all right (except it has to be the woman who is the only one to show emotion for all she has lost -- eyeroll), and Sonny and Data had a bit of fun, but the one I have the most empathy for is Ralph. He was a man of importance and power, and is suddenly here in this world where he is told to "go away and don't bother us." Now I don't like people like him today, but in this scenario I really felt for him. I understand that everyone was so busy with the Romulans, but it wasn't possible to assign a crewman to him to help him try and contact his people and answer his questions? And act like they weren't totally annoyed with him? I know that would make me feel bad--I can only imagine it would be worse for someone who was used to having people jump at his commands. His frustration leads him to the bridge as contact with the Romulans is made, and then it turns out he is not useless after all--he makes a very keen observation. I actually cheered, "You tell 'em, Ralph!" Now, it was pretty obvious the Romulans were clueless about the attackers, but still, I liked that moment when Ralph said out loud what everyone was thinking. I looked up the actor who played him, Peter Mark Richman. He is 92 years old, and his career began in 1953 and extended to 2016! I assume his age has prevented him acting the last few years, but I think he was an amazing character actor who elevated this episode. Seven decades of work! Wow. I assume the two security officers on the bridge were fired immediately after this. The Captain said, "Get that man off the bridge," and when Ralph said, "I'm not going," they replied, "Okay. We'll just stand here next to you. We're just security. It's okay that you don't want to leave, Ralph." Then when the whole situation is over, the Captain AGAIN orders them to remove him--but this time he is willing to go, so it works. That bit illustrated to me the main problem with this episode--sloppy writing. Sloppy way to introduce the 20s, sloppy way to deal with their challenges, sloppy way to keep Ralph on the Bridge. But it was very cool to see the Romulan vessel appear -- it did look scary!

[@fredrikcarlstedt393]

Benzali also played the illfated W. G. Howe in Roger Moores last James Bond movie, A View To A Kill ( 1985 ) .

[@paynepersons6147]

I heard once from Issac Arthur ( Great Si Fi KZbin channel ) that if a civilization has the tech to revive someone from cryogenic stasis, it strongly implies that they also have the tech for absurdly long 1000 year+ lifetimes.

[@1300l]

I rly dig this episode. Also what bother you don't realy bother me to be honest. I mean we don't have pacience with other cultures that we "evolved".. and this 24th centry federation arrogancy go very high on the movie First Contact. Also.. to be honest.. some can think that we really grow out of our infancy.. i mean.. let's think about us and medieval age.. if we find a medieval person today we would act the same. My theory of the romulan silence is that they had a bunch of civil war with the Remans and took a hit to when the Klingons became allies with the federation they lost they're bigger contribuitor The real antagonist (not bad guy) for me is Q

[@fredrikcarlstedt393]

Offenhouse, the Federation Ambassador to Ferenginar ? Makes a very much latinum lick of sense .

[@andrewwall9708]

One of the reasons people claim a federation-style economy where money doesnt exist would not work is because people would not have any drive and motivation to do something with their lives. The major drive for people in our time is money. People need money to survive so their main goal in life is to make money so that they can live comfortably. You need money for the most essential things like food and shelter. The economy of the 24th century has eliminated that need since people have free access to food and shelter. The thing is, is the acquisition of wealth an innate human drive or is it something we learn? I personally think we all have a drive to explore and to be part of something greater than ourselves. This drive manifests itself in the form of wealth acquisition since we are taught from a very young age that money is important and that one's wealth signifies one's importance and contributions to the world. I firmly believe that if we were taught that the pursuit of knowledge and the betterment of the individual and the collective were important, humans would naturally be inclined to behave like that. Granted, some people even living in a society like the Federation would still be greedy just because that is a personality trait. Still, the Federation is a big place and even they could put their skills and inclinations to good use. Someone whose drive is greed would have an advantage dealing with species like the farangi.

[@TimmythatSquirrel]

I believe that the businessman would have made a great ds9 era UFP-Farengi ambassador

[@jacenstarheart6256]

Hello i have a question if i may, will you be covering Enterprise series eventually, just curious?

[@Vandalia1998]

I forgot all about the Frozen People plot until you mentioned it

[@hereticalramza]

The only explanation for it being the Borg I can think of is that they were trying to spark a war betwixt the Federation and the Romulans to start a war between the two, but even that doesn't really work because why would the Borg even care enough to do that?

[@ChocolatierRob]

Was Edna Mode involved in the creation of that treaty? “No cloaks!”

[@athrunzala6919]

I always liked to think the Romulans were busy for fifty years dealing with other hostile races on the far side of their empire. It's a big galaxy after all, the Federation doesn't surround them.

[@kardy12]

For someone who rants about the preachiness of TNG, you do seem to get a bit preachy yourself... Besides, I wonder if we met someone from 300 or so years ago we’d be that different. Especially if we were in charge of a flagship investigating what looks like unknown assailants targeting outposts - a few curiosities from several centuries ago would be an undesirable distraction. On the main antagonist, I don’t think TNG really had one. They had a number of antagonists, of which I’d probably rank the Borg and the Romulans as the more dangerous ones - the cardassians weren’t strong enough, the ferengi were more comical than dangerous, and I can’t think of many others...

[@ieatvirgins]

I have the feeling most people today would be rather condescending towards a person who had time traveled from the 1650's, even if they had no intention to be. I considered everyone's snobbishness towards the 20th century humans to be an accurate limitation of the human condition: the need to feel that you are now better than you once were.

[@permeus2nd]

thats the one thing that really bugs me about STO the d'deridex is a kind of pants ship when compared to the shows. the bad guys of the shows ied say STo was klingons, TNG romulans, DS9 cardassians flowing into the dominion, VOG mess/mess/borg/mess/borg, ENT its a secret/xindi/cold war, STD the Not klingons.

[@LostMercenary99]

The Borg have made at least one other venture into the Romulan region of the Beta Quadrant at least one time before this. It's where the Hasen Family encountered them. I just assumed the Borg occasionally patrolled the area looking for new races and resources to assimilate.

[@chrisiv1000]

I thought Riker's willingness to ignore the thing made sense, because humans in the 24th clearly don't have much pride in their own history and generally dismiss it. Consider Bashir, for example; he seems more typical of 24th-century people, and Ben Sisko (in "Past Tense) or Tom Paris (TV, 1950s sci-fi, cars, etc.) are unusual in taking a strong interest in 20th-century earth history.

[@joshuafarrow9581]

Same here I've also thought that about the crew. Love the idea of the episode

[@jesuszamora6949]

Synthehol seems mostly found on 10-Forward.

[@danielshottopics8187]

The Neutral Zone was a Copy and Paste of the TOS Episode Balance of Terror the only Difference is that Balance of Terror was a Heavy episode, there were casualties on both sides on both the Romulans and the Enterprise and in the end the Romulan Ship was destroyed. However the Neutral Zone was very light there were no casualties no one was killed and in the end the Romulans and the Enterprise went there Separate ways, ladies and Gentlemen this is Roddenberry's style of writing No casualties no action and in the end everyone goes there Separate ways and peace reigns Supreme.

[@Kinepho]

The Romulans did the same thing after the Earth/Romulan War in the 22nd Century. They went into hiding, rebuilt, studied, observed. After the Tomed incident, they went back into hiding again to watch and handle their own affairs. They knew going toe to toe with the Federation in a battle would cost them just as dearly and did not want to start a fight.

[@mattthericker]

13:11 STO reference - Nicely done.

[@mr51406]

This theoretically ok episode is memorable because it triggers my dreams of how I got onto the Enterprise. One of the survivors, then I got hired by Guinan (because I legitimately was a bartender). Yes a totally Mary Sue fantasy. I’d be exactly 400 years old. 🤑Businessman becomes Federation ambassador to Ferenginar of course. Note to security: what part of “off my bridge” don’t you understand? 😜

[@MrRandomcommentguy]

I really hate how modern TV shows have abused the idea of tight continuity - it's got to the point where the bulk of a given episode is just a placeholder for a big plot revelation and/or cliff hanger at the end (RDM BSG, I'm looking at you) I think DS9 did it right - it fit stand alones and big arcs together seamlessly. the X Files also did that well.

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

13:16_timestamp maybe it was the dominion posing as the Borg...

[@godalmighty1188]

Nothing was resolved! It just... ended! I was like, what!?! What about the outposts? What about the Romulans? What about the people??? Who wrote this tripe? Uhg...

[@rylansato]

I think the frozen people plot mixing with the romulan plot not working from a narrative stand point gives some realism as sometimes things just don’t mix well despite happening at the same time. Everything in all the other episodes happens out of convenience. Why not deal with frozen humans then the Romulans show up?

[@bloxyman22]

Besides the crew looking down on these people from the past, what pissed me off most was how Picard thought it was wrong of Data to save them because they were already dead?? That to me is the same as not trying to bring someone back if they for example have a heart failure. Even before these 90s people had even spoken a single word, you had the crew looking down on them and talking shit in front of them as they were waking up in confusion after centuries in "coma". Pretty much all of the main characters in this episode acted very out of character.

[@williamozier918]

Considering the previous episode was Conspiracy it makes 100% in cannon in universe that Starfleet would send the Enterprise to the Nuetral Zone to make sure the Romulans aren't going to take advantage of the new power vacuum. And as we see the Romulans are in fact back, taking advantage of the power vacuum left by the fall of the parasite conspiracy.

[@ShadowStoryteller]

To use another example of a contiguous storyline, think of all the past Doctor Who episodes from the first doctor to the sixth. Those episodes were all 5 or 6 or once 12 episodes long. Each episode per season was its own story arc.

[@harpercole5321]

Interesting - I knew that Season 2 was affected by the Writers' strike, but didn't realise that it caught the tail-end of S1 as well. This was a decent enough episode, but the two plot threads never really gelled together.

[@chaffsalvo]

There is no power without wealth

[@EnvisionerWill]

It could be very fairly argued that Starfleet's medical technology is so spectacularly amazing that its doctors are terrible. I mean, if you had a gun that fired heat-seeking missiles, would you ever learn how to aim?

[@elenarossi8398]

So Spoiler Alert for anyone who has not watched the rest of TNG maybe it was becauce of the federation/klingon aliance they want to be on top but with the alliance so strong there was probably not much they could do. If the romulans would have gone to war with the federation the klingons would have been happy to help out and I think the federatio would have stepped in if the romulans were the aggressor. So they retreat and shore up their defenses and work on destabilizing the klingon empire bc that is probably easier then trying to go after the federation. Seeing in what kind of state the klingon empire is when we see it in TNG they might have ben more confident for reapearing.

[@maulofamerica]

Given the notion that "money" doesn't exist in TNG's universe as established in this episode, I've always been curious about the appeal of Riker's famous poker games. I know the weekly game serves as a great opportunity for the officers to bond, but characters have commented on how competitive these games are. Exactly what are the participants being so competitive about? I play nickle ante poker with my buddies all the time and the conversations we have are great, but the events are more social than mercenary. Our games take little or no skill as the cost for bluffing is, at most, a dollar (maybe two). Likewise, the cost for bluffing in Riker's games is the loss of chips with literally no intrinsic value. Am I to believe that the "big winners" feel pride for collecting the most shiny buttons? That sort of pride is certainly not something I've experienced even on big nights with my pals when I may end up a whole twenty dollars ahead (whoopee). Thoughts?

[@Farlomous]

I liked the episode, yes it stutters a little but the characters are interesting in their own ways. Most individual episodes of TNG are good, but the lack of continuity throughout the series was a big detriment to the show as it was in TOS. The first season should have been a build up to the return of the Romulans with Conspiracy's ending pointing directly at Romulus. After a few preparatory episodes we finally should have re-encountered the Romulans but ending earl due to the Borg threat that would have happening in the background first with missing ships on both sides and then the colonies. The Romulans would have been more fearful of the Borg, so they would disappear again, and then have Q arrange the intros. Wait a handful of episodes and then do the penultimate episode with the Borg eradicating another Federation Galaxy class, and then do Best of Both Worlds. Sadly, there just never was much thought given big multi episode arcs back then.

[@jef_3006]

I always thought that the events around the Enterprise C’s destruction, and the alliance that resulted from that, caused the Romulans to regroup. The strategy of the Romulan empire for the previous century was “keep the Klingons and Federation divided and at each other’s throats.” With that in mind, the Federation-Klingon Alliance amounted to a failure of the entire Romulan foreign policy. What do you do when you don’t have anything to say? You say nothing. There also very well may have been some political shakeups within the Romulan government over this failure, which would create an inward focus. The Romulan commander in the episode acknowledges that the empire has been gone for too long, and seems to suggest that the empires attention had, somehow, been otherwise occupied. I like the idea that there was a decades long civil war and then reconstruction within the Romulan empire over the governments failure to keep control in the alpha quadrant, and all without the Federation or Klingons being any the wiser. It’s incredibly... Romulan. And of course, all of that is still off by about 30 years. Which also means that when they say there hasn’t been any contact with the Romulans in 50 years, that’s simply not true, but whatever

[@danielyeshe]

I can't for the life of me remember where I heard this but I remember hearing an explanation. Basically a Borg ship was destroyed by a kamakarzi of a Warbird. To me that wraps it up. Borg destroyed and nobody knows what happened because the ship engaging them was destroyed too.

[@summersetbanjo7440]

I always imagined that the business man would go off to Ferengi territory and use his business knowledge there to gather significant success and fortune to himself as of all the societies their's would be the closest he would be familiar with and best to handle. I'm a bit shocked that they didn't bring the business man back for a episode of Ds9 since they had Marc Almino around pretty often.

[@tee_es_bee]

Before seeing what you are going to say, my reactions to the episode: 1.) How did they not know that there were human beings on board? Even if they didn't register as alive, it is organic matter and they should have ... like good sensors on the Enterprise. *facepalm* 2.) Gender selection for the archetypes pictures by the survivors is so eighties inappropriate. *eyeroll* 3.) Why does the computer allow access to the bridge to a random person? Aren't there like kids who might not fully understand the consequences of frivolous access to the bridge? *eyeroll* 4.) How is Mr. Offensive not noticed entering the bridge? Furthermore, how are two security officers have trouble with his removal? *facepalm* 5.) How is Mr. Offensive not thrown into the Brig as a consequence of item 4. *facepalm* 6.) How is it possible that humanity is beyond such bad things as alcohol intoxication, but it is still possible for the musician to order a Martini? *eyeroll* 7.) Shouldn't Dr. Crusher have some form of reaction to the casual butt tap? I mean at least explain to the fellow that this not fly in the eightie... sorry, in the 24th century. *eyeroll* 8.) We don't know how to signal that we switched to Romulans from this point on, so we bash you over the head with subtle lines like "we are back" over and over, while not actually resolving the A plot of the episode. That writing. *facepalm* 9.) Didn't know Gul Dukat was a Romulan. Mr. Alaimo has the most awesome delivery. (Even though what he is saying is ... well see point 8.) 10.) Cota: We got funded and still can't write worth a lick. So, we'll just keep beating you over the head with overt statements. I feel much better already. :) Now, let's hear what you have to say. ;)

[@rexremedy1733]

i always assumed that the neutral zone was expanded mutually when both powers expanded into the direction of the delta quadrant.

[@kylecaffyn-parsons8163]

I've felt that it was a pretty ehh episode, I've always been of the belief that TNG's big bad guy was Q - but that's more so because of the way the show starts, continues and ends.

[@DrownedInExile]

Wow. I thought this episode and its hilarious lapses in ship security was bad, your insights made me realize it's even worse! And this drek was supposed to be the season1 finale? How did TNG not get cancelled??

[@brentc2411]

I'd say the Kazon are the villain of Voyager

[@ssmsmdffff]

I liked the idea of both the Federation and Romulans having their colonies destroyed and them having to figure out whether each other did it. This was a fun episode and I wish the writing had been a bit more polished. Funny you would ask about the show's bad guy after this episode (first Ddex appearance), as a kid I always considered the D'deridex ship itself to be the ultimate baddy of the show. Now I would probably say Q, as he appears in the first and last episodes.

[@JerseyFan]

It was the borg! Maybe they just came across the settlements and removed, assimilated and went on the course back to the Delta quadrant, why is that so hard to believe...think 3 dimensional and space is mainly barren, who says the course the borg was on would take them deeper into federation or Romulus territory...this was best episode of season one, especially the scene on bridge near end...fish out of water episode...and in 1989 your prospective would have been very different... yeah as a young kid you realized this, 30+ yrs ago come on...

[@SexycuteStudios]

Lore was six years old when this episode came out.....

[@tubeviewerX20]

Too bad Federation doctors didn’t have the tech to revive the dead in “Who Watches the Watchers”.

[@kazuonamikiri6556]

Wait,low mileage woopties means cars? I thought it meant young women who had had subjectively few previous partners.

[@gpfoster1966]

That was my understanding as well. In fact, I've always heard that expression as "low mileage pit-woofies." And the "help them create a memory" means, well... The dead-pan look on Data's face as he walks away, to me, makes that exchange hilarious! Data is, after all, "fully functional." And... it's keeping in Sonny's character. When Dr. Crusher refuses to give him anything because there's no medical need, he just can't help but tell her that she's "about the prettiest doctor I've ever seen," as he pats her on her butt. Curiously, that scene is the very last we see of Dr. Crusher until she returns after the Dr. Pulaski failed experiment.

[@crazymonkeyvk714]

I legit just watched this today, while recovering from the flu....

[@scottkrametbauer90]

So The Neutral Zone is a Gray 17 is Missing, aka half a good episode

[@bryanburgess3950]

I'd say the main bad guy of TNG was Q

[@DrLynch2009]

Bye bye baby face Riker.

[@Eric_Hutton.1980]

Is counselor Troy the Ringo Starr of The Next Generation?

[@lucasvincent2875]

Hey, Ringo is my favorite!

[@Kinepho]

Ivanova would literally CHEW through the bulkheads to get out.

[@EnvisionerWill]

What's the DS9 quote mentioned at around 33:00?

[@Lorerunner]

I forget the episode but it's Jake to Nog. "We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity!" "But what does that mean exactly?"

[@EnvisionerWill]

@@Lorerunner Ah, I see what you mean. Thanks. I've been hoping to get a response to you from a number of my comments, but I understand you're super-busy, so I'll just appreciate the few moments when it does manage to happen.

[@Ashin-Jast]

You know ironicly enough. If this had been about the farangi this busniess man would have had more purpose.

[@setojurai]

Its the Romulans

[@DJonScott]

The main bad guy for TNG was also the Borg.

[@ciabattalebeau8048]

The Federation should sick the businessman on the Ferengi for there trade deals.

[@jamespepper8671]

romulans waiting for Enterprise C

[@Malandirix]

Just rewatched the episode. I really like premises of both the "A" and "B" storylines but, as you said, the writing is just so awful. Still enjoyable to an extent.

[@tylisirn]

I agree, but I don't think they belong in the same episode. The execution of the past people storyline was also really poor in general, not just in writing. But if it had been given its own episode (sans production problems) I think it could have been something good.