Star Trek Retro Review: "Relics" | Trek Legend Guest Stars Episodes

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#startrek #startrekthenextgeneration #startrektng #review

[@TheYoungDoctor]

I like the fact that Data is the only character to have scenes with all three original series cast in TNG: Bones, Spock and Scotty.

[@TheYoungDoctor]

@@toddfraser3353 true. Although I was only talking about the TV series.

[@endlesswick]

When Scotty tells Geordi to not tell the Captain exactly how long it will take to complete a task, but to instead say it will take longer than it actually should, speaking as an engineer that is good advice.

[@speedracer1945]

You don't want Scotty as a car mechanic since he would up your labor costs .

[@matthewsever]

This is good for every field of work. I do this all the time at work every job I have.

[@marsneedstowels]

The best systems have a bit of redundancy to them.

[@reallyWyrd]

That was my favorite scene. Whether or not one chooses to be more like Scotty or more like Geordi is a personal choice IMHO. Both approaches have their benefits.

[@stahlwerk812]

@@speedracer1945 as if real mechanics don't do that

[@TakaComics]

You should have mentioned the ending scene with Geordi and how it ties into Scotty’s arc. Scotty is trying to tell Geordi stories of how his engineering prowess saved the day, and Geordi is having none of it. But as they’re walking to the shuttle bay, Scotty is the one listening to Geordi’s story of HIS creative engineering saving the ship, and getting truly excited about his solution. It’s brilliant writing and pacing.

[@mrgreatbigmoose]

You soured the milk! It's a great line!

[@danilejai7801]

I assumed that the civilization that built the Dyson sphere was ancient and that they abandoned the sphere after thousands of years living there.

[@RadzPrower]

Same. The civilization may have left when the star started failing or may have collapsed due to unrelated reasons long before the star became a problem. Building the sphere around a flawed star was never something that had even entered my mind.

[@Kleion_RFB]

It's been a long time since I've read it, but I think the novelization implied that the people who'd lived in the sphere accidentally destabilized it.

[@richardpc7097]

I thought the same thing. Think how long it would have taken to build that.

[@BS-vx8dg]

@@richardpc7097 To me the bigger question is . . . would there be enough physical matter within a solar system to build a complete Dyson sphere? Almost certainly not. Even a Nivenesque Ringworld would probably need more than you could put together. Dyson spheres are just cool concepts, but impossible in reality. Even if you had all the construction technology needed, you just wouldn't find enough mass. Oh, maybe if you could go out to 100,000 AU and gather in the entire Oort Cloud, but , c'mon.

[@seandobbins2231]

​@@BS-vx8dga civilization capable of creating a Dyson's Sphere would be advanced enough to have interstellar travel and be capable of obtaining raw materials across great distances. Realistically, a civilization with that capability wouldn't be limited to one solar system for materials.

[@queenannsrevenge100]

I always loved the banter between Scotty and Geordi about the 42/15 regulation on tank pressure. “I wrote the bloody thing” 😂

[@jonjohns8145]

It's also true .. most engineers ARE more conservative on the books than in real life.

[@giladpellaeon1691]

"Never tell the captains how long it really takes or they'll want it that fast all the time." Can't remember the exact quote but I loved that bit of the banter.

[@rmeddy]

The scene with Picard and Scotty is very good, especially with the reveal of where Guinan got the Alderbaran Whiskey from and him downing it like a boss. Doohan and Stewart really bounced each other well Top tier Picard moment

[@feralstorm]

I was one of those people who got into Trek with TNG and movies, getting around to the original series much later. It was a fun revelation to find out the "It is GREEN." Joke was a callback as well.

[@MattMcIrvin]

That callback to "By Any Other Name" was my favorite moment in the episode.

[@zombiedoe3404]

oh god i just realised thats where part of my vocabulary came from. when i cant think of a good answer i just give the most frustratingly vague answer i can think of

[@extrasmallrobin1804]

always loved the line "here's to you lads" from the holodeck scene, its such a sad little moment

[@JamesC1981]

with the sad music looking onto that empty bridge

[@patrickdodds7162]

Glad you did a shout out to the great Ronald D. Moore for the writing of this wonderful episode. He also wrote "Tapestry" along with contributing to "Chain of Command" in season 6 alone. He was to TNG what Nicholas Myer was to the TOS movies.

[@powerbadpowerbad]

Ronald went on to help bring the new Battlestar Galactica series to life,it was a-GREAT tv show too.

[@AxlePineapple]

the older i get the more i appreciate the theme in this episode of growing old and feeling increasingly out of place in the modern world. i also really love the fact they didn't fall into any fanficcy traps like having him be instantly at home with the workings of the enterprise D because he's scotty. (i seem to remember in star trek online they have him tinkering on the enterprise J and that's just silly).

[@powerbadpowerbad]

The theme of growing old is constant with the title of this episode: RELICS.This also pertains to modern society of today,so many times i see young people calling senior citizens they're old,to their face.Very rude and disrespectful,something I'd never do,Taught to respect my elders.

[@reallyWyrd]

My favorite part was how Scotty's and Geordi's conflicting opinions on engineering and how it should be done made both characters feel more real, and also deftly retconned the way that Scotty used to keep saying it was impossible, but then seemingly do the impossible like ten minutes later. And what's funniest of all is how simple the answer is. And that, that answer also adds to the realism of both characters.

[@ericgeyer3213]

While they didn't force it on the audience, there seemed to be some offscreen discussion of the previous missions. When escorting Scotty to the shuttle bay, Geordi is providing the final solution he and Dr. Brahms came up with to get the space faring lifeform detached from the Enterprise in Galaxy's Child. Complete with Scotty providing the layman's description, "So you soured the milk!". I would assume Geordi had also listened to some of Scotty's exploits.

[@aswxwing]

By far one of my favourite TNG episodes, It's a feel good episode with some great character beats. My favourite moment is when Scotty is taken to his quaters aboard the Enterprise and starts rambling about some ancient mission. And then crewman assigned to him essentially says 'sorry gotta go' and Scotty is left standing there looking sad and dejected. Brutal stuff.

[@Willpower-74205]

There's a deleted scene that took place between Scotty's falling-out with Geordi and meeting Data in Ten Forward where Troi visits Scotty in his quarters. Although he initially appreciates her company (she's an attractive woman, after all) he storms out after she explains what a ship's counselor is, suspecting that LaForge had sent her there to psychoanalyze him. It also adds a bit of trivia: the position of ship's counselor was created 40 years ago to help the crew deal with long missions in space. 🖖😎👍

[@Mireille7458]

I JUST saw this one this morning on BBC America so it's fresh in my mind. James Doohan is so good on this episode.

[@sirnik84]

This scene from the episode is a serious life lesson. Good advise when dealing with most bosses. Geordi : Look, Mr. Scott, I'd love to explain everything to you, but the Captain wants this spectrographic analysis done by 1300 hours. [La Forge goes back to work; Scotty follows slowly] Scotty : Do you mind a little advice? Starfleet captains are like children. They want everything right now and they want it their way. But the secret is to give them only what they need, not what they want. Geordi : Yeah, well, I told the Captain I'd have this analysis done in an hour. Scotty : How long will it really take? Geordi : An hour! Scotty : Oh, you didn't tell him how long it would *really* take, did ya? Geordi : Well, of course I did. Scotty : Oh, laddie. You've got a lot to learn if you want people to think of you as a miracle worker.

[@josephheston9238]

Also, when Scotty and Geordi are back on the _Jenolen_ ,Scotty defers rank to Geordi, giving Geordi command when he said "Lad, I may be a Captain in rank, but my first love will always be an engineer".

[@gordon1891]

Loved relics. I remember watching it with my Grandma (the person who helped me become a Trekkie) & I'll be honest It was funny & heart warming watching her joy of seeing Scotty return & her acting like some over half her age getting all giddy about "Of my days it's Scotty." Happy days & a great episode

[@michaelramon2411]

When you brought up Captain Shaw, I thought you were going to mention that he is also a character who views a legacy character (Picard and Riker) differently from how the audience does. The fact that he's a fan of Geordi adds some interesting irony, I suppose.

[@ajaiiz]

The funniest character interactions in Relics were between Scotty and Worf.

[@SteveShives]

Scotty's silent discomfort around Worf is great, I agree.

[@antarfodoh]

Lieutenant?!

[@agent_meister477]

And unlike *some* people, Scotty was polite enough not to ask about the forehead ridges.

[@dw7704]

@@agent_meister477 well he saw those in the TOS movies

[@mikerhodes8454]

My favorite scene in this episode was when Scotty is departing, shakes hands with the TNG crew, and just glares at Worf.

[@herbertholland924]

My favorite moment in this episode is when Scotty asks Data what the Alcohol bottle is, and Data Replies with "it's Green". This was a callback to TOS when someone asks Scotty what the Alcohol bottle is, and Scotty Replies with "it's Green".

[@LBVidiot]

I ran a Star Trek Adventures game set during the Dominion War. In my game, Scotty came out of retirement to head up the creation of a reserve fleet, taking old mothballed ships and retrofitting them to useful vessels again. The idea was that the reserve ships could free up newer models to fight in the war (and gave him a chance to play miracle worker and experiment with old parts to make them relevant in modern space). The characters were flying a retrofitted USS Stargazer, looked after a young engineer student of Scotty. Etched into the arm of the captain’s chair were the words, “Love again.”

[@spacepiratecaptainrush1237]

Relics is I think my favourite TNG episode. And honestly my opinion of it grew the more I learned about James Doohan as a person.

[@RemixedVoice]

Hey Steve hope you're doing well. Relics is a great episode. Stay real

[@dimone]

I am in agreement with everything you’ve said with exception that the episode never feels rushed. There is one moment at the very end of the story. Geordi and Scotty are heading to 10 Forward to toss back a few, when Geordi has a surprise for the elder engineer. They head to a shuttle bay, the main bridge crew is there (including Deanna in her only appearance in the episode), loan him a shuttle, and bye-bye Scotty. It’s rushed. Whenever I rewatch it, I keep wanting the scene to play out almost exactly the same way, instead of the quick goodbye we get the group heading out of the shuttle bay to join Geordi and Scotty at the bar to listen to some of the legendary stories from someone who was there. Still it is a great episode.

[@cosmicphoto05]

I love that this episode had so much more heart than simple fan service. Also, I really felt for Scotty. It's gotta be so disorienting to realize that all your friends, family, everyone you ever knew, are gone. 😭

[@patrickdodds7162]

Steve, I'm hoping in this series of reviews you'll cover Voyager's "Flashback" and Enterprise's "These Are the Voyages..." and give those strangely similar episodes the critical shellacking that they so richly deserve.

[@SteveShives]

"Flashback" is coming up in the next few weeks. "These Are The Voyages" I'm saving until I do a run of all the classic series finales.

[@patrickdodds7162]

@@SteveShives Cool! Will Voyager's "Death Wish" be among the crossover reviews? It's a really well done and thoughtful crossover event that surprisingly got a lot of publicity back in 1996 (including the cover of TV guide).

[@SteveShives]

@@patrickdodds7162 I'm saving "Death Wish" for when I do Q episodes.

[@scaper8]

I don't hate "Flashback" but it is really "meh." I know that's not what Steve is going for, but I think it's most interesting when compared with "Trials and Tribble-ations." Both were written and produced for _Star Trek's_ 30th anniversary, and both aired in the same week as a result. However, both handle their rather nostalgic subject matter very differently, and, despite "Trials and Tribble-ations" being the more lighthearted and jocular of the two, seems to handle its nostalgia better. I'd be interested in Steve comparing and contrasting them, their merits, strengths, and weaknesses.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@SteveShives man, I'm always impressed by how together you are, with keeping track of all your episode ideas and plans etc far ahead of time. So I shouldn't really be surprised you've got what seems like a year's reviews planned out, yet I am! Kudos!

[@grey1213a]

I mean, this is one of the best legacy stories. Don't get me wrong, that scene on the holodeck does make me want to cry, but not for nostalgia, it's because it's a sad scene. It's Scotty's darkest point. And we feel bad for him and are with him there (thanks to that great writing you were talking about... and maybe a lit bit of... well it's green). It's heartbreaking; it's about nostalgia, letting go, and a desire to continue being useful even after age has taken any kind of toll. I recant my first sentence. It's not one of the best, it's THE best episode with a legacy character. Don't at me; Unification is a decent episode, but this is a much more universal story

[@RonJomero]

Ah the episode that taught millions of people what a Dyson Sphere was. As for the aliens' foresight about building the sphere, it's plausible that they built it hundreds of millions of years ago and merely abandoned it only thousands of years ago. Like governments of today do, why worry about problems that are in the distant future?

[@mmac7314]

Yay! For the Ron Moore shout out! … you could add he went on to show run and write the reboot Battlestar Galatica!

[@brittoncooper1251]

The bit about nostalgia being a dead-end hits particularly hard in today's political environment. "Everything I need to know in life, I learned from watching Star Trek."

[@MeNoOther]

Exactly, Steve! We don't need nostalgia shows like Picard season 3 or Star Trek Legacy, which would be more of the same. Besides, Lower Decks is the "Legacy Show," and it is great for what it does, showing nostalgia along with new ideas. If we get a new show, they should be 26th Century or 32nd Century continuing on to the future. Besides, ai and fanfiction will fill out the in-between eras. Paramount+ might even have an option for short Treks to be made from fan prompts, with the current progress of ai.

[@Nehelenia3000]

Ok this is scary. I literally rewatched this episode earlier today (and also Up The Long Ladder, which is a banger. Don’t at me). And yes, Scotty is my favorite tos character.

[@kjodleken8810]

Up the Long Ladder has that one great line: "Send in the clones."

[@theonlymatthew.l]

Lanei Chapman (Ensign Rager) also played Lt Damphousse in 'Space : Above & Beyond'. A criminally underrated show

[@MadDragon-lb7qg]

The novel adaptation of this episode extends the Holodeck scene, including Holographic versions of the original crew.

[@CrystalHickerson]

OK you have made me feel much better about how rude Geordi was. It makes sense to me now. Thank you!! I love this episode!! "It brought a tear to me eye" 😊

[@TheMumbaGames]

Relics for me is a great balance between characters and tech trek. One of my favourites too. Thanks Steve!

[@madmannc]

Nerd Talk: I always thought that the the Stargazer, a constellation class starship that was build roughly around the same time as the constitution refit and excelsior, would have not only been familiar to Scotty, but he possibly had a hand in the design of it. Then Scotty and Picard would have had an even greater bonding moment talking about how wonky the aft sensors were, or whatever.

[@seantlewis376]

Nicely done. Relics was one of my favorite episodes from the get-go, and the older I get, the more I like it. Also, Scotty was my favorite TOS character.

[@sunyavadin]

He was ALWAYS my favourite! :D It's why I loved Relics so much when the show was first airing.

[@garysouza95]

"It is green" Also, Scotty's knowledge of 75 year old technology saves the day as he works with Jordy. Nothing to sneeze at.

[@Vilamus]

In a similar vein to the Shaw-Geordi scne in Picard, I think you can add in Boimler's notificatoin of the USS Titan coming to save the Cerritos in Lower Decks. Yes, Boimler is squeeing over the Titan appearing like I personally did, but the situation is so desperate that, honestly, in universe, anyone would squee over the ship coming to help them.

[@kaitlyn__L]

Yeah, my dad didn't know anything about the Titan, nor remembered the one piece of dialogue from Nemesis saying that's where Riker went. That moment worked just fine for him as a bigger tougher ship coming to save them, and the "it's another Enterprise!" line got a chuckle from him. Seeing it was Riker's ship made him go "oh!", a few seconds later, but he wasn't going "oh my god it's Riker's ship!" (like he did about some aspects of the Stargate SG1 movies for instance).

[@FordLancer]

One of the most heartbreaking comic stories I’ve read is Star Trek annual # 3 Scotty’s True Love. It takes place shortly after the wrath of kahn and Scotty is told some tragic news. He reminisces the events from recent to when he was a child involving his true love.

[@haqitman]

Nice review. One of my top 10 favorite TNG eps.

[@Daniel.Youngblood13]

12:46 that kinda helped me in a way because lately I've been stuck in a nostalgic place recently and Im having these feelings about the past and it was kinda getting down. But hearing Steve say this pulled me out of it. Great words.

[@mgee669]

Your own excellent analysis is actually a poignant analysis of itself. It's great! Thank you! Yes we all miss tos and the episode makes it clear that you can't go home again

[@williamelliott5525]

In my head canon, the retirement colony Scotty was heading too was the planet of the Scottish stereotypes from Sub Rosa.

[@clubtepes2046]

Seriously, in my opinion, one of the most intelligent and well thought out Star Trek commentators out there. As I watched this, I also couldn't help but think about many of the Star Trek 'super fans' out there who automatically despise anything that isn't their beloved TOS or TNG. They themselves, as you said, try to live in the past to the point of......... pointlessness. In the case of Picard (Season 3), these people give it a pass, because............ It's the TNG cast....... that's it. While I like Picard season 3, I can't help but think that the whole story couldn't have been told in a '2 Parter'. It lacks the efficiency of writing that you describe and while you gave the Shaw-Geordi gush scene a pass, it was an over-the-top stand out of fanboy-ism that I couldn't get past. Only topped by the visual tour of all the ships in the museum (almost exclusively ships that we've seen in previous shows and movies - giving the impression that nothing else happened in that universe) and the interacting dialogue between 7of9 and Jack, where he gushes over the refit design. In fact, while I love Bill Krause's work as a Star Trek modeler and his design of the 'Shangra-La' (The inspiration of the Titan refit) it's TMP era design feels shoehorned into the Picard era and the upscaling of its length to fit the size of the other ships in that time, is not supported by the TMP era window patterns as compared to the enormous amount of windows and decks on ships like the 'C' 'D' and 'E' that help to convey the scale of those vessels. I do love that a fan is being recognized in this fashion, but perhaps the more 'realistic' approach would to have been to make one of his ships, a ship in the museum. It is a fine line to have a show runner be a fan of and 'respect' the material vs. crossing that line to the point where the show runner lets his 'fanboy-ism' show through in the material.

[@ianlister7333]

this video honestly makes me wonder if Starfleet has a department for people who have traveled in time some how, and there is no way to get them back. TVH hints at something with Dr. Gillian Taylor, but its never followed up. I could see Lower Decks having a crew member who has a similar back story to Scottie or Gillian.

[@kaitlyn__L]

There's Captain Frasier too, whom Lower Decks has shown is basically just back in active service. Some of the secondary media says Scotty joined one of the ship design bureaux and was instrumental in creating the Sovereign-class, which I like.

[@ianlister7333]

@@kaitlyn__L at least Fraiser and Scotty both served on starships. Scotty has time travel experience. Someone like Gillan Taylor however may need alot more help

[@ravinnox2640]

This is so crazy, I watched that this morning at work lop. Gave me a lot to talk about with my client though. But that scene where Scott goes to the Holodeck and the original theme plays, so any feels

[@geographicaloddity2]

I wonder if Picard thought to namedrop Scotty to Kirk in Generations. Keep something in mind: Engineers designed and built the sphere. Scientists and their models failed to predict the behavior of the star once its magetosphere was fully enclosed in a sphere and those people distributed all of the system's matter around it instead of in a plane along its equator. Maybe the Corp of Engineers dropped a butt load of scrap into the star and disrupted the fusion equilibrium? Who knows? I bet their Rev1 Sphere works a lot better than good ole Rev0. Can you tell a lot of engineers have discussed this over the many years since that episode aired? My introduction to the concept of Dyson Spheres was in a TOS novel, "The Starlets World". I was home sick from school, and my mom saw it on the book rack at the grocery store and brought it home to me. I was fifteen, it was Star Trek and I remember enjoying it.

[@jeffnorris7592]

Not Jeff here. Yes, I cried (still do) when Scotty takes a deep breath and walks onto the replicated bridge of NCC-1701. I was eight when original Trek aired, and I didn't miss an episode. That's MY Trek, and despite all the series since, it's still my home.

[@firefly4f4]

What is it? It is... it is... It is green.

[@wolfiebassache4146]

I don't know if you can get creme de menthe in America but 2 measures of that in a pint of cider (I'm not sure if you can get that either) will impress the bar staff, knock you two steps sideways and ...YES it's green!!!! Although you probably won't remember it.

[@TakaComics]

@@wolfiebassache4146 Sounds like my kind of drink!

[@ThePzwilson]

I don't assume that the Star made the Dyson Sphere useless from the beginning, but probably just aged into instability over the course of thousands, millions, or billions of years, during which the sphere's inhabitants would have enjoyed it quite well. Their civilization probably moved on in some way afterward.

[@davidcolby167]

A thing about Relics that makes it work a lot better than modern trek? Relics was 1 episode out of 26 episodes in a single season of a 7 season run!

[@deanthemachine8879]

TNG and DS9 had such a better handle on nostalgia elements. It didn’t use them as memberberries, it used them as an intrinsic part of the setting. I’d like to get your thoughts on DS9’s (and arguably Star Trek’s) most nostalgic of nostalgia episodes “Trials & Tribble-ations”. I know it was a special 30th anniversary episode for Trek overall, but I think it still holds up as being great even without that context

[@josephheston9238]

Funny that we find out that McCoy got his M.D. at Ole Miss because I would have thought he would have been a Georgia Bulldog..

[@agent_meister477]

I love seeing Picard on the TOS bridge.

[@johnpazniokas1143]

This is the best playlist on the channel, and this might be the best episode in the playlist. Nostalgia! Except, you know, not just for nostalgia's sake. Cuz I listened.

[@AceOfSevens]

Remonds me of one of my favorite Lower Decks jokes where Tendi brings up Jadzia Dax & T'Ana has no idea who that is & doesn't care.

[@Drawkcabi]

Geordi did do a little fan boy gushing with Zefram Cochrane though. But Kirk himself also...slightly...did so too when he met Cochrane...so Geordi could hardly be blamed.

[@andtalath]

This episode taught me what a Dyson sphere was. In a weird way though, since it's actually not one in this episode. Dyson himself was annoyed that people misunderstood his concept so entirely =P (TLDR, he believed in many satellites in an advanced orbit, not a singular structure).

[@zugabdu1]

Nostalgia is like a prescription medication. Skillfully administered in the right doses, it's a miracle drug. Overused, it's deadly to the quality of a story. As with so many other things, the dose makes the poison.

[@ericmalikyte885]

The Dyson Sphere was so damn cool. I thought they did a brilliant job selling the scale of the thing for the most part.

[@cw7331]

In defense of the sphere builders, the star could have destabilized millions of years after construction was completed. You can only make predictions so far out based on available data.

[@arthurward2067]

You've been going over some great episodes. I'd love to see you discuss some dreadful episodes like a TNG season 1 or TOS season 3 episode. FYI I don't want to see you suffer, just curious about your takes

[@mattmcfadgen2213]

I was just thinking about this episode this morning and I love it. The only problem is the ending, they give him a shuttle craft and tell Scotty to beat it. Not go back to Starfleet academy and teach or go to a flight museum.

[@augiegirl1]

According to Beta Cannon (specifically the TNG novel “Ship of the Line”), he was back in Starfleet less than 2 years later.

[@hagbardceline7118]

In the DVD commentary for the episode they do kinda regret they didn't save the Dyson Sphere as an A plot a later episode and come up with a different B plot

[@varianschirmer9375]

5:45 Something as massive as a Dyson Sphere would take a century to complete and a fleet of ships to build it. That centuries after its built it had to be abandoned because the star was growing unstable. Chances are the builders that began the project probably thought they had millennia to live in it.

[@thecynicaloptimist1884]

I feel that Ronald D Moore often eschewed nostalgia and always did it in a smart way. He also wrote Trials and Tribble-ations on DS9, and that episode has multiple scenes of Dax acting like the excitable fanboy, wanting to get involved in the past, until Sisko takes her to one side and essentially says "of course I want to meet Kirk, but that's not why we're here". It's a subtle way of saying to the audience "look, we know you want Kirk and Spock to team up and save the day together, but that's not what this story is about".

[@stevebennett9750]

Enterprise NCC-1701, No Bloody A, B, C or D.

[@charlespaschal25]

I think your comments about the character interaction are spot on for both series.

[@TheBunnyDestroyer]

I saw the reason the Shaw/Geordi scene worked in Picard was because they already established Shaw as a proficient engineer/grease monkey, not because Geordi was a main character on tng. Of course he would "geek out" over Geordi. As a musician, I myself have geeked out at meeting musicians that I didn't only enjoy, but have been influential to music as a whole. I got the feeling that Todd Stashwick has had that "geek out" moment in his real life because I totally bought the performance.

[@Pyranders]

I had never seen TOS when I first watched this episode, but it instantly became my favorite episode of TNG.

[@jamiecashes]

It's excellent, one of the best episodes. Some of the best science fiction trek ever. Clever way to connect TOS to TNG.

[@BintyMcFrazzles]

Good episode, although I think Geordi is a bit mean to Scotty at the beginning. Scotty is a legend, he was the Chief Engineer of the flagship of the Federation, an ancestor of the Enterprise-D. Geordi would have idolised him. Or maybe it was a case of that old adage of not meeting your hero? It's simply a great story and the sci-fi and technobabble is great. The sci-fi and technobabble is great.

[@Jedi_James]

So Steve, the algorithm brought your content to me through the political sphere. But boy am I enjoying this playlist. Thank you sir!

[@TightPantsJack]

Geordi really is the Enterprise D's designated friend. It's a role he wears well.

[@erikklein7618]

Thank you for mentioning the green call back you're the first person who has mentioned that

[@nuno.picado]

Wouldn't it be fitting to make one more time travel (because why the hell not?) and deliver Scotty to his retirement colony at the proper time? Imagine the check waiting for Scotty for that 75 years long reservation...

[@sympathiea]

That opening bit: Spock... McCoy... DeSalle... oh right this is a Scotty episode

[@jimmysmith2249]

Eloquently put. Thank you.

[@davidkirby9234]

Okay, so now you've got to do a video of DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations." DS9 is, by far, my favorite Star Trek series, and this episode seems far off from its usual serious tone and storyline, but it's probably my favorite episode of the series. I still love lowering my baritone voice into a guttural bass and telling friends, "We don't discuss it with outsiders." ENT resolved the "different Klingons" issue to my satisfaction, and I carry that solution on to DIS -- although I've only seen the first season, so maybe it was answered in later episodes.

[@ronhaefner7833]

Nicely done. It is interesting to see how the TOS crew impacts the future (from their perspective) of star trek.

[@SRJax]

Always liked the TOS Episode "Wolf in the Fold" because it featured Scotty in more than a supporting role.

[@TypoKnig]

Your point about characters not being fanboys/girls is making me re-think the SNW/Lower Decks crossover episode. … … OK, I still love it!

[@Martyn2021]

I actually have this episode on audio cassette by Simon and Schuster with James Dohan narrating the whole the story and lavar Burton doing an introduction and closing monologue in fact I heard the story a year before it aired on television here the United Kingdom.

[@thiagof414]

This is your Baywatching, right? I love it! (And best Batman ever, always. Just watched the last one. And everything else. Love your shows! Thank you.)

[@jsnrvst]

Stars can last a very long time. If we were to build a dyson sphere around the Sun, it'd be amazing for about 6 billion years. Then the Sun would turn into a red giant and the sphere would become useless. In other words, don't assume the builders of the dyson sphere built it around an instable star. They built it around a star that eventually became unstable in the due course of time, perhaps millennia after it was first built.

[@jjmcook]

Thumbs up for the Ebert quote that shaped my view of movies and tv. I miss the anticipation/reading a new Roger review, a new way of looking at something, a new idea applied to my favourite mode of entertainment and my most loved art form. Celebrity deaths usually don't affect me but Roger's hit damn hard. His reviews shaped my love of movies.

[@jjmcook]

Anyway, thank you for the nice review.

[@TananBaboo]

5:40 I never thought of it this way, I just thought the Dyson sphere was so old that the star was just dying out. Not that they built it that way originally.

[@steveb1972]

I always hoped Scotty got to meet Bones and Spock again!

[@ACGamerNetwork]

I always thought the sphere was built by a civilization long ago who either went extinct or moved on for whatever reason, not that they didn't see the stars progression over time, something I imagined they could have fixed if they were still around or at the very least moved the sphere to a different star.

[@ThePlayTyperGuy]

I love how everything Steve notes that makes "Relics" more than just lazy fan service is absent in the most recent episode of PICARD. I literally screamed at the ending, "YOU'RE DOING EVERYTHING STEVE SHIVES SAID YOU SHOULDN'T!" (well, not out loud but that's what I was thinking)

[@illystor]

I'm just thinking, whilst it worked perfectly for the dialogue and the character beats that it delivered for it to be Picard that goes to Scotty in the holodeck and then gets Geordi to give Scotty a bit more respect and try and meet him halfway... Wouldn't these have been situations where they could have (picking up on your comments on Troi in other videos) had the *EMPATH* be the catalyst, maybe nudging Picard to take action in the first place, or trying to talk it through with Geordi a bit.

[@bjorn00000]

I think the reason why the episode doesn't completely work for me is that I read the novelization before the episode originally aired (the only way you could get spoilers in the 90s), and it felt like they shoehorned a few things into the final teleplay that seemed noticeably odd in isolation. Scotty talking about Matt Franklin for instance made a lot more sense when you read the entire story and Franklin was an actual character, for one. The novelization also had Scotty using the "grandfather was in diapers" line on Guinan, which would have been an even funnier scene to see. It's another example of a very long-running situation where Star Trek novelizations were developed from written notes and preliminary scripts and not the final work that was aired. That started way back with the James Blish adaptations of TOS episodes, which had some even more egregious differences with the episodes, and continued on with the TMP novelization, which was just super weird.

[@davidpumpkinsjr.5108]

I've always suspected that building a giant shell around a star to capture all of its radiation is what caused the star to be unstable in the first place.

[@Chiscringle]

On your last point, I think there's a question of maturity as well. LD's characters gush because they're young and intimidated. An Ensign Janeway might have been totally blown away to meet Spock, just as a much younger Geordie might have felt awe at meeting the man who wrote so many of the specs he studies in class. Geordie as Chief Engineer has himself done a lot of the things Scotty did, so there's respect but far less awe. The DS9 episode of LD was one of the least nostalgia-heavy ones because they were there and didn't need references. I think Relics would have been much more like a typical Picard episode in the nostalgia-bait if Scotty hadn't been there to be the nostalgia magnet. If they'd only been investigating the Jenolan that Scotty had left, rather than the one he still inhabits.

[@TimelyAbyss]

If you liked the episode you should look up the novelization. You get back story on how Scotty ended up there and a lot more detail on every story beat.

[@LeChaunce]

I think another difference between the Geordi reaction to Scotty and the Shaw reaction to Geordi can be attributed to the fact that Geordi is still an active presence in the universe when Shaw meets him, so it would be like, say, Tom Holland meeting, oh, James Franco ("You were in the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies!"), whereas Geordi meeting Scotty would be like James Franco meeting, oh, let's just pull a random actor from a famous silent film... Glen Cavender. Established actor, worked with Buster Keaton, but not exactly a household name these days. Shaw thinks of Geordi as a living legend. Geordi hasn't even heard of Scotty. So it works in both cases.