3.01 - Evolution

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[00:00:13] Hello and welcome to With The First Link, the podcast that hopes to make our future as bright

[00:00:35] and as just as the one that we see in Star Trek the next generation. And we think that one way

[00:00:41] to do that is to recap and discuss the entire series, one episode at a time doing our best to

[00:00:46] look at it all through an anti oppression pro diversity anti racist lens. I'm Ruthie Kauper

[00:00:52] Somalushi. And I'm Matthew Somone and today we'll be talking about evolution. This episode was

[00:00:57] written by Michael Piller and Michael Eyegner and directed by Winritch Colby. It first aired on

[00:01:03] September 23rd 1989. We're almost out of the 80s. We're almost out of the 80s, just a few more

[00:01:09] months. In this episode, we meet the eminent Paul Stubbs and Paul Stubbs. We get to see all of his

[00:01:16] anxieties around living up to his potential. So I bought that for today's check-in. We would talk

[00:01:23] about the anxiety about not living up to our potential. When you're a wonderer,

[00:01:29] Kinden as he says in the show, there's a me about this now but like how all the quote unquote

[00:01:36] gifted kids are now just like burnt out adults. Yes, yeah. Oh so you mean you have anxiety? Yeah,

[00:01:43] no, that's very familiar. I was definitely like I was good at things that were highly valued.

[00:01:50] I don't want to say like I was super smart because there were a lot of people who were able to do

[00:01:54] things that I was not able to do and like but I was good at things that the people around me

[00:01:59] valued and so I came to expect that I should just be good at things and anything that I wasn't

[00:02:07] good at was either like not worth doing or that just meant that I was a failure and a horrible

[00:02:13] present. One of the things I really like this character because I feel like he's a great warning

[00:02:18] that I need to heed often because he's got this twisted sense of obsession and he's so obsessed

[00:02:26] about like this one thing and if it doesn't work out like he's basically going to implode but I feel

[00:02:32] like we we celebrate this kind of personality at this kind of behavior that kind of like toxic genius

[00:02:40] that just has to be placated because whatever it is that they are going to bring to the world

[00:02:45] is so important. And I feel like there's pushback against that now. I guess you that in industry

[00:02:51] and the gaming community about like that that sort of toxic writing genius that it's like you know

[00:02:56] what we actually don't need you because we've created this association between that toxicity

[00:03:01] and productivity that what I think we're saying is not actually it's a false binary or a false

[00:03:07] association. I'm pretty sure we've talked about this in episodes before but the idea of like

[00:03:11] I'm so smart that regular rules don't apply to me. Yeah yeah yeah so he he kind of feels that way

[00:03:17] like I am so smart and my research is so important that the lives of the crew and anyone else who

[00:03:24] lives on this ship you know it is expendable compared to my work and my research. Yeah or you

[00:03:31] know to maybe not quite so drastic an example in real life like other people's mental health

[00:03:35] and safety and comfort in the workplace yeah it's not as important because while we have

[00:03:40] we have that one guy and he's able to do all this stuff and I say guy intentionally because

[00:03:45] I don't like if anyone else behaved in this way if a woman or a person of color no one would

[00:03:51] tolerate it. No and then I think it's because the belief is while they're not going to produce

[00:03:56] the same quality of work as the white toxic genius so it's okay that they behave that way.

[00:04:01] Yeah and there's also a certain idea of like if a white straight cis guy with a lot of money

[00:04:11] acts this way you know we have all of these reasons for it it's because of you know there's

[00:04:16] just so much pressure on them or they're just so brilliant they can't be expected to behave

[00:04:23] properly I don't know maybe they had a tragic backstory or something but if they're if they're

[00:04:28] from like any marginalized communities in any way that's always the reason for their poor behavior

[00:04:35] their unkindness right yeah care there's not an exact same excuse that's given I also like

[00:04:41] I empathize with stubs as as a tragic character in the sense that I also recognize that there are

[00:04:48] times where this is something I'm really trying to work through because I struggle often with

[00:04:53] executive function as a person who is very suspicious that they have ADHD not diagnosed but very

[00:04:59] so the aspect yeah is that it's often so hard for you to work on something unless I'm like

[00:05:04] hyper fixated on it and sometimes I can be a joyous thing but sometimes it could be obsessive

[00:05:08] and awful but it's like the only way for me to get through whatever mental barriers exist to get

[00:05:14] me to do work I've been trained because this is a narrative that I've heard in my life and it's

[00:05:20] I've also been recreated myself as that like unless you're obsessed or unless you're like in pain

[00:05:26] there's no joy at the end like the joy comes at the end you can enjoy the journey and the process

[00:05:31] you can't just like let I kind of hold that loosely it's got to always be this obsessive like

[00:05:37] uh like pour myself into it to the the fault of everything it occurred to the exclusion of anything

[00:05:42] else and all people and other considerations yeah and it's not good and I'm trying to deprogram

[00:05:48] that for myself because I often find I won't just let myself enjoy process they're just try stuff

[00:05:53] that's really nice when you're able to do that but it can be very hard there was a time in my life

[00:05:58] when I was like okay I'm gonna I'm gonna try new things and I'm gonna try to enjoy not being good

[00:06:04] at things and being like like having things be new to me it didn't last super long not because I was

[00:06:12] like not able to enjoy it but just because like I had other stuff to focus on and I couldn't

[00:06:17] you know take on all these like new projects and stuff like that but it can be really nice to

[00:06:22] be like new at something and not good at it right away and to have to work at it and learn

[00:06:30] to be a bit better and yeah that process can be really joyous but I feel like for myself

[00:06:38] I just can have so much pressure and I feel like when I'm not good at something right away I feel

[00:06:45] so embarrassed and I feel like yeah gonna be letting people down usually I won't be like if I were

[00:06:51] to ever stop and think about it I would know that that's not the case and most people around me

[00:06:58] would be very understanding of me messing up or not being perfect at something yeah I don't know

[00:07:06] what are the things that for some reason I think this is like societally I don't think this is just

[00:07:11] me and you I think that this is kind of broader like we kind of frame trying as this like very

[00:07:18] pathetic thing like if you are caught trying something that's like the most embarrassing thing in

[00:07:24] the world but like that's ridiculous it is it's ridiculous and I'm thinking back now that we

[00:07:31] kind of had a similar conversation in two episodes ago when we talked about data being locked

[00:07:37] in this corner is a part so by and telling him that it's like you can make you can commit no errors

[00:07:42] and still lose and we had mentioned that the Yoda philosophy of do or do not actually cut a silly

[00:07:47] now stop says in this episode he could live with failure it's the point is that he didn't even

[00:07:53] get a chance to try but I don't know if that's actually true about him I I noticed that but he

[00:07:58] does correct himself he says I could live with failure and then he says well maybe maybe yeah

[00:08:04] I told you could live with failure of a failure yeah so yeah the obsessive nature of things and

[00:08:09] and and I think me believing that or having been told or exposed to this idea that obsession

[00:08:16] is the only way to make like greatness for like true success but it's some it comes it's such

[00:08:22] personal cost and I think that great achievements can still be made out of people just like

[00:08:28] enjoying something and just sharing the joy and the work that comes as a result of that joy

[00:08:33] of just enjoying something and so I need to keep like letting myself believe that when I'm enjoying

[00:08:41] the process of something that is still productive that is still work and even though there might not be

[00:08:47] some like grandiose accomplishment at the end of it or or in the same way it's just like yeah if I'm

[00:08:52] working on a photo in a photo editing process I used to think of that as like oh this is just like

[00:08:56] a hobby it's not real work blah blah but it's like no I love it it doesn't feel as tedious to me

[00:09:01] as other things and then that's okay it's okay to just enjoy it yeah yeah that makes sense

[00:09:07] have you lived up to your childhood potential well you know it's really funny because my entire

[00:09:14] life I always wanted to be a teacher okay so in some ways yes like I am a teacher I am doing what

[00:09:22] I always wanted to do but I still feel like I haven't I still feel like I'm not doing what like

[00:09:29] not that I'm not doing what I should be doing but like I'm not as great as I should be or I'm not

[00:09:34] as like I don't know it's yeah it's a really like it's a funny feeling even doing the thing

[00:09:42] achieving the goal that I always had did doesn't make me feel like I'm living up to my childhood

[00:09:49] potential that's so weird so yeah clearly it's being internal not external because if it were

[00:09:57] external like I made it I've done it my childhood potential was supposed to be to become an astronaut

[00:10:04] oh yeah like you just destined for failure I take like only 500 people have ever gotten to space

[00:10:11] and in a way that's chasing Atlantis basically is a whole documentary about coming to terms of

[00:10:16] feeling like I feel my childhood dream wow that's really what that documentary is all about um

[00:10:22] and and and I talk about that pretty openly in some of the footage that we've shot

[00:10:26] and that's actually what we had our conversation with astronaut Chris Hadfield oh interesting

[00:10:31] I've got a really good clip of him it's in the trailer actually for the film when it ever

[00:10:35] finally comes out but he says something that's along the same lines of what Troy says

[00:10:41] about stubs Chris Hadfield is like you cannot connect your entire sense of self worth to one goal

[00:10:49] yeah that makes sense you'll always be stuck in this place of like that obsessive kind of mindset or

[00:10:56] the kind of this this failure or fomo or or unrealistic expectations so he's like instead it's more

[00:11:03] about just challenging yourself and and being willing to learn and adapt and change and I think

[00:11:09] putting that self worth more in who you believe you are as a person so not what you do but like who

[00:11:14] you are and and being able to recognize like a healthy distinction between those things sure sometimes

[00:11:19] it overlaps but but not always whereas Troy says that his that stubs entire self worth is on this one

[00:11:26] mission this one event in his yeah that is I think a little scary because first of all because like

[00:11:34] yeah you what if it doesn't work like there there's just so much that's just like just not healthy

[00:11:41] but I think that it also does connect to that toxic genius mentality of like

[00:11:49] my self worth is so wrapped up in this one goal that I am willing to trample over anyone because

[00:11:56] if I can't do that then I am worthless as a as a person so it doesn't matter if I have to

[00:12:05] yeah like you know if other people's mental well-being or you know work-life boundaries have to

[00:12:11] suffer because this isn't just about the goal this is about whether I am worthy of love and care

[00:12:17] and acceptance and life yeah yeah because he says he's like I'd rather die than fail which is not

[00:12:24] okay it's not okay now silently in this and we could probably get into this more later but you

[00:12:28] know Wesley carries this burden too oh yeah he wants to be in starfleet more than anything that's his

[00:12:35] one obsession he's staying late nights he's doing all this extra work he's doing everything you

[00:12:40] can to get into the academy but at no point is he ever like I'm gonna risk the whole ship

[00:12:45] to make my dream work no well I and I think part of what what happens in this we can get into it

[00:12:52] I think that pressure is a little worried that he might end up like that yeah he might become that

[00:12:58] way yeah in a way has and I that there's one fault I find in this episode good you really like it

[00:13:03] is that the resolution doesn't really happen in that sense about him and in his contrast and

[00:13:10] comparison the stuff that just sort of ends at that point yeah right through the episode because they're

[00:13:14] trying to create a contrast between them or at least like a parallel but then it kind of just

[00:13:19] that thread sort of disappears uh it becomes more about fighting the robots what should we get into it

[00:13:25] let's do it yeah yeah in this episode Wesley Crusher's science project escapes from his lab

[00:13:30] threatening both the enterprise itself as well as the scientific mission that it is hosting so okay

[00:13:36] I know also I said we should get into it and we should but let's just talk because the opening

[00:13:41] you can tell by the opening that things are different we are in season three this is a new show

[00:13:47] they had a new cinematographer I think that's something that I I read so that's why the feel

[00:13:53] is a lot different the the colors are like a lot warmer and richer and yes like more saturated

[00:14:01] there's new uniforms they're new uniforms now these are not the final version of the uniform

[00:14:07] that we get in this show oh is that right it's not I've done notice that I know if you so

[00:14:13] these uniforms have these two scenes on the front like kind of I don't know what the

[00:14:19] so like along the chest not quite all the way out I can't really describe where it is but

[00:14:24] there are these two scenes along the front and uh that eventually changes I thought they were

[00:14:30] the same but that the scene is less visible later because they're wearing the same uniform for

[00:14:35] years and it's no apparently this is this is a different one so die it only lasts a little while

[00:14:42] okay it's like partway the third season they they switched to their their regular like the uniforms

[00:14:48] that they end up for the rest of them I don't know if you noticed this episode that like all

[00:14:52] of the main characters had these new uniforms but everyone else is still in the old one pieces

[00:14:57] hey there's only so much budget for costume for the it's just how it is yeah so but I think

[00:15:02] I think the cast was very happy to have these new uniforms because like the one pieces were really

[00:15:07] putting a strain on people's like spine oh my god and like we're just uncomfortable and and

[00:15:13] I don't you you mentioned I think when we started when we first started recording you mentioned

[00:15:17] that you liked the the original uniforms because they were it does like militaristic and they

[00:15:22] showed that like starfleet is not a military organization how do you feel about the new ones

[00:15:28] well these are I think still the same right because they're they're brightly colored

[00:15:32] okay they don't look militarized kind of you know later on you get these sort of our gloomy gray

[00:15:37] colors and yeah they look more like a military tile uniform kind of subdued color so yeah I still

[00:15:42] like these okay yeah they're great I think the show the show just feels really different yeah that you're

[00:15:48] watching it as an adult because a kid you may not notice a transition as much but the show kind of

[00:15:53] gets like a little bit of a bump like it's almost like a refresh in a way or soft reboot and as

[00:15:58] that's like the like you said the lighting is different the the pacing of the episode is so

[00:16:02] different we have this exciting opening before the commercial break we actually know what the

[00:16:07] episode is about before the opening credits the opening credits are new there's like cool

[00:16:13] action music at the beginning you're like wow we're the 90s we this is a 90s show now yeah

[00:16:18] and I did make a note the captain's logs tell us a lot less of things that we've already seen

[00:16:25] right yeah like there's still exposition but it's not like well just to recap the last 15 minutes

[00:16:32] for you yeah yeah yeah let's actually have more content instead yeah yeah yeah so it's the

[00:16:36] pacing is different it does feel like a refreshed show and it's cool we also don't see the

[00:16:42] those big black tape strips on the back panel of the bridge anymore they figured out how to

[00:16:46] light the bridge without all that glare and reflection off the back like it's just it looks way

[00:16:51] more pro I've actually noticed that but I have heard of them yeah the the blu-ray edition in particular

[00:16:56] like which I think are the ones on Netflix they're pretty obvious some of the scenes they make fun

[00:17:01] of that in lower decks too yeah we have an opening exterior shot of the ship and then we're

[00:17:05] painting over a desk and there's a bunch of food on it it looks like baby scrambled eggs or something

[00:17:11] and like work kind of strewn about yeah like this is you know a desk and we can hear like kind

[00:17:17] of like light story again we see Wesley is falling asleep at his desk and Riker is calling from

[00:17:22] the bridge and waking him up and asking if you forgot to set his alarm yeah so Wesley like

[00:17:27] rushes he closes a couple canisters and heads to the bridge and so we get the captain's log which is

[00:17:32] that they're in a binary star system on an astrophysical research mission can you talk about what's

[00:17:41] going on here right so we have a binary star system where we have a smaller more compact object

[00:17:47] in this case a neutron star orbiting a larger probably red giant that is in the final stages of

[00:17:52] its life and what can happen in these circumstances is that the larger companion star as it's

[00:17:58] expanding it enters the kind of like the gravitational field just at the low basically it's called

[00:18:05] around the smaller object where it begins to pull material off the larger star and depending on

[00:18:11] the type of object it can that material can land on the surface of the star in a contrigerant

[00:18:17] explosion now i'm not 100% sure here but the other object in this binary system is a neutron star

[00:18:24] and it's actually kind of difficult for my understanding is for that created material to land

[00:18:29] on the star's surface and create explosions what it would actually do instead is create a disc

[00:18:35] around it that slowly accelerates the star more quickly and generates these like a constant

[00:18:41] stream of x-ray radiation so if we wanted to be really specific it is thought to be what they

[00:18:46] should have done is replace that neutron star with a white dwarf star white dwarf stars do accumulate

[00:18:52] material from companions on their surface that do lead to novas not supernovas but sometimes

[00:18:57] novas which is the explosion of material on the surface or you can sometimes have a supernova

[00:19:02] where the entire star explodes but that's not important for the episode so that's fine

[00:19:08] what we're seeing is there's one thing drive material off another and they say that every 197

[00:19:13] years or 96 it accrued the explosion and they want to be able to record that explosion i do want to

[00:19:19] just note there's a really cute moment when westerly enters the bridge then like riker points at

[00:19:23] him and a kind of friendly but but also chiding sort of way of like you're like pressure uh but so

[00:19:31] so we've got pulse stubs on the bridge and what he's he wants to study the decay of

[00:19:37] neutrinium sorry neutronium expelled at relativistic speeds from this stellar explosion that happens in

[00:19:44] a few hours and he compares it to uh old faithful the geyser this is the only like regular burst

[00:19:52] of this or a break i don't know regular explosion of energy on this scale in the he says in the universe

[00:20:00] i think that that is really big yeah we we observe burst of energy like this that happened on a

[00:20:05] regular timing all the time there's a lot of them that we record in space constantly we don't know

[00:20:09] what a lot of them are and some of them might be phenomena that we don't understand but we do

[00:20:14] also see others that regularly bursting in in a certain way because they are like very much like

[00:20:19] our own planet circling the sun things move in very regular patterns like clockwork and they create

[00:20:24] these predictable bursts of energy or events in space maybe it's this particular burst of energy

[00:20:29] that's different because like you said this doesn't usually happen with a neutron stars

[00:20:33] yeah as far as i know yeah there really is no such thing as neutronium really i mean

[00:20:38] i think we use that in science fiction to describe this like super compact dense material that's

[00:20:42] in neutron stars but as dense as anything can get yeah but you know it's fun it's a fun

[00:20:47] science fictiony thing about neutron stars yeah so Picard enters from the ready room do you

[00:20:52] think he was just recording the log just then as we were watching them on the bridge i mean it's

[00:20:57] probably the most realistic log interpretation you've seen so far that it is days or it's like

[00:21:02] yeah at least he came from a place where he probably would be recording something so that makes sense

[00:21:07] so he asks uh stubs if he wants to inspect to the egg one more time but stubs is like no no

[00:21:14] I've been inspecting that thing for the last 20 years let's just lay it and so they we get this

[00:21:19] great shot of the shuttle bay and it has that like shuttle bay launching alarm generally love that

[00:21:26] so it's starting to take off and it's going to go through the hatch or like through the force field

[00:21:31] that's containing the air it just is about to do that i can alarm goes off and everything starts to

[00:21:36] shake stubs rules across the bridge it'll look like he's injured himself he like it's it's not a small

[00:21:42] role he like no falls over he's like tumbling all over the bridge i mean he's not used to the starship

[00:21:49] shit everyone else is like oh yeah the shipshaving we know how to stay steady uh he's just a scientist you

[00:21:54] know that that way he's your roles across the floor but the danger is that they the ship has lost

[00:21:58] stability and it's now falling into this basically looks like a river but it's a stream of

[00:22:04] material that's being drawn off the larger star onto this neutron star and of course that

[00:22:09] materials like high energy plasma and assuming probably thousands of degrees and so they don't

[00:22:13] want to fall into it yeah and nothing on the ship is responding like including the shields they

[00:22:17] can't even put their shields up to protect them from this yeah this stream of stellar matter that's

[00:22:24] right yeah and we go into the credits and the credits are different if new opening they open

[00:22:29] the other opening was like still in the solar system but now you know this is year two we're out

[00:22:34] of space so we have like cool spacey things now yeah one of my favorite parts is there's a

[00:22:39] this would be terrible isn't the audio audio medium is terrible for like describing how things

[00:22:45] look but there's like a part where there's like a blue light with a red light inside of it which

[00:22:52] then switches to like two like a blue and a red i don't know these two celestial bodies like passing

[00:22:58] each other yeah I really like that anyway it's i love i love these credits yeah there's like

[00:23:04] um there's an opening they're right in the very opening as one is coming right toward the camera

[00:23:08] that it cuts away um and you're like there's kind of a blue hazy mist with a bunch of stars inside

[00:23:13] of it i think that's based off a real cluster of stars knowing as the uh Pleiades star cluster okay so

[00:23:20] it star trick fans out there if you look at the Pleiades and then look at the opening of the TNG

[00:23:25] credits as of season three you'll let me know i think that's what that supposed to be it's supposed

[00:23:29] to be a Pleiades star cluster which is uh you can actually see it with the naked eye it's supposed

[00:23:33] to be the seven sisters quote unquote that are Ryan's chasing across the sky that are that Taurus is

[00:23:38] is uh protecting and so it looks like a little group of stars and it's uh it's an open cluster of

[00:23:43] new newly born stars and you can make it out with the naked eye it looks like a mini big dipper

[00:23:47] basically in this guy there's there's also like when that is on the screen there's this like

[00:23:52] purpley maroon thing it's like a line it's almost like a vein going across the screen yeah it's

[00:23:57] it's cool i don't know what that is but the spacey spacey stuff yeah so after the intro

[00:24:04] the ship is still falling into this stellar matter but they managed to get the shields back

[00:24:10] online and and turn the ship around so they can kind of dampen their their impact they still fall

[00:24:16] into it but they've got shields and they've they're not going at full speed and we see this cool like

[00:24:21] splash of the material as they hit the stream on the view screen it's something else i know

[00:24:26] to two is the beginning of season three i know that these effects have been touched up for the

[00:24:30] blu-ray release and then of course what's on Netflix but it does really seem like the special effects

[00:24:35] have also taken a step up by season three and even we just see that in this opening uh episode

[00:24:40] of the season now unfortunately the computer has no knowledge of this control malfunction it like

[00:24:46] it has no recollection of this happening yeah there's like no log in treated good yeah yeah so we go to

[00:24:52] sick bay and lots of people are being treated and and Wesley enters to talk to steps who's been treated by

[00:24:58] doctor crusher doctor crusher is back she's back we don't really make a big deal out of it we're

[00:25:03] not like hey it's doctor crusher that like zoomed out her face or whatever yeah like there

[00:25:07] that's what we would have done last season though that's what did last season at dramatic zoom yeah

[00:25:12] so Wesley says that everything is back to normal and they can continue with the launch again and

[00:25:16] crusher's kind of working on stuff's back because on the bridge riker is like holding him while he's

[00:25:21] on the bridge after he's fallen over it looks like he's really heard his back so yeah he's helping

[00:25:25] his back and what's the make sure that he can stand up and but crusher explains to stubs and of

[00:25:29] course then to the audience that she was away at starfleet medical last year and so she missed about

[00:25:34] two inches of Wesley do you think can do you think will leaton actually grew two inches that year

[00:25:39] and they put that in or that's I mean that's possible I had a big growth spurred around that age

[00:25:43] a little bit younger and so I got pretty big I never had a growth spurred I was just always yeah

[00:25:50] I'm sorry I'm sorry so stubs says this thing where it just becomes part of the few of these

[00:25:54] episodes that he wouldn't want his mother flying suit space with him and that his woman or

[00:26:00] that his mother was a woman of letters and a great critic and Wesley it turns out has read this book

[00:26:06] then his mother had written about his life oh is it was it that his mom wrote it or it was okay

[00:26:12] yeah yeah the unauthorized biography is his life written by his mom who I guess it was you was the one

[00:26:18] who wrote it that's yeah it just explains a lot more about stubs but I guess Wesley had read this book

[00:26:24] and he's like he looks at doctor crusher it is like good god does this boy don't have any fun

[00:26:30] all he does is fly a ship and read yeah it sort of becomes clear that crusher like doctor crusher

[00:26:36] doesn't doesn't really know a whole lot about what's going on with Wesley because she's like yeah

[00:26:40] of course yes fun and he's like well no I usually spend my time studying or working on school

[00:26:47] stuff I wouldn't he then he talks like we said he wants to get into the academy and and all that

[00:26:51] stuff so so we kind of there's a little moment on pressure's face where she's like what does my

[00:26:57] kid do yeah I've missed out yeah yeah yeah yeah stubs and Wesley go off to check the egg this is what

[00:27:03] they call stubs device that they've built so it's it's this device that he's been working on

[00:27:08] it's basically a lifetime of work it looks like kind of a giant hexagon we've seen it but it was

[00:27:14] in it was in the season two premiere actually the child it was the like the thing where they were

[00:27:21] keeping all of these highly infectious samples of things right right right right right so it's a

[00:27:28] way purpose set piece cool it is a cool prop yeah so they've they've kind of turned it into this probe

[00:27:34] so essentially it's going to go out into space and observe this explosion so he record the data that

[00:27:39] he needs so they go check this thing they call it the egg and stubs also refers to it as Humpty

[00:27:44] Dumpty so when they go off to go find it he's like let's make sure that Humpty Dumpty is in one piece

[00:27:48] yeah I was going to ask you this yeah at what point in history this is a total tangent did Humpty Dumpty

[00:27:53] become to be known as an egg yeah I don't know that's a good question it's not in it but but he

[00:27:59] he does fall apart I guess well the idea is that he had to be put back together but yeah I don't know

[00:28:06] I don't know it doesn't say that in the film I don't know I wonder if that came from Sesame Street

[00:28:10] well I remember and Canadian listeners will perhaps also remember the TV show Polka Dot Door

[00:28:17] yes yeah he had like stuffed animals there was bear and bear a gold

[00:28:21] bear a gold yeah Humpty and Dumpty and Humpty and Dumpty were these two like sort of egg-shaped

[00:28:28] creatures with arms and legs but they were like yeah yeah so that's where I think of

[00:28:33] that could have been that there's an episode of Episodes Sesame Street where Kermit the Frog is

[00:28:36] reporting on Humpty Dumpty falling off the wall oh yeah oh yeah Kermit the Frog here all the

[00:28:40] king's horses all the kings better trying to put up together tangent so so they're gonna check

[00:28:46] the egg yeah so then but then in sick bay fresher notices that the replicator is just like

[00:28:53] spilling a drink into an overflowing glass and just how's the computer to fix the food slot

[00:29:01] and the computers like yeah food slots work imperfectly and she's like check again

[00:29:07] and the computer is still like no it's fine food slot nothing wrong happening here and it doesn't

[00:29:12] stop until she deactivates the food slot I love how in Star Trek when you want to know something's

[00:29:19] wrong with the enterprise the first thing is starts happening is like door's mail function yeah

[00:29:23] and the replicators stop working properly this is happening contagion it's like you know what

[00:29:28] something's about to go down if the doors stop working properly then the enterprise it's just like

[00:29:32] the the canary of the coal mine yeah but to get worse the doors which don't have handles in case

[00:29:38] they stop working there's a safety mechanism you're stuck and because the replicator stop

[00:29:43] working everyone's gonna die of starvation like oh shoot we should pack some real food also is

[00:29:48] there any other time that the replicators are referred to as food slots not to my knowledge but

[00:29:53] I'm gonna be yeah in an ear open for that yeah I don't remember anyone never saying that

[00:29:58] but stuff is happening all over the ship the forge tells Picard that he's working on it as

[00:30:02] crusher enters the ready room and crusher has come to talk to Picard and sees how how he feels if

[00:30:09] he was in Wesley's position and he says inhibited baby yeah inhibited we're having his mom on

[00:30:15] the ship yeah so it's an interesting position that Wesley's in because I think probably like

[00:30:22] the impression I get is he is on the young end for starting at the academy like it's not like he's

[00:30:30] like he's 17 and some people start you know post-secondary education at 17 but a lot of people are

[00:30:38] like 18 or even 19 when they start so it's not like he is an adult and I feel like there are

[00:30:45] probably other 17 year olds on the ship who have their parents also on the ship but the

[00:30:51] differences that Wesley is also an officer or an acting officer you know he's got this field

[00:30:58] commission the issue is not that you're 17 and your parents are around the issue is that like

[00:31:05] he's in this weird in between space he for he had a year without his mother where he was kind of

[00:31:13] you know he was still being looked after by the by the rest of the crew but in a lot of ways he was

[00:31:17] very independent so now his mom is back and so they have to navigate that and also he is doing work

[00:31:26] that is I think usually expected of older people so he's quite young for his for the job that he has

[00:31:34] right yeah but card tries to assure that Wesley is doing fine um but he's worried that they are

[00:31:39] like connecting and then and but card realizes that what she's talking about is that she no longer

[00:31:44] feels his dependence yeah and that makes sense she's been gone for a while he's gotten older

[00:31:48] she's taken on these big responsibilities and so he's maybe they need to readjust their dynamic

[00:31:54] so she asks what he's like and at first he starts talking about him he starts talking about Wesley

[00:32:00] as an officer but she's like no no like what is he at light and this it's a nice moment

[00:32:06] and a reminder that Picard had a pre-existing relationship with Wesley's father with Jack

[00:32:13] pressure right yeah and so he says he's his father's son honest trusting strong the

[00:32:19] pressure wants to know like but like how is he doing socially does he have friends has he ever been in

[00:32:25] love and Picard is like this is not this is beyond my knowledge he doesn't know yeah he also doesn't

[00:32:32] you have no idea and then she asks them what were what were you doing at 17 and he's like probably

[00:32:37] getting into a lot more trouble than Wesley and she's like well isn't that what's 17-year-old

[00:32:42] is there supposed to be is not what they're supposed to be doing so she's worried that he's kind

[00:32:47] of maybe skipping his childhood did you get into trouble when you're 17 I followed all the rules

[00:32:55] Ruthie all the time because I was always very scared of getting into trouble I hated getting in trouble

[00:33:01] I hated getting yelled at I followed all the rules I'm making up for it now I one time not very

[00:33:08] long ago like I don't know maybe five six years ago I was walking somewhere with a friend and we

[00:33:14] ended up like accidentally walking through this area that was under construction or something

[00:33:20] and I was like kind of worried about like oh what's how we maybe we shouldn't be here and she was

[00:33:26] like oh Ruthie it's fine like and I was like oh but like what if we get caught she was like well nothing

[00:33:31] is gonna happen to us and I was like no I know it would just be really embarrassing yeah there's

[00:33:36] that too right you feel like like I'm embarrassed because you're the good kid who follows all the rules

[00:33:41] it's also one of the reasons why I thinking back on childhood the way the childhood is defined

[00:33:46] maybe for me for both of us but like that smart kids or a kids that were seen told that they

[00:33:53] were going to be high achieving were really just obedient I was rewarded for being obedient yeah

[00:33:59] I'm trying to make up for that now being a little bit more disobedient although it has

[00:34:02] got me fired for at least one shot but it was for good cause I still stand by my beliefs and

[00:34:09] standing up for myself in that situation more of that another time anyways we're the shuttle

[00:34:13] bay and Wesley and Stubbs check out the egg and Stubbs says that he sees a lot of himself and Wesley

[00:34:19] this may be a little uncomfortable actually yeah I Stubbs has a weird

[00:34:25] weird

[00:34:28] weird fixation almost on Wesley yeah it's more than like he doesn't really know Wesley very well yet

[00:34:35] yeah so to kind of be like oh you're like me because you're the smart kid on the ship we're

[00:34:40] the same as kind of like I don't know it's presumptuous it feels creamy on someone else's

[00:34:45] personhood I mean like he said he doesn't know Wesley so I think he's really projecting a lot

[00:34:50] he's also complimenting Wesley but then but but complimenting him on something that he

[00:34:56] acknowledges is not necessarily a good thing like having all this potential as a kid and the feeling

[00:35:03] like you can never live up to it and then at the same time like he's telling him what a bad thing

[00:35:09] it is so it's not really a compliment like he's he's he's telling Wesley that his life is going to

[00:35:16] suck yeah because he he talks about his own potential as being I think this is such a

[00:35:22] a great line of writing and I'm paraphrasing a bit it's like but you'll never come up against

[00:35:29] a greater adversary than your own potential yeah yeah for sure to position your potential as an

[00:35:35] adversarial relationship is so interesting as a character trait but it's one that again the kind

[00:35:42] of like when I was talking earlier I relate to it but that's not I don't want to have the kind

[00:35:47] of relationship with my own potential you know this kind of like you're always thinking of your

[00:35:51] life in this phomo kind of situation all the time there's a piece of it that like that means

[00:35:56] your potential is something outside of you yeah interesting and that's so weird I believe

[00:36:03] that is true for many people in the sense that if you're looking at like discrimination for example

[00:36:10] or or when we were people's potential is is dependent on the society around them which I guess

[00:36:16] it for all of us it always is but why don't we create societies there and where people are not

[00:36:24] at an adversarial relationship with their potential we help people meet their potential and

[00:36:29] give them the means to do so and and the safety of the society around them to make that happen

[00:36:34] that's interesting I almost have a different way of thinking of it okay yeah because I would say

[00:36:40] that like your potential is internal you are I mean I think I also think the idea of potential

[00:36:50] is very strange because you're capable of doing what you're capable of doing and then there are

[00:36:56] there can be barriers to that which can be internal or external but so potential is sometimes

[00:37:02] a weird thing because sometimes I'm like oh I could I could achieve so much more if I didn't

[00:37:08] struggle with ADHD and executive training or whatever but like yeah okay but I can't because I do

[00:37:14] struggle with those things so that's not going to happen so what is that potential but but it's

[00:37:20] like when we talk about that kind of discrimination like that's a case of that that to me is a true

[00:37:26] case of potential being like like that's a true tragedy because that's like someone who really

[00:37:32] could do it and then because of external factors they were stopped or were prevented yeah but

[00:37:40] with stubs it's like he can't live up to his potential not necessarily because of external

[00:37:47] factors but because he's built this idea up in his mind that's so big that it's not necessarily

[00:37:54] true to him and for the first time in this episode he is now about to face though an external

[00:38:00] limitation on his potential and he doesn't know how to handle it yeah that's a very good point

[00:38:06] yeah it's a really good point but yeah I just I find this character so fascinating because

[00:38:12] I relate to the struggle that he has I don't want to deal with it and all the way that he does

[00:38:19] yeah but I do have that kind of like these sort of mental gymnastics that happened in my own head around

[00:38:24] things like potential and and being like a wonder kind because I was always told that I was like

[00:38:30] smart kid and was going to achieve lots of stuff and then you're like like what it's I guess going

[00:38:35] to space like yeah that's the biggest thing I could think of at the time and then driving yourself

[00:38:40] nuts with that idea of your life yeah I actually had it's interesting I like I said I always

[00:38:46] really wanted to be a teacher and it was always such a strong drive but I had people in my life

[00:38:51] who were like oh you could do so much more than that which is like a rude thing to say teachers do

[00:38:56] a lot but also what what are these other I feel like if I didn't have that drive to be a teacher

[00:39:05] I would have like I might have had a really hard time figuring out what to do because what could

[00:39:09] be so good that it lives up to your potential you know I don't know I don't know what my potential is

[00:39:16] like I know it's I does anyone know what that is like I I feel like sometimes I could be doing more

[00:39:22] in a certain area and I have I've got very specifics I can point to I have ideas and and things

[00:39:28] that I think I could accomplish if I tried them and so those seem like potential and I want to

[00:39:32] try those things but I don't know like maybe determining what our potential actually is

[00:39:38] is a lifelong journey and maybe it's a journey that we should enjoy because like you said earlier

[00:39:43] we should just try stuff you know yeah figure out what we can or can't do and what we like doing

[00:39:48] and not doing you know and focus on that and well maybe that's why it's such a difficult thing to

[00:39:55] live up to because who can really quantify their potential I don't know right so maybe so no one

[00:40:00] no one is ever able to say I am fully living up to my potential because we could all always be

[00:40:06] improving but that doesn't mean we're not do we're not good enough yeah and can anyone else make

[00:40:13] that determination for you yeah I don't think so I don't think so maybe it maybe trusted people

[00:40:17] in your life who know you they can weigh in on that but that would be you know yeah otherwise it might

[00:40:24] be trying to determine someone else's potential it could be used as a form of oppression yep

[00:40:32] yeah or if not that just this weird stuff that stubs is doing to Wesley yeah yeah you're a

[00:40:38] wonderkint just like me like you're a wonderkint you don't know the bridge all of a sudden red alert

[00:40:45] has happened because warfers picking up a Borg vessel we haven't heard about the Borg for a while

[00:40:50] Borg vessel they're mentioning the Borg yeah I'm mentioning the Borg and so he's picking up a

[00:40:54] Borg vessel on sensor is the shields are not responding and now they're firing energy weapons with

[00:40:59] the shields down this is very bad but then also the ship just disappeared something something fishy

[00:41:04] going on the ship shakes again the doors as always the doors start opening and closing the card asks

[00:41:11] the computer what's going on and the computer just starts like saying chest moves like all right it's

[00:41:17] best up blah blah do you play chess um I used to play chess I actually won a chess tournament

[00:41:23] in elementary school I could never be interested in the rules of chess long enough to ever really play

[00:41:31] a game I would just get see I didn't like it either this is another example of one of those things

[00:41:36] they were like because you're smart kid you're supposed to be good at chess I've had people

[00:41:40] say to me oh I bet you're good at chess and I'm like I don't understand no yeah I can't I can't

[00:41:45] focus on it well enough to think that many times ahead so what we want we learn now is this is

[00:41:50] basically the enterprise going through like a blue screen of death this is like the federated

[00:41:54] the star fleet example of this we know that like that there was no Borg vessel it was just like

[00:42:00] the sensors malfunctioning and we got all these other issues and so Picard calls a conference because

[00:42:05] he's like we need to figure out what's going on and so they discuss whether or not the mission is

[00:42:09] even still feasible Picard's like we need to discuss the future of this mission if there's still

[00:42:13] leave it as one yeah and data says that there is not been a systems wide technological failure on

[00:42:18] a starship for 79 years apparently this is a Star Trek 5 reference over the enterprise a I guess

[00:42:26] honestly I only watched that movie once and I forced you to watch me with it and I don't really

[00:42:31] remember what happens did I watch that with you you didn't want to okay but I was like no we're

[00:42:37] watching all of the movies together and that's great happy to over it was a long time ago but I don't

[00:42:43] it's fair enough yet you know what I have a better appreciation for Star Trek 5 now I still think

[00:42:47] it's the worst of all the films but it has some really neat ideas I just and it has a great soundtrack

[00:42:52] I just wish that it had come together a little bit better but yeah that that episode or that movie

[00:42:57] starts off with the enterprise a because it's brand new and I think they left space dog earlier

[00:43:02] or something it's it's a big mess no that's the enterprise B that left earlier something right

[00:43:07] and everything's happening on Tuesday that's in Star Trek that is that's a general Star Trek 7

[00:43:12] yeah but yeah in just that's an enterprise B anyways cool I didn't know that was a reference to a

[00:43:17] movie that's neat uh according to IMDB at least thank you IMDB Troy enters the conference room

[00:43:26] I think is the first time we see her in the episode and Stubbs she's like she's like Dr. Stubbs

[00:43:31] is waiting outside but he is like walking in right behind her he was close to waiting outside he

[00:43:36] was not oh yeah but he's super upset and he he tells Picard like if we miss our chance now we're

[00:43:43] not we are not gonna have another chance to do this this is next going to happen in like two

[00:43:48] centuries yeah I guess this thing where you walk through this hand in this pockets all the time

[00:43:53] like he's this kind of non shalons and and smugged this yeah but you tell he's obviously like

[00:43:59] he's really upset and so he's like if we miss our opportunity we're not going to get a chance

[00:44:04] to study this again for another two centuries and then you're going to get in trouble for it

[00:44:08] yeah the federation is gonna have a lot of questions for you Picard is like I first of all know

[00:44:14] they won't second of all I don't care what's important to me is the safety of this crew

[00:44:20] and Stubbs like accuses him of not worrying about safety but just playing it safe

[00:44:28] and Picard this is a good Picard line and Patrick Stewart just has great delivery of these lines

[00:44:35] when he is not fighting with someone but when he is not giving someone what they want

[00:44:41] and he always does it with a smile like he does here and he says my dear doctor in our current

[00:44:47] position when that star explodes you will get to watch your experiment from the inside out

[00:44:54] yeah because they can't move so when that explosion happens it's gonna be bad especially if we

[00:44:58] can't get their shields up or operating like they're in a bad state to protect themselves

[00:45:02] and defend the ship right now Troy tries to empathize with Stubbs and he tells her to turn

[00:45:07] her beam off into his soul he says I'll share the feelings that I wish to share they're like well

[00:45:12] we need to you know if we don't leave on time then at least it'll be one way into the record books

[00:45:17] yeah I didn't fully understand what he was saying there was he saying like if we don't even

[00:45:22] time will die and that'll put us into the record books yeah that's exactly what he's saying and

[00:45:26] in a way it shows his obsession because it's not always with science but to be like

[00:45:31] recognized yeah you know the recognition of it and that yes he wants to have his place in history

[00:45:37] like that's really important yeah but that even if he gets it through dying even if he gets it

[00:45:42] through dying and I think he does say here at one point that if they they need to leave and he says

[00:45:46] well I would rather die like he says that out where like I would rather die and that's from Picard

[00:45:51] says I don't think you speak for the majority of the group yeah he does his well they're not all here

[00:45:58] like you know they've got other stuff than his project yeah and and Troy calls about it she says

[00:46:05] that he isn't kidding when he says that he would rather die than leave yeah yeah she says this

[00:46:10] is what we talked about at the beginning his entire self-worth is on the line with this experiment

[00:46:16] so we go to engineering and the forge has found like a lesion and there's some kind of disintegration

[00:46:21] in the computer core and he tells Wesley that it looks like someone climbed in there and started

[00:46:27] taking it apart and Wesley get this look of like uh oh on his face yeah so he goes back to his lab

[00:46:35] and he starts opening up all those canisters that we saw earlier that he was closing up when he was

[00:46:39] woke it up for his shift yeah he starts examining them with an instrument that he looks up and he

[00:46:43] looks very weird yeah so if we do it a moral conundrum who do you go see for the well I would say

[00:46:50] you go see guided but he doesn't know she's gonna be there he's just like crawling around

[00:46:54] among the floor setting traps that's true that's true yeah and I like how guidance like um I run a

[00:47:01] clean place if you don't have to set traps in my restaurant yeah it's like trying to catch like

[00:47:07] roaches or yeah space roaches so Wesley thinks that everything is going on might be his fault and he

[00:47:13] says that he was studying netites these tiny little microscopic computers and sick bay for

[00:47:18] this final genetics project and they're designed to address cells and make repairs and they're

[00:47:22] supposed to remain confined to the lab but to the release and it made me think that maybe he

[00:47:28] should have been working on some kind of safer lab conditions like if these things could get out

[00:47:32] and be eating the ship I guess this is kind of unusual for what we know that they could do but

[00:47:37] maybe should have used some more precautions well I was wondering like who is supervising

[00:47:41] this experiment because usually when you're in school you don't just get to run experiments by

[00:47:46] yourself I know Riker is the one who was supposed to be like in charge of overseeing his education

[00:47:52] totally it's Riker's fault so did Riker just see like yeah go ahead get one of you need from

[00:47:56] the sick bay genetics closet and I'll all open it for you take what you need I'm not gonna look at

[00:48:00] what it is hey the last time Wesley was working on his experiment the experiment led to

[00:48:04] of winning a battle between the halfway of the enterprise I guess he's like you know when it's

[00:48:08] flying do it every watt I trust you I owe you what Wesley just take whatever you need

[00:48:13] yeah so his experiment was to see if I guess Nanites usually work on their own but he was like well

[00:48:20] if we put two of them together will they combine their skills and increase their their usefulness

[00:48:26] and he says it was just a science project and guidance says that an old doctor friend of hers

[00:48:31] said the same thing to her and his name was Frankenstein Frankenstein what I take from this is that

[00:48:38] guy in a hung out with Mary Shelley while she was writing Frankenstein like guy in and Mary Shelley

[00:48:43] my friend I like that head cannon interpretation that is cool yeah this is what I take from this

[00:48:48] I like that I've accepted that now into my brain that Mary Shelley and guy and her friends I believe

[00:48:54] this cool the pressure calls Wesley and wonders why he isn't in his quarters because they're all

[00:48:59] they're also supposed to be like confined to quarters now right because they find a court it's definitely

[00:49:03] yeah so before leaving Wesley asked guy and not to tell anyone and she looks at him with like

[00:49:08] an knowing look and he's like yes I know I'll tell them if that's what's actually happening because

[00:49:13] he's a lot totally convinced that that's what's going on guy did ask them a question here he's

[00:49:17] like do you think you're gonna get a good grade and he's like I always get an A yeah he doesn't say

[00:49:22] it happily no he's like I always get a and then after he leaves guidance like well so did Dr. Fritz

[00:49:31] yeah well they get an A on this though like I feel like there might be you know you fail because

[00:49:35] you always destroy the crew well I feel like there is an issue with lab safety like yeah that should

[00:49:40] factor in your grade yeah come on yeah captain's log so we get a captain's log so the captain doesn't

[00:49:48] so here's interesting we actually know more information than is being put into the captain's log

[00:49:54] because the captain says that the computer core has clearly been tampered with but there's no sign

[00:49:59] of a security breach we're getting like some information but not you know like it's not like he's

[00:50:06] recapped the episodes for us so far so it's different yeah it's instead it's showing their

[00:50:12] knowledge versus what we know as an audience yeah so we're actually now we know more than they do

[00:50:16] right that's uh that's probably odd for a log so we go to the bridge which and we decide to launch

[00:50:22] the egg again so we're trying one more time the shuttle made doors do not respond and then all of a

[00:50:27] sudden the song the computer starts blurring stars and stripes forever they can't turn it off

[00:50:32] it's such an annoying song oh my god so data starts like talking about what what it is like when

[00:50:39] it was written in a guru was written like ask me now turn it off yeah that's not the issue right now

[00:50:44] now shut it down so the cup powered a bridge yeah that turns the music off and now the bridge is like

[00:50:51] the ship's basically crippled at this point so Picard asks the afford to he's like can we just

[00:50:56] get out of the solar system because at this point now he's pulling the plug on this mission yeah

[00:51:00] so in the shuttle base stubs is like looking over his project with Wesley and he says it's the egg

[00:51:07] that stubs laid I guess laid it is like meant to be an embarrassing thing I don't know I think so

[00:51:13] yeah he says that he could maybe live with the failure but the fact that they won't even get to try

[00:51:18] and won't even be mentioned he's like no one and he's right yeah the egg that stopped stubs

[00:51:23] laid and Wesley says well no one will say that but his reply is no one will say anything at all yeah

[00:51:28] and that's that's the real worry that he won't get any he won't be remembered he doesn't have a legacy

[00:51:34] he should have talked to Chris Hadfield so he starts talking about baseball because he talks about how

[00:51:39] this is his one chance at bat and now he's not gonna even get his opportunity to sweep a swing

[00:51:45] at the ball so he loves baseball I like this part of Star Trek that like nobody cares about baseball

[00:51:52] in Star Trek like the world has moved on from baseball but then you always meet these characters who

[00:51:57] do care about baseball the care about baseball yeah I know some of I guess a lot of the a lot of the

[00:52:02] writers are really into baseball and Shakespeare that's like a thing yeah so they start talking

[00:52:08] about baseball and he says that it was abandoned by a society that valued fast food and faster games

[00:52:13] but that he watches baseball games and Wesley asks him if he recreates him on the holodeck and he's

[00:52:19] like no like he's surprised that Wesley will even ask he's like no I watch them in my head like

[00:52:25] that he he knows it has memorized the statistics of the players and he recreates the games from

[00:52:31] the statistics in his brain which is kind of cool actually it is cool it is weird that he says to

[00:52:36] Wesley men like us don't need holodeck don't need holodeck so yeah but he is very upset that this

[00:52:44] brand new era of astrophysics that he was supposed to usher in is now being postponed 196 years

[00:52:53] on account of rain on account of rain that's right yeah so he doesn't even get his chance at bad

[00:52:57] he doesn't even get to swing he might strike out but now he doesn't even get to take his chance at

[00:53:02] bat at all and he has this monologue that he goes on about like getting on the plate and pointing

[00:53:07] out to a star then taking a big blast of the bat the crowd you know he's got this kind of a

[00:53:12] grandiose notion of his work yes he really does I don't know if anyone's that excited about astrophysics

[00:53:18] I mean I like it sure but yeah I don't think there's any crowds gonna be cheering over your

[00:53:22] astrophysical maybe in the future I mean that I would be so happy if that's what the future's

[00:53:26] like Rudy that people post astrophysical reports and ever the cheering and stadiums over them

[00:53:32] that would be great they'll get me wrong so much more excited as you were telling me that

[00:53:37] than I expected like people go up you have a stadium and you're like here's my published

[00:53:41] panther on Newtrony of the can and it was like yeah it's a grand slab harassed little physics

[00:53:47] sure I mean why not I love it this is what we're here to be what this is what we're working towards

[00:53:55] to ensure that it's as bright and as just let's be yeah it's Genji yeah and maybe hey

[00:54:01] maybe the astrophysicists are also playing baseball at the same time who knows they could put it

[00:54:06] all together they could put it all together I'm not so we go to the lab I'm not sure if it's

[00:54:12] Wesley's lab or if it's like a classroom or if it's in his quarters but he's checking his traps

[00:54:19] and Crusher comes in to talk to him she says you need to rest and this is a classic like

[00:54:26] mom you just don't understand I feel like this happens in a lot of shows like Buffy the Vampire Sleer

[00:54:31] comes to mind where it's like the kids the stakes that the kid is dealing with are way higher

[00:54:38] than the parent sinks because the parent just thinks like Crusher here thinks oh Wesley you're taking

[00:54:45] on too much responsibility you're taking like this this mission is not yours to worry about you need

[00:54:52] to rest she doesn't realize that actually it is his to worry about he actually can fix it it's such

[00:54:59] a classic TV like thing of like mom you just don't understand except what I like about this

[00:55:08] is they actually communicate so yeah yeah he says he's like why don't it don't yeah he's like

[00:55:15] you don't even know me you haven't been here and she's like you're right but I'm here now

[00:55:20] and there is like a like the camera kind of rests on her face for a bit and she's visibly upset

[00:55:27] when he says you haven't even been here but like she can't say anything to that it's true she

[00:55:32] hasn't been there we can blame the whoever it was who kicked off the show for season two I'm not

[00:55:37] gonna blame Crusher herself but it's true she can't she can't like you know get upset with him

[00:55:42] for pointing that out so what she says is well I'm here now so and he talks to her he decides

[00:55:49] the tiger yeah it's it's a really cool it's a cool conflict resolution conversation and so

[00:55:54] and I love the look on his face where finally he feels like he can trust her to say like I made a

[00:55:59] terrible mistake and you feel so much for Wesley in that situation because he's not just dealing

[00:56:04] with like oh it's my teenage crush broke up with me or whatever he's like I might have destroyed

[00:56:09] us all he's like okay that's actually a serious issue that you're doing yeah but you can also see

[00:56:14] like this is like he really is a kid in this moment yeah he's not you know and it's in Crusher he's

[00:56:20] Wesley and he yeah he is worried that he and he's also probably really worried that he let down like

[00:56:28] you know Riker and LaForge and and you know these people who he really looks up to yeah it's such

[00:56:33] a believable moment between them and I feel like the conversation that that Crusher has with the

[00:56:40] card earlier in the ready room and then this conversation between both of them show like a different

[00:56:46] level of writing for this new season of Star Trek yeah like before it like I the show just felt so

[00:56:53] like I mean the show was good don't get me wrong but it always felt like it was under that layer

[00:56:57] of like 80 sci fi yeah you know whereas like now it actually feels like two real people it feels

[00:57:02] like real people that yes they are living on a ship in the future but they're having a believable

[00:57:07] conversation between two humans about like a real thing and I appreciate that about the show it just

[00:57:11] feels like it's like leveled out more you know like yeah to like human yeah in real life conversation

[00:57:18] I like that I appreciate about the season of Star Trek and I think the rest of TNG is for sure

[00:57:22] so can we just then take a moment because we haven't mentioned it yet that this so this is the

[00:57:29] first episode that we are recording since the SAG after Union has gone on yes yes writers guilds

[00:57:37] of America has been on strike for quite a while you know writers do really important work and this

[00:57:42] they do such a bored work we're talking so much about how I mean the writers and also the actors are

[00:57:51] showing us you know they showed us this model of conflict resolution between a mom and kid

[00:57:58] and like like you said like stubs is such a cautionary tale yeah it's important work and they

[00:58:03] deserve to be paid for it even if it's even if it's streaming and on television for cry out out

[00:58:09] absolutely I am I am really encouraged that the strike is happening yeah because there are so many

[00:58:15] important things that are orbiting it that are being talked about as a result the fact that like

[00:58:20] people are not being paid fairly not just in this industry but in many others also like the

[00:58:24] threat and dangers around things like AI and AI content creation the rights of artists to not

[00:58:29] have their stuff stolen by AI that there are so many important conversations that are being

[00:58:34] had by this strike okay back to the conference room back to the conference room pressure is

[00:58:40] explaining what nannights are and they are usually designed to just be exposed to the inside of

[00:58:48] nuclei during cellular surgeries and until then they're kept tightly contained but these nannights

[00:58:55] have evolved and stubs stubs are very doubtful he's all like he scots robots can't evolve but

[00:59:02] Leslie explains this his project and he says that these two nannights have escaped and because

[00:59:09] he doesn't have a teacher nobody knew that nobody knew he was working with yeah I don't research

[00:59:17] supervisor or anything so Wesley shows a piece of linear memory crystal from the computer

[00:59:23] core the core is made of he drops a sample of it in there and they zoom in so he's got like a

[00:59:27] a microscope on this container and I guess that microscope is like streaming to their

[00:59:32] screen that they're looking at and they can see the data it's just like eating the crystal

[00:59:35] yeah right right says it looks like candy yeah yeah I'm no no and then these nannights also like they

[00:59:42] are actually able to evolve because they are able to replicate themselves I guess when it's just

[00:59:47] one on its own it can't do that but then when you've got two they can replicate themselves

[00:59:52] they can reproduce basically and with each new generation I think data suggests that maybe they are

[00:59:58] enhancing their own design so they're they really actually are that is what evolution is they

[01:00:04] are evolving they're they're adapting and changing and each new generation has different skills

[01:00:10] pick hard kind of wonders like do you think they know what they're doing which is so cool I'm glad

[01:00:16] that they jump to that right away it's like hey we got to be careful here yeah and we might have

[01:00:21] an inadvertently helped to create a new life form and we are now responsible for them in a way

[01:00:25] and we can't just go and exterminate them but stubs wants to he's like you can have a

[01:00:31] civilization of computer chips they says they're made in a plant and Dakar Senegal I had a

[01:00:35] business there myself so specific I didn't know that uh computer chips for the enterprise were made

[01:00:41] in Dakar Senegal but yeah you know so and I think it's a way to try to appeal to the doctors

[01:00:48] sentimentality is he says that it's more like a strain of virus reproducing it at least that's

[01:00:52] a bona fide life form and then challenges her by saying well how many viruses have you killed in

[01:00:56] your lifetime like just kill them yeah the records like no I'm not going to exterminate something if I

[01:01:01] don't know whether it's intelligent so he says we're gonna try to remove them safely they're still

[01:01:07] time they still have a few hours before the explosion actually happens but he says we're gonna try

[01:01:13] do it safely and then if we can't will use stronger methods or stronger measures yeah things get worse

[01:01:21] so we cut to this other room which I think is the computer core in so they're yeah they're

[01:01:25] sitting in this room and it's it's cool it's like there's like an interface terminal there's

[01:01:29] kind of a glowy sort of hemispherical half cylinder type room with glowy bits in it and stubs

[01:01:36] walks in I guess there's no security so you just still would go into the computer core

[01:01:40] the forging data or Wesley are there and we're trying low levels of gamma burst low level gamma

[01:01:45] burst to try to slow down their productivity I guess to try to like sour the parts of the computer

[01:01:50] they're eating yeah they'll go here there's a little bit of a shock for you yeah they're trying

[01:01:53] to just slow them down I think slow them down so stub suggests a higher level charge and they're

[01:02:00] like well that that will kill them it he's like yeah I know and then he's pulled out a gun and

[01:02:04] shoots the core so in the ready room Picard this is Picard is talking about golevers travels

[01:02:11] to riker did you ever read golems travels I didn't read I did not but I knew the rep yeah yeah

[01:02:15] the little little people taking down golever there yeah but then as they're talking the you can hear

[01:02:21] this like gas starts hissing and Picard's like do you smell that and they start like coughing

[01:02:26] they go onto the bridge where there are toxic levels of nitrogen oxide and nobody

[01:02:33] thinks to leave the bridge they all just kind of stay there cough until riker manages to like

[01:02:39] turn the air handling system onto manual and fix the air but they're all just at their stations

[01:02:45] nobody leaves the coughing well yes I'm gonna die right now because I'm gonna die no it's

[01:02:50] telling me I can leave I would imagine that if they tried to either doors are sealed or something

[01:02:54] because the netites because the netites are basically retaliating now they're like okay well you

[01:02:58] sterilized us with gamma rays we're gonna sterilize you with the nature yeah so worth and data

[01:03:03] bring stubs to the bridge and stubs is pretty pleased with himself they explain what stubs has done

[01:03:10] and stubs is like well yeah now you have no choice you've got to kill them all now because they're

[01:03:15] trying to kill you and he does like well yeah but the fact that they are trying to kill us after you

[01:03:20] killed a bunch of them actually suggests that they probably are intelligent yeah so he's proved

[01:03:27] the point now against himself yeah he was saying that they may have not been intelligent and data

[01:03:32] saying yeah well now that they're responding in this way to suggest that they are so worth

[01:03:37] points out that the ship is now at risk that they might have to exterminate them and stubs is like

[01:03:41] yeah good point so Picard's like you know what go to your quarters yeah go to your room stop you

[01:03:45] can find some to quarters and puts like a security detail out there so yeah no stubs is not allowed

[01:03:51] to wander the ship freely anymore right where anymore so Picard asks data to find a way to communicate

[01:03:58] with the netites they're assuming that if they are intelligent they should be able to understand

[01:04:01] language and stuff yeah so we go to stubs quarters and Troy I think it's giving one last go a

[01:04:07] try to get through to stop so she says that she wants to help and stubs to dismisses her interest in

[01:04:12] his feelings but she says that she is worried about a state of mind and his need to have this

[01:04:17] experiment work and that she's really worried that if he fails like that this portrait of him

[01:04:22] himself that he has has created his self portrait is going to be stretched so tightly that it will

[01:04:27] finally snap stubs is so weird here and it's true like he is his portrait is incredibly studied

[01:04:36] and put on because he gets really serious but then he's like oh when this is over I'm going to show

[01:04:44] you new Manhattan on Beth Delta one as you've never seen it and will laugh over glasses of champagne

[01:04:50] she could not be less interested in having glasses of champagne with him yeah like what is he

[01:04:55] thinking yeah I mean wow yeah so kind of gross it's weird yeah it's just like no and and I like she

[01:05:04] I think is trying to make the point that like she's not interested in his feelings necessarily like

[01:05:10] for his sake she is interested in how he's feeling because she's worried that he's going to do

[01:05:16] something dangerous yeah and Troy leaves and as she's leaving stubs tells her that sometimes when you

[01:05:22] reach beneath someone's self portrait deep down you don't find anything at all yeah and that is like

[01:05:29] sad yes that's that's so sad that like he is sacrificed almost like his his whole sense of identity

[01:05:36] is nothing more than just this one thing and the obsession over this one thing and when you take it

[01:05:42] away that there isn't there's nothing there anymore that's just it's all he has which makes sense

[01:05:47] then in that way that he says that if this doesn't work that I would rather be dead because he's got

[01:05:50] nothing else yeah yeah and I don't think he gets a lot of dates in New Manhattan no I don't think

[01:05:57] he's got a lot of people who want to take him up on that offer to laugh with me this is champagne nope

[01:06:03] so then later he's relaxing in his quarters I think this is one of the few maybe the only part where we

[01:06:10] see someone just in their socks like he's got his feet up yeah let's think about that yeah you see

[01:06:14] socks it was very it was jarring yeah you don't usually see socks and start track no but he kind of

[01:06:20] like he closes his eyes and he's running baseball games in his head and you you kind of hear the

[01:06:25] of the baseball in the background and the aneltzer and the crowd cheering and then a few of the

[01:06:31] consoles in his quarters like the replicator and stuff start to zap and power down and then a surge

[01:06:37] of lightning comes out and zaps him yeah and he like he's like screaming and he's like ahhhh

[01:06:43] and then the security guard that's outside his quarters here is what's happening and he tries to

[01:06:46] get in but he can't get the door open and finally when it does open it's like a very shocked looking

[01:06:51] stubs who kind of just collapses into his arms yeah in sick bay crusher examin's him and Picard

[01:06:57] does not believe that this attack was arbitrary stubs wakes up and he's like you must protect me

[01:07:05] and he tells Picard that he has to kill the the nannies yeah so back of the bridge Picard tells

[01:07:11] right here to gamma or radiate the computer system so that's just at the stay where it now he's

[01:07:15] like it's time to put it into this conflict because we can't seem to communicate with them

[01:07:19] we're gonna be dead like they're gonna kill him or us or both yeah you know what I kind of like

[01:07:23] about this scene though is as they are doing that and and kind of working that out data is just

[01:07:30] continuing to work on his little side project of communicating with the nannies like he doesn't

[01:07:34] that's right he minds to this we might kill them he's like nope gonna just gonna keep trying this

[01:07:38] till the very last minute and just as they're about to radiate the core data gets a message

[01:07:43] he's like sir captain because they're getting a message so riker goes to get stubs who thinks

[01:07:48] that this is a really bad idea the idea is going to be that they are going to put the nannies into

[01:07:53] data's body and data will act as an avatar for the nannies yeah and freckles says well it's

[01:07:59] one sure way into the record books doctor if that's what he said before and so rikers just

[01:08:05] repeating it but card says it stubs will explain he's like listen this is what you're gonna do

[01:08:10] you're going to apologize to them so they don't kill us yeah yeah so I think one thing

[01:08:16] data mentions is that because worth is like we should not put these nannies into data like that

[01:08:24] that's not a good idea no yeah we're giving them an office yeah and that's a really good point

[01:08:29] and but data says yeah but this is a gesture of trust yes yeah if they even know what that is

[01:08:34] yeah but like he's like we have already hurt them so we should make ourselves well I mean

[01:08:40] they are vulnerable but we should you know show that we are willing to be vulnerable with them data

[01:08:45] puts his hand down over like this magnifying glass type machine thing yeah they're in the computer

[01:08:51] core now they're in the computer core and you see a kind of zoom in on his hand and then you

[01:08:55] can see like these little like shiny things kind of going into his skin which I guess are the nannies

[01:08:59] bread spider puts on like robot yes like it's not like it's even imagine data but wave even more

[01:09:06] robotic at stephen he's like I I am the nannies and he's kind of like talking and he mentions that

[01:09:11] they're very strange looking yeah he doesn't call them ugly bags of mostly water but he's

[01:09:16] may have well have yes yeah so Picard is like yeah you know we've met a lot of creatures and some

[01:09:22] look even stranger than us but we try to coexist peacefully so Picard explains that they misinterpreted

[01:09:29] the nannites actions as an attack on the ship and that actually they did endanger this vessel

[01:09:36] and the nannites that they were just exploring they met no harm as it excuse we've often used

[01:09:41] ourselves just explore just explore it's a data turns to steps data this is nannite data yeah data

[01:09:49] yeah he's like I was the one who's responsible for the deaths he apologizes he says that he

[01:09:53] explained that he was on an important mission he was just trying to defend a lifetime of work

[01:09:58] but then he kind of backs down that he's like I'm at your mercy yeah he really gets very close to

[01:10:03] trying to excuse his behavior yeah which does surprise me at all and then

[01:10:10] the nannites are like we don't know what at your mercy what is mercy what is mercy you speak of

[01:10:16] so Picard says that this conflict was started by mistakes on both sides I don't know if that's

[01:10:21] a fair thing to say but they they want to end it now and Picard pledges to do anything possible

[01:10:26] to ensure their survival but the nannites are like well we actually don't need you anymore

[01:10:31] no you can't give us anything they they need to get off the ship we'll get off the ship

[01:10:35] yeah we need to get out of here yeah they're like we have everything we need from here now we

[01:10:39] need to find another place so then we add a captain's log and this I think is another good use

[01:10:44] of the captain's log it tells us what has happened we didn't necessarily need to see this

[01:10:49] that stubs has used his influence to give the nannite civilization a home planet so they're gonna

[01:10:55] get a lot of influence yeah they're gonna have a planet all to themselves and they left data's

[01:10:59] neural network and they also helped repair the computer core in time to do this experiment so you

[01:11:06] know everybody wins everyone wins now what bothers me about the end of this episode is the fact

[01:11:13] that Wesley's not involved in it anymore they were like hey can we talk to our creator thank you

[01:11:18] for giving us life that like or no one talks about the fact that Wesley just created an entire

[01:11:23] civilization we just never come back to this kid of robots yeah yeah Wesley basically like

[01:11:30] noonians soon like a high school project yeah yeah and yeah the nannites don't ask to talk to him

[01:11:39] he's not in that scene yeah that is at all and so it's that that is a little strange to me that

[01:11:44] they that he gets no interaction with them yeah the egg launches for real this time they have that

[01:11:48] last scene of the of the cargo way opening and them getting it out and then we see that explosion

[01:11:54] from the neutron star dubs is just like working that science station like an orchestra at the back

[01:11:59] of the bridge taking it all this data I have to say that is actually a really I thought it was a

[01:12:04] really nice scene because that was something where like he was really caught up in it and he actually

[01:12:12] like he really seemed to be enjoying himself like at one point Picard like calls his name and he

[01:12:17] liked can you an answer because he's just like to in his his world of working that's right yeah it was

[01:12:22] like it was nice although he is like not a good person I don't like him as a you know I wouldn't

[01:12:29] wouldn't want to spend any time with him it was nice to to see that he was able to have that moment

[01:12:36] of enjoying himself like how much of the story of that success is going to be mired by the fact that he

[01:12:42] destroyed a whole bunch of sentient machines to get his research like you know stuff like that

[01:12:47] that's not going to be mentioned in his version of the story of it will be in his version but

[01:12:51] there might be some ethics reviews about what happened I hope so I hope so the research so yeah

[01:12:58] so we get our last scene now in 10 forward and i doctor pressure is like she's got this little

[01:13:04] plate in front of her that has all these brightly colored like green and yellow and pink things

[01:13:09] I it's just like eating candy so is that what's happening I mean why not just so it's like a

[01:13:15] star-trade you need whatever you want looks like a little plate of like gummy fruits

[01:13:19] yeah yeah but what this is is another example of like we had some dessert left over

[01:13:25] from the catering services for lunch break from craft services or just through about a plate

[01:13:29] they're here eat this this is what's left over so crush your ass guy in if she has any children

[01:13:35] yes and if she ever had any trouble relating yeah guy in apparently has a lot of children

[01:13:40] yeah and there was one who wouldn't listen to anyone and pressures like oh well they all go

[01:13:45] through that and she's like well not in a species of listeners and she says it took him several

[01:13:52] hundred years to grow out of it that's a long time yeah to learn to listen yeah and

[01:13:56] guidance says a mother shapes her child in ways that she doesn't realize sometimes just by

[01:14:01] listening and at that point Wesley enters with a young woman yeah and they join a table of other

[01:14:07] young people yeah they're all wearing super big clothes like they're wearing like day glow like

[01:14:15] neon yellow and pink and orange except for Wesley who is in his gray gray gray

[01:14:21] uniform crusher notices that the young woman that he's with seems to really like Wesley and then

[01:14:28] she's like and is looking at him with incredible affection and who is this person and kind of goes

[01:14:34] into this kind of like mama's direction yeah it's like okay back down back down and the enterprise

[01:14:42] flies away flies away the end do you have any final thoughts anything we didn't we didn't cover

[01:14:50] this is a good episode I do like this one I'm excited that we're in this new phase yeah

[01:14:54] of Star Trek episodes for this and there's a lot of really good episodes coming up yeah

[01:14:59] got instance of command for the next one and since the command coming up back that's right yeah

[01:15:03] yeah I'm excited too it's a good looking episode like the we said the look and feel is really

[01:15:10] really changed and uh yeah I'm excited to to go into the next few me too well thank you so much

[01:15:17] for listening to this episode of with the first link if you liked what you heard please feel free

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[01:15:52] i'm roofie and i'm Matthew and do not feed your nanites after midnight