Thoughts: This episode is widely regarded as one of the worst in the entire franchise, both by fans and by the cast and crew. There was more than one effort to have it “disappeared” from the series. What do you think? Is it downright racist to have this “primitive” alien culture portrayed as tribal Africans? Many believe so. At the very least, it was an extremely questionable direction for the episode, especially when you realize that just four episodes later, we get an idyllic planet populated exclusively by blond-haired, blue-eyed white people.

On a separate note, why is Crusher so insistent about getting her son on the bridge? It's only been a week or so since Wesley commandeered the vessel, maybe we should let the dust settle from that a little longer?

Thoughts: This is one of the few times we'll see a 3D/holographic display on the show, this time in the conference room. These displays will soon disappear in favor of traditional 2D screens. Perhaps the SFX were too expensive? Also, Data being fooled by a finger trap is stupid.

But the real stupidity in this episode is, of course, the Ferengi. Believe it or not, the Ferengi were supposed to be the primary adversary for this show... but for some reason, they were directed to be a ridiculous farce of a civilized species. And so, the Ferengi went on to be used more for comedy relief than as a serious foe. I mean, just watching them bounce around like idiots while Riker speaks to Portal... it's truly painful to watch.

Thoughts: What in the Aryan dystopian hellscape?? In our second story about an ideal world with a terrible secret, this episode is a great example of what makes the first two seasons of this series so bad – they just haven't figured out what they're doing yet. The great “moral” question here is whether the Enterprise crew should respect and obey this society's laws and punishments, even if they find them to be, shall we say, cruel and unusual? They make it a point that the Prime Directive tells them they must obey others' laws but... well, there's just so much wrong here and it's not nearly that cut and dry. First of all, according to the Prime Directive, the Enterprise shouldn't have made contact with this pre-warp civilization at all. Second, Yar's report on this society's laws most certainly should have included enforcement and punishment procedures. But it seems everyone was just far too eager to beam down to the planet where everyone is naked and constantly having sex. The idea that this episode tries to tackle such a mature concept as the Prime Directive and respect for law and order against a backdrop of such an immature concept of “Everyone on this planet is hot and horny!” is truly groan-inducing.

Thoughts: One of the distinctive characteristics of these first two seasons is how scenes are lit and directed much in the style of live theater. Bright lights, harsh shadows, and Riker standing on the bridge with his arms crossed high across his chest to signify his self-satisfaction. It's these things that make these early episodes feel, well, performative. On a separate note, Riker's “gift” to Wesley is a terrible one. While some children and teenagers may wish to fast forward their lives, most adults understand the importance of experiencing and enjoying those years. Skipping ten years of Wesley's life is not a gift, it's a curse. Why would Riker do that to him? Oh, and one last thought: shame on La Forge for kink-shaming Worf!

Thoughts: Oh look, another ideal world! This one doesn't have a terrible secret – at least, not one that we learn about. In fact, we don't learn anything about this planet, because the story doesn't really have anything to do with the specific or unique properties of this place called “Haven”, despite it being the name of the episode... it just seems that the writers can't let go of this idea of entire planets being somehow “perfect”.

Thoughts: I love how, twice in this episode, people address an unresponsive computer or intercom by repeating their last command, but louder.

Thoughts: This episode brings us the well-remembered line, “Shut up, Wesley!” (which actor Wil Wheaton hates). While Wesley did earn the ire of many fans in these early episodes, the adults here do have a strong tendency to ignore and dismiss anything Wesley has to say, which honestly is pretty idiotic considering they've given him a job on the bridge. In this case, Wesley is essentially single-handedly responsible for saving the ship and doesn't get so much as a “Thank you” or a “Sorry for telling you to shut up earlier”. Now, I'm no early-pedantic-Wesley apologist, but he really does get mistreated in this episode by his supposed colleagues.

Thoughts: This is probably the best episode of Season 1, in my humble opinion, and I think it's largely because of the drama around evacuating the ship and setting the self-destruct. Still, this episode does reek of the Roddenberry-style treatment of women. I don't just mean the treatment of Minuet (literally an object to be talked about in the third person), but even just the way that Commander Quinteros grabs Tasha's arm makes me uncomfortable. Despite its strengths, other parts of the episode do drag it back down to an average three-star rating from me.

Thoughts: Unfortunately, when Jameson first appears, he looks exactly like what he is: a young man wearing bad “old man” makeup. This really is just a single-threaded story with not a lot of substance.

Thoughts: It's another ideal world with a terrible secret! And have you noticed how most of these episodes end on a positive beat? A joke, a smile, and/or some sort of affirmation of the nobility of Starfleet and humanity? This was the hallmark of early Trek: no matter what horrible tragedy might have been suffered during the episode, everything is just right as rain before the credits roll. It's certainly different than a lot of modern television, but it's kind of nice knowing that you can watch a story and always come away from it feeling good.

There's a message in this episode about becoming too reliant on technology without actually understanding how it works. While I don't think humanity is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the Aldeans, there is an interesting parallel with present-day computer literacy. We have seen computer literacy increase with the Millennial generation, since they essentially grew up at the same time that personal computing was “growing up”. They learned how to use, troubleshoot, and fix computers out of necessity. Now we see that younger generations have actually decreased in computer literacy because computing technology has improved to a point where often times, it just “works” and there's no need to understand the inner-workings. Just something to think about.

Thoughts: I remember as a child that the early scenes of this episode were unsettling to me. I was frightened by the sounds of the man screaming and the explosions behind the door, followed by images of his burned, lifeless body. Also, something about the way the laser drill hung from the ceiling after Data destroyed it.... I just found it all to be very disturbing.

Thoughts: Logan is a real jerk. Also, this is the second of only four times that the ship separates. Originally, they wanted to separate the ship a lot more often, but they sort of realized that the separation made the story slow to a crawl, and it was also pretty expensive if they didn't want to use the same footage over and over again.

Thoughts: I am so glad that in modern television it isn't necessary to always use the same closing credits sequence. This episode is a perfect example of one that ends on a somber note that would transition well into a soft closing theme, but no, this series ALWAYS ends with that triumphant closing credits music that doesn't always fit the mood.

Thoughts: Does the summary sound disjointed? Like two random stories glued together? Yeah, that's kind of how it feels, too.

Thoughts: This episode is pretty okay, but I still don't think it deserves much more than an average rating. The idea is compelling, and the action is fun, but on the other hand... those stop-motion parasites are a little silly to watch. It is still pretty memorable mostly for Spoiler » Remmick's head literally exploding, a scene which was removed from some broadcasts, including on the BBC. It's also worth noting that this episode was originally meant to be an introduction for the Borg, somehow, but that plan never came to fruition.

Thoughts: Ugghhhh. Between Clemond's ridiculous idioms and Offenhouse's superiority complex, these are easily the most annoying characters I've had the displeasure of watching on this show so far. Bring back the Ferengi; I'd rather watch them, because these two men are insufferable. This episode is a lie. It may be called “The Neutral Zone”, but there is barely twelve minutes devoted to that story. Assume about 3 minutes for opening and closing credits, and that leaves us with 30 excruciating minutes about these three thoroughly annoying relics. Furthermore, the episode foists upon us Gene Roddenberry's naïve take on the future: that 24th-century humans have become so enlightened that they don't need to take simple security measures to lock out a communications panel or to restrict access to the bridge because, well, WHY WOULD ANYONE EVER DO THOSE THINGS IF THEY WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO? It's not as if the whole mission of the ship is to seek out new life and new civilizations, perhaps new life and civilizations that aren't as enlightened as humans, so maybe basic security measures aren't such a bad idea. Finally, when Ralph somehow makes it to the bridge to demand to speak to the manager, Picard orders security to remove him... but Ralph protests and the security officers just stand there impotently like there's nothing they can do about it. Ugh, this episode is awful.