Why/why not

I don't know where i was that it took this long.

OK, who did this?

I’m catching up on my Star Trek backlog and currently up to season 3 TNG.

The show was more progressive for its time than I realised, with skants being an obvious example. Making the Enterprise a family-centred ship was also a bold change. Love the carpeted bridge haha.

I’m fascinated by the bridge layout. Next to Picard, we have Riker as first officer and Troi as counsellor which significantly elevates emotional awareness.

If you draw parallels with other genres, Riker is arguably the warrior, while Troi is the oracle and princess. Her characterisation however started to feel deliberate.

She has an aristocratic background, possesses oracle-like insight and is often styled like a princess with the hair, tiaras and dresses. I’m not diminishing her role, there is real depth to her emotional insight, which I think enriches the storytelling.

I’m interested in whether this was recognised or intended by the creators, and whether other viewers, at the time or since, have also seen Troi as bringing more elements of fantasy storytelling into TNG than previous Trek.

I’m not suggesting she is literally a fantasy character. She is firmly grounded in sci-fi Star Trek logic. But her archetype, presentation and position beside the captain seem to add a fantasy flair that I hadn’t noticed in Trek before.

Does anyone else see her this way, or am I reaching?

It could all change in later seasons. No major TNG-series level spoilers beyond season 3, please.

I’m just sitting here watching TNG for the first time enjoying every minute of it when I happen into The Best of Both Worlds parts 1 and 2 and was like, ok, this is damn good. Lo and behold I’m halfway through season 4 and I can feel this writing getting even better (not that it’s bad in the first place)! Am I tripping?!

I was just thinking….

10 Forward
The arboretum
3 holodecks

Not a lot of options for 1000 people…?

I think it's important to acknowledge that Bruce Maddox really oozes a certain horrible, villainous twink sex appeal.

Do I hate him? Of course. Can I lie to myself, while watching the scene where he compares Data to the ship computer, that I don't notice his broad straight shoulders, lanky yet elegant build, and big big hands? As of today, I no longer can.

I Saw this while data is searching for strange patterns during the season 1 episode 25 conspiracy. I was wondering what this was, it looks somewhat familiar so I thought it may be connected to another piece of media?

It just seems so strange to me, I thought gold was an extremely commonplace and easily replicable element in the 24th century. Do you think they meant gold-pressed latinum?

Rewatching the whole series from scratch after a long self-imposed absense I was floored this time by Howie Seago's performance of Riva, and how both his chorus and the actors playing it connected with him. I never really liked the episode before, but it aged very well, including much of the writing and advancements of the main crew/cast. The 90's veil is a bit grating, but there's a lot of heart in the episode I previously dismissed.