It can be from any series, and if you want to pick a favorite from each show go ahead.
Picture very much related.
It’s a really good episode in terms of a basic story and really good acting, but if you think about it, its both a really bad way of memorializing a civilization and a horrible thing to do to a person. They could have put the entire library of their civilization into that probe, but instead they decided to make a device to make a person live an imaginary life and then have to live with the loss of a family that he never actually met in the real world and it all felt far more real than anything the holodeck could do.
You make good points, and even bring up a point I hadn’t really considered fully. But did they not put their knowledge base and other things into the probe? I vaguely remember the people in the Memory World saying they did, and the flute was a personal touch added near the end.
If they had the means to, they could have sent out dozensof probes (not likely, resources didn’t seem to be abundant) in all directions, some broadcasting low signals with their story, some just deep storage info crypts. That way they maximized their potential for discovery.
It’s also possible the only reason Picard had physical issues with the exchange due to incompatible biology, but without that being stated in the show directly… Its a reach.
Still my favorite though.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I think it’s the kind of technology that would change a civilization. They probably had games where you could spend weeks in a fantasy world in only the blink of an eye. It would be awesome. And probably normal enough eventually that they wouldn’t think it weird to chronicle the end of the world that way
They did not make that clear in the episode and I am a firm believer that if you have to spend time thinking about an explanation for why something is the way it is in a TV episode when the writers didn’t seem to come up with a reason shows the episode is flawed.
Oh, I strongly disagree. I think half the fun of watching a sci-fi show is thinking about the rest of the world, and what it would be like based on the little snapshot we get as viewers
I always feel so sorry for Picard after this episode. He literally gets convinced that his life is not real, to the point that he buys the fantasy, embraces and loves the fantasy. Then when he sees some fulfillment it gets taken away and he gets told that it was not real. He may have never wanted a family in his real life, but he got one he loved them so much…
It was a great episode but boy it cut really deep when you started thinking about it.
I liked the ds9 episode where they were playing baseball. “Take Me Out to the Holosuite”
It would have to be “Chain of Command”. there are FOUR lights
It’s not necessarily my favorite episode but it pops up always when I think of ST
It’s voyagers episode where they observe the planet which is in its own time pocket, so the whole evolution of the society happens in days from voys perspective
When I think of TNG, the first episode I think of is Yesterday’s Enterprise.
Imagine having Guinan look at you and say “your entire existence is just… wrong”
The first time I saw it, I came in a couple of minutes late, so I missed everything changing into an alternate timeline. I saw Tasha and thought, “is this a repeat?” And I thought, “no, the uniform is wrong.” I still think it would work better that way. Start it with the Enterprise C coming through the rift and the timeline already changed.
That’s a good one, and I can’t wait to see it again since I’m going through the shows with my wife (her first viewing of any of them)
The doctor beaming down for “just a minute” and being there for some ridiculous amount of time, I can’t remember exactly how long.
Great episode.
Hard to pick just one but probably TNG 4x19 “The Nth Degree”. Love a good Barclay episode.
I love when Sci fi shows do the “person gets super duper smart” episodes.
Star trek and Stargate are my two favorites with this trope.
I think my all time favourite line from Stargate is when Carter explains the Uncertainty Principle to an advanced alien who replies “oh yes, one of the misconceptions of simple physics”.
The Tollan
They BUILT their own fancy STARGATE since their new planet didn’t have one.
I believe Carter was explaining why she named the cat “Schrodinger”, and started bringing up the whole “quantum superposition” and “string theory” and that’s when he gives the little chuckle and says the line.
The Tollan didn’t deserve what they got but holy shit were they arrogant AF
