The Inner Light is Bad, Actually (Star Trek: The Next Generation)
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- Опубліковано 12 січ 2021
- It's high time someone did some goofin' on The Inner Light, a beloved episode of Star Trek: Next Generation I absolutely hate.
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Thanks for the overwhelmingly positive response to this one, guys! I will, however, accept my punishment for calling Captain Dathon Darmok.
You must wear parachute pants and play the flute as penance!
@@Entertainer13 *tootles sadly*
@@AllisonPregler A tootle of absolution. *Nods sagely*
I disagree with your assessment, I remember thinking this was "one of the good episodes" at the time. I do like your delivery though - his hair and sleeves growing (didn't pick that up at the time), and the dubbing of the recorder music was hilarious! - Overall, a like from me for this video! :)
And here I was charging up my best *Actually*.
I guess you could say that Picard became a Settler of Katan.
No you CAN'T, don't even TRY!
Or Patrick Hearst...
The rare game of Catan that ends with everyone dying of thirst.
If only they could just get more wood.
I've heard this joke a dozen times and it never gets old.
"Things that should have changed Picard irrevocably, but usually didn't" was more or less the running theme of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
This is a failure of the writers, not the actor. And this is not just limited to Start Trek but common in most episodic shows.
@@luisderivas6005 They never implied otherwise. Actors don't write the script.
I've always imagined that this experience did change Picard irrevocably, he just always hid it from everyone. His reluctance to play, or show his flute to his girlfriend later on shows how deeply private that experience was to him.
I guess the problem here is that the Kataan wanted their message to be spread out, but the emotionally private Picard is now keeping the experience mostly to himself. At least the surface knowledge of the world made it to the Federation.
Reluctance to show his flute. Hee hee.
@@user-sr9qe2zl9w True in more ways than one!
I interpret it as Picard being so used to shit like this he's just like "Yeah that was a thing."
I imagine the Enterprise crew are so used to horrific trauma and danger and weird shit they become used to it.
I agree! It’s only too bad that the show forces us to only see Picard through the literal eyes of his crew and never ever shows us his private struggles through the lens of a third person camera.
Gee, if only there was a way for the series to depict the personal lives of characters when they are alone in their quarters. But that would require some kind of invisible fourth wall and that’s just ridiculous in this science fiction world where literal mind readers exist.
@@cat_city2009 Lower Deck nails this aspect of serving in Star Fleet
The "My Heart Will Go On Recorder solo" running gag is one of my favorites .
That Worf joke killed me. It reminds me of that 15 minute long video of people telling him no and how most of those episodes would've ended immediately if they agreed with him.
I find it hilarious that Michael Dorn even said that he tried to make Worf as unlikable as possible, so that whenever he appeared on screen people would be like “Oh god, here comes Worf”.
@@Gasoline85 That's kinda funny seeing as how I found him to be one of the most endearing characters, haha. There was an odd charm to his scowl. Plus, in DS9 he went from a punching bag to professional ass-kicker.
@@Spike-Prime Haha, I know. Me too.
I just saw A Fistful of Datas for the first time. Worf was great in that episode.
Geordi: "It's possible that a large enough explosion might have ruptured the space-time continuum. We collided, exploded and got caught in this repeating loop of time."
Picard: "If you're right, perhaps we could escape the loop by avoiding the collision."
Worf: "Perhaps we should reverse course."
Picard: "Make it so."
*roll credits*
As soon as I saw the thumbnail, I knew there would be the Titanic Recorder. I just knew it and I'm so happy
I have to say that when I first saw this, my main impression was not of the story issues, but of Patrick Stewart's masterclass acting, which showed a range I'd never seen in Trek before.
Well said. I see something similar with Data in Masks (aka Masaka is Waking). The logic of the story has issues, but the acting was excellent.
I agree. Patrick Stewart took TNG to the next level with his dramatic acting skills.
I guess I always saw it from a different perspective. As a teen in the 90s I was a socially awkward introvert with parents that were almost never home, and no siblings. So to have 40 years of happy memories of a family inserted into my head at that point of my life…… that would have been nice.
Same thanks for commenting.
Maybe their civilization would have survived if they built a second village.
The technology to build two villages is far too advanced.
They were doing the One City Challenge but they died before the Space Victory
@@BlazingOwnager civ memes are the best memes ;)
Wildly underrated comment 🤣
🤣
"What would you do if you woke up and found out the last 30 years of your life didn't happen?"
DON'T
TEASE
ME
“Don’t tempt me, Frodo!”
Me: [wakes up in 1990, three years before I was born] AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH... Well, guess it's time to change my name and stop the nazi uprising.
Shit I'd take the last the year not having happened and I'd be fine.
@@romarqable If that does happen, you can write 2020 as a fantastic horror novel.
I had a dream once that felt like an entire lifetime. I always assumed this was like that. It would be a lucid dream, but when you woke up the same thing would happen where you would remember it... but it would all feel less real. That way you'd avoid the psychological issues. I mean I had a dream that was pretty lucid and felt like it went on for decades and in the dream felt as real as real life despite knowing it was a dream. But when I woke up I just went back to life while going 'while neat dream'
Yep. This is how I make peace with these episodes. He experienced a lifetime, but also he didn't. It's all very real in his brain but also feels like a half remembered dream.
I had the same kind of lucid dream, but 3 times. In the dream the space of time was only a few hours. The dream was when I was 14 years old, I woke-up and went downstairs for breakfast..while cereal I saw flying saucers outside my window as I was getting up to get a closer look I woke up.. went downstairs for breakfast thinking what a freaky dream. Ate breakfast went to get the school bus to High School.. woke up. Last dream lasted the whole day and I was worried this was a dream. Told my friends, by lunch time I figured this wasn't a dream. On the way home on the school bus, it hit a patch of ice and was sliding off the road. I woke up.
Ever since I've been a little nervous every day.
Felt like != actually experienced.
@Fordo007, one of my first occasions smoking pot, 1966, experienced a temporal distortion, whereby crossing the street, maybe 10 seconds, was experienced as taking years. Only time, but you don’t forget something like that. Seems like Near Death experiencers almost always describe the experience as including “time doesn’t exist there”. I’d like to experience that, but can wait, lol
Actually, the alien's name was Dathon. Darmok was the name of the character referenced by Dathon in his attempts to communicate with Picard.
what else would you expect from someone who isn't a star trek fan but just wanted to pick whatever show to take the piss out of. i actually had to stop half way through, her voice is very irritating, i don't know why, could be the levels, accent, not sure, but wow, it was like trying to nails running across a black board.
Sokath, his eyes uncovered.
Darmok and Jalad on Tanagra. Dathon and Picard on El-Adrel.
Actually, Darmok was the name of the DOCTOR, not the MONSTER.
@@germanvisitor2 Shaka, when the walls fell.
You're probably the ONLY person I know who's credited Matt Mulholland for this Titanic recorder parody. Everyone uses it, it's become a meme. Hell, I've even seen K-Pop behind-the-scenes clips use it. Thanks for giving him the credit he deserves.
"Tell them of us."
"There is literally nothing I could tell them. Your lives were totally unremarkable."
Can you imagine if at the big reveal Picard just got unreasonably pissed off and had a mental break down? "You did WHAT to my mind? None of you are even real? You trapped me mentally for decades with your backwards dumbass unremarkable culture? Let me tell you people, if I had my ship, I would have watched you die in orbit and not lifted a finger to help because your rockets can't go to warp, and I would have SLEPT WELL that night!"
The sad part is I'm not even joking. They could have begged him for help and still been alive and he would have said no. The Prime Directive is a dick.
"Wait... really?"
"Yeah. There's literally hundreds of past cultures on my planet alone similar to yours."
"That can't be."
"Hate to break it to ya... Now if you were flying tentacle people who lived in volcanoes and had telepathic sex, that'd be something!"
@@planescaped Not if the one being the probe downloaded the information into was a telepathic volcano f&%£-squid.
@@BlazingOwnager Remember Boraalis. Since Picard made sure no one else ever will.
I wonder what the simulation would have done if O'Brian or LaForge were the ones hit with the mind ray. "Our planet can't survive." "It's okay, I built us a warp capable generation ship out of junk.."
"In the course of little over a year, Jean Luc Picard has recovered from assimilation by the Borg, torture by the Cardassians and an entire lifetime of memories being downloaded into his head. I am still unable to determine if his continued mental stability is due to some residual effect of the meld with Sarek or just sheer bone headed human willpower"- Lt Cmdr Deanna Troi in a report to Starfleet command.
it's all that Earl Grey tea he drinks that keeps him sane
@@shaunsteele8244 In the context of how he beat Kirk's youngest command record in his Stargazer days he really is a guy who's seen some crazy shit. He was a 20 something Science Officer on the Stargazer when something came out of completely fucking nowhere and put the XO in a coma, sucked the second officer into space and drove the Captain insane. Trial by fire is an understatement.
The blessings of a sitcom-esque structure. It takes a lot to wear down the equilibrium that we must return to at the end of each episode.
@@badger6882 The best thing about it is that the rest of the cast are clearly well aware of that but Patrick Stewart is treating it like its high drama all the time. Denise Crosbie tells a wonderful story about how Frakes had the command team goofing around in the ready room and he came in and looked at them before saying "a lot of very strange, but very sincere people take what we are doing here very seriously... WE ARE NOT HERE TO HAVE FUN!"
@@DarthAzabrush And by the last seasons, Marina Sirtis claims Stewart became almost the goofiest of them all. How the tables turn
Groppler Zorn’s performance in this episode was groundbreaking.
I still have my Groppler Zorn action figure!
@@brandonf4657 Son of Groppler Zorn doesn't even look anything like him
After spending my entire Zorn as a devoted Groppler, I wholeheartedly Groppler this Zorn.
@@brandonf4657 I covet it
"A mindraping eh? Splendid, splendid"
-Captain Picard, apparently
"It's okay. In this episode, I'm really just a self-insert opportunity for the kind of fans who'd regard all these boring conversations with boring people as being incredibly weird and alien."
This would have been a great TOS episode but instead of the resolution we get in this version, Kirk would berate the villagers for holding him prisoner after telling their story. He would then for some reason find a super computer hidden in the middle of the village that was running the whole simulation and use his computer destroying talents to blow it up. Then, after coming back to consciousness on the bridge, he'd turn to Spock and say "Let's get the hell out of here."
Good thing Kirk never met Data
He'd also whistle up a fleet of transports to move them to another Class M planet, so their "preserve knowledge of our civilization" stratagem wouldn't be necessary.
McCoy would say something pithy, the music cue would play and they would drive away as always
Kirk lived as another person on the Indian planet. Became a shaman, married a hot chick and impregnated her. He was only there like 6 months but his alternate life was interesting.
I think this is exactly how it would play out.
I feel that there are many ways you can argue for the creators of the probe as being not as immoral as it's easy to paint them out. Though of course it relies mostly on speculation, since the episode is a bit light on details. Like how the probe works. Perhaps it isn't just stopping on a random person, the first one who finds it, but is searching for a certain kind of person, a certain personality that would see the value in taking on the knowledge of this civilization. It does target Picard after all, when there are however many hundreds of other people on that ship. Another possible interpretation is that the species lacks some necessary knowledge of other species. They never encountered aliens, after all. Maybe they have minds and brains that can store more information, can compartmentalise large experiences in memory, or experience the passage of time differently and thus don't see how the experience of the probe can be traumatizing to another species.
Personally I don't rely on any theory explaining the moral shakiness of the plot, rather I embrace it. I think it makes the story better when you think about how it's a terrible thing they do, essentially a kind of brainwashing, and that it's something they are doing simply out of sheer desperation. That they are so affected by the existential fear of being completely lost to oblivion, that they make such a desperate and long shot plan their goal to not be forgotten. It is a shame it isn't brought up more in the show though.
ever seen "The Butterfly Effect" ?
could be that the passage of time for Picard is not really "experienced" time", but it's juts like an uploaded memory... and the scenes we see are just for the audiance
.. true there's a lot of holes in the premise but,, in a way a societies compassion is really all that is important once they're gone... A civilization that was into killing itself,, like ours is, wouldn't bother with such niceties... What would we on earth say? We built good concentration camps? We put all our money into the fusion warheads that eventually killed us all off? What a legacy..... I disagree with the channel creators estimation of the value of the society by their simplicity, would it have been a lot better if they had a bunch of wars of conquest and all that kind of thing? They were a simple and compassionate people, that didn't have the time they should have got... If this episode was on Star Trek the original series, these people would have been even higher estimated than Tyree's civilization, who were estimated to be some of the most compassionate and advanced humanoids in that part of the Galaxy yet found.... Humanoids who got along with each other and developed an emerging technology,, but hadn't even bothered to advance the "arts" of war...
That was the funniest thing I saw. I am laughing at what a messed up prank that is. To live an entire life, left your old self behind, just to be woken up with a "psych, it was fake all along. Look at his face! he is still confused". LMAO.
"You beat cancer and went BACK to the carpet store??"
@@TerrenceNowicki 😂
@@TerrenceNowicki Geez now I remember why this episode is one I skip over lol. Not that I dislike it, but its not one I go to watch again
The ultimate irony here being Inner Light....... is basically an in-universe episode of Star Trek Quantum Leap
Maybe this will change her opinion.
lol not likely
@@amberace Is Allison stubborn? 😆
But like... if he leapt into a really boring person whose life didn't have any particular turns to it.
Picard was Scott Bakuling before Scott Bakula Star Trek'd. Oh, the ironing.
“The Inner Light” has no Groppler Zorn. Therefore: 2/10.
But...Daniel Stewart playing Patrick Stewart's son: +1.
Mind bending premise: +2.
Insanely adorable children: +1.
A T-shirt worthy Picard line ("Now will never come again"): +1.
Touching last words by Eline: +1.
Shattering final scene: +1.
FINAL SCORE: 9/10.
INNER LIGHT FTW!!
indeed
@@oddish4352 Quite! *sips Earl Grey...hot*
@@oddish4352 yes, but no Groppler Zorn.
@@ikarikid Hence no 10/10.
This episode would be vastly improved if the probe had zapped a Borg cube.
At least the knowledge of the culture would have been completely preserved in that case and not died again when the sapped person dies. I mean no Borg would have cared, but the collective would have known.
@@Kaefer1973 Either that or the entire Borg Collective is forced into a single human body for decades and gets the most brutal, hellish therapy of its existence, singlehandedly stopping the Borg. The Borg Collective forcibly made to live as an organic individual for decades. It would be like Tulix on the scale of billions.
And the next time the Borg show up they don't announce with resistance is futile but with flute music
There is one moment where we see the impact of living as another person for decades. When the chime to Picard's door sounds, he pauses for a moment as if trying to remember what the sound means before saying, "Come." That's it. One thing that always gets me about time-travel and other scenarios like this, is if you went back 30 years, how many names would you remember? How many little details of everyday life? You go back to high school, do you remember the combination to your locker, or even what class schedule you have in sophomore year? I'd love to see someone explore that realistically.
I will never forget the sound of a PS1 booting up. I remember it like the first day I heard it.
In high school, I could open any locker if I punched it hard enough.
@guysmiley4830 Hey, I remember you!
Aren't you the guy in the leather jacket who got everyone's sodas unstuck by hitting the machine just right?
Actually, the amount of time Picard spends in the simulated dream-world of Kataan is closer to 60 years.
@@lawrencemcstephens308 So he’d forget even more.
"I haven't watched the video, but I know you're wrong" -Lieutenant Barclay
Who needs 'The Inner Light', when we can have "FOUR LIGHTS!!!!"
Ah! So there WERE five lights: four on the ceiling and one inside Picard. Old spoon head was right after all...
I can only headcanon that when he returned to the Enteprise, his "life" on Kataan became like a vivid dream to him (which it pretty much was, but you get what I mean). He remembered it and how real it felt, but was able to emotionally detach himself from it (over time, obviously).
Otherwise, he'd be in an asylum for the rest of his life.
"And those freaks on Kataan got off way too light". Their entire species was wiped out. You want something worse? Jokes aside, I really enjoyed the episode, but you make some good points, especially about kidnapping and gaslighting him for decades.
Yeah like the yes I can thing isn't that sinister if she is actually his wife, she's been caretaking a loved one who doesn't remember her and is tired of his insistence to live in a delusion that is hurting their lives, knowing she was a simulation knowing the person whose mind they were going to infiltrate was not in fact delusional, it's just a whole lot more sinister.
Yeah it's science fiction so her callousness is forgivable,, I wish she'd take to reviewing Steven Seagal movies though, there's a lot more deserving material for her type of comedic ruthlessness lol....
That culture was cruel and barbaric for doing this to Piccy .Fuck 'em .
That’s because it was the fifth light we made along the way.
...but there are only four lights.
As someone who really likes The Inner Light, this is a very good video that makes your points well.
Thank you!
Likewise. I'm a life-long Star Trek fan who adores The Inner Light, and I think Allison's critiques are witty, thoughtful, and just flat-out funny.
I love star trek but I also to make fun of it. This video was spot on!
I have to agree. I love this episode and always will, but as u said, we’re allowed to have different opinions and u did a very good job explaining yours here.
@@Stardust_7273 I think this episode only works for you if enjoy dramatic character studies and can ignore the realistic ramifications of what just happened. Personally I also don’t really like this episode for reasons similar to this video
Picard's flute rendition of 'My Heart will go on' just gets me right in the feels!
The jokes definitely hit and this was entertaining, but I disagree entirely. This was a beautiful episode and still holds up. I am still reminded of how I felt when I watched it for the first time and how it speaks to the potentially endless nature of consciousness in the universe.
The inner light, regardless of later plot holes it may have caused to Picard, was a great episode. The writing and storyline were thought provoking after all these years.
I don't think this was a boring episode, but then again I am a huge tng fan so I loved all the things this woman hated about it. She does have good points like comparing it to Stockholm syndrome...and yes absolutely, that's all part of what makes this episode interesting.
Patrick Stewart did a great job also with this episode, he is such a good actor and he pulled it off. This episode also won an Emmy.
I agree,, I can definitely see her points about the humorous aspect of this episode and could even laugh with her about it in person,, but I thought it was an actually extremely deep episode and the holes in the plot were pretty obvious even the first time seeing it, but the lesson is still very valid...... It's all a matter of perspective,, and the script could have been more detailed, leaving him more time after he got out of the trance or whatever it was to explain what happened...... And that in a way he may have regretted being a starship captain, having had children and a wife and stuff,, stuff that should have been explored on his deathbed episode with Q.......
Even though that's not the subject of this episode,, I thought the episode where Picard got to go back just after his graduation from Starfleet academy, and the changes he made to avoid getting stabbed through the heart by the crazed guy with the weird triangular knife......
HOW ARROGANT were the scriptwriters of that particular episode, to assume that a more cautious man wouldn't have made more ultimately human life choices? And when Picard finally broke down in the turbo lift, crying that he couldn't handle not being a captain and a regular duty shift was just so boring for him, if I was Q I would have said, you egotistical short-sighted creature,, why don't you go look in your cabin? Where he finds messages from his wife and children,, saying they hope you map some interesting stars or whatever his job was and sending him their school report cards or a holopic of his youngest son's newest ship in a bottle model or something.... How his life was just as full as it was being a starship Captain but in a different way,, where his responsibilities were to his family and his friends back wherever he called home....
Of course one can speculate endlessly about the screenplays in a series like Star trek, I also dislike the primarily military orientation of starfleet,, I mean they really should have just called it the phaser fleet that just happened to go to the Stars lol......
Before even watching: It's one of those episodes I _like_ but it always leaves me thinking, "It _REALLY_ should have had more of a long term affect on him beyond 'Plays the flute now' "
Well, he's also not uncomfortable with children anymore. But you're right nonetheless.
Not sure how you can blame the ep for that tho, it's the future writers who ignored that point.
That's what happens when your series is *completely* episodic, nothing can have long term affect on characters.
"weekly reset button" started long before Voyager, hehe
Yea he would have gone totally insane
Voyager also did the concept more justice in the episode "Memorial." Much like the O'Brien DS9 example they also depicted the experience as horrifying.
There was another DS9 culture who tried the simulation memorial thing, though they did it with a holographic village. It was a much smarter culture, apparently.
Although this is one of my favorite episodes, I do have a problem with the concept of being forced to live a lifetime not your own. What about the whole family he lost??? They were real to him. It's just plain traumatic. I choose to believe that the probe was able to scan for beings who would be able to stand the psychological pressure. Yeah...going with that.
So I’m 43 and basically retired. I Just watched this recently (went through the whole series). I found myself moved emotionally and really still think it’s one of the best Star Trek’s ever made.
It wasn’t because the episode didn’t have its faults. I mean it is 90’s tv. It was about the emotional structure of his mind before, during, and after the episode. This paired with the sadness of those who just want to be remembered after the world/universe moves on. It can be hard to understand this when you’re in the thick of it, but realizing that the universe moves on without you - the emotion is real. (And until you experience it, there is no real understanding of it imo).
The fact that he lived an entire (largely) full and happy life and really doesn’t have the ability to share it with anyone who will remember, is hugely impactful.
He becomes more human because of this life (learning life is more than work and is able to connect with kids and mend family grievances) and also more distant because of his inability to share experiences like this and his Locutus (his inability to even play cards until the very end with people who literally have gone to the end and back).
I do think your criticisms are fair, but I also agree they are subjective.
Hell, I just bought a tin whistle and started to learn to play.😂
“The Inner Light” is one of my favorite episodes, but your criticisms are very valid. Thanks for another great Star Trek video review!
Allison doing a video about Star Trek?
"Make it so!"
I like this episode because it did the one thing I think Picard always regretted and that's not having a family. Even though it was fake, he still got to live it.
Darmok is such a great episode and even more in retrospect. They wrote an episode about a species that communicates solely in memes, before modern memes were really a thing!
NEIL BREEN! HIS LAPTOPS BROKEN!
Good
Breen and Wiseu at Telagra!
Lupa, when Picard did...not much...
The flute was actually chosen at Patrick Stewart's request. They planned some bigger, alien instrument but then they realized it would block the view of the camera of his mouth, while he can hold the flute in a way that his mouth would still be seen. It was largely an acting decision.
If only Michael Fassbender was around to take care of the fingering for him.
I thought the director made that decision for the same reasons. To see Patricks/Picard's full face.
I don't know, I think it would have been great to have Picard play a heartfelt tune on a giant alien tuba. Maybe we can't see his face, but he kicks his feet out while playing, like the Lord of the Dance guy.
In a funny sort of way, this episode reminds me of the Doctor Who two-parter, Human Nature/Family Of The Blood, in the way that you see some of the cowardice and selfishness of the protagonist who, up to this point, is meant to be our hero. I love both episodes for this reason, but I can see why some wouldn't.
Yeah, one thing that really stood out was that John Smith wasn't just the Doctor as a human. He really had been given a nastier persona with fewer morals.
Here's an idea: split the plot into different episodes
One story is about a crewman trapped in a ship's holodeck who's lost their identity and become part of the simulation for years and the Enterprise has the dilemma of freeing them or letting them live in their fantasy
And other is a story where the Enterprise discovers a planet with interactive holograms based on the extinct society that used to live there-it'd be a mystery story.
kinda want to edit The Inner Light version I have so that he's playing the theme to Titanic instead now
Memorial, the Voyager episode where a war memorial gives people ptsd when they get near, is a much better version of the "aliens gaslighting people but not in an evil way" premise, and Shadowplay, the DS9 episode where a man recreates his homeworld is a better version of the "everything is a simulation of a lost society" premise.
Not to mention the DS9 'Dramatis Personae' where the cast re-enact the power struggle that destroyed a civilization.
If anything I'd say Memorial was much, MUCH worse. That traumatises the Voyager crew with an event that, frankly, we have no evidence for. It forces them to have horrific dreams and retain memories of murdering innocent people. Then Janeway says they should repair it and keep it going so even MORE people should have the memories of committing genocide??
Sorry, but that's just a s**ty thing to do, and for all we know that's just lies and propaganda by a species who wanted to get people to hate their enemies.
@@Spike-Prime They fixed the memorial so it at least won't traumatise people as much by having the memories emerge randomly out of sync, and the warning probe is there to make sure nobody comes across it by accident.
@@Spike-Prime
I think that it's "better" that at least the Voyager crew WAS Traumatized. In the inner light Picard is written as being better for the experience.
@@genmaicha.lapsang A trauma which was never referenced again for the rest of the show, while Picard references (directly and indirectly) the life-changing experience of Inner Light several times.
And the fact is, what's even the point of that monument in the first place? It seems to be built with the express purpose of f**king with people and sending horrific trauma into peoples' brains without their permission. And again, for all we know, it could all be lies, some propaganda from a people wanting everyone else to hate those guys. Why not? We see that exact scenario at least three times in Voyager alone!
And yet Janeway decides to repair it and force it on more people!
And for what, exactly? If we follow the logic of the episode it's to tell people slaughtering innocent people is bad. I kinda figured the Voyager crew thought mass genocide was bad already (not that' it'd stop Janeway if she felt like it, the psycho). And anyone who was gonna do it isn't gonna care about some random beacon sending the message into their brains! So what good even IS it?!
That was the thing that always broke my suspension of disbelief, that they were just barely able to put rockets into space, but they could create a mind hijacking probe that could circumvent all the normal Enterprise safeguards. I mean, we have better space travel technology than they do, and I don't see us building mind hijacking probes that can survive 1000 years in space.
Agreed. Clearly their planet’s R&D traveled a very, _very_ non-obvious path!
What are these “normal Enterprise safeguards” you speak of? :P As a former IT professional, I constantly laugh at the utter lack of even the most rudimentary IT security in the Star Trek universe. And the lack of occupational health and safety regulations: if holodecks actually existed and experienced the frequency and types of failures that form the narrative backbone of so many episodes, that device would have been banned by OSHA (or other nations’ equivalents) long ago!!
@@tookitogo My confusion is over the lack of fuses in spacecraft, and not just Enterprise, but Galactica, Andromeda, even organic ships like Moya, they all seem to spark, and spark in a lethal fashion, when excess electricity is directed into their controls. Has surge protector and fuse technology been lost in the future?
@@MyMagnificentOctopus Evidently!! And things explode far away from anything that should be explosive. (Like, really, what are they putting in their control panels? Don’t they have fly-by-wire?)
@@tookitogo My other question isn't a safety one but a practicality question. The turbolift seems to be one car that goes all over the ship. In a craft wit 4000+ people. That must make getting anywhere in the ship involve incredibly long waits. I mean even buildings with just 3 or 4 floors and a few hundred people have at least 2 or 3 elevators, but then entire Enterprise seems to have one lift that goes everywhere.
@@MyMagnificentOctopus The Enterprise-D carried just over a thousand people, not 4000. Nonetheless, your point is well taken and I’ve wondered that myself!! I’m pretty sure there are multiple turbolift cars, though, sharing a network of intersecting turboshafts.
Of course, when it comes to facilities that can have lines, the real question is how many lavatories there are! 🤣
This is my favorite episode! This episode absolutely blew my 11 year old mind when it was new, as it was my first exposure to an 'allegory of the cave'/'brain in a vat'/'evil demon' type line of thinking. It made me very emotional, and I remember thinking about it for months afterward. I expected to be nerd raging at the end of this review but I ended up laughing too hard at the shitty recorder parts and all the hammer pants references. Nice work on this!
I'm glad you addressed the horrifying psychological impact of the events of this episode.
As for the absurdities in Picard's alternate life, this smacks of Kataan propaganda - can we really believe anything they say?
I feel like VOY's Memorial was the twisted dark version of this episode that really delved into the possible psychological damage such a device can cause.
I didn't think about the "Advanced" probe until you brought it up, not only did it manage to survive decades BUT was able to interface with a human brain!
@@rodscarbrough2337 Sci-fi bullshit to keep the plot going at a fair enough pace so they can fit thee episode into 45 minutes. Every TV show does it. On the off-chance you ever decided to get into Doctor Who, you'd see that kind of stuff happens all the time. There's even a fourth wall break where the Doctor just appears in one shot holding a cup of tea and says something like "I bet you're wondering where I got the cup of tea from? I'm the Doctor. Just accept it."
@@rodscarbrough2337, technological advances are not linear. cultural beliefs mold thoughts and would push research in different directions
While I do really like this episode and made my own comment poking at Allison elsewhere, this is the an aspect of it that does give me pause.
I have always felt that Picard should have come out of this episode a barking mad man wondering if literally anything was real...
Yea he would end up schizophrenic
Well, he already ended one Barclay & Moriatti episode with "maybe we are all living in small box on somebodys desk".
Seriously. The guy would need years of therapy after something this psychologically traumatic.
There was an idea pitched where , right after the end of the episode, they would have found some of the characters in the episode frozen. When his wife wakes up and Picard gets all happy and starts talking to her, she says she doesn't know him. But they felt it worked better as a stand alone episode
that was an excellent webcomic.
It IS the best TNG episode. It may not fit into your life experience or agenda as to how life may be lived but it was thought provoking and well acted. That's what makes a good film. I agree with your comment that how can a civilization construct such a probe and are barely learning how to launch vehicles into space? Nothing wrong with using a flute, advanced aliens in the movie Prometheus used them too. Nonetheless, a good story. I'm in the Phoenix area, I don't mind beige.
... I also thought the channel creator was unnecessarily harsh,, there was an inestimable value in this civilization, and it's kind of sad that she couldn't see it... A humanoid civilization that developed pre-nuclear technology WITHOUT developing war as a consequence, THIS is a worthless civilization? Just that angle could be examined by federation scientists for a thousand years and with THEIR warlike mentality,, probably still never figure it out... So I understand your points,, not alone traveller👍...
@@micnorton9487 Also there is inherent value in history and discovery. We get excited in finding a cup in Jericho because it is the oldest city in history. They probably lived very boring lives but learning about them is so valuable to us.
Allison and star trek. A combo as good as tuvix
I love The Inner Light. It's one of my favorite episodes. But, damn, this video is great. I had to pause every time the off-key flute started playing because I was laughing and didn't want to miss anything. Also the same white-wall town set we see here is used in pretty much every other episode where they beam down to some planet that has some kind of town.
Picard should’ve started a clarinet duo with Harry once the Voyager got back from the Delta Quadrant
With the Doctor singing and Beverly dancing. 😉
7:35 I haven't seen this episode in ages but OMG this must have been the most enlightened episode of Star Trek ever! Look, it has "ZEN", written in benevolent alien script above a door! These people must have lived every moment of their lives in transcendent contemplation of form and emptiness!! No wonder Jean-Luc could recover from this experience without lasting trauma or even mild inconvenience, he was living among bodhisattvas, every one!!!
"WHY IS THIS EPISODE SO BEIGE!" Almost died, thank you! Lol!
Every third episode of TNG:
Data: There's a Thing.
Worf: Let me shoot it!
Picard: No!
Thing: I'm going to put the entire ship in danger and maybe kill like a dozen random goldshirts.
Picard: How could we have avoided this?!
Worf: *grumbling* One of these days I'll get a captain that's badass.
*monkey's paw curls*
Sisko: Worf, fire the modified torpedo that will kill everybody on that planet!
Worf: ...
Every third episode of DS9 (post season 4):
Dax: There's a thing.
Worf: Let me shoot it!
Sisko: ARM QUANTUM TORPEDOS, POWER TO FORWARD DISRUPTORS! FIRE!
That always bothered me, how quickly he re-adjusted to life on the enterprise, it was literally instant. The reality is he would would have been removed from command after living that long in a primitive society. I'm a software engineering manager. I'm 40, if I all of a sudden got sucked back into another life as a 40 year old in 1920 and lived to 1960 and transporting back to right now upon that death....there is no way I would just be able to go back to work the next day and do my job effectively, or frankly be in a mental state to work at all. After getting "right" with what happened, I would have to relearn all sorts of shit.
A later episode tried to say that after he woke up, the memories faded so they felt more like a dream and they didn't overpower him.
Not much, but still...
I don't agree with your accessment, but if looking for a bone to pick... How about all the problems they encountered on the Halodeck? If the Enterprise had that many problems, other ships in the fleet must have encountered similar problems. My point being, Halodecks should have been shut down across the fleet until better safeguards were designed.
@@williamanthony9090 There, I think one can argue risk vs reward. The holodeck is a _tremendous_ resource. It works for recreation, for training, for work, for all manner of things. There is a risk, but the rewards may outweigh them. Think, for instance, of the risks with airplanes or cars. There have been plenty of airplane crashes, and far more car crashes, but we keep doing both, as they are so beneficial that the rewards outweigh the risks.
@@alaron5698- I don't recall the Halodeck being used for anything other than entertainment. (At least on Next Generation) The second time the Enterprise was endangered by the Halodeck, and we can assume other ships had similar problems, that should have been the end of that. You think Starfleet Command cares if their personnel are enjoying Halodeck time? They have a military machine to run, and there's safer ways for the crews to enjoy themselves; Bars, Gyms, Libraries, Clubs, and so forth. The argument you make deals with things considered essential--Cars, airplanes, and so on. Training schedules... okay. But having a good old time on the Halodeck would be considered non-essential, so I could see the Federation shutting them down after one or two incidents that endangered ships.
This is a silly discussion, though. The halodecks were invented by the writers for dramatic purposes. In my opinion the writers should have avoided the drama of Halodecks endangering reality. But as long as I'm here, and babbling, I have another point to make. I've noticed a lot of discussions lately concerning the transporters, and theories that each time you're transported you die and are re-created. Nobody, to my knowledge, ever wonders how the inside of Starships have such wonderful gravity. Rather than ponder the transporter issue, I'd sure like to know how they generate a gravitational wave that mimics earth so completely, that since 1966 when Star Trek premiered, we all just take for granted that they've somehow overcome the weightlessness of space. They're certainly not walking around with magnets in their shoes! It's a small thing to write it into the world of Star Trek, and certainly makes it easier for purposes of drama, but it would be a very big achievement indeed, and warrants more of a discussion than the transporter issue.
Anyway, thanks for your input concerning the halodecks, and any further thoughts you might have on the futuristic world of Star Trek.
@@williamanthony9090..AH,, the Moriarty episode...... Yeah, if the computer can create a sentient presence,, what's to stop it from all of a sudden becoming skynet and declaring the entire federation as its enemy? The computer core of the Enterprise could instantly communicate over subspace with other computer cores,, spread the virus or whatever it is and take over the federation before humans even have a chance to react... Moriarty wouldn't have to leave the holodeck, he could just take over the Enterprise and go wherever the hell he wanted... And once the entire federation fleet was Moriartyized,, all political and social inefficiency would be eliminated from Starfleet and they'd even be a match for the Borg...... Of course the humans on the ships would just be along for the ride, if Moriarty felt like bringing them along lol......
my one nitpick is that we should have absolutely put things that insert a lifetime of memories into peoples' heads into the voyager probes, just to see what would happen
Inner light? More like Inner Gaslight, am I right?
lol
@@ontheturningaway Yeesh, typically rough score from the Russian judge.
Inner Light is one of my favorite episodes (though I do see it as a stand alone, rather than part of the TNG narrative), but I thoroughly enjoyed your video. You made valid points and it's refreshing to see someone not only being able to discuss something they don't like within a thing they do like, but to do so without condemning those who enjoy it. Thank you for being civil and awesome (as per usual).
Also, I came for goofs and you provided quality material. ;)
You voiced my mind
I just realized Darmok said backwards is "Komrad". So that's a positive!
I'm sure the writer intended that. Brilliant if you to notice though.
I've always had a major issue that the species who seemed to have a pretty low level of technology was able to produce a space probe that survived for millenia and also had advanced technology that could interface with someone's mind.
Not only interface, but produce 35 years of continuous adaptation to Picard's choices within the program. Picard never stopped being Picard, and the simulation never forced him to do otherwise.
I assume they just didn't care that much about space stuff, like how klingons didn't are about stuff that didn't obviously help with war and the herogons only care about hunting.
Between this, the child, and the ep where an alien faked a crash lamding/misey scheme to find out what love is...
Aliens not understanding consent and getting away with it is a disturbing trend
Seriously what was Liaisons. The alien faked their death, showed up as another person gaslit the fuck out of Picard to make him think he was badly inured and needed them All to try to make Picard fall in love with them. All because they read a Hurt/Comfort filled log.
And that's no even covering the two that are fucking with Troi and Worf. And again at the end Oh it's all a funny quirky misunderstanding.
BTW what is with all the gaslighting of Picard?
@@jessie3268 Even Picard pretty much says if they were part of his culture he'd basically be a criminal.
He cuts the alien some slack because they clearly, clearly didn't understand. It'd be like getting mad a child.
Next to some sort of highly-efficient fuel source, the most important resource to bring with you when you’re doing interstellar exploration is an UNGODLY amount of patience.
Also the one where they kidnapped them and put doppelgängers in their place. They got imprisoned for like… a minute and Picard is like, “Good enough. Now get off my ship, you balled-chinned weirdos.” Lol I love how they all look identical and their outfits 😆 But we got to see Picard singing drinking songs so it was all worth it
And yet none of those examples are even nearly as disturbing as the episode literally named "Violations"
Psychic guy basically mindrapes Troi, Riker, and Crusher into the point of temporary comas, makes Troi think it's his dad, then tries to mindrape her again (mindrape = torture them about things in their past and hijack the role of someone who was there to ruin them mentally) only to be stopped because Data and Geordi arrive on the scene after having discovered he had a history of mindraping people in the past.
I'm not even joking, that is actually the plot of the episode.
A lot of the same points come up in criticism about Groundhog's Day. Everyone kind of wants to come away from an experience like it ignoring the brutal, suicidal emotional scars and just land on the end where you learned valuable skills, got the girl, and hit an entire lifetime's worth of milestones without having to do it in real time, 'whoa, I know kung-fu' style. To some people, having a reset of the last 30 years of their life doesn't seem so bad, especially if you get to carry the skills you developed in the dream.
hell yeah I'd love to go back 30 years knowing what I know now lol
He should have been quantum leaped into the body of groppler zorn. Now that would have be an all time great episode
Anyone playing "My Heart Will Go On" on the flute, slays me. I just turn into a giggling mess every time I hear it.
The "live a lifetime in a few moments" trope is a sci-fi staple that's always bugged me, since it rarely has the long term repercussions that it should. It's basically the "it was all just a dream" trope repackaged for an episodic format.
Also, I'm currently wearing nail polish called "there are four lights," so that tells you what my favorite Picard episode is.
Yup, Q Who.
Just kidding. She said Chain of Command in the video.
There was a great O'Brian episode along these lines, but you are right, the fact it didn't carry through to any other episode kneecapped the idea. (I think it was called Hard Time. They sent him to a mind prison, the entire episode was about the consequences.)
@@BlazingOwnager basically O-Brien is an everyman and acts the way we all would, while Picard, Kirk, Sisko, et al. Are legendary heroes and have better stats. They can take far more punishment without any of that pesky PTSD as a side effect.
Chain of command is one of my favorites episodes...both parts.
"The Administrator is the mayor from Jaws but for climate change." - Ah, so every major politician ever, then?
While I like this episode, they did violate Picard in a very bad way.
Yes. But that isn't really a criticism of the episode. Besides, Picard has shown that he is very forgiving of others doing morally wrong things to him for high minded ideals. In "Darmok" he was frigging kidnapped and he salutes his deceased Kidnapper in the end.
"Worf: Phasers are armed and ready.
Riker: Worf, who told you to do that?"
How DARE you....tell us all this truth. Lmao.
Maybe "The Inner Light" works better if you think of it this way:
His mind-invasion wife was Mr. B Natural, teaching him about the spirit of music. Hence why he got to keep the flute. And it culminated with him, Worf and Data singing "A British Tar"
As free as a mountain 🐦.
I will never not die at the joke of Riker sitting on the console making all the alerts go off.
I always personally hated this episode. They kidnapped him and performed a 30 year psychological experiment on him against his will. Then when Picard is very old, his old dead friend resurfaces and is like gotcha buddy, you were right all along.
I thought this video was going to annoy me because I generally like this episode... and then you perfectly summed up ALL the problems I had with it. Well done!
Thanks so much!
@@AllisonPregler you did great...I'm a die hard trekkie and have been since I was a kid and all these episodes aired.
It's a hard thing to take an episode that is a fans favorite (this fans favorite as well) and rip it to shreds and have me laughing and agreeing and not pissed off!!
So absolute great job on this one.
The only thing that annoyed me, well, not really annoyed me but I thought was unfair, was the complaints about the costumes and set design. I thought they were very interesting. Their quality, or lack thereof, is entirely subjective. A good example to use if you are saying "I don't like this episode" but not a very good example to use if you are trying to say "This is an objectively bad episode."
I always thought the look of everything really demonstrated a dying planet and a people dealing with it very well.
I always had trouble grasping how it literally felt like 30 years or whatever had passed that is pushing it. But the writing and acting wins.
When you dream, time seems to pass much more quickly than in real life.
@@DeltaAssaultGaming It does, You can dream what seems like a movie in a few seconds.
It was really a quick nap for Picard. But he's got a lifetime of memories added to his brain in that twenty minute nap. And everything he knows happened before that added lifetime of memories.
This was a great episode. You said you wouldn't recommend this episode to anyone , but you should. It's very good.
Please do Trek Watch after Baywatch
I second that wholeheartedly!
THIRD
Yesss....welcome to the Dark Side!
This is gonna sound generic, but, fancy seeing you here.
Thanks! It's cool over here
Colville! I knew I sensed your evil presence!
Omg
12:17 the use of both the recorder and the scream is amazing
The episode is all symbolism and allegory. And that's why I love it. Caring about the technicalities is like asking how the Heisenberg Compensator works.
IT DOESN'T,, Moriarty would have taken over the enterprise, not bothered to negotiate with Picard and company, his ka would have become skynet and taken over every computer core in the federation,, and the FED would have to answer to MORIARTY.... At least until someone sent a Kyle Reese back in time to tell that idiot Data DO NOT do any Sherlock Holmes mysteries in the holodeck......
You didn't mention the 1000 time the village set is redress to look slightly different
[sees title] [monocle pops]
I was sick as hell with Mono when I watched this episode for the first time in years during some SciFi channel marathon. I felt like Picard sort of because he was sick in the episode with a bad fever and I was also somewhat delirious with fever.
This is part of the reason I like it so much.
I never expected to be laughing from start to finish while watching a ST:NextGen review yet here we are. Also, that fucking flute ... AHHH!
I loved the inner light when I first watched it but always was very disturbed that this whole life didn't have a profound impact on Picard. But it's one of the TNG episode I don't rewatch because yes: it's actually boring AF and il liked more the concept of giving Picard a fake quiet life he never had than actually watch it more than once.
And yes that damn flute.
I like this episode a lot, but like you I wish we’d seen it have a much deeper long-term effect on Picard. Was it ever picked up after that one episode where he has a dalliance with that woman who played a keyboard?
Before watching this, I'll just say I totally agree with you.
Serious lack of Groppler Zorn.
Groppler Zorn was electrifying in this episode
This episode has always bugged me because of the reasons stated but I also really enjoyed how chill and slow it was and it was cool to see the society develop in the background.
IMO, Inner Light is an amazing Sci-fi story, shoehorned into the Star Trek world: The story could happen independently of the characters.
So I love it for it's unique & wonderful concept. But as a Star Trek fan, all the characters sit on the sidelines this whole episode.
No, it's best with Picard, because it gives him the family life he never had as Captain of the Enterprise. Also fits in with his greatest desire in 'Generations'.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
I think it'd be hilarious if Picard decided to wipe his memory of the entire experience. I don't know much about Star Trek but I assume this is something they can do and it is what I'd do if I were him.
..Yeah,, Picard undoubtedly learned nothing from the people of this civilization that somehow got to a pre nuclear development of technology but never developed war.... No teeming cities full of poverty, no race riots,, no crusades, no concentration camps...... Yeah what a boring world... Picard ought to just wipe his memory,, that sort of intuitive knowledge is something that Starfleet can definitely not use......
wouldn't it have been better if these aliens had just put a message in their transmission which said "what you are about to experience is not real, and you can choose to leave this experience by clicking your heels together 3 times and saying - there's no place like home" ? This comes across more like a brutal weapon to destroy your enemies, forced them to live decades of boring life as a farmer.
I always thought the implications were majorly soft-peddled here. Would he even *be* Jean-Luc Picard anymore after spending most of a lifetime as another person? If so, would he be in any way fit to resume his old life and occupation in a timely manner or would he just be a confused emotional wreck for years after? Going through this would make short term trauma like his Borg-ization and Cardassian torture seem like a picnic by comparison.
Technically he might not remember any more than the episode shows of the other life.
I can have pretty detailed dreams than can span years and decades here and there, but I don't remember much of it or I might not have dreamt the parts in between.
Brains are weird... for good and for bad.
@@nt78stonewobble Yeah I've had dreams go for what felt like 30 minutes to an hour and it was only a 5 minute dream after nodding off for a bit. Also I've had dreams where I walk into an old room, say visiting an old place that I used to live 20 years ago (only in the dream) and all the memories of that past time come flooding back only to wake up and realize that was all just fiction. An entire history of false memories, with all the attached emotions that come with that, just conjured up in what must have been a few seconds. The brain is an amazing meat computer.
@@nt78stonewobble And that concept was used for Inception.
I like the DS9 episode with a similar concept in which O'Brien gets sent to mind prison and it leaves him super traumatized/fucked up.
The irony is the actress who plays Picard/Katan's wife is also in that episode.
And he seems fine next episode. My head canon is that Bashir was able to refine his memory alteration techniques to reduce the prison memories to a blur, kind of like you'd remember a three day bender once you sobered up.
There's also a Voyager episode with a theme like this. A war memorial that's malfunction and causing everyone who gets close to it to get PTSD
My favourite DS9 episode
Hard Time
And one time, on Kataan, I stuck a flute…