The Greatest Generation - Prick For Prick (S7E8)

Episode Date: August 2, 2017

When Picard and Beverly are abducted and fitted for mechanical nubbins, they start to share more than a mutual love of breakfast. Back on the ship, an extremely paranoid ambassador is trying to build his own bat cave in one of the condos. Does this episode take place in an alternate brunchaverse? Is Worf picking up extra shifts in the transporter room because he’s short on scarves? Is Picard getting a write-off for that Action Jacket? It’s the episode where we finally finish the ‘card bit’…or do we?

Priority 1 message from Starfleet coming in on Secured Channel. Hey friends of Disodo. Before today's episode, we just wanted to take a moment to talk about the historic labor actions being taken by writers and actors in the American Film and Television industry. If you're a fan of the work done by the people who make Star Trek, we hope you'll join us in standing in solidarity with the folks who actually bring these adventures to life. Over the past several years, the AMPTP, the organization that represents the American Film and Television Production Studios, have reduced the profit from movies and TV going to workers. And in so doing,

they've attempted to weaken the labor unions that represent those workers. They wouldn't even engage the unions on many issues in their negotiations. And so a strike was the only course of action to take. Adam, Wendy and I have been having a lot of internal discussions about how best to stand with the unions and we are continuing those conversations in a dynamic situation. We're doing our best to understand where the picket lines are in these digital spaces,

and we would never intentionally cross one. With the information we have, we feel like we can do more good talking about and supporting the strike and continuing our show as planned. We'll keep you informed about what all this means for greatest trek specifically. Today we're making a contribution to the Entertainment Community Fund. This fund exists to help all the people whose livelihoods have been put on hold because the AMPTP refuses to negotiate

in good faith with the unions. It provides financial support for writers, actors, and all the thousands of laborers who make the shows that we talk about here and without whom we wouldn't have Star Trek to cast pot about. Those folks are all out of work because billionaires, company shareholders, and the executives of these companies don't want to compromise on the length of their yachts. We hope you'll join us in supporting entertainment workers in a challenging time, especially after they've already endured several years of challenges brought on by the pandemic

and season two of Star Trek Picard. We've set up a page where you can also contribute. It's at friendsofdecotoforlabor.com. That's friendsofdececoto for Labor.com. That's FriendsOfDecoto for Labor.com. Link in the episode description. Okay, now let's get on with the show. Here's to the finest crew in Starfleet. Engage! Welcome to the greatest generation. This is a Star Trek podcast by a couple of guys who are a little bit embarrassed to have a Star Trek podcast. I am Ben Harrison. I'm Adam Pranica. Ben. Adam. I challenge you. I challenge you to do a game of no limit.

Star Trek cards hold him. Oh, is this a challenge or maybe a battle? It is both. Draw your weapon. The game is five cards stuffed. The game is exceeding. Why does this just start there? I'm trying to block a pendulum.

How many packs do you have left, Ben? I have a scant four picture. Tell me, Pax, do you have left bin? I have a scant for Pax. You and me both, man, we've come down to it. So, if I remember correctly, I am still waiting on one signature card. And... I think that these are going to be so card-dance these Pax that I think we should just go for opening all eight of them.

You want to go into a completion? Yeah. That's what you want to do. You know, friend of the pod, Dan Savage always says that it shouldn't be about that. You shouldn't put too much pressure on that part of your card bit. Because performance anxiety can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. I think we should- It's the death of fun. Yeah, I think we should just go for it. Okay, let's, you know what, let's just like savor these without the pressure of

having to win. I mean, alternately, we could come up with very elaborate rules on who wins and why. Like, like, there's four packs left. I think we both got a lot of specials, but I've lost track of who has more. Is it the most specials per four packs, or is it the best specials? How do we decide? I think you and I should look at the four packs

having opened them and then decide who has the best card of all of the four packs. Our show has really become about the conflict between us, hasn't it? People love it when we fight. Eventually, our show is just going to be a broken pool queue in the middle of a room and you and I just fighting to the death. Yeah. In my first pack I have Code of Honor, which is great for all the wrong reasons. I've got, um... That's not going to win any contest, Ben.

I've got Birthright Part 1. I've got the Outrageous Ocana. I've got the outrageous Okana. Got Sub-Rosa. Got some solid cards here. If we don't get any specials, we'll have to decide what the best episode is. If I don't get any specials, we're returning my box because I'm supposed to get three signature cards. Yeah. Got one for the game. I love the game. Suck this. Ugh. Got one for violations. Gross. It's as gross looking a card as that

episode is gross. Oh no. That card should just be black. Like the Metallica black album. Oh Jesus. I'm to my last pack, Ben. And I got a special card in the last pack. Awesome. This is a comic book frame featuring the character of Wurf. It's an original comic book panel from volume 2, number 28. It is card 33 of 144. It's Wurf, and he's angry.

He's pointing. And in the, in the, in the word bubble he says, you don't understand. If something's not done and quickly the ship will plummet into the pulsar. Oh, I got one for Angel 1. Come on, Ben. You need a special card. I'm pulling for you now. You need a special card. Now I'm on your team. I've done my last pack here. Wait, am I?

What the fuck? Oh, here it is. No, wait a second. I think I'm out of card packs here, man. What? What the hell? Are you saying that without any more card packs you did not receive a promised signature card?

Believe that that is what I'm saying Adam. Yeah, I have opened four packs and found zero signature cards. Let me just count up my extant signature collection. Yeah, I was going to do the same thing. Oh, I have six. I have the correct amount. I have five signature cards. But you have that one with Gates McFadden.

Yeah, the Gates card. Does that count? Is the question. Yeah, it has to count, because it's an actual signature pen on paper. Man, I was really hoping for a natural yager. You and me both, pal. I was convinced that I still had a signature card coming.

I thought I had four special dense packs. I had no specials in the whole fucking bunch. I'm so sorry, Ben. This has been a massive disappointment. This is, you know, kind of the way Season 7 has been feeling. Boy, you're not kidding. This culminating pack and... Boof.

Ben, I think it might be a good idea now that we're done with the card bit to summarize the signatures. Who do you have? Who's your hall of fame? Well, of course I've got one or T's, but yeah. I think I got a couple of ones. Yeah. I think that the two that I am most proud of are Spencer Garrett as Simon Tarsis in the Drumhead. Yeah. And Tracy Coco as Lieutenant J. Man, that Lieutenant J card is pretty rad. That's a big one. That's a big one.

I've, for some episode I was editing recently I watched a bunch of blooper reels from seasons of TNG. Yeah. And it's pretty clear that Tracey Coco and Frakes had a fun relationship. Like there's a lot of like him breaking and laughing and then like chasing her off the set. There's a lot of like him breaking and laughing and then like chasing her off the set. Like knowing what we know about Freaks after having interviewed Lavar Burton, like it's so great to get confirmation of his joy, you know? Yeah. Like he just personifies that in character and in person. That's pretty great.

Make sure it does. Because it sucks to hear the people you like end up being assholes in real life. He just personifies that in character and in person. That's pretty great. Make sure it does. Because it sucks to hear the people you like end up being assholes in real life. That's the whole, like, never meet your heroes thing. What if we had interviewed Lavar Burton and they'd, like, acted like... acted like a jerk? Like, he acted like a total diva? Yeah.

Oh, this is about that? That would have really surprised me. I'm glad he didn't. I'm glad he was so great. Lovar Burton, if you're gonna meet your heroes, you won't your here to be Lovar Burton. Absolutely, that's what the aphorism should be. Let's rewrite history, Adam.

I think in first place for me I got to put gates just because that's a senior cast member. Yeah. Like, that's pretty killer. And then of the remaining five, God, it's hard to beat JC Brandy as Marta Batanides, the 17 year old love interest of Patrick Stewart So foxy, so fun! Really dug her but like I feel like a close second has got to be the guy you played talk

Sterling Macer Jr. Super fun Yeah I didn't mention it when we did the Phantasm's episode But I do have an Ensen Tyler card. Oh yeah! The woman who so loved Jordy La Forge, she gave her only career. For Ensen Tyler, it's a weird thing about that episode as they never loop back around to either the letdown or the humiliation that she obviously felt. Like, you gotta close that loop. Whatever happened, Anson Tyler.

They do a lot of planting and very little paying off. Yeah, indeed. Well, I feel pretty great about the card bit, Ben. It's like your boy Seth Rogan says in the 40-year-old Virgin Adam, you plant the seed, you grow the plant, and then you fuck the plant. Man, that Judd Apatow is such a great screenwriter. That is. That's David Mammut-like.

Ha-ha-ha-ha. Isn't that it's incredibly misogynistic? That's David Mammott like. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Yeah, I don't see it happening again as we turn the page towards deep space 9 They don't make these cards for deep space 9, do they? I don't know if they make these cards for deep space 9 I have one other card bit that I was thinking we could do Because listen listen or and sent us those bummer boxes. Uh-huh. We open those up on There's a bunch of packs of packs of cards in these bummer boxes. Oh yeah, we could do bummer boxes. There could be natural yaggers in there.

There could be. That's probably the series that the natural yaggers are in, right? Maybe. What if Anne accidentally sent us a thousand dollar pack? Yeah, I can only hope. cut her in on that right I Think we'd have to I'd feel obligated to do that Even as we are as we speak crushed under the enormous debt of greatest gen cun 2017 Right, we'll find a way to crawl out of that

Yaggers in hand Out of the smoking ruin of our credit. Good times. It'll be worth it, too Agreed Well, Ben, let's do what we came here to do. What do you say? Yeah, we have wasted a lot of time These Marin Opens get longer and longer with fewer and fewer things to say Season seven episode eight Attached You were in fewer things to say. Hehehehe. Season 7, episode 8. Attached. Starts with a pleasant brunch scene, Ben.

And as Beverly and Picard sit across from each other in Picard's condo, I noticed that they were in opposite chairs. Then where they usually sit? Oh, yeah, she usually sits at the window. And I feel like when I have a standing meal date with someone that occurs over the long term, I'm always sitting in the same seat. They are observing brunch continuity. Does she sit on the other side when it's her apartment? Maybe that's it. Yeah, that's got to be it, right? She prepared this breakfast though, right? Yeah, but it's at Picard's condo. There's some kind of like glancing, unexamined sexism in this episode where it's implied that essentially Beverly has been preparing Picard's meal every day all this whole time.

As much as I like someone, I could like someone the maximum amount. I'm going to want to take some days off from that person, whoever that is. I think a standing breakfast date every day. Ooh, it's a little much. No wonder nothing came of their will they won't they. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free, Adam? I've heard that before. I believe that line was actually spat at me from an ex-girlfriend.

Was she preparing you breakfast while she said it? No, this was not a contextual breakfast conversation we were having. I'll let you decide what we were actually talking about. Beverly's complaining that Nersogawa has been showing up late for work a lot, but Picard has lost in thought. John Luke, you don't have the slightest idea when I'm talking about do you? No, because he's thinking about Kesprit, this planet that they're headed to, and it's a strange planet that has two nations on it, and the Kes want to join the Federation and the Prit don't want anything to do with it. I've got to think the Prit have actually watched some of the Star Trek movies.

That's why they're feeling a little ambivalent about joining the Federation. How do you think this happened with this planet? Were there always two different peoples? And that's why the planet is called that? Because it seems insane, like, if we got to a point on our planet where everybody joined up with like either NATO or I don't know the Soviet block, like we wouldn't then start calling the fucking planet NATO USSR right? It's a real weird conclusion to a conflict that typically concludes with war. Like, I could see interpersonal conflicts ending with a, don't ever talk to me again. But like, when full-on nations do that,

what is strange and interesting and to a conflict that you just don't see in contemporary society? But they're giving each other the silent treatment. Yeah, they went to their separate corners. So, I think this is weirding out the card because it's a very, very unusual thing for the Federation to consider admitting a people that haven't resolved all the conflicts on their own planet. And they're only there to talk to the Kess. Yeah, and that's what Beverly is sort of pressing him on.

She's like, what's so weird about this? And Picard's like, well, what's weird about it is like we can't fractionally accept a planet into the Federation. That's not how it works. It's not how any of this works. And so the idea is they're both going to beam down to the cast part of the planet to figure out what's what to do some diplomatic relations. I really like that little conversation though because it's some nice world building like it makes you think about what what the federation is made up of in a new way. Yeah. It feels like most missions should be like this, like doing the interview of a race

that wants to join the Federation. Now, Mr. Kess, where do you see yourself in five years? Mr. Kess, it looks like you have a good grasp of word and excel, but I'm not seeing a lot of PowerPoint here. Oh, yeah. Well, you know, I think I have a basic grasp of PowerPoint and I Just really see it as an opportunity for growth in my career To get a lot better at it. So

The card in Beverly go to the transport room and they find Wurf Who is off cake and cat duty and it's now like picked up an extra shift in the transport room. I guess to mix them extra cash. What the hell is Warf doing there? I don't know. He's not doing a great job because he beams them down and then like is walking away from the transport or console when the guy from the planet radio's up and is like, Hey, where are they? Are you guys gonna beam them down or what? Like, the look on Worph's face is rolling timpani sound. Like... What?

Lieutenant Worphs have no bad day at work. That's a... maybe that's why they're interviewing the cast. They need to replace a key member of their staff. And do transporter people usually have a second in there? Like sort of like a piano player with another person on the bench playing the other part? Like what does that other guy do? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, bizarre. So the Kess people Send word up to Worf. They're like, hey, I

Thought you're gonna beam some guys down here. What gives? Worfs like I thought you had him and they're like we thought you had him And then we go to theme song I think they're gonna make it sound. Make it sound. Make it sound. Make it sound. When we come back, Picard and Beverly wake up in a dingy

coed jail cell and... There's a little bit of hay on the floor, like their hamsters. Like where the heck they come from. Yeah, it's like from... Certain type of dive bar

where they have like peanuts as the bar snack and everybody drops the shells on the floor. We were just complaining vociferously about the lack of budget allotted to set, like W slash R slash T, the Arbor item. Yeah. And this is the first of a few set pieces that are like, whoa

Where did this budget come from? Game stepped up. I don't understand why they don't why they don't smooth the budget Throughout an entire season versus having these spikes like these these save and sent and spend spikes throughout a season Because the quality really gets killed throughout. My hunch is that this is, because this is a Freaks episode,

he's pulling a little bit more when he talks to the, to the producers about, you know, what they're gonna spend on Jail Cell set. You think Freaks is in the episode before he's on dark page and he's like on a second take. He's like, no, I think we got it. Let's move on. Like he's hastening the pace of production

to save budget on a different episode. Oh, we saved $5,000 today? Hey, not bad. Yeah, let's roll that over. Hey, Dorn, easy on those sandwiches, man. Oh. I think we should get a much cheaper cake. That's just my personal take on the matter.

Look, everyone likes Gatorade. Let's just get one of those giant containers. That's all we need. One of them. That's fun. He's just sabotaging the season in his favor. Let's just pick up a, let's pick Major up like a pretty basic trench coat down at a, down at H&M. We don't need to have the costume department make a whole thing, right?

Look, these Starwagons are expensive. Do they make a kind with bunk beds? It's explained to them. They discover that they've got coaxial cables in the back of their necks. Got some mechanical nubbins. Yeah, some mechanical nubbins. They connect directly to the brainstem. They do that wiggle, like Beverly grabs Picard's nubbin and like gives a little wiggle. That was a creepy scene. If it's connected to the brainstem, I don't want anybody wiggling that thing.

I know. And if I'm Beverly, I'm going pony, like not leaving the hair down to like brush against the nubbin. No way. You gotta go straight pony if you're barely crushed you're here. Do you think that they ever considered doing like a mash-em-up episode? The nubbin versus mecha nubbin? Wondering like, in the way that scalp acne can be so itchy,

like, oh, I don't know if I could keep my hands off this nubbin. Yeah, you'd like, you'd like, tongue it like a tooth with an abscess. Yeah. Ugh. They did a great job installing these nobuns, like these, like whoever's holding the prisoner, like, there's no swollenness on the neck, there's no reddening of the skin, like, they took to these nobbins, no problem. They probably gave them like three ibuprofen instead of two.

That's my guess. Really cuts down on the swelling. It's explained to them by a bunch of kind of like cat-suited security people who come around that these are some kind of implant that's going gonna let them scan their brains. The devices which have been implanted in your cerebral cortex will soon be calibrated to your side wave pattern.

At that time, we will be able to get all the information we need. And these are the print. Like the leader is named Lauren. She's security minister for the print. And she suspects that the Federation is getting in bed with the Kess and forming a military alliance. And so they've kidnapped Picard and Crusher on this suspicion and are basically

accusing them, you know, like it's a crime here for that to happen. So you guys are in big trouble. Picard's like you don't understand. That's exactly the opposite of what we're doing. What is your problem? And the predator like look, these nobins are going to tell us the truth in time. Cool your jets. We'll come back to interview you later. Picard does that kind of, that's super weak-sus thing of like, well, then you'll find out that the truth is that we're telling the truth. Yeah, like the door shut. And like, well, then you'll find out that the truth is that we're telling the truth. Yeah, like the door shut to me. It's like, then you will know the truth that we're trying to tell you. Then...

Not now. Boy, is there going to be egg on your faces? Yeah. On your faces, on the entrepreneur, they are trying to puzzle through what went wrong. They have done some diagnostics on the transporter. There's nothing wrong with it, but they find some evidence that there was a tractor beam interfering with the beam. And so they bring on this guy, Ambassador Mark from Kess, who is gonna, is gonna like work with them on finding Troy and Crusher. And he gives some weird vibes right off the bat. Yeah, he's got those shifty paranoid vibes. Like, Riker

to his credit is like super friendly and diplomatic. He's like, look, even though Riker is someone who has lost two significant people on his crew, he's still pretty cool headed about things. We have not even attempted a diplomatic effort yet. I would rather not use force until we exhausted all other options. He's like, Marek, we gotta get to the bottom of this thing. We think you can help. And Marek is like, I think we do better if I stayed up here and set up a command center in one of your condos. Why

don't you set me up right and we'll get this investigation going. Right. Because Morick doesn't trust, like he thinks that there's leaks in his own, in his own government, that the Pritt are exploiting, which is how they even knew about this transporter situation. He's got, he's this weird blend of like, officiousness and brimming with the self-confidence of a true nationalist, but he's also ultra-paranoid, and it makes him kind of a dick. Is there a problem in Bascadour? Probably not. Simply securing the area. Yeah, it's the flavor of confidence you only find in people who are very wrong.

Like people who are typically right are a little bit more modest in their confidence than this guy is and willing to be proven wrong like he's He is very defensive of his rightness. Yeah, so they set him up with a condo and it's definitely like a one of the shittier ones Yeah, and He's got a little buddy there with him who scans around looking for listening devices and stuff. And when they're satisfied that it's a safe space, he says he's glad to assist and that he's gonna run the search from here. And Worf is like, are you sure you don't want any help?

And they're like, no, we've heard about you. want any help and they're like, no, we've heard about you. Oh, you mean help from the guy who lost two people, beaming them down, taking an extra shift in the transport room? No thanks. Back on the planet, Beverly and Picard are in the jail cell just hanging out when the door opens and a guy is delivering room service food like on a tray with that you know the dome lid on it that you see. The print have a lot of advanced technologies.

One thing they don't have is that little slot that slides open to pass the the food through. This guy opens this like 10 foot wide door and stands there super scared with this fucking dustbuster. Well, he sets the the tray on the on the ground. Seinfeld's watching this episode. He's like, have you heard of the slot? You got to have the slut, Jerry. And like Picard does such a crazy move here. Picard runs at the door as it's closing, as if to escape or brace it open or whatever. But if that was his true intention, the moment to run at the door is when food guy is setting down the food. Right.

I don't understand this plan here. Very dramatic. It might have been... This might be an example of a rare mistake on Frix's part. Yeah. Yeah. I think that that is probably there to make it look like they are thinking actively about an escape plan, but what it reads as is just like, the fuck is Picard's problem.

Yeah. You know what? That's a great point because without him running at the door, what you have is shot of them, shot of Tray Guy, like shot reverse shot, shot reverse shot, shot reverse shot of Basically no action except a traibing put on the floor, so Right, I could see the only other way to do this scene would be if he was like trying to Try to pry the bars apart when the guy came in or something. Yeah, yeah, which would be just as dumb if not dumb or Yeah Yeah, yeah, which would be just as dumb if not dumb or Yeah

What if they were doing like prison workouts they were doing like burpees or like you know doing chin-ups on their bunk bed Picard's got his hands behind his head and Beverly's like slapping his stomach Like doing really harsh core exercises Again Fuck yeah doing really harsh core exercises. Oh, again. Fuck yeah. So Beverly grabs the tray and reveals a delicious, delicious tricorder. Most realistic cake we've seen on this show. Yeah.

The card's like, I'm not going to eat this shit. I've heard about shit on a shingle, but this is ridiculous. So it's immediately clear to them that they've got friendlies on the inside, because this tricorder is like loaded up with map software and a code to the door. Yeah, they've got the app that turns it into the button that opens the garage door. Yeah.

And they are like out in the hallway escaping in fairly short order. I didn't expect that to happen. That was easy. Super easy. They're in like creepy caves. They've got to run through an area where there are random bursts of fire.

What is this? Or an answer to no useful purpose for there to be a bunch of choppy, crushy things in the middle of a heart rate. They're starting to hear each other, though, as they're escaping that like Picard will be like, what did you say? And Beverly is like, I didn't say anything. And that happens a couple of times.

Yeah, Beverly is like, yes, I do have a really nice ass. And Picard's like, what? I didn't say that out loud. Did I? The car's like, I didn't think I was rocking knuck. The car leaves his act action jacket in the caves though. Yeah. He treats that thing as it's, as being very cheap. Yeah. I didn't like to see that. Leave no action jacket behind. That leather could be really handy if you need to like, repel down a wall, right? Or need a camp pillow? Yeah.

How does he know they're not gonna be camping? Yeah. I think he just wanted to avoid that preppy look of tying it around his neck. Maybe going preppy school. Hey, Buffy! Ha ha ha ha! Now that is not cool.

That's not a very good look if you're the captain. That if you're a Frenchman. Yeah, so like one of the rises intention to commercial is the boy there haven't been any of these flame geysers in a while and Beverly's tricorder just gets pinned in the red and she's like, oh shit shit we gotta get out of here! And then they do like that run toward the camera as a giant flame thrower gets shot at them. The gas is building up. They must have had to remaster the shit out of that.

Yeah. Perfect right? Yeah even after remastering. That great. I'm tempted to watch some of these later episodes on SD to see what the changes were. Yeah, especially this episode, which you could call good. Yeah. After commercial, they emerged from a cave butthole, and I was totally blown away.

Been a great big outside location. Beautiful. I was thinking this might be the Batcave from TV Batman of the 60s. Really? I don't have any research to corroborate that, but it looks a lot like that Batcave. Hmm. I'm going to do some quick research. Now, see, Ben, a butthole Batcave is giving me some things here that I'm not sure I want to share. It's at Bronson Canyon. I think that's the bad cave, man.

Named after the great actor Charles Bronson. He's a dad there. Wow. That is not true. RSVP Charles Bronson. This is the last episode of the series to feature the action jacket. So he discarded in the cave and that's it. RSVP action jacket.

Damn. That's pretty cold shit. I try to be possessive of objects, but I'm so vastly wealthy that it's very hard to be sentimental about a jacket. When you've lost the way I've lost, you could call it a defense mechanism. I prefer not to wear jackets because they cover up my nipples. My chest plating with realistic nipples and six-pack. The Batcave is kind of a grave for discarded outfits.

Every new adventure means a new suit. New nipples, new apps. It's always out with the old and with the new. I treat it with the same as the Maree condo book taught me. If it doesn't bring you joy, give it away. One thing that gives me great satisfaction is the feeling of donating my old bat suits to charity. The thought of a child, putting on my bat suit, feels me with great joy. Plus, I get a pretty sweet tax right off for my donation. A lot of the charity that those of us in the 1% part

taken is not a genuine act of generosity so much as an elaborate tax dodge. On the entrepreneur they've been working really hard to try and get in touch with the Brit because best they can tell the doctor and Picard went down on the Brit side of the line. And they tap into the Brit communications network and they get a guy on the phone who is really freaked out to be talking to them. He's like the personal secretary to the prime minister of PRIT and it's clear that they've put him in a really tough position. Like he's essentially committing a crime by picking up the phone.

He's like, he's like when you're a kid before you've been given permission to answer the phone when your parents aren't home. Like, he's got that sort of paranoia. Like, I'm not sure I'm supposed to be having this conversation. Yeah. Do you ever get this? Like, I, this, this feeling of like, I, we have accidentally put this person in a terrible position.

Feeling, and, We have accidentally put this person in a terrible position feeling Something feel like that person myself. I I asked like subway directions from a couple of women who were Hasidic Jews One time and they like wouldn't respond to me and like blushed and and like walked away Oh, and then I realized like maybe maybe in their particular and they like wouldn't respond to me and like blushed and like walked away. And then I realized like maybe in their particular stripe of Judaism, like it's totally uncool for them to talk to an unknown man. And...

Was this during one of your shifts as the naked catboy though? I can see them being fairly uncomfortable about that. I was rocking a good bit of knuck at the time. But, you know, like, and then I was like, God, like, I hope I didn't, like, put, you know, I hope they don't have to, like, go ritualistically cleanse themselves now or something or like confess that this happened to somebody. You know, I don't want to be, I don't want to be a bother to these people. Yeah, I mean, ideally you want to be the one giving the lashings, not doing something that causes someone

to get them later. But anyways, they get a FaceTime in fairly short order from the same lady that talked to Picard and Beverly in jail, Minister Lauren, and she is ripshit. You will immediately cease all attempts at communication with our people. That they've been communicating with anybody in print. And you know, she's continuing the line of, you guys are a bunch of assholes

and are trying to align yourself with the Kess and we're not into it. At the same time, Morik is feeling the same way. Morik's, from Morik's perspective, Riker has aligned themselves with the Prit. So like, they're both feeling exactly the same. Yeah. About the Federation's involvement here.

Yeah, speaking of Bat Caves, Morik has like really set himself up in this in this quarters that they've provided him and it's just nothing but 60s bat cave equipment. It's like this guy bought up a bunch of like seventh grade chemistry gear from a school that closed. Like it's nothing but those balls you put your hands on that give you the static electricity hair. He definitely has like two or three of those. Yeah. He just really likes the movie Weird Science.

He's really suspicious of them because he's saying like we got them out. We gave them a special tricorder with a map and a code. And they're supposed to be showing up in this village in print country that is controlled by Kess sympathists, and they didn't show up. And so now the only thing we can conclude is that this has been an elaborate plot for you to expose our double agents on on print territory and you've been working with the print the entire time. And Riker at this point is full blown like, oh Jesus Christ, are you serious? Like he's

he's let down his diplomatic niceties and he's like, you are a crazy person. Pack up all your shit and get the fuck out. I'm through with your games. Like, this is over. Right, because, I mean, Morick, Morick is an ambassador. That's his title. Yeah. He has no ambassadorial qualities. He is not an avuncular guy who is willing to find compromise on things.

He's a fucking prick. He's just as big a prick as the security minister from the prick. Yeah, he's not doing a good job. They're really prick for Prick, aren't they? Back on the planet, we get one of the coolest shots that I can remember. They go telephoto on Beverly and Picard on like a ridge line. Yeah.

And you can see the background mountains in compressed focus. Like, I don't remember them ever using this kind of lens on an episode before. And you only see it for like five seconds. It was awesome. It's so much more outdoor fun than we usually get. Yeah.

And this is when they're really starting to hear the chatter from each other's inner thoughts. And a lot of the rest of the fun and games with Beverly and Picard in this episode is them kind of finding the barriers between them breaking down. And there's this great, there's another great shot that I wanted to talk about. It's at a 24 minutes and 7 seconds. And it's kind of like the last vestige of

differentness before they're fully in telepathic sympathy with each other. And Freak's frames this up with a thin little stick of a tree in between them. It's like in soft focus in the foreground, they're talking in the background, and this stick is dividing them. But it's so thin, it feels like the barriers between them are about to go away, you know?

Whoa, that's great. Good spot, and this is stuff that when you do a location scout that you like this is primarily what you're there to do is is set up what these compositions are going to look like when you're actually there with cameras and crew. And like I can just imagine freaks and crew down here looking for places to shoot and seeing that as an option to help tell the story visually. Yeah, and it's great. It's the moment where he announces that they're going to go in one kind of arbitrary direction

and she goes, you don't have any idea what you're talking about, do you? And he admits that sometimes, captaining is about giving everybody the confidence that we know what we're doing even if you don't. Yeah. This is also the scene where they discover just how connected they are because when they attempt to not walk side by side and put a little distance between each other, they are overcome with nausea. And so they've discovered that their neck nubbing is a form of vomit handcuffs. Which is a really fun realization for them.

Like, you know, they begin to feel like their mental connection is a little uncomfortable. So they're like, well, maybe a little distance would help. And it turns out, they can't do it. Yeah, these things are Bluetooth, not Wi-Fi. Yeah, that's a fun consequence. So, I mean, some people really don't like throwing up and they'll do anything to avoid it.

Yeah, my wife is one of those. Yeah? I don't understand it. I love throwing up. Feels so great. I would do it all the time if I could. I'm a loud bar for a thopen. I think that's part of the problem for me.

Like, if I'm sick, everyone in the house is gonna know it. I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Go to the bathroom. Quietly, not think, not think, not think, not think, not think, not think, not think, not think. Picard and Beverly continue their flight and they actually like make a campfire at night and they make a... They really connect here.

This is them talking about, you know, the fact that Picard had a huge crush on her. I didn't know you felt that way. Part in the pun when she was married to Jack. I guess I always knew that there was an attraction between us right from the start, but I never knew how strongly you felt. And how he felt guilty about that and how he didn't want her as chief medical officer

on the entrepreneur because he felt guilty and ashamed, like Jack's death, being his fault, could be rounded up to Picard got Jack dead so that he could have Beverly to himself. I felt guilty like I did that with my man. This scene, I think, is the best that this show can do. This represents the best character development that the show is able. I thought it was amazing, this can't fire scene. It's because they paint their relationship with a couple of different brushes. It's not just I used to love you back in the day. That's simple. What is interesting and complex is Jack Crusher being Picard's best friend. And the circumstances of his death, meaning that Picard could never love Beverly in a way that he could feel good about. And the depth of feeling and sadness and guilt,

like those are difficult emotions to portray on TV and in film. Like jealousy is easy. Like love lost is easy, but like the complexity of all those things as portrayed by these characters I thought was incredible. And Gates is awesome here too. Gates has fewer words than Patrick Stewart, but her reactions are beautiful and emotional and heartbreaking. She had no idea of his feelings and her realization isn't joy and gratitude. It's almost sad, you know, to know that her, one of her best buds has felt this way for a long time and hasn't acted on it because of her profound guilt. Like, she feels bad for him.

And I think she feels bad for them because she feels it too, and look at all the time they've wasted. The conversation they have about the complicated breakfasts that she's been making for him being not what either of them really wants is like such a great little... That metaphor. ...miniature metaphor for their relationship. Kind of ashamed that it's couched in the idea that she's been cooking him breakfast for seven relationship. Kind of ashamed that it's couched in the idea

that she's been cooking him breakfast for seven years, but yeah, it's so evocative that they both, all they really want is quassant and coffee, and instead they've been sort of doing what they thought the other wanted and going along with it because they thought it was better to go along with it Yeah, yeah, I mean You know this happens all the time in relationships for better or worse or neutral neutral in the way that

Beverly and Picard have done it like you get in a pattern of acting a certain way, and then you just accept that those are, that's just the way things are. And before you know it, like seven years has gone by, and you've missed a chance to experience something new or better or more fulfilling for both people. And it was just really good to really cement in the canon of this show that Jack

Crusher wasn't a fucking cuck. Yeah. It was good to satisfy the suspicion that we've had from the beginning about them without fully like without showing it going in. Yeah. Yeah. without showing it going in. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I wondered, did you think that they... I didn't really think that they banged in this episode. I feel like they...

What does transceivers? That would be a pretty remarkable experience for science, right? I think it's like that rule about ecstasy. Like, your caution not to fuck on ecstasy because it's the feeling is so great that like all other fucking is like is diminished by comparison. I think they they're observing strict ecstasy rules here with regards to the nubin. And boy, I bet the card wishes he had action jacket as a pillow at this point because lying on your back with a nub in on your neck cannot feel good.

Mecca or otherwise. Yeah. Back on the entrepreneur, Riker in his frustration has decided to be minister Lauren to the conference room and sort of entrap her and Maarek in a sort of diplomatic booth. Like we're not leaving this room until we iron out our differences. Let's have it. And they, they're so entrenched in their side,

they don't even wanna sit down at the table. Records like fuck it, we'll stand. It becomes clear to them through their, it becomes clear to them through their bickering that they are like not resolving anything here today. Like neither one believes the other. And so, writers like, well, let me take one big variable out of this conversation. The federation is not going to be admitting the Kess or the Pritt.

You guys are both big time assholes and you're basically squabbling children and that's not how we roll. Like, we're letting the big kids into the club, not the fucking little kids. And y'all are the little kids. Totally. And Ambassador Murek is like completely panicked now because that was the thing he came here to do, was secure and alliance with the Federation, and he's fucking blown it. The Kess will be denied membership.

You have no authority to make that decision. I think that the fact that he's blown it is sufficiently satisfying for Lauren that she agrees to help them get Picard and Beverly back. But I guess also, Raker does threaten her with lots of, lots more starships coming around to see what's up with Captain Picard and Crusher if they stay in prison, right? Yeah, like the, the most threatening thing you can do to a Zena Fob is threaten to put them over under a microscope.

And that's what Raker said here is like, I'm going to bring 20 starships and we're going to beam down to your planet and we are going to crawl through every rock that you have until we find our people. This is sufficiently threatening to Lauren that she decides to play ball. It'd be like dropping Donald Trump onto a gay cruise and letting it set sail. That's the amount of uncomfortable the Brit would feel if a bunch of Federation starships showed up. It would be like anyone coming over to where I live without calling or texting first. That's the sort of feeling that Lauren and her people have. Be like dropping my wife onto a Star Trek cruise. Oh that would be fun. The button on the episode is kind of like a romantic date between Picard and Beverly. Yeah Picard's in full open V. Beverly is in wig number six. Like I don't think we've ever seen this hairpiece before. She's in the apex wig. She looks great. So does he. They are really clean up good.

They have a vibe about them. They are not sitting on opposite ends of a long dining room table. They are like sitting kitty corner to each other, enjoying each other's company. Have a little post-dinner brandy. It's nice. They're almost close enough that he can go for one of those like, oh, I'm just gonna stretch my arms. Oh, look at that. One of them's on your shoulder now. Yeah. Picards like, uh, would you like to move over to the couch with me? Picard's like, uh, Do you like to move over to the couch with me? How, uh, how into it would you be W slash R slash T some bosom fondling?

Yeah. Picard actually like, he does the thing, he makes the move. Like he says, what's on his mind? He's like, you know, it was really fun having our minds conjoined for the time that we had it and I've come to actually miss that and What's more is it really made me think about us and? The idea of maybe given this a try

What do you think about that like it which is in Picard's way, maybe the most laid bear That he's been for her or anyone else like he's a guy who cannot speak from his heart He says that they shouldn't be afraid of this thing now She says perhaps we should be afraid And I wondered how you interpreted that. Like, is it because of the kind of excitement and frison of the early days of a new relationship? Like that kind of boy, like, what if I ask her on a third date? Is she going to say yes to that?

Like, this is going great so far. Like, the stakes are getting higher and it's going to hurt more if it falls apart, but also feel better if it works. Well, I think the answer isn't her leaving after saying that, you know, like if she was truly excitedly fearful about the potential, I think she would have stayed and banged it out probably. But I don't think she's that kind of girl, Adam. This is like date 200 for them. They've had, they've had five years of breakfast together.

Like when do you start, when do you reset the date odometer for them? That's a good, that's a good question. That's sort of, that's a question that my relationship has struggled with is my wife and I definitely went out on a lot of, hey, we're just two young people with crushes on each other hanging out at a bar at 1 a.m. We're just roommates.

This is a business relationship. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and unfortunately when she leaves, to me, my interpretation is that she has allowed the fear to stop them from pursuing this further, and that is that. I mean, it's not only her leaving, it's the single brass instrument of heartbreak that we get in the scene too, that underscores the whole thing.

A brass instrument that we're familiar with, accompanying moments that are profoundly sad. What do you think, Ben? I don't interpret it as that cut and dry. I think it's not an out and out rejection in my mind. It's just, it's ambiguous a new. They have reset the sexual tension in their relationship, but it's never going away. Yeah. Yeah. Did you like this episode, Ben? I love this episode. Yeah, me too.

Really great. Really great. It makes me wonder, like, God, I was really low the last few episodes. I was down on the show. I was down on the idea that it was ending. You were really bumming me out, Adam. And ending this way, but this was a well-timed, great episode that I really needed. And it made me think like, you know, this creative staff was bumming about having hit bottom with Jordy's mom. And this story was them was

there for them to tell the whole time. Like there's so much here. Yeah. Pay it off. That's how I feel. I'm with you on that buddy. Are you with me on Checking P1's? I am with you on that as well, my friend. All right, let's hit it. Priority one message from Starfleet coming in on Secured Channel. Need a supplement on it. supplement on it? supplement. supplement. Yes, extra.

The interest alone could be enough to buy this ship. Well, Adam, our first priority one message is of a personal nature. Comes from Penny K. That's for pork chop. It goes like this. The time has come for the boy and I to wish you a happy Father's Day. Although at times you may wish to replace me with an expert real doll. And our own little rascal can occasionally be more lore than data. We love you with all our hearts. Having you is like

getting a natural yeager. Happy Father's Day. Love, Panny. You know, like, was that spelled Razz like Razzcle? Or was it Razzcle? Razzcle with an S. Okay, good. Because I was just going to... I was just going to make a very strong argument against the idea of Razz and Plafim weaving themselves into the tapestry of every fucking P1 we get. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Haha. No, that was like a bit of a belated father's day, but I love you one and it had nothing to do with those those two people That was great. What a sweet message. Yeah, I like the idea of a child having Having qualities of both lore and data. Yeah, I also like the idea of growing up with a father that you think of as pork chop.

Yeah. Fun. That's such a great shrekker handle. Banner second message. Is from Andrew. It is for Megan. Message goes like this, no clue when this message will play, but I'm probably still at the South Pole. If that's the case, I'm looking forward to making you grilled cheese in a few months.

Please do me a favor and remind Robert Jason Harris his personal hygiene leaves much to be desired. Whoa. If I'm home now, do you want to go get a beer? Hey, Megan sounds like Megan's got a date one way or another. Sounds like Andrew, while at the South Pole does not have the ability to make grilled cheese. That's when you know you're really out there. Well, he doesn't have the ability to make grilled cheese for Megan.

Right. I'm assuming he's making grilled cheese for himself. Please do me a favor and remind Robert Jason Harris about his personal hygiene. What do you think that's about? I don't know, man. Sometimes I'm worried we're ruining people's lives accidentally. It's too late. For that, I just googled Robert Jason Harris.

Oh no, this is a real person. Maybe... Well, what are the chances there aren't somebody named Robert Jason Harris. Oh no, this is a real person. Maybe. Well, what are the chances there aren't somebody named Robert Jason Harris? Yeah, yeah, that's fairly common for a three-name person. Well, any resemblance to a real Robert Jason Harris is purely coincidental and in no way intended. That's a fictional person in the world of this show. Well, I sense there's a Robert Jason Harris that follows me on Twitter though. So, oh, oh boy, but it's I swear it's not that guy. Well, I'm sure everyone involved in this message is

just great. And I sincerely hope that Andrew Megan and even Robert Jason Harris are enjoying grilled cheese sandwiches and beers as we speak. Fingers crossed. If you're interested in sending the Robert Jason Harris's in your life a message about their hygiene you can go to maximumfund.org slash Joe Botron fill out a quick. We'll read it on the pod. Personal messages are $100. Commercial messages are $200. It is a great way to support the ongoing and forever production of our show. Thanks guys. A greatest gen live show is something you don't want to miss.

Why? Well, it's a great opportunity to see me and Ben in person, but that's not all. FODs from all over gather at these shows to cosplay, to do pre and post-show hangs, to make friends, and share their embarrassment. Hey, let's make a pretty great name for a tour. Let's do it. The Share Your Embarrassment Tour is coming in August 2023 and we've got a bunch of dates in a lot of great places.

Go to GreatestGenTour.com to get more info. That's GreatestGenTour.com for dates and ticketing information for the Share Your Embarrassment Tour. I'm Jordan Morris. And I'm Jesse Thorne. On Jordan Jesse Go, we make pure, delightful nonsense. We were open awesome guests and bring them down to our level. We get stupid with Judy Greer. My friend Molly and I call it having the spaceweirds.

Pat Noswald. Could I get a ball-rock burger and some air-gorn fries? Thank you. And Kumail Nanjiani. I've come back with cat toothbrushes, which is impossible to use. Come get stupider with us at MaximumFun.org. Look, your podcast apps are open, just pull it out.

Give Jordan Jesse Goatry. Being smart is hard. Be dumb instead. Whoa, Raps, hey, hey, oh, I'm about to count you in line. These clouds are really freaking me out. I hate having to stand in line and boy These giraffes do not smell good. No, they do not and they've such short neck, but I'm hearing we need to get on this I gotta get on the art. Yeah, it's about terrain. It's about to destroy humanity

Hey, oh, sorry, sorry, sorry. Are you Noah? Yeah, I know we look like humans. We're actually we're podcasters We are podcasters, so it's different. Have you heard of Ono Ross and Carrie? We investigate spirituality, claims of the paranormal, stuff like that. And you have a boat and say the world's gonna end, so seem like something for us to check out. We would love to be on the boats. We came two by two. What do you think?

Ono Ross and Carrie, available on Maximumfun.org. ["Domokrigage and your life and your knowledge." Ben? What's that at him? Did you find yourself a drug Shimoda? Drunk Shimoda! I did. I'm giving mine to Ambassador Morik. Just because, I mean, if we're talking about the character having the most fun, like as an actor, getting to play this weird middle point

between self-assuredness and officiousness and paranoia and desperation to be approved of by these people, but also feeling like you're the big boss, and so they should all defer to you at the same time. It's that such a juicy little role to play and I think this guy really had a lot of fun with it. The Robin Gamble. Yeah, that was fun. How about yourself? Did you have a drunk Shimoda? When Beverly and Picard are being chased toward the fence by the Pritt security people, being chased toward the fence by the Pritt security people.

Yeah. There's a moment where they get to the fence, Beverly hits a couple beeps and boops into the tricorder, it opens a little portal, and then she's kind of shoves Picard into it. I don't think Beverly thought this plan through, because doesn't that basically guarantee the next few hours of their lives are gonna be like totally nauseous and like the waves of vomiting are going to occur like seconds after and for that reason I'm giving my Shimoda to Beverly like that was not a plan

she thought through at all and I thought they should have showed that too, as soon as the portal closes, like they just should have let go right there. Just cans and cans of a cream of mushroom soup coming out. They beam them both up to the ship and they're just like shooting it all over the transporter room. Yeah Beverly. I guess she made peace with that. It feels like it's been a long time since Beverly's gotten a Shimoda. What do we have coming up on the next episode, Ben? The next episode is season seven, episode nine, Force of Nature. An alien brother and sister resort to desperate

measures to prove their theory that warp drive is destroying the universe. Do you remember this episode, Adam? I don't remember this episode been. New one on you. Yeah, this is going to feel like a new view. I don't feel like this show doesn't especially good job with environmentally tangential storylines. And by this show, I mean, the show in any of its incarnations, like original series Star Trek, the movies,

like they do a lot of this form of prostilitizing and it's not as if I don't agree with their position, it is just that often it feels a little heavy-handed and not well articulated. So I wonder if they pull it off here, maybe they do. Maybe. Well, if you've got opinions on how we're able to pull off this show, you can take it on over to Twitter using the hashtag GreatestGen. Tell us how we did.

I'm over there. It's At Cut for Time, Ben as there's At Benjamin R, A-H-R. Other places to discuss the show include Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram. Yeah, we're definitely not on Instagram, Adam. We should thank Dark Materia for our theme music and Adam Magusia for lots of other music you hear in the program. And thanks to the great folks at MaximumFun.org, who help in numeral ways to get this show to you guys and especially help get a

sweet sweet merch up in the maxfundstore at maxfundstore.com with that we will be back at you next week another great episode of Star Trek the next generation and an episode of the greatest generation that is entirely battery powered. When I was a boy and I hated certain obligations I had, such as school or summer camp. I developed a technique of inducing upcheck without sticking a finger down my throat. Whoa. Where I could, it took me like five or 10 minutes of work to get to it, but I could like get myself sick

enough to throw up if I really wanted to like, not be doing something. Oh, I wonder if I could, I want, like, I haven't tried that in probably 23 years or something. I wonder if I can still do it. Do you know what would make great pod bin? That exactly. By the time we get to P1s, you're just full on vomiting. Oh, that'd be great!

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