Post "UNCUT - The First Duty (TNG S5E19) | Star Trek Journey 226" by "Target Audience" from patreon

temsik28

Props to Wes in this one. I would have folded the second I saw that Vulcan and probably confessed to a dozen other misadventures for good measure. Solid Episode. A+

Ee'char

When Alex and Josh were talking about Boothby remembering Picard. Did you not get to that part of their discussion?

ShazD

Sorry what does that have to do with anything?

Ron Hubbard Jr

This episode would’ve been so much better as the first one we see Wesley in after he left in S4.

Ron Hubbard Jr

🤔

Ron Hubbard Jr

LOL

Ron Hubbard Jr

Locarno really reminds me of someone… 🤔

E Parhas

Uniforms. I'll say nothing more. Iykyk

Jonathan Llyr

Well the show can be referred to as a “television series” that has seven seasons. So I guess I’m saying it’s one of the best episodes of the entire run! I’m Canadian by the way.

Ee'char

From the UK here, so when you say "series", do you mean "show"? Here we say "new series" while in the US they'd say "new season". NOT that I'm assuming you're from the US!

Ee'char

How about that androgynous species from a couple of episodes ago? And Crusher, when her romantic interest got transferred into a female host?? Nitpicking here lol

Ee'char

Shortly after I came out of hospital following a brain tumour, I saw my "Year 7" (UK system, age 11-12, at the time 17 years previously) form tutor while she was on a group birdwatch, when I had got up early (16mg dexamethazone gives you insomnia, as well as SERIOUS munchies) to go on a bicycle ride. I could tell that she knew I was about to announce that I had been one of her students, but I'm certain she didn't remember me specifically.

Prof Moff

OH REALLY, well then tell me who designed and approved those Dress Uniforms in season 1 lol

Greg Quinn

No one is gay yet in star trek...lol 😂

Scarpad’s Domain

The Episde the new Starfleet academy should be but won't

Michael Metrick

Scott, how could i have left that out?! Big favorite of mine when i was a kid. Thanks.

Prof Moff

Sex Scoreboard No entry (OR IS THERE?) A small moment leads the Board to ask: Did Weasely score here? How did Weasely's sweater REALLY get in Josh's room? Ski trip or cosplaying sexscapade? Did Weasely and Josh have wompa wompa? We do not have enough evidence so no score (but think about it as a maybe).

Philbot

I was thinking about Nick being manipulative.. even before Wesley voices his concerns Sito and the other girl do and Nick almost tells them how they should feel.. and says like right guys? And speaks for them later.. I think he played on the underclass men’s fear of being caught to save his own ass

Philbot

They did say they had proximity alerts, but maybe at the speeds they’re going even veering off might not save you.

Darren Seal

This is very true,

Jovet

Yeah it's a pretty glaring logical flaw with the writing of this one.

Jonathan Llyr

Hard “S” from me. One of the best of the series.

Jeffrey P

Listening to their ruminations, I find it funny to think that the guys are going to likely get a very minor spoiler (of sorts) from WWE of all places.

Jeffrey P

And at the time of filming was a main cast member of Picket Fences on CBS.

Anthony Picard

Correct

Anthony Picard

True story

Anthony Picard

I agree, I had to see these episodes like 10 times to remember what they do in one or 2 watches

Anthony Picard

He sure (just) makes a difference in people’s lives

Anthony Picard

I agreed with that too🤪

Anthony Picard

With regards to the occasional low resolution scenes: when they converted the show to high definition, there was no way to take the finished product that they had already made and up convert it to high definition because the finished product from the 90s was digital, so the higher definition information wasn’t there. So, they had to re-scan every piece of film and every element and pass in things like ship flybys and special effects. Then they composed all of it back together into the final product. However, on occasion, they could not find the film for some of the scenes, so they did have to upconvert the finished product that they made in the 90s to high definition for those scenes. Thank goodness they found most of the film, because I would’ve hated to watch the show up converted for the entire series.

#MaxwellDidNothingWrong

I wonder if there's still time before they get to it for a hail mary ai upscale for DS9

Matt Everkoul

At 57:09 regarding cadet uniforms in other colors… in the third season episode “Allegiance,” one of the aliens trapped in the room with Picard is wearing the mustard yellow version of the cadet uniform.

#MaxwellDidNothingWrong

$650 adjusted for inflation, dang

#MaxwellDidNothingWrong

I would struggle to argue against that

#MaxwellDidNothingWrong

It's a shame how few 'good' Wesley episodes precede this because the pay off here is amazing. Few arcs get moments as strong as this episode delivers.

Wrestling With Gaming

Fantastic comment. IYKYK

Shanelle

Great episode though! Mad-father Picard is scary 😨

Shanelle

The “no proof” they lied thing is a little odd to me. Is the surveillance footage of their ships out of diamond formation not evidence their story was bogus? Since when do we say we can’t trust video? (Before AI) More than one character said either the video is wrong or you kids are wrong. 🤨Huh? The Vulcan knew what was up.

Jovet

"The Game" was fine. It was much more entertaining than previous "Shut up, Wesley!" shit.

Jovet

I know my opinion on that matter...

David Marcoot

it’s unique in every way

David Marcoot

the best wesley episode

Marko

"Boothby, being in the flesh"... that is just perfect.

Timothy Nikiforovs

IMO this is the best Wesley ep of the show. As others say, it dispenses with the boy wonder trope of earlier seasons and kicks up some mud on Wesley, which makes him more human. I know RDM wasn't a fan of how it made him seem like a snitch, but I appreciate that his character needed to be humbled to learn from the mistake. The ready room scene is one of Picard's best speeches in the show. I've seen a ton of people who were growing up in the 90s cite Picard as a role model/father figure, and I include myself among them. Picard teaches us a lot about personal principles, about having integrity even when it comes at a personal cost. Wesley took that message to heart and emerged a more mature character for it. I do like that Nick decided to take the blame in the end. He comes across very self centered throughout the episode, but in the end he wasn't lying when he said he would put the team first. He still got a friend killed trying to show off, but at least he showed a shred of selflessness at the end. Of course the episode needs to happen, but given it's 350 years in the future, you'd figure they would have collision avoidance systems in their spacecraft. After all cars today have that, though I guess not back in the 90s. Still, S tier episode.

Timothy Nikiforovs

I think eps like this is why a lot of kids who grew up in the 90s see Picard as a father figure of sorts

Timothy Nikiforovs

He was there, if only briefly

Timothy Nikiforovs

Always check your stats and perks before attempting main character shit

Timothy Nikiforovs

Honestly, AI upscaling is getting better all the time. I expect in a few years one of these upscaling projects of DS9/VOY will produce material good enough to be considered the unofficial remaster of choice in the fandom

Timothy Nikiforovs

@Derek Doubt it. I think a lot of people on both sides of the border and just waiting for a certain someone to get over the "kid in a candy store" phase and stop making headlines.

Matt Newmark

'Father' to the sexiest 80s woman alive - OG Valley Girl Deborah Foreman,

Paul Hess

I hadn't seen this episode in a while, so rewatching today with you I raised my rating from an A to an S or S+. Why? Because there were several times during the episode when we just got a gut punch. Albert's father hearing how his son let the team down, Wesley watching that pain and knowing it was a lie, Picard's speech, Wesley telling Mom "don't protect me", Lacarno's leadership, and so on. If that's not what S or S+ is all about, then what are we here for? Pew Pew Pew???

Steven Linden

I disagree that Wesley only fessed up once he had no choice. Yes, Picard said that if Wesley didn't say anything, he would - but as Locarno says, he has no proof. Whatever Picard might say, I think it would remain at "suspicion is not proof".

Michael Bradley

When I was a kid, this episode taught me a lot about ethics and how not saying anything is the same as lying. Banger episode

Ken R

Wesley gets an unfair shake from most people. He was featured in a few good episodes. The season one with the traveler was probably one of the best of that season. The one where he created the little thingies was pretty decent too. The writers did the character dirty, Wil W too.

Ken R

I could see a case for that

Keith S

Ed Lauter was a prolific character actor in the 80s and 90s. He passed away in 2013.

Keith S

Good call, Josh. Cadet Sito is Bajoran.

Scott Reeves

He also played Uncle Martin the Martian for three seasons in My Favorite Martian back in the 60s.

Scott Reeves

I like to think Picard DID tell his theory to Brand before the final hearing, but like Jake said, it was just a theory without evidence, so Brand couldn't legally do anything with it. And THEN Wesley confesses anyway, so he wasn't really forced into a confession by anything other than his own sense of right and wrong.

Scott Hadlington

The First Duty is an amazing episode. Easily the best Wesley ep.

Scott Reeves

IMO, this is one of the best, if not the best, episode of the entire series.

Paul Hess

So Wesley had an antique!

Column Meanie

The reason DS9 and Voyager are in SD is because even though they do have the 35mm prints of all of the live action footage, much of their special effects was completed in CGI and would all have to be rebuilt from scratch. On top of that the TNG HD upgrade was a hugely expensive effort that Paramount was hoping to profit off of Blu Ray sales. But then streaming took over and in the end they lost money. This is why some argue that DS9 and Voyager will forever remain in SD.

Shanelle

It’s “Of Mice and Men” for me. “I shouldn’t have let them kill my dog…” 😢 so sad

Dark Kronis

got to give props to the actor playing the father, he really gave the vibe of a grieving father

Ken R

What makes this better than the typical TNG episode, is it takes characterization but incorporates it into a very strong story, and the characters are revealed in how they react in the story. We don't need a monologue from Locarno telling us how he feels, we know how he feels from how he conducted himself. Usually, TNG writes character crap in a vacuum, just cheap one-dimensional sentimentality with Hallmark card writing (klingon bar mitzvahs, "daddy, the kids in school don't like me, I think I'll die now", "let me show you how complex I am by drinking tea during a ritual"). None of that here, and this is definitely an A; I'd put it in my top 5.

Derek Orr

They wish!😜

Derek Orr

I mean we might be closing the border to you guys and Americans soon🤷‍♂️

Derek Orr

This one was pretty meh boring and not particularly inspiring or unique

Lwaxana’s Poolboy

It’s a job title, actually 😂

A G

So we're all just not comment on this Legendary Handle(name)? 👏👏👏👏

Mike Rogers

I have one

Rory O'Toole

I was surprised they never mentioned that model of the Enterprise in Wesley's room at Starfleet. There were a couple of shots where it was extremely prominent. It was the first pewter Enterprise officially authorized and sold by the Franklin Mint company. I had picked one up and thought it was really funny when I kept seeing it in the episode. Here's a link to the TV commercial on YouTube https://youtu.be/z09b92CdasY?si=AlGmOboyVqEbSLuQ

James Baloun

Dialog cost a lot less than Holodeck CGI. Also the look on Wesley's face when he hears that Geordi and Data are doing a thorough investigation.

James Baloun

"He's (just) a Gardner". Yes. Just like Guinan is (just) a bartender. I think Boothby is more than an elderly human and the Academy means a lot to him.

Lt Dan I scream

This is why ds9 is not in hd they didn’t keep the og film and used a bunch of cgi. No spoilers just be prepared for a step down in video quality :(

LonghillAndy

Boothby is like the academy’s Guinan

ShazD

This is a disturbing comment. Please never respond or interact with me again thanks

Michael Metrick

Trying to show how bright you are? NO SPOILERS!

Michael Metrick

🤣🤣🤣

Michael Metrick

Don't forget his great Broadway career...

Michael Metrick

Ray Walston was a great Broadway star, he was in South Pacific, and played the devil in Damn Yankees. Ron Moore is the best writer in all of Trek.

startrekiborg

You guys have pretty good memories.

James Knight

This is how Wesley should have been used from the start, young person's perspective contrasted against a mature perspective, instead of the boy wonder nonsense.

River Acheron

Nick Lacarno - Cadet Gaslighter.

ShazD

True but the script was rewritten to make it more objectionable for Wesley not to reveal the truth - the exchanges with Alpert's father for example.

ShazD

Funny how they mentioned Boothby along with "In the Flesh"

Badger

It is funny how some of the best episodes turn out to be ones with just one or two characters and not the entire ensemble..That is just good writing..

Michael Nemo

Mid ep at best.

Mike Rogers

On the subject of occasional bad looking shots in the show. Most of them are because that when they did the HD conversions of the show, sometimes the film segments could not be found, so in that case they have to use the standard definition video master to fill in the scene. Back in the day TNG was post produced to videotape after being shot on film.

Dale Williams

They should give you a raise.

Spritzy

Lol

Aaron Wells

As to cadet rank insignia, it very well may signify what year a cadet is...though it should be pointed out that real world officer training, such as military academies or ROTC, does assemble command structures from the corps of cadets itself, which are assigned cadet ranks such as Cadet Captain, Cadet Colonel, etc, as part of their training for command roles after graduation.

Paul Hess

I need to figure this out. Zoom work meeting on mute in one window with live AI summary just in case, the TA reaction in another window, the actual episode in another window synced with the reaction, and balancing out all the sound levels and latencies just right.

Darin Starr

Easy call...work can wait.

Crankygrandma

Alex would like to talk with this Ron guy….man, it’s a shame you missed the 90s. Ron had a bulletin board on AOL and he talked a lot with fans there. It’s because of what he said there I know how much he hated the resolution, feeling like Wesley ratted out his friends. Yes, he is the epidode writer but at this point in Trek, there was a writers room where a group would break down a story and a person or team were assigned the screenplay. I’m sure there were deviations from that norm but this was more typical. And Ron let us know on he wanted a different resolution for Wesley but was overruled. Knowing those stories doesn’t make me love or hate an episode more, but it does make me value those early internet days when folks like Ron were more accessible. Brandon Braga would answer IMs on AOL as well. I guess it was a smaller world. Gosh I feel old!

EnigmaticPenguin

Not specific to this episode, but I love when you guys make offhand wild predictions and we know when they actually will come true in like 15 or 20 years of air time. As you get deeper in the franchise, you could probably make a montage of those.

Lwaxana’s Poolboy

I’ve built a backstory in my head that up until the academy, Wesley was the type of kid who was focused on impressing adults. Now he’s surround by kids his age and he’s having to learn how to fit in. Peer pressure can get to all of us and he just needed Picard to shake him up a bit to realize that confessing was the right thing to do.

Gerald Conde

One of my favorites. In no small part because Wes takes it in the chin instead of being the boy wonder who saves the day.

Forbidden Donut

Also, am I the only one wondering what 'future ugly uniforms' Alex saw? I have a guess, but not sure.

THE LORE!!!

Ah the one Wesley episode where we want him to speak up and not shut up.

Lwaxana’s Poolboy

Picard’s first duty speech is one of my favorites. Imagine a world where our leaders committed themselves to scientific, historical, and personal truth. We’d probably be traveling the stars by now.

Aramis Calcutt

Boothby was played by beloved character actor Ray Walston, best known as Uncle Martin on “My Favorite Martian.” He was also Judge Bone on “Picket Fences.” And he was Mr. Hand in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

Paul

S-tier, but A because no Worf. But in all seriousness, love this episode. Returning to the roots of Starfleet and getting a court drama with Wesley that is a genuinely believable and well-executed? Sign me up. And yeah... being scolded by Picard? I'd rather be tortured by Q.

Jovet

1:00:00 Picard TOTALLY would have told the investigators his theory about the accident.

Crankygrandma

And I watched that as a little kid (before Trek). There was a lot of hope about Space in those days

Forbidden Donut

On this rewatch, when I think about Locarno, I feel like this could almost be something Kirk might have pulled off when he was at the academy, but Kirk being Kirk, and the plot armor of being Kirk in Star Trek, his team would successfully perform the maneuver and he'd get away with it and become a bigger legend. Unfortunately for Locarno, he doesn't get that main character plot armor.

Jeff

The actor who played Boothby was Ray Walston, who played a Martian on the comedy tv series "My Favorite Martian" in the early 60s.

Jovet

You two didn't talk a lot during the dialogue, so you must have been really into it.

Darren Seal

Ah always liked to think this episode was an apology for giving us the Game as Wesley’s comeback.

Adam Zey

Fun fact: the legal drinking age is 18 in Alberta, Manitoba, and here in Quebec.

Josh (Target Audience)

No, we just drink there

Josh (Target Audience)

That’s wild

Column Meanie

The HD conversion of TNG was intensive. They rebuilt every single episode by re-editing from the original film negatives, meaning they had to put episodes together using individual clips on physical 35mm film. So when you see shots that are in standard definition it is because the team which did the HD rebuild of the series was unable to find the original film negative of that specific shot, so they used the best footage they had available to them.

Jovet

27:29 Josh, wide-eyed, shakes his head NO. LOL!

Adam Zey

They're not.

Column Meanie

Wait, are you guys Canadian?

ShazD

One of my favourite episodes! Along with a certain episode it may or may not be connected to in the future.

Jovet

2:30 LOL @ "Jack Crusher is dead!" That's how many claimed his delivery was. bum-tssh.

Collin Freeman

Richard Fancy, the Vulcan on the tribunal, played Mr. Lipman in Seinfeld. "George, it has come to my attention..."

Spencer Loften

One of my favorites! Excited to watch this one.

Paul Hess

You guys are brutal ---- constantly launching reactions early in the workday and making me face a moral dilemma about whether to wait. I need to have a word with Boothby about you.