Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episodes 7-9: Reunion | Future Imperfect | Final Mission

This week on The To Baldly Go Podcast, Aaron and Nate continue their release-order watchthrough with three more episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

This week, we get:

• Worf confronting the consequences of his past decisions
• Riker trapped inside Star Trek: Inception
• What appears to be Wesley Crusher’s final mission

We covered:

Reunion

K’Ehleyr returns to the Enterprise with a surprise: Worf has a son. Her investigation into the Klingon succession brings Worf face-to-face with Duras and forces him to decide how far he is willing to go to protect his family and restore his honor.

We discuss IMDb burying the lede, the return of K’Ehleyr, the increased depth of TNG compared with The Original Series, Picard being both disappointed and angry, and whether the bat’leth is a decent weapon after all.

Future Imperfect

After an away mission goes wrong, Riker awakens sixteen years in the future. He is now captain of the Enterprise, has a son he does not remember, and is negotiating peace with the Romulans—but pieces of his new life do not add up.

We discuss a well-constructed mystery, callbacks to one-off characters from the first season, Riker recognizing the flaws in the illusion, and a strong episode weakened by a dumb ending.

Final Mission

Wesley joins Picard on what is supposed to be a routine diplomatic mission before leaving the Enterprise. When their shuttle crashes on a desert moon, Wesley must solve an ancient mystery while Picard’s condition grows worse.

Aaron and Nate see the episode differently, despite giving it similar ratings. We discuss strong character moments with weak setups, Beverly’s absence from the bridge, protection from the “sun,” comparisons with Tasha Yar’s departure, Code of Honor, and the show’s attempted sendoff for Wil Wheaton.

Join us as we discuss Reunion, Future Imperfect, and Final Mission on The To Baldly Go Podcast.