Out of Contreks

Ep. 136: "Tattoo" (VOY S2E09)

Ryan and Brady talk about well-meaning but strangely tone-deaf episode of... you guessed it, Voyager. Come for the discussion of how pop culture so often treats Native American culture with a patronizing air, and stay for the ponderings on how a holographic tissue works.

Ep. 135: "Birthright, Part 1" (TNG S6E16)

On this gentle evening episode of Out of Contreks (that's what we call it when we post it at night instead of in the morning like Ryan does when he's on his game), Ryan and Brady talk about digital painting techniques and some valiant performances trying to save a pretty boring Data A plot -- so boring, in fact, that it doesn't make an appearance on part two of this TNG two-parter, which we've already covered on the show. We also spend a while discussing the current state of "remastering" Voyager and Deep Space 9, which you can read more about in this interesting article.

Ep. 134: "Regeneration" (ENT S2E23)

What if the Borg but in Enterprise? That's basically all that's on the mind of this episode, and Ryan and Brady get into it. Ryan forgot to post this one early this morning, and now he's doing it in a rush before recording a new batch, so sorry for the lack of episode notes.

Ep. 133: "Such Sweet Sorrow" (S2E13)

Ryan and Brady do a brief overview of this Season 2 Discovery episode and riff on modern progressivism, the bloat of serialized storytelling, and a Christian pop-punk band of the early 2000s.

Ep. 132: Charlie X (TOS S1E3)

Ryan and Brady discuss one of the first Star Trek episodes to ever air, the creepy and atmospheric Charlie X! Join us as we discuss the brilliance of D.C. Fontana, science fiction on a budget, the show still figuring itself out, and which actor's head looks like an upside-down triangle.

Ep. 131: "Crossroads" (PRO S1E14)

An episode of Star Trek in which so little happens that Ryan and Brady spend a large amount of time talking about movies, both real movies that currently exist and future Star Trek movies that might one day exist. There is also this one really rude Tellarite in this episode, and we get some juice out of that guy.

Ep. 130: "Storm Front, Part 1" (ENT S4E1)

Ryan and Brady get into what starts out as a pretty promising episode of Enterprise Season 4 and what turns out to be... an OK episode of Enterprise Season 4. Join us as we discuss a Star Trek board game, time travel rules, and how Nazi Germany is listed on Memory Alpha as one of the combatants in the Temporal Cold War.

Ep. 129: "Metamorphosis" (TOS S2E2)

Ryan and Brady talk about an episode of The Original Series that is very important to the series canon but is primarily notable for its aggressive (and perhaps unintentional) heteronormativity. Consider this, however: When Brady emailed this episode to me, he wrote "I'm very proud of us for making it through the whole episode without using the phrase 'Cochrane blocked.'" So, mission accomplished, I guess?

Ep. 128: "Shockwave, Part 2" (ENT S2E1)

Ryan and Brady cover the second season premiere of Star Trek: Enterprise, and in typical Out of Contreks fashion, neither of them has any idea what happened in the finale of season one. Join them as they talk about Archer's Max Headroom cameo, Suliban skin, and Enterprise's trademark "prude sexuality."

Ep. 127: "Miri" (TOS S1E11)

Ryan and Brady tackle an early TOS episode that has some pretty uncomfortable views on teenage sexuality, as well as a disease that makes people break out in blue makeup. Along the way, we discuss why exactly this episode is set on an identical copy of Earth, annoying future abbreviations, and the strange decision to cast an actor to play a character who is supposed to be literally half his age.