Out of Contreks

Ep. 141: "Yesteryear" (TAS S1E2) with That's Not How Science Works

Sorry for the late-night post, folks. Ryan just got back from Gen Con.

In today's episode, Ryan and Brady are joined by frequent guests Caitlin and Nicole of That's Not How Science Works to discuss the consensus choice for the best entry of Star Trek: The Animated Series. Join us as we discuss good animation vs. "good" animation, DC Fontana knowing her stuff, and Ryan crying while watching this decades-old cartoon for children.

CORRECTED TITLE: Ep. 140: "Second Skin" (DS9 S3E05)

CORRECTED: Ryan and Brady talk about very Kira-heavy, body modification episode of DS9t. We also spend a bit of time talking about a VCR game that features Robert O'Reilly as Martok, which is where today's episode art is from. It's a good time!

Ep. 139: "Sleeping Dogs" (ENT S1E14)

Ryan and Brady delve into the ins and outs of a perfectly serviceable Enterprise episode, including a writing cliche Ryan hates, a discussion of the medbay's weird horny sauna, and a tangent on Paramount+ streaming content.

Ep. 138: "The Time Trap" (TAS S1E12)

If the metatextual meditation on PTSD of our last episode was too much for you, allow Ryan and Brady to talk about The Time Trap instead, a goofy Animated Series episode that had Ryan's son saying "huh, good episode" as the credits rolled. Discussed: the alien UN, the weird piece of tape that connects the Enterprise to the Klingon ship, and more.

Ep. 137:"It's Only A Paper Moon" (DS9 S7E10) with Into The Unknown's Max Brooke and Michael Gernes

With what we're pretty sure is our longest episode of all time, Ryan and Brady dive into this classic Deep Space Nine episode with the help of Max Brooke and Michael Gernes, the designers of the upcoming Star Trek miniatures game "Star Trek: Into the Unknown." Max and Michael break down the analysis of Star Trek metafiction, the logistics of holodeck food, and the long-game characterization of DS9, but first, they sit for an extended interview on their cool new game from WizKids, which debuts later this year (and is set during the Dominion War).

OOC Special 12: Discovery, Season 5 (FIXED upload)

Sorry for the audio issues, folks. This file should have both hosts' audio.

Ryan and Brady dig into the final season of Star Trek Discovery and come to the conclusion that this season was, if not great, also was not bad! We rank the seasons, talk about the finale, discuss the ending, and wonder if one of the writers found religion during the course of writing the show. All that, and more!

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.