Out of Contreks

Can Star Trek live on aesthetics alone? Brady says no, Ryan says... maybe? Kind of? in this iffy but striking outing of the Original Series' infamous third season. Come for the comparisons to David Lynch, and stay for the boys' reminiscing on puppet-based children's entertainment (the creator of Lamb Chop wrote this episode!). 

In which Ryan and Brady don't make a "Darkling Doc" joke and really go in on trash-talking Brannon Braga for a good long while. Also, if you like the sound of CCG card packs being opened on mic, we do that here for a while!

Join Ryan and Brady as they discuss the premiere of what at least one of them thinks is actually the best season of Picard, if only for the sartorial choices... and then listen as they both are disappointed that this isn't the second episode, which has fun stuff like the skull of Gul Dukat. They also discuss a bit of Star Trek news that is probably about a month old at this point!

Ryan and Brady mull alien fashion, discuss the always-reliable Jeri Ryan, and reflect on how Neelix is just a very nice man in this surprisingly solid Borg episode of Voyager. Plus, Ryan cracks a pack of Star Trek CCG cards in the cold open! What will he find? (mostly some Hirogen commons)

Ryan and Brady saddle up for their last "accidentally out of order" episode of the summer (for the five or so real-heads who might actually care, obviously, the episode we mention doing "next," Yesteryear, was actually our previous episode, and our real next episode is Voyager's The Raven). Regardless of the confusion, we have a good time talking about Gul Dukat, the greatest villain in Star Trek history, as well as a brief consideration of the number of "important" DS9 episodes we've watched for the show.

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: 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!

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.

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.

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).