A Look at Unnatural Selection (TNG)

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  • čas přidán 14. 06. 2024
  • Opinionated Next Gen Episode Guide visits season 2, where the threat is being aged to death. Which accurately describes how watching season 2 often feels.

Komentáře • 136

  • @twokool4skool129
    @twokool4skool129 Před 10 dny +40

    *causually uses the transporter to cure mortality and restore youth*
    Picard: "Oh good. We've saved our awful doctor who almost got everyone killed. Now we will forget that the transporter can cure all illnesses including death itself."

    • @zephyr8072
      @zephyr8072 Před 10 dny +12

      Kosh: “You are not ready for immortality.”
      *writes transporter clinical immortality out of continuity*

    • @lordmontymord8701
      @lordmontymord8701 Před 9 dny +6

      Pulasky herself probably deleted all the files and the memory of the crew - she hates the transporter so much that she couldn't stand the idea of it saving her life ...

    • @spencersholden
      @spencersholden Před 9 dny +1

      @@lordmontymord8701 new head canon unlocked!

  • @Philistine47
    @Philistine47 Před 10 dny +65

    Also known as "The Episode Where TNG Accidentally Turned Transporters Into Clinical Immortality." You know, since failure to consider implications was mentioned.

    • @tbeller80
      @tbeller80 Před 10 dny +5

      Voyager forgot they invented infinite speed, TNG here invented immortality. I'm sure the other shows flipped the table on something and then forgot they had that trick.

    • @takeru3159
      @takeru3159 Před 10 dny +5

      Technically the animated series created this immortality trick in the Lorelai Signal. So, this show is surprisingly accurate to cannon.

    • @planescaped
      @planescaped Před 10 dny +2

      They did it twice with the deaging transport too.

    • @oddish4352
      @oddish4352 Před 9 dny +1

      "Rascals" being the sequel.

    • @lordmontymord8701
      @lordmontymord8701 Před 9 dny +1

      @@oddish4352 And needless to say: It was as stupid there as it was here.

  • @DanteCorwyn
    @DanteCorwyn Před 10 dny +26

    So, telepathic, and telekinetic. And we never see them again.
    Borg would have a field day with proto-Vorlons.

    • @lordmontymord8701
      @lordmontymord8701 Před 9 dny +3

      In the books the Dominion experimented with the Betazoids after conquering their planet to produce telepathic Jem'Hadar, an even better living weapon.
      Imagine they took over this station ...

  • @zephyr8072
    @zephyr8072 Před 10 dny +32

    I do like how a small group of super-augments who can condemn entire populations to a slow and horrible death by being in somewhat close proximity is never brought up again.

    • @Cailus3542
      @Cailus3542 Před 10 dny +1

      That's Star Trek, I guess.

    • @wakeangel2001
      @wakeangel2001 Před 10 dny +14

      I choose to believe they erased all record of this planet and replaced it with whatever the 24th century equivalent of a "here be monsters" warning is. Actually this feels like a perfect thing to be followed up on in an episode of Lower Decks...

    • @ErikWarhammer
      @ErikWarhammer Před 10 dny +1

      I'm guessing they all "aged to death". Given that they couldn't cure it.

    • @drewpamon
      @drewpamon Před 10 dny +2

      ​@ErikWarhammer only the humans

    • @owlsayssouth
      @owlsayssouth Před 9 dny +3

      Obviously the children all committed ritual suicide, to merge their souls together to be reborn as the emperor of mankind... Janeway!

  • @JoeCool7835
    @JoeCool7835 Před 10 dny +5

    So, Chuck finally gets to an episode focused on the Gorgon. This had to be torturous for him.

  • @Platanov
    @Platanov Před 10 dny +13

    They'll just file the transporter immortality thing away in the same warehouse as Voyager's warp-10 tech that could have gotten everyone home with no (lasting) side effects, and the Ark of the Covenant.

  • @zephyr8072
    @zephyr8072 Před 9 dny +3

    Considering how fast Klingons are shown to reach maturity, it's amusing that Worf is the one to be immediately alarmed at the young-adult 12 year old.
    Yes that's information from later on but it's still funny.

  • @ravenwilder4099
    @ravenwilder4099 Před 10 dny +9

    Oh, it's a Pulaski episode. I'm so sorry, Chuck.

  • @spencersholden
    @spencersholden Před 10 dny +18

    The inconsistencies with the established lore makes sense now that this was written by two guest writers essentially.

    • @clearspira
      @clearspira Před 10 dny +1

      In fairness there was no established lore regarding genetic engineering by season 2 of TNG. I may be wrong, but all of this ''genetic engineering is bad'' stuff was basically pulled out of someone's bottom for the Julian Bashir retcon.

    • @zephyr8072
      @zephyr8072 Před 10 dny +5

      @clearspira Uh not that goes all the way back to TOS with Khan.
      While gene-modding bans weren’t written until then it was pretty much established there was a terrible history with genetic supermen ruining everything.

    • @clearspira
      @clearspira Před 10 dny

      @@zephyr8072 True. I'm just talking about the ban itself being so extreme as to essentially cancel you out of society. That aside, I have always had an issue with Khan being the reason for this ban. In-universe we are talking 400 years. That is older than the United States is today. Surely in that time you would have had someone come along and gone ''y'know, this is kind of extreme. Why don't we at the very least eradicate ageing, sickness and disease from our entire population and trust that our enlightened liberal society can actually handle it better this time?''

    • @MrDj232
      @MrDj232 Před 10 dny +5

      ​@@clearspira Space Seed was season 1 of TOS and came out in 1967. Wrath of Khan came out in 1982. This episode came out in 1989. Genetic engineering causing problems was well established in the series before this episode.

    • @clearspira
      @clearspira Před 10 dny +3

      @@zephyr8072 True. But here is the problem I have with this whole thing: we are 400 years removed from the events of Khan in-universe. Humans have gone from what we are today into a liberal utopia of tolerance and acceptance. Are we honestly saying here that the same circumstances that led to Khan still exist in the 24th century? That we must cancel someone purely because they are too smart? Because if so, that does not say anything good about the hopeful Star Trek future.

  • @JerryListener
    @JerryListener Před 10 dny +7

    Burn baby burn Lantree... Poor little plot device, you looked so cool

    • @lordmontymord8701
      @lordmontymord8701 Před 9 dny

      Especially stupid when we have later on things like the Baryon sweep in Starship Mine, that could destroy all living matter. And you want to tell me they have no way of cleaning the ship? Suck all the air out first, then hard radiation?
      If it happened out of respect for the dead crew that would have been something - but simply because it's too dangerous is the dumbest idea. But who cares about a class 6-supply ship. We got the U.S.S. Bozeman later on coming from the past, they can take over that job.

  • @TheRezro
    @TheRezro Před 10 dny +7

    One of good things about this episode is that they confirm that they store teleporter patterns of the people. What explain a lot of bizarre behaviors in the show. Like sending captain in away team. Well... if he die then they load a copy of him.
    Those who die permanently, aren't just important enough... lol

    • @danij5055
      @danij5055 Před 10 dny +5

      They did something similar the previous season. "Lonely Among Us," when Picard is taken over by a being and transports himself into the cloud. Then they get his consciousness into the computer. Then they use his pattern when he beamed out to reconstitute him, though he did not remember any of it.

    • @InfernosReaper
      @InfernosReaper Před 10 dny

      The Lower Decks actually kinda pokes fun at this a bit when someone who clearly died comes back and you learn that they go through some weird afterlife ritual trial to resurrect

    • @lordmontymord8701
      @lordmontymord8701 Před 9 dny

      Well only this episode presents the patterns as something that can be stored. While it makes no sense that they couldn't store this data (unless it's too much for the hard drive), it is understandable from a narrative standpoint that they couldn't simply create a new version of this or that person.
      It's just funny that we have a lot of episodes like this that break the rules about ST-tech established to make things too easy ...

  • @Redshirt434
    @Redshirt434 Před 10 dny +4

    The TNG episode that tried to be The Deadly Years but became an episode about Augments before they were even a thing.

    • @All2Meme
      @All2Meme Před 9 dny

      Maybe they could have combined the titles "The Deadly Years" and "Space Seed"..."The Deadly Seed" comes to mind.

  • @JaalKiriam
    @JaalKiriam Před 10 dny +5

    When another character is the Most Annoying Character in a Pulaski-centric episode, I'm forced to question my life.

    • @lordmontymord8701
      @lordmontymord8701 Před 9 dny +1

      They put a lot of work into creating a character that's more annoying.

  • @myriadmediamusings
    @myriadmediamusings Před 10 dny +25

    Unnatural Selection? Thats a perfect term for the decision to put Dr Pulaski in Season 2.
    Nah in all seriousness I never had a problem with Pulaski though the hatred she's had in the reviews was amusing. I think in another show she woulda been fine, but the way her character was written really didnt gel with TNG and just made Season 2's problems worse.

    • @zephyr8072
      @zephyr8072 Před 10 dny +20

      The biggest failure was attempting to do the McCoy/Spock dynamic again with her and Data but forgetting that when it came to McCoy’s jabs Spock gave as good as he got so they had a vibe of old friends ribbing, whereas Data’s passivity made Pulaski come across as an asshole.

    • @wilkoufert8758
      @wilkoufert8758 Před 10 dny +3

      @@zephyr8072still sad she didn’t become recurring character, especially as a foil to dr crusher. Just imagine her as leader of a Borg research team.

    • @starwarsnerd100
      @starwarsnerd100 Před 10 dny +7

      @@zephyr8072 Hell, even in the clips Chuck shows for this review, Picard can't get in a complete sentence because she keeps interrupting him. Pulaski came across as a rude know it all who rubbed people the wrong way.

    • @goodwill559
      @goodwill559 Před 10 dny +1

      Pulaski in Section 31's Changeling POW Experimental Research project-good fit or bad fit?

    • @clearspira
      @clearspira Před 10 dny +6

      @@starwarsnerd100 Like Kirk's reputation for being a womaniser when he didn't actually sleep with all that many women, McCoy really wasn't all that rude - he just had no tolerance for idiots or the heartless. Kirk sought out his wisdom just as often as he sought out Spock's. The same simply cannot be said about Pulaski.

  • @isaackellogg3493
    @isaackellogg3493 Před 10 dny +14

    Why didn’t they transport her (while attempting the filtering) onto another shuttlecraft? They have several, and if anything went wrong, they could just send her down to the planet in the now-infected shuttlecraft. I guess they needed to abandon their previous logic or there would be no drama for the conclusion.

    • @SirMarshalHaig
      @SirMarshalHaig Před 10 dny +3

      It´s like with the zombie movies, people have to do dumb things to create tnesion

  • @firefly4f4
    @firefly4f4 Před 10 dny +8

    "... since it's impossible for him (Data) to get sick."
    I'm very surprised you didn't call out "The Naked Now" as a direct counterpoints to that claim.
    Also, in the final cure for Pulaski, why didn't they beam her onto an isolated shuttlecraft?

    • @ravenwilder4099
      @ravenwilder4099 Před 10 dny +8

      Tasha said "The Naked Now" never happened, and we respect the wishes of the deceased.

    • @lordmontymord8701
      @lordmontymord8701 Před 9 dny

      This time it wasn't about Data getting drunk like everybody else - just a disease 😁. I would have loved if Data pulled a Naked Now and said that he was constructed to age - so his body would react in the same way to the disease.

    • @ravenwilder4099
      @ravenwilder4099 Před 9 dny

      @@lordmontymord8701 "I am experiencing rapid aging, Captain. I have thirteen overdue system updates, and am now required to recommend you upgrade to Data 2.0."

  • @planescaped
    @planescaped Před 10 dny +4

    Hooray, brand new trek and not a reupload, and it's TNG.

    • @lordmontymord8701
      @lordmontymord8701 Před 9 dny +2

      Like Chuck once said, the first two seasons of TNG seem to have an infinite number of episodes, so he can go on forever.
      Ok, he said season one, but that applies to season two too.

  • @Tolly7249
    @Tolly7249 Před 9 dny +1

    10:05 Good lord the dissembling is criminal!

  • @stevena488
    @stevena488 Před 10 dny +11

    Pulaski was just a worse version of Bones

    • @nctsoftware5272
      @nctsoftware5272 Před 10 dny +4

      Worse? They’re nearly identical down to their casual racism. Even still I thought she was the only interesting personality among the main cast. Outside of Worf they all shared the same sensibilities and were never the source of any drama. This was Genes fault since he thought humanity would have evolved to share the same brain in the 24th century.

    • @BrianS1981
      @BrianS1981 Před 10 dny +9

      She was Bones without any thought put to the character.

  • @karlgrimm3027
    @karlgrimm3027 Před 10 dny +2

    This really shows how the whole genetic augmentation is banned thing didn’t exist until DS9.

  • @wakeangel2001
    @wakeangel2001 Před 10 dny +12

    ...I kind of hate how this episode not only ignores the whole thing about the Eugenics war and Augment bullshit (even the KIDS Star Trek series brought up the Augment issue) but also ignores how the Transporter is basically a cure all machine for literally anything now. Got a fatal infection? Pop you though and the bad stuff is separated out like a strainer that puts you back together after. Broken Limb? If we have a log from yesterday where you leg was intact that's basically a save state! Tuvixed? Not a problem, we'll just transport clone you and apply the cure to one of the clones in the matter stream so all THREE of you can live! Oh no, he died! Well, call up a log and bring back the version of him from before he left on the mission, shame he won't remember the last few hours but I'm sure he'd be happy to know his family didn't lose him.
    Seriously why is there even a NEED for medicine in the Star Trek universe if the transporters can do this? The only limit I can think of is the storage space for all the "files" that would be a transport signature for a person, but then you could just have giant hard drives specifically for saving those things in a server room by the computer core.

    • @KnightRaymund
      @KnightRaymund Před 10 dny

      The augment ban hadn't been invented yet, had it?

    • @MrDj232
      @MrDj232 Před 10 dny +5

      The Riker duplicate kind of doubles down on this problem, while also proving people's issues with teleporters killing a person and replacing them with a clone.

    • @InfernosReaper
      @InfernosReaper Před 10 dny +2

      I love how Riker outright was cloned with the transporter and the fact that it essentially both creates life and ensures immortality is never even thought of

    • @InfernosReaper
      @InfernosReaper Před 10 dny

      @@KnightRaymund narrative-wise? maybe not, but them being a problem was established back in TOS and cemented in the first good Trek film

    • @DanteCorwyn
      @DanteCorwyn Před 10 dny

      Isn't the same technique used in Picard as well?

  • @MegaAchilles23
    @MegaAchilles23 Před 10 dny +12

    Only 5 episodes left in season 1
    Too Short A Season [my ass] | Home Soil | Coming Of Age | Symbiosis | We'll Always Have Paris
    And 6 in season 2
    Elementary, Dear Data | The Schizoid Man | Contagion | Time Squared | The Icarus Factor | Manhunt

    • @myriadmediamusings
      @myriadmediamusings Před 10 dny +7

      He should put We'll always have paris on the schedule, only to pull a last minute switch have thr review be instead We'll always have TOM paris.

    • @MegaAchilles23
      @MegaAchilles23 Před 10 dny +1

      @@myriadmediamusings
      Must be how Janeway defends half her crazy ideas. The other half with “We can always spare Harry”

    • @magnusprime962
      @magnusprime962 Před 9 dny +1

      I’m surprised he hasn’t done Elementary, Dear Data yet. It’s one of the more liked episodes of Season 2, and for good reason.

  • @bthsr7113
    @bthsr7113 Před 9 dny

    The transporter thing is nice for the "useful, therefore forgotten" filing cabinet, but the remote access to check the ship's interior cameras is also a notable entry in this episode's folder.

  • @izzafizza339
    @izzafizza339 Před 10 dny +1

    Always thought it was funny that picard had to use his code in his ready room. Bruh everyone knows most of his codes cus he says them out loud around people

  • @VerdantRange
    @VerdantRange Před 9 dny

    I've seen a lot of comments this has Starfleet create immortality with the transporter here, but this actually was previously seen in TAS's The Lorelei Signal, and the animated series got a novelization IIRC, that stated that there was a downside in that all memories from the previous transport are lost.

  • @thomasharper4906
    @thomasharper4906 Před 10 dny +1

    We need more telekinetic augmented human characters in staetrek.

  • @BrianS1981
    @BrianS1981 Před 10 dny +2

    Sad to say, but this was the best Pulaski episode by a country mile.

  • @JounLord1
    @JounLord1 Před 10 dny +3

    Always wondered why the "children" were called children in this episode when they are clearly not. I'd think with their accelerated aging they'd be adults despite their age a bit like the Clone Troopers of Star Wars. If they are children mentally but adults physically that seems like a MASSIVE design flaw for these perfect humans. Also bet they regret kersploding that ship after the Borg showed up.

    • @lordmontymord8701
      @lordmontymord8701 Před 9 dny +1

      It was just a class 6-supply ship ... nobody cares about those and their crews 😁 ...
      🤔 then again they still had Oberth-class ships flying in the background in First Contact - i assume the Lantree can't be worse than one of those, so she might have been able to take one shot that would have gone to one of the actual usefull ships.

  • @lordmontymord8701
    @lordmontymord8701 Před 9 dny +1

    Accelerated aging is the second thing on my list of "great" medical problem in Sci-Fi. No. 1 is people getting transformed into aliens (or salamanders) and easily reversing the condition at the end of the episode.
    And i will say this: When i saw the first two seasons of TNG as a kid i loved them, thought they were great. It took some mental developement to figure out how shitty the characters, the plots, the decisions were. But even then this episode had something disturbing thanks to the super-children.
    Maybe it's because i'm German and we learn pretty early on in school about some not so nice parts of our history including the idea of the superior race ...
    All i'm saying is that they say a bit too often how great these kids are. I think even Pulasky agrees on one point that they are superior and the future.
    My headcanon is that these ideas of superiority lead to the kids trying to take over the Federation like Khan did on Earth and that's why we got the extra hard laws about genetic tampering. But because nobody in the Federation wants to admit they allowed these experiments, they only talk about Khan ...

  • @Robizoid
    @Robizoid Před 9 dny

    The Gorgon was creepy enough, but her rapidly aging? ... Eeeewwwweee!

  • @MorgenthauMusic
    @MorgenthauMusic Před 10 dny +2

    LOL, "preview of the next presidential debate" ...

    • @All2Meme
      @All2Meme Před 9 dny +1

      Isn't that so painfully true?

  • @andywood6376
    @andywood6376 Před 8 dny

    Great video.

  • @MrCaerbannog
    @MrCaerbannog Před 8 dny

    The original script for the episode, or possibly an in-between rewrite that Roddenberry did, featured a subplot with a female engineer who was so amazingly beautiful that she caused her crewmates to get distracted and get into accidents in her presence (a la the opening sequence of Superman III). Maurice Hurley pretty much said "what the fuck is this shit?" when it came to putting together the final draft, and replaced her with O'Brien, who actually got named for the first time.

    • @boobah5643
      @boobah5643 Před 6 dny

      That's a Gene favorite, isn't it, since that was basically Ilia's (from _STTMP)_ thing as a Deltan, even if that novelization claimed it was more pheromone than appearance, strictly speaking. It was an informed attribute, because she'd specially trained to control her pheromone release, but they still grabbed a supermodel for the role. And then cut off her hair.

  • @bthsr7113
    @bthsr7113 Před 9 dny

    "It's impossible for him to get sick"
    Um, I know it's been a while, and I don't care to actively delve into it, but didn't Data get a case of the infectious loopies in season 1!?

  • @Willpower-74205
    @Willpower-74205 Před 9 dny

    Fairly typical of the first two seasons, concentrating on routine adventures of the week rather than character development. Fortunately, this changed from Season 3 onward. Interesting trivia: the genetically created "children" were going to be nude until someone realized that all of the furniture in their little rec room was transparent. The costume department came to the rescue with those garish bright multi-colored neon jumpsuits that'll drive you blind if you look at them for more than a few seconds. It was the 80s, after all. 🖖🙄

  • @luminaire4946
    @luminaire4946 Před 9 dny

    Impossible for data to get sick? Did they forget the naked now? I mean granted I wish I could but still.

  • @dendostar5436
    @dendostar5436 Před 10 dny +1

    Lol golems.

  • @lOrdofdOrkness73
    @lOrdofdOrkness73 Před 10 dny

    taken out of gis original package losses at least 10percent of original value

  • @andrewshearsby8125
    @andrewshearsby8125 Před 10 dny

    asides from the canon hiccup with the Aguments this was a good episode personally.
    just hated the Karen who ran the Aguments

  • @steelgriffin7716
    @steelgriffin7716 Před 10 dny +2

    Soooooo.... by the logic of this episode, the Transporter can let people Save Scum?

  • @ImagineMySurprise510
    @ImagineMySurprise510 Před 10 dny

    I think a rating of 3 is too high for this episode.

  • @creatrixZBD
    @creatrixZBD Před 10 dny

    I always liked Pulaski. I related to her never being able to fit in, but also being unable to be anything other than herself. It’s always been weird to me, how much people didn’t like her as a character. I missed her when she dipped. (Edit bc I mixed her name up with a Hair character)

    • @magnusprime962
      @magnusprime962 Před 9 dny +1

      Part of it is she makes a terrible first impression in ‘The Child’, flouting protocol, ignoring the Captain, and bullying Data. As it goes on she tones down, but never quite treats her CO with the respect he deserves. Between that and the difficulty of getting past the way she originally treated Data, who can’t really fight back, it left a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths. She might’ve gotten better had she stuck around for Season 3, but the actress didn’t want to come back and the cast lobbied hard for Gates McFadden to return.

  • @marcherwitch9811
    @marcherwitch9811 Před 8 dny +1

    imagine being so much of a karen that in a polaski episode you are the worst character!

  • @Redrally
    @Redrally Před 10 dny +2

    This episode is confusingly pointless.

  • @user-su4nq3nk4p
    @user-su4nq3nk4p Před 10 dny

    Dr Pulaski need one season she better doctor data overlook auto place doctor

    • @DunjeeTime
      @DunjeeTime Před 10 dny

      Did you just have a fucking stroke?

  • @river_acheron
    @river_acheron Před 10 dny +4

    For anyone who has issues with "nu Trek", I only need to point at GODAWFUL episodes like this. Terrible in every way, and this isnt close to the worst of season 2 :P

    • @JosephDavies
      @JosephDavies Před 9 dny +1

      So you're saying we should be happy to get more like this? That's not a great argument.

    • @blagageorge3824
      @blagageorge3824 Před 9 dny

      @@JosephDavies more like pointing out how at least 50% of trek was already less than stellar; most of Picard is leagues above this shit, for example. even Discovery has much better episodes. so when people complain about how bad some episodes of nu-trek are, i just go 'eh, average trek then!'

    • @river_acheron
      @river_acheron Před 9 dny

      @@JosephDavies Absolutely not. My point was that we have gotten so much worse in the past, and people forget how atrocious TNG seasons 1 and 2 were. And honestly, for me, most of Voyager. (my least favorite Trek of all time)

    • @magnusprime962
      @magnusprime962 Před 9 dny +2

      I won’t call this episode good, but I’ll say this: I’d rather watch it than the first season finale of Picard.

    • @river_acheron
      @river_acheron Před 9 dny

      @@magnusprime962 Okay thats you. We can agree to disagree but I think Trek is getting better than it has since 1999