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Wherein Andy and Justice gamble their sanity by revisiting one of the emptiest episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation's second season, "The Royale." In a nostalgic bid to get audience attention by revisiting 1960s gangster Las Vegas, the crew explores the fiction but not the facts of the events. Forced to relive the narrative of a pulp novel, they ignore the acutal reason why this fantasy exists in the first place, in a very un-Star Trek fashion. Picard gets stuck on the Fermat's Last Theorem math problem while Data manipulates math in a way to escape the fantasy. At least Data was true to character while doing it. What an empty mess.

Wherein Justice and Andy preemtively mourn the loss of physical media following Sony's annoucement that PlayStation games will no longer have discs in the next two years. Why are we being pushed exclusively into the digital age? Someone must be benefitting from this. Granted, Steam has been exclusively digital for a generation and many people appreciate that convenience. But when you couple this with the recent publishing announcement to end the mass market paperback, the threat to knowledge preservation seems unaffordable.

Wherein Andy and Justice court disappointment in their rewatch of Star Trek: The Next Generation season two episode ten, "The Dauphin." This is among the most forgettable episodes of the series. Case in point: we forgot that we recorded this review and moved on to "Contagion." Why do the writers continually pitch Wesley's personal life as something interesting? Why does he seek romantic advice from Geordi, who has even less game than him? Why would a Klingon mating ritual help a teenage human? And finally, why does the Enterprise have no interest in learning about the seemingly remarkable species that they are transporting to a diplomatic event? This one's a stinker.

Wherein Justice and Andy bludgeon their way through the uneven final season of the uneven series run of The Boys. What started off so promising simply took too long to produce and became a pastiche of itself. If the attitude or tone of the show didn't change, why did our reception of it? How did what was once shocking become routine? And even expected and boring? It's so dreadfully disappointing that it's difficult to encapsulate in a single joke. At least it's over.

Wherein Andy and Justice flunk the class of 3196 and pick through the carcass of an unfinished yet canceled show, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. This show is terrible all around: plot, check - setting, check - tone, check - theme, check. Why did the studio greenlight a show they had no confidence in? Is this the end of the Kurtzman era Star Trek? Will this finally make them put the franchise on ice for a generation? If Discovery was bad, and Section 31 was worse, then this one reads like fan fiction.

Wherein Justice and Andy amuse themselves with an investigation into the comedic impulses and necessities of televised or filmed representations of the popular tabletop rpg Dungeons & Dragons. Which mediums demand more humor to be successful and why? How low can humor go before it turns off an adult audience? Why does humor seem to be more important when introducing new audiences to the setting and genre? We discuss the idea of how laughter and play are essential to childrens' games and remind ourselves that these media installments are another version of that.

Wherein Andy and Justice debride the eleventh episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation season two. The initial introduction to the Iconian race, the episode captures some of the same ominous energy of season one's "Conspiracy." This one continues in the tradition of "A Matter of Honor" and "The Child" as episodes where the character development seems out of place. Why does Picard leave the ship in a time of peril? Why is diplomacy immediately thrown out of the airlock? Why can't Riker manage his temper on the bridge? Why does the consummate archaeologist Picard decide to destroy the Iconion remnants rather than find a way to preserve and study them? Because we're still in season two!

Wherein Justice and Andy pass judgement on "The Measure of a Man," the ninth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation season two. In this episode, Data is on trial for his rights and existence, with Picard acting as his defense and Riker as (forced) prosecution. This episode is an analog for many of the differnet kinds of rights under threat today, such as civil rights, trans rights, and the rights of the differently abled. All can be read at least partially through Starfleet's pursecution of Data. Why does Riker feel the need to so flagrantly violate Data's person in his prosecution? Why is this an exclusively military matter rather than a civil one? Why does Picard act like a quitter so early? And why is Captain Louvois stupified by everything that happens in her courtroom?

Wherein Andy and Justice exchange ideas about the events of the eighth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation season two. An exchange program in Starfleet sounds like a positive thing, however, it takes a special kind of confused writing to muddle things up this badly. Why does Riker choose to participate in the program? Why does Worf have so little screen time in a Klingon-centric episode? Who nominated Wesley to be part of the welcoming committee? Why is it okay for Worf to openly bully subordinates? Why does Riker imply that Earth's cultural values are superior? Unfortunately, none of the answers to these questions will satisfy. But listen anyway!

Wherein Justice and Andy hunt down the impact of Predator: Badlands, the newest entry in the Predator franchise from Dan Trachtenberg. As the first film in the franchise to feature the Predator as the protagonist, how does it shift the narrative direction for the franchise for the future? And as the first PG-13 film in the franchise, does it imply a softening or Disneyfication for the films foing forward? Are we about to see plush Predator toys? Are we about to see Yautja halloween costumes for young children? We understand the tensions between a monster film and the need to market it, but at what cost?

Wherein Andy and Justice innoculate the wider Trek fandom against the notion that the seventh episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation consulted with any medical professional in the screenplay's assessment of how to properly handle an unknown pathogen. Not only do we get more of Pulaski's bigotry in this episode, but we learn that her academic experience as a virologist has zero bearing on the decisions she makes for the wellbeing of the crew. From usurping the chain of command to not understanding how either a shuttle or a force field work, we question her enrollment and graduation from Starfleet Academy. But hey, the makeup and special effects team really pulled off a stunner here.

Wherein Justice and Andy hijack the discussion of Ira Graves and his violation of Data's body and mind. In this review of Star Trek: The Next Generation's sixth episode of the second season, we encounter the man described by Dr. Pulaski as "the greatest human mind in the universe." He does not live up to this description. What is the nature of bodily autonomy and does Data have the right to his own body and mind? And how do we account for the godlike levels of tolerance the crew affords Graves? Is to know him to love him? It is not.

Wherein Andy and Justice interpret the events of "Loud as a Whisper" in their review of the fifth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation's second season. In an episode produced and aired during the debate around the Americans With Disabilities Act, Star Trek portrayes a protagonist with different abilities. How is the deafness of Riva shown on screen? How does the crew react to his unique form of telepathic communication? And what happens when those lines of communication break down? First, Riva flips over the chessboard and then, as usual, it's Data to the rescue.

Wherein Justice and Andy swoop into the fray of the controversial new Superman film. It's the first of James Gunn's new DCU and takes a very different approach than the MCU's established pattern of success. How believable does a Superman movie have to be? Why is this movie so crowded? Will there ever be standalone origin stories in this new DCU? And will we ever see a mature Lex Luthor again? Leaping over narratives in a single bound, it's a bird, its a plane, its James Gunn's first bad movie.

Wherein Andy and Justice rake "The Outrageous Okona" over the coals in their review of this fourth episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The main issue with this episode is not only that Okona himself is not outrageous, but that the episode does not fit narratively in season two, nor does it contribute to character development and growth as we've come to expect following the last episode. Because of these qualities, we argue that it's quite possible that this is a holdover in some form from season one. Also, Joe Piscopo? WTF?