870 – Reunion | Snore Trek TNG S4 E7

EPISODE 870 – Reunion – Snore Trek TNG S4 E7

 

[START OF RECORDING]

SCOOTER: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and friends beyond the binary, it’s time for the podcaster who…I slather on this…it’s time to slather on some sleepy stuff, maybe.  That just popped into my head, though.  Maybe slather on some syrupy, sleepy stuff, patrons, because you help me do it.  Thanks, and let’s get on with the show.

 

INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing, trouble getting to sleep?  Trouble staying asleep?  Well, welcome.  This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep.  We do it with a bedtime story.  Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press play.  I’m gonna do the rest.  What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever is keeping you awake; whether it’s thoughts, stuff on your mind you’re thinking about, feelings either emotional or physical that’s coming up for you.  Oh yeah, feelings, physical sensations, changes, life events, those are things that, you know, I hear from people.  Anything; whatever’s keeping you awake I’d like to take your mind off of that.  I’d like to keep you company and what I’m gonna do is, I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night and kind of as a call…or yeah, I’d say like a y’all call.  They say hey, this is a safe place; why don’t you come on in?

 

I’m gonna send my voice across the deep, dark night to try to say that, and then do it with my hands.  I don’t know if you could really sense that, but I’m saying hey, come on in, safe place here.  It’s more of a safe general area.  ‘Cause you say safe place sounds like I’d like have to check it out first, a safe area.  You say well, it’s not…I don’t know, it’s not as…right, it may be…I don’t know, I’d like to have something more catchy than that but I don’t have anything.  But I’m gonna use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones; creaky and dulcet tones that are both sweet and not sweet, but not sour, not umami or whatever that other word is.  Probably…I guess creaky has a touch of salty.  What is it?  Sweet, sour, salt, bitter.  Not really bitter…oh, sour and bitter are the same.  My citrus brain just said by the way…I’d say, are you sure about that?  Then the other…umami or how…I always get that one wrong even though I love it.  Holy cow.  I love miso paste, man.  Have I talked about miso paste in an intro?

 

I probably have because talk about a versatile thing.  It’s not a condiment but anyway, I don’t want to…I got new listeners here.  Sorry about that.  Oh, creaky, dulcet tones, pointless meanders, which are just…that was more of…not a pointless meander.  Word fumbles, yeah.  That was a word…those are letter fumbles.  Actually, I fumble words and I tumble into letters.  You say where’s Scoots?  Is that a ball pit?  No.  Is that a foam block pit?  No.  Scoots is in a…he’s in a pit of his letters.  Well, that sounds like Sleep With Me.  He tumbled right in there but he’s doing his best.  If you’re new, let me catch you up here.  I’m glad you’re here and a couple things; this podcast sounds a little bit different already, huh?  Well, if you’re having any issues getting to sleep, I’m here to keep you company and take your mind off stuff but I’ll be honest with you, the show’s a little bit different.  It’s a little bit silly and it’s a bit odd or I mean, in a good way, for some people.  It doesn’t work for everybody so give it a few tries if you like it.

 

No pressure to even do that but that’s what most reviewers say and regular listeners say; oh, it took two or three tries.  But there’s no pressure to like the show.  Just see how it goes ‘cause if you’re skeptical, that makes total sense.  You’re like, what is this?  That guy doesn’t even know the five…didn’t he…didn’t they teach that in…not in kindergarten, but in some other grade?  Didn’t you have to fill out a thing where you colored in the circles on the tongue?  Maybe you even did an experiment where you tasted some sugar and salt and citrus.  Scoots went to school before they discovered the umami zone.  Also, that’s a movie I’m working on, and a song, except that Kenny Loggins already told me I can’t use…he said what is…’cause I said on the letter; he said what does ‘a highway to an umami zone’ even mean?  I said let’s go…that’s our show.  Drew, Scooter, and Kenny Loggins on the road.  It’s a new Food Network show, Kenny; Highway to the Umami Zone.

 

Also, let me…let’s just lock that title down so Fieri or whoever else doesn’t listen to this podcast.  I think that could be a show.  It’d be just like all the other ones; wouldn’t be really any different.  I would say get me and Kenny…maybe have Kenny Loggins and then a little bit more diversity of a cast, so keep Scoots out of it.  Maybe Danica Patrick ’cause then it would make…and then, I don’t know.  We’ll figure it out.  Just seeing Danica Patrick and Kenny…who is it?  Kenny Loggins?  A lot of people don’t even know who Kenny Loggins is which is totally understandable but…’cause in the driving thing…yeah, he could…maybe we could get the rights and that would be the thing.  Highway to the Umami Zone.  Sorry, I don’t normally sing but it’s early in the show.  So, where was I?  Oh, new listeners.  Sorry, I got…that was a totally pointless meander.  If you’re new and skeptical, there you go.  Your skepticism has been met and respected.  The show’s a bit different.

 

Here’s what to expect other than nonsense and me goofing around and not getting to the point which is what every episode’s like, just a head’s up; structurally, what to expect which we’re kind of in the middle of the structure, the show starts off with a few minutes of business and that’s really key to keeping it free for everybody just because of the size of the podcast.  Then there’s an intro.  I’ll tell about the intro in a minute.  Then there’s some business, then there’s the story.  Tonight, we’ll be talking about Star Trek the Next Generation, but not really.  That’s not really important.  It’ll be more like a bedtime story where Scoots is just rambling about stuff.  Then we have some thank yous and goodnight.  The intro is the beginning of the show.  It’s usually around twelve to fifteen minutes long.  Now, some people will skip ahead but I look at the statistics; the majority of people listen and some people fall asleep during the intro, some people get ready for bed during the intro, and some people are in bed winding down during the intro, and then some people listen during the day.

 

The intro, the reason it’s like, twelve to fifteen minutes is to give you a chance to wind down or to get…brush your teeth, put on your PJs, think about Kenny Loggins and Danica Patrick driving and tasting food.  I’m already getting pitched by another part of my brain on getting Kenny G on there.  I said let’s just look at…let’s look wider than that, okay?  But yeah, because that’s…but that’s not a terrible idea, I’m just saying.  Anyway, I gotta get back to the new listener.  The intro is just…it’s a show within a show but it’s also part of the podcast.  This is the most…thing…the hardest thing for the newest listener.  That’s why I talk about the intro so much is because when you’re new, it’s definitely subverting any expectations because most people expect even a sleep podcast intro to get to the point and get to the bedtime story.  I get it; some people that are frustrated with that or they say what is this, a big infomercial?  I say, well, this one kind of is if you run the Food Network or a network that carries food TV shows.

 

It is an infomercial for you, Food Network executives, or representatives of Kenny G, Kenny Loggins, Danica Patrick, or any purveyors of umami-based foods on a highway because yeah, we’ll be doing that show one day, or at least in my imagination.  I would be the driver.  They could just…’cause I’m not really good at getting to the point anyway.  I wouldn’t actually be a host on the show but I would be there.  I would be a sidekick, whatever’s less than a sidekick in a good way, where they’d say and Scoots, what did you think about the crab apple fries?  Maybe I’d have a bunch of them, like umami.  That would be a little cheesy but maybe that would be my catch line.  I guess that’s a little bit…okay, let’s not get too Freudian or anything.  Holy mackerel.  [00:10:00] This is a food show.  Anyway, I went off-topic there again.  That’s the intro, just me kind of welcoming you into the show and helping you wind down with some nonsense that’s filled…feels new and familiar at the same time ‘cause every intro is like this where I say…this is really how the intro is structured; if I had a chess…what is that called?  Like, a flow board or whatever, a pitch deck.

 

I’d say okay, the intro’s gonna be two minutes today.  I’m gonna get there, welcome the new listeners, structure of the show, tell them they don’t need to listen because they can passively listen or they could actively listen, then tell them there’s no pressure to fall asleep.  I’m gonna be here for about an hour so if you can’t sleep, I’m here to the very end.  Then I’ll close out the intro and it’ll be two minutes long, but then I get distracted or…how could you not get distracted by that idea?  I mean, probably by the time…also, I’m serious; when I went to school, they didn’t have umami.  It probably had been invented; it just hadn’t made it to, like…even though I didn’t grow up in the Midwest, my city…the city I grew up in was very Midwestern-esque.  They may still scoff at…you know, there may be a neighborhood…well, you gotta go to the places that serve cuisine if you want umami.  Anyway, we just had those other regions of the tongue where we say those are the flavors that humans can process.  I would still say I don’t buy it.

 

I’d say hey, teach, I don’t buy this.  The teacher would say well, this is science.  I’d say what, is there a tongue scientist, actually?  Dr. Tongue?  I mean, there was Dr. Teeth in one of the Muppet bands but I don’t necessarily…I guess there are tongue doctors.  Nose, mouth…yeah, no, there’s no tongue on that one.  Isn’t it one of the longer organs in the body after the skin?  The teacher would always say something about their ears.  They’d say well, maybe you’d understand it better if you closed your mouth, Andrew.  I’d say well…then I’d say hey, excuse me teacher, I just wondered when is the report due on careers?  Because I’ve decided to change my career to be a doctor of…a tongue researcher.  That’s why I’m pulling my tongue out right now while I’m talking to you, ‘cause I want to really…I believe there’s not four flavors on the tongue.  They say Scoots, how did you come up with a sleep podcast?  I said well, haven’t you read my autobiography?  The Only Boy in Town Who Believed in Umami.  That was my first book that never was published and never written.

 

It started out…I was alone in my room, alone with my tongue, just thinking about what we had learned at school today, wondering the nature of truth and the nature of flavors.  I suspected there was so much more to all of these things.  I looked at the ceiling and I sighed.  Then I rolled over.  See, even then I had the potential to put people to sleep.  Then I looked at my tongue in the mirror for hours and hours wondering is that all you are?  Actually, also coming in musical form one day, whatever that…that was a pretty long title.  So, The Boy Who Loved…no, it has to be…yeah, I was a kid in a town that didn’t believe in umami and I wanted to make a show.  At first, I said I was gonna be a tongue doctor.  You could even make a show I Called the Tongue Doctor.  That would…umami almost rhymes with the rest of that song, too.  Anyway, okay, anyway, I’m here to help you if you can’t sleep.  That’s my main message ‘cause I care.  I’ve been there, sleepless in the deep, dark night, tossing and turning.

 

I just want to take your mind off stuff and keep you company as you drift off or in case you can’t, I’m here to keep you company the whole night long if you need it.  I mean it; there is some subtext in this podcast because you know, I have been that boy lying in bed thinking I’m the only one who believes in umami, wondering if that’s how you pronounce it and singing songs about it to myself quietly, loud enough so my brother would tell me to be quiet, but still.  Making up my own musicals about those things.  My brother, just like the listeners that are gonna just go to sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou say, how many times can you say umami in a podcast?  Also, FYI, the word is…whatever the proper word is.  I say oh boy, yep, this happened to me 180 episodes ago, too.  I don’t know if you can catch the goodhearted nature of this podcast.  The fact that it doesn’t work for everybody kind of means that hopefully it works for you.

 

You know what I’m saying?  If it doesn’t work for you, I’m sorry.  Like you said, go to sleepwithmepodcast.com/nothankyou.  There’s some other stuff over there you could check out, but I really hope it does.  Or just use it before bed to kind of loosen things up ‘cause my main goal isn’t just to put you to sleep.  It’s so that bedtime…it doesn’t feel like that, where you have to write a musical to help learn to coexist with a town that doesn’t believe in flavor profiles, or whatever.  Oh wait; some other part of my brain said there’s a book Sugar Salt Fat that those are the…oh boy, well, there goes twenty-eight years of tongue research right out the window.  I don’t know, I hope you know that I’m glad you’re here and while this podcast doesn’t work for everybody, give it a few tries and see if it can help you.  I work very hard.  I yearn and I strive and I want to help you fall asleep.  Here’s a couple ways we’re able to keep this show free for everybody.

 

Alright, everybody, we’re continuing our Worf-themed episodes here.  Yeah, I guess I’d say Worf…strongly…give me a strong side of Worf, or I take my Klingons strong…I prefer my Worf…anyway, couldn’t think of any good jokes there.  Also don’t want to get onto any Klingon’s bad side.  This episode is season four, Episode 7.  I don’t know if I said that; Reunion.  It starts off with the bridge, everybody’s working.  I’ll go through the dialogue but I said is there Class 2, 3, and 4 probes?  Which will be answered…we see a Klingon ship.  Oh, you know what?  I just noticed something.  One of the first few shots in the show is shot from a really low angle.  I never pay attention to that stuff except for close-ups.  Right now, I’m looking at the Enterprise.  Camera is zooming in on it, or the Enterprise is moving.  Yeah, now we have Riker, Picard, and Worf.  It was almost shot from the floor looking up at them which I guess puts them in a place of authority.  Klingon ship is…appears…this is more grey than a normal…grey and red and green.

 

I really do find…this is a strange thing to say but I find the green of Klingon ships very comforting.  This one, the grey one, I just said huh, I miss that green.  I don’t know what it is.  I just say ah, that’s a relaxing color for me.  Let’s see, open channel, they’ve got a Klingon ship that was on a…wait, no, we’ll go through the dialogue.  Unexpected pleasure, Worf!  Capitalized with an exclamation point.  A nod, urgent matter.  Lieutenant Gilrund receive her guest.  Worf tries to get out of it.  This is a really good Worf episode.  Worf makes up an excuse which we’ll find out is an…he says my dishonor will offend ‘cause it’s another Klingon.  Picard is stern, goes to transport to Room 2.  Worf does a wha?  First, I don’t know, let me see, Worf does a what?  Then there’s a zoom on Worf, thoughtful.  As we see…oh, ‘cause they say two to transport.  Worf does a wha?  Not transport number 2.  It’s a kid which we’ve met before; Alexander which makes Worf even do…his Worf’s mouth is wide open.  I think that’s it.

 

I think it opens after that.  Let’s see, let’s see, where are they?  Gamma…Irregulon System or something.  Some anomalies are there, readings inconclusive.  They send out two Class 1 probes.  A Klingon appears.  What is that doing there, everybody says?  Let’s talk to them.  I think I got to write…figure out the…I did a phonetic spelling of this person…oh, K’Ehleyr is Ambassador K’Ehleyr [00:20:00] who’s the unexpected pleasure.  Good to see you again Picard and Worf, she says.  I don’t know if she’s appeared on another episode I have.  This is my first K’Ehleyr experience.  She’s got an urgent matter, wants to come aboard.  Yeah, Picard sends Worf who says no.  Worf’s uncomfortable.  Then transports in with the kid.  The episode opens, right…excuses, Data?  What is that?  Oh, this is after they open.  My handwriting here is Chad R touch on cloak, bye-bye mommy.  Worf arms crossed, gloves on, and walks away.  Alexander plays, elevator, awkward.  Some cherish, can’t make eye contact.  Worf can’t make eye contact; oh boy, does this go deep.

 

Worf won’t ask and walks off the elevator.  She, as in K’Ehleyr, waits behind, then we have a meeting with staff.  Excuses, Data?  Question mark.  Okay, let’s see if we could decode that, though.  Bye-bye, mommy; we understand that.  Chad R touch and closed.  I don’t know what that says, honestly.  I thought it was child…oh, childcare.  Touch and closed.  Okay, so Chad, that’s childcare but Alexander gets dropped off at the childcare.  Oh, he hasn’t had much contact with other children.  I don’t know what that…but he says bye-bye mommy, and Worf waits, arms crossed, and glares.  We learn right away; K’Ehleyr says hey Worf, how about a little kiss on my cheeky-poo?  He goes don’t you know I’ve been dishonored?  She goes so what?  Are you gonna not give me the time of day?  Worf goes well, I respect our traditions.  Don’t you?  She says I thought you wanted to talk to me, maybe, maybe about something small and childlike?

 

Then Worf, very…this is very 90s, 80s, he says must I ask you the question?  I feel bad for K’Ehleyr ‘cause, you know, she’s in a position where she’s crushing the patriarchy and Worf’s…I don’t know, but he says must I ask?  She goes yes, you must.  He just walks away.  She goes, what should I tell Alexander about his father?  Okay, I don’t know what this excuse is, Data, is, but…waits behind, then there’s a meeting, a staff meeting.  This has been coming, K’mpec, keep the peace.  He wants to meet with you, Picard, alone.  It’s about time, Picard.  I think K’mpec says that, then he says sit down.  They go…oh, the old Klingon dark-reddish room; K’Ehleyr…no, K’mpec’s outta breath.  Talks about Viridium Six or something.  He’s a bit like the King Robert Baratheon, really.  I said wow, is this Robert Baratheon based on this dude?  He wants…oh, I didn’t look this up but he wants Picard to arbitrate.  First, he says arbitrate but then later Picard says simple mediacies and simple mediation.

 

I said yeah, those are two different things, Jean-Luc.  He said Scoots, stay in your wheelhouse, buddy.  I said sure.  Then he says I have my reasons.  You can’t be serious, which reminds me the routine on the movie Airplane!  You can’t be serious; don’t call me Shirley.  On the contrary; I decline.  Don’t insult me, yo.  That’s what a comeback says.  By the way, I already sent out the order so you’re doing it anyway.  Picard says WTF.  K’mpec says sorry, bruh.  He says this isn’t a simple mediation; you’re actually asking me to choose the next leader.  Something about fight for the right to succession.  No, he says is this my job, is to pick the new leader?  He goes no, no, no.  He goes, I got Robert Baratheon’d and I want you to figure out if it’s Gowron or Duras doing it.  He goes ‘cause what was it, Lord Baelish or somebody else that did it back in the day?  I go, I don’t remember.  Then Picard says Duras?  Rich kid, punk?  He goes yup.  He goes, interesting.  He says you could say that very well.

 

I accept.  Then he cheers and it goes to commercial, I believe.  Yeah.  At first, when…the K’Ehleyr meeting, she says yeah, we got trouble with Klingon politics.  Yeah, then they have a K’Ehleyr meet…or, the K’mpec meeting.  Sorry, K’Ehleyr.  Then we go to commercial, then we get a captain’s log supplemental.  K’mpec’s gone to the big…he’s joined King Robert, wherever King Robert may be.  We’re waiting for Duras and Gowron who both want to be leader of the High Council.  Okay, 11…oh, 11:40, there’s a great zoom on a Klingon ship; really cool.  We go back to the playroom.  They’re playing some sort of competitive block-building game which I said…I thought this was an advanced society.  Why are they playing a competitive block-building game?  Alexander’s not happy that he didn’t win.  Worf shows up, tells him he must earn victory.  Then they’re walking all…a very cute scene.  I guess touching; this is less cute but I guess it was super-cute, but also…they’re walking, Alexander goes where are the other Klingons?

 

Worf goes, there aren’t any.  Just like a kid, he says why not?  Worf goes, the Federation and Klingons haven’t gotten along.  Now they’re just starting to.  No other Klingons have wanted to join Starfleet.  Alexander says why?  Worf goes, don’t ask so many questions if you want to be like a stereotypical Klingon.  He goes I don’t, by the way, dad.  He doesn’t say dad.  He doesn’t know it yet.  Or does he?  Then they go to mom’s room, K’Ehleyr’s room.  She sends…she goes hey, why don’t you go into the room and play with your toys?  Mom and Worf got things to talk about.  If you hear any snarling, it’s the romantic kind.  Worf’s all bent out of shape about the kid.  She says he’ll find his own ways.  Why are you getting…you can’t make him be Klingon.  She’s also…she’s half-human and then she goes back to this whole oath thing.  She goes what are you…she goes you won’t even acknowledge that he’s your son right now.  He goes why’d you keep it secret?  ‘Cause she goes, you’re so stubborn.

 

I know your style.  He goes well, I’m a disgraced Klingon so it’s not great.  She goes well, what happened with that anyway?  He goes well, they said my dad was in with the Romulans.  She goes yeah, I heard that, and that you challenged it.  He goes yeah, well, I could pull my challenge.  She goes, you don’t give up, though.  She goes, what really happened?  Turns out they were saved by the Riker bell, ‘cause Riker goes K’Ehleyr, Worf, one, are you two hanging?  And two, get to the bridge.  Let’s see, Worf still covers things up, yeah.  She can’t believe it’s saved by the Riker bell.  Other ships pull up of Vorn and Borak or something, are the ships.  They say let’s get this over, Picard, blah, blah, blah.  Oh, that’s when Duras calls.  Picard goes we’ll be there in about an hour.  He goes, what’s with this delay?  Picard owns it.  He goes, I’m in charge and it’s a time I’ve chosen.  By the way, I’m in charge.  Then Duras goes one hour; don’t be late.  Then Picard turns off the TV.

 

He goes, Worf’s not welcome either, on a Klingon ship.  Then Picard goes to K’Ehleyr, he goes, yeah, we’ll be…meet me in about an hour to leave.  He goes we’ll be a little late.  Then he pulls Worf aside.  He says jeez, I’m aware of your discomfort.  Worf goes, permission to speak freely?  Which he doesn’t totally do; he just says Duras is a punk.  Picard goes, you’re making it personal.  He goes no, that’s not personal.  He’s a punk.  Picard goes, I know that but I follow the rules.  I can’t…he goes maybe his dad was…he goes, I’ve gotta give him a chance.  Then Picard goes by the way, this isn’t really about what you think it is.  K’mpec got Baratheon’d.  Worf’s stunned, then he’s kind of stumped.  He goes, about Duras…he goes, I know his heart is not Klingon.  [00:30:00] Then we were on K’mpec’s ship.  We get to see this interesting ceremony where everybody checks on the…K’mpec’s gone to the big whatever, the bird of W-A-R in the sky.

 

They talk about the Sonchi ceremony and Duras is like let’s get going here, man.  Write a succession.  He goes, you know who’s going for it?  Picard goes yeah, we’ll say we’ll follow all the rules.  Then Gowron goes what do you know of Klingon law, human?  Picard goes well, I’m gonna go back to the Enterprise.  Duras goes no, now.  Then there’s…one of the computers stops working properly which causes a bit of a thing because it was…someone downloaded something they weren’t supposed to.  We will proceed.  No fishing it here; poof, when the computer goes.  No, not finishing it here.  The computer goes poof, then we go back to Worf.  He shows up out of K’Ehleyr’s room and goes I’m here on my duty as head of security, checking on you.  She goes oh, just your official concern?  He goes, you know my feelings.  She goes why don’t you fill me in?  She goes jeez, I wanted to tell you but I wasn’t ready.  She goes, you said you’d never be complete without me.

 

She goes I realized…took me some time to realize I needed you, too.  Worf has a little heartache.  I didn’t even realize that.  She goes, you’re a part of me, Worf.  They, let’s see; you’re a part of me, Worf.  Then, you know, they share a moment.  They she says if you can’t be his father, at least be his friend.  Which, I really liked that line.  Mostly they talk about well, what about him?  Is he gonna…I gotta keep you away from my dishonor.  Then we’re in the Ready Room and oh, this is really good; Picard’s like, always…this is a really good scene with K’Ehleyr and Picard.  I really like how she uses her body language.  She’s just so chill but she really uses the space.  I like how any actor playing a Klingon; whoever was coaching…directing them or coaching them, were just naturally…I don’t know.  If you pay attention, at least…maybe I’m projecting.  Be his friend, meeting with Picard, she’s so chill.  Oh, this modern rite.  ‘Cause Picard’s figuring out any angle he can do to buy time.  Really, Jean-Luc?

 

He goes what about modern rite?  He goes, what about an old-school rite?  She goes oh, gosh darnit, so long and dull and boring.  Picard goes long, dull, and boring, huh?  I like that.  I said Jean-Luc, you could listen to my…I mean for buying time, he says, Scoots, not for sleeping.  He goes yeah, you’re in charge so you could use the old boring way if you want.  Then she goes, permission to speak freely; what’s going on with Worf’s discommendation?  You were with him.  Picard goes, can’t talk about it; bye.  Then they roll into the meeting room.  Jaduk is…oh, Picard says yeah, we’re gonna use the old-school Jaduk, or Jaduk thing.  They say well, that’s obsolete.  Picard sits down and pulls his shirt…while they have reaction shots, ‘cause he goes that’s the way it is gonna be; long and boring.  You gotta make your case.  K’Ehleyr’s there with them.  They say it’s gonna take hours and she goes, it could take days, you know, depending on how cooperative you are.

 

Then we have Jaduk…oh, Alexander and that Worf in his room.  Worf’s showing him his flatware collection, of all things, and he says no, no, no, part of your…oh, he goes when you use these flatware, consider it a part of your hand or your arm.  He goes, not just as a tool you’re using.  ‘Cause Worf’s big into that; it’s just one of his many secrets.  Then, let’s see, that was just an interesting father-son moment, you know?  I will speak with you alone.  Why?  What happens?  Oh, K’Ehleyr.  I think this is K’Ehleyr and Gowron.  He goes, what’s gonna take so long?  She goes, Picard’s taking so long.  He goes yeah, but you’re his advisor.  Quick, pick up the pace.  You could get a good job in the High Council or something, not just be an ambassador which is, at the least in the US, what everybody wants to do.  Few rewards, little glory.  Don’t you want some glory on the Head Council?  She goes, you talk like a Ferengi.  Just wait and see how it goes.  He goes, K’Ehleyr talked like that.

 

She goes, K’Ehleyr…or K’mpec talked like that.  She goes K’mpec was old and weak.  I am not, which I loved.  Then we have Geordie, Data, and Riker working on it.  They make this Romulan connection…wait, where’s this?  Pick up the pace in the Empire…I am not…laugh, walk off.  Oh, molecular cay; they say the computer meltdown was from the molecular decay thing.  The only ones that use that are Romulans.  That’s the disc drive.  Then there’s an ad with Picard and Worf, K’Ehleyr, the whole crew.  Why does it already say…Picard’s like WTF; impossible.  How could the Romulans mess up a computer?  Geordie says the Klingons and Romulans together?  But they don’t get along.  They say well, is it Duras or Gowron that’s trying to make a new alliance?  Data says it could be a fundamental shift in power.  Picard goes yeah but it’s put us, the Federation, in a tough position.  Then Riker says well, who is it?  Duras or Gowron?

 

K’Ehleyr says well, Gowron offered me a seat on the council.  Picard goes well, that’s not too suspect, then.  They say okay, and then Worf says it’s Duras; come on.  It’s the most obvious thing, the person I liked the least.  K’Ehleyr goes what do you mean you like him the least?  Picard goes well, we dealt with him.  He’s not trustworthy.  She says can you be more specific?  They say no.  But we got a conspiracy, holy moly.  Since Winter Soldier, I haven’t seen anything like this.  Picard goes Worf, you’re coming to the next meeting to even…poker style.  Shake it up.  He goes, they’re not gonna be happy.  They’ll be disruptive.  Picard goes darn-tootin’.  Let’s see, darn-tootin’, bad for Federation, must be Duras, more specific.  Rascal Runviel.  Yes, it will.  Oh, yeah, this is in K’Ehleyr’s room.  She goes, can you load up some personal records?  They go yeah, no, you can’t read people’s personal logs; restricted.  She goes okay, give me the rest of the reports, then, during the last visit to the Klingon Empire.

 

The handwriting looks like Pascal or Rascal Resaviel, research.  She’s like, I’ll go through it one at a time.  Another cool ship zoom.  Close; okay, the meeting is closing.  The final phase.  They say okay, they go in where they come in to the scene at the end of the boring part.  They say okay, the meeting’s over.  We’re gonna have a recess, then we’ll get into the final phase.  Picard, how’s it going?  Oh, Picard goes, how’s that investigation going?  You figuring out the computer thing?  Both Duras and Gowron say well, it’s something weird.  We don’t know, but it was something weird and melted the computer down.  Then Worf takes the…he goes yeah, well, we actually investigated it.  He goes, it was a Romulan disc drive that caused the computer problem.  Duras goes well, I better go back to my ship and check that out.  Gowron stares down Duras and goes as will I.  I like this Gowron for now.  I don’t know, I don’t remember the episodes after this I’ve seen, but I don’t remember…’cause I didn’t know Gowron as well.

 

I guess I don’t know him at all.  Classic Worf; moves through.  What does that mean?  Classic…[00:40:00] oh, Worf goes oh, we’re more thorough.  As will I, seven beacon, diplomatic access to Klingon net…I don’t know what seven beacon means but that’s K’Ehleyr.  She gets on the Klingon net.  She found some more cover-up stuff ‘cause Duras sealed all these records and changed them.  She goes, all autobiographical files about Duras…then we’re back at…I guess we’re on the Enterprise ‘cause Duras and some lackey are in a room.  He goes dude, I just got an alert; K’Ehleyr’s looking into the Klingon central net about you.  He distracts the guard, the lackey, which was too easy.  These Federation people are way too trusting.  We have a Duras and K’Ehleyr meeting.  He goes, you were looking into me, huh?  She goes yeah, I know everything at this point, more or less.  He goes, Worf’s father’s the one that’s…she goes, come on…she goes, what happened?

 

Why did Worf take the blame for you?  He goes, drop it.  She goes, did you sell us out to the Romulans or not?  Then the scene ends on an ad break.  Do not pursue any further.  Clearly, she’s gonna pursue it ‘cause she’s super cool.  Then we get an ad break.  Beverly’s getting to the bottom of the disc drive thing.  She goes, I did a dino scan and it was somebody from Duras that installed that disc drive.  Then we have Worf and Alexander.  He says one time I was…one day I’ll show you the Holodeck.  They go into K’Ehleyr’s room; Deck 8, Room 142.  Duras has her going to the big…you know, the big…she’s with King Robert, visiting King Robert Baratheon.  We have this great hand-holding moment with her and Worf and Alexander.  Worf channels his inner lion and says look and remember.  Then Worf busts out of the room, goes back to his room, takes off his communicator, and grabs his flatware.  Then Riker, Picard, and Dr. Crusher are in the room, I think, or maybe they’re in Med Bay.

 

They say where in the heck is Worf?  They say he’s not on the Enterprise.  He’s on the Vorn with Duras.  Then we cut to Worf on the Vorn.  Worf rolls up on Duras.  First, he gets introduced, though, by Duras’s people.  They say yeah, Worf’s here.  He goes, what is he doing here?  He goes well, he has the right to…he goes, you know the thing where you try to…everybody tries to cut perfectly?  You know, cut a meal for a child; like, cut up the kid’s meat and stuff so they could eat it.  He wants to have a competition with that.  The guy goes Duras; he goes, you got no rights.  Worf goes K’Ehleyr was my mate and everybody, even the background people, were like what?  It’s go-time and clearly, it’s a fast one; Worf and…Worf’s very good at cutting up…I think this was more of a…this was some sort of tougher meat, too, so it took some cutting.  You gotta get those into really small bites.  Data and Riker are headed to the ship to shut this down because this is in violation of Starfleet regs.

 

Worf’s in total Worf-mode and I think he says I’m the only one.  Then that is how it shall be.  Oh, he’s…Duras says why you want to compete with me, man?  I’m the only one that can clear your name.  He says yeah, I’m the only one.  Then, actually, Worf is so fast that Duras says you know what?  Might as well not be a Klingon anymore.  He says I’m headed…I’m gonna go visit Baratheon and teleport away forever and without clearing Worf’s name.  Oh, they were like, one millisecond too late before Duras left and they could have stopped it, Riker and Data.  Like, literally a millisecond.  They go, Worf!  Then Duras went bye-bye.  Ship’s out, Duras’s ship’s out.  Then we have this great Picard thinking face.  I also…kind of changing my view how I’m gonna be…watch these episodes.  Picard is just such a, I don’t know, well-balanced…I mean, not perfect, but close to it.  I said man, how many people…this is really the first time I said is this whole series…Picard is almost a benevolent being?

 

Nearly…I mean, not all-powerful but all-caring.  A benevolent, loving being.  I said I could go to that; say okay…I mean, I guess it would be more of the teachings of Picard ‘cause he’s not transcendent.  We’d have to cook that up.  I don’t know if that’s what the next show’s about but I don’t think so.  Maybe it tries to subvert that idea.  Okay, so he has a thinking face, then he looks up sternly.  Worf; he goes jeez, you’ve been a great…your service has been great.  Worf goes, that was Klingon law I was following.  Picard goes, Klingon law…but he goes, there’s…yeah, but this is a starship.  He goes, we’ve got thirteen planets of representatives here and they all have their own belief systems and values.  I respect those but we serve Starfleet.  If those two things are in conflict, you’ve gotta resign.  That’s just the rules, man.  He goes, do you want to resign?  Worf won’t look up; Worf won’t make eye contact with him.  He goes no, sir.  Picard looks down; at first, he’s a little sad but thoughtful.

 

He goes okay, well, that’s good because I didn’t want to lose you.  He goes, you’re gonna get a reprimand on your permanent record.  He goes and another thing; he goes, now that Duras is gone, why don’t you just tell the truth and air out the lies?  Worf says well, every member of Klingon High Council shared in that.  He goes, the day will come when my brother and I convince them to speak the truth but today’s not that day.  Then we get a long, long Picard look.  Then we see Alexander.  Worf looks back at his cutlery collection and he says jeesh, you’re gonna go live with my parents at Starbase 73.  They’re great and even Scoots would say whoa boy, is his parents great.  Alexander’s like why can’t I stay here?  He goes, well, you wanted…you deserve a home, a family.  That I cannot provide.  He goes jeez, I miss her, too.  Alexander goes, are you my father?  He says yes, I am your father.  At first, they hold hands and then they do this big-time hug.  It is so lovely.

 

What a journey of an episode, and it comes to a close.  It was a really classic episode, I think.  Alright, so let’s look up some stuff that came up in this episode.  One was how many types of probes are there?  Space probes, I mean.  I went over to memoryalpha.fandom.com.  A probe is an automated spacecraft used for tasks starships can’t handle; collecting information, maybe going places that need to be smaller, places that might be…weather might not be great, deep-space exploration or remote recording of telemetry or other things.  Let’s see, before…when it was the United Earth Probe Agency before Starfleet, they would send it out.  Some were modified photon torpedo casings.  That does look like what we saw.  They might not want to go on…they probably shouldn’t land on a planet.  Let’s see what else; but there was…let’s see, there’s Class 1 probes which was featured in five episodes of TNG, Class 2 probes which were in TNG and Deep Space Nine, a Class 3 probe which was in a TNG episode, a Class 4 probe, and a Class 5 probe.

 

Looks like there’s a Class 6, 7, 8, a 9, and a Class A probe.  I don’t know [00:50:00] which one’s the most advanced.  Maybe they tell us that.  Other cultures have probes as well.  Yeah, I mean, I think a Class 1…I don’t know if that’s the best or not.  The pictures are really inconclusive.  But I just…my first question was had they mentioned other probes?  I assume so but I’ve been wrong many times before.  Okay, here’s your word, if you’re a student or you just love words.  It sounds like a simple word but it’s not; stern, S-T-E-R-N.  It can mean harsh.  What is that?  An adjective.  Severe in manner or character, showing or expressing displeasure or disproval, firm or unyielding, uncompromising or difficult to endure; stern.  Then there’s stern as a noun; nautical, the rear part of a ship or boat or the rear part of a section.  I think that’s it.  I was just wondering if it was related to one another, but I don’t know.  It didn’t say that there.  Okay, Viridian.  I think it’s Viridian.  I think that’s what the episode started, maybe.  I already forgot.

 

It’s a primary…it’s a Viridian star system, Beta quadrant.  It’s on a…even Spock saw it on a star chart.  Is that it?  Yeah, that’s all I got over at…oh wait, here, maybe is more.  Oh no, that’s not…so, that was just a little bit about that.  I may have talked about this movie on the podcast before; it’s a 1980 movie by David Zucker and Jim Abrahams.  Came out in 1980 so it was before my time but I’ve seen it many, many, many times on TV.  It had a lot of celebrities.  Airplane!  With an exclamation point, and it’s a satire.  I don’t know it was the first movie.  It’s a parody of movies that were popular in the late 70s.  It’s kind of based on that.  Who wrote those books, too?  Hotel and Airport…I forgot.  I almost had it.  It has surreal humor, slapstick comedy, lots of puns and gags, and obscure mentions.  Made 83 million.  This is 1980 on a budget of 3.5 million.  It was a multiple award-winner.  It’s definitely worth checking out.  It’s definitely aged and not all that.  You know, it’s a thing, but it’s Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker.  They wrote Airplane!

 

They were still performing at the Kentucky Fried Theatre which they founded in 1971.  Craig from Scriptnotes worked with the Zuckers for a while.  That’s how I know how to pronounce it ‘cause I would have said Zucker but he said it’s Zucker, like Zucker, like sucker.  I don’t know.  Maybe I am saying it wrong.  I think it’s Zucker, though.  But it’s Z-U-C-K-E-R.  It’s not like Zucker, ‘cause you’d say sucker…Zucker, but I think it’s…but anyway, but yeah, they were…they had a comedy troupe, they were doing a lot of stuff, they did commercials…let’s see, to obtain material for the comedy routine, sometimes they watched late-night television and reviewed the tapes and watched the late-night commercials.  They unintentionally recorded the 1957 film Zero Hour and found it was a perfectly structured classical film.  It became the…it’s like they said it was the serious version of our film.  They tried to stay close to the dialogue and plot of that movie ‘cause this was a…this must’ve been their first film.

 

They even thought they would have to negotiate the rights.  Oh no, but then they tried to stay within the allowance of parody.  But they did get the rights for $2,500.  The script also contains spoofs of television commercials but they removed them.  But they were unable to sell it; they knew John Landes who encouraged them to write a film based on their sketches which became the Kentucky Fried Movie, and that was the first time they said they’d been on a TV set.  We learned that if you really want a movie to come out the way you wanted it to, you had to direct it, though.  Yeah, then they cast like, Lloyd Bridges, Robert Stack, Leslie Nielsen.  Yeah, it was released…yeah, I mean, that’s a little bit about…I’ll link to it for a little bit more if you want to read about it.  Also, this is…that was from Wikipedia.  So is this; (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party!).  Sometimes shortened to Fight for Your Right is The Beastie Boys.  It was the fourth single on the album from 1986 Licensed to Ill.

 

Wikipedia says it’s one of their best-known songs.  I think it once was one of their best-known songs.  It was written by Adam Yauch and Tom Cushman who also appears in the video.  It was supposed to be also a parody of songs like Smokin’ in the Boys Room and I Wanna Rock, but most people, it went over their heads.  It was actually a goof on the party lifestyle.  The video is very comedic.  Let’s see what else.  There was a lot of cameos in the video.  Rick Rubin was even in the video wearing ACDC and Slayer shirts.  Let’s see, in 2011, Adam wrote a surreal comedic short film based on it to make the 25th anniversary.  There’s been a lot of remakes, it won a lot of awards.  That’s all that’s on there about it on Wikipedia.  But it also reminds me of the song Party for Your Right to Fight from the Public Enemy album It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back which probably is one of the top three or four albums which used to be a thing.  The biggest impact on my life and still one of the greats so if you haven’t listened to it…I mean, Party for Your Right to Fight is not the best song on there but it’s on there.  It’s a good one.

 

I just wanted to read…it’s the second studio album by hip-hop group Public Enemy.  It came out in 1988.  They set out to make the hip-hop equivalent of Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On?  With strong social commentary.  It was recorded in ’87 in New York.  They intended it to make music with a faster tempo than their first album.  For performances, they chartered for forty-seven weeks in the Billboard 200.  It’s certified platinum, over a million copies sold.  Critically, it was successful.  Like I said, a lot of people consider it one of the greats of all time.  Let’s see, so their ’87 album Yo! Bum Rush the Show was acclaimed but it wasn’t…it didn’t hit the charts which was what you had to do back then.  It only sold 300,000 copies but they toured and they were recording a lot.  By the time the album even came out, they were already recording Nation of Millions.  They set out to do this Marvin Gaye social commentary album.  There’s even a live track on there, I think, from shows…oh, maybe two live tracks from London and Philly.

 

Let’s see, recording it, Bring the Noise, Don’t Believe the Hype, Rebel Without a Pause.  Those might have been the first tracks completed.  But they really got…I mean, this is really deep, even for Wikipedia, so you could really read a lot more about the production, everybody who had a hand in this brilliant album.  A lot of messaging on it, its release, its legacy which has a huge, huge legacy.  Socially it’s amazing and just sound-wise it’s amazing.  I don’t want to start saying it but yeah, it’s one of my…it really changed my life, that and a couple other things around that time, or had a great influence on me.  Okay, one last thing was like, Now You Know.  [01:00:00] I said isn’t Now You Know NBC’s PSA thing?  Then I said oh no, it’s GI Joe.  But then GI Joe is ‘knowing is half the battle’.  Then I Googled the NBC one but it’s The More You Know which is the public service announcements broadcast on NBC’s channels with educational messages.  They feature personalities from NBC’s shows, and even presidents, and news people.

 

It started in 1989.  Before that, they had One to Grow On was their PSAs from ’83 to ’89.  On Telemundo, it’s El Poder De Saber, the power of knowledge.  It was Doctor Rosalyn Weinman who developed the campaign and wrote mostly on-air PSAs.  This is from Wikipedia; and ran a campaign for ten years.  Steve Burnstein did the first comet-tail star logo.  They won a Peabody in 1993.  They had a lot of guests over the years; Amy Poehler, Joan Rivers, Jack McBrayar, Steve Harvey, Angelica Houston, Questlove, Jimmy Fallon, a lot of our past presidents, first ladies.  It’s also been widely parodied on TV shows.  Yeah, a lot of TV shows in here.  Let’s see what else; CBS’s CBS Cares, it says in here.  That’s just a little bit about it.  I don’t know, it made me think of it.  That’s it, that’s a little bit of how to…what came up in this episode.  Yeah, I’ll see you soon.  Here’s some thanks and goodnight.

 

[END OF RECORDING]

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