Here’s your weekly Omnibus Edition of Craggus’ Trek Trek Phase II covering Season 1 episodes 22 to 25 and Season 2 episodes 1 to 3:

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#StarTrekTNG S1E22 - Skin of Evil ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Lieutenant Yar escapes formal court-martial for repeated, egregious incompetence by dying. Much of the episode is spent hastily creating last minute ‘meaningful' connections with the rest of the crew to make what happens next matter but the event itself is so abrupt, it almost doesn't. And what's with the Nickelodeon splat on her cheek? Even the make-up artist certified this episode 'rotten'. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And adding insult to (fatal) injury, Yar's funeral turns into a hagiography for the surviving characters instead of focussing on the dearly departed. ⭐⭐ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #StarTrek #TheNextGeneration #skinofevil #CraggusTrekTrekPhaseII #StarTrekTheNextGeneration #tashayar

A post shared by thecraggus.com (@thecraggus) on Aug 22, 2019 at 4:02am PDT

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#StarTrekTNG S1E23 - We'll Always Have Paris ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It's particularly cruel to have an episode about time distortions and time loops after killing off a main cast member. I remember being convinced Yar would somehow be resurrected because of the Manheim Effect and can't forgive this episode for that! Or indeed for a title which feels like it was decided separately and then this episode was retrofitted to accommodate it. ⭐⭐⭐ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #StarTrek #TheNextGeneration #wellalwayshaveparis #CraggusTrekTrekPhaseII #StarTrekTheNextGeneration

A post shared by thecraggus.com (@thecraggus) on Aug 23, 2019 at 4:02am PDT

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#StarTrekTNG S1E24 - Conspiracy ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The first phaser shaves you close, the second closer still. The best season one episode a fan can get even if the cliffhanger is ignored for the rest of the franchise. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Hardly the first time Starfleet Command will be shown to be corrupt or compromised but definitely the most intriguing. It almost sets the template of huge, cataclysmic events never being spoken of again that #StarTrekDiscovery would come to rely on so heavily. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This episode also opens with Geordi telling a dirty joke on the bridge which has to be the weirdest cold open to date and thus far hasn’t been copied by any other show. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #StarTrek #TheNextGeneration #conspiracy #CraggusTrekTrekPhaseII #StarTrekTheNextGeneration

A post shared by thecraggus.com (@thecraggus) on Aug 24, 2019 at 3:35am PDT

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#StarTrekTNG S1E25 - The Neutral Zone ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Although the last episode started with Geordi telling a dirty joke, this one is set up like one: a capitalist, a redneck and a housewife walk into a freezer and wake up in a Romulan standoff. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This MAGA demographic trifecta frozen by a foolish ‘Donald’ might just be the only remnants of Space Force that survive to the 24th century. A solid enough episode but underwhelming as a season 'finale'. ⭐⭐⭐ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #StarTrek #TheNextGeneration #theneutralzone #CraggusTrekTrekPhaseII #StarTrekTheNextGeneration

A post shared by thecraggus.com (@thecraggus) on Aug 25, 2019 at 5:18am PDT

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#StarTrekTNG S2E01 - The Child. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ As we move into Season 2, we boldly go back in time as Gene Rodenberry raids the box in the attic where all the #StarTrekPhaseII scripts were kept. Pulaski, Guinan and Ian arrive as the Enterprise picks up a cargo of deadly plague and nothing much actually happens or matters. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ With Dr Crusher gone, Dr Pulaski has to OBGYN where no Starfleet Doctor has gone before and the rest of the crew bungle an opportunity to get rid of Wesley once and for all. ⭐⭐ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #StarTrek #TheNextGeneration #thechild #DrPulaski #CraggusTrekTrekPhaseII #StarTrekTheNextGeneration

A post shared by thecraggus.com (@thecraggus) on Aug 26, 2019 at 5:01am PDT

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#StarTrekTNG S2E02 - Where Silence Has Lease. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Worf takes Riker into his favourite Masters of the Universe holodeck programme to fight Skeletor in a disconnected cold open to this standard 'playthings of the Gods' trope Trek episode. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Pulaski’s obnoxious and clumsy robophobia rears its head again but it’ll always feel weird because it never gets addressed or explored at any point so we have to assume everyone's just cool with her being a little bit racist. Picard and Nagilum eventually make Spacebook friends and agree to poke each other later. ⭐⭐⭐ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #StarTrek #TheNextGeneration #wheresilencehaslease #nagilum #CraggusTrekTrekPhaseII #StarTrekTheNextGeneration

A post shared by thecraggus.com (@thecraggus) on Aug 27, 2019 at 4:05am PDT

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#StarTrekTNG S2E03 - Elementary, Dear Data. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Pulaski's anti-Data agenda makes Geordi put his the-game's-afoot in it as he accidentally discovers that the way to create sentient artificial life is simply to tell the computer to create an adversary capable of defeating Data. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Daniel Davis makes a wonderful Moriarty and its a shame we have to wait so long to see him again. Everything Robert Picardo’s holographic Doctor brought to Voyager finds its roots here in season 2 of The Next Generation. ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #StarTrek #TheNextGeneration #elementarydeardata #sherlockholmes #moriarty #CraggusTrekTrekPhaseII #StarTrekTheNextGeneration

A post shared by thecraggus.com (@thecraggus) on Aug 28, 2019 at 5:23am PDT

Tune in next week for the next Omnibus or follow @TheCraggus on Instagram to get Craggus’ Trek Trek Phase II directly in your feed. 🖖