Craggus’ Trek Trek Phase II Vol 17 comes with unlimited data.

Craggus’ Trek Trek Phase II Vol 17 gathers together a collection of season six’s finest episodes as well as the episode Quality Of Life.
Star Trek The Next Generation S6E04: Relics



Great Scot! Putting the ‘Scotty’ – and, in fact, the ‘beam’ into ‘beam me up Scotty’, famed Enterprise Chief Engineer extraordinaire Montgomery Scott finds himself eighty years into the future after a bit of creative thinking following a shuttle crash. Usually, these kinds of episodes would be content to rest on the laurels of the special guest star but Relics provides a much heartier haggis of storytelling, stuffing the high-concept sci-fi MacGuffin of an abandoned Dyson Sphere and the idea of perpetual transport as a virtual lifeboat to the future inside a thematic sheep’s stomach of meditations on obsolescence and growing old. The episode is peppered with nods and references to the original series – Data’s ‘it’s green’ routine is a nice callback to the original series episode By Any Other Name but the crowing glory is Scotty and Picard sharing an Aldebran whiskey on the recreated bridge of the OG Enterprise.
Star Trek The Next Generation S6E05: Schisms



TNG does The X-files and, to be fair, it’s a pretty great attempt. Alien abductions are the order of the day (or, more appropriately, the ship’s night) as Riker, Worf and an assortment of other crew members find themselves missing out on sleep and, occasionally, their own blood. Frakes has fun playing an exhausted and dishevelled Riker and the episode expertly builds its mystery and tension as we learn the reason for his tiredness isn’t a constant stream of shipboard one night stands. The abduction scenes themselves are creepy and effective. The aliens are well-realised and, crucially, never more than minimally explained which adds to their unnerving presence. The holodeck’s abrupt creative licence during the sequence where abduction victims try to build consensus around the table where they were held notwithstanding, this is a top episode where the idea, execution and performances come together beautifully. Also, I really like ‘Ode to Spot’.
Star Trek The Next Generation S6E06: True Q



You can’t blame the Q continuum for wanting to bring the delightful Amanda Rogers into the continuum – guest star Olivia d’Abo is a ray of sunshine as the wide-eyed and eager intern who’s scored a posting aboard the Federation flagship. Of course, all is not as it seems and it’s not long before Q drops in to deliver the whole “you’re a wizard, Harry” thing and invite Amanda to the interdimensional Hogwarts that is the Q continuum but there’s a catch: she has to remake the early season one episode Q-Who but make it actually good this time. There are plenty of fun moments as Amanda struggles with the moral and ethical temptations of unlimited power, not least of all Riker being on the receiving end of the sexual harassment for once, and it’s great to finally have a Q-related episode where the omnipotence is put to an easy deus ex machina solution to the background sci-fi problem that underpins the story. John de Lancie really is excellent here, too, bringing a subtly different take on Q as he’s charged with a mission he’s not entirely comfortable with.
Star Trek The Next Generation S6E07: Rascals



Star Trek Babies,
will make your dreams come true
Alexander Rozhenko, we’ve got some friends for you
When your crew looks kind of weird
And so young you can’t be sure
Just get Crusher to have a look
And try to find a cure
Ro had no childhood! Guinan sees a chance
To give her a second
And Keiko loves plants!
Data’s a computer
Picard now has hair Keiko’s far too young now
O’Brien beware!
Red alert! The Ferengi!
Beep, beep, beep, beep!
Is everything all right on board?
It will be!
Star Trek Babies, we make our dreams come true
Star Trek Babies, we’ll do the same for you
Star Trek, Star Trek, Star Trek, Star Trek
Babies, Babies, Babies, Babies
Star Trek The Next Generation S6E08: A Fistful of Datas




It’s no real surprise that the writers on TNG often treated Worf as something of a joke because Michael Dorn is just so good at comedy and the more deadpan and exasperated he plays Worf, the funnier it becomes. While Deep Space Nine would give the character back his dignity, TNG allowed him to cut loose and have some fun, which he has in spades in this cod-Western holodeck-gone-wrong story. With no dangerous enemies or cosmic anomalies to threaten them, the crew of the Enterprise take the opportunity to work on their own projects. Picard continues to practice his flute playing, Riker is presumably off tromboning somewhere and Geordi decides it would be a fun idea to combine Data and the Enterprise‘s main computer so that Data could take over the functions of the ship in an emergency. The experiment doesn’t, however, go to plan and ends up having unintended consequences for Worf and son, who find themselves in a wilder Wild Wild West than they were expecting. Directed by Patrick Stewart, who shows a surprisingly deft comedic touch, this story may centre on Worf and Alexander but it’s Troi and especially Data who get to have all the fun. It’s well established by now that Brent Spiner likes nothing more than doubling up on the roles and playing dress-up and he’s absolutely in his element here. The episode’s final flourish is a masterstroke as the Enterprise rides off into the sunset. It’s nice to have kept things light because in a few episodes time, things will be super serious once again.
Star Trek The Next Generation S6E09: The Quality of Life



Evaluating a particle fountain energy project, the crew of the Enterprise encounter the Exocomps, robotic drones which assist in repairing and maintaing the experimental fountain. Data in particular is fascinated and begins to suspect the Exocomps are alive. After the swing-for-the-fences creativity of the last few episodes, this is a leaden return to Star Trek by the numbers and while it’s a perfectly serviceable episode, there’s never a moment where it doesn’t feel like a story we’ve seen a dozen times before. The Exocomp design is dull and while the episode contains some fine moral philosophising, it never really ignites, remaining inert and abstract despite the increasingly desperate attempts to introduce some actual peril late into the episode. It’s an unwelcome bum note in the otherwise excellent Craggus’ Trek Trek Phase II Vol 17.
Star Trek The Next Generation S6E10: Chain Of Command Part I



Tearing through the status quo like a chainsaw, Captain Edward Jellico arrives to take command of the USS Enterprise as Picard, Worf and Crusher are assigned to special operations. It’s a jarring look at our heroes and how cosy and comfortable they’ve become both to us and with their duties. Jellico’s bellicose no-nonsense approach brings immediate dividends and deficits. Troi’s character is literally transformed by simply being in a proper uniform while Riker’s ironic advocation for going easy on the crew earns him his new captain’s ire and eventual demotion in part two. There’s tremendous entertainment in seeing a much more direct and by the book style of command during the confrontation with the Cardassians compared to the patient diplomacy Picard would usually employ. Speaking of Picard, although this story is rightly famous for his one on one with his eventual captor, he spends much of this first episode in unflatteringly tight black stealth clothing practicing drills for the doomed mission. Tense, unpredictable and dramatic, this episode blows away the cobwebs and comedy and injects new life into TNG.
Star Trek The Next Generation S6E11: Chain of Command Part II



While Jellico remains locked in gameplaying negotiations with the Cardassians, Picard is being held captive and under interrogation by the coolly malevolent Gul Madred. While part one of Chain Of Command belonged to Jellico, part two belongs entirely to Picard and Gul Madred and between them, Patrick Stewart and David Warner deliver an acting masterclass in subtle menace, chilling evil, courage and defiance. You’d never know that David Warner was actually a late replacement for another actor and took the role with three days notice. Never before had any Star Trek series or movie pushed one of their characters as far as it does here. Thank goodness we’re all too well aware of Picard’s rubber-like resilience to catastrophic trauma. This was the last episode of TNG to air before Deep Space Nine premiered and it couldn’t have provided a better springboard for the Cardassian-driven series.
