It's that time of year again! Unlike our friends over in the Star Wars fandom, we don't have a Holiday Special to watch.  We're left searching for some hint of Christmas (or Life Day) in Trek. There are a few times our characters acknowledge Christmas and one time they had a full-out office holiday party!  Ok, that only happens in the comic book but still-- it happened!!  

We also cover William Shatner's new album "Shatner Claus" which you can buy here if you like!

Mike and Ben cover it all in this episode!

We're back and we're on drugs! Well, Mike is at least.  He was high on DayQuil when the gang recorded this "very special episode".  But cold medicine isn't exactly what the gang on the Enterprise encounter in "Symbiosis".  It's a treatment for the plague! Or is it just a narcotic!  Spoiler- it's just a narcotic.  

The first episode of Voyager was so much fun we came back for seconds!!  Today Mike & Ben jump into episode #2: Parallax.  Will the Starfleet and Maquis crews get along?  Could Tores, a rebel Maquis engineer handle the big job on Voyager?  Most importantly, is she ready to be Captain Janeway's best friend?!  Find out!  

This week is full of ACTION!!  In fact, Minos has seen so much action that there's... well, there's no one left.  The entire population has been eradicated by highly advanced weapons that the Minoseans themselves developed in the pursuit of profit.  Heavy, isn't it?  Well we don't have time to stop and talk about that because WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!! 

We're taking a break from season 1 of TNG and skipping ahead a few years to introduce Erin to Captain Kathryn Janeway!!  That's right- in this episode, the crew takes a look at the pilot episode of Star Trek Voyager: The Caretaker!  We meet Captain Kathryn Janeway and her intrepid crew as they face their greatest challenge-- being stranded over 70,000 lightyears from home by a powerful alien.  

Let's get started!

Wesley Crusher takes a test to see if he can make it into Starfleet Academy.  Meanwhile, Mike, Erin & Tim are tested with this rather disappointing season 1 episode.  

Captain Picard's questionable command decisions over the past 19 episodes are questioned by an angry little man from the Inspector General's office. 

Join us as we dive and sort out the good, the bad, and the "wtf" moments in "Coming of Age". 

Can life be inorganic?  Turns out, yes it can!  And it has a microbrain!  Which isn't as cruel as it sounds.  

In this week's episode, Mike and Erin take a look at the season 1 episode, Home Soil and consider how it compares to the TOS episode "Devil in the Dark".  

This week we take a little departure from our TNG rewatch project to discuss everyone's favorite antagonist species, the Klingons!   Once written as a stand-in for the Communist powers of Russia & China, they have evolved over the past 50 years, gained an honor code, a rich culture, and a language-- all to represent our fears once again in Discovery.  

I believe the children are our future.  And so do the Aldeans but sadly, they have destroyed their ozone and the radiation has made them all infertile.  But wait- Radue has a plan!  Why not just kidnap some kids from a passing starship?!  Enter the USS Enterprise who's just curious enough to follow a trail of breadcrumbs (odd sensor readings) and fall into the trap.  What will Captain Picard do?  Will he let the children go in exchange for a wealth of knowledge or will he rescue them from their math free future??  The HFO crew dive in to find out!  

 Frustrated with getting old?  Wish you could jump into the same job you did 40 years ago?  Try some magic fountain of youth pills!   Want them to work fast?  Just take a lot of them at once!  What could go wrong??  

Answer- Much.  In fact, it'll kill you.  

There. That's the whole episode. ;) 

The HFO crew is back but our computer is need of an upgrade (well, maybe just Ben's computer).  Luckily the bynars are here to help us!!  Or... are they here to help themselves?  If you haven't guessed yet, in this episode we dive into the TNG season 1 episode "11001001" and meet Minuet, Riker's dream woman.  We also get rather distracted talking about dolphins... lol.  Have fun!