My Return To Trek And A Nostalgic Love Of Episodic TV

I have recently been bingeing Star Trek The Next Generation. I was doing some art stuff on my iPad and wanted something that wasn’t too absorbing playing in the background. I normally have Mythbusters or a sitcom on, but fancied a change. It didn’t really work, as I got too absorbed.

I’ve watched a lot of Trek

I used to work in TV and once had a job where I had to do Quality Assessments of Digibeta master tapes of Star Trek. Not only did I watch every episode of The Next Generation, but I also saw every DS9 and Voyager as it was released. It was the mid-90s and a glorious time. Later I got a job at the Syfy Channel (it was when they were still called the Scifi Channel) and got to watch more Trek for a living.

I have watched a lot of Star Trek. So when looking for something in the background, I thought it would be ideal. I picked a random Next Gen from Season 6 — no plan, no deep thinking. Just something to have on in the background while I did art stuff. I had seen them all before, so it wouldn’t be too distracting.

Rewatching The Next Generation in its entirety wasn’t the plan at all

I was surprised by how good it still is — the pacing, the characters, the clever mix of philosophical debate and space nonsense. I also realised that I probably hadn’t watched much Trek for 20 years (not counting Discovery and movies) and had forgotten what happened in most episodes.

That one episode led to another. Suddenly, I was all in again. Two decades away from the Enterprise-D and I was home. I had forgotten how much fun it was, and how great some of the stories were. Apart from all the danger and death, it seems like a nice place to work. There were obviously some duds (Dr Crusher getting it on with a Scottish ghost wasn’t the best and season one felt a bit off) but season 6 was peak Next Gen and I enjoyed it so much I then looped back to the start.

This accidental rewatch triggered a mini Star Trek renaissance. I’ve just started watching Strange New Worlds, which I’d been meaning to watch for ages. It is a lot of fun and feels like classic Trek. I simultaneously began Lower Decks, which I had mistakenly thought was for kids but turned out to be brilliant. It was what I had hoped Redshirts by John Scalzi would be like. (You can read my review here.)

I miss episodic TV

But what struck me most about revisiting TNG wasn’t just the quality — it was the format. Each episode is its own story. A beginning, a middle, an end. You could drop into Season 6 having not seen a single prior episode and still get 45 minutes of entertaining, self-contained storytelling.

Back in the 80s and 90s, nearly all TV was like that (apart from soaps and mini-series). There were sometimes overarching stories that may or may not get resolved, and ongoing sub-plots, but episodic TV was king until shows like The Wire and the Battlestar Galactica reboot came along and changed things by being so damn good.

It made me realise how much I miss episodic TV. Most TV these days feels like a ten-hour movie. You can’t just casually jump in — you need lore briefings, character charts, and probably a Reddit explainer or two. The idea of watching one episode and feeling satisfied is almost quaint now. I’m not arguing against the trend, but more options would be nice. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.

For example, The Next Generation managed to be episodic and had long-term character arcs. Data’s search for humanity, Worf’s Klingon identity crisis, Picard’s Borg trauma — they’re all there, threading through seasons without taking over. And then there is the ultimate arc with the Q judgment bookending the whole thing.

I haven’t watched Picard yet, which seems to be mostly arc-based. I also get the impression from forums that the first two seasons were a bit crap, but the third one is great. So, it feels a bit like a job. I miss my old career sometimes – I’d love to be paid to watch Picard and Discovery.

Watching TNG again reminded me that not everything needs to be dark, gritty, and emotionally devastating to be meaningful. Sometimes, a space jellyfish that turns into light or a diplomatic crisis with fish people is enough. Maybe slightly less ghost sex and fewer episodes like the Voyager one where Janeway and Paris devolve into lizards, but even they were fun. Most Trek hits way more than it misses.

So yeah, I’m back fully back in Trek mode. If, like me, you used to enjoy The Next Generation but worry it won’t stand up well any more, check it out. It may surprise you. I now need to find some background TV again.

Make it so.

I’m watching on Netflix but you can get some nice box sets if you’re old school. (Affiliate)