Nothing But Tribble

Before we begin our 3's a Good Number look at Voyager, Laura has some complaints. Emmanuel decides whether or not it's overly harsh to nitpick about Neelix getting dating advice from Paris, or that aliens in a WHOLE DIFFERENT QUADRANT are still looking hella human. We agree to disagree several times.

“A contract is a contract is a contract…but only between Ferengi.” For our last discussion of good DS9 episodes, we take a look at “Body Parts” from Season 4. Although Emmanuel doesn't think it's a top-tier episode, he agrees that it would've been perfect for the Feel Good series. We discuss the ways in which we identify with Ferengi culture, the interesting insertion of a pregnancy b-plot, and the way that Ferengi characters become more sympathetic to viewers as they abandon their cultural practices. Tangents include questions about pants-making and embarrassing middle school moments.

Continuing with the DS9 episodes for the Three's a Good Number series, we move on to season 2's "The Wire." In this episode, Emmanuel tries to write the description, but doesn't do a good job.

This week we review our reviews, and in some cases even revise them. Laura also tells a sorry tale about a dumb robbery, and Emmanuel makes strange connections.

We’ve made it to the DS9 episodes in our Three’s a Good Number series and already they are blowing every other series out of the water with the Season 1 heavy hitter “Duet.” We can’t stress how amazing it is that DS9 got so good so fast, with stellar performances showcasing powerful monologues about guilt, genocide, and terrorism. “Duet” brings all of this and more while also being tightly scripted and well-paced, which checks all our boxes for a good episode. Emmanuel makes some insightful points, Laura brings in some historical comparisons to dictatorships in Latin America and Spain, and we also briefly discuss Odo in a thong.

On this episode we get back to one of our favorite topics, sexism in the Star Trek franchise. We spend some time discussing Eleanor Tremeer's io9 article "The Sexist Legacy of Star Trek's Progresssive Universe," looking at how women in Star Trek have been treated on and off the screen. It, uh, hasn't been great, but things are getting better! (We think.) We also talk more generally about how sci fi has sexist tendencies, and then we think about whether or not we look for media to represent us. Tangents include a discussion about which platform has a better music recommending algorithm.     https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-sexist-legacy-in-star-trek-s-progressive-universe-1844147116

Just in time for Valentine’s we cover the fun-filled, relationship-focused “Qpid” from season 4 of TNG, the last of our Three’s a Good Number episodes for this Star Trek series. This episode brings back Vash from “Captain’s Holiday,” Picard’s best love interest in Laura’s opinion not least of which because she kills in a skirt suit. We get some excellent Q creeping, and the costuming is generally of the highest order. We argue about Picard being awkward about his personal life, the very silly and fun Robin Hood romp, and are impressed by how much continuity is referenced in the episode. Tangents include getting pierced, Star Trek innuendo, and whether or not anyone can really know anyone else.

In this episode we tackle another mainstay of Treknology, the holodeck. We argue over what a holodeck is even for, and agree that the holodeck kinda sucks as a plot device. Our conclusion: TNG holodeck episodes are some of the worst in the bunch, and Voyager for once comes out on top for interesting explorations of the technology. Tangents include: us processing the inauguration; nazis as bad guys in popular media; Emmanuel's car troubles.

We open up this week’s episode with thoughts on spoilers and also wonder who Captain Picard’s booty calls might be before looking at TNG episode “The Pegasus,” from season 7. In another example of our Three’s a Good Number series turning into an accidental romp thru Romulan episodes, we briefly express our incredulity at the dumb treaty that prohibits Starfleet from developing cloaking technology. Emmanuel points out a lot of parallels to “The Icarus Factor,” and Laura is disturbed by the pretty dark implications about a Starfleet deep state. We both agree that Levar Burton as director brings the fast paced, tight storytelling we love with a good episode. We continue our musical tangents with a conversation about boy bands and Eminem.

In this episode we go down quite a few rabbit holes, including airing our continued questions about the Universal Translator and code switching, TNG the animated series aka Disney’s Gargoyles, and whether or not Star Trek media might ever move us to tears. Never fear, we still have tangents, including our thoughts on recording artist John Legend and Final Fantasy fandoms.

After a little detour loving on the excellent 90s show Sister Sister, we tackle another of our personal top 3 episodes, this time looking at season 3 TNG episode "The Defector." We're surprised to find that this is another episode that was better in our memory than in a rewatch and we're pretty sure that this is a poor man's remake of The Balance of Terror. Good, not great, but still one of Emmanuel's favorites, even with some truly heinous costuming choices. Tangents include: James Doohan on the ISS, dreamscapes, the confusing use of Shakespeare as a plot device, and the musical stylings of John Legend.

We're closing off our Three's a Good Number series of TOS episodes with another Season 1 gem, "Balance of Terror." Our first introduction to the Romulans is also a merry romp into Cold War analogies which don't actually translate that well into space, but we love it anyway! In addition to some excellent acting all around, especially by Mark Lenard as the most poetic Romulan to grace our screens, we heap praise on this episode's examination of prejudice and the burden's of leadership. Tangents include Grand Tour, Laura's love of battleship, and several self-referential bits. A special shout out goes to the Romulan color scheme, and the purple gas clouds of death.

This week we're thankful for...Star Trek! We show some love to one of our historian's favorite episodes from Season 1 of TOS, "Conscience of the King." In an episode that's hefty even by our standards, we discuss how the heightened drama and over the top acting makes this part of our top 3 for TOS. We also try to square the logistics of killing 4000 colonists without leaving a trace of your identity, partly by following the logic of Dayton Ward's Discovery novel Drastic Measures. We could have talked about this episode for another hour, easily.

This week we decided to watch an episode that is actually good so we’re talking about TOS episode “Space Seed,” which features the incomparable Ricardo Montalban. Unsurprisingly, Emmanuel catches quite a few logical inconsistencies in the writing of this episode but we love it nevertheless. We debate a lot about what we should do with a 200 year old dictator who wasn’t *that* bad, discuss how Khan is the poster boy for toxic masculinity, and yet again puzzle over the decision to cast Benedict Cumberbatch in a role that was already marked by a weird instance of brownface.

This week your hosts Skeletor and Pumpkin Spice™ are bringing you slightly creepy vibes with the nonsensical Season 2 TOS episode "Catspaw." While covering the weirdly halloweeny episode we have plenty of tangents, including Trek besties, horny aliens, and Men in Black. "Catspaw" is a great background episode for pumpkin carving or maybe even setting the mood. For Halloween!

In our first spite-fueled episode, we’re fired up about another bad StarTrek.com article and decide to take a look at representation in Star Trek Voyager. We talk a lot about Chakotay’s suspect portrayal of indigenous cultures in the sixth episode from season 1 “The Cloud,” and also have several arguments along the way. We do both agree that Harry Kim should have been promoted at some point. We also find time to rate the first season of Lower Decks!

In this small but mighty episode, we actually make some good conclusions about Trek dads, and we discuss more serious issues with Star Trek and representation. Don't worry tho, we do have a fun chat about the universal translator and Laura plans to raise the dead. You know, for research purposes.

In an episode that feels like a mish mash of clips but was one single recording, we discuss who the best Star Trek dad is, and also the most handsome. Emmanuel updates us on his Fantasy Football failures and Laura continues to express her disinterest in super hero moviesT&B.

This week we try our best to discuss the father-son relationship between Tom Paris and his papa Admiral Owen, but we keep getting distracted by how much we dislike the episode “Pathfinder” from season 6 of Voyager. We do manage to cobble together a conversation which covers the breadth of the show and Tom’s distant relationship with his dad. Still, we can’t help ourselves and have a long tangent about Reginald Barclay’s stalkerish tendencies.

This week we've got a fun series of tidbits! Thanks to the ship's historian we've got a little pile of non sequiturs in our archives, presented for your enjoyment. Our bits include meta conversations about editing; the trouble with high pitched voices; disagreements about how we perceive time; complaints about comments sections.

Shut it down because we’ve found the best daddy of them all! This week we talk about perhaps the greatest parent-child relationship in all of TV, and definitely in all of Trek, Ben and Jake Sisko. We discuss the surprisingly conflict-free season 3 episode of DS9 “Explorers” and look at how the Sisko men model the absolute best communication between a dad and his kid anyone could ask for. Just makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.

This week we look at the issues between William "Baby face" Riker and his dad in the season 2 TNG episode "The Icarus Factor." We conclude that their relationship is both really complex and also poorly written, and that Picard is the best daddy of them all. We have very few tangents but Laura does have a lot of rants. And once again the patriarchy rears its ugly head, but has a surprising target.

We’re starting a new series looking at father-child relationships in the world of Trek! First up is “Journey to Babel” from season 2 of TOS, where we get into the Spock-Sarek relationship, or rather, lack of relationship. There are some great costumes, some terrible fight choreography, and all the drama you might expect from a broken relationship among Vulcans. We have a tangent where Emmanuel really, really doesn’t know what meditation is.

In this episode we set out to do one thing and end up doing something completely different! We have fun ranking the captains by sexiness, and Emmanuel has a brilliant thought about why the storytelling in Discovery falls flat for us. We debate whether we’re experiencing Star Trek bloat and discuss the money grubbing nature of franchise expansion (looking at you Marvel movies). We also introduce our next series “Who’s your daddy?” where we’ll be watching episodes about important father-child relationships in Star Trek.

We are off this week and the next couple of weeks. We will be back soon.

We set our intentions and manifested...a bunch of bits! This week we catch up with each other, discuss how nothing makes us feel good, and get excited about future series of the podcast. We plan our first NBT artistic commission, and get really derailed trash-talking a certain Joanne. We manage to sort 1 single character!  For a comprehensive list of orgs you can donate to: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a32870451/how-to-help-black-trans-lives-donate/ 

"Well she's not a Borg, she's not a hologram, and she's not dead." This episode we try our best to feel good about Voyager's season 7 episode "Drive" but it's a little too silly even for us. We have a long discussion about the wasted potential of the episode, but we ultimately are heartwarmed by the excellent interpersonal interactions. We also have a special guest with us who provides nothing but good feels.

We set our silliness to the max and get down to sorting Star Trek characters into Hogwarts houses. Emmanuel's first instinct is to sort everyone into Gryffindor, and Laura argues that Slytherin isn't necessarily evil. We manage to get through TOS, and bonus DS9 character!

In this episode we try our best to do a fun, silly episode where we sort Trek characters into Hogwarts Houses. Instead we end up discussing the state of the world, and offer our support to the fight against anti-blackness. We also talk about dentists in the time of a pandemic. Check out the following links for information on how to do your part supporting several important causes: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/fair-fight-1 https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/?fbclid=IwAR0D3gaSZQ673CU9IiqbvMcBJsFP0AaesDWXkrGoHDjVq_0mL9WD1BmdYYYhttps://www.giveoutday.org/organization/Translifeline 

“Keep it warm.” In this feel good episode we have another death! But it’s okay because DS9’s “Who Mourns for Morn” is all an elaborate scheme to get some of that sweet gold-pressed latinum. While this episode doesn’t have the same themes of unity and communication across cultures, it’s still pretty great. We discuss the different heist movies it reminds us of, and Laura has a theory that the plot is paying homage to noir films from the 30s and 40s. As usual we have our share of tangents, including violence against women as a cornerstone of our pop culture, whether Shakespeare is overrated, and what exactly affluenza is.

In this episode Emmanuel and Laura catch each other up on the latest Trek news, mostly. There's a brief detour into a Pope story, and Emmanuel's internet service provider is garbage. We also air many grievances with a StarTrek.com graphic.

“The river Temarc...in winter.” We’re back with another feel good episode in the TNG universe with the Season 5 entry “Darmok.” We start off with a bit of a surprise, and bring back our favorite game Remember When: Voyager Edition. We go on a bit of Twilight tangent before going hard at the language spoken by the Tamarians in the episode. Emmanuel has issues with it, Laura has questions about it, and internet linguists hate it! While we agree that the episode is much better on a first viewing, we also do feel warm and fuzzy by the end of it.

Emmanuel is on his own to give an update on what is happening with the podcast. He explains why there isn't one this week, but hopefully they will be back on track next week. He then goes on to ramble about Star Trek surgical outfits, a little on why DS9 is his favorite series, who to cast as his space Mexican, and then ends with a semi-spoiler free review on the Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

"Dream not of today Mr. Picard." First up in our feel good series is "The Chase" from TNG. Picard gets a visit from an old friend that sets him on an Indiana Jones-style adventure with a super cornball ending. The whole episode channels High School Musical "We're all in this together" vibes, reminding us that the Star Trek universe is small and cozy. We spend some time brainstorming new series to do, discuss the eyebrow raising personal dynamics bw Picard and his former mentor, and make lots of references to other nerd content.

"I was only living to die." This episode we’re finally back on our BS!* We discuss the Picard pilot, the good, the bad, and the ugly and in classic fashion, we agree on very little. Laura argues that Emmanuel needs to pay more attention to costuming and music. We have quite a few tangents in the beginning, including a short catch up on our lives in quarantine, and Laura finally (or again?) gets to tell her Patrick Stewart at Outside Lands story. Note: we have some dog-related technical issues about ⅔ into it, that’s quarantine life*best-speaking

On this episode we've caught up to the regular flow of time! We check in with each other, giving updates about our lives post-quarantine. It's been a rough transition! We also discuss our plans for future series of episodes, and end with a quick game of "Remember When", Voyager Edition.

We're back with another Star Trek porn parody, this time a sex-filled reminaging of the "The Man Trap" from the first season of TOS. It's even better than the last parody, with a lot of good jokes and an excellent sexification of a solid episode. Emmanuel once again describes the highlights, including some *interesting* design choices and some really great makeup. Adult content warning!Twitter: @NothingTribbleInstagram: NothingbuttribbleEmail: NothingTribble@gmail.com 

On this episode we go where no tribble has gone before. Emmanuel takes one for the team and reports back about the very first Trek porn parody "Sex Trek: The Next Penetration." The feature length film is full of dumb jokes, really questionable clothing choices, and some surprisingly accurate performances from Captain Quirk and Mr. Sperm. Must be 18+ to listen! Check out the 'gram for some choice (safe for work) screenshots!  Twitter: @NothingTribbleInstagram: NothingbuttribbleEmail: NothingTribble@gmail.com

"I ate some for, um, research purposes." Today we have our first Short Trek "The Trouble with Edward" which covers a scenario we've wondered about, i.e. why don't people just eat tribbles? Emmanuel keeps getting distracted by butts and Laura keeps trying to correct Emmanuel but she's wrong every time. We discuss Edward Larkin's characterization, including the use of upspeak by the incomparable H. Jon Benjamin, and briefly ponder how bestiality may or may not be taboo in a post-human world. Emmanuel ends the episode shooketh by a life-shattering epiphanyTwitter: @NothingTribbleInstagram: NothingbuttribbleEmail: NothingTribble@gmail.com 

It’s our last horror episode

“Tell them about the Vahir.” After talk of lasers, doppelgangers, and another existential crisis for Laura, we get into “Juggernaut” from Voyager, which isn’t often considered a horror episode. This B’Elanna centric story has hardcore Aliens vibes, but the themes are closer to the classic B-movie The Toxic Avenger. In addition to more Star Trek Sexism™, we talk about the horrors of industrialization and cilantro. We also give heartfelt thanks to people doing their part to cleanup the world.

"I'm not a soldier anymore, I'm an engineer." Once again, DS9 out here with the best episode, survival horror from season 5 "Empok Nor." The only episode to genuinely startle us features "Crazy Eyes" Garak doing his best impression of a slasher. We try to figure out the dynamics of the O'Brien-Bashir-Garak love triangle, pay our respects to fallen Trek heroes, and decide what's the best way to eat spaghetti.pt 

“Don’t trust anyone.” Folks, we’ve got a real TNG Season 1 treasure here with possibly the campiest horror episode of all Trek, “Conspiracy.” While there’s some real Invasion of the Body Snatchers vibes, it sort of ends up going nowhere in the end. Emmanuel and Laura are well past the point of broccoli™ for most the podcast, and the tangents get kind of wild: news of male birth control via penis shots; trying to make ‘hoo ha’ the new tagline; freaky cyborg horses; Laura does a British accent.

“A lot can happen in three minutes.” We’ve got a new series looking at horror in the Star Trek universe. Starting with TOS’s “The Devil in the Dark”, we discuss the B-movie horror genre, creature features, and the evils of colonization. While the episode takes a sharp turn away from horror tropes in the middle, it still has some great creepy moments. Tangents include: a theory about the Bee movie and iCarly; the return of Cabeza de Vaca; ideas for an art house film called “Stakes and Blood.”

Our first animated series episode, "More Tribbles, More Troubles", is also Emmanuel's introduction to that show. We discuss the animation styles, some of which we like (the bold lines!), some of which we don't (lip syncing). While not as fun as the original, we have a tough time rating it too low. We also want tribbles! For Christmas! For Halloween! Send us your tribbles! Twitter: @NothingTribbleInstagram: NothingbuttribbleEmail: NothingTribble@gmail.com

In this episode we're taking a little breakie poo from our regularly scheduled programming so Emmanuel can step back from editing. We give our big ol' thanks to listeners, and decide we'll be be covering the new Picard show. Stick around for a bonus tangent!There's nothing but tribbles everywhere!Twitter: @NothingTribbleInstagram: NothingbuttribbleEmail: NothingTribble@gmail.com 

We're wrapping up our utopia/dystopia series with a somewhat rambly conversation about our major takeaways from this topic, especially the impact of Past Tense in our current moment. We also discuss several episodes we considered for this series from Voyager and Enterprise which didn't quite fit the theme. Our conclusion: the move to character driven storytelling makes it harder to explore a concept like utopia. Stayed tuned for our next series!

"What did they do to deserve this?" In the not too distant year of 2024, the criminalization of poverty leads to an all too relatable dystopia in DS9's "Past Tense." We talk a lot about the social issues from the show, discussing real life parallels to the sanctuary districts in the episode, especially the housing crisis and rise in homelessness in our home state. DS9 gives us all a call to action in this episode and reminds us that we have the capacity to change our societies for the better.

"We were innocent. It will never be that way again." We discuss “The Masterpiece Society”, which develops many of the same themes as TOS’s “Paradise”, but more sophisticated, including stagnation in a closed system and balanced societies as boring. Laura has a theory about this society being connected to the Eugenics Wars and we discuss the implications for women in this highly controlled society (it doesn't look good). Geordi and Troi are the episode MVPs, but Geordi wins for Smoothest MFer.

“Sometimes you need a fresh start.” We thought it would be fun to review the best sci-fi pilot of all time, “Space Pilot 3000.” We spot several Trek easter eggs, talk about the heartwarming/-breaking core of the show, and highlight our favorite jokes from this episode. We’re also super amazed at Futurama’s attention to detail. Tangents include: our continually disappointed moms; Zoolander connections to sci-fi; Wolfram Alpha. Warning, you may need to visit your chronocologist after this episode.

"Physical discomfort is very effective, Captain." After several extremely TMI tangents, we consider a classic TOS take on dystopia in "The Cloud Minders," a solid season 3 episode notable for creative narrative choices and possibly the most DTF alien ever to grace the screen. Highly stratified societies make for prime dystopian antics, and we discuss class warfare, as well as parallels to slavery; fyi, slavery by any other name is still slavery, and it always sucks. Go get your flu shots y'all!