In this installment of the show, Isobel returns, and we discuss All Good Things, the classic finale episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994). We talk about what makes All Good Things such an effective and emotional episode of television, and touch on its themes of trauma, healing and solidarity.
We then move on to kvetch about a few things which arguably provide a less-satisfying capstone to the Next Generation story - namely, the four TNG movies (1994-2002) and the recent Star Trek: Picard (CBS/Amazon Prime, 2020-).
0.00 Intro
0.04 All Good Things
0.58 The TNG movies
1.30 Star Trek: Picard
You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or get David on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on escapegoatpod@gmail.com.
Isobel is a full time Nomad who travels from home to home, house-sitting and exploring new places - although less so at present, sadly. Her blog, house-sitting booking form, and online shop can be found here: https://www.thenomadlifestyle.co.uk/. She previously appeared on Episode 2 of this podcast, where we discussed Star Trek: Voyager - check it out!
NOTES
Obviously, rather a lot has been written about All Good Things in the last 26 years! Two fun takes to start with might be those of Zack Handlen and Josh Marsfelder.
For a contemporary (July 1994) take on why Star Trek:TNG ended, and made way for the movies, whilst still pulling huge audiences in, check out this archived NY Times piece.
Also, more recent immediate takes on ST: Picard are copious - a few that are enjoyable are The Pensky Podcast, Richard Jackson at Val Verde Broadcasting, and the guys at Trekabout, one of whom mounts a defence of Picard based on its groundings in Jewish mysticism. It didn't quite convince me to like the show, but it was interesting!
