For a while, I had wanted to watch Star Trek, but I hadn’t really gotten to it, or at least that’s what I told myself. I’m sure it was something subconscious, but around the end of May, the show that I had been watching on Netflix had finished, and I was left with nothing really to watch. Since I am really into science-fiction, astronomy, and the likes, I decided to go and watch Star Trek: The Next Generation. At first, I wasn’t completely on board with it, but now, it’s my favorite franchise, and probably always will be.

It was in late May, and I had been watching a show on Netflix, and I was nearing the end of it. Of course, I was pretty glad to finally see the finale of the show, but a little upset that it was over. When I finished the series finale and the screen went back the main menu, I realized I was going to be pretty bored. See, all through that part of the year, I had shows to watch. I was never without one. Now, I had two choices; go back to regular television, or go find a new show. Regular television was out of the question. I can’t stand most of what is on today, with horrible laugh tracks and so-called ‘jokes’ it’s a wonder people still watch it. I asked my mother if she had any suggestions, and she suggested I watch Star Trek. Sure, I was interested in the series, but I never really got around to watching, and I figured now is a perfect time. She told me to watch The Next Generation, which was the sequel series to The Original Series. I looked it up on Netflix, and sure enough, it was there.

So, on a Friday, I turned on Netflix and went to The Next Generation. The first episode on the list was ‘Encounter at Farpoint.’ It seemed like a rather interesting title, and I was really looking forward to watching it. As the first scene rolled on, and Patrick Stewart’s voice came from the television, I knew this would be a rather good episode. It showed the USS Enterprise-D, a beautifully made ship. It introduced many of the main characters, such as Captain Picard (Played by Patrick Stewart), Lieutenant Commander Data (Played by Brent Spiner), and Lieutenant Worf (Played by Michael Dorn.) As they approach Farpoint Station, they are stopped by an omnipotent being by the name of Q, played by John de Lancie, who flashes onto the bridge of the Enterprise with a bright white light, and inform them that they should return back to Earth, or face the consequences. It then cuts to the famous monologue;
“Space: The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. It’s continuing mission; to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before.”

Now this was rather interesting. Q, after freezing one of the bridge-crewmembers, transports Picard, and three of his officers to a mid-21st century courtroom, one after the Third World War, and declares himself the judge, jury, and executioner. He tells Picard that humanity is the one on trial, and the charge is being a ‘…grievously savage race.” Picard is determined to prove him wrong. After Q lets them go, he continues on to Farpoint Station, to pick up some crewmembers, including his first officer, Commander Riker (Played by Jonathan Frakes) and his Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Crusher (Played by Gates McFadden.) After picking them up, Farpoint Station is attacked by a space-born life form, and the crew figure out from the leader of the station that Farpoint was never actually constructed, it was made by an enslaved life form. From then on, though, I easily predicted, and was correct, that the Enterprise would free the life form. At the end of the episode, Q tells Picard that he will still be watching, and the trial hasn’t ended yet.

The episode, even though it was interesting, was still rather boring. If the character Q hadn’t been in it to keep it mixed up, I probably would’ve stopped watching the pilot episode. But, I continued on with the series, and it got much better after the third season with ‘The Best of Both Worlds.’ I am rather glad that I continued to watch it, even if some of the episodes were bad. After having watched the entire Next Generation, I went on to watch the spinoffs, like Deep Space Nine and Voyager. The Star Trek franchise has had a large impact on my life, and it will always be a part of it. Star Trek inspired me to possibly take up a career in astronomy, to always be optimistic, and that humanity can achieve great things.