The Bicks are back! Nearly 8 years after we started our podcast, and ten since the gum we liked was clearly coming back in style, we've returned from our year-long hiatus to revisit an old favourite: Twin Peaks. We talk about the fandom of the show itself, its lasting impressions on us, and whether or not it has impacted television the way the original Twin Peaks did way back in 1990.

Our new approach is focused primarily on discussing whatever topics we feel like, whenever we feel like it, so fair warning that episodes are not likely to be regular, on any specific topic, or with any coherent structure. Thank you in advance to anyone who has stuck with us over the last 8 years!

We have new social media @s as well, having left the hellsite that is Twitter and the stupid that is Facebook. We're currently on Tumblr, because we are really just internet children of the 2010s, as well as Instagram and Threads. Feel free to drop us a line there whenever you want!

Notes:

• Here is that Drew Gooden episode about how annoying media production is these days.
• And here is the F.D. Signifier Drake v Kendrick video that bucks the trend of too long video essay. Zero excess.
• Aidan could not find any physical copy of Dark for sale. He is tres sad.
• Twin Perfect was released over 4 years ago, just FYI.
• Intro and Outro music is by The Impossibulls, as always. It's our theme at this point.

Note: We will be taking a summer break for the next 4-5 weeks to coincide with some vacation plans, but will be returning in the second half of summer with Season 5.

For this week, join us as we revisit the episode that had the largest divergence of opinions in our Season 4 breakdown, "First Contact" complete with Riker sex innuendo and reactionary martyrs. It may not be the perfect episode, but it did provide some fodder for banter with The Bicks.

Season 4 -- the first full 90s season, as Lindsay says -- doesn't feature a whole bunch of changes on screen or behind the camera, but did bring a lot of depth to the characters and the world they inhabit. Join us as we talk about family, friends, drama, and First Contact, one of the greatest episodes of the show! (Yes, Aidan wrote this intro...)

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Bicks Log: What does it say about genetic families in Star Trek that they're so secondary to the one found on board the Enterprise?

Notes:

• Once again, it was time for a tier ranking of Season 4 episodes, so be prepared for Aidan to defend how great (almost) every episode is, while Lindsay tries to knock them all down a few pegs.

Recognitions:

• Intro Music: Chasing Stars by AG Music
• Outro Music: Idle Hands by The Impossibulls

Another season, another watchalong of TNG, this time the season 3's classic exploration of Star Trek's greatest philosophical topics, the Prime Directive. Join us as we chat and joke our way through "Who Watches the Watchers".

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 3 is widely considered the start of "good Trek" in the TNG era. Whether you agree with that or not, this season definitely ups the ante in terms of storytelling, characterization, thematic links, and philosophical import. This week, Aidan and Lindsay deep dive into the production history, some of the changes behind and in front of the camera, and explore the larger story arcs that are going to take us into the second half of the series' run.

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Bicks Log: How useful is the Prime Directive?

Notes and Recognitions:

• The intro music is different between Season 1 (strings high in the mix) and Season 2 (strings lower) and again to Season 3 (strings seem to not be there at all in some places) so Lindsay is kinda right but also kinda full of shit...
• OrangeRiver has a great Season 3 breakdown video we watched in preparation for this podcast as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEzxaVfTAw&ab_channel=OrangeRiver 
• Intro Music: Chasing Stars by AG Music
• Ad Music: Coconut Grove by Hotham is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
  Stream: https://linktr.ee/hothammusic
  Free Download: https://hypeddit.com/hotham/coconutgrove
  Support by RFM - NCM: https://bit.ly/3TzyYA1
• Outro Music: Idle Hands by The Impossibulls 

Join us for another watchalong episode of TNG, this time the season 2 dark horse favourite "The Royale".

One note: Fermat's Last Theorem had a first proof published in 1995, only a few years after this episode.

The arrival of Riker's Beard heralded the start of the shift towards a more updated, distinct Star Trek, ready for the Next Generation of fans. While many will tell new explorers of Trek to skip over season 2, we love it for its inconsistency and the truly high highs that you only get by introducing the Borg, or debating the nature of sentience (should be sapience but we'll let it slide) on behalf of our beloved Data. Join us as we discuss those highs (and some of the lows), as well as give a bit of a history of what was going on behind the scenes.

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Bicks Log: Does artificial intelligence require sentience to be considered intelligent? Do AIs as we understand them now deserve rights? What will happen when computer systems are given – or acquire – consciousness?

Notes:

• As a reminder, this was recorded before Picard Season 3 aired, so there may be some odd references.
• If, for some reason you haven't seen the greatest short film of the 21st century so far, please do check out Too Many Cooks.
• Lindsay deeply regrets her comments about the 1988 WGA Strike. At least Aidan assumes so, since she's been happy to see the 2023 version.
• The novel that Lindsay mentions involving the Trill's connection to the Conspiracy bugs is called Trill: Unjoined, which you can read about on Memory Beta.
• Aidan's Tier Ranking of Season 2 Episodes:
  • S-Tier: Measure of a Man (9), Q Who (16)
  • A-Tier: Elementary Dear Data (3), A Matter of Honour (8), The Royale (12), The Emissary (20)
  • B-Tier: Peak Performance (21), Pen Pals (15)
  • C-Tier: The Child (1), Outrageous Okona (4), Loud as a Whisper (5), The Dauphin (10), Time Squared (13), Samaritan Snare (17), Manhunt (19)
  • D-Tier: Schizoid Man (6), The Icarus Factor (14), Up The Long Ladder (18)
  • F-Tier: Shades of Gray (22), Where Silence Has Lease (2)
• Lindsay's Tier Ranking:
  • S-Tier: Measure of a Man (9), Q Who (16), Elementary Dear Data (3)
  • A-Tier: Pen Pals (15), The Royale (12), The Emissary (20)
  • B-Tier: Peak Performance (21), Manhunt (19), A Matter of Honour (8)
  • C-Tier: Outrageous Okona (4), Loud as a Whisper (5), Time Squared (13), Samaritan Snare (17), Schizoid Man (6)
  • D-Tier: The Icarus Factor (14), Up The Long Ladder (18), The Dauphin (10)
  • F-Tier: Shades of Gray (22), Where Silence Has Lease (2), The Child (1)
• Twin Peaks actors appearing this season:
  • David L. Lander
  • Madchen Amick (Who we forgot to mention in the episode somehow!!!)
• Intro Music: Chasing Stars by AG Music
• Outro Music: Idle Hands by The Impossibulls

Watchalong episodes are back baby! Today we're watching Season 1 Episode 15 of Star Trek: The Next Generation "11001001" (the one with the Bynars).

Boldly going where no one in 1987 was really sure they wanted to go - 100 years into the future - Paramount greenlit Star Trek: The Next Generation. And a seed was planted. Join us as we talk about the behind the scenes work that eventually led to one of the most iconic of Star Trek series' and heralded the rebirth of Gene Rodenberry's vision of the future - ready to go for a new generation (your hosts' generation, as it turned out). We also discuss the characters, episodes, and issues that cropped up repeatedly in the first season, as well as the bones of the show that we grew to love and idolize.

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Bicks Log: What are the things in Season 1 that the show messed up the worst, but was corrected over the course of the show?

Notes:

• As a reminder, this was recorded before Picard Season 3, so there may be some odd references
  • Sadly "Crusher is a mom" has remained extremely true
• Aidan had this large (for a child) version of the mini phaser used frequently in the first few seasons
• He also had the rounded tip version of the fuller handheld phaser, though he can't find any photos so he might be imagining that
• Lindsay had the more ubiquitous and cool-looking pointed-tip phaser
• Chaos on the Bridge is the Shatner-hosted documentary that provides a great insight into the crazy ship that was TNG Seasons 1 & 2
• For clarity's sake around syndication: the local station would sell 5 minutes of local advertising per episode, and Paramount got the money from 7 minutes of national advertisements
• The UK didn't receive any TNG until September 26, 1990, three years after "Encounter at Farpoint" first aired in the United States
• "You'll have to speak up, I'm wearing a towel."
• Other videos to learn more about Season 1 include:
  • Rowan J. Coleman's Retrospective Part 8: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB08m-d1hhc&ab_channel=RowanJColeman 
  • Was TNG Season 1 Really That Bad?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPGSKOIu1dI&ab_channel=OrangeRiver
• Twin Peaks actors appearing this season:
  • Brenda Strong
  • Carel Struycken
  • Robert Knepper

As we say goodbye to Star Trek: Picard after three seasons, lit in the warm glow of nostalgia, we'll take a look at the entirety of the series, our likes and dislikes, what's next for these characters and what we might have done differently to address the shortcomings we felt took away from our experience of these stories.

Episode Sponsor: PokerGalaxy.net

Bicks Log Double-Header: Question #1 - If you could make one change to Picard Season 3 to better reflect what you wanted out of the series, what would it be? Question #2 - If you had to pick your "Engage" one-liner, what would it be?

Notes and Recognitions:

• Intro Music: Chasing Stars by AG Music
• Ad Music: "Swing Time" by Music by Pedro
• Outro Music: Idle Hands by The Impossibulls
• Borg Shootout Remixes feat. The Beach Boys as well as the always-good Beastie Boys 
• The Reddit post both Lindsay and I read that discussed how the season just didn't address all the issues it raised
• After we recorded, we came across this amazing review of Season 3 that really summed up Aidan's feelings and thoughts better than he managed to get across at all in the episode. It's truly a great read of what failed in Season 3.

You hear that? The voices of those we've come to know and those we've missed for years now, coming back to shepherd us towards the endgame for Star Trek Picard. Join us as we talk a lot about that one moment we were waiting for all season, as well as even more talk about many other moments of this episode that we could have frankly done without. Despite our ups and downs from this episode and others, we are excited for the finale and hope you'll join us next week as well!

Episode Sponsor: Tuvix Instant Transporter Services (Aidan apologizes for the terrible acronym, he was very tired when he wrote this and thought it was funny, even though it's not).

Bicks Log: Which kid of the Enterprise D crew would perform which function in the renewed Enterprise D?

Notes and Recognitions:

• Aidan has an epic rant-down from about 24:45 to 34:10 all about Jack Crusher and the sequence at the start of the episode where he delivers himself to the Borg.
• A quick rundown of TikTok's congressional hearings and the sad state of US Congress' understanding of technology.
• Lindsay's own rant goes from 46:30 to 50:30, all about Seasons 1 & 2 of Picard and how it's been completely abandoned in this Season.
• Soji was the Data-type android that survived, Dahj was the one who did not make it. We needed to look it up.
• Intro Music: Chasing Stars by AG Music
• Outro Music: Idle Hands by The Impossibulls