New to Star Trek TNG, I have some questions..

[melph]

hello everyone,
i m new in the world of Star Trek
i just finished season 2 of star trek TNG and i wonder will there be more continuity of episodes in later seasons?
so far, every episode seemed as a short film, not connected to previous episode, and every episode had similar frame
in beginning some problem occurs, they fix it, and in the end everyone is happy on enterprise and they go on
This seems to frustrate me, because i like continuity of episodes (maybe because i m not used to old series)
so core of my question is: will season 3,4,5,6,7 be more connective?

 

[Lance]

It's never really 'consecutive', with odd exceptions, but there are episodes that carry over threads from previous episodes.

For example: "The Emissary" (from Season 2, which you've already seen ) gets revisited when Keh'ler returns in "Reunion", which also ties in certain plot elements from "Sins of the Father", and the season four ender "Redemption" (and season five opener "Redemption Part II") continue certain plot-lines from "Emissary", "Reunion" and "Yesterday's Enterprise". And threads from "Redemption" continue into "Unification".

The Borg two-parter ("Best of Both Worlds" Parts 1 & 2) also get a 'coda' episode called "Family", which deals with Picard's lingering feelings over the events of the two-parter. It gets a call back in "I Borg", and the movie First Contact.

There are loads more examples, these are just a few.

It'd be fair to say that TNG had a lot of continuity, but it didn't string it out over consecutive episodes. Rather, it prefered to space storylines out over time, leaving threads hanging that they then came along and picked up again later on in the show. It isn't exactly story arcs, but it is a sort of long form storytelling.

Most individual episodes are stand alone adventures, but there are some arcs in there as well. They just aren't consecutive.

 

[Trek Survivor]

As Lance points out, there's more 'continuity' but they are not more "connective" as you ask for - TNG certainly never becomes a serial (thank goodness).

I might be in the minority, but I love the episodic nature of TNG. It struck the perfect balance between references to old episodes but still being accessible 95% of the time to new viewers regardless of the episode.

A lot of the time, I find serial dramas can get a bit lazy. As each episode is "just another chapter" it doesn't really need to have a proper beginning, end, through-arc etc. Whatever criticism can be made of TNG (and most Trek in general) it always tried to make each episode its own story.

If I want a soap, I'll watch Eastenders or something.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

TNG is episodic with only a few light arcs.

 

[USS Firefly]

DS9 has more continuity

 

[USS Pertinax]

Also melph, TNG gets much better and way less preachy.

 

[2takesfrakes]

The first couple of seasons, especially, still have alot on offer, if not continuity. The major one being the Art Department. The planet sets are so highly stylised that they really suggest alien environments. Yes, you can tell it's a set, but when you shoot something out in reality, like the woods, somewhere ... you know you're looking at "home." And "they" went outside to shoot alien worlds a little too often, after that. Standard, blanket lighting wasn't used so heavily as it was later, either. So that, every now and again, you actually get some very interesting-looking shots that help "sell" a mood, or situation, or environment. That's not to say that The Eighties aren't all up in it, they certainly are and that could put people off, I'm sure. But the first couple of seasons had a lot of care that went into them and you can see that, too.

 

[kkt]

Yes, if you really want lots of serial story lines, DS9 is more your show.

 

[Mojochi]

This is one of the few taste differences between my generation and older ones vs younger ones that I can actually understand. One wonders how TV ever really developed the notion of telling weekly stories wherein nothing long term ever happens, but that really was the standard. The only serialization on TV was soap operas. You can actually thank TNG for being one of the 1st to begin breaking out of that mold. It was them and prime time soaps like Dallas & Dynasty that shook up the status quo

 

[JirinPanthosa]

This is one of the few taste differences between my generation and older ones vs younger ones that I can actually understand. One wonders how TV ever really developed the notion of telling weekly stories wherein nothing long term ever happens, but that really was the standard. The only serialization on TV was soap operas. You can actually thank TNG for being one of the 1st to begin breaking out of that mold. It was them and prime time soaps like Dallas & Dynasty that shook up the status quo

Don't forget Twin Peaks.

I think it has to do with the rise of premium networks and Netflix. You don't have to be sitting in front of your TV at a specific time not to miss something.

 

[arch101]

I'm a lifelong Trek fan. But, in 1978, when I was 10, I discovered Space Battleship Yamato in it's Americanized Star Blazers form. Since then, I've been hooked on serialized format. It was always a disappointment to me that TNG stayed episodic for all 7 years of it's run. I wanted bigger stories told over more time. I think Enterprise finally figured it out with it's 3 episode arcs. More involved stories but without the commitment to an entire season of story.
Still, as TNG progresses, there are snippets of connectivity in many episodes if you are sharp (or a Trekkie nerd like me). How can there not be when a show is on for that long?

 

[Kor]

so far, every episode seemed as a short film, not connected to previous episode

Just about ALL television was like this at that time.

Kor

 

[tomswift2002]

It's never really 'consecutive', with odd exceptions, but there are episodes that carry over threads from previous episodes.

For example: "The Emissary" (from Season 2, which you've already seen ) gets revisited when Keh'ler returns in "Reunion", which also ties in certain plot elements from "Sins of the Father", and the season four ender "Redemption" (and season five opener "Redemption Part II") continue certain plot-lines from "Emissary", "Reunion" and "Yesterday's Enterprise". And threads from "Redemption" continue into "Unification".

The Borg two-parter ("Best of Both Worlds" Parts 1 & 2) also get a 'coda' episode called "Family", which deals with Picard's lingering feelings over the events of the two-parter. It gets a call back in "I Borg", and the movie First Contact.

The original poster might want to pick up the Fan Collective's DVD's that deal with the Borg and Klingons, as those contain most of those episodes that you mentioned, to give you the "arcs" between the episodes, but the op should still watch the individual seasons.

 

[RAMA]

hello everyone,
i m new in the world of Star Trek
i just finished season 2 of star trek TNG and i wonder will there be more continuity of episodes in later seasons?
so far, every episode seemed as a short film, not connected to previous episode, and every episode had similar frame
in beginning some problem occurs, they fix it, and in the end everyone is happy on enterprise and they go on
This seems to frustrate me, because i like continuity of episodes (maybe because i m not used to old series)
so core of my question is: will season 3,4,5,6,7 be more connective?

The vast majority of the broadcast history of TV was not serialized. This was mainly for finanical reasons...so shows could be shown in any order in syndication.

Personally I prefer a non-serialized show with mini-arcs to one continuous arc.

STNG indeed has a few mini-arcs later in the series.

RAMA