Wheee, all the way back to the beginning.
Why this one now? Because it was first shown on television on 4 October 1988, a month or so before the start of Season 2 of TNG. It had been around in other forms before then, but I’m going to go with TV release dates.
For those who don’t know, we’ve already seen most of this episode, as the flashbacks in *The Menagerie* parts 1 and 2.
Most of the comments that I had then still stand. It *is* too cerebral and talky (a little like the first season of The Next Generation in places). The standalone version is more coherent as a story, but it has significant weaknesses as a pilot. You don’t get a good sense of anyone except Captain Pike.
Better than almost anything that’s aired for Next Generation so far, though.
132 down, 605 to go.