History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E25TheNeutralZone

* HilariousInHindsight: Sonny asks if there's a TV so he can catch an Atlanta Braves game, then remarks how they're "probably still finding ways to lose". Just 3 years after this episode aired, the Braves began a run of 15 straight winning seasons that included a World Series title in 1995.

* FishOutOfTemporalWater: The three revived cryogenic patients

Picard dumps Gilligan, Mr. Howell, and Mary Ann on a ship headed for Earth and the episode ends with the destruction of the outposts still unexplained. Later on in "Q Who", we get a throwaway line implying that the as-yet-unmet Borg were behind the attacks, but that's it. Basically, this episode, [[SeasonFinale which caps off the largely mediocre first season]], is appropriately enough one big {{Anticlimax}}. Things will get better better, but it will take about another season.

* HeyItsThatGuy: That's Marc "[[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Gul Dukat]]" Alaimo playing the Romulan commander.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: The second season was supposed to open with the Federation and the Romulans working together to investigate the attacks, as discussed here. However a writer's strike forced the use or pre-written scripts. The next episode, ''The Child'', came from a proposed episode for ''Star Trek Phase II''.

* CoolStarship: The Romulans arrive back on the scene with a massive and''very'' badass-looking Warbird.

* InnoculouslyImportantEpisode: The B-Plot about how outposts on both sides of the Neutral Zone are vanishing, seemingly scooped up? Yeah, despite this episode being not altogether that impressive, this is the first time in Star Trek that the Borg's influence was felt. This episode (and the similarity to how the outposts disappeared) was later talked about in "Q Who".

* YouSuck: The three 20th century people are blatant strawmen who only exist to be lectured at about how much they suck for being 20th century people.

** Although in fairness, all he wanted was for someone to explain what the hell had been going on for [[FishOutOfTemporalWater the last 400 years?!]]

* * In the original script Data and Worf state it must have been moved by some kind of alien influence, an idea revisited in The Royale

* * In the original script Data and Worf state it must have been moved by some kind of alien influence, an idea revisited in The Royale

* SmallNameBigEgo: Ralph, one of the revived patients, who consistently behaves as though he's the most important person on the ''Enterprise''.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Ralph doesn't know a thing about Romulans, but he gets their intentions better than Picard.

* FutureImperfect: From the defrostees point of view and you can't blame them. They wake up and are treated as nuisances by everyone, get told off for treating the ''Enterprise'' as if it were a cruise ship when it honestly ''looks'' like one, while no-one explains what has happened in the last 400 years?! Most of the reason they keep getting into trouble is because they're bored, since no-one bothers to explain what people actually ''do'' for fun? Holodeck, what's ''that?!''

* HumanPopsicles

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Series:Series/{{Star Trek The Next Generation}}\\

Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher has the people from the capsule asleep in Sickbay. She explains to Picard that those primitive twentieth-century morons were scared of death. Seriously, that's how she says it. Apparently, the twenty-fourth century is just so perfect that no one fears death anymore. Anyway, these people were placed in cryogenic freeze after dying of then terminal illnesses, but now they have been easily saved by Dr. Crusher. The capsule with their bodies was placed in space to avoid the risk of a brown out. Picard berates Data for saving people who were technically dead because now they're alive and have to be treated like living beings. You know, maybe twenty-fourth-century people suck a lot more than they think. Riker is delegated the task of introducing their twentieth-century guests to the ''Enterprise''. They have some other names, but hell, we're just going to call them [[Series/GilligansIsland Gilligan, Mr. Howell, and Mary Ann]]. That way we don't have to explain their personalities. Just imagine Ginger, the Skipper, the Professor, and Mrs. Howell were the people on the capsule who didn't survive. Much like the real Mr. Howell, our version doesn't seem able to comprehend the fact that all the money he had where he came from is now meaningless. Gilligan wants to watch television, but Data replies that television went out of style in the twenty-first century, no doubt because of YouTube. He asks what people do for fun in the twenty-fourth century and apparently no one thinks to introduce him to the holodeck or the other numerous forms of entertainment on the ''Enterprise''[=-D=].

Finally, something actually happens with the Romulan plotline. The ''Enterprise'' reaches the outposts and finds them destroyed as expected, but not in a way which suggests the Romulans were responsible. Meanwhile, Mr. Howell tells Gilligan and Mary Ann that something is up. Gilligan replies that it's none of their business, but Mr. Howell knows better and decides to wander around the ship until he finds Picard. Eventually, he walks into a turbolift and asks to be taken to the Captain. Mr. Howell steps onto the bridge just as a Romulan ship is decloaking. Picard decides to hail them, but Worf replies by reciting his BackStory and explaining that Romulans suck. Picard still decides to hail them and it turns out one of the Romulans is [[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Gul Dukat]] with different makeup. It seems the Romulans have the same problem as their Neutral Zone outposts have been destroyed as well. Picard suggests they work together to find out what happened. The first Romulan agrees, but then the other one says "Forget that, we're Romulans and you suck. Goodbye." And then they fly away.

Series:Main/{{Star Trek The Next Generation}}\\

Meanwhile, Dr. Crusher has the people from the capsule asleep in Sickbay. She explains to Picard that those primitive twentieth-century morons were scared of death. Seriously, that's how she says it. Apparently, the twenty-fourth century is just so perfect that no one fears death anymore. Anyway, these people were placed in cryogenic freeze after dying of then terminal illnesses, but now they have been easily saved by Dr. Crusher. The capsule with their bodies was placed in space to avoid the risk of a brown out. Picard berates Data for saving people who were technically dead because now they're alive and have to be treated like living beings. You know, maybe twenty-fourth-century people suck a lot more than they think. Riker is delegated the task of introducing their twentieth-century guests to the ''Enterprise''. They have some other names, but hell, we're just going to call them [[{{ptitle0k5nsks4}} Gilligan, Mr. Howell, and Mary Ann]]. That way we don't have to explain their personalities. Just imagine Ginger, the Skipper, the Professor, and Mrs. Howell were the people on the capsule who didn't survive. Much like the real Mr. Howell, our version doesn't seem able to comprehend the fact that all the money he had where he came from is now meaningless. Gilligan wants to watch television, but Data replies that television went out of style in the twenty-first century, no doubt because of YouTube. He asks what people do for fun in the twenty-fourth century and apparently no one thinks to introduce him to the holodeck or the other numerous forms of entertainment on the ''Enterprise''[=-D=].

Picard dumps Gilligan, Mr. Howell, and Mary Ann on a ship headed for Earth and the episode ends with the destruction of the outposts still unexplained. Later on in "Q Who", we get a throwaway line implying that the as-yet-unmet Borg were behind the attacks, but that's it. Basically, this episode, [[SeasonFinale which caps off the largely mediocre first season]], is appropriately enough one big {{Anticlimax}}. Things will get better better, but it will take about another season.