History Recap / StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E18UpTheLongLadder

* CloningBlues: The ''Enterprise'' crew barely conceal their discomfort around the Mariposans and Riker does not even do that, outright telling the Mariposan leader (who is of course himself a clone) that clones would "diminish [Riker] in a way I can't explain." Picard phrases things in less insulting terms but still makes it clear most Federation humans would find the Mariposans abhorrent.

* {{Polyamory}}: The solution Pulanksi proposes to get rid of the genetic diversity problems the locals are going to run into--specifically, each woman needs to have at least three children by at least three different husbands.

* GargleBlaster: When Danilo turns his nose at the replicator's attempt at whisky, Worf gives him a mug of the potent Klingon beverage ''chech'tluth'', which comes out of the replicator smoking. One sip of the drink leaves Danilo nearly speechless.

The Mariposans kidap Riker and Pulaski and steal their genes, leaving them with no memory, but when Granger claims to have not seen them, Geordi picks up on the lie using his VISOR, and the truth quickly comes out. Riker, Pulaski and Geordi beam down and destroy the clones already being made from their genes. Granger confronts them, arguing that the Mariposans have a right to avoid annihilation. Picard is now stuck with two problems: a wild and rustic group of settlers with no home, and an advanced civilization in desperate need of fresh blood. It doesn't take a genius to realize that these problems solve each other.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: While the inability to overcome "replicative fading" seems unlikely in the Trek world (the actual body does this millions of times a day), the need to explicitly disallow monogamous marriage and indeed require planned polygamous pairings makes sense. What makes it surprising is this was outright heretical to the dominant social mores of the time.
* TakeAThirdOption: Picard faces the choice of allowing the Mariposans to keep their civilization viable for a dozen more generations via cloning or allow them to die out. He takes a third option by encouraging the Bringloidi to settle in Mariposa and reinstitute sexual procreation, which will sustain Mariposa indefinitely.

* SpaceAmish: The Bringloidi are Space Rural Irish, having been founded on a philosophy of returning to an agrarian lifestyle. That said, they seem to follow that philosophy only by default, since they have no antipathy toward advanced technology nor qualms about returning to a high-tech lifestyle.

* {{Polyamory}}: The solution proposed to get rid of the genetic diversity problems the locals are going to run into--specifically, each woman needs to have children by at least three husbands.

* {{Polyamory}}: The solution proposed to get rid of the genetic diversity problems the locals are going to run into--specifically, each woman needs to have children by three husbands.

* {{Polyamory}}: The solution proposed to get rid of the genetic problems the locals are going to run into--specifically, each woman needs to have children by three husbands.

* MoodWhiplash: In the middle of BreatherEpisode largely devoted to drunken Irish hijinks and [[BareYourMidriff bare midriffs]], Riker performs what is, at best, a summary abortion, and at worst, outright murder.

* BareYourMidriff: Brenna wears a midriff-baring top through most of the episode.

** The scene was also meant to double up as a pro-abortion message, as confirmed by both the episode's writer and the showrunner. However, even with the necessary leaps in logic, Riker and Pulaski destroy their clones specifically because their genetic material was taken without their consent, which has the unintended effect of the episode seemingly only advocating abortion in the case of rape victims; something generally only opposed by the most hardline anti-abortion campaigners.

* CluckingFunny: A chicken flies out of the cargo bay, which pretty much spells out how this encounter is going to go down.

* BrokenAesop: Riker's insistence of being in control of his own genetics and his uncriticized destruction of his clone made without his consent are a poor attempt at being anti-cloning from a secular perspective. The thing is, cloning, in real life, doesn't work anywhere to close to how it's depicted, and even ''if'' a clone could be produced as an adult, genes are not the only factor in an individual's personality. So while his clones would no doubt look the same, they'd likely have their own take on things, keeping Riker "unique".

* BrokenAesop: Riker's insistence of being in control of his own genetics and his uncriticized destruction of his clone made without his consent are a poor attempt at being anti-cloning from a secular perspective. The thing is, cloning, in real life, doesn't work anywhere to close to how it's depicted, and even ''IF'' a clone could be produced as an adult[[note]]IT CAN'T[[/note]], genes are not the only factor in an individual's personality. So while his clones would no doubt look the same, they'd likely have their own take on things, keeping Riker "unique".

* GargleBlaster: When Danilo turns his nose at the replicator's attempt at whisky, Worf gives him a Klingon potable, which leaves him nearly speechless.

* SpaceAmish: The Bringloidi are Space Rural Irish, having been founded on a philosophy of returning to an agrarian lifestyle. That said, they seem to follow that philosophy only by default, since they have no antipathy toward advanced technology and nor qualms about returning to a high-tech lifestyle.

Upon arrival, the ship discovers that solar flares from the planet's sun are threatening the colony, so they decide to evacuate the inhabitants, the Bringloidi to the ship. To the crew's dismay, the Bringloidi turn out to be [[{{Oireland}} ridiculously stereotypical Irish farmers]]. Picard and Riker meet their cheerful, folksy leader, Danilo O’Dell and his beautiful, feisty daughter Brenna. As the crew struggles to contain the Bringloidi's attempts to convert the cargo hold into a makeshift farm, and Riker puts the moves on Brenna, Picard learns from Danilo of a second lost colony that was also founded by their old ship.

* LivingLieDetector: Geordi's VISOR allows him to view heart rates and breathing patterns, by which he can tell when people are lying to him. Perhaps in an attempt to cover up any plot holes this revelation might open up, he says it only works on humans. Even still, it never comes up again.

* LowCultureHighTech: Granger is clearly concerned about how to get the Bringloidi to adapt to a 24th century society with an early 19th century understanding of technology.