Star Trek TNG: Best of Both Worlds Part 1 Cliffhanger
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- The fantastic ending to the first part of one of the best two parters of any show. Although you know already Picard is gonna be ok, it's still one of those scenes you just don't think is gonna happen. When Riker has the big chair thrust onto him, it's up to him to decide whether or not to fire upon the Borg whilst Picard is on board, as Locutus. Earlier we see Shelby try and smack talk Riker, going on about how he isn't ready to make the big decisions, here we see how when push comes to shove it is her in fact who wants to play it safe, and that Riker if needs be will make the tough command decision, he fires upon his own Captain to prevent the Borg from reaching Earth.
Spoiler, they get there anyway.
Mr. Worf, Fire.
And then began the longest summer in history.
VampiraJen Lucky freakin Brits lol
Chris Goodie not really lucky when we had to wait 2 years lmao, granted I was still in my dad's ballsack so it makes no difference to me but the point still stands lol
Yes...too damn long!
@@JennyScott1716 Lucky...
Soul crushingly so. :P
When Worf says "he is a Borg" its a rare time Worf actually portrays deep sadness in front of others.
His problem is he really DOES have a sense of honor, he really DOES care about trust and loyalty. Don't blame Locutus for knowing him so well.
It's such a shame Klingons eat folk singers for breakfast.
He almost sounded like a kid about to cry.
Yeah, I just noticed that for the first time. Really something else.
I actually felt that! 😐
the thing that always gets me, is the moment after Riker says "fire", and the music gets so tense. To me this is one of the best moments in tv history
Victor I agree with you. The music, the acting in those final seconds ( I really like how the woman turns to see what Riker does before he orders to fire)....it all comes together to make this one of the best tv moments ever.
Jack Kitchen and the epic deliberate slow panning around to Rikers face. So goddamn amazing
“...but someone tried to. It was STEWIE”
@@jackkitchen737 Commander Shelby, played by Elizabeth Dennehy.
Star Trek TOS or TNG didn’t have cliffhangers . . . that is, until the end of Season 3.
Arguably the greatest cliffhanger in TV history. We were all so frustrated that we had to wait so long to see what happened next
This and Who shot JR from Dallas are considered the best cliffhangers in TV history.
@@brav0wing Also, Who Shot Mr Burns?
@@xyz.ijk. The show never asks us to care about Shelby
@@LukeLovesRose It kind of does -- she's the oppo-Jellico of that season, but it doesn't work -- especially when you find out that she later gets control of the Enterprise and Riker doesn't. It wasn't her strategy that won back Picard, it was Riker's ... and I wasn't a big fan of his character either until that episode. But it was one of the 2 or 3 best cliffhangers in my lifetime, and part 2 was worth waiting for -- and that may have been the best answer to a cliffhanger of any that I've known about.
I watched this when it was first broadcast. One thing that was important to remember is that originally, the opening for the episode just said ‘The Best of Both Worlds’, not ‘The Best of Both Worlds, Part I’. That made the cliffhanger doubly impactful, as no one knew it was coming. TNGs finest hour.
The dead eyes of Riker when he utters the words, "Mr Worf, fire".
Gives me chills.
It was like his way of saying goodbye Captain Picard
He knows Jean Luc would prefer death than to be a Borg, and that removing him from the Collective by any means necessary was essential. Thank goodness it didn’t come down to destroying him after all, but the willingness and understanding was 100% there.
@@MrSoopSA That was only their second encounter with the Borg, and at the time they had no understanding of the true extent of what Borg assimilation meant. They weren't prepared for just how rapidly the Collective had absorbed Picard's knowledge and experience, which says nothing about all the classified information that Picard, as a ship's captain in the UFP Navy (it's Starfleet, yes, but I use that for emphasis of the dire nature of what happened), was privy to. The Enterprise crew, and indeed the Federation itself, was totally unprepared for the extreme damage that had potentially occurred to UFP national security.
Riker's eyes weren't dead, there was so much conflicting emotion put aside with the need to take immediate action as well as with the knowledge of the consequences and results of his actions. There was sorrow, there was anger at the Borg, and there was terrible purpose, but there was also duty. Riker had no choice but to reconcile what he felt with what needed to be done then and there.
Right? That's what makes this cliffhanger so great
Same here. Even though I've seen the ending numerous times since it first aired, I still get goosebumps.
One of the aspects of this cliffhanger that made it so effective, as I remember, was that it was so unexpected (at least by me or anyone I knew). None of us thought Star Trek would throw out a cliffhanger, so we were anticipating a resolution. When it did not come... whoa, boy, what a surprise!
They didn't telegraph their punch by sticking "Part 1" after the title. At the time, there was a rumor going around (probably started by Paramount) that Stewart was considering leaving the show, so that gave this an extra punch. Many spent 3 months wondering if the next episode would be his last.
I dont know if its just urban legend, but there were also rumors that, due to contract negotiations with Stewart, he may not return. There was so much speculation about Riker being the new captain with Shelby first officer for the series.
Good point. And this one had me hanging, all summer. And I was barely a fan of the show at the time. That changed with this episode.
Seeing Picard assimilated was the most shocking thing in the history of Star Trek. The Enterprise crew's looks on their faces say "Oh my God!"
Yeah. If the weapon had worked... we'd have seen their devastation... For Wesley and Will, that was killing a father figure. Deanna would've been overloaded by the crew's grief...
This was Star Trek’s first seasonal cliffhanger and it has never-EVER been topped by any of the follow up series. As good as they all were, none have ever come close to this. This episode set the bar and it’s never been surpassed.
RedLetterMedia said: This two parter is a thriller. I completely agree.
The funny thing is that this was Star Trek's first cliffhanger, but it defined all television cliffhangers since then. Every single TV show in history has wanted its own "Mr. Worf, fire" moment.
TRUTH, SON!
This is arguably the best cliffhanger in TV history
YES!!!!!
It will be great when Paramount remembers that Trek is at it's best when it's telling a story.
I'm curious: Do you think the Picard show managed that?
What? Twenty-five plus years later, this scene still gives me the chills! Great television!
Best tv cliffhanger in history
+Jacob Snyder meh, typical "hero in trouble." Not that exciting, you know he's gonna be alright.
+hannu eskola Actually, when it first came out people weren't sure what would happen. Audiences thought they might kill off Picard, make him a recurring villain, or bring him back. Even the writers didn't know what the plot of the next episode was going to be since Patrick Stewart was questioning whether to leave the show or not.
+CaptainJZH Kill off/recurring villain...that's what they ended up doing with Denise Crosby. Killed off Tasha (WAY before this episode), then had her cameo one episode to explain the alternate timeline and aftermath, then brought her back as Sela.
It would have been interesting to keep Picard as Locutus for a few more episodes and show Starfleet rebuilding after Wolf 359. Maybe that's why I like Babylon 5 so much.
@@jreegdss6878 We didn't. Nobody, not even the showrunners, knew what was going to happen next. There were no internet spoilers back then, and all we knew was that Patrick Stewart might not be coming back to the show.
While Picard was the main star, you can never underestimate Riker. He was just as a cool and tough as a captain as Picard was, and in many ways was even more interesting to see.
Agreed. Too bad he wasn't given his own command until the final scene of 'Nemesis.'
I use to judge him kinda harshly. Called him Kirk-Lite. But rewatching the series now I'm older I think I appreciate him more.
@@Adino1 To me Kirk is Riker-Lite.
@@LGranthamsHeir If you reexamine the episode, you'll notice the real reason why Riker kept passing up every command that was offered -- he wanted the Enterprise.
People commonly do undervalue Riker. It's a shame. Hes not Spock. Hes not as intriguing as Data. But the man is awesome
The music sold it. Defenetely one of the best cliffhangers in TV history.
A shame that Berman couldn’r see the value in music like this, and fired Ron Jones the following year (he also told McCarthy to stop using his Picard Theme in Season 3)
This is such a good Star Trek episode. This is why The Next Generation is the best. Will always be among my highest favorites.
Now discovery has killed the franchise and well from what i hear the new Picard series is another Discovery mess but with picard in it who is not the Picard we now which royaly pisses me off that and it seems Stewart is going woke with his charachter following that trend that seems to be hitting Hollywood.
Deep space nine is the best
Ahhhh! Back in the day when you just had to wait and there were no internet theories to spoil the surprise. Love this cliffhanger
Oh, there was an internet back then. But social media was mostly Usenet, and the Star Trek newsgroup was buzzing with lots of theories from dedicated fans.
@@gedias1 was no public internet. Back then. No wifi. But there was usernet....
Cliffhanger 101 - Leave 'em drooling for the rest. Now THAT'S how a cliffhanger is done!
+Locktwiste72 meh, typical "hero in trouble." Not that exciting, you know he's gonna be alright.
@@jreegdss6878 Wrong! Remember, this was back in 1990ish, there was no social media, no smartphones, no 'real' internet...I remember watching this with my family, I was 7! It was a total open mouthed NOOOO??! moment! Superb!
@@drawwithdan5821 and dont forget Patrick Stewart was thinking of leaving the show
@@trashbot5675 Apparently so.
@@trashbot5675which was probably why the episode was written the way it was.
Riker has Shelby on him at all times saying he didn't have the nerve to make hard choices just because he refused his own command.
Then Riker showed what a hard choice was, and Shelby couldn't make it. It was such a great moment.
She had enough respect for the chain of command to know that that order wasn't hers to give. It had to be Riker. No heavier or lonelier burden to bear than that of top command.
Shelby was such a pain in the a**
@@LukeLovesRose agreed.
Great catch. Its tv at its peak.
From the moment he says "I am Locutus of Borg" - I must say that is one of the most disturbing moments on the show
I just relived the 'raaaaaaahhhhh' in anger from 26 years ago.
YUP. Almost through a book through my TV screen.
and what may I ask were the sound(s) made for part 2, when ur patience was to be rewarded?
In the middle of this same episode Commander Shelby had accused Riker of not being able to "make the big decisions". By the end he doesn't even blink when he gives the command to fire with the captain still on the Borg ship.
And she’s the one hesitating. She wants to go back, ask Command, etc. I don’t think there’s ever been a bigger decision made in Trek than the one here, and you’re right, Riker doesn’t so much as blink. What a great couple of episodes.
@@amipadme3985 I must admit...I loved Lt. CMDR Shelby...the look she gives Riker at 2:58 is pure OMG.
@@jameshar9592 I wished they had adapted the New Frontier books. She was the first officer for that series
My wife never liked star trek and I happened to be watching this episode and she was really getting into it and then.....to be continued. She said are you kidding me, I watch one damn show and its a season ending episode that's to be continued in three months!
"I watch one damn show and its a season ending episode that's to be continued in three months! "
Your wife would never say this sentence if she did not follow the series.
Did she become a fan at that point?
@Codenameace I believe you!! I happened to be watching this episode years ago on VHS with my teenage nephew, who had never seen the show. After the climactic cliffhanger he quickly turned to me and asked, “You have part 2, RIGHT?!?!?!” This story was brilliantly written..
I hope she was patient enough to give TNG a chance. Fans of TOS really had to wait until the third season before it became a show where people sat up and took notice to watch, which I started doing on a regular basis Saturday nights at 6pm.
i remember when seasons 1 & 2 were airing the show cheers would next. ooh the good ol' days. what happened to them? they were nice. oh wait we grew up. thats what happened. :(
Saw this when first broadcast in 1990 as a 14 year old on a borrowed VHS recording. Scared the life out of me then and was gutted when had to wait months for part 2. Still the best TV cliff hanger of all times 🙂
Battlestar Galactia: Hold my beer.
When the "To be continued...." message appeared, I got grounded for a week for raging at the TV and throwing the remote at it...LOL
I was thirteen. I remember staring at the TV with my mouth agape, not quite sure of what I'd seen. My mind had barely wrapped around the notion that Picard had been assimilated when Riker said "Mr. Worf.....fire." That and Unicron transforming were the biggest mind blowing experiences of my young life.
Why in gods name did they fire Ron Jones!? I know Berman's reason but it is such a tense score, edge of the seat stuff.
what was his reason other than being a power hungry sociopath?
@@enshk79 Late to this- the reason given was that the score got in the way, which is BS.
@@EMSpdx the score was one of the most memorable parts of this two-parter. They put it on a CD and sold it FFS.
They wanted a lame low-key vibe to the music unfortunately.
Five years ago I couldn't even watch a few seconds of Star Trek. Never caught my interest. Then I accidently came across this very scene on BBC cause I was too lazy to look for the remote. Basically, I was like.......
"DAMN! I GOTTA WATCH THIS SHIT! LIKE, NOW!"
Been a trekkie since.
To this day this is my standard for cliffhangers. As in “That season’s cliffhanger was no Mr. Worf fire.”
Just watched this again this morning. Still fucking works. Gives me chills every time, it doesn’t matter that I’ve seen what happens a ton of times. Best cliffhanger of all time.
The Greatest Cliff hanger In Trek History...The Tense Music Score, Then Riker's Close Up As He Says " Mr Worf. Fire!! " Totally heart stopping....Brilliant.
When Riker says fire it gives me goosebumps.
I agree with this completely. It's probably because nowadays to show loss on TV there has to be crying. It's easy to forget when watching TV that not everyone deals the same way, Riker got mad, not sad. He stepped up to the plate and brushed aside his doubts about command, like he owed it to Picard. It's a testament to Frakes' acting ability that he shows loss even without the usual tropes.
Are you just gonna completely ignore all the crying scenes in classic TNG?
Troi cried the most.
Still think Picard's crying to his brother on the loss of his control to the Borg was one of the best.
@@gedias1 Picard when he melded with Sarek.
I can still hear myself yelling noooooo when it said "To be continued"
Thirty years later and I still get chills
For years, I had both parts 1 and 2 on a VHS tape -- the only TNG episodes I kept long-term
The soundtrack for this 2 part episode was amazing and spine-tingling.......especially the crescendo up to the moment...."Mr Worf................fire!"
The best musical score in TV history begins with this scene.
And thus began the _longest_ three months in Trekkers' lives, waiting for the series to start up again! :)
+Robert Nielsen Longer for some. I was in boot camp when the conclusion aired.
+Ovrkyl UGH! Thank you for your service, and I hope somebody taped (or recorded ) it somehow, for you! That would've driven me _CRAZY_, being stuck in boot camp when the new season started! :)
Didn't even know that it was the last episode of the season. Tuned in next week.... rerun... the next week rerun... I was in such denial.
spencell I was not an avid fan as of yet, so I had no idea it was the end of a season, until I did the same thing lol.....and there was no internet for me to look up when the next episode was. I had to ask my brother a couple weeks later and he told me. LOL what a long summer.
I've never felt so helpless watching a TV show than I did watching part one of the Best of Both Worlds.
Fairplay to Worf, just going in for the rescue without a second thought.
And Data holding Crusher back from following him in. She was always tough and fearless & rarely got to show it. Worf is a Klingon warrior - there’s no way he’s NOT going in. But Data is the only other one here with superhuman strength, and the one here they can’t really assimilate. I like Data trying to protect Crusher from taking on more than she bargained for.
I was 12 when this came on. This is still legendary even three decades later.
Keep in mind this was back when a season ended, especially with a cliffhanger.....it felt like a year until the show returned before we could find out what happens. It was only a few months but my god it felt like forever.
One of the best clifhangers in TV shows ever
Game of Thrones Season 1: I have the most shocking season finale in TV history.
Star Trek TNG Season 3: Bitch, PLEASE!
Now THAT is how you end a season! I remember watching this in May 1990 and being amazed at how this episode drew me in. And I was not an avid fan of TNG at that point, even though I loved TOS. The way this episode ended, making us wait until the following season, was awesome. And it got me to watch more often.
And, at that moment, with the options that he had, Riker did the right thing. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.
No hesitation at all.
This is one of the best episodes ever put on TV. Such a masterpiece.
I always loved the dramatic and menacing variation of the star trek theme at 0:49
“Mr Worf. Fire.”
Dramatic music plays
-5 seconds later-
Happy music plays
Would've been a good time to arrange a downbeat version of the theme song to run instead, huh?
@@TerrenceNowicki They just played the standard ending theme, there wasn't time or any direction to make / play anything else.
love the music in this episode
I like how Shelby gave Riker an intense stare at the end.
She accused him of being unable to take the big decisions but found herself unable to do so. In the end, she looked to him to take the decision she couldn't (to leave Picard behind)
Fantastic writing!
@@chondrinenigmaExactly…she gave him the speech about not being able to make the big call…he snapped her back like a first-year cadet..
I was a senior in high school when this come out. I graduated that year. This episode left me on the edge of my seat that summer. I loved it.
the first time you saw the lazer pointer strapped to Locutus's bald head aim into your TV, that moment is frozen in time
From what I hear, that wasn't even planned. Patrick Stewart just happened to look towards the camera at such an angle that lazer pointer just happened to shine into it.
This was one of the best episodes. I'll never forget the words, "Mr. Warf, Fire!"
The best cliffhanger ever. Period.
DUN DUN DUN! DUN DUN DUN! DUN DUN DUN! DUNNNNNNNNNNNNN
BWEEEL-DAAAA-DA-DA-DAAAA-DA-DA-DAAAAAAAA
lulz
One of the best cliffhangers that tv has ever seen. Easily top 3. And I don't know what the other 2 are
"I am Locutus of Borg. Your life, as it has been, is over. From this time forward, you will service...us."
"Mr. Worf? Fire."
"TO BE CONTINUED..."
Everything about this ending is perfect. Jean Luc’s reveal and the feelings of despair from his trusted officers. The desperation to bring him back, yet Riker’s firm and quick decision making that shows he is more than perfect for command if needed. The cut to black and the dread of anybody that watched this live realizing that they had to wait an entire summer break for a resolution long before serial programming existed in mainstream shows in the US outside of soap operas
I saw this episode when it was originally aired. When I went to work, I found that several coworkers hadn't seen it, so I told them to have their supper break when the local station rebroadcasted it. It was fun to hear them all react to when they saw the "To Be Continued" prompt.
I've heard a lot of people talk crap about Frakes' acting at the end of this episode. They claim he was not reacting as he should have given that his captain and friend had been taken over. Somehow they forget that part of a Commander's training is to never show themselves being stressed out or becoming unraveled
I think this is actually one of his best acting moments. Everyone else on the bridge reacted emotionally as you'd expect, but Frakes as Riker became the captain the ship NEEDED him to be in that very moment. I can rewatch just his "Mr Worf, fire" line endlessly.
I was nine when this aired and it BLEW MY MIND!
So lucky
I remember exactly where I was when Locutus' eye laser hit me out of our 32" Zenith
On the couch?
I pretty much screamed at the TV set when they left us hanging there. I thought: "Holy fuck! I gotta wait some three and a half months to see how this plays out? Noooo!"
Remember watching this when it aired, and not many (if any) TV cliffhangers since then have effected the same feelings in me. They really captured the moment perfectly; the buildup throughout the episode, the look of shock on the other character's face (even Data), then the panning camera and the score building up to Riker uttering the immortal words "Mr Worf ............................... Fire". One of the things I liked was the parallel between Riker and Picard here; Picard has been effectively drained of all emotion by the Borg and speaks his words in an icy and almost robotic way. Riker has been reluctantly thrust into the command position and - forced to make a critical command decision - has to remove his own emotions from the equation and do what's right for humanity; saying his words in a similarly anesthetized manner. It's a great face-off between the two ships.
Worf: we're being hailed by the borg
Ryker: onscreen, but wait until I walk all the way to the middle of the bridge, and strike a handsome pose.....
30+ years later that ending music still sends a chill down my spine.
While I prefer the original series over TNG, I have to say I literally will stop what I'm doing to watch this episode, one of the best Star Trek episodes of all time!
This has to be the best cliffhanger of all time.
Oh to be a fly on the wall of any random Trekkie's living room when "To Be Continued" popped up.
We would have squashed you in anger ....
The music really makes it exciting and tense
this is the best star trek the next generation episode ever!
Still gives me goosebumps after all these years
I remember watching this episode and thinking "holy shit". The next season couldn't get here soon enough. Which if it was today would be almost a year later. Thankfully it was only around 3 months. Awesome cliff hanger.
It was THE BEST! I'll never forget this episode and that summer of 1990
I was going out of my mind the whole time waiting to find out what would happen. To me this was light years better than Who Shot J.R.!!!
Not only had to wait for Pt 2, but that summer had the first teaser trailer of Terminator 2! Had to wait a whole year for that one!
darthnobleful I don't think it was bad either. Riker is the man who always had a hell of a poker face when it came to anything, as was shown throughout the entire run of the series. That was Riker's MO, and to keep it there, was one hell of a feat for the character, and for that matter, for Frakes.
Easily one of the greatest TV episodes ever made
Cliffhanger, when the summer was long!
ROFL!
Shaka, when the walls fell!!
Underrated comment!
The greatest 3 minutes of Star Trek ever made.
That final piece of music..... just goosebumps. EVERY TIME!
Funny thing... I saw this in my teens and that was the longest summer ever. Fast forward to college, and I had an optional in my semester, so I took TV and Film studies. This exact cliffhanger was used as an example of "creating immense tension without resolution," aka a cliffhanger, and I even did a paper on it, because even to this day... it's still one of, if not THE, best cliffhanger not just in sci-fi, but in all of TV and film combined.
First saw BOBW on Virgin 1 in 2008. Even though I knew what happened and part 2 would be shown the next day, this cliffhanger still gave me chills. The same thing happens every time I watch the DVD. Dunno if it's Ron Jones' epic score, Locutus' chilling speech or both, but damn this is the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers. I can only imagine how people who watched this episode for the first time back 1990 reacted. They must have been yelling at their tellys!
I can imagine, because I was one of them. My brother and I took it fine, but his wife screamed "SHITTTT!" when "To be continued" appeared.
my young daughter was glued to this,her eyes when Picard got assimilated,,what a great tv show
I remember the cliffhanger well:
'To be continued... I'll have to wait till next week'
"That was the last in the present series"
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if you show this to any kid who never watched star trek before they would just be like okay next episode please.
I remember when I first saw this. I rented it from my local library as a kid (I was just starting to get into Star Trek at that point, particularly TNG) I watched the episode, was blown away by the cliffhanger, then quickly rushed to my library to pick up part 2, but guess what? They didn't have it. It was declared "missing". I had to wait a full three years before I finally stumbled upon part 2 on TV by accident. Those were the days when you had to wait to get what you wanted... good times...
my history with this episode was well i watched it as a kid but i think the show was in syndication so i porbably had to wait a week for the next episode maybe i actually do not recall if i watched this episode as a rerun or as it aired lol i was born 1988 for reference(deep space nine episodes were porbably more when i started watching it as aired sort off?) i know voyager i watched relgiously for 7 years.
That red light...eeerie. This made for a very long summer that year!
1st trek episode i ever watched in my life as a kid.i was flicking through the channels and came upon this ending scene and was like "holy shit!,the captains a cyborg?".
and ever since then i've been a trekkie
I'm not really a 'Trekkie' kinda guy, but this episode and the follow-up was an absolute roller-coaster.
29 years ago today. The best cliffhanger in television history.
while I am glad Picard wasn't killed off but I wonder how drastically would have had Riker been permanent commanding officer.
@ 1:16 damn even worf looks highly depressed and broken after he returns. You never see that in a Klingon :(
...and THAT'S how you ruin people's summer.
I remember watching this when it came out, and when the TBC came up, I remember yelling, "ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!"
This is probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest cliff hangers of all time. My mum and i couldn't believe it!
EPIC CLIFFHANGER 30 YEARS LATER.
The score for the cliffhanger will remain one of the best in the history of Television.
Hands down the best cliff hanger in trek history
One of the greatest TV cliffhangers ever.
Shelby told Riker "If you can't make the big decisions commander, I suggest you make way for someone who can." At 2:05 we see the first signs that Riker is in fact capable of making the big decisions when he says that they must use the deflector and not make another attempt to rescue Picard. The look on Shelby's face when Riker tells Worf to ignore Shelby's order to contact Admiral Hansen is classic. Riker's best moment in the entire series. I love watching Riker put that arrogant ass Shelby in her place.
She was an interesting character, though, and it was disappointing she never showed up again. She probably would've fit in to the Dominion arc well, for instance.
Riker: Mr. Worf, fire.
(Weapon fails)
Riker: …Mr. Worf, you’re fired.
To watch this when it first aired, the suspense.. Mixed with rumors that Patric Stewarts contract was being re-negotiated .. I was 10, and I never ever will forget me jumping up and down lika a mad-man, screaming !