265: Masks

"Masks."   The season seven episode "Masks" is often seen as one of the worst episodes of The Next Generation, but it does have its fans that love its unorthodox storytelling style.  Written by Joe Menosky, who is well-known for his frequently unusual Star Trek episodes, "Masks" has a lot of layers and interpretations to explore. In this episode of Earl Grey, hosts Amy Nelson and Justin Oser are joined by guest Christopher D. Littlefield to talk about The Next Generation episode "Masks." The discussion includes talking about Joe Menosky's original concept, Data as a conduit for multiple characters, how we interpret the story being told, whether the episode is actually like a video game, and much more! This is an in-depth conversation and we think you'll enjoy the discussion, whether or not you're a fan of "Masks."   Chapters Intro (00:00:00) Listener Feedback (00:01:57)  Welcome, Chris! (00:07:17) Chris' Star Trek Story (00:07:41) Initial Thoughts on "Masks" (00:09:37) Joe Menosky and the Original Concept (00:14:37) Very Old Archive (00:20:44) Ship Transformation (00:24:43) Data as a Character Conduit (00:29:27) The Story Being Played Out (00:33:33) Video Games, Picard, Troi, and Art Classes (00:40:34) The Masks That We Wear (00:51:20) Final Thoughts (00:58:41)    Closing (01:07:28)  Runtime: 1 hour 13 minutes 6 seconds Hosts Justin Oser Amy Nelson GuestChristopher D. Littlefield   Production Justin Oser (Editor and Producer) Amy Nelson (Producer) Richard Marquez (Producer) Tony Robinson (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Michael E Hueter (Associate Producer) Thomas Appel (Associate Producer) Justin Oser (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Tony Robinson (Show Art) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)