A coworker in his sixties once lamented to me that his eleven year old son had just "discovered" ACDC. This was around 2015. He was a big funk, R&B, and early hip-hop fan who was also pretty knowledgable about the classic 80s and 90s rock but, despite his love of George Clinton bands, couldn't get on board with ACDC's amateurish innuendo lyrics.

I understand that. I was probably also around eleven when my family was spending a couple of days with one of my mom's coworkers. The coworker had two kids who were slightly older than me but not so much older that I felt the need to look up to them, nor did they find me annoying.  While our parents drank, we were in the basement, which doubled as their bedroom, watching A Clockwork Orange, which none of our parents would have approved of. 

We must have been eating and drinking solid sugar because the two of them were actually bouncing when the movie was over, and they put on Back In Black. I had probably heard a couple of ACDC songs on MTV or at a friends' house but my parents definitely didn't then and still don't listen to Stephen King's favorite rock band. I thought some of the songs were really good and when I, at around age thirteen, scammed Columbia House for cheap albums, I got two or three ACDC albums. I hated them.

I'm definitely a Greatest Hits fan of ACDC, not a true fan. Many of their songs have the same effect on me and I don't think they evolved in any interesting way between when I first encountered Back In Black and when I stopped seeing their more modern songs on MTV in the late 90s/early 2000s. So this is a very mainstream radio friendly One Album Discography of a band that I'm not super into but which was very important to rock history and who have a few unignorable bangers.

1. For Those About To Rock
It's probably weird for an ACDC album to start with synthesizers instead of guitar riffs, and to slowly build to the heavy sound, but that's how I roll when putting together most of these reimagined albums. Neither their best nor their loudest song, I just love the chorus on this and how it has a more jangly sound than anything that follows. The weird repeated breakdown/canon fire section about 2/3rds of the way through is late 70s/early 80s metal gold. 

2. It's A Long Way To The Top
There's almost a country rock vibe at the beginning of this track. It was years before I realized this was an ACDC song. I don't know who I thought it was or why I didn't recognize it. I had heard quite a few of the Bon Scott-era songs but I just couldn't place the vocalist, probably because I was so distracted by how a country sounding metal song is suddenly invaded by relentless bagpipes. I do feel like these first two tracks are kind of a cheat, since they're both about rock and roll and contain almost no middle-school innuendo but, and this is rare for me, I prefer their self-referential songs to their dick jokes.

3. You Shook Me All Night Long
Here comes the sex songs! This is an absolutely basic classic rock radio staple. This has been in so many movies, TV shows, commercials, and it's been played so many times while I've shopped in stores that I'm not sure whether I like it or I'm just accustomed to it. 

4. Thunderstruck
I'm certain I enjoy Thunderstruck. The wild guitar lick while a chorus of men do a little sport chant until the lead vocals come in is First Class 70s/80s Arena Rock, so imagine my surprise to find that this is from 1990. The middle of the song is just standard classic rock but that opening minute is worth the price of admission.

5. TNT
Prime 1970s radio metal. The main guitar riff is just a clean riff you might hear in a Joan Jett song. The verses are typical braggadocio about how good at sex the singer is but, honestly, it's top tier sex braggadocio. It's not clever, it's just catchy and not terrible. And the underlying ois are so sing-alongable. The descent into guitar madness at the end works in the song's favor, too.

6. Who Made Who
Stephen King has been singing the praises of ACDC for decades. Rightfully, so. This song, the title track from an album that doubled as the soundtrack for one of King's more memorable, if not necessarily good, movies: Maximum Overdrive. This is another case of a song that I know many of the words to, and bop my head along to but I'm not sure if I like it or if it just happened to play on the radio frequently when I was just getting into harder rock.

7. Highway To Hell
How do you not bop your head to the guitar riffs on this song? The catchy, adolescent rebellion chorus is a classic for a reason.  It also descends into guitar madness near the end before we get one more Highway To Hell.

8. Hard As A Rock
I'd guess this isn't on many peoples' Best Of ACDC list. It's a typical innuendo-based song with a solid but not Earth-shattering riff. It just happened to come out when I was watching a lot of MTV. It's not a legendary track but it's better than just album-filler. I do like the somewhat jangly riff that is mostly under the surface of the main crunch for most of the song.

9. Hell's Bells
The title-necessitated bells and the lead guitar could have made this a hit without any vocals. When the vocals come in, they're great, but this one is driven mostly the Young brothers, and whoever rang those bells.

10. Dirty Deeds Done Cheap
Decades ago, a friend who was the lead singer of a hardcore band told the story about hearing this song when he was really young, and how he used to wail "Dirty deeds and the Dunder Chief!" I can definitely hear that interpretation. This is one the band's all-time best. John Popper of Blues Traveler used to play the harmonica so blisteringly, you'd swear it was a guitar. The guitar in the middle of this track, conversely, is so blistering, you'd swear it was a harmonica. The chanting on the way to the outro is also magic.

11. Let There Be Rock
I thought I closed out this reimagineed album with a great counterpoint to the opening track. Another rock song about rock. This one is a bit heavier with a couple of epic breakdowns scattered through its six minute length. Along with "Devil Went Down To Georgia", this has to be one of the best ever songs presenting lyrics as a religious fable. As much as I loved it, I realized there was a better closer.

12. Back In Black
The clicky intro, the strummy, percussive guitar parts, the way Bon Scott makes the word back have five syllables. I tend to end rock albums with ballads but I can't think of an ACDC ballad that works as well as a closer than this absolute scorcher of a finisher.

I think this album contains all the songs I'd reasonably listen to when I'm in the mood for ACDC. But were I to make a second album, I couldn't really go in-depth about my choices but it would probably be:

1. If You Want Blood (You've Got It)
2. Whole Lotta Rosie
3. Demon Fire
4.Sink The Pink​
5. Touch Too Much
6. Kick You When You're Down
7. Nervous Shakedown
8. Livewire
9. Rock & Roll Train
10. Have A Drink On Me
11. The Jack

Having been watching Doctor Who on and off but mostly off for the last forty years, I am excited by the current re-re-rebooted series featuring the fourteenth and fifteenth doctors. After a divisive Twelfth Doctor, and a Thirteenth Doctor who was, herself, very interesting and entertaining, but whose overall storyarc was less than satisfying, I'm relieved to be optimistic about the show, even if it still had a couple of clunker episodes.

I've already done a How To Watch Doctor Who project that focuses just on the great episodes, and how to watch them in order for most enjoyment.

This is something different.

If you love continuity, you're going to either want to skip this one or watch it very, very closely. This is Doctor Who told incredibly out of order. Each series will have a theme and/or a complex storyline. Each season will use multiple Doctors and companions, and will rarely (but not never) follow their adventures in such a way that you see a companion's growth as a character.

I did this, not just because I think it's fun to try and experience the series in a new way but I offer this to people who haven't watched Doctor Who, who would like to see some of the old episodes but can't stomach watching the 20th century episodes for several months in order to get to the modern stuff. We start modern and bop around so that you're never stuck in the black and white era or the 4,000 minute long serial era for very long.

The first season is all about learning who The Doctor is. He's a seemingly somewhat immortal time traveler, and when he gets really ill, he regenerates into an entirely different looking/behaving person who tend to have a sort of temporary amnesia. We're going to be introduced to the first thirteen Doctors (except 4) in this season, out of order, usually including their first episodes where they are unsure what kind of person they are and struggle to get a handle on their new personas.

101. Blink
(10, Martha, Weeping Angels)

Some argue that this a terrible introduction to Doctor Who because The Doctor is hardly in it. That's why I enjoy it as an entryway. This is a fun sci-fi/horror story with a mysterious character who we're soon going to get to know. And there are really imaginative monster antagonists.


​102 & 103. The Family Of Blood / Human Nature
(10, Martha)

Now we find out who The Doctor i---oh, The Doctor has to go into hiding during World War One. His companion is there watching over him but racism is making things difficult. As are aliens.


104. Time Heist
(12, Clara)

An entirely different face of The Doctor and a new companion find themselves in the middle of a bank heist with no memory of how they got involved and what their aims are. They puzzle it out as shenanigans unravel around them.


105. The Woman Who Fell To Earth
(13, Ryan, Yasmin, Graham)

Another another face for The Doctor. This time a woman who acknowledges she was just a raving Scotsman. She meets a new crew of potential companions tracking down a monster who appears to be hunting humans for...teeth?


106. The Invasion (episodes 2, 7 & 8)
(2, Jamie, Zoe, Brigadier, Cybermen)

It's Cybermen vs UNIT (we are meeting both for the first time), as a black and white era Doctor must make military alliances on Earth to keep it from being destroyed.


107. War Games (episodes 1, 9 & 10)
(2, Jamie, Zoe, Timelords)

Yet another face of The Doctor and a couple of his companions find themselves in the midst of a very confusing war. Just as they begin to sort everything out and plot their escape they're taken to The Doctor's home planet where they are separated, and we learn a little bit about how The Doctor's face keeps changing.


108. Spearhead From Space
(3, Brigadier, Liz, Autons)

Picking up from the previous episode for the first time, we meet a new and confused face of The Doctor and see him interact with someone who was familiar with a previous face. We also meet the Autons, an odd race of mannequins.


109. Terror Of The Autons
(3, Brigadier, Jo, Mike, Autons, The Master)

More mannequins! More Brigadier! The introduction of a very important villain who also appears to be a Time Lord.


110. Rose
(9, Rose, Mickey, Jackie, Autons)

This is probably the last time we'll see The Autons. It's much further down The Doctor's timeline, and they're targeting London. Once again, there's a new face of The Doctor, and he's trying to get a hold on who he is.


111. The Christmas Invasion
(10, Rose, Mickey, Jackie, Harriet Jones)

Oh, hey, we're back to the very first face of The Doctor we met this season. Only, oooh, this is his first adventure. Is it those damned mannequins again? Luckily, we have three companions from the last episode to help a seemingly exhausted Doctor remember who he is and what he should be doing: saving Earth from aliens! 


112. The Eleventh Hour
(12, Amy, Rory)

Another another another face of The Doctor, also confused, lands on Earth and discovers cracks on a young girl's wall. We also see for the first time several of the faces he's already had on this weird journey.


113. & 114. The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood
(12, Amy, Rory, Silurians)

The Doctor's companions from the last adventure join him on a drilling expedition where they go too far beneath The Earth's surface and get involved in interspecies warfare.


115. Vincent & The Doctor
(12, Amy)

After the previous episode's events, The Doctor takes Amy to visit one of Earth's greatest painters.


116 & 117. Silence In The Library / Forest Of The Dead
(10, Donna, River)

Back to our original Doctor. He and a friend are drawn to a library where an expedition has arrived to research why there are no people there. One of the members of the expedition seems to know The Doctor but he has no idea who she is.


118. Time Crash / Castrovalva
(10, 5, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan, The Master)

This is a fun, weird continuity floof. Our friend the 10th Doctor runs into a face we haven't met yet (The Fifth Doctor), and they suss each other out. Then we follow The Fifth Doctor into his first adventure where he wakes up surrounded by companions who know him but, as we're becoming accustomed to, he isn't sure who he is or what he should be doing. Oh, and The Master is around, which is annoying.


119. The Enemy Within
(7, 8, The Master)

Two new faces in one! The Seventh Doctor has The Master's remains, and is trying to determine what to do with them when, of course, something goes awry that ends up causing The Doctor to regenerate in America where everything is a teensy bit darker and more violent.


120. The Fugitive Of The Judoon
(13, Yasmin, Ryan, Graham, Judoon, Fugitive)

And now we're back to the Steampunk Doctor. A military alien race has quarantined Earth as they search for a criminal who, you're never going to believe this, turns out to be Another face of The Doctor.


121.  The Two Doctors
(6, 2, Jamie, Peri, Sontarans)

Another multiple Doctor affair sees some Sontarans and some Earthlings and some other rogue aliens teaming up. One of the alien races is always searching for new and more refined culinary experiences and they bring a very silly element to an otherwise grave situation.


122. War Of The Sontarans
(13, Yasmin, Dan, Sontarans)

There's not a silly culinary alien in sight when The Sontarans due to some weird timey-wimey scenario, end up on Earth during World War One and therefore on Earth for the entirety of the 20th and 21st century? Steampunk Doctor must try and correct a very jumbled history. 


123. & 124. The Time Meddler
(1, Vicki, Steve)

Reaching way back into the black and white era, we see The Doctor and his companions have to deal with The Monk, another time traveler who is messing up history by exposing ancient civilizations to twentieth century technology.


125. Heaven Sent
(12)

It's just The Doctor. Trapped in a puzzle, he must figure out not only how to escape but why he's there but every time a mysterious entity reaches him, he is dissolved and has to start the quest over. It's a phenomenal episode and shows exactly who The Doctor is when he's focused and against insurmountable odds.

2020 was a serious drag. Pandemic, another terrible American election, Brexit kept getting somehow worse, it might have made you want to lock yourself in your house, if you weren't in fact mandated to stay in your house because of a plague.

The Thunderdome era featured WWE piping in fan noise and having walls of iPads showing fans who were watching online. NXT, AEW, and Impact just had very limited audiences, usually made up of non-competing wrestlers and personalities. 

While this was a bit of a bummer, most of the companies found creative ways to entertain, including cinematic matches, and a ton of stipulations.

The biggest story to come out of this is The Bloodline Saga, which is somehow still going on, over four years later.

Starring: Roman Reigns, Bayley, Sasha Banks, Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley), Chris Jericho, Rhea Ripley, MJF, Finn Balor, Drew McIntyre, Cody Rhodes, Asuka, Io Sky, Rey Mysterio, Kenny Omega, Hikaru Shida, FTR, Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, Hangman Page, Daniel Bryan, Darby Allin, AJ Styles, Shaemus, Brodie Lee

2001. The Silent Wrestlemania

The first live sporting event during the pandemic era was Wrestlemania. Bookended by a couple of cinematic matches, we have a series of matches without an audience. It's a huge departure from typical WWE production but it was a welcome distraction when everyone was stuck at home. Both of these cinematic matches were wild, and they're very different tones from one another. The Firefly Funhouse Match being more of a skit than a match while The Boneyard Match was a stunt-focused brawl. Usually I end one of these fictional seasons with a superstar's final match, but this season we begin with what is, hopefully, the last ever Undertaker match. It was the perfect sendoff for him.

Announcers: Michael Cole, JBL, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Titus O'Neill, Greg Hamilton, Mike Rome

1. Bray Wyatt (as The Fiend) vs John Cena in a Firefly Funhouse Match
2. Becky Lynch (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Shayna Baszler
3. Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins in a No DQ Match
4. Miz & Morrison (Smackdown Tag Champs) vs Heavy Machinery
5. Goldberg (WWE Universal Champ) vs Braun Stroman
6. Bayley (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Sasha Banks vs Naomi vs Tamina vs Lacey Evans

7. Dolph Ziggler vs Otis
8. Brock Lesnar (WWE Champ) vs Drew McIntyre
9. Undertaker vs AJ Styles in a Boneyard Match

2002. Money On The Roof

Some solid matches sans audience, including a surprise cinematic tag team match, and two Money In The Banks matches happening simultaneously in WWE headquarters. The cinematic matches are pretty silly but entertaining.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Greg Hamilton, Mike Rome, Howard Finkel

​​1. Bayley (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Tamina
2. Jeff Hardy vs Cesaro
3. Drew McIntyre (WWE Champ) vs Seth Rollins
5. Street Profits (Raw Tag Team Champs) vs Viking Raiders
6. Edge vs Randy Orton

7. Womens Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Asuka, Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, Carmella, Lacey Evans, Dana Brooke

8. Mens Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Rey Mysterio vs Daniel Bryan vs AJ Styles vs Malakai Black (as Aleister Black) vs Baron Corbin vs Otis

2003. NXT In Your House

The first pandemic-era NXT show is a super throwback to the early 90s cheese that was In Your House. The matches, however, are totally 2020 barn burners.  The women in this match are the future (or in Charlotte's case, the present) of the WWE main roster, while most of the men in this episode will be AEW bound in the not so distant future.

Announcers: Todd Pettingill, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Tom Phillips, Alicia Taylor

1. Mia Yim, Shotzi Blackheart & Tegan Nox vs Dakota Kai, Candace LeRae & Raquel Gonzalez

2. Finn Balor vs Damien Priest
3. Keith Lee (NXT North American Champ) vs Johnny Gargano
4. Charlotte Flair (NXT Womens Champ) vs Rhea Ripley vs Iyo Sky (as Io Shirai)
5. Finn Balor vs Cameron Grimes
6. Roderick Strong vs Johnny Gargano vs Bronson Reed
7. Adam Cole (NXT Champ) vs Keith Lee (NXT North American Champ)

2004. Stadium Stampede

AEW begins the season in style with their version of Money in The Bank, followed by some killer individual matches, leading up to the absolute mayhem of the ten person, no rules match taking place in an empty football stadium. It's bananatown. Plus, Mike Tyson returns for the first time in fifteen years. Luckily for all involved, he doesn't wrestle this time, either.

​Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Justin Roberts

1. Casino Ladder Match
Darby Allin, Colt Cabana, Orange Cassidy, Joey Janela, Scorpio Sky, Kip Sabian, Frankie Kazarian, Brian Cage, and Luchasaurus

2. MJF vs Jack Perry (as Jungle Boy)
3. Cody Rhodes vs Lance Archer for inaugural TNT Championship
4. Nyla Rose (AEW Womens Champ) vs Hikaru Shida
5. Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley)  (AEW Champ) vs Brodie Lee
6. The Elite vs The Inner Circle in a Stadium Stampede Match

2005. An Eye For An Eye, 2020

The stipulation for the second match on this card is ludicrous but the match before it is great. We also see Asuka get two shots at two different womens titles, and it turns out that the climax to the Otis/Ziggler feud is actually Mandy Rose vs Sonya Deville. Plus, Baby Bastard Dominik Mysterio gets his first singles match, fifteen years after he debuted on Raw (as a child/prop).

Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Greg Hamilton, Mike Rome

1. Apollo Crews (US Champ) vs Andrade
2. Seth Rollins vs Rey Mysterio in an Eye For An Eye Match 
3. Drew McIntyre (WWE Champ) vs Dolph Ziggler
4. Mandy Rose vs Sonya Deville in a Loser Leaves WWE Match
5. Bayley (Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Asuka
5. Seth Rollins vs Dominik Mysterio in a Street Fight
6. Sasha Banks (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Asuka
7. Drew McIntyre (WWE Champ) vs Randy Orton

2006. All Under One Roof, 2020

The Thunderdome era really kicks off with the return of Roman Reigns and the seeds of The Bloodline storyline which will dominate the WWE for over four years. We also build the Mysterio storyline which is super tame at this point but is going to get wild down the line. This also marks the last time we'll see The Fiend, and the last time that we'll see Braun Stroman for quite a while. Both had matches after the one in this episode but none ended up being worth a watch.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Beth Phoenix, Tom Phillips, Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett, Samoa Joe, Charly Caruso, Kayla Braxton, Greg Hamimlton, Mike Rome

1. Big E vs Sheamus
2. The Golden Role Models (WWE Womens Tag Champs) vs Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax
​3. Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy
4. Bray Wyatt (as The Fiend) (WWE Universal Champ) vs Roman Reigns & Braun Stroman
5. Rhea Ripley vs Mercedes Martinez in a Steel Cage
6. Iyo Sky (as Io Shirai) (NXT Womens Champ) vs Shotzi Blackheart 
7. Drew McIntyre (WWE Champ) vs Randy Orton in an Ambulance Match

2007. You've Got To Fyte For Your Ryte To Party, 2020

Don't think that because we've had five WWE-centric matches, and this is only our second AEW match that this speaks to the quality of either company. WWE just never took a break when the pandemic hit, whereas AEW took a month to figure out what to do. When they came back, every one of their weekly shows was a monster. Pay-per-view level shows on a weekly basis. Very little story but a lot of great wrestling. FTR (the Revival from NXT and WWE) show up and suddenly AEW has every good tag team in the US besides New Day and The Usos. The title scenes were all banging, too. 

Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Chris Jericho, Justin Roberts


1. FTR vs The Butcher & The Blade
2. Cody Rhodes (AEW TNT Champ) vs Marq Quen
3. MJF & Wardlow vs Jurassic Express
4. Hikaru Shida (AEW Womens Champ) vs Penelope Ford
5. Cody Rhodes (AEW TNT Champ) vs Jake Haeger
6. Hangman Page & Kenny Omega (AEW Tag Team Champs) vs Private Party
7. Young Bucks & FTR vs Lucha Bros & The Butcher & The Blade
8. Chris Jericho vs Orange Cassidy

2008. Mimosa Mayhem

A ridiculous stipulation match gives its name to this episodes but this is mainly about John Moxley's title run in AEW, as well as continuing to see the rise of MJF. And, as is usual for 2019/2020/2021 AEW, a bunch of excellent tag team matches.

Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Tazz, Justin Roberts

1. The Elite vs Jurassic Express
2. Cody Rhodes (AEW TNT Champ) vs Eddie Kingston
3. Dean Ambrose (as John Moxley) (AEW Champ) vs Darby Allin
4. Young Bucks vs Jurassic Express
5. Hangman Page & Kenny Omega (AEW Tag Team Champs) vs FTR
6. Chris Jericho vs Orange Cassidy in Mimosa Mayhem
7. Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley) (AEW Champ) vs MJF

2009. Top Tier, 2020

The birth of the Bloodline storyline gets all the headlines this season but the Smackdown Women's Championship is also a highlight. We get two matches between the former Golden Role Model teammates, and then a preview of future title contenders. Plus, the second of two incredible stipulation title matches between Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Kayla Braxton, Charly Caruso, Mike Hamilton, Greg Rome

1. Jeff Hardy (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs AJ Styles vs Sami Zayn
2.Bayley (Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Sasha Banks in Hell In A Cell
3. Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Champ) vs Jey Uso  in an I Quit Match
4. Drew McIntyre (WWE Champ) vs Randy Orton in Hell In A Cell
5. Sasha Banks (Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Bayley

2010. Championship Horror Show

​The Bloodline story continues, as Jey Uso struggles to maintain his position in the family. Plus, several excellent tag team matches, and Sasha Banks's spectacular run as Smackdown Womens Champion.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe, Pat McAfee, Tom Phillips, Kayla Braxton, Mike Rome, Greg Hamilton

1. Street Profits (Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs New Day (Raw Tag Team Champs)
2. Sasha Banks (Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Asuka (Raw Womens Champ)
3. Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Champ) vs Drew McIntyre (WWE Champ)
4. Sasha Banks (Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Carmella
5. Roman Reigns & Jey Uso vs Kevin Owens & Otis
6. New Day (Raw Tag Team Champs) vs The Hurt Business
5. Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Champ) vs Kevin Owens in a TLC Match

2011. Halloween Havoc Rises From The Grave

The Pandemic Era of NXT took a while to get to interesting stories but they wasted no time with high quality matches. Finn Balor returned to NXT, Iyo Sky (as Iyo Shirai) absolutely dominated the women's division, and Damien Priest and Gunther (as Walter) continued their inevitable ascents to the main roster.

Announcers: Corey Graves, Beth Phoenix, Wade Barret, Vic Joseph, Alicia Taylor

1. Finn Balor vs Timothy Thatcher
2. Iyo Sky (as Iyo Shirai) (NXT Womens Champ) vs Shotzi Blackheart
3. Bronson Reed vs. Cameron Grimes vs. Damien Priest vs. Velveteen Dream vs. Johnny Gargano in a Ladder Match for the North American Championship

4. Iyo Sky (as Iyo Shirai) (NXT Womens Champ) vs Candace LeRae in a TLC Match
5. Finn Balor (NXT Champ) vs Kyle O'Reilly
6. Iyo Sky (as Iyo Shirai) (NXT Womens Champ) vs Rhea Ripley
7. Gunther (as Walter) vs Ilja Dragunov

2012. Late Night Dynamite

Luke Harper of the Wyatt Family moved to AEW and became Mister Brodie Lee. We see a trio of matches involving him here. Also, MJF continues to be a turd, and Proud & Powerful and The Best Friends go to war over a van owned by one of The Best Friends' mom.

Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Taz, Excalibur, Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, Justin Roberts

1. The Elite & FTR vs The Dark Order
2. Hangman Page vs Frankie Kazarian
3. Best Friends vs Proud & Powerful in a Parking Lot Brawl
4. Cody Rhodes (TNT Champ) vs Luke Harper (as Brodie Lee)
5. Darby Allin vs Ricky Starks
6. FTR (AEW Tag Team Champs) vs SoCalU
7. Luke Harper (TNT Champ) vs Cody Rhodes
8. Wardlow vs Hangman Page

2013. Takeover Vengeance Day

Stipulations abound in this satisfyingly violent episode. The Cameron Grimes/Dexter Lumis feud is a weird blast, and we get two War Games matches. Oh yea, and a rematch between Iyo Sky and Rhea Ripley.

Announcers: Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph, Wade Barret, Alicia Taylor

1. Cameron Grimes vs Dexter Lumis in a Blindfold Match
2. Iyo Sky (as Io Shirai) (NXT Womens Champ) vs Rhea Ripley
3. Womens War Game Match
Toni Storm, Dakota Kai, Candace LeRae, and Raquel Gonzalez vs Iyo Sky, Rhea Ripley, Ember Moon, and Shotzi Blackheart

4. Cameron Grimes vs Dexter Lumis in a Strap Match
5. Mens War Game Match
The Undisputed Era vs Pat McAfee, Pete Dunne, Danny Burch, and Oney Lorcan

2014. An Actual November Worth Remembering

Several stellar matches lead up to the biggest return in wrestling up to this point in history. I was going to say "ever" but there is a bigger return on the horizon. This one was still pretty cool, though.

Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Tazz, Excalibur, Don Callis, Kenny Omega, Chris Jericho, Justin Roberts

1. Hangman Page vs Kenny Omega
2. Cody Rhodes (AEW TNT Champ) vs Darby Allin
3. FTR (AEW Tag Team Champs) vs Young Bucks
4. Chris Jericho vs MJF
5. Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley) (AEW Champ) vs Eddie Kingston in an I Quit Match
6. Team Taz vs Cody Rhodes & Darby Allin

2015. Head Of The Tables, Ladders & Chairs

Sami Zayn reenters the headlining scene in this episode as a conspiracy theorizing madman desperate for a title. We also see Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns continuing their epic rivalry. The highlight, though, is the Women's Royal Rumble, which put the men's version to shame. This is also the last time we may ever see Big E wrestle, as he had his neck broken in a botched move not too long after this match.

Announcers: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe, Tom Phillips, Greg Hamilton, Mike Rome

1. Drew McIntyre vs AJ Styles in a TLC Match
2. Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Champ) vs Kevin Owens in a Cage Match
3. The Dirty Dawgs (Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs Daniel Bryan & Caesaro
4. Big E (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Sami Zayn vs Apollo Crews
5. Womens Royal Rumble Match
Bayley, Naomi, Bianca Belair, Billie Kay, Shotzi Blackheart, Shayna Baszler, Toni Storm, Jillian Hall, Ruby Riott, Victoria, Peyton Royce, Santana Garrett, Liv Morgan, Rhea Ripley, Charlotte Flair, Dana Brooke, Torrie Wilson, Lacey Evans, Mickie James, Nikki Cross, Alicia Fox, Mandy Rose, Dakota Kai, Carmella, Tamina, Lana,  Alexa Bliss, Ember Moon, Nia Jax, Natalya

​2016. Universal Contenders

The pandemic road to Wrestlemania wasn't one of the all-time greats. There was pretty much one story and it was Roman Reigns can't be beat. The Rumble had some fun moments but it's not at all an all-timer, and the Elimination Chamber was a buildup to the absolute squash that was one of the final stops on Daniel Bryan's road to AEW.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Samoa Joe, Greg Hamilton

1. Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Champ) vs Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing Match
2. Mens Royal Rumble
Edge, Randy Orton, Sami Zayn, Mustafa Ali, Jeff Hardy, Dolph Ziggler, Shinsuke Nakamura, Carlito, Xavier Woods, Big E, John Morrison, Ricochet, Elias, Damian Priest, The Miz, Matt Riddle, Daniel Bryan, Kane, Baron Corbin, Otis, Dominik Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, The Hurricane, Christian, AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio, Sheamus, Cesaro, Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman

3. Nia Jax vs Lana in a Tables Match
​4. WWE Universal Contenders Elimination Chamber
Daniel Bryan, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Jey Uso, Baron Corbin

5. Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Champ) vs Daniel Bryan

2017. Hard To Kill

Watching TNA during the pandemic was rough. Their recently crowned First Ever In The World woman as Heavyweight Champ disappeared in a cloud of controversy, unlike AEW and WWE, their set ended up looking like a set of bleachers in a middle school, and their roster just didn't rise to the occasion the way the larger companies did. But it wasn't all bad, and while this was another bumpy era for them, it does provide continuity before they started getting back on the right track.

Announcers: Don Callis, Josh Phillips, Madison Rayne, Matt Stryker, D-Lo Brown, David Penzer

1. The Rascalz vs Motor City Machine Guns
2. Impact Knockout Gauntlet For The Gold
Kylie Rae, Tasha Steelz, Johnny Bravo, Kimber Lee, Kiera Hogan, Susie, Katie Forbes, Madison Rayne, Havok, Taya Valkyrie, Alisha Edwards, Nevaeh, Rosemary, 

3. Eric Young vs Ace Austin vs Trey vs Eddie Edwards vs Rich Swann for vacant Impact Championship

4. Deanno Purrazo (Impact Knockout Champ) vs Su Young
5. TJ Perkins (as Manik) (Impact X Champ) vs Chris Bey vs Rohit Raju
6. Eddie Edwards vs Sami Cahill in a Barbed Wire Match
7. Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers vs Chris Sabin, Rich Swann & Moose

2018. Make Your Moment, 2021

Thunderdome isn't quite over but we do get our first live event of the season for WWE, as Wrestlemania goes to Tampa Bay, and we see two matches in front of an audience of fans for the first time this season. There's a lot of interference and shenanigans in the first two matches but the last three are pure one-on one battles.


1. WWE Championship Elimination Chamber
Drew McIntyre (WWE Champ) vs AJ Styles vs Randy Orton vs Shaemus vs Kofi Kingston vs Jeff Hardy

2. Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Champ) vs Daniel Bryan
3. Shaemus vs Drew McIntyre in a No Holds Barred Match
4. Seth Rollins vs Caesaro
​5. Sasha Banks (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Bianca Belair

2019. Reigning Champions, 2021

The Bloodline continues to dominate. Rhea Ripley climbs to the top of the women's division, and we even see a rare, entertaining Baron Corbin match.

1. Baron Corbin vs Sami Zayn
2. Riddle (WWE US Champ) vs Shaemus
3. Asuka (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Rhea Ripley
​4. Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Champ) vs Daniel Bryan vs Edge
5. Roman Reigns (WWE Universal Champ) vs Daniel Bryan
6. Rhea Ripley (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Charlotte Flair vs Asuka​

2020. Ten Bells For Brodie Lee, 2021

Sadly, John Huber (aka Brodie Lee, aka Luke Harper) was hospitalized for a lung infection shortly after his dog collar match to Cody Rhodes. He never recovered. This episode is bookended by matches where his Dark Order teammates, as well as his former Wyatt Family teammate, Eric Rowan, break from storylines to put on matches that Brodie's son wanted to see. It's very touching. Less touching is that Don Callis from TNA invades AEW bringing several wrestlers from various promotions with him, in order to take down John Moxley.

Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Tazz, Don Callis, Chris Jericho, Justin Roberts

1. Hangman Page & Dark Order vs Inner Circle
2. Dean Ambrose (as John Moxley) (AEW Champ) vs Kenny Omega
3. Hangman Page vs John Silver
4. Kenny Omega (AEW Champ) vs Rey Fenix
5. Dax Harwood vs Jack Perry (as Jungle Boy)
6. Britt Baker (AEW Womens Champ) vs Thunder Rosa
7. Bullet Club vs. Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley) & Death Triangle
8. Brodie Lee's Dream Team vs Team Taz

Last season, we learned some things about the Cardassians and the Ferenghi, as well as meeting the crew of the Cerritos on Lower Decks, and the crew of Voyager​. Now we find out that the real problem for The Federation is actually on the other side of the wormhole as The Founders and the Jem'Hadar enter the fray. Plus, transporter accidents, espionage, and the introduction of the Pakleds!

This is an intensely fun season of stories that weave together seamlessly.

901: Jem'Hadar (DS9)
(Sisko, Jake, Quark, Nog, Odo, Kira, Dax, O'Brien, Bashir)

A father/son bonding trip between Sisko and Jake (as well as Quark and his nephew Nog) goes horribly awry when they are kidnapped by the new Big Bad of Deep Space Nine. Forget the Cardassians, the Jem'Hadar are nonfuckwithable warriors from the other side of the wormhole, and they're about to change the whole feel of the series.


902 & 903: The Search (DS9)
(Sisko, Odo, Quark, Kira,  Bashir, Dax, O'Brien, Garak)

So, it turns out the Jem'Hadar are just soldiers who work for The Founders, and they are the unfuckwithable adversaries for the season. Starfleet uses their newest ship, The Defiant, to try and track them down. But the Jem'Hadar have other plans. Oh, and Odo ends up finally meeting aliens just like him. 


904: A Piece Of The Action (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Chekov)

"City On The Edge Of Forever" took place in New York City, during the Depression. This episode takes place on an alien world, but an alien world that has based their system of government on 1930s Chicago gangster rule. Kirk does a hilariously and probably intentionally bad gangster accent for most of the episode. This is a truly silly episode that encapsulates some of the potential that most of The Original Series aspired to but didn't quite reach.


905: Second Chances (TNG)
(Riker, Laforge, Crusher, Data, Worf,  Troi, Picard)

A transporter accident splits a crew member into two distinct entities which is going to have minor but long-reaching consequences for the entire universe.


906: Cupid's Errant Arrow/Much Ado About Boimler  (LD)
(Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, Mariner, Freeman, Ransom, T'ana, Ramsey, Docent, Barbara)

Mariner suspects Boimler's girlfriend has ulterior motives for liking him. A stressed captain from another ship wishes to transfer to the more borning Cerritos. And sure, some transport accidents give you a cool clone with fake sideburns, but in Lower Decks they make it so that Bornier is slightly out of phase, so he's sent to The Farm for ... a better life? 


907: The Defiant (DS9)
(Riker, Kira, Sisko, Dukat, Bashir, Dax, O'Brien, Quark)

Here's some consequences from "Second Chances" that I wouldn't have predicted: Starfleet has their first cloakable ship and it's been hijacked by one of their own. Erm. Sort of one of their own.


908 & 909: Improbable Cause/Die Is Cast (DS9)
(Garak, Odo, Bashir, Sisko, O'Brien, Dax, Kira, Eddington)

It has been inferred since the beginning of Deep Space Nine, that Garak, a Cardassian tailor, is actually a high ranking spy. So when his shop is blown up under mysterious circumstances, Bashir and Odo delve into his past.


910: The Adversary (DS9)
(Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, Eddington, Jake, Quark, Kira, Odo, Bashir)

Like Odo, The Founders are all changelings, so imagine the damage they could do if they infiltrated Starfleet and Deep Space Nine. Oh, shit, did that already happen?


911:  Doomsday Machine/Veritas (TOS)/(LD)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu)
(Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, Shaxs, Tana, Billups, Q)

After discovering several ravaged star systems, Enterprise encounters The Constellation, another Federation ship, but one that's been badly damaged. Like every Starfleet Captain they encounter, Constellation's has gone cuckoo pants. When the planet killing machine that damaged The Constellation starts to follow The Enterprise, Captain Cuckoo Pants takes over the ship before Kirk can get back on board. The planet killer is deduced to be from an alternate dimension. Wait...so...there are other Star Trek dimensions?

The Cerritos lower decks crew is put on trial to defend the actions of the bridge crew but something is very, very amiss.


912 & 913: Descent (TNG)
(Data, Picard, Riker, Crusher, Worf, LaForge, Troi, Lore, Hugh)

The Borg are back, and a couple of characters we haven't seen for a while resurface and threaten the Federation with imminent destruction.


914. Worst Case Scenario / Crisis Point (VOY)/(LD)
(Paris, Tuvok, Janeway, Torres, Seska, Doctor, Neelix, Les, Kim)

A Holodeck program pits the Starfleet members of Voyager against the Maquis members, and a few members of the crew find themselves trapped in the program.

On the Cerritos, a Holodeck adventure teaches Boimler something the audience has known for a while but will change the relationships between the Lower Decks crew.


915. The Samaritan Snare (TNG)
(Riker, Laforge, Troi, Picard, Wesley, Data, Pulaski, Worf)

Introducing, the Pakleds, an unevolved race that seeks the immediate satisfaction of technology and weapons. But, alas, Picard is away getting surgery, so it's up to Riker, Data, Troi, Worf, and Pulaski to rescue Laforge when the Pakleds take him hostage.


916. Return Of The Archons / No Small Parts (TOS)/(LD)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura)

We go all the way back to OG Kirk/Spock times as the most familiar crew of The Enterprise ends up on a planet where a cult is all prim and proper during the day but at night it's All Purge All The Time. How is this connected to a previous Starfleet mission?

On the Cerritos, we travel from "Return Of The Archons" to "The Samaritan Snare" to "Second Chances" references in this delightful episode where Boimler accidentally reveals a secret he shouldn't know.


917. The Chase (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Worf, Crusher, Troi, Data, Laforge)

It's all about unity when the Federation, The Klingons, The Romulans, and The Cardassians chase down an ancient artifact on a strange planet.


918.  Deadlock (VOY)
(Janeway, Torres, Kes, Doctor, Chakotay, Paris, Neelix)

Two Voyagers? This seems like it could be a problem. Can one Janeway see through the rift in time and save her crew where the other Janway failed?


919 & 920. All Good Things (TNG)
(Picard, Crusher, Troi, Laforge, Worf, Data, Riker, Q, Yar, O'Brien)

Picard is having memory problems causing us to bounce around the Star Trek timeline a bit more than usual.

2019 was an absolutely crucial year for wrestling, and we didn't really appreciate it. Yes, AEW's arrival and first year as a full fledged rival to WWE was always going to be important, and they did a great job of quicky becoming the most competitive alternative to WWE since WCW started circling the drain in 1999. It did help that 2019 was an atrocious year for WWE's Raw, Smackdown, and main roster Pay-Per-Views as nobody's favorite demented grandpa, Vince McMahon was chock full of terrible ideas and unwilling to listen to his employees, all of whom could have done a better job booking.

What we couldn't have known was just how bad 2020 was going to be. Not because of wrestling but because, you know, a worldwide pandemic shut pretty much everything down. The NBA and NHL were the first sports organizations to announce the cancellation of their seasons, and Major League Baseball ended up delaying their season four months due to COVID-19.

WWE didn't even take a week off. We'll get to that next season.

I mention it because I usually end these seasons with a major retirement or the ending to a major storyline. The retirement of Ric Flair, the retirement of Shawn Michaels, the end of The Undertaker's streak. This season ends with the last match in 2020 with fan attendance. This unfortunate break will mean that next season looks very different for WWE, for NXT, for AEW, for ROH, for Impact, and for the NWA. 

This season also features NXT being recognized not just as the minor leagues of WWE but as a third brand. Due to the Saudi Arabian government pulling some morally questionable shenanigans (surprise!) after WWE's Crown Jewel event (which absolutely sucked), Vince McMahon and most of the Smackdown roster were stuck in Saudi Arabia. So what did WWE do? Triple H and Shawn Michaels brought NXT's hardest hitters to Smackdown for a mini-invasion, which leaked over into Survivor Series where all three brands battles for all sorts of titles. And that's just how we start the season for WWE and NXT.

Meanwhile, AEW fires on all cylinders, and wastes no time snagging any WWE wrestler disappointed in Vince McMahon's creative direction. (It is episode 8 before we see a WWE episode this season that isn't focused on NXT.) So, despite the terrible WWE mainstream shows, 2019 was truly the best year wrestling had seen for many years.

1901. All Out, 2019

We kick off the season with AEW for the first time, as they put on one of their best ever (and I don't mean so far, this was only their second ever...this still stands as one of their best ever) pay-per view events. We don't even get the Kenny Omega/Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley) match yet, instead they're each in two incredible matches where the other one...might show up. Plus, the first ever AEW Heavyweight champ is crowned...erm...belted?

Announcers: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Goldenboy, Justin Roberts

1. SoCalU vs Jurassic Express
2. Pac vs Kenny Omega
3. Darby Allin vs Joey Janela vs Jimmy Havoc
4. Cody Rhodes vs Shawn Spears
5. Lucha Bros (AAA Tag Team Champs) vs Young Bucks in a Ladder Match
6. Chris Jericho vs Hangman Page for inaugural AEW Championship

1902. A Little Bit Of The Bubbly, 2019

Now that we have a Mens' Heavyweight Champion (and a Womens' Champ, we'll see her in action soon), it's time to figure out who's going to wear AEW's first ever tag team belts via an old-fashioned tournament which runs throughout this episode. Also, Chris Jericho loses the belt immediately after winning the title. Oh, he doesn't get defeated, a non-wrestler literally steals the belt during Jericho's celebration, and AEW ends up having to make a new one for him. And, hey! Tony Schiavone is back on commentary for the first time in many seasons, pairing with Jim Ross for the first time since Season Two.

Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Tazz, Justin Roberts

1. Cody Rhodes vs Sammy Guevara
2. Young Bucks vs Private Party
3. Kenny Omega vs Joey Janela in a Lights Out Hardcore Match
4. Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley) & Pac vs Kenny Omega & Hangman Page
5. The Elite vs Cima, T-Hawk & Private Party
6. Lucha Bros vs Private Party
7. Kenny Omega vs Joey Janela
8. Lucha Bros vs SoCalU for the AEW Tag Team Championship

1903. Takeover Smackdown, 2019

Sure, we've had a number of Raw, Smackdown, and NXT TV matches sprinkled throughout the pay-per-view top tier matches but this episode, for the first time, is All Free TV matches. October 2nd, 2019 was probably the best ever NXT episode. The next few episodes also had some excellent matches. Then, Crown Jewel happened, and most of the Smackdown roster got stuck in Saudi Arabia...so what could the WWE do? NXT invaded Smackdown and put on a couple banger matches including the first ever battle between Daniel Bryan and Adam Cole.

Announcers: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Tom Phillips, Renee Young, Pat McAfee, Cathy Kelley, Kayla Braxton

1. Adam Cole (NXT Champ) vs Riddle
2. Mia Yim vs Iyo Sky
3. Shayna Baszler (NXT Womens Champ) vs Candace LeRae
4. reDRagon (as The Undisputed Era) (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs Street Profits
5. Pete Dunne vs Damien Priest
6. Bayley (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Nikki Cross
6. Adam Cole (NXT Champ) vs Daniel Bryan

1904. Rise Of The Knockouts, 2019

Tessa Blanchard was the story of 2019/2020, and then fell hard from wrestling grace. Here she rises from rookie Knockout to challenging for the Heavyweight Championship. Not the Women's Heavyweight Championship, THE Impact Heavyweight Championship. There's also some killer tag team matches, Johnny Nitro having a resurgence, and an amazing Monster's Ball Match for the Knockout Title.

Announcers: Don Callis, Josh Matthews, Jeffrey Scott

1. Gail Kim vs Tessa Blanchard
2. Lucha Bros (Impact Tag Team Champs) vs LAX
3. Taya Valkyrie vs Jessicka Havok vs Rosemary vs Su Yung in a Monster's Ball Match for the Impact Knockout Championship

4. Rich Swann (Impact X Champ) vs Johnny Nitro (as Johnny Impact)
5. Brian Cage (Impact Champ) vs Michael Elgin
6. Lucha Bros vs Proud & Powerful
7. Tessa Blanchard vs Sammy Callahan

1905. Takeover Toronto, 2019

​

1. Lio Rush (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Angel Garza (NXT 11/13/19)
2. Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode vs Chad Gable & Mustafa Ali (Smackdown 11/15/19)
3. reDRagon (as Undisputed Era) (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs FTR (as The Revival)
4. Team Ripley vs Team Baszler in a War Games Match
Rhea Ripley, Dakota Kai, Candice LeRae, Tegan Nox vs Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Iyo Sky, Alba Fyre (as Kay Lee Ray)

5. Finn Balor vs Riddle
6. The Undisputed Era vs Team Ciampa
Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Bobby Fish, Kyle O'Reilly vs Tomasso Ciampa, Kevin Owens, Keith Lee, Dijak

1906. Full Gear, 2019

The first AEW pay-per-view that benefitted from being built up in weekly shows sees Le Champion take on one of the founders of AEW, a few more excellent tag team matches, and our first glimpse at the AEW Womens' Champ, Riho, as she takes on her mentor, Emi Sakura. 

Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Dean Malenko, Arn Anderson, The Great Muta, Justin Roberts

1. Young Bucks vs Best Friends
​2. Pac vs Hangman Page
3. Young Bucks vs Proud & Powerful
4. SoCalU (AEW Tag Team Champs) vs Lucha Bros vs Private Party
5. Riho (AEW Womens Champ) vs Emi Sakura
6. Chris Jericho (AEW Champ) vs Cody Rhodes

1907. Crossover Appeal, 2019

It's the first ever Raw vs Smackdown vs NXT pay-per-view. All titles on display. 

Announcers: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix, Vic Joseph, Aiden English, Kayla Braxton, Cathy Kelley, Sarah Schreiber, Greg Hamilton, Mike Rome, Alicia Taylor

1. New Day (WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs Viking Raiders (WWE Raw Tag Team Champs) vs reDRagon (as Undisputed Era) (NXT Tag Team Champions)

2. AJ Styles (WWE US Champ) vs Shinsuke Nakamura (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Roderick Strong (NXT North American Champ)

3. Adam Cole (NXT Champ) vs Pete Dunne
4. Bray Wyatt (as The Fiend) (WWE Universal Champ) vs Daniel Bryan
5. Team Smackdown vs Team Raw vs Team NXT in a Survivor Series Match
Roman Reigns, Braun Stroman, Mustafa Ali, Baron Corbin, Chad Gable vs Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, Kevin Owens, Ricochet vs Tomasso Ciampa, Gunther, Riddle, Damien Priest, Keith Lee

6. Becky Lynch (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Bayley (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Shayna Baszler (NXT Womens Champ)

1908. Stadium Starcadium, 2019

It's tough to even make storylines out of the 2019 main roster WWE stuff. The only multi-episode story is the Bray Wyatt/Daniel Bryan feud which, in this episode, manages to pull in The Miz, who has never been known as a friend to either of them. We also get a one episode story where New Day and FTR clash because FTR doesn't like "flippy wrestling." Eh.

Announcers: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Beth Phoenix, Wade Barrett, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe

1. FTR (as The Revival) vs Heavy Machinery vs Chad Gable & Mustafa Ali vs Gran Metallik & Lince Dorado

2. Lio Rush (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Angel Garza
3.  Street Profits vs Good Brothers
4. Kabuki Warriors (WWE Womens Tag Team Champs) vs Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair vs Boss & Hug Connection vs Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross

5. New Day (WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs FTR (as The Revival) in a Ladder Match
​
6. Buddy Murphy vs Malakai Black (as Aleister Black)
7. Bray Wyatt (WWE Universal Champ) vs The Miz

1909. Into The Fire, 2019/2020

NWA picks a truly cursed time to start running their own promotion, as a bunch of ROH and Impact stars unite with some people on the indies to put on some stellar matches just in time for Covid to hit and put everything on pause.

Announcers: Jim Cornett, Tony Schiavone, Joe Galli, Ian Riccaboni, Cyrus Fees, Nigel Sherrad, Gilbert, Caprice Coleman
​
1. Jazz (NWA Womens' Champ) vs Penelope Ford 
2. Willie Mack vs Sam Shaw for NWA National Championship
3. Nick Aldis (NWA Heavyweight Champ) vs James Storm
4. Flip Gordon & Bandido vs Guerrero Maya Jr & Stuka Jr
5. The Briscoes vs Rock & Roll Express
6. Villain Enterprises vs Satoshi Kojima & Yugi Nagata
7. Willie Mack (NWA National Champ) vs Colt Cabana
8. Nick Aldis (NWA Heavyweight Champ) vs Marty Skrrul

​1910. Takeover Blackpool, 2019/2020

While NXT US has been dominated by Adam Cole Baybay and The Undisputed Era, NXT UK has been at the mercy of Gunther (as Walter) and Imperium. We see matches from both sides of the pond on this episode, culminating with a 4 on 3 match between the two hottest factions of 2019 and 2020.

Announcers: Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips, Beth Phoenix, Alicia Taylor

1. Adam Cole (NXT Champ) vs Finn Balor
2. Shayna Baszler (NXT Womens Champ) vs Rhea Ripley
3. Buddy Murphy vs Malakia Black (as Aleister Black)
4. Alba Fyre (as Kay Lee Ray) (NXT UK Womens Champ) vs Toni Storm vs Piper Niven
5. Tyler Bate vs Jordan Devlin
6. Broserweights vs Mark Andrews & Morgan Webster
6. The Undisputed Era vs Imperium

1911. TNT, 2019/2020

The Elite have had a surprisingly poor showing since they birthed AEW. I mean, their matches are all excellent, and the fans love them but they can't seem to get their hands on any titles. Can they turn things around as we begin a new year of storylines?

Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Tazz, Excalibur, Adam Page, Justin Roberts

​1. Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley) vs Kenny Omega in a Lights Out Hardcore Match
2. Pac vs Hangman Page
3. Nick Jackson vs Rey Fenix
4. Kenny Omega vs Kip Sabian
5. Young Bucks (AEW Tag Team Champs) vs Proud & Powerful in a Hardcore Match
6. Cody Rhodes vs Darby Allin
7. Bullet Club vs Pac & Lucha Bros

1912. Worlds Keep On Colliding, 2019/2020

After all the success of NXT vs WWE's Main Roster, it's time for NXT vs NXT UK. Sadly, NXT UK didn't last for too long but you do see most of the wrestlers in this episode popping up again in the American version of NXT. There are some solid matches here, and we get to see our debut of future AEW star, Swerve Strickland.

Announcers: Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips, Beth Phoenix, Alicia Taylor, Andy Shepherd

1. Alba Fyre (as Kay Lee Ray) vs Mia Yim
2. Finn Balor vs Ilja Dragunov
3. Angel Garza (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Swerve Strickland (as Isaiah Swerve Scott) vs Jordan Devlin vs Travis Banks

4. Dakota Kai vs Tegan Nox in a Hardcore Match
5. DIY vs Moustache Mountain
6. Rhea Ripley (NXT Womens Champ) vs Toni Storm
​7. Broserweights vs Grizzled Young Vets

1913. Two Many Rumbles, 2020

The payoff match to the Daniel Bryan/Fiend feud serves as a sorbet between the two rumbles. The mens' rumble, in particular, is one of the last great WWE matches before the pandemic.

Announcers: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T, Tom Phillips

1. Womens Royal Rumble
Alexa Bliss, Bianca Belair, Molly Holly (as Mighty Molly), Nikki Cross, Lana, Mercedes Martinez, Liv Morgan, Mandy Rose, Candice LeRae, Sonya Deville, Kairi Sane, Mia Yim, Dana Brooke, Tamina, Dakota Kai, Chelsea Green, Charlotte Flair, Naomi, Beth Phoenix, Toni Storm, Kelly Kelly, Sarah Logan, Natalya, Xia Li, Zelina Vega, Shotzi Blackheart, Carmella, Tegan Nox, Santino Marella (as Santina Marella), Shayna Baszler

2. Bray Wyatt (as The Fiend) (WWE Universal Champ) ​vs Daniel Bryan in a Strap Match
3. Mens Royal Rumble
Brock Lesnar, Elias, Erick Rowan, Robert Roode, John Morrison, Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio, Big E, Cesaro, Shelton Benjamin Raw, Shinsuke Nakamura, MVP, Keith Lee, Braun Strowman, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, The Miz, AJ Styles, Dolph Ziggler, Karl Anderson, Edge, King Corbin, Matt Riddle, Luke Gallows, Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Kevin Owens, Malakai Black (as Aleister Black), Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins

1914. AAA Impact, 2020

Just before the pandemic hit, AAA did a massive show at Madison Square Garden. The video here is without commentary, it's just pure wrestling. This is followed by the last hour of Impact stories before Covid times, which sees a massive title change.

Announcers: Don Callis, Josh Matthews, Jeffrey Scott, Gabby Loren

1. Tessa Blanchard (AAA Reina de Reinas Champ) vs Taya Valkyrie
2. Puma King (DDT Iron Man Heavymetal Champion) vs Daga vs Aerostar vs Flamita
​3. Lucha Bros (AAA Tag Team Champs) vs Proud & Powerful
4. Brian Cage, Cain Velasquez and Psycho Clown vs Los Mercenarios
5. Dr Wagner Jr vs Blue Demon Jr in a No DQ Match
5. Jake Crist (Impact X Champ) vs Tessa Blanchard vs Daga vs Ace Austin vs Acey Romero in a Ladder Match
6 Brian Cage vs Sami Callahan in a No DQ Match
7. Eddie Edwards vs Michael Elgin
8. Sami Callahan (Impact Champ) vs Tessa Blanchard 

1915. Takeover Portland, 2020

Our final NXT episode of the season gives us our first meeting between the future of WWE's women division, and we get a climax to most of the main events of the last couple of seasons. 

Announcers: Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix, Mauro Ranallo, Cathy Kelley, Alicia Taylor

1. Keith Lee vs Dijaak
2. Finn Balor vs Johnny Gargano
3. Rhea Ripley (NXT Womens Champ) vs Bianca Belair
4. reDRagon (as Undisputed Era) (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs Broserweights
5. Adam Cole (NXT Champ) vs Tomasso Ciampa

1916. Year Without Honor, 2020

Our final check-in with ROH this season sees Jean-Pierre Lafite, the guy who stole Bret Hart's jacket back in season two, have a run as the ROH champion. There's also a slew of tag matches, which is where ROH really shined in their final days before becoming part of AEW.

Announcers: Ian Riccobani, Caprice Coleman, Nick Aldis, Bobby Cruise

1. Villain Enterprises (ROH 6Man Tag Champs) vs Rey Horus & Mexablood
2. Jean-Pierre Lafite (as PCO) (ROH Champ) vs Rush
3. The Briscoes vs Mexablood
4. Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham (ROH Tag Champs)  vs 2 Guys 1 Tag
5. Jean-Pierre Lafite (as PCO) (ROH Champ) vs Dragon Lee
6. Angelina Love vs Martina
7. Jean-Pierre Lafite (as PCO) (ROH Champ) vs Rush vs Mark Haskins

1917. Back To The Beach, 2020

Before the pandemic hit, AEW Dynamite was a weekly Must Watch show. Unlike WWE, which mainly holds back their biggest matches for Premium Live Events, AEW put on banger after banger, at least one per show, to make up for the fact that their premium events were quarterly as opposed to monthly (or sometimes every three weeks). Every match and promo from this episode is from AEW Dynamite in February  of 2020.

Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Tazz, Excalibur, Brandy Rhodes, Justin Roberts

1. Best Friends vs Young Bucks vs Proud & Powerful vs Adam Page & Kenny Omega
2. The Elite vs. Lucha Bros, The Butcher & The Blade 
3. Riho (AEW Womens Champ) vs Nyla Rose 
4. Jungle Boy vs MJF
5. Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley) vs Jeff Cobb
6. Adam Page & Kenny Omega (AEW Tag Team Champs) vs Lucha Bros
7. Cody Rhodes (AEW TNT Champ) vs Wardlow in a Steel Cage Match

1918. A Healthy Climax, 2020

Apart from Omega/Tanahashi, we don't get any stories here, just incredible matches from New Japan in 2019. A bunch of NJPW stars who ended up in AEW, and a few who would end up there in a few years, square off in this incredible card. Plus, a bunch of senior NJPW stars fill out an eight man tag match for the retirement of Jushin Thunder Liger, who had to be 210 at the time of recording.

Announcers: Don Callis, Kevin Kelly, Chris Charlton, Rocky Romero, Makoto Abe

1. Hirosha Tanahashi (IWGP Champ) vs Kenny Omega
2. Kota Ibushi (IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champ) vs Will Ospreay
3. Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley) vs Tomohiro Ishii
4. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask vs. Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi

5. Kota Ibushi (IWGP Intercontinental Champ) vs Jay White
6. Chris Jericho vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

1919. Don't You Dare Be Sour, 2020

This Go Home episode should be leading to Wrestlemania as the final episode. Unforunately...pandemic. Because the feel of the audienceless shows is so vastly different from the usual wrestling fare, it didn't seem right to include Wrestlemania in this season. So you have to wait next season when the storylines that carry over end up getting cinematic matches for a very different but not unwelcome experience. For now, we end on one of the best ever Elimination Chamber matches. It's a shame they never pushed the winner as hard again after this episode because it looked like she was going to be the Brock Lesnar of the womens' division.

Announcers: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Greg Hamilton, Mike Rome

1. New Day (WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs MnM
2. Daniel Bryan vs Drew Gulak
3. Andrade vs Humberto Carrillo
4. Tag Team Elimination Chamber
MnM (WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs New Day vs The Usos vs Heavy Machinery vs Lucha House Party vs Dolph Ziggler & Bobby Roode

5. AJ Styles vs Malakai Black (as Aleister Black) in a No DQ Match
6. Womens Elimination Chamber
Asuka vs Natalya vs Shayna Baszler vs Ruby Soho vs Liv Morgan vs Sarah Logan

​1920. Final Bow For Now, 2020

Now it's time for AEW's final episode before the pandemic. It's Revolution, and it is filled with killer matches from the biggest names in the promotion.

Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur, Justin Roberts

1. Kenny Omega vs Pac in an Iron Man Match
2. Darby Allin vs Sammy Guevara
3. Hangman Page & Kenny Omega (AEW Tag Team Champs) vs Young Bucks
4. Cody Rhodes vs MJF
5. Pac vs Orange Cassidy
6. Chris Jericho (AEW Champ) vs Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley)

801 & 802. The Caretaker (VOY)
(Janeway, Kim, Paris, Chakotay, Torres, Tuvok, Neelix, Doctor, Kes, Quark)

The Maquis situation is out of control, and The Federation has called in Voyager to handle it. Our new cast of officers follows our new cast of villains through a wormhole and end up waaaaaaaaaaaaay far away from home, and might even have to work together to survive. Cool concept, right? Well, it will go out the window pretty shortly, so enjoy the tension while it lasts.


803. First Contact (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Troi, Crusher, Data, Worf)
​
Prime Directive episodes are usually tedious interactions where different crew members argue over whether or not to help some world that they probably imperiled in the first place. I've spared you from most of them. In this episode, they've pretty much been caught violating The Prime Directive, despite their best efforts to blend in to an alien populace. This is a damage control episode where the crew tries to work diplomatically to rescue Riker, who was undercover as a Malcorian. There's a lot of American political allegory that is still, sadly, relevant, twenty-six years after this episode aired, but it's not as heavy handed as Star Trek allegory often is.


804. Second Contact / Envoys (LD)
(Boimler, Mariner, Tendi, Rutherford, Freeman, Ransom, T'ana, Barnes)

In this episode, we meet the crew of the Cerritos, whose mission is to visit planets that have had some limited contact with The Federation. Instead of the bridge crew, we spend more time seeing things through the eyes of the less-experienced crew. Then we watch ensign Boimler worry that Mariner is better at everything than he is.


805. Timescape (TNG)
(Picard, Data, Troi, Laforge, Crusher, Riker, Worf)

While several key officers are on an away mission, The Enterprise attempts to rescue some Romulans and everything goes wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey. The away team thinks they've figured out a way to overcome the time problems, but can they fix The Enterprise or the Romulan vessel before either or both of them explode?


806. Crossover (DS9)
(Kira, Bashir, Sisko, Odo, Dax, O'Brien, Quark, Garak)

It's really a Golden Age of Star Trek. Next Gen overlaps with Deep Space Nine, which then overlaps with Voyager. Such good times. So why not have a crossover. But let's have Deep Space Nine crossover with, oh, I don't know, THE MIRRORVERSE DEEP SPACE NINE. Dun dun dun. Any timeline with Smiley O'Brien in it, seems like a fine timeline to me.


807. Learning Curve (VOY)
(Janeway, Tuvok, Torres, Chakotay, Neelix, Doctor, Kes, Paris, Kim)

One of the rare Voyager episodes that spent time dealing with the differences between Starfleet and The Maquis. Also, Neelix accidentally causes some unique chaos.


808. Lower Decks (TNG)
(Picard, Worf, Crusher, Riker, Laforge, Troi, Data, a bunch of people you'll never see again)

Did you know there are other people on the Enterprise besides the usual crew? In this episode we watch a bunch of ensigns vying for promotion on the ship. It's a cool way to explore the relationship between the senior staff, and how they've grown over the duration of the show.


809. Relics (TNG)
(Scott, Laforge, Picard, Riker, Crusher, Worf, Data)
​
One of the best episodes of the series, the crew of The Enterprise finds Commander Scott from TOS trapped in a transporter loop. Not only is this the best episode featuring Scott of the series, it's one of the best Laforge episodes, too. That's three "best"s in one paragraph. It seems as though I enjoyed this treatise on how quickly technology makes the old seem obsolete.


810. I Borg (TNG)
(Picard, Crusher, Laforge, Guinan, Data, Riker, Troi, Worf)

The Borg are interesting villains in that they don't care to kill or acknowledge individuals, they are only interested in assimilating entire species at once. So when the crew of The Enterprise rescues a single Borg, against the wishes of Picard, Guinan, and most of the crew, everyone has to reevaluate their position on TNG's biggest bad. This episode gave me one the most positive visceral reactions to a Star Trek episode I've ever had.


811. Changeling (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Sulu, Chapel)

It's the original series cast vs. Wall-E, as a friendly little Starfleet droid threatens to destroy the entire universe if it doesn't get its way.


812. Dreadnought (VOY)
(Torres, Janeway, Chakotay, Doctor)

There isn't enough of the Maquis storyline in Voyager, given its pilot episode. This is a nice glimpse of what might have been as Torres encounters a Cardassian weapon she reprogrammed when she was a part of the Maquis. Can she stop it from destroying a completely innocent planet full of life?


813. Whispers (DS9)
(O'Brien, Keiko, Sisko, Bashir, Odo, Jake, Quark)

Is O'Brien having memory problems? Or is he just fine, and the entire crew of Deep Space Nine, including his wife, has turned evil? This is a fun twist on the alternate universe trope in Star Trek. 


814. Flashback (VOY)
(Tuvok, Janeway, Sulu, Rand, Neelix, Kes, Doctor, Chakotay, Kim, Kang)

On Voyager, Tuvok seems to be having an emotional response to a memory. In order to determine the cause, he mind melds with Janeway and they go back to his most important memory, when he served under Captain Sulu, during the plot of "The Undiscovered Country", way back in season three of this continuity. I think this would have been a solid episode, even if it didn't feature cast members from TOS, but seeing Sulu and Rand again is an absolute blast. Plus, Kang from a terrible TOS epsode, "Day Of The Dove," is back again (and yes, he is the basis for the Treehouse Of Horror alien from The Simpsons).


815. Frame Of Mind (TNG)
(Riker, Picard, Crusher, Worf, Data, Laforge)

Is Riker insane? While practicing a play about losing his mind, Riker wakes up in solitary confinement. Uh-oh.


816. Eye Of The Needle (VOY)
(Janeway, Torres, Tuvok, Paris, Kim, Doctor, Neelix, Kes)

Is the crew of Voyager saved already?  They find a wormhole back to the Alpha Quadrant. Ok, it's too small to fit a ship through, but they can send a message and get rescued, right?


817. Parallels (TNG)
(Worf, Troi, Riker, Data, Crusher, Laforge, Picard, Wesley)

Much of this season has dealt with Starfleet officers having some sort of breaks with reality. And now Worf is having memory issues  Is he married to Troi now? Is this going to end up being an alternate universe episode or is this whole season just a mess of red herrings?


818. Projections (VOY)
(Doctor, Janeway, Tuvok, Torres, Neelix, Barclay)

Going all the way back to the first season of our journey, the doctors on board the various Star Trek vessels really shine when an episode spotlights them. Mccoy's various lovelife problems, Phlox trying to fit in with humans on Enterprise, Crusher watching the entire crew vanish on TNG, Bashir...well, I'm sure Bashir will get interesting eventually. But Doctor on Voyager is just a hologram. How does that make him feel? And, wait, how is Barclay here?


819 & 820. Chain Of Command (TNG)
(Picard, Worf, Crusher, Riker, Troi, Laforge, Data)

There are FOUR lights, and they all point to a war with the Cardassians on the horizon.

It's been a few days since the last diss track was released so it seems as if we've at least reached a pause in the Drake/Kendrick beef. Articles have gone from Check Out This Amazing Creative Run Of Songs By These Major Artists Targeting Each Other to People Need To Stop Giving These Misogynists Attention How Dare They Release These Songs While We Clutch Our Pearls Standing At The Fire We've Spent The Last Month Pouring Gasoline On.

I'm not here to dissect the lyrics nor to point out that collateral damage to most beefs be it rap or rock and roll has almost always been women and queer men. I just think there was some solid music released that I enjoyed listening to, even if you won't see me singing these at karaoke in the near or distant future.

I'm giving the last word to Mackelmore, which I feel weird about because this was a feud that sometimes centered on the valildity of the Blackness of the artists. But. In addition to the more positive Free Palestine/criticism of how the American media and Biden's administration of "Hind's Hall" , I feel like it sums up the media's quick turn of Why Are We Paying Attention To Drake? So it's hopefully not like ending a mix about the Dr. Dre/Eazy-E feud with "Thrift Shop".

I thought this was going to be the conclusion (as of May 7th, 2024) of the Drake/Kendrick Lamar beef. But an important part of the most recent release in the feud is that Drake had written a Part 6 for a series of songs written by Kendrick Lamar. It's not good. But it's definitely an important part of the feud, and it hinges on knowing some of Lamar's "The Heart Part" songs. I decided to include 2-5 on this album, which includes an incredible but also incredibly long track by 24 Carat Black. So this album is already stretched to an hour, and I just couldn't justify going for another 45 minutes or so.

So there will be a What Beef 5 posted later today.  There aren't really many features on this album, as the actual Kendrick and Drake songs all came out in the last week, and they didn't have time to get collaborators. Also, if I were anywhere near this feud I would have also backed out this week. As Kendrick's songs get tighter and more specific, Drake's get limper and eventually, for all their personal barbs, they sound more like a white mom with no writing skills was writing an angry Youtube comment than the verse of a professional rapper with twenty years in the business. His song on this album is okay. But I don't think it's much of a surprise that he's not the rapper on this album that has a Pulitzer Prize and a bunch of Grammys.

1. Taylor Made by Drake
2. Euphoria by Kendrick Lamar
3. You're My Latest, My Greatest Inspiration by Teddy Pendergrass
4. The Heart Part 2 by Kendrick Lamar Ft. Dash Snow
5. The Heart Part 3 by Kendrick Lamar
6. Poverty's Paradise by 24 Carat Black
7. Don't Tell A Lie About Me & I Won't Tell The Truth About You by James Brown
8. The Heart Part 4 by Kendrick Lamar
9. What A Wonderful Thing Love Is by Al Green
10. The Blacker The Berry by Kendrick Lamar Ft. Assassin
11. The Heart Part 5 by Kendrick Lamar
12. 6:16 In LA by Kendrick Lamar

The Drake vs Kendrick Lamar beef had a slow build. First it enveloped J Cole but then Future's collaborative albums, We Don't Believe You and We Still Don't Believe You upped the game a bit. It dared Drake to respond. So Drake responded. 

These are pretty much the slapping of a 19th century dueling glove. Yea, there's a little bit of sting here but as far as personal attacks go, it's got nothing on part four. But musically, this has some solid steel. I debated whether to include the Temptations version of "Smiling Faces Sometimes", which has always been a favorite of mine but The Undisputed Truth's version, which appears here just fits better with Future and Drake's music. 

1. Redemption by Snorre Tidemand
2. Look Me In The Eyes by Joe Washington and Wash
3. First Person Shooter by Drake Ft. J Cole
4. Eazy Duz It by Eazy-E
5. Like That by Future Ft. Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar
6. 7 Minute Drill by J Cole
7. Five To One by The Doors
8. Takeover by Jay-Z
9. Smiling Faces Sometimes by Undisputed Truth
10. Jumpman by Drake Ft. Future
11. We Still Don't Trust You by Future Ft. Metro Boomin and The Weeknd
12. Red Leather by Future Ft. J Cole
13. (Don't Worry) If There's A Hell Below We're All Going To Go by Curtis Mayfield
14. Show Of Hands by Future Ft. A$AP Rocky and Metro Boomin
15. Push Ups by Drake and DJ Akademiks

In 2018, I did a musical primer for the Drake/Meek Mills feud, complete with the songs they sampled, and the songs that inspired their feud.

It's 2024 and Drake is in a deeper feud with someone whose lyrics and musical skills put Drake's to shame. And Drake is by no means terrible. He just isn't Kendrick Lamar.

It's going to take two mixes just to take us up to May 2024. This one starts in 2010 and goes to last June. Like the original "What's Beef" primer, it's full of samples that go back to the 1970s, and it's designed to be chronological to the beef but also fun to listen to as one long mix. 

I can't offer much commentary because I'm a music fan not a music journalist. But check out any site that proclaims to be about music and they'll have at least three articles about this feud. If they don't, they're either incompetent or racist. 

1. Double Barrel by Ansel & Dave Collins
2. Biz Is Going Off by Biz Markie
3. Buried Alive Interlude by Drake ft. Kendrick Lamar
4. Poetic Justice by Kendrick Lamar ft. Drake
5. Any Time Any Place by Janet Jackson
6. El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido by Quilapayún and Sergio Ortega
7. Get Bizy by Kendrick Lamar ft. Kurupt
8. Me Against The World by Tupac Shakur
9. Control by Big Sean ft. Kendrick Lamar
10. SRL2 by Lupe Fiasco
11. Everyone Nose (Remix) by NERD ft. Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco
12. TKO (Black Friday Remix) by Justin Timberlake ft. J Cole, A$AP Rocky, Pusha T
13. The Language by Drake
14. 100 by The Game ft. Drake
15. Feel The Fire by Peabo Bryson
16. Element By Kendrick Lamar
17. Ha by Juvenile
18. Sticky by Drake
19. PDLIF by Bon Iver
20. Hillbillies by Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar

Last season was all about Barry Allen and Team Flash, and Oliver Queen and Team Arrow. This season we expand to other universes as we see a pre-Batman Bruce Wayne in Gotham, as well as a few episodes from the 1990 version of The Flash where we see an alternate version of Barry Allen where he has a completely different team and different circumstances .

I didn't watch Gotham when it first came out because I just couldn't stand to watch another origin story for Bruce Wayne. So we skip the murder of his parents and the overwrought introduction of the various major players. Instead, we dive right into the meat of the first season with a focus on the Falcone/Maroni war and the tension between Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock. Bruce and Alfred are there but in the background. And then, the supervillains arrive.

Our two different versions of The Flash TV show, Barry battles with a criminal who killed one of his close relatives AND also has to deal with The Trickster (played by Original Flavor Luke Skywalker in both shows).

And on Arrow, we eventually reach a pause in the Starling City madness that started this series but not before Oliver Queen sheds the Arrow identity in order to become a supervillain.

201. Spirit Of The Goat (Gotham)
(Harvey Bullock, Jim Gordon, Ed Nygma, Sarah Essen, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Barbara Kean, Oswald Cobblepot, Renee Montoya, Selina Kyle, Crispus Allen, Gertrude Kapelput, Kristen Kringle)

While Bullock deals with an old case coming back to haunt him, and some members of the GCPD are convinced Jim Gordon is a killer on a different case. Also, Ed Nygma is a CSI agent but he's certainly no Barry Allen.


202. The Penguin's Umbrella (Gotham)
(Jim Gordon, Fish Mooney, Harvey Bullock, Oswald Cobblepot, Carmine Falcone, Sarah Essen, Barbara Kean, Renee Montoya, Victor Zsasz, Crispus Allen, Sal Maroni, Aubrey James, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Butch Gilzean)

​Gotham is under mob rule in this era. Falcones vs Maronis. Penguin vs Fish. Gotham City Polics vs Major Crimes Unit. We get a great glimpse into the 
​

203: Fallout (Flash)
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Martin Stein, Ronnie Raymond, Wade Elling, David Singh)

​Nobody went quite as boom as was expected last season but things are still tense. Also, that military guy is still hanging around, and that can't be good for anyone. He's not even cool enough to be a rogue.


204. Public Enemy (Arrow)
(Oliver Queen, Andy Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen, Roy Palmer, Lauren Lance, Quentin Lance, Ray Harper, R'as Al Ghul, Nyssa Al Ghul, Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro, Malcolm Merlyn)

The League Of Assassins new plan exposes Oliver Queen as the Arrow, shoots an arrow into Ray Palmer and the mayor, and causes even more intense drama in the Lance family. In the flashbacks, Oliver runs into Shado's twin sister.


205. Broken Arrow (Arrow)
(Oliver Queen, Andy Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen, Roy Palmer, Lauren Lance, Quentin Lance, Ray Harper, R'as Al Ghul, Nyssa Al Ghul, Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro, Malcolm Merlyn)

Roy has taken the fall for Oliver, and confessed to being The Arrow. He's a big target in prison, which worries  the rest of the team. Also, Felicity struggles to save Ray from his injuries.


206. Out Of Time (Flash)
​(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Eddie Thawne, Mark Mardon, Linda Park, David Singh, Clyde Mardon)

Time travel! Repercussions from the pilot! Relationship growth! Identity reveals! Someone is badly injured! This almost feels like a season finale.


207. The Blind Fortune Teller (Gotham)
(Jim Gordon, Leslie Thompkins, Fish Mooney, Jerome Valeska, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Harvey Bullock, Oswald Cobblepot, Barbara Kean, Paul Cicero, Gertrude Kapelput, Edward Nygma, Sara Essen, Selina Kyle, Victor Zsasz, Butch Gilzean, Kristen Kringle)

When a sideshow performer turns up dead, the police end up embroiled in a heated feud involving the Flying Graysons. Plus, Fish Mooney tries to take over the prison underneath The Iceberg Lounge. Bruce Wayne tries to learn more about The Wayne Foundation's connection to Arkham Asylum.


208. Pilot (Flash 1990)
(Barry Allen, Julio Mendez, Iris West, Christina McGee, Pike, Tony Bellows, Warren Garfield, Henry Allen)

It's an alternate universe version of The Flash! (straight out of the 1990s). This universe's Barry Allen lives in a world where his father is alive, he has brothers, oh and there's a biker gang terrorizing Central City. But then lightning strikes him and voila, he's The Flash. He builds  a completely different Team Flash and deals with some very dated visual effects.


209. The Trickster (Flash 1990)
(Barry Allen, Christina McGee, James Jesse, Julio Mendez, Tony Bellows, Warren Garfield)

A complete psychopath is going state to state, falling in love with women and then killing them.  When he stumbles on one of Barry's former coworkers, The Flash gets involved, and The Trickster begins a reign of terror in Central City, where everyone is trying to learn the identity of The Flash.


210. Tricksters (Flash)
​(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1,  Henry Allen, Eddie Thawne, David Singh, Eobard Thawne )

There's a new Trickster in Central City, and his whole schtick is pissing off the original Trickster who has been in prison for twenty years...which is weird because this is clearly the same Trickster, but this is a different Barry Allen and a different Central City. Oh, and we already figured out that Harrison Wells isn't who we thought he was, but he's also not who anyone else thinks he is, either. 


211. All-Star Team Up (Flash)
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1,  Henry Allen, Eddie Thawne, Christina McGee, Eobard Thawne )

​Someone is killing scientists using weaponized bees. Christina McGee ends up being targeted, and it's up to the troubled Team Flash to save her. Luckily, they have some help because Felicity and Ray Palmer are in town to troubleshoot issues with The Atom suit.


212. Under The Knife (Gotham)
(Jim Gordon, Leslie Thompkins, Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Harvey Bullock, Oswald Cobblepot, Barbara Kean, Gertrude Kapelput, Edward Nygma, Alfred Pennyworth, Sid Bunderslaw, Sal Maroni, Butch Gilzean,  Sara Essen, The Ogre, Kristen Kringle)

A serial killer called The Ogre targets the loved ones of any cop who crosses his path, so, of course, Jim Gordon deliberately gets in his way. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle kill a lead in Bruce's investigation into the corruption in Wayne Enterprises. At the Iceberg Lounge, Moroni interrupts one of The Penguin's schemes. 


213. The Anvil & The Hammer (Gotham)
(Jim Gordon, Bruce Wayne, Harvey Bullock, Oswald Cobblepot, The Ogre, Barbara Kean, Edward Nygma, Sal Maroni, Selina Kyle, Alfred Pennyworth, Leslie Thompkins, Butch Gilzean, Sid Bunderslaw, Lucius Fox, Kristen Kringle)

While The Ogre has Barbara, Harvey goes to an S&M club. The Penguin makes another move against Maroni. Bruce begins to learn more about Wayne Industries.


214.  Who Is Harrison Wells? (Flash)
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Eddie Thawne, Laurel Lance, David Singh, Quentin Lance)
 
Team Flash goes to Arrowtown, and they don't even bother to see how Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak are doing? Bad. Form. At least Canary can be useful. We also have a rogue of the week who can turn into anyone he touches. I bet that creates complicated social interactions.


215: The Trap (Flash)
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Eddie Thawne, David Singh)

Everything starts to come together as the gang seeks to out the identity of Reverse Flash to help get Henry Allen cleared of his wife's murder. 

​
216. All Happy Families Are Alike (Gotham)
(Jim Gordon, Oswald Cobblepot, Carmine Falcone, Leslie Thompkins, Barbara Kean, Fish Mooney,  Selina Kyle, Harvey Bullock, Sal Maroni, Butch Gilzean, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Edward Nygma, Kristen Kringle)

The Maroni/Falcone war escalates, explodes, and further evolves, throwing everything into chaos. Plus, Barbara chooses Leslie as a trauma counselor.


217. Fast Forward (Flash 1990)
(Barry Allen, Christina McGee, Pike, Julio Mendez, Tony Bellows, Warren Garfield)

When his brother's killer is released from prison, he immediately targets The Flash, and his actions turn Central City into a dystopia. Can Barry Allen prevent that future from happening?


218. Rogue Air (Flash)
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Leonard Snart, Oliver Queen, Ronnie Raymond, Mark Mardon, Eddie Thawne)

The Particle Acclerator is going to go boom again, so the heroes need to relocate all those supervillains they've been imprisoning in that vicinity. Not only does this mean another Arrow team-up, it also means thinking outside of the box, which means More Captain Cold!


219. Al Sa-Him (Arrow)
(Oliver Queen, Andy Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen, Lauren Lance, R'as Al Ghul, Nyssa Al Ghul, Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro, Malcolm Merlyn)

Oliver Queen is the new R'as, and he's in Starling City to eliminate his competition, Nyssa. Team Arrow has to side with Nyssa against the League Of Assassins. 


220. This Is Your Sword (Arrow)
(Oliver Queen, Andy Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen, Malcolm Merlyn, Lauren Lance, R'as Al Ghul, Nyssa Al Ghul, Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro)

Now that Oliver Queen is set to get married and become an Al Ghul, Team Formerly Arrow needs to figure out new alliances​


221. My Name Is Oliver Queen (Arrow)
 
(Oliver Queen, Andy Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen, Malcolm Merlyn, Lauren Lance, R'as Al Ghul, Nyssa Al Ghul, Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro, Barry Allen)

The final Arrow episode of the season brings all the drama back to Starling City. Family melodrama oozes out of every line. And in the end, the world gets the R'as Al Ghul it deserves.


222. Knock Knock (Gotham)
(Jim Gordon, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Jerome Valeska, Barbara Kaen, Lucius Fox, Sara Essen, Theo Galavan, Harvey Bullock, Edward Nygma, Kristen Kringle, Tabitha Glavan, Leslie Thompkins, Aubrey James)

The gang war is over. It's time for the age of supervillains. A whole group of criminals has been broken out of Arkham in order to seed chaos in the streets. After announcing their name, The Maniaxx, they take down the Gotham City Police Department, the mayor, and the new commissioner. And according to their leader we "ain't seen nothing yet!"


223. The Last Laugh (Gotham)
(Jim Gordon, Bruce Wayne, Jerome Valeska, Leslie Thompkins, Barbara Kaen, Theo Galavan, Harvey Bullock, Paul Cicero, Alfred Pennyworth, Oswald Cobblepot, Tabitha Galavan, Selina Kyle)

The Maniaxx begin to clear their pre-Arkham lives, and the streets of Gotham, and Jerome Valeska takes Gotham's millionaires and billionaires hostage. Luckily, there's a new hero in town to put a stop to all the madness. 


224. Fast Enough (Flash)
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Leonard Snart, Martin Stein, Oliver Queen, Ronnie Raymond, Henry Allen, Eddie Thawne, David Singh)

The season finale has The Flash getting into proper timeline hijinks. Our season-long arc about clearing Henry Allen's name gets ... closure ? complications ? wibbly-wobbly timey -wimey ? It's a thoroughly satisfying place to end the season, and would have even worked as a series finale if the show had been cancelled. 

I stopped posting the Buffy/Angel headcanon a few years ago, knowing there was at least one more season to go. But I'd reached the end of the actual Buffy shows, hadn't read the comics, and mistakenly thought I'd seen all of Angel, but not recently enough to properly recall it. It turned out, I had missed several episodes of the final three seasons. But I've recently fixed that, watching the last few seasons of Buffy and all of Angel together with my fiance, who hadn't seen past the first two seasons of Buffy. 

Personally, I think I enjoy the last televised season of Angel more than the final televised season of Buffy. Not the final episodes (Buffy had some fantastic episodes in the final season, they were all just sort of crammed together with a bunch of filler between them, while Angel made every episode count, using different tones, not always progressing the overall story, but always giving the viewer something entertaining. I would say that it's a shame that Angel was cancelled before they got to do another season, but if the graphic novels are at all representative of what Whedon wanted to do during the next season, then television dodged a toxic, stinky bullet.

The rapey elephant that's showed up in the room between when I started creating this headcanon and now is that Whedon has been outed as a misogynist, racist, and general abuser. Even actors who work with him, and say positive things about him tell stories that they think are charming that actually expose what a complete piece of shit Joss Whedon has always been.

Normally, I'd say this brings up the argument about separating the art from the artist. But, for my two cents? I don't think Whedon wrote a single episode or comic issue that anyone ever enjoyed. I think Whedon has always been a complete hack who happens to be buoyed by an excellent writing staff and talented actors/artists. It is a shame that he gets any money for this franchise, but I think you can safely enjoy the best parts of this universe, secure in the knowledge that, while Whedon took credit for it, he probably didn't write anything you actually enjoyed. His comic work has exposed that he's not a very talented writer. His ideas can best be described as stale, his plots aimless and dull. But if you give his characters and an outline to one of his TV writers, or a storied comic writer, you can end up with gold.

This season is just the best parts of Season Five of Angel. I had a great time watching it, especially as I'd missed so many of the good episodes when I watched it in reruns on channels like TNT.

101. Shiny Happy People
(Angel, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, Fred, Conor, Jasmine)

When we last left the gang, Cordelia was pregnant, and an apocalypse was going down. (Must have been a Tuesday.) We pick up this season with Cordelia's child having been born an adult (beats being raised in a Hell Dimension between episodes, amirite Conor?) She seems absolutely lovely. It's like there isn't even going to be any tension in this storyline. 


102. Peace Out
(Angel, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, Fred, Conor, Jasmine, Lilah)

Ok, so Cordelia's kid was a total nightmare. Probably evil. Definitely not good for the city of LA, and the gang has to put her down. Who's surprised? Raise your hand.


103. Home
(Angel, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, Fred, Conor, Lilah, Knox)

Say goodbye to the hotel, Angel and the gang move up in the world as they are given the reigns to Wolfram & Hart, you know, the Big Bad that's been responsible for much of the suffering during the entire run of the show. Things are obviously about to change in a major way.


104.Just Rewards
(Angel, Spike, Wesley, Gunn, Harmony, Lorne, Fred, Knox)

Team Wolfram & Angelhart received a surprise in the mail. An amulet fell out and *poof* Spike appeared. Spike The Sort Of Friendly Ghost Vampire haunts the office and adds some much needed humor into the team. Also, Angel's receptionist is Spike's ex, and everyone's second favorite mean girl from Buffy (RIP Cordelia), Harmony!


105. You're Welcome
(Angel, Cordelia, Spike, Wesley, Gunn, Harmony, Lorne, Fred, Lindsey, Eve)

Wait, Eve is working with Lindsey? Awww. I'm glad he's back for some closure. And, speaking of closure, this is a much needed episode involving Cordelia, who deserved better than the mommy-in-a-coma treatment that was used to write her off the show. It's not perfect here, but it's cathartic, and nice to see her on screen again.


106. Smile Time
(Angel, Spike, Wesley, Gunn, Harmony, Lorne, Fred, Knox)

Puppet Angel may be one of the highlights of this season. The overall story may be a bit of silly villain-of-the-week nonsense but it's very welcome after the last melodramatic season and a half.


107. A Hole In The World
(Angel, Spike, Wesley, Gunn, Harmony, Lorne, Fred, Knox, Eve, Drogyn)

A seemingly random delivery in this episode has dire consequences for the rest of the series (there isn't much left, I realize), as we say goodbye to one cast member and find out how many of the other characters are somehow complicit in their departure. This is probably the saddest episode in the season.


108. Origin​
(Angel, Spike, Wesley, Gunn, Harmony, Lorne, Illyria, Conor, Cyvus Vall)

Conor's back? Well, earlier this season Angel made a deal with The Powers That Be so that Conor would forget everything about his life and grow up with a nice, normal family. But they didn't take away his strength or agility, so when he's unaffected by being run over by a truck, his new, normal family does some research to determine the best people to help them figure out what's wrong. So they take him to Wolfram & Hart, which not only brings up some emotional trauma for Angel, it also returns the memories of the rest of the cast who'd forgotten he existed, which means they forgot a ton of their interpersonal problems from both last season, and the beginning of this one.


109. The Girl In Question
(Angel, Spike, Darla, Druisilla, Wesley, Gunn, Harmony, Lorne, Illyria, Andrew)

The penultimate episode of the TV portion of this headcanon is a much needed comedy break. Fred's parents, who don't know she died in the last episode, come for a visit, (that's not the funny part) and Illyria pretends to be her. The funny part? Angel and Spike are sent on a mission to Italy to stop a demon war and keep getting distracted because their old nemesis is also in Italy and is...dating Buffy. Plus, we get to see Andrew for the first time this season!


110. Power Play/Not Fade Away
(Angel, Spike, Wesley, Gunn, Harmony, Lorne, Illyria, Conor, Lindsey, Eve, Cyvus Vall)

​It's the end of the TV version of this headcanon. That must mean another apocalypse is nigh, and the surviving members of the cast are off to probably meet their deaths.

I'm a Marvel fan. I came to comics through the X-Men. And while I did enjoy the Tim Burton Batman movies, it wasn't until the X-Men movies that I loved comic movies, and it wasn't until the Marvel Cinematic Universe that I Loved comic movies. Yea, I liked the first two Nolan Batmans, but that's pretty much it. The DC Cinematic Universe isnot for me. And that's ok. I have loved several seasons of their cartoon properties. Teen Titans was amazing. Batman The Animated Series was wildly inconsistent, but the good epiodes were years beyond other comics-based cartoons. Batman: The Brave & The Bold was a blast. Both incarnations of The Justice League, and the Young Justice cartoons are about as perfect as you can get. But the live action shows?

Obviously the 1966 Batman show was iconic and necessary, even if it's complete cheese. The original run of The Flash was ... fine. Birds Of Prey was watchable. And then came a new wave of DC shows. For the most part, pretty good. But not all good.

It would take 510 hours (over 21 days) of no meal or bathroom breaks to watch through all of the Arrowverse, and that's not including the supplementary series that are going to creep their way in here (Gotham, the 1990s Flash, Birds Of Prey, Smallville, Lois & Clark, Superboy, Wonder Woman, the 1966 Batman, and more). You shouldn't waste that much time. Some of it is really, really terrible.

This particular reimagining is how I would string together these shows to form a fun, watchable universe. Usually, I do ten episode seasons of condensed storytelling, but I'm going to go for twenty-four episode seasons because that's how long these stories seem to need in a season. The reimagining is centered on The Flash. It's my favorite of the series. I like its tone, its characters, and much of the early stories. But in order to get to The Flash, we must start with Shirtless Arrow's origin.

I couldn't get into Arrow, originally, referring to it as Shirtless Millionaire Frat Boy Escapes Death Island To Return To Grimy City Home And Play Even More Melodramatic Batman. It's still often too melodramatic for me, but there are some great episodes sprinkled throughout its run, even ones that don't involve Barry Allen at all. 

​So let's spend this season meeting Oliver Queen and Team Arrow, and then Barry Allen and Team Flash, and see how well the teams work together.

101. Arrow
(Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Tommy Merlyn, Laurel Lance, Moira Queen, Thea Queen, Quentin Lance, Sara Lance)

A millionaire playboy returns after years of being marooned on an island and begins a vigilante campaign against the men who are destroying his city.  Amongst the baggage he returns to are an ex-girlfriend whose sister he slept with and who died in the shipwreck that marooned him, a bodyguard he's trying to evade, a sister whose grief turned into a drug problem, and a very complicated mother. 


102. The Odyssey
(Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Moira Queen, Thea Queen, Slade Wilson, Yao Fei, Fyers, Shado)

We fast forward nearly half a season. Diggle is now Oliver's co-conspirator, and we meet the very helpful Felicity Smoak after Oliver gets shot by ... checks notes ... his mother. We also see flashbacks to Oliver's time on the island where he's training with Slade Wilson to be a soldier. 


103. Darkness On The Edge Of Town
(Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Moira Queen, Thea Queen, Tommy Merlyn, Quentin Lance, Slade Wilson, Yao Fei, Fyers, Shado, Malcolm Merlyn, Roy Harper)

The big arc of the season surrounds Oliver's mother being involved in a massively evil scheme to destroy the poor part of town: The Glades. Her partner is Tommy's more evil father. We also meet Thea's boyfriend from The Glades, a guy who idolizes her brother's alter ego. Tons of CW family melodrama in this storyline.


104. Sacrifice
(Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Moira Queen, Thea Queen, Tommy Merlyn, Slade Wilson, Fyers, Shado, Malcolm Merlyn, Roy Harper)

The night of Merlyn's plans, every character in the current timeline must work in their own way to stop The Glades from being destroyed. In the island storyline, Oliver must stop Fyers  from destroying an airplane and framing Yao Fei for its destruction.


105.  The Scientist
(Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Moira Queen, Thea Queen, Roy Harper, Slade Wilson, Shado, Sebastian Blood, Malcolm Merlyn, Sara Lance)

Oliver Queen has now been a vigilante for a while, he has mucho mucho baggage, and is in the midst of massive plot shenanigans with Slade Wilson and Sebastian Blood when a meek little scientist named Barry Allen shows up. Back during the island days, it turns out Sarah Lance survived the shipwreck and is just as much a badass as Oliver Queen.


106. Three Ghosts
(Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Moira Queen, Thea Queen, Roy Harper, Slade Wilson, Shado, Sebastian Blood, Tommy Merlyn, Sara Lance, Ivo)

Barry joins Team Arrow in his quest to stop Slade Wilson and Sebastian Blood. During the island days, Oliver is given an impossible choice by Ivo.


107. Particle Accelerator
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Oliver Queen, Henry Allen, Eddie Thawne, David Singh, Clyde Mardon) 

The actual pilot for The Flash gives us all the Barry Allen backstory we need to know. Oh sure,  we'll get it several more times over the series, but all the important stuff is here. Family trauma, new family, love life, superhero origin. All tightly packed in an episode where Arrow stops by to check in on Barry. Isn't that sweet?


108. Going Rogue
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Leonard Snart, Felicity Smoak, Eddie Thawne, David Singh)

See? Rogues! And this episode introduces a doozy! Captain Cold is pure fun. He's great in the modern comics, and he's wonderful here. He's just the kind of villain you wish had his own show. Oh well, we can dream.


109. The Promise
(Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Moira Queen, Thea Queen, Quentin Lance, Slade Wilson, Roy Harper, Shado, Sarah Lance, Sebastian Blood, Ivo)

Much of this episode deals with Oliver's time in the island because, uh-oh, Slade Wilson is still alive and in Starling City, offering to support Moira Queen's run for mayor against Sebastian Blood.


 110. Deathstroke
(Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Moira Queen, Thea Queen, Slade Wilson, Laurel Lance, Roy Harper, Shado, Sarah Lance, Sebastian Blood, Ivo)

When Slade kidnaps Thea in the midst of an election, all of Oliver's secrets start to spill out to various friends and loved ones, and nobody takes them very well. 


111. Plastique
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Eddie Thawne, David Singh, Wade Elling)

Barry Allen was adopted by Joe West after Allen's mother was murdered. This makes Iris West sort of his sister. She's a journalist writing about The Streak (we're still calling him that? ok). Everyone wants her to stop. Meanwhile this episode's rogue of the week can blow shit up just by touching it. Of course the military wants a piece of her.


112. Flash Is Born
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1,  Eddie Thawne, David Singh, Tony Woodward)

Finally. Am I right? Streak no more. Barry Allen is The Flash. The rogue of the week is Girder, who is as silly as his name sounds. But there are some cool developments with Eddie, Joe, and Barry in this episode.


113. Seeing Red
(Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Moira Queen, Thea Queen, Slade Wilson, Laurel Lance, Roy Harper, Sebastian Blood, Samantha Clayton,  Sin)

Slade Wilson goes full rampaging villain. Roy, infected with Mirakiru, is hunting Team Arrow, and while Sarah wants to put him down, the rest of the team struggles to take him alive.


114. Streets Of Fire
(Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen, Slade Wilson, Laurel Lance, Sara Lance, Quentin Lance, Roy Harper, Malcolm Merlyn, Sebastian Blood, Sin)

The city is under seige by Slade's army of Mirakiru-infused Deathstroke masked men. The police, Team Arrow, and Sebastian Blood must pool their resources to save the city that all of them have failed. 


115. Unthinkable
(Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen, Slade Wilson, Laurel Lance, Sara Lance, Quentin Lance, Roy Harper, Malcolm Merlyn, Sebastian Blood, Sin, Amanda Waller, Nyssa Al Ghul)

The League Of Assassins arrives in Starling City to help distribute the Mirakiru cure, while Amanda Waller and ARGUS have blocked out any escape from the city. Plus, Thea's reunion with her father doesn't go well.


116. The Calm
(Oliver Queen, Barry Allen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Laurel Lance, Sara Lance, Ray Palmer, Quentin Lucas, Roy Harper, Amanda Waller)

As the city recovers from the previous episode's drama, Oliver tries to balance his life as Oliver Queen and Arrow. Felicity meets Ray Palmer and accidentally empowers him to take over Queen Consolidated. Our flashbacks move from the island to Hong Kong, as we start to figure out Amanda Waller (who just sort of started showing up with Argus a few episodes ago) 's identity. Oh, and Barry calls Oliver for some help. (Technically, that scene takes place before we even started The Flash episodes but shhhhh....from now on everything will line up continuity-wise.


117. Flash Vs Arrow
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, John Diggle, Roy Harper, Eddie Thawne, Digger Harkness, Amanda Waller)

Team Arrow needs Team Flash's help to deal with (let me check my notes here, ah yes) Captain Boomerang. A classic Flash rogue. But another rogue with a very silly name shows up and turns The Flash into Public Enemy #1.


118. The Brave & The Bold
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak, John Diggle, Roy Harper, Eddie Thawne, Digger Harkness, Amanda Waller, Samantha Clayton)

Evil Flash is a problem, so Team Arrow is going to have to go to Central City to help Team ummm...Flash, I guess?  It's fun seeing the different characters invade the tone of the other show.


119. The Man In The Yellow Suit 
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Eddie Thawne, Henry Allen, Ronnie Raymond, Christina McGee)

One of my least favorite parts of The Flash, across TV or comics, is that a good chunk of his rogues are Other People Who Run Fast But In Slightly Different Colored Suits. This episode introduces the first of them, Reverse Flash. If he were the only one, I'd be more forgiving, but this is the beginning of an unfortunate trend. We do get to see the debut of Firestorm, though, and he'll be around for a bit. Sort of.


120. The Climb
(Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen, Roy Palmer, Lauren Lance, Quentin Lance, Ray Harper, Malcolm Merlyn, R'as Al Ghul, Nyssa Al Ghul, Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro)

The League of Assassins comes to Star City to avenge a death from an earlier episode, setting up a showdown between Oliver Queen (who's being framed for the death) and R'as Al Ghul. Also, Thea's relationship with her father may be more complicated than they were in previous episodes.


121. Revenge Of The Rogues
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Leonard Snart, Mick Rory, Eddie Thawne, David Singh)

Get our your popcorn. The Reverse Flash story continues to be interesting, but Captain Cold's return, and his first teamup with Heatwave is the beginning of one of the most pure, beautiful villain friendships in television history.  Oh yea, and Barry has more weird love feelings blah blah blah.


122. Nanda Parbat
(Oliver Queen, John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Thea Queen, Roy Palmer, Lauren Lance, Ray Harper, Malcolm Merlyn, R'as Al Ghul, Nyssa Al Ghul, Maseo Yamashiro, Tatsu Yamashiro )

Who will lead The League Of Assassins if anything happens to R'as Al Ghul? Why is Laurel wearing her sister's Black Canary outfit? Will Oliver and John be taken down The League? Lots of family drama in this episode. Must be a CW show.


123. Crazy For You
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Martin Stein, Ronnie Raymond, Eddie Thawne, Wade Elling, Linda Park, Henry Allen)

The villain of the week is Peek-a-Boo, a transporter. While Team Flash tries to figure out how to stop her, Barry tries to get over his feelings for Iris by dating her coworker, Linda.


124. The Nuclear Man
(Barry Allen, Iris West, Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Joe West, Harrison Wells 1, Martin Stein, Ronnie Raymond, Eddie Thawne, Wade Elling, Linda Park)

Firestorm proves that Barry isn't the only one affected by the particle accelerator that didn't turn out to be a villain. But can Team Flash keep him from accidentally destroying the city? And is Barry actually The Man In The Yellow Suit?

Mattel's 1980s toy shilling cartoon was far from Ahead Of Its Time in the writing department. Despite an amazing 80s voice cast, many of the episodes were pretty schlocky, even for a kid's show. I didn't have many fond memories of it despite having a complete set of the action figures, castles, and vehicles when I was a kid.

Bored at work in 2022, I decided to listen to the Kevin Smith continuation of the story while I did paperwork and data entry. I was surprised by how progressive and entertaining it was. I decided I should check out the old series. It, uhh...it didn't endear me.

But there are some episodes that feed into the 2021 series that are not only watchable but entertaining in a nostalgic way.

I have made a four season series leading up to the Kevin Smith's series, including ten episodes per season of the 1983 He-Man and the 1985 She-Ra series that were historically important to the new series but also fun to watch.

The first season introduces you to the characters and sets up the journey to the 21st century cartoon. The animation is dated, the writing is...fine. The surprise to me is that even the 80s series is surprisingly progressive, at least when it comes to gender representation and alternatives to violence. One of the recurring themes is that heroes and villains need to work together/keep each other safe from physical harm.

101. Teela's Quest

A really cool introduction to the good guys. We first see how Eternia is connected to Earth, and then we follow Teela as she searches for her birth mother. We also meet Orko, The Sorceress, and Merman. And we see that He-Man is a true hero, not just a violent barbarian. 


102. The Diamond Ray Of Disappearance

Meet the rogues gallery as Skeletor summons all of his henches to Snake Mountain in order to organize an attack on The Royal Palace and capture Castle Grayskull. Plus, meet the never-fleshed-out tertiary heroes whose action figures you only got if you were super whiney or your parents were super rich. 


103. Creatures From The Tar-Swamp

So far, Orko has been the clumsy, somewhat annoying comic relief. In this episode we learn how the magician saved Prince Adam and Cringer as a child (and a kitten). You'll be shocked to know that this episode also features Skeletor trying to conquer Castle Grayskull.


104. Dawn Of Dragoon

More Orko! A female, uhm, Orko arrives and guides him back to his home world where he battles a half-man half-dragon and gets back in touch with his magical powers.  The Sorceress gives He-Man some Alice In Wonderland style magic to help bring Orko back home. 


105. The Witch and The Warrior

He-Man and Teela  journey to a desert to protect a magic fountain from the evil Kothos. Then, jealous Skeletor decides he should take the fountain instead of Kothos, and sends Evil-Lyn and Clawful to interfere. 


106. Prince Adam No More

Skeletor fires Beast-Man for incompetence, and the King of Eternia reluctantly agrees to be guarded by Prince Adam instead of He-Man. The two stories intersect with disastrous results. 


107. The Search

He-Man must stop Skeletor as he drills to the center of Eternia in order to something something power something something Castle Grayskull. 


108. Evilseed

The...gnome?..dwarf..? farmers of Eternia plant an invasive vine that cracks a damn and floods a fertile crescent and then threatens to destroy the palace. The only way to beat the plants may be to team up with a certain skeletal themed villain destined to betray them. 


109. The Taking Of Grayskull

It's Orko's birthday and nobody is paying attention to him. But while their backs are turned on him, they're also turned on Grayskull which, along with He-Man's sword, totally disappears. Sadly, this is the first episode where not one but two strong female characters can't handle the danger themselves and need to be rescued by He-Man.


110. The Problem With Power

Skeletor's new plan to build a giant portal isn't just evil, it's also not going to pass an OSHA inspection. And when He-Man acts first and thinks later, he causes collateral damage causing him to rethink whether he is worthy of the sword of Grayskull.

2019 was a banner year for wrestling. There were bleak days on the horizon, but 2019 brought us Evil Daniel Bryan and Kofimania, Becky Two Belts, The Undisputed Era's total dominance over NXT, Impact wrestling started to return to form, ROH sent their wrestlers on a Jericruise, NXT UK introduced us to Gunther (as Walter) and Imperium, we even get an episode of Evolve (the NXT to WWE's NXT), and finally AEW arrives on the scene at the end of the season with a couple of banger first episodes.

Many seasons, I close things out with the end of an era, a retirement, or a Match Of The Ages. This season, we close with a familiar face returning to debut a new character. Sadly, the character never quite lived up to its concept and introduction, but Oh Man did it look like it was going to be fun.

1801. Everybody Gets The Shamrock Snaps, 2018

Daniel Bryan's triumphant return to wrestling feels pretty triumphant here as he has a pair of matches against AJ Styles, and one against The Beast Incarnate. We also get a 205 Live match, and some long form storytelling in the womens' division that's going to keep going all the way through Wrestlemania!

Announcers: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips, Percy Watson, Renee Young, Vic Joseph, Greg Hamilton, Jojo

1. AJ Styles (WWE Champ) vs Daniel Bryan
2. Buddy Murphy (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Mustafa Ali
3. Rhonda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair
4. Brock Lesnar (WWE Universal Champ) vs Daniel Bryan (WWE Champ)
5. Charlotte Flair vs Asuke
6. Daniel Bryan (WWE Champ) vs AJ Styles
7. Becky Lynch (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Charlotte Flair vs Asuke in a TLC Match

1802. More Games, 2018

NXT established a top tier New Guard last season, and they're sticking around. Everyone in this episode is a current, former, or future champion, and it shows.

Announcers: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Kayla Braxton

1. Shayna Baszler (NXT Womens Champ) vs Kairi Sane 
2. Aleister Black (as Malakai Black) vs Johnny Gargano
3. Tomasso Ciampa (NXT Champ) vs Velveteen Dream
4. Mustache Mountain vs Grizzled Young Veterans for the NXT UK Tag Team Championship

5. Undisputed Era vs Pete Dunne, Ricochet & Viking Raiders in a War Games Match

1803. Returning Glory, 2018



1. Allie (Impact Knockout Champ) vs Su Yung
2. Ray Fenix vs John Morrison vs Petey Williams vs Taiji Ishimori
3. Tessa Blanchard (Impact Knockout Champ) vs Taya Valkerie
4. LAX vs OGz in a Concrete Jungle Match
​5. Austin Aries (Impact Champ) vs John Morrison

1804. Jericruise: Sea Of Honor, 2018

It's the first ever Jericruise where Ring of Honor wrestlers gathered for a singles tournament on a cruise ship where the winner would face Jay Lethal for the ROH Championship. Followed by Alpha Club (Chris Jericho and the Young Bucks) vs Bullet Club (Kenny Omega, Cody Rhodes, and Marty Scurrl).

Announcers: Colt Cabana, Jay Lethal, SoCal Val

1. Christopher Daniels vs Dalton Castle
2. Marty Scurrl vs Flip Gordon
3. Jay Briscoe vs Cheeseburger
4. Mark Briscoe vs Hangman Page
5. Dalton Castle vs Flip Gordon
6. Mark Briscoe vs Jay Briscoe
7. Jay Briscoe vs Flip Gordon
8. Alpha Club vs Bullet Club

1805. Back On Land, 2018

The ROH women's division has never been as entertaining or as visible as Impact or WWE's, so it's nice to see a couple of great matches here. The rest of the card is mostly familiar ROHers who will soon jump ship to AEW, but who will frequently return to the ROH ring.

​

1. Sumie Sakai (ROH Womens Champ) vs Madison Rayne vs Kelly Klein vs Wendy Choo
2. Jeff Cobb (ROH TV Champ) vs Hangman Page
3. Jonathan Gresham vs Zack Sabre Jr
4. SoCalU (ROH Tag Team Champs) vs Young Bucks vs Briscoes in a Ladder Match
5. Mayu Iwatani (ROH Womens Champ) vs Kelly Klein
6. Jay Lethal (ROH Champ) vs Matt Taven

1806. Takeover Phoenix, 2019

The Gargano/Ciampa/Black/Undisputed Era...era of NXT continues to be just some of the best wrestling in the industry. Plus, we get our first glimpse at the EST, Bianca Belair.

Announcers: Shawn Michaels, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph, Kayla Braxton

1. Undisputed Era (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs Viking Raiders (as the War Raiders)
2. Ricochet (NXT North American Champ) vs Johnny Gargano
3. Shayna Baszler (NXT Womens Champ) vs Bianca Belair
4. Tomasso Ciampa (NXT Champ) vs Malakai Black
5. DIY & Adam Cole vs Ricochet, Malakai Black & Velveteen Dream

1807. The Rumble Lynchpin, 2019

There are a couple of weird wins this season with someone not technically in the Royal Rumble winning the Royal Rumble, then someone technically not in the Money In The Bank match climbing the ladder and becoming the MITB contract holder but we also have some delightful undercard matches here, and two killer women's title matches. 

Announcers: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Beth Phoenix, Mike Rome  

1. Rey Mysterio & Mustafa Ali vs Andrade & Samoa Joe
2. Rey Mysterio vs Andrade in a 2/3 Falls Match
3. Buddy Murphy (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Akira Tozawa vs Hideo Itami vs Kalisto
4. Asuke (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Becky Lynch
5. Ronda Rhousey (WWE Raw Champ) vs Sasha Banks
5. Womens Royal Rumble
Lacey Evans, Natalya, Mandy Rose, Liv Morgan, Mickie James, Ember Moon, Billie Kay, Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, Tamina, Xia Li, Sarah Logan, Charlotte Flair, Kairi Sane, Maria Kanellis, Naomi, Candice LeRae, Alicia Fox, Kacy Catanzaro, Zelina Vega, Ruby Riott, Dana Brooke, Io Shirai, Rhea Ripley, Sonya Deville, Alexa Bliss,Bayley, Becky Lynch, Nia Jax,  Carmella

1808. The Phoenix Rumble, 2019

Both the 2018 Men's and Women's Rumble were tough acts to follow, and neither of them really lived up to their predecessors, but this was still a fun, if somewhat predictable match. We skipped over Shane McMahon winning Best Wrestler In The World because it was a travesty but it did lead to the fun frienemy tag team of Shane McMahon and the Miz who spend time at the top of the division in this episode. Plus Lesnar and Balor have a classic David vs Goliath battle over The Universal Championship, and FTR gets their hands on some WWE gold.

Announcers: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, JBL, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Renee Young

1. The Bar (WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs Miz & Shane
2. Brock Lesnar (WWE Universal Champ) vs Finn Balor
3. Men's Royal Rumble Match
Elias Raw, Jeff Jarrett Shinsuke Nakamura, Kurt Angle, Big E, Johnny Gargano, Jinder Mahal, Samoa Joe, Curt Hawkins, Seth Rollins, Titus O'Neil, Kofi Kingston, Mustafa Ali, Dean Ambrose, No Way Jose, Drew McIntyre, Xavier Woods, Pete Dunne, Andrade, Apollo Crews, Aleister, Shelton Benjamin, Baron Corbin, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, Randy Orton, Nia Jax

4. Chad Gable & Bobby Roode (WWE Raw Tag Team Champs) vs FTR (as The Revival)
5. Miz & Shane (WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs The Usos

1809. Worlds Collide, 2019

A fun cross-promotion tournament between NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live gives us some matches we won't see in any other wrestling organization. The event is kicked off by a fifteen man battle royal to determine the draw for the tournament. I've stripped the tournament down to only the best matches, most of which were in the first round, so you only get one quarterfinal match, and no semifinal matches, but the final match makes the tournament totally worth it.

Announcers: Nigel McGuinness, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Vic Joseph, Greg Hamilton, Mike Rome, Sarah Schrieber

1. Drew Gulak vs Mark Andrews
2. Keith Lee vs Travis Banks
3. Adam Cole vs Shane Thorne
4. Tyler Bate vs Cedric Alexander
5. Velveteen Dream vs Tony Nese
6. Adam Cole vs Keith Lee
7. Velveteen Dream vs Tyler Bate

1810. Kofi's Gauntlet, 2019

This is kind of a bummer of an episode but it's full of great matches that are all leading to even bigger moments. We reach the expected turn in the Shane & Miz storyline but the real stories are Daniel Bryan's evolution into the evil vegan heel who has proclaimed himself "The Planet's Champion." He's also moved on from his feud with AJ Styles just in time to get caught up in the sudden and welcome surge of Kofimania. 

1. Gauntlet Match
Kofi Kingston vs Daniel Bryan
Kofi Kingston vs Jeff Hardy
Kofi Kingston vs Samoa Joe
Kofi Kingston vs AJ Styles
AJ Styles vs Randy Orton

2. Buddy Murphy (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Akira Tozawa
3. The Usos (WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs The Miz & Shane
4. WWE Championship Chamber Match
Daniel Bryan vs Samoa Joe vs Randy Orton vs AJ Styles vs Kofi Kingston vs Jeff Hardy

1811. Takeover New York, 2019
​
Once again, NXT absolutely destroys. Ricochet and Aleister (Malakai) Black bow out of NXT before joining the main WWE rosters. Velveteen Dream and Riddle have an absolute scorcher. Future superstar Gunther debuts for us as Walter and annihilates everyone. And, due to an injury Tomasso Ciampa has vacated the title, and Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole vie to make it theirs.

Announcers: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph, Kayla Braxton

1. Viking Raiders (as War Raiders) (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs Ricochet & Malakai Black
2. Velveteen Dream (NXT North American Champ) vs Riddle
3. Pete Dunne (WWE UK Champ) vs Gunther (as Walter)
4. Adam Cole vs Johnny Gargano for vacant NXT Championship

1812. Kofimania, 2019

Kofi finally gets his flowers after going through a very similar to journey to Daniel Bryan's Yes Movement. Plus, the final probably ever SHIELD match, and the blowoff to the Miz/Shane McMahon storyline.
 
Announcers: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Renee Young, Greg Hamilton, Mike Rome 

1. Brock Lesnar (WWE Universal Champ) vs Seth Rollins
​2. Roman Reigns vs Elias
3. Daniel Bryan (WWE Champ) vs Kevin Owens vs Mustafa Ali
4. The Miz vs Shane McMahon

5. Gauntlet Match
Kofi Kingston vs Sheamus
Kofi Kingston vs Caesaro
Kofi Kingston vs Eric Rowan
Kofi Kingston vs Samoa Joe (WWE US Champ)
Kofi Kingston vs Randy Orton
Kofi Kingston vs Daniel Bryan (WWE Champ)

6. The Shield vs Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre & Baron Corbin 

1813. Double Or Nothing, 2019

The first actual AEW event set some high standards. Jim Ross returned to announcing professional wrestling, Bret Hart shows up (though he got cut for time here, as he didn't wrestle)

Announcers: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Alex Marvez, Allie, Justin Roberts

1. Casino Battle Royal
2. SoCalU vs Strong Hearts
3. Awesome Kong vs Britt Baker vs Nyla Rose vs Kylie Rae
4. Hikaru Shida, Riho & Ryo Mizunami vs Aja Kong, Emi Sakura & Yuka Sakazaki
6. Young Bucks (AAA Tag Team Champs) vs Lucha Bros
​7. Chris Jericho vs Kenny Omega

1814. Becky Two Belts, 2019

Announcers: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Renee Young, Greg Hamilton, Mike Rome 
​
1. Rhonda Rousey (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Charlotte Flair (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Becky Lynch

2. Daniel Bryan (WWE Champ) vs Kofi Kingston
3. Seth Rollins (WWE Universal Champ) vs AJ Styles
4. Becky Lynch (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Lacey Evans
5. Becky Lynch (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Charlotte Flair
6. Kofi Kingston (WWE Champ) vs AJ Styles vs Sami Zayn in a No DQ Match 

6. Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, Finn Balor, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Baron Corbin, Mustafa Ali, Andrade

1815. We Get It, You're Taking Over, 2019

We're still very much in the midst of the ROH Alumni era of NXT (many of whom will go on to AEW instead of WWE) but we do get a fun throwback with Tyler Breeze's return from his Who's That Guy Again run on the main roster, and future WWE star Iyo Sky gets some revenge on still not quite a WWE star but an absolute killer in NXT, Shayna Baszler. This episode is straight up just NXT Takeover XXV with the ads removed.

Announcers: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Beth Phoenix, Alicia Taylor

1. Roderick Strong vs Riddle
2. reDRagon (as Undisputed Era) vs Street Profits vs Forgotten Sons vs Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch for vacant NXT Tag Team Championship

3. Velveteen Dream vs Tyler Breeze
4. Shayna Baszler (NXT Womens Champ) vs Iyo Sky
5. Johnny Gargano (NXT Champ) vs Adam Cole

1816. United We Stand, 2019

1. LA Knight (as Eli Drake) vs Abyss in a Monster's Ball Match
2. LAX (Impact Tag Team Champs) vs Lucha Bros
3. Tessa Blanchard (Impact Knockout Champ) vs Taya Valkyrie
4. John Morrison (Impact Champ) vs Brian Cage
5. Taya Valkyrie (Impact Knockout Champ) vs Jordynne Grace vs Katie Forbes vs Rosemary
6. LAX vs Promociones Dorado
7. Tessa Blanchard vs Joey Ryan
8. Lucha Bros vs RvD & Sabu

1817. Evolve 131, 2019

Evolve is like PREXT for the WWE. You train there, then you get moved up to NXT, then if you're lucky, it's Raw and/or Smackdown. This is going to be our only look at Evolve in this chronology, as their crop of up and coming stars go head to head with Evolve Alumni, most of whom were in NXT at the time. This is our fist glimpse at Shotzi and Austin Theory, one of whom will be a constant presence in the near future, the other will have a couple of moments in the sun.

Announcers: Lenny Leonard, Paul Heyman, 

1. Arturo Ruas vs Anthony Henry
2. Brandi Lauren vs Shotzi
3. The unWanted (Evolve Tag Team Champs) vs AR Fox & Leon Ruff
4. Riddle vs Drew Gulak
5. Austin Theory (Evolve Champ) vs JD Drake (WWN Champ) in a Unification Match
6. Adam Cole (NXT Champ) vs Akira Tozawa

1818. Takeover Cardiff

1. Caesaro vs Ilja Dragunov
2. The Grizzled Young Veterans (NXT UK Tag Team Champs) vs Gallus vs Mark Andrews & Morgan Webster

3. Mia Yim vs Bianca Belair vs Iyo Sky vs Candace LeRae
4. Toni Storm (NXT UK Womens Champ) vs Alba Fyre (as Kay Lee Ray)
5. Riddle vs Killian Dane
6. Gunther (as Walter) (NXT UK Champ) vs Tyler Bate

1819. Fyter Fest For The Fallen

Cody and Goldust have a brotherly battle for the ages, that everyone assumed would have eventually happened in the WWE. Later, they team up to fight The Young Bucks in an excellent match. Both Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley) and Kenny Omega are in this episode but, surprisingly, given the end of the last episode, they're in separate fantastic matches.

Announcers: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Alex Marvez, Goldenboy, Tony Roberts

1. Cody Rhodes vs Goldust
2. The Elite vs The Lucha Bros & Laredo Kid
3. Dean Ambrose (as Jon Moxley) vs Joey Janella
4. Kenny Omega vs Cima
​5. Young Bucks vs Rhodes Brothers

1820. The Firefly Funhouse

A ton of great matches here amongst a scattering of episodes of Firefly Funhouse and the debut of Bray Wyatt as The Fiend! Also, another intergender tag team match as real life couple Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch take on two midcarders desperate to rise to the top. Plus, Brock Lesnar gets goofy for the first, but thankfully not last, time.

1. The Undertaker & Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre & Shane McMahon in a No Holds Barred Match

2. Caesaro vs Malakai Black (as Aleister Black)
3. Daniel Bryan & Eric Rowan (WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs New Day vs Heavy Machinery

4. Becky Lynch (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Natalya
5. Charlotte Flair vs Trish Stratus
6. Seth Rollins (WWE Universal Champ) & Becky Lynch (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Baron Corbin & Lacey Evans

7. Samoa Joe (WWE US Champ) vs Finn Balor

The shift in the balance of wrestling history really begins here. Yes, we've seen women's wrestling start to improve dramatically over the past few seasons, yes, we've seen NXT prove that so called "indie" wrestlers on their way to the main roster of the WWE are capable of better wrestling and better storylines than a majority of the superstars, yes, we've seen New Japan start to creep into American wrestling, yes, Ring of Honor and Impact have weathered the constant onslaught of WWE's dominance of the wrestling world. But there hasn't been real competition since WCW started to crumble. Well, next season is when we'll see a new promotion instantly grow larger than ROH and WCW, but this season we see its founding.

​Before we get there, not everything in the WWE is bad. NXT, in particular, shines brightly this season. New Japan launches Kenny Omega into the stratosphere of professional wrestling. Ring Of Honor starts to cool its heels except when Bullet Club and New Japan is involved, and Impact is completely absent from this season until some of their stars pop up in the final episode of the season.

And the season ends strong. Our final three episodes include another stellar tournament featuring up and coming women, followed by their meshing with the main women's roster of the WWE, and concluding with the probably the most important wrestling show of the 21st century: All In 2018.

All In came together because professional wrestling's most famed critic and supporter said that nobody other than WWE could sell 10,000 tickets to a wrestling show in the 2010s. So Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks decided to prove him wrong. And they more than succeeded.

1701. Fastlane, 2017/2018

We're flying right into season seventeen. No time spent on who's managing which program, no background stories for new factions. The heaviest hitters from last season plow into each other as we ready for Wrestlemania with both a Royal Rumble and an Elimination Chamber match.

1. Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe
2. AJ Styles (WWE Champ) vs Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
3. Men's Royal Rumble
Rusev, Finn Bálor, Rhyno, Baron Corbin, Heath Slater, Elias, Andrade, Bray Wyatt, Big E, Sami Zayn, Sheamus, Xavier Woods, Apollo Crews, Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro, Kofi Kingston, Jinder Mahal, Seth Rollins, Matt Hardy, John Cena, The Hurricane, Aiden English, Adam Cole, Randy Orton, Titus O'Neil, The Miz, Rey Mysterio, Roman Reigns, Goldust, Dolph Ziggler

4. Elimination Chamber Match
John Cena vs Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor vs The Miz vs Braun Stroman vs Damian Sandow

1702. Womens' Road To Wrestlemania, 2018

We should be well past the point of segregating womens' cards from mens' but I didn't want an episode that was just two back to back rumbles. Also, the buildup to Charlotte vs Asuka, and Alexa Bliss's continued dominance is a fun storyline from a time when womens' storylines weren't really fun.  I have completely eliminated Ronda Rhousey from this episode, even though her fingerprints were all over this era. But since she hadn't yet been in a match, the idea of her just running around and pointing out signs after other wrestlers had epic matches just never sat right with me. Don't worry, though, she's going to show up soon.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Jonathan Coachman, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Stephanie McMahon, Tom Phillips, Jojo, Maria Manounos

1. Women's Royal Rumble

Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, Sarah Logan, Mandy Rose, Lita, Kairi Sane, Tamina, Dana Brooke, Torrie Wilson, Sonya Deville, Liv Morgan, Molly Holly, Lana, Michelle McCool,  Ruby Riott, Vickie Guerrero, Carmella, Natalya, Kelly Kelly, Naomi, Jacqueline, Nia Jax, Ember Moon, Beth Phoenix, Asuke, Mickie James, Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Bayley, Trish Stratus

​2. Elimination Chamber Match
Mickie James vs Sasha Banks vs Bayley vs Alexa Bliss vs Sonya Deville vs Mandy Rose

3. Natalya & Carmella vs Becky Lynch & Naomi
4. Charlotte Flair (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Ruby Soho (as Ruby Riott)

1703. Takeover Philadelphia, 2018

​Announcers:​

1. Roderick Strong vs Tyler Bate (NXT 1/31/18)
2. Adam Cole vs Malakai Black (as Aleister Black) in a Hardcore Match
3. Roderick Strong vs Hideo Itama (205 Live 2/6/18)
4. Andrade (NXT Champ) vs Johnny Gargano 
5. Roderick Strong vs Cedric Alexander (205 Live 3/13/18)
6. Andrade (NXT Champ) vs Johnny Gargano in a Career vs Title Match (2/21/18)

​1704. Wrestle Kingdom, 2018

Dave "I've Rated Every Wrestling Event Since Before You Were Born" Meltzer has a five star rating scale. The lowest star rating he gave out in this episode of Japanese bangers is six stars. See what all the fuss was about with The Elite before they became the founders of AEW.

Announcers: Jim Ross, Kevin Kelly, Don Callis, Matt Striker

1. Kazuchika Okada (IWGP Champ) vs Kenny Omega
2. Kenny Omega (IWGP Champ) vs Tetsuya Naito
3. Cody Rhodes vs Kota Ibushi
4. Young Bucks vs Golden Lovers

1707. Impact Redemption, 2017/2018

1. Trevor Lee (Impact X Champ) vs Dezmond Xavier vs Garza Jr. vs Matt Sydal vs Petey Williams vs Sonjay Dutt

2.Abyss vs Grado in a Monster's Ball Match
3. Ohio Versus Everything (Impact Tag Team Champs) vs LAX in a No DQ Match
4. Taya Valkerie vs Kiera Hogan
5. Austin Aries (Impact World Champ) vs  Pentagon El Zero vs Fenix
6. Ohio Versus Everything vs Eddie Edwards, Moose and Tommy Dreamer in a Hardcore Match

7. Pentagon El Zero vs Sami Callahan in a Hair vs Mask Match

1706. Being The Elite, 2017/2018

The Young Bucks/Bullet Club have been all over ROH and New Japan for a few seasons now, and it's not changing anytime soon. There weren't many interesting non-Bullet Club stories in 2017/8. Luckily, they put on some fantastic matches along with Cody Rhodes, Marty Skurrl, Hangman Page, and Kenny Omega.

Announcers: BJ Whitmer, Ian Riccaboni, Bobby Cruise

1. Bullet Club (ROH 6 Man Tag Champs) vs Search & Destroy
2. Jay Lethal vs Marti Scurrl
3. Bullet Club (ROH 6 Man Tag Champs) vs Dragon Lee, Flip Gordon & Titan
4. Cody Rhodes (ROH Champ) vs Dalton Castle
5. Young Bucks vs Best Friends
6. Hung Bucks vs SoCalU

1707. Low Blow City, 2018

I originally had this episode as the Saudi Arabian Royal Rumble but I'm a huge fan of the John Cena vs Undertaker storyline from this era. The hype around a match that wasn't going to happen was fantastic, and it's really the last interesting storyline for either one of them until Undertaker's Boneyard Match and John Cena's 2023 attempted comeback. We also get to see the best of the many WWE AJ Styles vs Shinsuka Nakamura matches, and the much anticipated Charlotte vs Asuke.

1. AJ Styles (WWE Champ) vs John Cena vs Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn vs Dolph Ziggler vs Baron Corbin

2. The Authority vs Kurt Angle & Rhonda Rousey
3. John Cena vs Kane
4. Charlotte Flair (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Asuke
5. John Cena vs Elias
6.AJ Styles (WWE Champ) vs Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing Match

1708. Honorversary, 2018

ROH is still all about the Bullet Club. But we also get Dalton Castle's first defense of the ROH title, and a banger between Hangman Page and Koto Ibushi. 

Announcers: Ian Ricabboni, Colt Cabana, Shane Taylor, Bobby Cruise

1. Dalton Castle (ROH Champ) vs Jay Lethal
2. Koto Ibushi vs Hangman Page
3. SoCalU (ROH 6Man Tag Champs) vs Flip Gordon & Young Bucks
4. Cody Rhodes vs Kenny Omega

1709. The Saudi Arabian Rumble, 2018

It's an Intercontinental episode as we see Rollins defend the workhorse title twice in two fantastic matches, and Nia Jax's greatest storyline against Alexa Bliss. Plus, a fifty person rumble.

1. Seth Rollins (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Finn Balor
2. Alexa Bliss (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Nia Jax
3. Seth Rollins (WWW Intercontinental Champ) vs The Miz
4. Nia Jax (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Alexa Bliss
5. The Greatest Royal Rumble
Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler, Sin Cara, Curtis Axel, Mark Henry, Mike Kanellis, Hiroki Sumi, Viktor, Kofi Kingston, Tony Nese, Dash Wilder, Hornswoggle, Primo, Xavier Woods, Bo Dallas, Kurt Angle, Scott Dawson, Goldust, Konnor, Elias, Luke Gallows, Rhyno, Tucker Knight, Bobby Roode, Fandango, Chad Gable, Rey Mysterio, Mojo Rawley, Tyler Breeze, Big E, Karl Anderson, Apollo Crews, Roderick Strong, Randy Orton, Heath Slater, Babatunde, Baron Corbin, Titus O'Neil, Dan Matha, Braun Strowman, Tye Dillinger, Curt Hawkins, Bobby Lashley, The Great Khali, Kevin Owens, Shane McMahon, Shelton Benjamin, Big Cass, Chris Jericho

1710. Takeover New Orleans, 2018
​
It's pretty rare that I include an entire pay-per-view without removing any matches but this event was near perfection. I've added a great 205 Live 4-way match as an intro and then it's all New Orleans as EC3 joins NXT, and Gargano and Ciampa's long-awaited match after last season's betrayal not only doesn't disappoint, it exceeds expectations by miles.

Announcers: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph, Mike Rome, Greg Hamilton

1. Akira Tozawa vs Buddy Murphy vs TJ Perkins vs Kallisto 
2. EC3 vs Adam Cole vs Ricochet vs Velveteen Dream vs Big Damo vs Lars Sullivan in a Ladder Match for the inaugural NXT North American Championship

3. Ember Moon (NXT Womens Champ) vs Shayna Baszler
4. The Undisputed Era (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs Future Shock vs Authors Of Pain
5. Andrade (NXT Champ) vs Malakai Black (as Aleister Black)
6. Johnny Gargano vs Tomasso Ciampa in an Unsanctioned Match

1711. Chicago Rules, 2018

1. Buddy Murphy vs Mustafa Ali (5/8/18)
2. Cedric Alexander (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Buddy Murphy (5/29/18)
3. Undisputed Era (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan
4. Shayna Baszler (NXT Womens Champ) vs Nikki Cross
5. Ricochet vs Velveteen Dream
6. Johnny Gargano vs Tomasso Ciampa in a Street Fight

1712. UKC3, 2018

NXT was firing on all cylinders in 2018. In particular, their British stars. This episode is wound around the Undisputed Era/Mustache Mountain feud with a few other title matches thrown in. 

Announcers: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph, Kayla Braxton, Andy Shepherd
​
1. The Undisputed Era vs British Strong Style
2. Undisputed Era (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs Mustache Mountain
3. Pete Dunne (NXT UK Champ) vs Zack Gibson
4. Shayna Baszler (NXT Womens Champ) vs Kairi Sane
5. Mustache Mountain (NXT Tag Team Champs) & Ricochet vs Undisputed Era
6. Malakai Black (as Aleister Black) (NXT Champ) vs Tomasso Ciampa
7. Mustache Mountain (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs Future Shock (as Undisputed Era)

1713. Omega Man, 2018

Kenny Omega is the absolute star of this season. Here, he features in three of the four matches, and they are some of the best of the season. All of this action takes place in New Japan, as The Elite portion of Bullet Club gets ready for the launch of a whole new wrestling promotion next season.

Announcers: Don Callis, Kevin Kelly

1. Kenny Omega vs Chris Jericho in a No DQ Match
2. Roppongi 3K (IWGP Tag Team Champs) vs Young Bucks
3. Adam Page vs Kenny Omega
4. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega

1714. Rusev Day, 2018
WWE hasn't had a ton of love this season because there matches and storylines took a bit of a dip. Here we see the consistently fun Money In The Bank ladder matches from the year, as well as seeing an obvious person ascend to a title and a complete left field choice win a title.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Jonathan Coachman, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips, Greg Hamilton, Jojo

1. Women's Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Natalya, Becky Lynch, Naomi, Ember Moon, Alexa Bliss

2. Nia Jax (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Rhonda Rousey
3. Men's Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, The Miz, Kofi Kingston, Braun Stroman, Bobby Roode, Rusev

4. Deleters Of Worlds (WWE Raw Tag Team Champs) vs The B Team
5. AJ Styles (WWE Champ) vs Rusev

1715. Ducks In A Row, 2018

Lethal claimed yet another ROH title between episodes, Bubba Ray Dudley returns to the ring for, what else, a tables match, and more Bullet Club shenanigans.

Announcers: Ian Riccaboni, Caprice Coleman, Bobby Cruise

1. Jay Lethal vs Kushida
2. The Briscoes (ROH Tag Team Champs) vs Young Bucks
3. Bubba Ray Dudley & Silas Young vs Flip Gordon & Colt Cabana in a Tables Match
4. Bullet Club vs Chaos in a 10 Man Tag Match
5. Jay Lethal (ROH Champ) vs Will Ospreay

​1716. Takeover Backlash, 2018

Vengeance is the theme of this episode as we mostly see some return matches that somehow deliver even stronger than their originals, and we see the impressive debut of Riddle.

Announcers: Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph, Kayla Braxton, Andy Shepherd

1. Adam Cole (NXT US Champ) vs Ricochet
2. Riddle vs Casius Ohno
3. Shayna Baszler (NXT Womens Champ) vs Kairi Sane in a 2/3 Falls Match
4. Mustache Mountain (NXT UK Tag Team Champs) vs Grizzled Young Vets
5. Tomasso Ciampa vs Johnny Gargano in a Last Man Standing Match  

1717. Super Showdown, 2018

​Announcers:

1. The Bar (WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs New Day (Smackdown 8/7/2018)
2. AJ Styles (WWE Champ) vs Samoa Joe
3. Seth Rollins (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Kevin Owens (Raw 8/27/18)
4. Charlotte Flair (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Becky Lynch
5. Cedric Alexander (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Buddy Murphy
6. D0lph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre (WWE Raw Tag Team Champs) vs The SHIELD

1718. Alundra Blayze Classic

The second annual Mae Young Classic gives us some returns from the first edition but also introduces us to some future WWE, Impact, and AEW stars like Tay Melo, Killer Kelly, Iyo Sky, and Toni Storm. This is really a highlight reel of the whole competition, leaving out the final match, which is a part of the next episode.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Beth Phoenix, Renee Young, Kayla Braxton

1. MJ Jenkins vs. Rhea Ripley
2. Killer Kelly vs. Meiko Satomura
3. Toni Storm vs Jinny
4. Mia Yim vs. Allysin Kay
5. Toni Storm vs Hiroyo Matsumoto
6. Kayden Carter (as Lacey Lane) vs Tay Melo (as Taynara Conti)
7.  Meiko Satomura vs Mercedes Martinez
8. Toni Storm vs Meiko Satomura
9. Rhea Ripley vs Iyo Sky (as Iyo Shirai)

1719. Stephanie McMahon's Evolution

Now that we've seen the future superstars of various women's divisions, it's time to see how well they fare mixed in with the NXT and WWE women's main roster talent.

​Announcers: Michael Cole, Beth Phoenix, Renee Young, Lillian Garcia

1. Trish Stratus & Lita vs Mickey James & Alicia Fox
2. 20 Women Battle Royal for Championship Match
3. Toni Storm vs Iyo Sky
4. Sasha Banks, Bayley & Natalya vs Riott Squad
5. Kairi Sane (NXT Womens Champ) vs Shayna Baszler
6. Becky Lynch (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Charlotte Flair in a Last Woman Standing Match

7. Rhonda Rousey (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Nikki Bella

1720. All In On The Big Dream, 2018

We end the season with the groundbreaking event that set up AEW. Cody Rhodes uses all his indie connections to put on a supershow of NWA, Ring Of Honor, Impact, AAA, and more. Everybody showed up and put on some devastating matches to prove that there's room in the big stadiums for more than just WWE. The most unexpected return on the card? Sean Mooney, who hadn't been seen on wrestling television since working for WWE in the late 1980s.

Announcers: Ian Riccaboni, Excalibur, Don Callis, Tenille Dashwood, Mandy Leon, Bret Tarring, Sean Mooney, Alicia Atout, Bobby Cruise, Justin Roberts


1. Tessa Blanchard vs Britt Baker vs Chelsea Green vs Madison Rayne
2. Nick Aldis (NWA Champ) vs Cody Rhodes
3. Hangman Page vs Joey Janella
4. Kenny Omega vs Penta El Zero
5. Kazuchika Okada vs Marty Skurrl
6. The Golden Elite vs Rey Mysterio, Rey Fenix & Bandido

This is about as focused a season of Star Trek as you're ever likely to see. We begin with a look into Ferengi culture, which is usually presented with disdain by hu-mons and other members of The Federation but put on your No-Bigotry glasses and check out Quark's perspective and how it does and doesn't properly reflect Ferengi culture.

But the big focus of the season is The Cardassian/Bajoran conflict. Yes, it's The Heart of Deep Space Nine's first couple of seasons, but we're also going to explore it via The Enterprise, as Ensign Ro joins the crew, giving us some non-Kira Bajoran perspective. A lot goes down in the conflict this season, as we're introduced to the Bajoran terrorist cell called The Maquis, who are going to be a big part of Voyager, which well dive into next season.

701-02: Unification (TNG)
(Picard, Spock, Data, Riker, Worf, Laforge, Crusher, Troi, Sarek, Gowran, Sela)

Woohoo! It's Spock on TNG. But, um, has he defected to the Romulan side of the Vulcan/Romulan conflict? And what does this have to do with Tasha Yar's Romulan daughter or Spock's father?


703. Acquisition (ENT)
(Archer, Tucker, T'Pol, Phlox, Reed, Sato, Mayweather)

Tucker is the only crew member of The Enterprise conscious when they're invaded by an alien race seeking to loot their ship. No bonus points for guessing it's Ferengi.


704. The Nagus (DS9)
(Quark, Sisko, Kira, Odo, Nagus, Bashir, Jake, O'Brien, Dax,  Rom, Nog, Zek)

It's time to learn about Ferengi culture with the station's favorite bartender, and a slew of strangers who may be important down the line. Also, O'Brien is substitute teacher for his wife's school.


705. Duet (DS9)
(Kira, Sisko, Bashir, Odo, Gul Dukat, Dax, Quark)

Someone who appears to be a Cardassian war criminal with ties to Kira's past shows up on Deep Space Nine. Kira wants him tried on Bajor, Gul Dukat wants him returned to the Cardassians.  Despite a moderately weak and predictable ending, most of this episode is a very interesting look at the guilt of not-necessarily-innocent bystanders during acts of war.


706-708. The Homecoming/The Circle/The Seige (DS9)
(Kira, O'Brien, Sisko, Odo, Bashir, Dax, Quark, Rom, Keiko)

A Bajoran resistance group called The Splinter comes to play in the war with The Cardassians. Their plans to rise to power include eliminating all alien life on Bajor, including the non-Bajoran staff on Deep Space Nine.


709. Ensign Ro (TNG)
(Picard, Ro, Guinan, Riker, Data, Worf, Crusher, Troi, Laforge)

Starfleet shenanigans put a court martialed officer of a race made refugee by The Cardassians on The Enterprise. It's an interesting look at prejudice, and how politicians use terrorism and tragedy for their own ends. Something Star Trek often attempts, but rarely pulls off.


710. Disaster (TNG)
(Picard, O'Brien, Ro, Troi, Riker, Data, Crusher, Laforge, Worf)

Several disaster movie cliches are overlapped in the most character-driven episode since "Family". The O'Brien/Ro/Troi interplay is my favorite non-main character study so far in the chronology. Also, it's nice to see a story where kids are just annoying children as opposed to spooky, powerful menaces.


711. Cardassians (DS9)
(Bashir, Sisko, O'Brien, Garak, Gul Dukat, Keiko, Odo)

A Cardassian orphaned child raised by Bajorans ends up in the middle of a custody dispute. I really enjoy the writing on Deep Space Nine, but like most Star Trek shows, the episodes are usually pretty well telegraphed. This one doesn't have any M Night Shyamalan twists, it just doesn't take the easiest way out.


712. Cause And Effect (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Crusher, Data, Worf, Laforge, Ro)

Another time loop episode! How will they figure their way out of the loop this time?


713.  Conundrum (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Worf, Data, Troi, Crusher, Laforge, Ro)

A strange ship begins scanning the Enterprise, and then suddenly no one in the crew knows who they are. They still retain all of their skills and talents but they can't place their own identities. Then they are told Starfleet is being threatened by a technologically impaired alien race, and they must completely wipe them out.


714. Rules Of Acquisition (DS9)
(Quark, Kira, Dax, Nagus, Sisko, Rom, Odo)

Staying with The Deep Space Nine crew, but taking a break from all the Cardassian/Bajoran problems, we focus on the Ferengi bartender of the ship as he attempts to expand Ferengi business contacts to the other side of the Wormhole. Most of the focus of this episode is on gender politics in Ferengi culture, which is wildly misogynist, even for a Star Trek species. Also, his brother is a moron. And his even more misogynist mentor thinks intelligent Ferengi females are "inconceivable", though he may not know what that word means.


715. Next Phase (TNG)
(Ro, Laforge, Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Worf)

From aging to death. And, once again, a transporter is at the center of it, as Ro and Laforge are believed dead, but have actually been phased in such a way that they can observe the crew but can not be observed, except by each other. 


716. Preemptive Strike (TNG)
(Ro, Picard, Riker, Troi, Crusher, Worf, Data)

Newly promoted Lieutenant Ro goes undercover in a Maquis terrorist cell. But will she go rogue and leave the Federation to help her Bajoran brethren battle the Cardassians? Nah, this is a Star Trek episode. I'm sure everything will go back to status quo by the end.


717 & 718. The Maquis (DS9)
(Sisko, Dax, Gul Dukat, Quark, Bashir, Kira)

In the last episode, we learned of The Maquis, a Bajoran terrorist cell that will begin to reform the Star Trek universe. Now we see the group the lens of Deep Space Nine.


719. The Wire (DS9)
(Bashir, Garak, Dax, Quark, Sisko, Kira, O'Brien)

Garak is either a spy, or a Cardassian going against stereotype to assist the federation. It's always been unclear which side he's on, but, unlike Gul Dukat, there seems to be no menace to him. But when Doctor Bashir discovers a malfunctioning chip in Garak's head, he decides to go further into his investigation of Garak's motives.


720. Collaborator (DS9)
(Kira, Odo, Dax, O'Brien, Quark, Videk Winn, Sisko)

Bajorans working with Cardassians must mean shenanigans. And look at how many people AREN'T in this episode. No Bashir, no Dukat, no Garak, no Jake, even Captain Sisko is barely in this episode. She. nanigans.

It's not so hard to believe that the animated show, Archer, is over, as much as it's hard to believe it was still on the air. The Arrested Development-influenced spy show was a festival of callbacks, pop culture references, and delightful world building. I was completely engrossed by the show for the first seven seasons. Unfortunately, beginning in season eight, there were several seasons where the show was reimagined in the Depression, on a mysterious island, in space. All of these could have made for interesting episodes or two-parter episodes. As full seasons, it was an unwatchably dull parody of what the show had once been. Then the creator left but the show kept going. Would it ever meet the heights of the first seven seasons? I don't know. The coma dreams seasons were so bad, I never went back to the show. But now that it's over, I'm going to do my own investigation. 

As I do my rewatch, I'll be making a five season reimagining with only the best episodes. Season one introduces the characters, the running gags, the tension between characters, and some genuine surprises.

101. Mole Hunt

One of the greatest set-ups for a comedy series that's going to thrive on in-jokes. The characters are going to evolve massively from this first episode but you do get a basic understanding of most of them here. Plus, a taste of the chaos surrounding how The Agency (called ISIS for the first few seasons until a terrorist organization with the same name became a constant stream of awful news) accidentally operates. There are problematic jokes but you're not supposed to identify with the people who say them. Show/movie inspiration: The Man From UNCLE

102. Killing Utne

The tale of two agents hired by opposite agencies for contradictory missions that involve a potential investor for The Agency. Will Trudy Beekman pay the price? Show/movie inspiration: Leon The Professional

103. Honeypot

A gay assassin is the target of The Agency, Fidel Castro, and, you know, society. It's up to the incredibly ignorant Archer to seduce him and save the world from having to watch a sex tape of Malory. Show/movie inspiration: The Mexican

104. Skorpio

Micromanaging Malory and the head of the KGB follow Lana when she goes undercover to stop an arms dealer on a very fancy yacht. Show/movie inspiration: Thunderball

105. Skytanic

A new line of airship that runs on helium instead of hydrogen is the scene for a bomb scare that's meant to teach Trudy Beekman a lesson. Show/movie inspiration: Juggernaut

106. The Rock

Lana and Archer are caught in the crossfire when The Agency goes up against ODIN after a security contract goes awry. Show/movie inspiration: Return Of The Pink Panther / The Great Muppet Caper

107. Job Offer

ODIN offers Lana a job but ends up accidentally hiring Archer, leading Malory to put a burn notice against him. Plus, all the cock comes to roost when Lana discovers one of Cyril's secrets. Show/movie inspiration: The Deer Hunter

108. Swiss Miss

A rich, young vixen is after Archer. As are a copious amount of spies. And Malory falls for the vixen's father, who falls for another member of The Agency. There's also a twin dillema! Show/movie inspiration: For Your Eyes Only 

109. Pipeline Fever

Archer and Lana take an airboat cruise in New Orleans to stop environmental terrorists, and it quickly turns into an infamous Burt Reynolds movie. Show/movie inspiration: Gator!

110. The Double Deuce

Archer's poor, beleaguered butler gets terrible news. The members of his World War One squadron are being killed off in order to collect on a tontine for the last surviving member. Show/movie inspiration: Legends Of The Fall

111. Stage Two

Archer has breast cancer, and an incompetent doctor, but at least he has his family and coworkers to make him feel better, right? Show/movie inspiration: Arrested Development's "The One Where Michael Leaves"

112. Placebo Effect

Archer's cancer drugs turn out to be children's aspirin and Zima, leading him and Lana to go on a rampage to track down and kill the people responsible for stealing the cancer drugs. Oh, and it turns out that Dr. Krieger is a clone of Hitler. Show/movie inspiration: The Boys From Brazil

113. El Secuestro

A long running joke has been about Carol's identity. Or Cheryl's identity. Or whatever she calls herself. But it turns out she's someone whose worth knowing when a group of kidnappers go after her, only to abduct Pam instead. Show/movie inspiration: Andy Griffith Show "Barney's Gun"

114. White Nights

When Archer ends up getting captured while searching for his possible father in Russia, Barry from ODIN is sent to rescue him. Nothing, of course, goes according to plan for Barry.  Show/movie inspiration: Die Hard

115. Double Trouble

Archer brings back a surprise from Russia, the KGB agent who rescued him. The two decide to get married. Also, uhhh, Barry is a cyborg now. Show/movie inspiration: The Six Million Dollar Man

2017 was an excellent year in wrestling. WWE went really experimental pushing their first ever all UK tournament, its first successful all-women tournament in this century, and booking NXT storylines that surpassed their normal Raw and Smackdown roster. Impact was trying desperately to pull up out of the tailspin they'd been in for a couple of years, and while they didn't exactly have a banner year, they did look better at the end of 2017 than they did at the beginning. And ROH's relationship with New Japan helped their production finally level up to the talent of their wrestlers. 

This and next season are the most tournament-centric of all-time, and they're mostly a blast. We also have some killer title runs and feuds. In particular, The Expedition For Gold that finds The Hardy Boyz reuniting in Impact, winning the titles, then taking going after the title in a variety of indie promotions in a quest to be The Tag Team Champions Of All Space And Time. They pop up in ROH to take the titles, and the day after they drop the ROH titles, they show up in the WWE in yet another title match, It is still an unprecedented feat. 

Since the days of Hulkamania, it's been pretty rare that a champion reigns over an entire season of this curated watchthrough. That said, there are three champs who walk into this season with the title and make it until at least the final episode with the titles around their waists.

Starring: Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, The Young Bucks, Kevin Owens, AJ Styles, Asuka, Bobby Roode, Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, Mickie James, Alexa Bliss, The Authors Of Pain, ​John Cena, Marty Scurrl, Tyler Bate, Will Ospreay, Ember Moon, Jay Lethal, John Cena, Gail Kim, Decay,  DIY

1601. UK Memorial Tournament, 2017

​A full story in one episode, as we see the formation of what will become NXT UK's men's divison, as well as a non-tournament match between the future Pac and the future Aleister Black. Many, unfortunately, we won't see again, which is a shame because there are some great matches here.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Nigel McGuinness, Andy Shepherd

1. Trent Seven vs HC Dyer
2. Wolfgang vs Tyson T-Bone
3. Mark Andrews vs Dan Moloney
4. Tyler Bate vs Tucker
5. Pete Dunne vs Sam Gradwell 
6. Mark Andrews vs Joseph Conners
7. Wolfgang vs Trent Seven 
8. Tyler Bate vs Jordan Devlin 
9. Pete Dunne vs Mark Andrews 
10. Tyler Bate vs Wolfgang
11. Pac (as Neville) vs Aleister Black (as Tommy End)
12. Tyler Bate vs Pete Dunne

1603. The Festival Of Friendship, 2017

Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens celebrate their reign of terror as best friends and then it all falls apart. Mickie James returns to the WWE and has a killer match with Becky Lynch, we crown a new WWE champ in the elimination chamber, a women's title match, and then audience footage of a Cruiserweight title match just for something different. And in the end, Goldberg tries for his first title in over a decade when he battles Chris Jericho's former best friend.

Announcers: Michael Cole, JBL, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Mauro Ranallo, David Otunga, Tom Phillips, Jojo, Greg Hamilton

1. Mickie James vs Becky Lynch
2. Elimination Chamber Match for the WWE Championship
John Cena (WWE Champ) vs Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles, The Miz, Dean Ambrose & Baron Corbin


3. Charlotte Flair (WWE Womens Champ) vs Bayley
​4. Pac  (as Neville) (WWE Cruiserweight Champ) vs Austin Aries
​5. Kevin Owens (WWE Universal Champ) vs Goldberg

1604. Anything Goes, 2016

When ROH was in its earliest days, they tried to create a faction that went against their Honor Protocols. It was stupid, and seemed like a waste of the talents of Christopher Daniels and Samoa Joe. Fourteen years later, though, and a DX/NWO style faction bumping up against management seems realistic. Particularly when the management doesn't hog the limelight, and the faction creating havoc is Bullet Club. There are some excellent matches here, including our chronology's debut of Dragon Lee.

Announcers: Kevin Kelly, Nigel McGuinness, Matt Taven, Bobby Cruise
​
1. Adam Page vs Jay Briscoe in an Anything Goes Match
2. The Addiction vs Hiroshi Tanahashi & Michael Elgin & Los Ingobernables de Japón
3. Jay Lethal (ROH Champ) vs Adam Cole
4. Dragon Lee vs Kamaitachi
5. The Addiction (ROH Tag Team Champs) vs Young Bucks vs Motor City Machine Guns in a Ladder Match

1605. Glorious, 2017

Just a class episode of strong style wrestling.

Announcers: Corey Graves, Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips, Percy Watson, Mike Rome 

1. Andrade vs Roderick Strong
2. DIY (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs Authors Of Pain
3. Shinsuke Nakamura (NXT Champ) vs Bobby Roode
4. Authors Of Pain (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs DIY vs FTR
5. Asuka (NXT Womens' Champ) vs Ember Moon
​6. Bobby Roode (NXT Champ) vs Shinsuke Nakamura

1606. Bound For Gold

The Expedition For Gold begins as The Broken Hardys journey to several wrestling promotions to win every tag team title in space and time. It's a weird and very fun little storyarc. We also sort of see Global Force Wrestling (the post-TNA/Impact Jeff Jarret promotion) unify with Impact in a match between an underrated WWE superstar, Bobby Lashley, and an overrated WWE wrestler, Alberto Del Rio. 

Announcers: Don West, Josh Matthews, The Pope, Robert Flores, Jeremy Borash, Christy Hemme, McKenzie Mitchell

1. Joaquin Wilde (Impact X Division Champ) vs Trevor Lee
2. Bound For Gold Gauntlet Match
(Jesse Godderz, Drake Maverick, The Blade, LA Knight, Mr Stone, Baron Dax, Grado, Sylvester Lefort, Tyrus, Shera)

3. Decay (Impact Tag Team Champs) vs Hardy Boyz
4. Maria (Impact Knockout Champs) vs Gail Kim
5. Hardy Boyz (Space & Time Tag Team Champs) vs Mexicools (Crash Tag Team Champs)

6. James Storm vs EC3 in a Strap Match
7. Bobby Lashley (Impact Heavyweight Champ) vs Alberto Del Rio (as Albert el Patron) (GFW Champ)

8. Hardy Boyz (Space & Time Tag Team Champs) vs Dirty Money (MCW Tag Team Champs)

1607. Undisputed Legacy 2016, 2017

This episode is practically a teaser for AEW but it also includes the stealth continuation of The Expedition For Gold, as The Hardy Boyz set their sights on the ROH title.

Announcers: Kevin Kelley, Matt Taven, Ian Riccaboni, Bobby Cruise

1. Cody Rhodes vs Jay Lethal
2. Marty Scurrl (ROH TV Champ) vs Dragon Lee vs Will Ospreay
3. Young Bucks (ROH Tag Team Champs) vs Briscoes
4. Adam Cole (ROH Champ) vs Kyle O'Reilly in a No DQ Match
5. Young Bucks vs Lio Rush & Jay White

1608. 15th Anniversary Show, 2017

Does the Expedition For Gold end with a Superkick Party? Maybe? Also, New Japan's future stars are in ROH absolutely tearing things up on their respective ways to AEW and the WWE.

​Kevin Kelley, Colt Cabana, Ian Riccaboni, Bobby Cruise

1. Bobby Fish vs Jay Lethal
2. Marty Scurrl (ROH TV Champ) vs Lio Rush
3. The Hardy Boyz (ROH Tag Team Champs) vs Young Bucks vs Roppongi Vice in a Street Fight
​
4. Dragon Lee & Jay White vs Volador Jr & Will Ospreay
5. The Hardy Boyz (ROH Tag Team Champs) vs Young Bucks
6. Will Ospreay vs Jay White
7. Young Bucks (ROH Tag Team Champs) vs Los Ingobernobles De Japon 

1609. Raising The Bar

We reach the end of the Jericho/Owens story (for our purposes) and also see the surprising finish of the Hardy Brothers' Expedition For Gold.

Announcers: Michael Cole, JBL, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, David Otunga, Greg Hamilton, Jojo

1. The Good Brothers vs The Bar vs The Hardy Boyz vs Enzo & Cass
2. AJ Styles vs Shane McMahon
3. Seth Rollins vs Samoa Joe
4. Bayley (WWE Womens' Champ) vs Alexa Bliss
5. Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins vs The Miz in a No DQ Match (Raw 5/1/17)
6. Kevin Owens (US Champ) vs Chris Jericho

1610. 205 Live

Announcers: Jim Ross , 

1. Tony Nese vs. Brian Kendrick vs. TJ Perkins vs. Austin Aries vs. Akira Tozawa
2. Pac (as Neville) vs Mustafa Ali
3. Pete Dunne vs Trent Seven
4. Tyler Bate (NXT UK Champ) vs Mark Andrews 
5. Brian Kendrick vs. Akira Tozawa in a Hardcore Match
​6. Drew Gulak vs Mustafa Ali in a 2/3 Falls Match

1611. Hardcore Stipulations, 2017 

It's the end ... for now ... of the nostalgic reign of The Hardy Boyz across multiple organizations. We also see a killer ambulance match, and the beginning of a different Money In The Bank storyline than we've grown accustomed to.

Announcers: Michael Cole, JBL, Booker T, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Greg Hamilton, Jojo

1. The Hardy Boyz (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs The Bar in a Steel Cage Match
2. Finn Balor vs Bray Wyatt vs Seth Rollins vs Samoa Joe vs Roman Reigns in a Hardore Match

3. AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn vs Shinsuke Nakamura vs Dolph Ziggler vs Baron Corbin in a Money In The Bank Ladder Match

4. Braun Stroman vs Roman Reigns in an Ambulance Match
5. Heath Slater vs Curt Hawkins
6. John Cena vs Shinsuke Nakamura

1612. Four On The Floor, 2017

A smorgasbord of talent goes many heads to many heads in this all title match episode. Reunions, rematches, and the domination of Brrrrrrrrrrrrock Lesnar continues.

Announcers: Michael Cole, JBL, Booker T, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Greg Hamilton, Jojo

1. Brock Lesnar (WWE Universal Champ) vs Samoa Joe
2. Jinder Mahal (WWE Champ) vs John Cena
3. New Day (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs The Usos
4. Naomi (WWE Smackdown Womens Champ) vs Natalya
5. Alexa Bliss (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Sasha Banks
6. The Bar (WWE Raw Tag Team Champs) vs SHIELD
7. AJ Styles (WWE US Champ) vs Kevin Owens
8. Brock Lesnar (WWE Universal Champ) vs Roman Reigns vs Samoa Joe vs Braun Stroman in a Fatal 4-Way

1613. Knockouts Knockdown, 2013-6

It's very important to note that Impact Wrestling went all-in on womens' wrestling years before Stephanie McMahon's "Evolution" movement. And, to some degree, they did it well. BUT, none of the events during this era of Impact were very good. The final year's event was written and produced by Billy Corgan and the writing and some of the wrestling is less convincing than a Kindergarten holiday play. It's flushed somewhere in the sewer around late Vince Russo WCW. I don't want to watch it, BUT there are enough good matches over the four years of the tournament to make one decent episode. And, honestly, the men of Impact weren't doing much better. 

Announcers: Mike Tenay, Taz,  Jeremy Borash, Josh Matthews, Christy Hemme, Mike Bennet, Maria

1. Serena Deeb vs Mickie James
2. Gail Kim vs Veda Scott
3. Madison Rayne vs Jessicka Havok
4. Karlee Perez vs Taryn Terrell
5. Brittany vs Mia Yim
6. Gail Kim vs Jessicka Havok vs Taryn Terrell
7. Allysin Kin vs Gail Kim
8. Mia Yim (as Jade) vs Leva Bates
9. Rosemary vs Veda Scott

1614. Mae Young Classic, 2017

Mae Young and The Fabulous Moolah were the o.g. female division in the WWE. During the Rock & Wrestling and New Generation, Alundra Blayze, The Jumping Bomb Angels, Bull Nakano, and Bertha Faye were the entire division. The Attitude Era brought dozens of talented women, and while they often were put in stupid pillowcase or pudding matches, the likes of Chyna, Lita, Trish Stratus, Mickie James, Ivory, Jazz, and more were given the occasional moment to shine as athletes. Then, a couple of seasons ago we introduced NXT, and The Four Horsewomen, Natalya, Asuka, Naomi, Alexa Bliss, Nia Jax, Ember Moon and more started being taken seriously and putting on banger matches. Well, welcome to Gen 5 of WWE's womens' division. Almost all of these names are future main eventers in WWE, Impact, NWA, and AEW.

Announcers: Jim Ross, Lita, Charly Caruso, Lillian Garcia

1. Jazzy Gabert vs Abbey Laith
2. Mia Yim vs Sarah Logan
3. Santana Garrett vs Piper Niven
4. Tessa Blanchard vs Kairi Sane
5. Rachel Evers vs Abbey Laith
6. Serena Deeb vs Piper Niven
7. Kairi Sane vs Bianca Belair
8. Mia Yim vs Shayna Baszler
9. Rhea Ripley vs Dakota Kai
10. Toni Storm vs. Piper Niven
11. Dakota Kai vs Kairi Sane
12. Shayna Baszler vs Mercedes Martinez
13. Toni Storm vs Kairi Sane
14. Kari Sane vs Shayna Baszler

1615. Pandermania, 2017

A night of matches where wrestlers begged their way into existing feuds, and we get yet another another McMahon family storyline but this one is brief and features a fantastic match with Kevin Owens. 

Announcers: Michael Cole, Booker T, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Greg Hamilton, Jojo

1. The SHIELD (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs The Bar
2. Alexa Bliss (WWE Raw Womens Champ)  vs Bayley vs Emma vs Nia Jax vs Sasha Banks
3. New Day (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs The Usos in Hell In A Cell
4. AJ Styles (WWE US Champ) vs Tye Dillinger vs Baron Corbin
5. Kevin Owens vs Shane McMahon in Hell In A Cell Falls Count Anywhere Match

1616. No One's AMPed For GFW, 2017
​
Global Force wrestling was nobody's favorite wrestling company. Jeff Jarret's desperate attempt to get back into the biz after losing TNA/Impact was filled with some really talented wrestlers but never seemed to have interesting enough storylines, and their announcers were out of their depths. So here we have a couple of GFW matches, and also some matches where their titles were folded into Impact. Sadly, this will be the only episode where we'll see Virgil Flynn III.

Announcers: Josh Matthews, The Pope, Chael Sonnen, Cyrus Fees, Jeremy Borash

1. LAX (Impact Tag Team Champs) vs Drago & El Hijo del Fantasma vs Angel Garza & Laredo Kid vs  Naomichi Marufuji & Taiji Ishimori

2. Sonjay Dutt (Impact X Division Champ) vs Low-Ki in a 2/3 Falls Match
3. Sienna (GFW Womens Champ) vs Rosemary (Impact Knockout Champ)
4. KUSHIDA vs Virgil Flynn
5. Eddie Edwards vs LA Knight (as Eli Drake)
6. PJ Black vs Jigsaw vs Virgil Flynn vs TJ Perkins for Inaugural GFW Nextgen Title

1617. The Demon Returns, 2017

I've mentioned many times in this chronology that the womens' division keeps improving because they allow them to be athletes over sex symbols. But they also give them stories on par with the mens' division. Usually, that's not great. WWE creative is....inconsistent. But sometimes they can make a story real simple. The young upstart champ, after an incredible match says there's no competition left, and when it's pointed out that there's a six time champion she's never faced, Alexa Bliss says she won't fight an old lady. Sometimes, a story can be that basic and be intriguing. We also see Kurt Angle in his first WWE match in over a decade as he subs in for an ill Roman Reigns in a SHIELD match. Oh, and as the title suggests, Finn Balor paints himself for another run as The Demon.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Booker T, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Mike Rome, Greg Hamilton, Jojo

1. Alexa Bliss (WWE Womens Raw Champ) vs Mickey James
2. Finn Balor vs AJ Styles 
3. The Usos (WWE Smackdown Tag Team Champs) vs New Day vs Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin vs Rusev &Aiden English

4. Brock Lesnar (WWE Universal Champ) vs AJ Styles
5. The SHIELD vs  Braun Strowman, The Miz, Kane, and The Bar in a TLC Match

1618. Death Before Final Battle, 2017

It's Bulletclubmania as Marty Scurrl, the Young Bucks, and Kenny Omega just own this episode. we get to see KUSHIDA in action on a bigger stage than GFW, we get our first glimpse of the future Viking Raiders, Will Ospreay and Flip Gordon put on a flippy flippy clinic, and then every finisher in ROH interrupts the Kenny Omega match. It's chaotic awesome.

1. KUSHIDA (ROH TV Champ) vs Marty Scurll
2. Young Bucks (ROH Tag Team Champs) vs Best Friends vs War Machine in a Tornado Tag
3. KUSHIDA (ROH TV Champ) vs Kenny King
4. Jay Lethal vs Silas Young in a Last Man Standing Match
5. Young Bucks (ROH Tag Team Champs) vs Motor City Machine Guns
6. Will Ospreay vs Flip Gordon
7. Kenny Omega (IWGP US Champ) vs YOSHI-HASHI

​1619.  Takeover Takeover

Announcers: Jim Ross, Nigel McGuinness, Mauro Ranallo, Tom Phillips, Percy Watson, Mike Rome

1. Tyler Bate (NXT UK Champ) vs Pete Dunn
2. Bobby Roode (NXT Champ) vs Kenta (as Hideo Itami)
3. Asuka (NXT Womens Champ) vs Nikki Cross in a Last Man Standing Match
4. Malakai Black (as Aleister Black) vs Kenta (as Hideo Itami)
5. Asuka (NXT Womens Champ) vs Ember Moon
6. Authors Of Pain (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs DIY

1620. Takeover War Games

The end of the Tyler Bates/Pete Dunne UK title trilogy is just one of the highlights of this killer episode where Andrade ascends to the top of NXT, and Adam Cole bay bay arrives to begin The Undisputed Era.

1. Andrade vs Johnny Gargano
2. Bobby Roode (NXT Champ) vs Drew McIntyre
3. Malakai Black (as Aleister Black) vs Velveteen Dream
4. Drew McIntyre (NXT Champ) vs Andrade
5. Pete Dunne (NXT UK Champ) vs Tyler Bate
6. Adam Cole & reDRagon (as Undisputed Era) vs Sanity vs Authors of Pain in a War Games Match

A lot of roads intersect in this season as the biggest stars from Ring Of Honor and Impact aren't just rumbling around NXT but are becoming the bona-fide headliners, along with Roman Reigns, of the WWE. The Ruthless Aggression era finally fades into the background, and the NXT alums take over the main stage. This season sees the Diva Championship replaced with The Womens' Championship in WWE. We also see Bullet Club continue to wreak havoc in ROH under the leadership of AJ Styles and Adam Cole, bay-be.

Sadly, the dark era of Impact continues. Apart from the very weird saga of Willow/Brother Nero/Jeff Hardy and his brother, Broken Matt, the highlights of this era included Decay and the rise of Eli Drake, who would go on to become LA Knight. Kurt Angle, Bobby Lashley, and Drew McIntyre were their heavyweights during this time but their stories were boring and none of their matches were on par with their best work.

There wasn't really an EPIC MOMENT to end this season for the WWE. While their product was overall improving, there wasn't a big retirement match, a broken streak, or even the end of an impressive title run. So, for the first time, we'll end with the weird story of James Ellsworth's fifteen minutes of WWE fame.

1501. Low Impact, 2015

2015 saw a massive drout in TNA pay-per views which, unfortunately, didn't result in the pay-per-views being of higher quality. But during the spring and early summer, the weekly TV show that the company would soon rename itself after featured some fresh faces and a few fantastic matches.

Announcers: Tazz, Josh Matthews, Elijah Burke, Jeremy Borash

1. EC3 vs Drake Maverick (as Rockstar Spud) in a Hair vs Hair Match
2. American Wolves (Impact Tag Team Champs) vs Jessie Godderz & Zema Ion vs Sanada & Manik in an Ultimate X Match

3. Bobby Lashley (Impact Heavyweight Champ) vs Kurt Angle
4. Taryn Terrell (Impact Knockout Champ) vs Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong
5. Kurt Angle (Impact Heavyweight Champ) vs Austin Aries 
5. American Wolves vs The Dirty Heels in an Iron Man Match for the Impact Tag Team Championship

6. Kurt Angle(Impact Heavyweight Champ)  vs EC3

1502. Respect London, 2015

Here we go, we've been building to it for the last two seasons, finally the women of the WWE/NXT go from getting the respect they deserve to just taking over the card with a higher percentage of talented women wrestlers than men. Most of the strongest men in NXT were ROH grads, while the women were all home grown talent. This episodes shows the debuts of Asuka and Nia Jax, the beginning of the second series of exciting women coming into the company, even as The Four Horsewomen were still there at the top.

Announcers: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Greg Hamilton, Dasha Fuentes

1. Asuka vs Dana Brooke
2. Apollo Crews vs Tyler Breeze
3. Bayley (NXT Womens Champ) vs Sasha Banks in an Iron Woman Match
4. Asuka vs Emma
5. FTR (as The Revival) (NXT Champs) vs Enzo Amore and Big Cass
​6. Finn Balor (NXT Champ) vs Samoa Joe

1503. Hells In Cells, 2015

Before they were Best Friends (a storyline I can't wait to get to), Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho put on an Intercontinental clinic. John Cena has his final US title defense before, uh, we skip a champ or two, Charlotte continues her reign, and we have some fantastic cage matches, including the final ever Brock vs Undertaker.

Announcers: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, JBL, Byron Saxton, Rich Brennan, Lilian Garcia, Eden Stiles

1. Kevin Owens (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Chris Jericho
2. John Cena (WWE US Champ) vs Seth Rollins in a Steel Cage Match
3. Roman Reigns vs Bray Wyatt in Hell In A Cell
4. Charlotte Flair (WWE Divas Champ) vs Nikki Bella
5. Seth Rollins (WWE Heavyweight Champ) vs Kane
6. Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker in Hell In A Cell

1504. The Lunatic Fringe, 2015

The broken up SHIELD continues to dominate the WWE with Roman and Dean taking more of the spotlight while Seth Rollins has to vacate the title and take some time off due to injury. We also get our spooky on with the Brothers Of Destruction vs The Wyatt Family, and a killer triple threat tag team match between two of the teams who are still dominating the tag team scene, a decade later.

Announcers: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, JBL, Xavier Woods, Lilian Garcia, Eden Stiles

1. Roman Reigns vs Alberto Del Rio
2. Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens
3. The Brothers Of Destruction vs The Wyatt Family
4. Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose for the WWE Heavyweight Title
5. The New Day (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs The Usos vs Lucha Dragons in a Ladder Match

6. Kevin Owens (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Dean Ambrose
​7. Sheamus (WWE Heavyweight Champ) vs Roman Reigns in a TLC Match

1505. Reloaded, 2015/2016

More solid action and improved storytelling from the underdog of wrestling companies. The Bullet Club, Adam Cole, and Jay Lethal continue to dominate the shows. We also see longtime color commentator, Steve Corrino, step back in the ring for one of the bloodiest matches in ROH history.

Announcers: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corrino, Bobby Cruise

1. The Addiction (ROH Tag Team Champs) vs Young Bucks vs The Kingdom
2. Adam Cole vs Kyle O'Reilly
3. Jay Lethal (ROH Champ) vs AJ Styles
4. Bullet Club (Never Openweight 6 Man Champs) vs Matt Sydal, ACH & Kushida
5. BJ Whitmer vs Steve Corrino in A Fight Without Honor

1506. Last Man Standing, 2015/2016

I love a Royal Rumble. But you may have noticed that it's been a while since there was one in this continuity. That's because 2013-2016 was a string of underwhelming rumbles with too few actual contenders, and the wrong winners. This is, technically, the last of those stinkers. While it's not up there with the best of the events, it's fun and has a decent ending. Also, one of the best surprise entrants of all-time, as the former Bullet Club leader/Impact superstar AJ Styles makes his WWE debut. But it wasn't just the rumble that was good, this might be the only episode in this entire continuity made up from a single pay-per-view. All these matches were actually on one card. I only skipped one match (if you're the one person in the world who wanted to see Kalisto vs Alberto Del Rio...sorry).

Announcers: Michael Cole, JBL, Byron Saxton, Jojo, Lilian Garcia, Eden Stiles)

1. Dean Ambrose (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing Match

2. The New Day (WWE Tag Team Champs) vs The Usos
3. Charlotte Flair (WWE Divas Champ) vs Becky Lynch
4. Royal Rumble
Roman Reigns, Rusev, AJ Styles, Tyler Breeze, Curtis Axel, Chris Jericho, Kane, Goldust, Ryback, Kofi Kingston, Titus O'Neil, R Truth, Brody Lee, Cody Rhodes, Big Show, Pac (as Neville), Braun Stroman, Kevin Owens, Dean Ambrose, Sami Zayn, Erick Rowan, Mike Henry, Brock Lesnar, Jake Hager (as Jack Swagger), The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, Bray Wyatt, Dolph Ziggler, Shaemus, Triple H

1507. Climbing The Ladder, 2016

2016 was not the year of the underdog. Like the couple of years before it, time and again the same faces were winning all of the important matches. That doesn't change too much here but we do see some standout performances from wrestlers that the WWE didn't get behind enough. We also see the future of tag team wrestling begin their domination here as they take out Enzo and Cass in what's probably their best match ever.

Announcers: Michael Cole, JBL, Byron Saxton, Greg Hamilton, Lilian Garcia, Eden Stiles, Tony Chimel

1. Chris Jericho vs AJ Styles
2. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns vs Dean Ambrose
3. FTR (as The Revival) (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs Enzo Amore & Big Cass
4. Charlotte Flair (WWE Divas Champ) vs Natalya
5. Triple H (WWE Heavyweight Champ) vs Dean Ambrose
6. Kevin Owens (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Dolph Ziggler vs Cody Rhodes vs The Miz vs Sami Zayn vs Sin Cara vs Matthew Cardona

1508. Bon Voyage, 2015/2016

It's goodbye Full Sail University, an NXT levels up with some killer tag matches, and recruiting another round of indie darlings and New Japan superstars like Austin Aries and Shinsuke Nakamura.

Announcers: Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Greg Hamilton


1. The Hype Bros vs The Vaudevillains vs American Alphas vs BAM Factor
2. FTR (as The Revival) (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs American Alphas
3. Sami Zayn vs Shinsuke Nakamura
4. Bayley (NXT Womens Champ) vs Asuka
5. Finn Balor (NXT Champ) vs Samoa Joe
6. Austin Aries vs Shinsuke Nakamura
7. Samoa Joe (NXT Champ) vs Finn Balor in a Steel Cage Match

1509. No More Divas, 2016

Here we go, three of The Four Horsewomen in a Wrestlemania title match, plus Natalya gets a shot at the new WWE Women's Championship in a great match with a, umm...homage ending that I could have done without. Also, the WWE really highlights the new leaders of the ring here with AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Caesaro, and Sami Zayn joining Roman Reigns in the spotlight. Not a Cena, Undertaker, or Triple H in sight.

Announcers: Michael Cole, JBL, Byron Saxton, Kevin Owens, Lyta, Lilian Garcia, Eden Stiles, Jojo

1. Charlotte Flair vs Sasha Banks vs Becky Lynch for Inaugural WWE Womens Champ
2. Chris Jericho vs AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens vs Caesaro
3. Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn
4. The Miz (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Caesaro
5. Charlotte Flair (WWE Womens Champ) vs Natalya
6. Roman Reigns (WWE Heavyweight Champ) vs AJ Styles

15010. Conquest, 2016

Bullet Club has been slowly transforming since their debut a couple of seasons ago. We've seen Prince Devitt leave to become Finn Balor in NXT and WWE, The Good Brothers roll up in the WWE as the OC, AJ Styles did the same. Now we have Adam Cole and Hangman Page joining Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks to claim the name, and they continue to dominate ROH and New Japan. We also get a Jay Lethal/Jay Briscoe rematch, and some more excelllent crossover with new Japan.

Announcers: Kevin Kelly, Steve Corino, Bobby Cruise

1. War Machine (ROH Tag Team Champs) vs The Briscoes
2. Tetsuya Naito vs Kyle O'Reilly
3. Tomohiro Ishii (ROH TV Champ) vs Bobby Fish
4. Bullet Club vs Chris Sabin, Matt Sydal, Alex Shelly & Kushida
5. Bullet Club vs Moose & War Machine
​6. Jay Lethal (ROH Champ) vs Jay Briscoe

1511. The Ultimate Payback, 2016

Bullet Club shenanigans hit the WWE as AJ Styles and The Good Brothers reunite (though they never refer to themselves as Bullet Club in the WWE). We also see The SHIELD play another title belt hot potato as every member gets their revenge on every member that betrayed them last season.

Announcers: Michael Cole, JBL, Byron Saxton, Lilian Garcia, Jojo, Eden Stiles

1. The Usos vs The Good Brothers (as Gallows & Anderson)
​2. The Miz (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn vs Caesaro 
3. Roman Reigns (WWE Heavyweight Champ) vs AJ Styles in a No DQ Match
4. John Cena vs AJ Styles
5.Money In The Bank Ladder Match
Chris Jericho vs Dean Ambrose vs Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn vs Caesaro vs Alberto Del Rio 

6. Roman Reigns (WWE Heavyweight Champ) vs Seth Rollins

1512. Broken Impact, 2015, 2016

Ooof, this is only the second episode of Impact this season. There is some truly inspiringly weird stuff here, particularly Jeff Hardy reimagining himself as Willow and Matt Hardy being "broken". We also get our first glimpse at LA Knight.
Announcers: Josh Matthews, Elijah Burke (as D'angelo Dinero), Christy Hemme , Jeremy Borash 

1. The American Wolves vs Bryan Myers & Trevor Lee
2. Gail Kim (Impact Knockout Champ) vs Awesome Kong
3. EC3 (Impact Champ) vs Matt Hardy vs Drew McIntyre
4. Mia Yim (as Jade) (Impact Knockout Champ) vs Gail Kim vs Sienna
5. Jeff Hardy vs Willow 
5. LA Knight (as Eli Drake) (Impact King Of The Mountain) vs Thomas Raymond Latimer (as Bram)

6. Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy in a Full Metal Mayhem Match
8. Drew McIntyre (Impact Champ) vs Bobby Lashley

1513. Battleground, 2016

Three is the magic number here, as we see The Wyatt Family's last stand against The New Day, John Cena team up with Enzo & Cass to face Bullet Club, three out of the four horsewomen battle for the belt, and every member of SHIELD in the ring for an entire match for the first time this season (run-ins and Money In The Bank cash-ins don't count). 

Announvers: Michael Cole, JBL, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Jojo, Greg Hamilton

1. The New Day vs The Wyatt Family
2. Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn
3. Natalya vs Becky Lynch
4. Bullet Club (as The Club) vs John Cena, Enzo Amore & Big Cass
5. Charlotte Flair (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Sasha Banks vs Bayley
6. Dean Ambrose (WWE Champ) vs Roman Reigns vs Seth Rollins

1514. Takeover Texas, 2016

The rise of the next wave of NXT continues. Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka continue to dominate, Ember Moon and a glorious Impact alum debuts, and Mickey James returns to the WWE for the first time in years.

Announcers: Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Greg Hamilton, Mike Rome

1. Finn Balor vs Shinsuke Nakamura
2. Ember Moon vs Billie Kay
3. FTR (as The Revival) (NXT Tag Team Champs) vs DIY
4. Asuka (NXT Womens Champ) vs Bayley
5. Samoa Joe (NXT Champ) vs Shinsuke Nakamura
6. Bobby Roode vs Ty Dillinger
7. Asuka (NXT Womans Champ) vs Mickey James

1515. Universal, 2016

It's hard to believe that this episode has the first meeting between Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton, considering they started at the same time in 2002 but here it is, a Brutal match. Plus, we get the first ever Universal Title match.

Announcers: JBL, Mauro Ranallo, David Otunga, Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Dean Ambrose, Jojo, Greg Hamilton

1. John Cena vs AJ Styles
2. Finn Balor vs Seth Rollins  for the inaugural Universal Championship
3. The Miz (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Dolph Ziggler
4. Dean Ambrose (WWE Champ) vs AJ Styles
5. Brock Lesnar vs Randy Orton

1516. Cruiserweight Classic, 2016

Meet the new NXT kids in a massive tournament that ended up crowning the first WWE Cruiserweight champ (though none of them knew that during the tournament). It's basically a schmorgasboard of New Japan, AAA, and "indie" promotions

Announcers: Daniel Bryan, Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves, William Regal, Mike Rome

1. Johnny Gargano vs Tomasso Ciampa
2. Tajiri vs Mascara Dorado
3. Drew Gulak vs Zach Sabre Jr
4. Akira Tozawa vs Mascara Dorado
5. Brian Kendrik vs Kota Ibushi
6. Mascara Dorado vs Zach Sabre Jr
7. Kota Ibusi vs TJ Perkins
​8. TJ Perkins vs Mascara Dorado

1517. Bash At The Clash, 2016

"It" gets interesting when Kevin Owens's Best Friend Chris Jericho introduces the WWE to The List in this absolute banger of an episode where titles trade hands and best friends reign supreme.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, JBL, Mauro Ranallo, David Otunga, Tom Phillips, Andrea D'Amarco, Jojo, Greg Hamilton

1. Shaemus vs Caesaro
2. Rusev (WWE US Champ) vs Roman Reigns
3. Chris Jericho vs Sami Zayn
4. Kevin Owens (WWE Universal Champ) vs Seth Rollins
5. The Miz (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Dolph Ziggler in a Title Vs Career Match
6. Charlotte (WWE Raw Womens Champ) vs Sasha Banks

1518. The Decay, 2016

This was a really bad year for Impact. Like, really bad. Like, I can't fill two hours with good matches from the entire calendar year bad. So while this is mostly an Impact episode, I've also thrown in a Defiant Wrestling match featuring Ricochet and Drew McIntyre, who was mostly Impact at this point. We also see Bobby Roode's final appearances for Impact before he shows up on NXT next season. 

1. Dollhouse vs Beautiful People
2. Matt Hardy and Will Ospreay vs James Storm and LA Knight (as Eli Drake)
3. The American Wolves vs Decay in a Monster's Ball Match
4. Eric Young (TNA TV Champ) vs Will Ospreay vs Killian Dain vs Thomas Raymond Lattimer (as Bram) vs Jimmy Havoc in a King Of The Mountain Match

5. The American Wolves (Impact Tag Champs) vs Beer Money Inc
7. Eddie Edwards vs Crazzy Steve
8. Mia Yim (as Jade) (Impact Knockouts Champ) vs Madison Rayne
9. Ricochet vs Drew McIntyre (as Drew Galloway) (Impact Champ) in a non-title match
10. Beer Money Inc (Impact Tag Champs) vs Decay
11. Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy in The Final Deletion

1519. You Just Made The List, 2016

More Team Jeriko shenanigans, aother excellent Banks/Flair match from Raw, and the sequel to one of WWE's worst-ever received matches as, more than a decade after their first cursed encounter, Goldberg returns to battle Burrrrrrrrock Lezzzzzznar.

Announcers: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Jojo

1. Kevin Owens (WWE Universal Champ) vs Seth Rollins in Hell In A Cell
2. Team Raw Tag vs Team Smackdown Tag in a Survivor Series Match
(The Bar, Enzo Amore and Big Cass, The Good Brothers, The New Day, and The Shining Stars vs American Alpha, Breezango, Heath Slater and Rhyno, The Hype Bros, and The Usos)

3. Sasha Banks (WWE Womens Champ) vs Charlotte Flair in a Falls Count Anywhere Match

4. Brock Lesnar vs Goldberg

1520. A Chinderella Story, 2016

James Ellsworth is unlikely to be in the WWE Hall Of Fame. His tenure in the company was short and mostly forgettable. But for a month or two, his involvement in the AJ Styles/Dean Ambrose feud made him the best comedy character since Santino Marella. This is pretty much the entirety of his interesting run. We shan't be revisiting his time with Carmella, as him winning the first ever Womens' Money in The Bank match ranks down there with Santino Marella winning Miss Wrestlemania

Announcers: JBL, Mauro Ranallo, David Otunga, Tom Phillips, Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Dean Ambrose, Jojo, Greg Hamilton

1. AJ Styles (WWE Champ) vs James Ellsworth
2. AJ Styles (WWE Champ) vs James Ellsworth
3. Team Smackdown vs Team Raw in a Survivor Series Match
(AJ Styles, Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt, Randy Orton, James Ellsworth vs Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Braun Stroman)

4. The Miz (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Dolph Ziggler in a Ladder Match
5. AJ Styles (WWE Champ) vs Dean Ambrose in a TLC Match

This first half of the season gives us a focus on Starfleet's relation with The Klingons. Kirk's Enterprise deals with Kirk's prejudice against them while The Next Generation spends much of this season dealing with Worf's family.

Then, meet the cast of Deep Space Nine! Bajorans! Cardassians! Whatever Odo is! Their human captain who seems like a nice guy but boyyyyyyy does he hate Picard (with good reasons). We also spend more time with time problems, and there's a sort of crossover between Enterprise and The Next Generation.

Episode 601: The Undiscovered Country (TOSM)
(Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Sulu, Uhura, Scott, Chekov, Rand, Sarek, Worf)

This is it, the end of The Original Series cast. That offhanded joke I made about The Wrath Of Kirk? Wellllll, he may have gone a little bit speciesist, and his behavior makes him the prime suspect when a Klingon Peace Advocate is assassinated. It's up to the crew of The Enterprise, along with Captain Sulu from The Excelsior (a ship The Enterprise sabotaged back in Search For Spock) to clear Kirk's name. Again, we get a Rand cameo, and we also see Michael Dorn, who played Worf in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, play an unnamed Klingon lawyer, who I like to believe was Worf, and that the kangarooness of the court proceedings led him to quit the bar and join Starfleet. Wave goodbye to the crew. You might see one or two of them pop up in future seasons, but this is the last time the bulk of the cast gets to interact, as it's finally time for The Enterprise to be decommissioned.


Episode 602: Sins Of The Father (TNG)
(Worf, Picard, Riker, Data, Wesley, Laforge, Crusher, Troi)

Last season, we saw Riker transferred to a Klingon ship as part of an exchange program. This season, a Klingon officer comes to work on The Enterprise. But, OH SHIT, it's Worf's younger brother, and he has some distressing family news.


Episode 603: Reunion (TNG)
(Worf, Picard, Riker, Data, Wesley, Laforge, Crusher, Troi)

The fallout of "Sins Of The Father" come into play, and one of Worf's exes shows up to help mitigate it. She's brought a surprise, and so have they.


Episode 604: Allegiance (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Crusher, Troi, Worf, Laforge, Data, Wesley)

It wasn't so long ago that Picard was captured by The Borg and assimilated, so you'd think they'd up security on The Enterprise, but, no, I am unsure if there is a single season where whomever is captaining The Enterprise at any given moment, isn't abducted by someone he can't identify (or Q, it is often Q). This episode serves as a morality play for Picard while the rest of the crew contends with a mostly ineffectual Picard doppelganger.


Episode 605: Future Imperfect (TNG)
(Riker, Picard, Crusher, Laforge, Data, Worf, Troi)

After a noxious gas incident with Worf and Laforge, Riker wakes up to discover he's forgotten sixteen years of his life, and he's now Captain of The Enterprise. This is what Kirk would have called a Tuesday. Will this episode mean the entire chronology jumps forward sixteen years?                                                   No.


Episode 606: Clues (TNG)
(Data, Picard, Crusher, Worf, Laforge, Riker, O'Brien, Guinan)

Data regains consciousness after some sort of event knocks out everyone on board The Enterprise. He believes that thirty seconds have been stolen from the entire crew, but all signs point to something larger and more disconcerting.

​
Episode 607: A Matter Of Time (TNG)
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Laforge, Worf, Troi)

An annoying time traveler (Max Headroom...aka Dr. Leekie from Orphan Black) shows up to observe what he claims is a pivotal mission for The Enterprise. It's a fun twist on a Prime Directive episode as the crew are the ones being kept in the dark to preserve the time continuum Or Whatever. It's mainly fun to watch an actor portray an annoying character and not have it be agonizing to watch.


Episode 608: The Defector (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Data, Worf, Crusher, Laforge, Troi)

For most of the series, the Romulans have been an offscreen threat. We don't even know precisely why they're at war with Starfleet, other than they both want to explore the world and claim it as their own. In this episode, a top officer from The Romulans defects to Starfleet, claiming he knows about a weapon that will change the tide of war.  


Episodes 609 & 610: Emissary (DS9)
(Sisko, Picard, O'Brien, Kira, Odo, Jake, Quark, Dax, Bashir, Keiko, Nog, Gul Dukat)

What war, you might ask? Well, way back in Season Five of this continuity, Capt. Picard became a borg named Locutus who blew up a bunch of Federation ships on his course to destroy Earth (which he failed to do). One of the ships he blew up contained Benjamin Sisko who is now traveling with Picard to an abandoned Cardassian space station called Deep Space Nine. Picard totally killed this guy's wife, so he is Not Pleased with him or the assignment, but he and his son decide to join the crew of Deep Space Nine, anyway, and are joined by Enterprise transporter engineer O'Brien, and his wife, Enterprise botanist Keiko. Plus a ragtag crew of Bajorans, Ferenghi, Trill, and whatever the hell Odo is. The Cardassian space station is the center for the war we learned about in the previous episode.


Episode 611: Amok Time (TOS)
(Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, Uhuru, Chekov, Chapel, T'Pring, T'Pau)

Vulcan love rituals are sooooooooo archaic. Witness Spock's pon farr from the era of The Original Series.


Episode 612:. Spock Amok (SNW)
(Spock, T'Pring, Chapel, Pike, Singh, Uhura, M'Bega, 1, Ortegas, April, Kyle)

It's classic body swap shenanigans when Spock's fiancee visits during a very important diplomatic meeting with a race of moody aliens who are trying to decide whether to align with Starfleet or The Klingons. Oh, and the two "fun-killers" on staff play Enterprise Bingo to get a better emotional connection with the crew. Oh, hey, isn't this pretty much just an alternate version of the previous episode? It even has Chapel in it!


Episode 613 & 614: Redemption (TNG)
(Worf, Picard, Guinan, Data, Riker, Yar)

Let's cool off from that steamy Vulcan lust with a tie into a major storyline, as we revisit the chaos of The Klingon empire. It's a direct sequel to "Reunion", though much time has elapsed. It's a satisfying conclusion(?) to the story arc begun in "Sins Of The Father".


Episode 615: Past Prologue (DS9)
(Kira, Sisko, Bashir, Garak, Odo, O'Brien, Dax, Keiko)

Much of this season focuses on Cardassian and Bajoran war criminals, and how to keep the peace after all the terrible things they did to one another during the war. Deep Space Nine's first officer, Kira, was once a member of a Bajoran underground movement that the Cardassians consider terrorists. When one of her old cohorts shows up, the newly assembled crew needs to figure out how much they can trust each other, and how much they can trust The Cardassians. And what the hell are the sisters of Duras from Redemption doing on Deep Space Nine?


Episode 616: Man Alone (DS9)
(Odo, Sisko, Dax, O'Brien, Keiko, Bashir, Nog, Jake, Quark)

Deep Space Nine's security officer, Odo, has held the post since the station was run by Cardassians, and while some of the Bajorans trust him, everyone is put on edge when a criminal he sent to prison shows up on board and is swiftly murdered.


Episode 617: Pegasus (TNG)
(Riker, Picard, Worf, Data, Troi, Laforge)

After Riker graduated from Starfleet Academy, he served on a ship called Pegasus where Bad Shit Went Down. He and the Captain, another tropey incompetent Starfleet Asshole (a younger John Locke from Lost!) were the only two who escaped. But what did they escape from, and why are the Romulans interested? DUN DUN-DUNNNNN.


Episode 618: The Are The Voyages (ENT/TNG)
(Riker, Archer, T'Pol, Trip, Shran, Soto, Troi, Mayweather, Reed, Phlox, Data)

This is one of the most hated episodes of Star Trek. But more for its context than its content. It was aired as the final episode of Enterprise, which was a slap in the face to the cast of Enterprise, because it's actually a TNG episode. During the events of "Pegasus", Riker goes to the holodeck to examine his problem from multiple angles. To do so, he recreates The Enterprise from Enterprise (I know, I know), and acts as cook, talking with each crew member about different decisions they've made during their Starfleet Career. It would have probably been liked or loved if it had been in the middle of the season instead of the end. I like it as a non-canon chance for Enterprise and TNG to crossover. Because we're going to come back to Enterprise at least once more, and nothing that happens in this episode will have ever happened to them, but it has helped Riker make a difficult decision during "Pegasus".


Episode 619: Babel (DS9)
(Bashir, O'Brien, Sisko, Quark, Odo, Kira, Jake, Dax)

More a companion to Darmok than Journey To Babel or Babel One, the episode focuses on the effects of a Cardassian engineered virus that causes aphasia in its victims. And then they die, of course, unable to express what they're going through.


Episode 620: The Inner Light (TNG)
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Data, Laforge, Troi)

A probe seeks information from Picard, and to get it, makes him live an entire lifetime where his new family and friends convince him that his life on The Enterprise was a dream.

One of the fun parts of curating your own continuity, is that you can twist episodes around and create entirely new storylines. So this season will introduce us to Q and The Borg, and the concept of The Traveler. But it will also explain Beverly Crusher's long absence from the show, as she disappears in "Remember Me", is replaced by Pulaski with zero explanation, and then returns, along with Tasha Yar after a tear in the fabric of reality occurs in "Yesterday's Enterprise". After that, Pulaski is never mentioned again.

We also get to meet The Gorn this season. We got a brief glimpse of them in the mirrorverse in Season 2 but now we get the original terrible episode of The Original Series, and then see them become a major threat in Strange New Worlds.

I love watching this altered season.

Episode 501: Where No One Has Gone Before (TNG)
(Wesley, Picard, Riker, Crusher, Laforge, Data, Traveler)

An annoying faux-engineer and his alien counterpart, The Traveler, are trying to improve The Enterprise's warp drive. They end up causing the ship to be hurtled far beyond charted space, where they are left at the end of the episode. This is a pro-Wesley episode.


Episode 502: Q Who (TNG)
(Picard, Q, Riker, Troi, Data, Laforge, Crusher)

I LOATHE Q. He's my least favorite recurring character in all of the Star Trek franchise. But there's no denying his existence, as he pops up in some crucial episodes. For my continuity's sake, the crew mever got back to charted territory in the last episode, so they're still trying to figure out where to go when they encounter the weird Q moron, who leads them straight into the cubey hands of the newest Star Trek enemy race: The Borg!


Episode 503: Remember Me (TNG)
(Crusher, Picard, Wesley, Traveler,  Laforge, Wesley, Data, Troi, Worf, O'Brien)

Returning from their Borg mission, Enterprise docks at a Starfleet base. One of Dr. Crusher's old professors visits the ship, but soon after his arrival, he disappears, and there is no record of him ever existing. Slowly, but surely, the whole Enterprise Crew also starts to disappear. This sounds like some Traveler shenanigans.


Episode 504: Peak Performance (TNG)
​(Picard, Riker, Data, Worf,  Wesley, Troi, Pulaski, Laforge, O'Brien)

It's time for war games between Picard and Riker, with the bridge crew being divided between them, as well as Data and a strategy expert (think of an entertainingly weasley chess master) battling over a game of Strategem (think of a Nintendo Wii version of speed chess, that they never explain the rules to...which is to the benefit of the episode). Naturally, something happens that turns the war games into an important life or death struggle. This episode features Pulaski instead of Crusher, as I like to imagine she is still missing from the events of the last episode.


Episode 505: The Emissary (TNG)
(Worf, Picard, Riker, Troi, Data, Laforge, Pulaski, Clancy)

Not my favorite episode but it introduces Worf's ex, a half-Klingon/half-human political ambassador whose existence is vital to later continuity.  Also, still no Beverly Crusher. 


Episode 506: A Matter Of Honor (TNG)
(Riker, Picard, Data, Worf, Wesley, Pulaski, Laforge)

Klingon culture is complicated, and the early episodes of TNG that focus on Worf and his relation with his heritage are Not Very Good. In this episode, we see the Klingons through the lens of Riker, who is assigned as First Officer on a Klingon ship. Some chaos ensues when someone similar to Wesley's friend from the first episode fails to alert either The Enterprise or the Klingon that there is something on the Klingon hull that could destroy the ship.


Episode 507: Elementary My Dear Data (TNG)
(Data, Laforge, Picard, Pulaski, Moriarity, Riker, Worf, Troi, Clancy)

Pulaski suggests that Data work on his problem solving skills on the holodeck, where he and Laforge discover the joys of playing Sherlock Holmes. Then, as they often do, things go awry.


 Episode 508: Contagion (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Laforge, Worf, Data, Troi, Wesley, Pulaski, O'Brien)

A computer related  problem, a lost Starfleet vessel, Romulans, and Pulaski. It's not a great episode, but it has an interesting conceit. And ... no Crusher.


Episode 509: Time Squared (TNG)
(Picard, Pulaski, Riker, Data, Laforge, Troi, O'Brien)

For our continuity's sake, the technological problem from Contagion is the cause of another glitch, this one phases Picard slightly out of synch with the universe. The crew, including Doctor Pulaski, barely manage to fix the problem, and save Picard. But the slight rip in time leads to...


Episode 510: Yesterday's Enterprise (TNG)
(Picard, Data, Yar, Guinan, Riker, Worf, Laforge, Wesley, Crusher)

A rip in time causes a dimensional change that's a bit like The Mirror Universe we explored in Season Three. The crew isn't evil, but their timeline has changed, and Yar, who died last season, is back. When they encounter a previous Enterprise crew (the crew from between TOS and TNG), they know they have to send the ship back to its original time, where they all will die, in order to prevent the Starfleet/Klingon war that dominates this Mirrorverse.  Any scenes with Beverly Crusher before the time rip are edited out. So that there's some shock for the viewers (but not the crew, who don't know that their timeline has been altered) when both she and Tasha Yar are alive again and part of the crew. Unlike Yar, though, Dr. Crusher gets to stick around, and much like in the actual series, Pulaski is never mentioned, as though she never existed at all.


Episode 511: Evolution (TNG)
(Wesley, Picard, Riker, Data, Laforge, Crusher, Worf, Troi)

Dr. Bob Kelso from Scrubs was an insufferable prick in the Star Trek universe, as well. His science mission comes in conflict with one of Wesley's school experiments, which is in conflict with The Enterprise's computer. This is one of the best Wesley episodes in the series, and has him acting like his mom was merely away for a while on a mission, and not that she ceased to exist for a while.


Episode 512: Carbon Creek (ENT)
(T'Pol, Archer, Tucker)

Over dinner, T'Pol is asked to explain a trip she took to Pennsylvania before joining the crew of Enterprise, and we learn that First Contact between humans and Vulcans isn't the story we thought it was. 


Episode 513: Arena (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhuru, Scott, Sulu, Lesley)

There's a reason we skipped over this episode when we were deep in The Original Series. It is TERRIBLE. The acting, the fighting, the alien costumes. Just one of the worst episodes of the series. But comically The Worst as opposed to The Most Boring. And while I don't remember the Metatrons returning, we do encounter The Gorn again in Strange New Worlds, so I figured we should check out their terrible origin.


Episode 514: Momento Mori (SNW)
(Pike, Singh, Spock, 1, Ortegas, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel, Uhura)

Oh hey, look, it's The Gorn again! This time, instead of a slow moving, fake looking alien, they're an unseen dangerous menace who wipe out entire colonies. Luckily, Singh has some experience with them and can help try and save The Enterprise from imminent doom.


Episode 515: Sarek (TNG)
(Picard, Sarek, Riker, Crusher, Data, Laforge, Worf, Troi)

The crew of The Enterprise hosts Spock's dad and his ... new wife? It turns out that Sarek has what's essentially Vulcan dementia, and it completely messes with the crew.


Episode 516: Simultude (ENT)
(Trip, Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, Reed, Sato, Mayweather)

While we're basking in our sadness, let's check back with the crew of the first Enterprise. During repairs, Trip is gravely injured, and Phlox suggests a controversial technique, wherein a clone of Trip, with a fifteen day life cycle is created purely to harvest parts of its brain to help Trip recover. It is Dark and Emotionally Draining to watch, but well-written, and fast paced.


Episodes 517 & 518: Best Of Both Worlds (TNG)
(Riker, Picard, Data, Worf, Laforge, Crusher, Wesley, Guinan, Troi)

The Borg are back in town! And they abduct one of The Enterprise crew and turn them into The Borg before heading to Earth to assimilate the human race.


Episode 519: Regeneration (ENT)
(Phlox, Archer, T'Pol.. Reed, Mayweather, Sato, Tucker)

What if, and hear me out on this, Picard's crew Weren't the first humans to interact with The Borg? What if Archer's Enterprise encountered them but just didn't know what they were? What if the cure for assimilation was discovered hundreds of year before Locutus?


Episode 520: Family (TNG)
(Picard, Worf, Troi, Riker, Crusher, Wesley)

After the cataclysmic events of "Best Of Both Worlds", the crew has some down time, and we get some insight on the off-mission lives of Picard, Worf, and the Crushers. This is unlike any other TNG episode, and it's a cool change of pace. And a precursor to something that will take place several seasons in the future.

The purpose of this project was to present a fun chronology for people new to Star Trek or even long term fans who are looking for a new way to watch the series. As such, I've tried to steer clear of the worst episodes of Star Trek. But, I guess if you don't see Any terrible episodes than you don't realize just how good the rest of them are.

This season is our introduction to The Next Generation cast. Now that we've shunted the crew of Discovery into the future, it's time to meet Picard and his crew. because there are no rules to my continuity, I can skip most to all of season one of Next Generation. Spoiler alert: It was awful. The blandest episodes were just homages to the original series, the best episodes tended to focus on Data, and the worst episodes usually involved Q, who we'll meet next season. 

While I've edited out most of the eye-rollingest episodes, there are some bad episodes of TNG that you sort of need to experience to appreciate how they're rectified as the season matured. They're also sort of necessary for major continuity points. Sorry.

I've even shuffled in a bad episode of TOS (and TOS had three seasons of episodes, and maybe three-quarters of a season's worth of good episodes) so you can see that the tropes of Starfleet being incompetent and possibly brimming with madmen has been true since the series first debuted.

Episode 401: Coming Of Age (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Wesley, Crusher, Troi, Worf, Data, Laforge)

In the actual viewing order, this episode of The Next Generation shows up about halfway through the first season, and one of the biggest criticisms of it, is that it has false consequences, as the two major storylines center on crew members possibly leaving the show, which was obviously not going to happen. But while this is not a great episode to endure after you've spent a bunch of time with the crew, it's a great intro.

Starfleet is bastards. We see them from two angles in this episode as an Admiral orders an annoying auditor to investigate Captain Picard's competency while Honorary Ensign Wesley Crusher applies to Starfleet Academy to become an official crew member. As you might expect, not much is at it seems. 


Episode 402: We'll Always Have Paris (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Data, Crusher, Worf, Laforge, Troi)

Starfleet may be bastards, but it's scientists who keep mucking things about TNG. In this case, a disgraced Starfleet scientist has caused time issues not completely unlike "Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad". Data is chosen to solve the problem, as Picard has the very Kirkian problem of having one of his favorite exes show up on board.


Episode 403: Whom Gods Destroy (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, Scott, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, Hadley)

Make no mistake, this is a TERRIBLE episode of Star Trek. It's here to show just how awful Starfleet Bastards can be, as well as give us some Original Series flavor to this season. But it's a bad episode. If you enjoy drinking games, you can probably come up with a couple for this episode.


Episode 404: Conspiracy (TNG)
(Picard, Riker, Data, Crusher, Worf, Laforge, Troi)

A group of rogue Starfleet captains approach Picard about the possibility that Starfleet has been corrupted by an outside source. So when Starfleet orders The Enterprise to a star base, Picard is understandably concerned. When it turns out that the jerky auditor from the first episode, as well as the admiral who sicked the auditor on the ship in the first place, are involved, the crew of The Enterprise springs into action.


​Episode 405: Too Short A Season (TNG)
(Picard, Crusher, Riker, Yar, Worf, Data, Laforge, Troi)

Elderly Starfleet bastards journey to Enterprise to help diffuse a hostage situation. But they are BAD at it.


Episode 406: Strange New Worlds (SNW)
(Pike, Spock, Singh, Ortegas, 1, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel, Uhura, T’Pring, April)

Shortly after last season's Discovery fiasco, Cmdr. Pike took a sabattical. Well, it didn't last long before he was called back to Starfleet to track down his missing first officer with a new crew, on his new ship, Enterprise.


Episode 407: Data's Day (TNG)
(Data, O'Brien, Picard, Keiko, Crusher, Troi)

See the ship through Data's eyes, and meet O'Brien's future wife, Keiko. See how Data nearly ruins a wedding but also saves the ship. Also, a cat.


Episode 408: Datalore (TNG)
(Data, Picard, Riker, Yar, Worf, Wesley, Laforge)

It turns out that Data isn't the only android like him. His "brother", Lore, is A Jerk. What happens if he replaces Data as an officer?


Episode 409: Borderlands (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol, Soong, Phlox, Sato, Trip, Reed, Mayweather)

Was the guy who made Data and Lore evil? We may never know. But the original crew of The Enterprise has to deal with a Klingon problem while they're transporting one of Dr. Soong's ancestors who has been messing around with augmented humans who, as it happens, are wreaking havoc with the Klingons.


Episode 410: The Naked Now (TNG)
(Laforge, Wesley, Crusher, Data, Riker, Picard, Yar)

I'm sorry again. This is another Terrible Trek episode but it has major implications for future episodes, including, and especially, Data. This is basically an echo of the TOS episode "Naked Time" but with more naked consequences.


Episode 411 & 412: Cold Station 12/The Augments (ENT)
(Archer, Soong, Phlox, Trip, Reed, T'Pol, Mayweather, Sato)

Back to the original Enterprise's Klingon and Soong problem, The Augments take over the medical facility that holds thousands of augmented embryos. The situation causes Soong to have to choose between humans and Augments, doctors to choose between the potential for life and their already living colleagues, and The Klingons to choose between killing The Augments, killing the humans, or just killing everyone.


Episode 413: The Most Toys (TNG)
(Data, Picard, Riker, Wesley, Laforge, Worf, O'Brien)

DATA IS NOT A TOY. But there is a collector who values the android's worth, and decides to fake Data's death and steal him from Starfleet, and Data makes a Very Human decision to try and escape. This has one of the few I Am Evil villains that I don't mind, as his motives are purely villainous but believable.


Episode 414: Skin Of Evil (TNG)
(Yar, Troi, Picard, Riker, Worf, Laforge, Data, Crusher, Wesley)

This is the worst TNG episode on the list. By far. It's poorly written, has lackluster effects, and it redshirts a major character for contract reasons. Unfortunately, we kind of need to see the character die for ... reasons.


Episode 415: Charlie X (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Rand, Leslie, Nellis)

We reach all the way back to the second ever episode of Star Trek for this story of a god-like teenager wreaking havoc on the crew. It's a solid episode, and the only reason I held it back until now was because there are some excellent Uhura moments, and I wanted to pair it with the following episode.


Episode 416: Q&A/Children Of The Comet (SNW)
(1, Spock, Pike)
(Uhura, Pike, Spock, Singh, Ortegas, 1, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel)

On his first day on Enterprise, Spock gets stuck on a turbo lift with #1.

You can tell me all you want about how progressive the Star Trek universe is, and how we live in a post-racial society because we elected a Black President in 2008, but let it be known that it took SIXTY YEARS before Star Trek did an episode centered on Uhuru. Yea, yea, yea, Burnham is the lead in Discovery and she's a woman of color, but the Uhuru character has been around since the 1960s and she didn't get her moment in the spotlight until 2022. It's a really good episode about becoming part of a team, and I hope it means we'll get another Uhura-centric episode before 2081.


Episode 417: Hollow Pursuits (TNG)
(Laforge, Riker, Barclay, Picard, Data, Wesley, Troi , Worf, Crusher)

I hate holodeck episodes, and this is not generally considered one of the best of them, but it does introduce Barclay who ... sigh ... we will be seeing again later.


Episode 418: Mudd's Passion/The Escape Artist (TAS/ST)
(Mudd, Spock, Kirk, Chapel, McCoy, Uhura, Scott)
(Mudd)

I loathe Barclay. The character is an incel who will eventually get completely undeserved redemption, despite still being a misogynist shitbag. The actor who plays him is a bigoted bag of sewage in a human suit. Just typing about the actor or the character make me angry, so to rectify that, here's a character who's a misogynist villain who is actually a delight to watch and is played by someone who seems to have spent his entire career trying to be a better, more tolerant and loving person. Here, we see Mudd trying to escape from his past sins. And it's fun.


Episode 419: Measure Of A Man
(Data, Picard, Riker, Laforge, Pulaski, Worf, Wesley)

Another Starfleet Bastard tries to interfere with The Enterprise by ordering Data to be dismantled so that he can build more androids for Starfleet. When Data, and then Picard refuse, the issue of Data's status as a lifeform goes to trial with Starfleet's JAG (yea, like the court procedural TV show). This is probably the best episode of the season.


Episode 420, brah: Ghosts Of Illyria (ST/SNW)
(1, Singh, Pike, Spock, Ortegas, M’Benga, Hemmer, Chapel, Uhura)

Invasion of the moth people! The crew of The Enterprise is sent to investigate a planet where an entire colony has disappeared. A virus spreads amongst the crew that gets them addicted to light, and we get some great background on the crew.

The Star Trek Movies era was a delight for long time fans who hadn't seen their beloved cast in a decade. And while the first movie is A Chore to sit through, The Wrath Of Khan began a new, self-aware, and sometimes deliberately silly era of Star Trek.

For this season, we're going to spend the first half focused on Spock. He goes missing in the Motion Picture universe AND he was already missing in the Discovery timeline, so it's fun to see various crews trying to track him down. 

We also spend some time with the other first officers, T'Pol and Saru.

The real story of this series, though, is that it's the end of our voyages with Discovery for a looooooooong time.  Also, the cast of The Original Series (and Movies) is going to be seen less frequently going forward. Don't be sad, though, they'll be flashed back to several times in the continuity as reference points for some of the more modern shows.

​

Episode 301: The Wrath Of Khan (TOSM)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Khan, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Saavik)

Sure, we're back in the original dimension, but it's many years later. Kirk is an admiral, Spock's back on Vulcan, and Chekov is a commander on The Reliant. On a research mission, Chekov runs into Khan from last season, and is forced into a trap intended to ensnare Kirk. But what's more important to Khan? Killing Kirk or getting his hands on The Genesis Device?


Episode 302: Brother (DIS)
(Burnham, Pike, Saru, Tilly, Stamets, Sarek, Grayson, Reno, Linus)

Something major happened to Spock at the end of The Wrath Of Khan, so now we're going to go all the way back to when he was a child, and explore his relationship with Burnham. And, oh yea, Pike is now the temporary captain of The Discovery, as the ship goes off in search of the cause of the Seven Lights. We'll be seeing a lot of him this season.


Episode 303: An Obol For Charon (DIS)
(Burnham, Pike, Saru, Tilly, Stamets, Reno, Linus)

Like one of the classic episodes, an unidentified sphere takes control of Discovery, messes with its computer, and turns the whole ship higgledy-piggledy. It also triggers an illness in Saru that is fatal to his species.


Episode 304: Fallen Hero
(Archer, Ph'lox, T'Pol, Reed, Mayweather, Sato, Trip)

First officers having cultural identity problems occur all over the Star Trek timeline. During the Enterprise era, T'Pol must balance her loyalty to the crew with her Vulcan heritage. 


Episode 305: The Sound Of Thunder (DIS)
(Saru, Burnham, Pike, Tyler, Stamets, Culber, Linus)

Everything Saru knew about his species lifespan was a lie, so he decides to break The Prime Directive to set his species free. Plus, Culber is alive again, and Tyler is back on the ship. Awwwwwkwaaaaaaaaaaard.


Episode 306: The Search For Spock (TOSM)
(Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Saavik, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov, Sarek, Spock)

The Wrath Of Khan is considered by most to be The Best Star Trek movie, and I don't disagree. It sets all the rest of The Star Trek films into motion as a really cool storyarc on aging military personnel desperately clinging to power. Here, the crew of The Enterprise must defy Starfleet to rescue their missing friend. Also, Klingon bastards do Something that will incur The Wrath Of Kirk.


Episode 307: If Memory Serves (DIS)
(Spock, Burnham, Pike, Saru, Stamets, Tilly, Tyler, Georgiou, Culber)

It looks like The Enterprise wasn't the only ship to find Spock. Young Spock is back with Burnham trying to get to the Discovery via Thalos IV, the planet from The Menagerie. What will his involvement due to help them discover the purpose of The Red Angel, and how will it affect Discovery's relationship with Starfleet and Section 31?


Episode 308: Project Daedalus (DIS)
(Spock, Burnham, Pike, Saru, Stamets, Tilly, Ariam, Nhan)

Everyone is on edge on the Discovery. Spock and Burnham, Stamets and Culbert, Pike and Tyler, Ariam and Nhan. Ok, not Tilly. She's still delightful. But someone on board has either been feeding information to Section 31 or else taking information from the Sphere they encountered last season. And it's unclear what they're doing with it. But the now fugitive Discovery is in Section 31 territory and the proverbial fan is oscillating in proverbial feculince.


​Episode 309: The Voyage Home (TOSM)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Uhura, Scott, Sulu, Sarek, Saavik, Rand)

After the events of The Search For Spock, the former Enterprise crew must journey back to 20th century Earth in an unfamiliar vessel in order to bring some whales back to Earth to keep it from being obliterated by an amok probe. It's a weird premise, and the movie is filled with more Colorful Metaphors than you'd expect in a Star Trek film. This is the most honestly funny chapter in TOS, as its humor is based on the various crew members' failure to understand 20th century culture. And it's very much a mid 1980s comedy. It's also fun to see Rand show up again, even if it's Very Briefly.


Episode 310: Cold Front (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol. Phlox, Sato, Mayweather, Tucker, Daniels, Sillik)

A secret war is being waged throughout time, and Archer's Enterprise is somehow stuck in the midst of it.


Episode 311: Perpetual Infinity (DIS)
(Burnham, Spock, Saru, Stamets, Tillly, Culber, Tyler, Pike, Georgiou)

The identy of The Red Angel is finally revealed.


 Episode 312: Through The Valley Of Shadows (DIS)
(Burnham, Tyler, Pike, Spock, Saru, Stammets, Culber, Amanda, L'rell, Reno)

Back to Klingons and family problems, as Burnham, Pike, and friends must visit the home of the Time Crystals which are ... guarded by Tyler and L'rell's son? Oh, Time Crystals, how your wackiness allows us to overcome things like, the passing of time, in order to have an emotional conundrum.


Episodes 313 & 314: The Menagerie (TOS)
(Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Pike, Uhura)

A reshoot of TOS's pilot features Spock appearing to commit mutiny (man, Sarek is a Bad Influence) in order to take his previous captain (and current captain of The Discovery in our chronology) Pike, back to a planet where he was once part of a zoo. Part flashback, part trial, part sci-fi adventure, this two-part episode shows that it was Pike, not Kirk who was into making out with multi-colored aliens.


Episode 315: Twilight (ENT)
(Archer, Phlox, Tucker, T'Pol)

While we're futzing around with time travel, wes check back in with Archer's Enterprise. In trying to save T'Pol, Archer becomes gravely wounded. We flash forward a bit to see how, without Captain Quantum Leap, the crew can't save the world. So Phlox attempts to go back in time and set everything right.


Episode 316:  Deadly Years (TOS)
(Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Chekov, Sulu, Scott, Chapel, Uhura)

A seemingly abandoned planet turns out to actually be a deathtrap, as it causes most (but not all) the people who visit it to age rapidly. That's right, you'll get to see Grandpa Kirk, Wizardly Spock, and a whole bunch of other crew members grow grey over a single episode. Shockingly, no one is mind controlled into thinking they're young. 


Episodes 317 & 318: Shockwave (ENT)
(Archer, Reed, T'Pol. Tucker, Mayweather, Sato, Daniels, Sillik, Forrest, Soval)

More cold war time travel shenanigans make Captain Archer seem responsible for a massive tragedy. Will this be the end of our journey with Archer's Enterprise?


Episodes 319 & 320: Such Sweet Sorrow (DIS)
(Burnham, Spock, Pike, Saru, Stammets, Georgiou, Stammets, Tilly, Tyler, Culber, Sarek, Amanda, Reno,  L'rell)

It's not at all going to be the end for our journey with Archer's Enterprise but this episode will mark our final adventure with the crew of Discovery for a long while. Maybe ever? *clears throat* Discovery! Enterprise! Control! Starfleet! A thing that must be destroyed lest it fall into the wrong hands! Timestream manipulation! Sacrificed characters! Nannites! It's a game changing adventure for everyone as we say goodbye to the USS Discovery and Season Three.

Star Trek introduced some of the greatest tropes in TV history. While some of the episodes can be difficult to watch through a modern lense, you can't deny that, despite many well-intentioned missteps, the original series did many long-term wonderful things for cultural diversity in television, as well as bringing us ridiculously fun ideas that other sci-fi shows, books, movies, and comics would pay homage to.

We saw a few in season one, and we get a few minor ones early on here with some time travel shenanigans, and running into a ship in distress that turns out to be filled with criminals. The big one for this season, though? THE MIRRORVERSE.

That's right, after Kirk's crew encounters a weird space anomaly with The Defiant sticking out of it (a ship we will see again...mostly in Deep Space Nine), the crew of not just Kirk's Enterprise but also Archer's Enterprise and Lorca's Discovery all end up in a universe where there are different versions of themselves with different motivations. Many of them have goatees and Are Evil. 

We will end this season coming out of the mirrorverse and seeing what is in store for the various crews in the blissfully restored reality we got used to in season one and the front half of season two.

We also introduce a new show this season, The Animated Series. There are no new characters, as it's basically just an extension of The Original Series but in animated form. 

Episode 201: This Side Of Paradise (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura)

Mellow out, man. Even Spock gets groovy in this tale of a planet that keeps everyone chillaxed and on the serious harmonius vibology. Will someone narc them out to Starfleet so they can get back to The Man's duty?


Episode 202: Yesteryear / Lethe (TAS/DIS)
(Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Scotty, Sarek, Amanda)
(Burnham, Sarek, Amanda, Saru, Tyler, Tilly, Stammets, Lorca, Culber, Detmer)

An animated episode? Yes. Fun with Spock and time travel and portals! On the way back from a time adventure, Spock and Kirk return, only to find that nobody on The Enterprise knows who Spock is. Let's see if poorly animated space travelers can restore the timeline!

Then, we learn that Spock's mummy and daddykins raised an adopted human daughter named Mike Burnham. You know, the protagonist of Discovery. So when Sarek ends up on the brink of death, it's his fully human daughter who comes to his rescue.


Episode 203: Magic To Make The Sanest Man Go Mad (DIS)
(Burnham, Tyler, Mudd, Stammets, Lorca, Saru, Tilly)

It's time loop madness when Mudd comes back to exact his revenge on Lorca and Tyler for leaving him in the Klingon prison last season.


Episode 204: I, Mudd 
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Mudd, Scott, Uhura, Sulu, Chekov)

And now it's time for Mudd to have his revenge on Enterprise for what *they* did to him last season. Why so angry Muddsy? You have an entire planet of hot cloned androids to keep you company. Why would you ever want to get away from them?


Episode 205: Operation Annihilate! (TOS)
(Spock, Kirk, McCoy, Scott, Uhura)

Kirk's family lives on an outpost where something is going horribly awry.  Hopefully,  they'll be able to help out with---oh, it's another mind control thing? Yikes. This seems to be happening an awful lot. Maybe this time they'll just kill all the mind controllers in the universe, and they can start trusting each other again.


Episode 206: Immunity Syndrome (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Chekov, Scott, Uhura, Chapel)

Another new type of...alien?...planet?...galaxy?...dimens---what is going on in this episode? Will the crew have to make an ultimate sacrifice to save the universe? I mean, probably not. We are only six episodes into the second season. But maybe one of the cast will die this time to establish some stakes. Maybe?


Episode 207: Space Seed (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, Khan, McCoy, Scott, Uhura)

The Enterprise stumbles on an abandoned ship filled with prisoners once jettisoned from Earth, including a certain sexpot with the name Kirk most likes to yell in his sleep. That's right, it's the debut of KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNN!!!!!


Episode 208: Shore Leave (TOS)
(Kirk, McCoy, Spock, Sulu, Uhura)

This season has been so taxing. The crew rather desperately needs some R&R, so they find an abandoned planet, send Sulu and McCoy to check it out, and prepare for a nice, uneventful time. Wait. Did McCoy just see The White Rabbit from Alice In Wonderland? Is he on shrooms? Are there people here? Are we back in mind control territory? Damn it, will the crew ever get to properly relax?


Episode 209: Dead Stop (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol, Reed, Trip, Mayweather)

The Tellarites give the crew of The Enterprise some terrible advice, and they end up getting repairs from a surreal space station. Crew members will die! Plots will twist. 


Episode 210: For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky (TOS)
(McCoy, Kirk, Spock, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov, Chapel)

A McCoy-centric episode where they visit a ship full of people who don't know they're on a ship. There's a love plot, the possibility of a character being left behind, and some mind-control, so it's pretty tropey, but fun!


211: Metamorphosis (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Leslie, Zefram)

Particularly during TNG and Enterprise, the Star Trek franchise loves to wax poetic abnout the inventor of warp technology, Zefram Cochrane. Well, here's his first appearance in our watchthrough.  Here, he falls in love with an intangible ball of living energy. Ahhh, the classic forbidden love.


212 & 213: Broken Bow (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, Reed, Mayweather, Sato, Tucker, Zefram)

Hey, it's Zefram again! Here we see his first inteaction with aliens (which we'll see again in a few seasons), and also see the origin of this version of the Enterprise's crew. Oh, sure, we've already seen them a bunch in this chronology, but these were the first episodes of the series that was aired, so it's sort of a flashback origin story for us!


Episode 214: Tholian Web (TOS)
(Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura, Chapel, Chekov, Kirk)

The beginning of a dimension expanding saga finds The Enterprise Crew encountering The Defiant, another Starfleet ship that appears to be phasing through dimensions. When Kirk also phases, Spock decides the ship can't leave the location, even though an alien species called the Tholians are ensnaring The Enterprise in a web that could doom them to the same fate.


Episode 215 & 216: In A Mirror, Darkly (ENT)
(Archer, T'Pol, Phlox, Sato, Mayweather, Reed, Forrest)

So where did The Defiant go when it phased? The Mirrorverse. An alternate dimension where good and evil are flip-flopped, and nobody behaves in a familiar way. The crew of The Mirrorverse Enterprise become embroiled in a political conundrum where they think their best chance of survival is to take The Defiant as their new ship.


Episode 217: Mirror, Mirror (TOS)
(Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Uhura, Chekov)

It's TOS's crew's turn to explore the Mirrorverse, as Kirk ends up in the topsy-turvy world where crew members must kill to be promoted. Will Spock help him return to his home dimension? I mean, he must, otherwise this would be the end of the series, right?


Episode 218: Despite Yourself (DIS)
(Burnham, Saru, Tyler, Stamets, Tilly, Lorca)

Oh no! Discovery is ALSO caught in the Mirrorverse? This is crazypants. But unlike the other series, there seems to be a reason for them being here besides random chance. 


Episode 219: Vaulting Ambition (DIS)
(Burnham, Saru, Tyler, Stammets, Tilly, Lorca, Georgiou)

There is Definitely a reason that Discovery ended up in The Mirror Universe, and as they try and figure their way back into the regular universe, we (the audience...not so much the crew) learn the messed up truth behind all of their adventures so far.


Episode 220: What's Past Is Prologue (DIS)
(Lorca, Georgiou, Burnham, Saru, Tyler, Stammets, Tilly)

Once the crew catches up with the audience, they are even more motivated to get the hell out of the Mirrorverse. Turns out pretty much nothing is ever as it seems. I'm sure their return to the regular universe will make everything status quo again, though. Isn't that how Star Trek works?