Outside In Makes It So: 174 New Perspectives on 174 Star Trek TNG Stories by 174 Writers

Outside In

by Stacey Smith (Editor), Rich Handley (Contributor), Jim Beard (Contributor)

Celebrating 30 years of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Outside In Makes It So is a collection of 174 reviews, one for every story of the show, the four movies and a few bonus extras. Well, we say “reviews,” but we mean that loosely: within these pages, you’ll find scripts, recipes, a Monty Python sketch, a psych test, gossip columns, newspaper ads, a sitcom, a eulogy and a daily log from Riker’s beard, not to mention insightful and thoughtful articles examining Picard-era Star Trek from just about every angle imaginable…and then some!

Genres: Star Trek

445 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

Reviews

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of the four "Outside In" volumes to date, this is easily the most outrageous, more varied, most eclectic of the bunch...and that's wonderful. TNG has always had the reputation of being the most beige of "Star Trek" series, so it's utterly delightful to read a collection of reviews and ruminations that push the series well outside its usual comfort zone. I thought my own contribution (for the 5th season episode "Silicon Avatar") would be considered wild...but there are write-ups in this collection that make it look positively tame. My personal favourite is the Pakled's hilarious sketched-out plan from season 2's "Samaritan Snare".

[Michel Siskoid Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outside In Makes It So - 174 perspectives on 174 Star Trek The Next Generation stories by 174 writers including myself - may well be my favorite of the four "TV episodes from an odd angle" books in the Outside In series. At least, I read it at the most devouring of paces. Perhaps it's that I've read fewer think pieces on TNG than I have TOS and before that, Doctor Who. Perhaps by sheer volume, there were more pieces that touched something in me (whether emotional or intellectual). Off the top of my head, some favorites include Where Silence Has Lease's portrayal of deaf people, Lower Decks' ode to the redshirt, The Best of Both Worlds tracking changes in how television is delivered, and on the more humorous side of things, articles written by Spot and Riker's beard. If I weren't going off the top of my head, I'd probably be name half the articles. My caveat: Having been written in 2017, the anti-Trek abomination that is the Trump presidency looms large and several texts felt the need to take shots at it, which was a problem for me. I'm just so sick of seeing him referenced in everything, even attacks I agree with tend to annoy me. An imagined visit with Boothby after Insurrection still feels like required reading on the subject, however. I wish Deep Space Nine were next, but Buffy's 20th Anniversary beckons...