238: Bored Romulans

Romulans in "The Enemy" and "The Defector."   The third season episodes "The Enemy" and "The Defector" aired within a few months of each other and provided the first episodes of The Next Generation to show Romulan characters in such depth. The Romulans appeared in The Next Generation in more episodes than in any other Star Trek series, but how much do we really know about this iconic species?  In this episode of Earl Grey, hosts Justin Oser, Amy Nelson, and Richard Marquez are joined by special guest John Krikorian of the Trek Profiles podcast to talk about "The Enemy" and "The Defector" to uncover what we learn about the Romulans from these episodes. Topics discussed include why the Romulans seem to prefer deception and elaborate plotting, what the range of characters we see in the episodes tell us about Romulan behavior under different circumstances, and what we may be able to determine about Romulan culture. Chapters  Introduction (00:00:00)   Babel Conference Feedback (00:02:45) Welcome, John! (00:06:23) Trek Profiles (00:08:04) John's Star Trek Story (00:10:24) Thoughts About Romulans (00:13:51) "The Enemy" (00:17:29) "The Defector" (00:41:54)  Final Thoughts (01:01:50)  Closing (01:16:36) Runtime: 1 hour 20 minutes 50 seconds   Hosts Richard Marquez, Justin Oser, Amy Nelson GuestJohn Krikorian   Production Justin Oser (Editor and Producer) Richard Marquez (Producer) Amy Nelson (Producer) Tony Robinson (Producer) C Bryan Jones (Executive Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Ken Tripp (Executive Producer) Norman C. Lao (Associate Producer) Michael E Hueter (Associate Producer) Thomas Appel (Associate Producer) Justin Oser (Associate Producer) Richard Marquez (Production Manager) Tony Robinson (Show Art) Brandon-Shea Mutala (Patreon Manager)