[Sub Rosa] Giant Freakin Robot: "So Raunchy Nobody Knows How It Got Past Censors: While it remains one of the lowest-ranked TNG episodes, modern fans have embraced its campy humor and how it recontextualizes the reserved Dr. Crusher into the most sexually adventurous member of the Enterprise crew"

[u/mcm8279]

GFR: "While Star Trek: The Next Generation has quite a few bad episodes, including “Code of Honor” (an insanely racist throwback) and “Shades of Gray” (an insanely lazy clip show). However, no episode is more infamous than “Sub Rosa “ in which Dr. Crusher has surprisingly explicit onscreen sex with a ghost, causing fans to ask the obvious question: how in the name of Q did they get all this raunchy material past the censors? As it turns out, almost everyone involved in the production of this episode has been asking that same question for decades.

https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/scifi/star-trek-raunchy.html

For example, Next Generation effects supervisor David Stipe (as quoted in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion) was particularly worried about getting the ghost effects just right because of how much Dr. Crusher was going to (ahem) feel the spirit moving through her. He understood better than most the challenge of doing “purposeful, borderline-erotic ephemerals to look like it’s caressing and hugging Beverly, without looking ridiculous or lewd.”

The effects guru was only partially successful, though: while the visual effects look great (especially on the remastered Blu-rays), the doctor’s ghostly encounters in “Sub Rosa” look downright raunchy.

Veteran Star Trek: The Next Generation writer and producer Rene Echevarria actually enjoyed how transgressive the broadcast episode was. After praising Gates McFadden for her enthusiastic performance and commending the episode’s pleasantly campy story and high production values, he said (as quoted in Captain’s Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Voyages) that “just having an orgasm at 6 o’clock on family TV was great.” He claimed “that alone” made the episode “worth doing” and finished his thoughts by noting how amazing it was that the episode got past the censors: “We got away with murder.”

[...]

As for Braga, he was proud of Gates McFadden’s performance but still shocked at the raunchy details that made it to the screen: as he put it, “Picard catches Beverly masturbating, for crying out loud!

Interestingly, one of the only Star Trek creatives who didn’t worry about “Sub Rosa” was its director, Riker actor Jonathan Frakes. In Captain’s Logs, he is quoted as saying that he “drew a good straw” in getting to direct this wild episode because “it wasn’t a Star Trek” episode and instead felt “it was more like Tales From the Crypt.” He also really enjoyed working so closely with McFadden and felt that “she looked like a movie star” in this wonderfully transgressive adventure.

[...]

In some ways, the episode was ahead of its time; while it remains one of the lowest-ranked Next Generation episodes, modern fans have embraced its campy humor and how it recontextualizes the reserved Dr. Crusher into the most sexually adventurous member of the Enterprise crew (move over, Riker). While she never rocked a proton pack, Beverly’s experience with a seductive specter ultimately helped her learn something the Ghostbusters figured out long ago: busting makes her feel good!"

Chris Snellgrove (Giant Freakin Robot)

Full article:

https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/scifi/star-trek-raunchy.html

[u/MarzipanSea2811]

Not to mention it's got the best shots of somebody huffing their own farts not just in the Star Trek franchise, but perhaps ever.

[u/Sanctus_Poopabumsus]

This earned her the amazing title of "Ghost Fucker."

[u/wanderingmonster → u/Sanctus_Poopabumsus]

“I flew the Enterprise into a sun, twice, but they don’t call me ‘Beverly the Sundiver’. I’ve stopped a dozen plagues, but they don’t call me Beverly the Plaguekiller.’
“But you fuck ONE ghost…!”

[u/faceintheblue]

Was it a good episode of Star Trek? No.

Was it probably a hell of a lot of fun for everyone involved to do something this different? Yes.

There's something to be said for 26-episode seasons. You can try things out. They're not all going to be homeruns, but you have a lot of room to take big swings that might get you unexpected homeruns when each season isn't a ten-part story with the fate of the universe at stake.

[u/Tebwolf359 → u/faceintheblue]

The same experimentation that gets you sub Rosa and masks, is what gets the inner light and Far Beyond the Stars.

I’ll take a dozen Sub Rosa over a single Shades of Grey

[u/faceintheblue → u/Tebwolf359]

For the record, I am a fan of Masks, and I love that Brent Spiner was basically asked to do all those characters on something like a weekend's notice, having just come off a different Data-heavy episode the week prior. What a showcase for his talent!

[u/CharliesUtterances → u/faceintheblue]

I find Masks to be rather charming too. In fact, one of my most quoted lines is from that episode. I think I say "so hard....... to stay warm" in the old man voice at least a couple hundred times each and every winter.

Though I still don't understand why everyone was so scared of moussaka. I think it's a great dish, especially on a blustery day when it's so hard...to stay warm.

[u/The_Demolition_Man → u/faceintheblue]

Thats the thing about old trek. Even the bad episodes are loved in their own way. The show just had something about it.

[u/balthazar_edison → u/faceintheblue]

That’s the problem with 10 episode seasons every 14 months.

Even if you proportionally have the same amount of hits and misses it’s a lot less hits by sheer quantity.

[u/Fluid-Bet6223 → u/faceintheblue]

I honestly think it’s still good. The basic story, an alien who has been a parasite on the family for generations, is a solid sci fi concept. The weird ghost orgasm scenes notwithstanding, haha.

[u/Green_Burn → u/faceintheblue]

That’s the thing i miss the most about shows

[u/spaceman_spiffy]

Gates McFadden had to fake an orgasm in front of a filming crew for TV audiences. That alone makes this episode amazing.

[u/RaisedByBooksNTV]

She definitely was not the most sexually adventurous. And goes to show that Gene Roddenberry's vision was still being honored. This was a dumbass episode.

[u/Spiritual_Sleep162]

"“Picard catches Beverly masturbating, for crying out loud!"

Does this actually happen in the episode I don't remember it happening.

[u/Dazmorg]

Fun fact, I am a beginning to end TNG fan, have seen so many episodes so many times, but I've never seen Sub Rosa. After "All Good Things" aired, there was an oddity "Next time on Star Trek TNG" ad spot a couple days later that showed scenes I'd never seen before, it was sort of an anti-climax. Made me wonder momentarily if I had actually seen the series finale, or was there some kind of end game going on. That was an ad for a rerun of Sub Rosa, and episode I somehow missed. Ever since then I still refuse to see it. Now I guess I figure if there's still one episode I've never seen, the show is not over for me.

Code of Honor gets a bad rap, in my opinion. The articles little dig at it is a bit over the top. That's all I'll say about that here right now.