Entertainment
The Star Trek Episode Secretly Inspired By Rambo
By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated
When you think about it, Rambo is one of the craziest franchises ever made. The first film was adapted from a novel and served as a poignant commentary on America’s treatment of soldiers returning from the Vietnam War. After it became a box office success, though, subsequent films were all about how John Rambo was the coolest, most unstoppable soldier in the entire world. In this way, the anti-war hero became the most recognizable military mascot of the 20th century. His exploits as a one-man army are basically the polar opposite of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the 1987 sci-fi show, which was all about peace, exploration, and communication.
Against all the odds, Star Trek almost had its own Rambo homage. It happened in the Season 3 episode “The Hunted,” which introduced a very Rambo-like character: Roga Danar, a man transformed into the ultimate weapon by a government that later discarded him. Because of this, this Trek tale already had some shared storytelling DNA with everyone’s favorite ‘80s action hero. However, the episode director later revealed that budget cuts kept him from including a Rambo-like final fight between a bunch of super-soldiers and the government officials who had betrayed them!
One Rambo To Beam Onboard
“The Hunted” begins with the Enterprise making a routine visit to Angosia III, a planet hoping to become part of the Federation. When Picard is asked to help capture one of the planet’s fugitives, he discovers something remarkable: a super-smart, super-strong soldier who inexplicably manages to outwit and outfight almost everyone he encounters. After finally being captured, he reveals himself to be Roga Danar, a soldier genetically enhanced by Angosia III and then forcibly resettled after the war was over. He escapes and returns to the planet to demand justice of the planetary leader who betrayed him. Incredibly, Picard doesn’t stop him, citing this as a clear case of internal planetary politics.
Aside from Roga Danar’s early cat-and-mouse adventures with the Enterprise, the most exciting part of “The Hunted” is when Danar returns to Angosia III to confront Prime Minister Nayrok. Along with some fellow super-soldiers, he issues a fairly basic demand: he and his wartime compatriots want to come home rather than being forcibly exiled to another planet. Nayrok, however, is worried that, between their psychological conditioning and PTSD, the soldiers will never be able to re-integrate into society. In this way, the episode’s climax is a bit like First Blood. But according to the director, “The Hunted” was originally going to have an action-packed ending more akin to Rambo: First Blood Part II!
An Insanely Violent Ending
Episode director Cliff Bole told The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine that “The end was again affected by a budget situation. We were going to do a big battle, but couldn’t.” What would this have looked like, exactly? “Originally, Danar was going to come back, and there would be a big confrontation–almost a Rambo-like situation. I thought the loss of that [scene] took away a little from the episode, making it slightly anti-climactic.”
Just how Rambo-like was it going to be? As recorded in Captain’s Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Star Trek Voyages, showrunner Michael Piller claimed that “At first, we were going to have a huge shoot out and have everyone wiped out in the end.” While the budget kept this from happening, Piller thought that was for the best because the original ending “didn’t really make anybody a hero.” He preferred the ending that we saw onscreen because it helped set up Picard’s crowd-pleasing decision to beam up and leave the traitorous prime minister’s fate in the hands of the men he betrayed.
To Seek Out Strange New Rambos
There you have it, fellow Redshirts: the closest that Star Trek ever came to turning into a Rambo movie. This was especially novel in The Next Generation, which showcased the Federation during a time of relative galactic peace. The big-budget action sequence cut from “The Hunted” might have been a better fit for the later spinoff Deep Space Nine, which bucked franchise tradition and spent its last couple of years telling stories about a brutal war with the Dominion. Sadly, that show never got its own proper Rambo homage, though I would have paid good money to see Sylvester Stallone get recruited by Section 31 to go rescue Starfleet POWs on the other side of the wormhole.
First Contact? More like First Blood Part II, y’all!
Entertainment
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Entertainment
Meta avoids another trial over social media harms as teen plaintiff drops lawsuit
Meta has skirted another jury over claims its platforms are facilitating a youth mental health crisis.
The company was set to go to trial in the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles next week, but the 15-year-old plaintiff, referred to as R.K.C, has now dropped the lawsuit.
“In light of the overall successful result of the litigation and his concerns about enduring a grueling weeks-long trial, he has elected to withdraw his claims against Meta. He’s ready to close this chapter and focus on his recovery and engage in therapy as he aspires to have a normal life,” attorneys for R.K.C. said in a statement.
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According to the lawsuit, R.K.C. said he became addicted to social media over the last seven years, and linked his anxiety and depression to extensive time online. Snapchat, TikTok, and YouTube were also named in the initial lawsuit, but the companies reached settlement deals with R.K.C prior to going in front of the jury.
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“Days after settling with other social media companies, the plaintiff dropped his case against Meta, the only remaining defendant, without receiving any payment,” a Meta spokesperson said following the news. “The claims never held up, and this outcome makes clear that we will not back away from defending ourselves against baseless lawsuits.”
Meta’s spokesperson said the facts of the case could not prove that the company’s platforms caused R.K.C.’s mental health struggles. Meta previously called attention to the fact that R.K.C. had not spent significant amounts of time on Meta platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, in a Motion for Summary Judgment. The company also said they could not verify that R.K.C. had a long-standing account history on Meta platforms.
In March, Meta and YouTube were ordered to pay $6 million to another teen plaintiff who accused multiple social media companies of knowingly investing in design features that would hook users, despite knowing of their potential harm. The jury found the two companies liable for mental health-related harms caused by negligent design features and “social media addiction.” It was the first time a jury found social media companies responsible for the psychological effects of their platforms on teens.
At the time, Meta said it was appealing the decision. The company has faced multiple lawsuits brought forth by teens, parents, school districts, and state leaders. “Teen mental health is profoundly complex and cannot be linked to a single app,” a Meta spokesperson said following the March verdict. “We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously as every case is different, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
Entertainment
NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for July 23, 2026
The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult if you’re a frequent flyer.
Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer.
If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
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Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
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Yellow: Rounded
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Green: Nervous Nancy
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Blue: Catch a flight
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Purple: Math words
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Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
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Yellow: Spherical things
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Green: In an anxious state
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Blue: Parts of an airport
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Purple: Ending in geometry terms
Looking for Wordle today? Here’s the answer to today’s Wordle.
Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today’s puzzle before we reveal the solutions.
Drumroll, please!
The solution to today’s Connections #1138 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
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Spherical things: BASEBALL, GLOBE,
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In an anxious state: EXCITED, FEBRILE, FRENETIC, INTENSE
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Parts of an airport: PINS, SNAPS, TWEETS, VINES
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Ending in geometry terms: APPOINT, DEPLANE, FELINE, JANGLE
Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today’s puzzle.
If you’re looking for more puzzles, Mashable’s got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Connections.
The smartest language lessons still start with human experts
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