JC's Trek Talk

Temporal Investigations Incursion Report Filed Stardate 58772.5 Commander JT Stern, DTI Analyst Transmitted over secured channel Alpha 721 Zeta 15 Report CLASSIFIED Level 10 I. SUMMARY OF INCURSION On Earth date 25 May 2262, stardate 2491.5 the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 under Captain Christopher Pike was sent to Ithaxus observe and take detailed sensor readings of an interstellar squall, a rare space-time phenomenon.  Arriving at the phenomenon the Enterprise detected a distress call from within the phenomenon and moved to investigate.  Becoming trapped in the phenomenon the Enterprise was sent across nearly 100 lightyears and backwards in time 65 million years to the Sol System during Earth's Cretaceous period.  In this time period Mars was inhabited by a technologically advanced civilization, a ship from which locked a tractor web onto the damaged USS Enterprise.  An away team from Enterprise used phasers to burn several trees and Stun a dinosaur on prehistoric Earth...

Star Trek 60th Anniversary Reflecting on the Franchise The Beginnings: The Pilots/TOS/TAS The Pilots In 1964 the pilot episode "The Cage" was produced, starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike of the USS Enterprise, Majel Barret as Number One and Leonard Nimoy as Spock.  The episode was quite progressive for 1964, with a female first officer and an alien science officer.  The plot revolved around the Talosians, a species whose mental/telepathic powers were so great that they could fool the entire Enterprise crew into believing that illusions were real.  A good episode with an interesting story and compelling characters.  NBC however was less convinced, seeing the episode as being "too cerebral" for contemporary audiences.  The persuasive powers of one Lucille Ball convinced the network to give Star Trek a second chance, and in an unprecedented move a second pilot was ordered.  In 1965 "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was produced.  All but one...

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 4 Reaction: Episode 7 Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass Captain Pike wakes up in sickbay.  While checking him for a concussion M'Benga says he was in a shuttle accident.  The last thing Pike remembers is hosting a captain's table, that event according to M'Benga was 2 weeks ago.  M'Benga says he has amnesia.  Spock is also injured and in a coma.  M'Benga relieves Pike of duty.  In Pike's quarters he meets with Dr. Chivers, the ship's counsellor (wearing a blue outfit of similar style and color to those worn by Deanna Troi in TNG).  It turn out that this is all being orchestrated by Trelane (see "Wedding Bell Blues").  Trelane has the ship and crew stuck in his "soap opera world".  The crew speak in weird patterns with strange, dramatic pauses and act overly melodramatically.  Onboard a shuttle La'an is returning to the enterprise with a heart donor for Spock-his brother Sybok (also played by Eth...

The Sisko is of Bajor Benjamin Lafayette Sisko.  To the crew of DS9 he was their captain.  To Jake he was a father.  To Jennifer and later Kasidy he was a husband.  To the people of the Federation he was a soldier, a commander and a war hero.  To the Bajorans he was one of their most revered religious figures: the Emissary of the prophets.  Sisko's arc across the series is an intriguing one.  His journey from emotionally wounded widower and single father and reluctant officer following orders to religious figure, soldier, diplomat, statesman, decorated combat officer and eventually a god. Reluctant and Unsure Arriving at Deep Space Nine he was unsure and reluctant.  A widower after the death of his wife Jennifer at Wolf 359 he was a single father, raising his teenage son Jake alone.  After 3 years at Utopia Planitia he was assigned as commanding officer of Deep Space Nine, the recently abandoned Cardassian mining station at Bajor, formerly kn...

Coming Soon For the franchise's 60th anniversary, I will be posting a seven part series of posts reflecting on the history of the entire Star Trek franchise, from the beginnings up through the present.  The first post will post on Tuesday, September 8 (Star Trek Day).  Make it so! 

Star Trek TOS Episode Tier List Season 1 56 Spectre of the Gun Kirk and co. make first contact with the noncorporeal xenophobic Melkotians, who test the crew by forcing them into a recreation of the gunfight at the OK Corral.   This one is ok, not special, the buildings in the Tombstone AZ illusion being jus facades works as part of the story while also being exhibit A of the seasons practically non-existent budget.   C tier.   57 Elaan of Troyius In a scifi retelling of Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” Kirk has to deal with the bratty self-centered Dohlman of Elas (whom the Enterprise is transporting to Troyius for an arranged marriage) while also dealing with Klingons who try to destroy the Enterprise to claim the Tellun systems dilithium and a Klingon spy/saboteur in the Troyan delegating planting a bomb on the ship.   Fun episode, also the first appearance of the Klingon D7 battlecruiser model.   C   58 The Paradise Syndrome While i...

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 4 Reaction: Episode 6 Off Hour In a new twist for trek, the episode takes place in real time, complete with a chronometer count down on the screen.  Also a reference to Dr. Boyce.  Interesting.  We see the crew getting ready for some downtime aboard ship.  The ship gets pulled into a slipstream wormhole.  Everything get's electrified until Pike manages to get the shields up.  The ship is damaged, Scotty is stuck in the turbolift, engineering has to evacuate, Pike an co are trapped on the bridge, M'Benga and Chapel are stuck in sickbay.  Una, La'an and Spock are down in the port galley.  The split screens are an interesting choice.  The Vulcan cadet is featured in this episode, this time working with Scotty.  M'Benga is pinned against the wall by a lab table, his back injured.  If the lab table is moved he will die.  Stakes.  TNG/DS9/VOY alum Brian Markinson plays Dr. Boyce, the CMO from ...

Opinions on Star Trek's Starfleet Uniforms Part 5: Nu Trek: the late 24th (and 25th) centuries Lower Decks The first animated Trek series in the modern era featured the main crew in uniforms obviously inspired by the TNG costumes.  The Lower Decks uniforms feature a weird white piping between the black yoke (actually a dark grey not back) and the colored body and a very high collar and a division colored stripe down the edge of the flap.  The boots also feature the department color on the soles for some reason.  The LD/SNW crossover episode "Those Old Scientists" features live action versions of these uniforms.  The wraparound front flap design is inspired by the abandoned uniforms designed for but not used in Generations. Prodigy The CGI animated Star Trek Prodigy saw Starfleet officers in an updated version of the Lower Decks style uniforms with the white and division colored pipings removed and solid black boots.  This is better and more trek-like.  Thes...

Star Trek TOS Episode Tier List Season 2 30 Catspaw Investigating the death of an away team member Kirk Spock and McCoy beam down to find witches, a castle and a black cat.   In the castle the crew are captured by Scott and Sulu under mind control by two beings named Korob and Sylvia who turn out to be extragalactic explorers.   Star Trek’s first and only “Halloween episode”.   Also the episode introduces Pavel Chekov as a new regular character.   Overall it’s ok, albeit heavy on the scary (and sometimes campy) spooky imagery.   C tier   31 Metamorphosis While transporting a Federation diplomat by shuttlecraft Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the diplomat crash on an asteroid where they discover Dr. Zefram Cochrane, the human inventor of warp drive, who disappeared over a century ago.   They come to learn that Cochrane is being kept alive by a noncorporeal being known as the companion.   The companion takes over the body of the mortally wounded dipl...