JC's Trek Talk

JC's Guide to the Final Frontier III The Search for Answers Another fistful of the Final Frontier's follies and failings General Order 1 And the award for the quickest violation of the prime directive (relative to the beginning of the ship's mission) goes to...Captain Christopher Pike.  On the first day of his second five year mission, Captain Pike revealed himself, his half-Vulcan science officer and the Enterprise itself to the natives of Kylie 279.  Granted he was sent there to rescue a captured Starfleet survey team, and granted the prime directive was already violated before that when the battle between Starfleet and the Control-controlled Section 31 forces near Xahea was observed by the Kylians (a classified event in and of itself) and granted it went peacefully and the Kylians would eventually become Federation members, and the classified nature of how the Kylians learned about warp technology let Pike off the hook anyway so... I guess all's well that ends well. ...

Deep Space Nine The Final Chapter 6: Tacking Into the Wind Kira and Garak continue teaching Damars officers about resistance strategy, tensions increase between Kira and Gul Rusot.  After returning from a mission to destroy a Dominion shipyard, Odo, fatigued goes to rest and has difficulty maintaining his shape.  Walking into the bunk room Garak discovers this, Odo admits that he is ill and tells Garak not to let Kira know.  On DS9 Bashir and O'Brien hit a dead end in the search for a cure for Odos disease.  Bashir refuses to go to Sisko, Sisko would be obliged to report to Starfleet, which would alert Section 31.  Gowron tries to blame Martok for a recent defeat at Avenal VII, despite being outnumbered 6 to 1.  Sisko agrees with Martok, blaming Gowron for bad strategic decisions.  On Cardassia the female Founder, showing signs of the disease, asks Weyoun when the cloning facility will be repaired.  She orders the Jem'Hadar to search for Damars fa...

Episode Spotlight TNG's Elementary, Dear Data Having arrived 3 days early for a rendezvous, the Enterprise-D enjoys some downtime.  Data finds Geordi in Engineering finishing a model of the HMS Victory, a present for the USS Victory's captain (Geordi's former CO).  Geordi offers to share in a Sherlock Holmes mystery on the holodeck as Dr. John Watson to Data's Sherlock Holmes.  After ordering the holodeck to select a Holmes mystery at random the two enter the holodeck.  The two enter the holodeck and Geordi marvels at the details in the holographic recreation of Holmes study while Data gets into character.  A knock on the door (Which Data announces before the fact) signals the beginning of the mystery.  Data, with his encyclopedic knowledge of the stories solves the mystery instantly, to Geordi's annoyance.  Geordi tells the computer to freeze the program and angrily leaves the holodeck.  In Ten Forward Geordi tries to explain to Data why jumping ...

Deep Space Nine: The Final Chapter 5: When It Rains... O'Brien briefs Sisko and Martok on the Breen energy-dampening weapon and the fact that one ship, a Klingon Bird of Prey, was immune to the weapon due to modifications to its reactor.  However this modification won't work on Federation or Romulan ships.  Martok agrees to have all Klingon ships modified and use them to keep the Dominion distracted.  After the attack on Rondac III Damar has gone into hiding.  Sisko and Admiral Ross agree that Damar's resistance could use some help in resistance fighting and guerrilla tactics, they decide to send Kira to help them, Kira agrees.  Garak and Odo will accompany her.  In the infirmary Bashir convinces Odo to give him a sample of his "goo" to study for medical research.  On Bajor Winn continues to read the Kosst Amojan.  Dukat offers to help but she refuses.  On DS9 Martok is to be inducted into the order of Kahless.  Kira and Garak inform Sis...

Thoughts on the infamous Star Trek Enterprise Theme Song One thing for which Star Trek Enterprise has long been criticized by fans is the theme song.  The remixed (twice) reperformance of Diane Warren's "Faith of the Heart" (the version used for the ENT theme is officially titled "Where My Heart Will Take Me").  While I do understand the vibe the producers were going for using that as the theme song, with the show being about humanity's journey to the stars and all the hurdles and adversity they had to overcome to arrive on the interstellar scene and the shows optimistic future view (core Trek), I also share many of the complaints/issues that other Trekkies have with this choice of song.   1: It's not original.  Unlike all other previous Star Trek theme songs, this one is not original, having been written by Diane Warren and performed by Rod Stewart for the 1998 Robin Williams movie Patch Adams.  So not only is it not original, it wasn't even origina...

Deep Space Nine: The Final Chapter 4: The Changing Face of Evil As O'Brien and Bashir welcome Worf and Ezri back to the station, and Sisko tells Ezri that's he's willing to overlook stealing and losing the runabout as he's much more interested in the Dominion-Breen alliance, Kira reports that they've received a priority one message from Starfleet: the Breen have attacked Earth.  In Siskos office Martok comments on the boldness of the attack, saying that it is something even the Klingons never tried.  He also points out how little they know about the Breen.  On Cardassia Weyoun and Thot Gor celebrate the attack and Weyoun gleefully announces that the casualty numbers are being revised upwards.  Weyoun leaves to report to the Founder, Damar tells Thot Gor that the Dominion once sung Cardassias praises, but now they blame Cardassia for the war dragging on.  In his quarters Sisko finds Kasidy trying and failing to cook him dinner, having burned his peppers.  Si...

Throwback Thursday The Star Trek Encyclopedia The Star Trek Encyclopedia.  The indispensable reference guide to the final frontier.  The must have bookshelf anchor for all hardcore fans.  Also a staple reference for most if not all Trek fiction writers, be they professional novelists or fan fiction writers.  No doubt every Trekkie in the 1990s had a copy of at least one of the first three editions of the Okuda's "bible" of franchise lore. Star Trek Concordance Before diving into the various editions of the Star Trek Encyclopedia, I want to talk about the Star Trek Concordance.  The precursor to the Okuda's encyclopedia, the Concordance was written and compiled by Trek superfan (and letter writing campaign organizer) BJO Trimble.  Initially a series of individual volumes written in 1969, the first full, professionally published edition was released in 1976.  The book covered the Original series and the Animated Series.  The book uses abbreviations ...

1 Year!  Wow.  1 year ago today I started this blog.  My little itty bitty corner of the Interwebs to post my thoughts, opinions, head canon, episode reviews and any other Trek related blurbs.  Honestly, I've enjoyed doing this, and I have no plans to stop.  What to expect this year: More episode reviews/reactions *Strange New Worlds season 4 premieres later this year* More episode spotlights More opinion pieces and head canon blurbs More Throwback Thursdays Star Trek's 60th anniversary related posts And a lot more! Stay tuned!

Deep Space Nine: The Final Chapter 3: Strange Bedfellows Weyoun has Worf and Ezri put in the same cell on the Dominion ship for the trip back to Cardassia.  After struggling to maintain her form the female Founder enters and addresses the Breen leader Thot Gor about the alliance and a formal treaty which will allow them to eliminate the Federation alliance.  Reading the treaty Damar is outraged that the Dominion is handing over Cardassian planets to the Breen without his knowledge.  Weyoun shuts him down, ordering him to sign the treaty without reading the fine print, saying that the big picture, wiping out the Federation is more important.  Seething, Damar wants reinforcements sent to Septimus III, currently under siege by Klingons.  Weyoun promises that Septimus III will be dealt with.  On DS9 Martok and Sisko finish talking about war plans and turn to talking about Sisko's new marriage to Kasidy.  Martok likens marriage to a "long, grueling, intoxic...