Day: March 7, 1969

Categories
Original Series Season 03 Star Trek

The Savage Curtain

Star Trek ClassicStardate 5906.4: Over the planet Excalbia, the Enterprise is intercepted by who appears to be Abraham Lincoln, floating through space. Beaming aboard, Lincoln is welcomed by Kirk, who is somewhat awed by the presence of one of his most revered figures of history. “Lincoln” extends an invitation to Kirk and Spock to visit the planet, whose normally lava-covered surface sprouts a zone of Earthlike safety just for the landing party. Kirk, Spock and Lincoln are joined on the surface by an image of Surak, who initiated the doctrine of emotional restraint on Vulcan. A rock-creature appears and introduces Kirk and Spock to four more illusionary figures from history, this time the fiercest conquerors, tyrants and villains of the past, from Earth’s Genghis Khan to Kahless the Unforgettable, who, as Surak did for Vulcan, set the standard of behavior for the Klingons. The creature pits the best and most noble – Kirk, Spock, Lincoln and Surak – against the most vile historical figures. The rewards for Kirk and Spock, should they survive, are their lives, and the lives of everyone aboard the Enterprise.

Order this episode on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxteleplay by Gene Roddenberry and Arthur Heinemann
story by Gene Roddenberry
directed by Herschel Daugherty
music by Fred Steiner

Guest Cast: James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Lee Bergere (Abraham Lincoln), Barry Atwater (Surak), Phillip Pine (Colonel Green), Arell Blanton (Chief Security Guard), Carol Daniels DeMent (Zora), Robert Herron (Kahless), Nathan Jung (Ghengis Khan)

Notes: Colonel Green was seen again in one of the final installments of Star Trek: Enterprise, depicted as a xenophobic warmonger whose rants inspired John Paxton’s attempt to oust all alien influences and visitors from Earth a century before Kirk’s tour of duty on the Enterprise.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Pilot Movies Six Million Dollar Man

The Six Million Dollar Man

The Six Million Dollar ManFormer lunar astronaut Steve Austin takes on the sometimes dangerous career of test piloting experimental aircraft after retiring from NASA. During one test flight, the experimental plane he’s flying crash-lands after a series of system failures. Austin loses both legs, his right arm, and his left eye in the resulting explosion. Dr. Rudy Wells, a former NASA doctor who followed Austin out of the space program, knows that bionic prosthetics could save Austin’s life and restore his mobility – and then some – but doesn’t have the budget for such an experimental procedure.

Enter Oliver Spencer, director of the secret Office of Special Operations, who has a six million dollar budget to create the perfect secret agent. He originally envisioned a robot that could pass for human, but the time and money to create such a machine exceeds what the OSO has available. He offers to finances Austin’s recovery and Dr. Well’s highly unusual prosthetic surgery, but at a price: Steve Austin will become a government agent with strength and abilities beyond those of most men. His first assignment is to free a kidnapped hostage being held in a remote area of Saudi Arabia. Austin has the ability to save the hostage, but what he doesn’t have is the knowledge that the entire operation is a trap.

teleplay by Henri Simoun
based on the novel “Cyborg” by Martin Caidin
directed by Richard Irving
music by Gil Melle

The Six Million Dollar ManCast: Lee Majors (Steve Austin), Barbara Anderson (Jean Manners), Martin Balsam (Dr. Rudy Wells), Darren McGavin (Oliver Spencer), Dorothy Green (Mrs. McKay), Anne Whitfield (Young Woman), George Wallace (General), Robert Cornthwaite (Dr. AShburn), Olan Soule (Saltillo), Norma Storch (Woman), John Mark Robinson (Aide), Charles Knox Robinson (Prisoner), Ivor Barry (Geraldton), Maurice Sherbanee (Nudaylah)

The Six Million Dollar ManNotes: In syndicated rerun packages, this movie was split into two one-hour episodes titled The Moon And The Desert Part 1 and Part 2. Unlike the remainder of The Six Million Dollar Man on TV (and unlike the original 1972 novel “Cyborg”), Steve Austin is portrayed here as a civilian astronaut/test pilot with a disdain for the military; the next Six Million Dollar Man TV movie retcons him into an Air Force colonel. This is the only appearance of Darren McGavin as Oliver Spencer; the character was replaced with Oscar Goldman in the next movie, while Dr. Wells would be recast.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Kolchak The Night Stalker Season 1

The Knightly Murders

Night StalkerA ward boss and a financier are among the individuals who are being killed off with medieval weaponry. There seems no obvious connection, but Kolchak’s investigations take him to the Hydecker Museum, a repository of medieval armor and weapons. The curator is upset with the fact that the Hydecker is being converted into a disco. Later, when speaking with the woman in charge of handling the redecoration, Carl witnesses her being killed by a figure in a suit of black armor that he saw at the museum. When the curator is cleared of the murders, Kolchak suspects that the armor is haunted, and committing the murders. A background check reveals that the armor belonged to the Marquis de Mettancourt, a misogynist who swore with his dying breath that his final resting place would never be the site of gaiety and laughter. The armor has now come to life to fulfill the oath. Kolchak must use the same blessed battle axe that was used to kill de Mettancourt to stop the armor before it kills again.

Order the DVDswritten by Paul Magistretti, Michael Kozoll & David Chase
directed by Vincent McEveety
music by Gil Mille

Guest Cast: John Dehner (Captain Vernon Rausch), Hans Conreid (Mendel Boggs), Leiux Dressler (Minervo Musso), Shug Fisher (Pop Stenvold)

Notes: Among the best episodes, with excellent performances from everyone, particularly John Dehner.

LogBook entry by Steve Crowe

Categories
Probe

Computer Logic

ProbeEccentric, reclusive scientific genius Austin James is disturbed by the arrival of his new secretary, Michelle Castle, who has no idea what he’s working on. Austin’s name has come up in the investigation into the death of another self-styled inventor, a water department employee who was due for retirement and then died in a freak pedestrian traffic accident. He had discovered the first hint of something that eventually becomes a major mystery for Austin and Michelle: finding out whether CROSSOVER, an artificial intelligence created by Austin’s friend (and sometimes rival) John Blaine, is responsible for the death…and whether or not it’s now trying to kill Austin now that he suspects CROSSOVER has gone rogue.

Probewritten by Michael Wagner
directed by Sandor Stern
music by Sylvester LeVay

Cast: Parker Stevenson (Austin James), Ashley Crow (Michelle Castle), Jon Cypher (Mr. Millhouse), William Edward Phipps (Miles Smillanich), Andy Wood (John Blaine), Scott Feraco (William Stevens), Jan Sandwich (Maid), Ray Guth (Hotel Manager), Gene Johnson (Preacher), Judy Scovern (Personnel Manager), Diana Baynes (Secretary #1), Carol Weston (Secretary #2), Fred Schiwiller (Old Man), Sandy Elias (Customer), Bill Lane (Truck Driver), Gertrude Nicholls (Old Woman)

Notes: Probe was heavily promoted as being created by legendary SF author Isaac Asimov and Michael Wagner, though Wagner alone was responsible for writing the actual pilot script. The weekly episodes following this pilot movie were scheduled opposite The Cosby Show on NBC, which was a ratings behemoth at the time, ensuring that Probe died a fairly quick death.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Alf Season 2

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

ALFBrian is repeatedly beaten down by the school bully, prompting Alf to try (unsuccessfully) to show him a few self-defense moves, and leaving Willie at a loss for words in trying to console his son. Alf makes things worse by placing a belligerent phone call to the father of the bully…while identifying himself as Willie. Now Willie’s expecting to be on the receiving end of a less-than-pleasant conversation, though if he can just stand up for himself – non-violently, of course – he feels he can resolve things calmly. But with Alf involved, that’s not what’s going to happen.

ALFDownload this episodewritten by Kevin Abbott
directed by Gary Shimokawa
music by Alf Clausen

Cast: Max Wright (Willie Tanner), Anne Schedeen (Kate Tanner), Andrea Elson (Lynn Tanner), Benji Gregory (Brian Tanner), Martin Doyle (Mr. Duncan), John La Motta (Trevor Ochmonek), Liz Sheridan (Raquel Ochmonek)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Red Dwarf Season 01

Waiting For God

Red DwarfLet Us Pray: When Holly spots an unidentified pod floating through space, Rimmer hopes he’s found aliens with the technology to return a hologram to physical form. Lister, in the meantime, is learning how to read cat writing with the aid of Cat’s dictionary, written entirely in smells. Lister advances far enough in the cat language to move on to their Holy Book, which tells the story of Cloister the Stupid, who was frozen in time so that the cat race could live. Lister quickly recognizes from the pictures in this book that he is Cloister, who was sentenced to stasis when he refused to reveal the whereabouts of his unquarantined cat. Lister tries to convince Cat that he is the cat equivalent of God, though for some reason Cat isn’t impressed. Upon the arrival of the mysterious pod, Rimmer decides to embark on an all-out investigation of its origins. Lister quickly discovers that it’s one of Red Dwarf’s own garbage pods, but doesn’t tell this to Rimmer right away or, for that matter, at all. Holly has also been hard at work deciphering Cat’s Bible for Lister, and it reveals that the cat race took all too seriously Lister’s humble desire to go to Fiji and open a donut stand – the cats made this goal their own, with the exception of the colors on the little cardboard hats. Factions who believed the hats should be one color or another divided and took up arms, and most of Cat’s ancestors died in terribly holy wars, with the exception of an ark full of cats which escaped. As Rimmer continues theorizing about his discovery of “Quagaar warriors,” Lister tries to find Cat so he can apologize for being God. In the end, Rimmer sees it is a garbage pod, says it is a smegging garbage pod, and yea, it is a garbage pod, amen.

Order the DVDswritten by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
directed by Ed Bye
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cats: Noel Coleman (Cat Priest), John Lenahan (Talkie Toaster)

Notes: Lots of smeggy little tidbits in this story for those who are interested: at the time of this episode, 18 weeks had passed since Lister had come out of stasis; Cat’s parents were a cripple and an idiot (and his father ate his own feet), and the last of the cats aside from the Cat we know and…well, know, is seen here.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Red Dwarf Season 04

White Hole

Red DwarfChain of Events: Kryten commits the most heinous, criminal act ever done aboard Red Dwarf – he manages to bring Talkie Toaster, Lister’s mortal bread-heating enemy, back online. Not without reason, though – Kryten thinks it may be possible to use the same repair method to help Holly regain her IQ of 6000 at the cost of reducing her operational lifespan. The procedure works all too well, leaving Holly with a vast wealth of genius and only three minutes in which to use it. To make matters worse, Red Dwarf is nearing a white hole which is emitting time, creating disjointed pockets of events that haven’t happened yet, have already happened, and may not happen at all. Holly’s solution is to plug the white hole up by altering the orbits of a few nearby planets using a nuclear warhead as the cue ball, but Lister insists on making the shot himself.

Order the DVDswritten by Rob Grant & Doug Naylor
directed by Ed Bye
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: David Ross (Talkie Toaster)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Red Dwarf Season 07

Nanarchy

Red DwarfLeft to deal with the universe single-handedly, Lister is having a bit of trouble adjusting, and Kryten has to restrain himself from doing everything for him. Kochanski suggests using Kryten’s supply of internal self-repair nanobots to perform reconstructive surgery on Lister, but Kryten’s nanobots mutnied a long time ago. If the nanobots could be found, they could rearrange matter on the atomic level, but the last time Kryten remembers having them was on the mission to investigate the S.S.S. Esperanto hundreds of years ago – which also happens to be when the crew lost track of Red Dwarf.

These events are all linked, but not in a way that any of them can imagine.

Order the DVDswritten by Paul Alexander, James Hendrie & Doug Naylor
directed by Ed Bye
music by Howard Goodall

Guest Cast: Norman Lovett (Holly)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 07 Star Trek Voyager

Human Error

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate not given: Seven of Nine begins spending a great deal of time in the holodeck, simulating various social situations. But outside the holodeck, she is still her old self, showing no signs of her recent “practice” and still making every effort to avoid most shipboard social gatherings, including the baby shower for Tom and B’Elanna. But when massive energy discharges begin to explode in Voyager’s path, threatening the ship and its crew, there isn’t time for pleasantries anyway. Despite that, Seven continues spending every free moment on her “research,” even opting to forego regenerating in her Borg alcove in favor of social simulations which are taking on a personal and even romantic dimension (including a simulation of a relationship with Chakotay). But is she ignoring more pressing duties that could help the crew escape its current predicament?

Order the DVDsteleplay by Brannon Braga & Andrè Bormanis
story by Andrè Bormanis & Kenneth Biller
directed by Allan Kroeker
music by

Guest Cast: Manu Intiraymi (Icheb)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Doctor Who Gallifrey

Weapon Of Choice

Gallifrey: Weapon Of ChoiceA powerful coalition of time-traveling races monitors access to history, stopping newly-emergent time travelers and redirecting them to the planet Gryben for “processing” – though that process often strands them there permanently. That logjam of stranded time travelers has given rise to a new movement – Free Time – seeking to force these temporal superpowers to allow free access to the timeways.

Several delegates from the time-traveling powers, including a Time Lord and a Monan (a symbiotic race consisting of noncorporeal intelligences, and human “thralls” whose bodies they inhabit), arrive to investigate what appears to be the emergence of another sophisticated time-traveling race – but one of the delegates turns out to be a member of Free Time, and soon she has her hands on a timeonic fusion device – a weapon of temporal mass destruction banned by the coalition of time-traveling superpowers. Torvald, the Time Lord operative assigned to this delegation, is recalled to his home planet of Gallifrey.

There, President Romana of the Time Lords’ High Council assigns Torvald to go undercover to retrieve the forbidden weapon. To this end, she also assigns Leela – a mere human primitive who stayed behind on Gallifrey years ago to marry another Gallifreyan – to go with him, and to take her loyal robotic dog K9 with her. Romana, too, has a K9 unit, capable of linking with its counterpart through time and space. Leela, Torvald, and Leela’s K9 travel to Gryben to find the Free Time operative and retrieve the weapon – but while there, they discover that other members of the coalition are willing to overstep their bounds to obtain the weapon, even if it means risking war with Gallifrey. And when she tries to defuse the situation at home, Romana meets a challenge from the ambitious Coordinator Narvin – ambitious enough to set her impeachment in motion.

Order this CDwritten by Alan Barnes
directed by Gary Russell
music by David Darlington

Cast: Lalla Ward (President Romana), Louise Jameson (Leela), John Leeson (K9), Miles Richardson (Cardinal Braxiatel), Sean Carlsen (Coordinator Narvin), Andy Coleman (Commander Torvald), Lynda Bellingham (Inquisitor Darkel), Hugo Myatt (Arkadian), Helen Goldwyn (Nepenthe), Daniel Hogarth (Ba’aruk), Stephen Mansfield (Scragbite), Trevor Littledale (Outsider)

Notes: The Gallifrey audio miniseries is a fascinating mixture of elements from televised Doctor Who and professional fiction postdating the original TV series. Leela, Romana and K9 appeared in the original TV series. At the end of her tenure on TV, Romana was left stranded in a dimension called E-Space with the Doctor’s second K9 unit; in the Missing Adventures novels printed by Virgin Publishing, Romana and K9 escaped E-Space, after which she returned to Gallifrey and successfully ran for the Presidency. With that acknowledgement of the novels’ continuity in mind, it’s curious that the Gallifrey audios and their immediate antecedent, the 2003 Doctor Who audio Zagreus establish that Romana and Leela have only just met; the penultimate Virgin New Adventures novel establishes a different first meeting for Romana and Leela. Braxiatel was established in throwaway dialogue in City Of Death (1979), but was later fleshed out in Virgin’s New Adventures novels, including those which postdate Virgin’s loss of the Doctor Who print fiction license, and has also appeared in Big Finish’s Bernice Summerfield audios; Braxiatel was established in print and in audio as the owner of the Braxiatel Collection for which Bernice is a curator. Inquisitor Darkel also appeared in the TV series, presiding over The Trial Of A Time Lord, though she was known only as the Inquisitor during her television appearances.

Timeline: all of the Gallifrey audios take place sometime after the Doctor Who audio Zagreus.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Lost Season 3

Enter 77

  • By Dave
  • March 7, 2007

LostFlashback: In Paris after the first Gulf War, Sayid is imprisoned by a man who claims that Sayid interrogated and tortured his wife. Sami demands that Sayid confess and acknowledge his wrongdoing, but Sayid insists that he was not the interrogator responsible for his wife’s scars.

The Island: Sawyer tries to win his stash back by playing a ping pong match against Hurley, but Hurley’s had far too much practice. Once the game is over, Hurley makes a peace offering and tries to reassure Sawyer that Kate will be all right with Sayid and Locke.

Sayid discovers a farm with a satellite dish, and recognizes the man watching the animals. It is the eyepatch-wearing man he, Locke and the others saw on the monitor in the Pearl station. Sayid goes into the open in order to make contact, the man shoots him in the arm. When Locke and Kate run in with weapons ready, he claims it was a mistake – that he believed they were part of the Others, violating their truce. He introduces himself as Mikhail, and says he is the last surviving member of the Dharma Initiative. The rest were killed when the launched an ill-fated attack against the Others, who had been on the island before Dharma arrived. Mikhail claims the Others – or hostiles – agreed to let him stay at the Flame station as long as he did not venture into their territory.

Locke finds a computer with a chess game and begins to play it, despite Mikhail’s claims that the game can not be beaten. After Mikhail removes the bullet from Sayid’s arm, Sayid tells Kate that he believes that Mikhail is lying – and that he is not alone. Soon after, Mikhail drops the fiction and attacks Sayid and Kate; they get the upper hand, and leave Locke to guard the unconscious and bound man while they explore a hidden basement. They find many Dharma manuals and documents there, along with Ms. Klugh. But Locke gets distracted by the chess game long enough for Mikhail to get the drop on him. Mikhail wants to exchange prisoners, but Klugh has other, more drastic plans to make sure the castaways get no information from her. And when Locke finally beats the chess game, he discovers that Dharma’s communications equipment no longer works, and that Dharma has drastic plans of its own to keep the Flame station out of hostile hands.

Order the DVDswritten by Carlton Cuse & Damon Lindelof
directed by Stephen Williams
music by Michael Giacchino

Guest Cast: Mira Furlan (Danielle Rousseau), Rodrigo Santoro (Paulo), Kiele Sanchez (Nikki), April Grace (Ms. Klugh), Andrew Divoff (Mikhail Bakunin), Francois Chau (Dr. Marvin Candle), Shaun Toub (Sami), Anne Bedian (Amira), Taiarii Marshall (Waiter), Eyad Elbitar (Arabic Man)

Notes: Ms. Klugh last appeared in the season 2 finale Live Together, Die Alone. Locke and Sayid observed Mikhail from the Pearl station in season 3’s The Cost of Living.

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Categories
6th Doctor Doctor Who The Audio Dramas

The Seeds Of War

Doctor WhoThe Doctor promises to take Melanie to the grand opening of the opulent Tower of Kalsos, but while the TARDIS does bring the time travelers to the Tower, it arrives moments before the Tower’s demolition. As the last refuge of the noncorporeal entity known as the Eminence, the controller of a zombie-lark armiy of possessed victims known as the Infinite, the Tower is a strategic target of the Earth Alliance military, and the Doctor and Mel barely survive its destruction. Flown back into Earth space without the TARDIS, the time travelers witness what has become of humanity after its lengthy war with the infinite: with resources spread thin, the human civilian population is starving and barely surviving, descending into anarchy. As an alien, and one who records show has a connection to the Eminence and the Infinite, the Doctor is locked up as a suspicious entity, but he and Mel manage to escape and begin making their way to Earth aboard a civilian ship. But Earth Alliance intelligence is right about one thing: the Doctor was once possessed by the Eminence, and after coming into close proximity to it on Kalsos, he may be under its control again.

Order this CDwritten by Matt Fitton and Barnaby Edwards
directed by Nicholas Briggs
music by Andy Hardwick

Cast: Colin Baker (The Doctor), Bonnie Langford (Melanie Bush), Ray Fearon (Barlow Teveler), Ony Uhiara (Sisrella Tevier), Stuart Organ (Helgert Teveler), Lucy Russell (Trellak), John Banks (Elkinar), Beth Chalmers (Announcer), David Sibley (The Eminence)

Notes: This is not the Doctor’s first brush with the Eminence, though in release order it is; the Doctor’s first encounter with the Eminence occurs in the 2014 fourth Doctor story Destroy The Infinite, and the Eminence returns later in the Doctor’s timeline in the Dark Eyes 2 box set, also released in 2014. Professor Teveler name-checks a series of scientists, including Professor Lasky. Since he’s already met Lasky before, the Doctor encourages Teveler not to put much stock in her research.- it was almost the death of him (The Trial Of A Time Lord parts 9-12).

LogBook entry and TheatEar review by Earl Green

Categories
Orville, The Season 2

Blood Of Patriots

The OrvilleIn the wake of the historic battle in which the Krill joined in the defense of Earth against the Kaylons, the Planetary Union is eager to press for full-on peace talks with the Krill, and sends the Orville to a meeting at which Captain Mercer is expected to sign a preliminary document to open negotiations. But upon arriving at the coordinates for the meeting, Mercer finds not just the expected Krill cruiser, but a Krill shuttle which that cruiser then fires upon. Crewed by a Union prisoner of war (who also happens to be an old friend of Malloy), the shuttle crashes into the Orville’s shuttle bay and its pilot asks for political asylum. The peace talks are suddenly off unless Mercer hands the former prisoner back to his Krill captors to stand trial – and almost-certain execution – for war crimes. Malloy insists that his old friend can’t be guilty of the killing spree of which he is accused, and insists that Mercer can’t extradite him. Questions remain about both the pilot and the woman who is with him, who he claims is his now-grown daughter, who was captured with him years ago…and his behavior is odd enough that no one can quite erase any doubts about his innocence.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Seth MacFarlane
directed by Rebecca Rodriguez
music by John Debney

The OrvilleCast: Seth MacFarlane (Captain Ed Mercer), Adrianne Palicki (Commander Kelly Grayson), Penny Johnson Jerald (Dr. Claire Finn), Scott Grimes (Lt. Gordon Malloy), Peter Macon (Lt. Commander Bortus), Jessica Szohr (Lt. Talla Keyali), J Lee (Lt. John LaMarr), Mark Jackson (Isaac), Ted Danson (Admiral Perry), Mackenzie Astin (Orrin Channing), Mike Henry (Dann), Robin Atkin Downes (Krill Officer), John Fleck (Ambassador K.T.Z.), Aily Kei (Leyna Channing), J. Paul Boehmer (Krill), Jim Mahoney (Brosk), Norm MacDonald (Yaphit), Francis Lloyd Corby (Crewman)

The OrvilleNotes: Though his more recent work has been in providing voices for Star Wars animated series such as Clone Wars and Rebels, guest star Robin Atkin Downes may be forever linked to his portrayal of the fandom-polarizing character Byron in the fifth and final season of Babylon 5. Guest stars J. Paul Boehmer and John Fleck are both recurring Star Trek guest stars, especially Fleck, who played the recurring role of the Suliban arch-nemesis Silik in Star Trek: Enterprise.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

If Memory Serves

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: The coordinates chanted in reverse by Spock bring Burnham to the forbidden planet Talos IV, visited just a few years earlier by Spock and Captain Pike aboard the Enterprise. Spock has to help Burnham overcome the illusion of a black hole in the planet’s place, a barrier erected by the Talosians to keep outsiders away. After landing the shuttle, Burnham is greeted by a young woman named Vina, who says she has been in the company of the Talosians for some time since a ship she traveled on as a child crash-landed on Talos IV. She recognizes Spock and extends an offer of help from the Talosians, who not only help Spock recover from his mental collapse, but share with Burnham what triggered it: an encounter – and a mind-meld – with the Red Angel. That mind-meld gave Spock a glimpse of a future in which some unknown enemy destroys the major worlds of the Federation. Spock believes that the Red Angel is trying to change the timeline so these events do not happen. Aboard Discovery, the miraculously revived Dr. Culber finds himself unable to return seamlessly to his life with Stamets…and, worse yet, sees Ash Tyler, his killer, and feels compelled to confront Tyler violently. Tyler grows suspicious of Pike’s focus on finding Burnham and Spock, despite direct orders not to do so. When evidence of sabotage from within the Discovery appears, Pike immediately has Tyler confined to his quarters. If he uses Discovery to return to Talos IV to help his crewmates, Pike will only be tipping his hand to Section 31.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Dan Dworkin & Jay Beattie
directed by T.J. Scott
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Melissa George (Vina), Ethan Peck (Spock), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Commander Nhan), Dee Pelletier (Talosian #2), Rob Brownstein (The Keeper), Alisen Down (Starfleet Psychiatrist), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Arista Arhin (young Burnham), Riley Gilchrist (Andorian Admiral), Liam Hughes (young Spock), Harry Judge (Tellarite Admiral), Jon de Leon (Section 31 Engineer), Sara Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Tara Nicodemo (Admiral Patar)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: For the first time in the franchise’s 53-year history, an episode of a Star Trek spinoff revisits the events of The Cage (1964), the original Star Trek pilot, making “official” the originally filmed ending of an illusory Captain Pike remaining on Talos IV with Vina. (This had previously been subject to some interpretation, since The Cage footage was incorporated into the classic series two-parter The Menagerie, which reinterpreted that ending as the real Pike, in an illusory healthy body, rejoining the similarly afflicted Vina, as seen by Captain Kirk.) The opening teaser is a stylized montage of footage from The Cage, with an on-screen title simply reading “previously on Star Trek”. The Talosians are extinct in the mirror universe, exterminated by Empress Georgiou. Guest star Alisen Down played Olivia in Syfy’s 12 Monkeys series, and head guest starring roles in Stargate Universe, Supernatural, the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, The Dead Zone, and Stargate SG-1.

LogBook entry by Earl Green