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Picard Season 1 Star Trek

Et In Arcadia Ego – Part 2

Star Trek: Picard2399: The synthetics have taken Picard prisoner as they build a beacon that will summon a league of powerful synthetics from beyond the galaxy. Agnes Jurati has been granted amnesty by Alton Soong and his creations, but is aware that Soong is trying to manipulate her. Narek slips into the Borg cube to retrieve grenades so he can ground the synths’ small defensive fleet, but is followed by Elnor. Narek surrenders himself to Raffi and Rios, offering to help them return to the synths’ settlement and destroy the beacon…but Elnor doesn’t trust his fellow Romulan to live up to his word. While they put that plan in motion, Jurati helps Picard escape, and they make their way back to La Sirena and take off, while Picard desperately tries to think of a plan to stall the Romulan fleet in the hope – but with absolutely no certainty – that Starfleet is on its way to protect the synths and fend of the Romulans. Even if Starfleet does arrive, whatever emerges from the portal generated by the beacon may be more powerful than both fleets…and Picard’s condition is worsening, limiting his ability to play a key role in preventing an all-out war.

Order DVDsteleplay by Michael Chabon
story by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsman
directed by Akiva Goldsman
music by Jeff Russo
Blue Skies performed by Isa Briones

Star Trek: PicardCast: Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Alison Pill (Dr. Agnes Jurati), Isa Briones (Dr. Soji Asha), Evan Evagora (Elnor), Michelle Hurd (Rafi Musiker), Santiago Cabrera (Captain Cristobal Rios), Harry Treadaway (Narek), Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), Brent Spiner (Altan Inigo Soong), Peyton List (Narissa), Tamlyn Tomita (Commodore Oh), Kay Bess (La Sirena Computer), Brian DeRozan (Romulan Officer), Matt Perfetuo (Rune), Mike Perfetuo (Codex), Jade Ramsey (Arcana), Nikita Ramsey (Saga)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Space Force

The Launch

Space ForceMark Naird is promoted to four-star General, the proud capstone of his career, but instead of being placed at the top of the Air Force food chain as he expected, he is placed in charge of a newly created branch of the Armed Forces, the Space Force. Though his family loves life in Washington, D.C., this promotion necessitates a move to Colorado, so Naird can work at the new Space Force facility being built near NORAD. What General Naird isn’t prepared for, however, is a civilian scientist who tries to overrule him on launch decisions, a civilian social media adviser who obsesses over constructing the perfect “sassy” tweets to be sent from Naird’s Twitter account, or the fact that Naird’s wife ends up in prison. He also isn’t terribly well equipped to deal with three members of Congress who have arrived to witness the launch of the Space Force’s first major project, Epsilon 6 – though when it does finally launch, it seems that someone already in orbit is very well equipped to deal with Epsilon 6.

Space Forcewritten by Steve Carell & Greg Daniels
directed by Paul King
music by Carter Burwell

Cast: Steve Carell (Gen. Mark Naird), John Malkovitch (Dr. Adrian Mallory), Ben Schwartz (F. Tony Scarapiducci), Diana Silvers (Erin Naird), Tawny Newsome (Angela Ali), Diedrich Bader (General Rongley), Dan Bakkedahl (John Blandsmith), Larry Joe Campbell (Commandant of the Coast Guard), Noah Emmerich (Kick Grabaston), Lisa Kudrow (Maggie Naird), Don Lake (Brad Gregory), Jane Lynch (Chief of Naval Operations), Jessica St. Clair (Kelly King), Patrick Warburton (Commandant of the Marine Corps), Fred Willard (Fred Naird), Jimmy O. Yang (Dr. Chan Kaifang), Alan Blumenfeld (Schugler), Chris Gethard (Eddie), Ginger Gonzaga (Anabela Ysidro-Campos), Alex Sparrow (Yuri “Bobby” Telatovich), Concetta Tomei (Rep. Pitosi), Roy Wood Jr. Space Force(Liaison Bert Mellows), Owen Daniels (Obie Hanrahan), Hector Duran (Julio Diaz-Jose), Scott Michael Morgan (Convenience Store Clerk), Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur (Jean Baptiste Bosou), Tien Tran (Sheila Cholosternin), Jamison Webb (Major Lee Baxter)

Notes: This episode carries a dedication to actor Fred Willard, who died two weeks before the series premiered on Netflix.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Space Force

Save Epsilon 6!

Space ForceThe $6,000,000,000 Epsilon 6 satellite, which includes a net to snare enemy spy satellites in nearby space, has been disassembled by a Chinese space station in orbit, and General Mark Naird is furious. Dr. Mallory convenes a team of mission scientists and engineers to brainstorm solutions, but Naird quickly pins all of his hopes on a nearby satellite with a crew of its own – a chimpanzee and a dog – who he hopes can be coaxed into performing a spacewalk and performing the necessary repairs. Marcus the chimp is convinced by his trainer to don his helmet, gather the necessary tool, and exit the airlock to re-attach Epsilon 6’s solar panels. The repair mission doesn’t go as planned…and the backup plan to send the dog out to complete the work leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth – everyone except the chimp, that is.

written by Greg Daniels
directed by Tom Marshall
music by Carter Burwell

Space ForceCast: Steve Carell (Gen. Mark Naird), John Malkovitch (Dr. Adrian Mallory), Ben Schwartz (F. Tony Scarapiducci), Diana Silvers (Erin Naird), Tawny Newsome (Angela Ali), Diedrich Bader (General Rongley), Dan Bakkedahl (John Blandsmith), Don Lake (Brad Gregory), Fred Willard (Fred Naird), Jimmy O. Yang (Dr. Chan Kaifang), Paul Jurewicz (Dewey Pantowski), Punam Patel (Scientist), Alex Sparrow (Yuri “Bobby” Telatovich), Exir Booker (Dr. Carter), Samuel K. Hardie (voice of Marcus), Nancy Lantis (Dr. Wolf), Rahul Nath (Dr. Chandreshekar), Thomas Ohrstrom (Dr. Vandeveld), Jamison Webb (Major Lee Baxter), Craig Young (Marcus MoCap performer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lower Decks Season 01 Star Trek

Second Contact

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate 57436.2: Ensign D’Vana Tendi, an Orion, is welcomed aboard the Starfleet ship U.S.S. Cerritos just before it goes to conduct second contact, formalizing Federation relations with the Galardonians, an agrarian species first contacted a year ago. Tendi meets fellow Ensigns Boimler, Mariner, and Rutherford, though Mariner at some point had made it to lieutenant before being busted down again. The eager-to-please Boimler is nervous when Captain Freeman herself summons him to her ready room…to ask him to report on any unauthorized activities engaged in by Mariner. When Commander Ransom and his away team return from meeting the Galardonians, Ransom has unwittingly brought a virus back with him, and he is the first to devolve into a zombie-like berzerker, spreading the infection by biting fellow crew members. The ensuing mayhem threatens to derail Rutherford’s date with Ensign Barnes, but doesn’t affect Mariner and Boimler at all since they’re also on away duty. Boimler misinterprets Mariner’s interactions with the Galardonians, leading to a diplomatic faux pas that makes things much worse for the away team…who still have no idea what to expect when they return to the Cerritos.

Order DVDswritten by Mike McMahan
directed by Barry J. Kelly
music by Chris Westlake

Star Trek: Lower DecksCast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Jessica McKenna (Ensign Barnes), Phil LaMarr (Admiral), Ben Rodgers (Lt. Commander Stevens), Paul Scheer (Lt. Commander Billups)

Notes: The first studio-produced animated Star Trek series since the animated extension of the original series left NBC’s airwaves in 1974, Lower Decks is the creation of writer Mike McMahan. While working as a production assistant and writers’ assistant on such animated Star Trek: Lower Decksshows as South Park, Out There, and Rick & Morty, McMahan started an irreverent Twitter account positing unlikely storylines for an “unmade eighth season” of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Material from that account was published in an officially licensed Star Trek book, Warped: An Engaging Guide to the Never-Aired 8th Season in 2015, by which point he had been promoted to writer and story editor on Rick & Morty. Another animated series created by McMahan, Solar Opposites, featured a strong sci-fi element and premiered on Hulu just a few months before Star Trek: Lower Decks; he also wrote a live-action Short Treks short centered around Harry Mudd, The Escape Artist. (Two other Short Treks, The Girl Who Made The Stars and Ephraim And DOT, reintroduced Star Trek viewers to the animated side of the franchise as one-offs.)

Star Trek: Lower DecksFamiliar Star Trek species spotted in this episode alone include a Benzite ensign boarding the Cerritos with Tendi, a Bajoran (Shaxs), a Caitian (Dr. T’Ana, a species not seen since Star Trek IV), and Rutherford’s date, Ensign Barnes, is a Trill. As the crew is recovering from the “rage virus”, an Andorian and a Vulcan are seen, the latter of whom may want to look in a mirror (mirror) before returning to duty. Rutherford himself has recently received a cybernetic enhancement, which hopefully has a better firewall than Lt. Airiam’s, and at least one crewmember on the Cerritos wears a VISOR similar to that worn by Geordi LaForge. Even Boimler knows who Spock is, but he’ll have to look Gary Mitchell (Where No Man Has Gone Before, 1966) up in the database. The Genesis Project was an unmentionable-in-public secret in the 23rd century, but is apparently public knowledge in the 24th. The Cerritos’ shuttles are named after American national parks: Redwood, Yosemite and Joshua Tree. Lower Decks takes place roughly a year after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lower Decks Season 01 Star Trek

Envoys

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate not given: Ensign Boimler is terribly impressed (with himself) when he’s assigned to escort a Klingon named K’orin to a starbase via shuttlecraft. Ensign Mariner manages to get herself assigned to this mission as well, and to Boimler’s horror, Mariner and K’orin are not just old friends, but drinking buddies. When the shuttle lands, K’orin goes missing, going off to sample the local cuisine (and booze), and Boimler and Mariner must find him and deliver him to his intended destination before his absence becomes an interplanetary incident. Meanwhile, Rutherford explores his career options aboard the Cerritos, only to discover that engineering may be where he fits in best.

Order DVDswritten by Chris Kula
directed by Kim Arndt
music by Chris Westlake

Star Trek: Lower DecksCast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Jess Harnell (General K’Orin) Tom Kenny (Quimp), Kari Wahlgren (Anabaj), Jessica McKenna (Ensign Barnes), Ryan Ridley (Bajoran), Paul Scheer (Lt. Commander Billups)

Notes: The shapeshifting Vendorian species first appeared in The Survivor, an episode of the early ’70s animated Star Trek, and marks the first appearance of a Vendorian since then.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lower Decks Season 01 Star Trek

Temporal Edict

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate 57501.4: The Cerritos crew, particularly Commander Ransom, prepares to lay the groundwork for diplomatic relations with Gelrak V, whose people worship crystalline structures. As the all-important meeting draws near, Captain Freeman becomes aware that some junior officers are building “buffer time” into their estimates of how long it takes to accomplish certain tasks, and then goofing off when the tasks are finished quickly, leaving ample “buffer time”. The Captain’s next order eliminates buffer time, leaving an exhausted crew that’s capable of mixing up which containers will be taken to the planet as a gift to the Gelrakians. The resulting mix-up causes grave insult to the Gelrakians, angering them enough to attempt to board the Cerritos – whose crew is too exhausted to put up much of a fight.

Order DVDswritten by Dave Ihlenfeld & David Wright
directed by Bob Suarez
music by Chris Westlake

Star Trek: Lower DecksCast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Neil Casey (Crewman), Kevin Michael Richardson (Vindor / Gelrakian #2), Sam Richardson (Vendome), Jessica McKenna (Ensign Barnes / Cerritos Computer / Gelrakian #1), Michelle Wong (Admiral), Nolan North (Crewman), Paul Scheer (Lt. Commander Billups)

Notes: Baryon sweeps, once a task that required extended visits to specialized facilities (Starship Mine), can now apparently be performed in mid-flight by someone with as few qualifications as Ensign Brad Boimler. The distant future in which Chief O’Brien is revered as “perhaps the most important person in Starfleet history” appears peaceful and idyllic enough to be even later than the 32nd century in which the Discovery crew find themselves (That Hope Is You, Far From Home).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lower Decks Season 01 Star Trek

Moist Vessel

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate 57538.9: The Cerritos and the Merced, commanded by a Tellarite named Captain Durango, prepare to tow a massive derelict ship whose crew is long dead, but whose fascinating technology – including a substance that turns inorganic material into living organic material, possibly used by the extinct crew for terraforming. But Ensign Mariner’s constant yawning during the senior officers’ briefing punches all of Captain Freeman’s buttons: she’s ready for Mariner to transfer to another ship. She decides to make Mariner want to transfer by promoting her to lieutenant, with the added responsibilities and workload (and interaction with the senior officers and all of their quirks) that entails. When the alien technology erupts from the derelict, starting to turn both of the ships towing it into havens for unknown life forms, Mariner rises to the occasion. So how can she convince her mother to reduce her back to ensign now?

Order DVDswritten by Ann Acacia Kim
directed by Barry J. Kelly
music by Chris Westlake

Star Trek: Lower DecksCast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs / Admiral Vassery), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Haley Joel Osment (O’Connor), Eric Bauza (Cerritos Conn Officer), Al Rodrigo (Captain Durango), Paul Scheer (Lt. Commander Billups), Vanessa Marshall (Merced Science Officer), Jessica McKenna (Ensign Barnes / Cerritos Computer)

Notes: The alien derelict is very reminiscent of the one found in Beyond The Farthest Star, the first episode of the early ’70s animated Star Trek series. Durango is the first Tellarite Starfleet captain seen in any of the Star Trek series. Vanessa Marshall is a voice well known to fans of animated Star Wars, having been the voice of Hera Syndulla throughout the run of Star Wars: Rebels.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lower Decks Season 01 Star Trek

Cupid’s Errant Arrow

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate 57601.3: The Cerritos joins the U.S.S. Vancouver in a planetary system where the imminent implosion of one of its moons jeopardizes all life on the planet below. Captain Freeman immediately finds herself tasked with negotiating with the locals, who want the moon left untouched for reasons ranging from superstitions to deeply-held religious beliefs to outright conspiracy theories. The Vancouver is also the home of Lt. Barb Brinson, Boimler’s long-distance girlfriend, who Mariner initially thought was a figment of Boimler’s imagination. Even once she meets Barb in person, Mariner is certain there must be something more to this relationship…something sinister. Mariner’s protests that Barb is way out of Boimler’s league ramps up his insecurities, and while he’s trying too hard with someone he’s already won over, Mariner pursues her theory that Barb is possessed by a parasite, a theory which is both way off the mark and disturbingly accurate.

Order DVDswritten by Ben Joseph
directed by Kim Arndt
music by Chris Westlake

Star Trek: Lower DecksCast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs / Mixtus II Settler), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana / Mixtus III Female), Gillian Jacobs (Lt. Barbara Brinson), Matt Walsh (Lt. Ron Docent), Marcus Henderson (Jet Manhaver), Kari Wahlgren (Angie), Lauren Tom (Captain Nguyen), Eric Bauza (Mixtus Farmer), Nolan North (Niko)

Star Trek: Lower DecksNotes: Boimler’s full first name is Bradward. This episode marks the first appearance of Jet Manhaver of the Cerritos, though here he appears to be a lieutenant – an inconsistency that a later episode will chalk up to stray street corn. Rutherford’s engineering tool sounds suspiciously like the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver. During her tour of duty on the Quito, Mariner visited Deep Space Nine (though in later episodes she also says she was stationed at, well, the station).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lower Decks Season 01 Star Trek

Terminal Provocations

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate 57663.9: As the Cerritos engages in aggressive negotiations with Drookmani scavengers over the wreckage of lost century-old Starfleet ship, Ensign Fletcher is endearing himself to Boimler and Mariner. Tendi admits to Rutherford that she never completed spacewalk training at the Academy, and he offers her the use of a holodeck training program he’s been working on, which uses an animated interface called Badgey. When the program sticks and Rutherford gives Badgey a swift kick, Badgey’s attitude becomes less “chirpy” and “helpful” and leans a lot more toward “homicidal”. Fletcher offers to take on a major task solo so Boimler and Mariner can attend a social event, but when they come back to check on him, the task isn’t finished, and Fletcher’s explanations for this seem to be constantly in flux. Worse yet, the work he didn’t complete endangers the Cerritos and the entire crew when the Drookmani become even more aggressive in their negotiating tactics, while Captain Freeman tries valiantly not to start a shooting war.

Order DVDswritten by John Cochran
directed by Bob Suarez
music by Chris Westlake

Star Trek: Lower DecksCast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Tim Robinson (Ensign Fletcher), Jack McBrayer (Badgey), Asif Ali (Asif), Artemis Pebdani (Karavitus), J.G. Hertzler (Drookmani), Jessica McKenna (Barnes / Cerritos Computer), Paul Scheer (Billups)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 3 Star Trek

That Hope Is You – Part 1

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given (3188): In debris-filled space above the planet Hima, Burnham – still encased in the time-traveling Red Angel suit – emerges from a wormhole and collides with a space freighter piloted by Cleveland “Book” Booker, a courier who doesn’t take kindly to her intervention in his escape from a rival courier. 930 years in Discovery‘s future, the Federation has collapsed following “the Burn”, an event a century earlier during which most of the dilithium in the galaxy destabilized catastrophically. But as if learning this information isn’t traumatic enough for Burnham, there is no sign of Discovery having survived its own trip into the future through the wormhole. Booker, though informative, quickly proves that his loyalty lies only with himself, and Burnham finds herself navigating a strange future without much help – and with a great deal of danger. After earning Booker’s grudging respect, Burnham is taken to what may be the last vestiges of the United Federation of Planets: one man on a mostly-abandoned space station who has been waiting decades for a commissioned Starfleet officer to give him further orders.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Michelle Paradise & Jenny Lumet & Alex Kurtzman
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
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), David Ajala (Cleveland “Book” Booker), Adil Hussain (Aditya Sahil), Nicole Dickinson (Hadley), Riley Gilchrist (Andorian Regulator), Julianne Grossman (Sanctuary voice), Brandon McGibbon (Ithyk the Andorian), Jake Michaels (Ithor the Orion), Fabio Tassone (Book’s ship computer), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Cosmo Traitt), and Grudge

Notes: Quantum slipstream drive is common in the 32nd century, but not in a damaged ship (Hope And Fear, Timeless). The Burn – the event in which much of the galaxy’s dilithium “went boom” (according to Book) happened 120 years before Burnham’s arrival. Book mentions “temporal wars” as a thing of the past (see much of the first two seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise), following which all time travel technology was banished. This marks the first sighting of Lurians (Morn’s race) and Cardassians since the Star Trek Discoveryend of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Sonequa Martin-Green and David Ajala are the only regular cast members to appear in this episode.

The third season of Star Trek: Discovery was finished filming before the worldwide outbreak of COVID-19 in early 2020 brought TV and film production to a halt, but the sudden, unexpected shift to an all-remote post-production model posed significant obstacles to completion of post-production on the series, particularly in the areas of visual effects, video editing, and music scoring. The premiere date of season three, originally announced as April 2020, shifted to October 2020 as a result, and the first season of the animated series, Star Trek: Lower Decks, premiered prior to Discovery’s third season, despite originally being intended to launch after Discovery in late 2020 or early 2021.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lower Decks Season 02 Star Trek

Strange Energies

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate: leg day: As second-contact formalities draw to a close on the planet Apergos, Mariner is power-washing buildings long ago covered in the soot of the Apergosian industrial revolution. But she also exposes an artifact that, once it catches the rays of the local sun, zaps Commander Ransom with strange energies. Dr. T’Ana worries that this may trigger a sudden onset of godlike powers and megalomania, but Ransom waves off her concerns, shortly before developing godlike powers and demanding the worship of the Apergosians. Ransom’s powers grow exponentially and as Mariner and T’Ana try to “cure” him of his elevation to godhood, he casually swats them aside, eventually ascending into orbit to confront the Cerritos. And what makes Ransom such an angry god? The fact that Captain Freeman and Mariner are getting along just fine.

Order DVDswritten by Mike McMahan
directed by Jason Zurek
music by Chris Westlake

Star Trek: Lower DecksCast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Jonathan Frakes (Capt. William T. Riker), Eric Bauza (Apergosian Bystander), Neil Casey (Casey), Phil LaMarr (Admiral Alonzo Freeman), Lauren Lapkus (Jennifer), Jessica McKenna (Barnes), Nolan North (Titan Conn Officer), Randall Park (Apergosian High Leader), Missi Pyle (Interrogator), Ben Rodgers (Stevens)

Star Trek: Lower DecksNotes: Dr. T’Ana immediately voices concerns of another incident along the lines of the tragedy of Gary Mitchell (Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before, 1966), complete with a computer display showing a ’70s-animated-series-style picture of Mitchell, and her concerns turn out not to be unfounded. There are other in-jokes pointing toward classic Trek’s second pilot epiosde as well: as Ransom is recovering, Stevens reads the poem “Nightingale Woman” to him (referencing a poem discussed by Kirk and Mitchell in the 1966 episode), and, echoing Kirk’s deadly solution to Mitchell’s dilemma, T’Ana drops a boulder on Ransom. (Unlike Kirk, T’Ana appears to be space-forklift certified.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lower Decks Season 02 Star Trek

Kayshon, His Eyes Open

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate not given: The Cerritos is called into to inspect the belongings of a recently deceased member of the Collectors’ Guild to ensure that, among the things he was hoarding, he wasn’t hoarding anything dangerous. Assigned to lead the away team is new security chief Lt. Kayshon, the first Tamarian in Starfleet. Perhaps not unsurprisingly for an obsessive collector’s ship, a booby trap is eventually tripped, unleashing a weapon that turns Kayshon into a cuddly (but helpless) puppet, and locking down all the exits. Mariner and Ensign Jet Manhaver jockey for leadership of the away mission as it grows more perilous by the second. Aboard the Titan, which has been fending off constant Pakled attacks, Captain Riker sends an elite undercover team – including Boimler – to infiltrate and bring down a Pakled mining operation. Suddenly, merely “perilous” sounds really good to the Titan‘s newest officer.

Order DVDswritten by Chris Kula
directed by Kim Arndt
music by Chris Westlake

Star Trek: Lower DecksCast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Kerner Hauze), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Jonathan Frakes (Capt. William T. Riker), Rich Fulcher (Pakled Leader), Robert Gilbert (Titan Chief Engineer), Marcus Henderson (Jet Manhaver), Vanessa Marshall (Titan First Officer), Jessica McKenna (Barnes), Nolan North (Titan Conn Officer), Ben Rodgers (Stevens), Ryan Stanger (Titan Tactical Officer), Carl Tart (Kayshon), Paul F. Tompkins (Dr. Migleemo)

Star Trek: Lower DecksNotes: Kayshon is a Tamarian, the species introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Darmok (1992) which communicates only in metaphor; universal translator technology seems to have helped to bridge the communication gap…for the most part. Kivas Fajo (TNG: The Most Toys, 1990) was also a member of the Collectors’ Guild, and his attempt to abduct Data is widely known in Starfleet. Among the more visible (and sometimes inexplicable) artifacts in Kerner Hauze’s collection were:

  1. The Curiosity Mars Rover
  2. The remains of the Excalbian and “Abraham Lincoln” (TOS: The Savage Curtain, 1969)
  3. The remains of the giant clone of Spock (TAS: The Infinite Vulcan, 1973)
  4. Khan’s broken-Starfleet-emblem pendant (Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, 1982)
  5. Game headset (TNG: The Game, 1992)
  6. What appears to be Odo’s bucket (numerous episodes of DS9, though the third season of Star Trek: Picard implied that this bucket was changeling standard issue)

Boimler, like Riker, now has an identical “transporter clone” to contend with (a la Thomas Riker from TNG: Second Chances and DS9: Defiant), prompting the original Boimler to return to the Cerritos. Vanessa Marshall is already major-sci-fi-franchise royalty, having played Hera Syndulla in all four seasons of Disney’s Star Wars: Rebels. Actual Kayshon puppets quickly became a hot ticket on Etsy following this episode.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Lower Decks Season 02 Star Trek

We’ll Always Have Tom Paris

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate not given: It’s hard to tell what Rutherford finds more unnerving – the fact that Lt. Shaxs is walking among the living once more with no explanation, or the fact that no one else seems alarmed by this. He is determined to ask Shaxs how he returned from the dead…if he can find a tactful way to bring it up in casual conversation. Boimler is excited to hear of an impending visit by Tom Paris, former helmsman of U.S.S. Voyager, primarily because it will allow him to complete his set of signed collectible plates of the Voyager crew. But even reaching the bridge in time to meet Paris turns out to be a monumental chore as Boimler finds that he hasn’t been granted access to all decks of the Cerritos since his return from the Titan. Tendi is assigned to go to Qualor II to retrieve a family heirloom Dr. T’Ana placed in storage there, and decides to bring Mariner with her. When the two can’t resist opening the box to see what the heirloom is, they accidentally break the contents, leading them on a side quest to set everything right…during which everything, naturally, goes as wrong as possible.

Order DVDswritten by M. Willis
directed by Bob Suarez
music by Chris Westlake

Star Trek: Lower DecksCast: Tawny Newsome (Ensign Beckett Mariner), Jack Quaid (Ensign Brad Boimler), Noel Wells (Ensign D’Vana Tendi), Eugene Cordero (Ensign Rutherford), Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman), Jerry O’Connell (Commander Ransom), Fred Tatasciore (Lt. Shaxs), Gillian Vigman (Dr. T’Ana), Robert Duncan McNeill (Lt. Tom Paris), Eric Bauza (Tellarite Bartender), Marcus Henderson (Jet Manhaver), Tom Kenny (Cody / D’Onni / Orion), Lauren Lapkus (Jennifer), Paul Scheer (Billups / Addix / Caitian Storage Unit Employee)

Star Trek: Lower DecksNotes: Qualor II was visited by the crew of the Enterprise-D in Unification I and Unification II (1991); it was kind of a seedy place then too. It’s also now home to franchised locations of Vic Fontaine’s club and Quark’s Bar, perhaps spoofing similar signts in Star Trek: Picard‘s relatively recent Stardust City Rag episode. Another seedy place we’ve seen before is the dom-jot den at the Bonestell Recreation Facility, a pivotal place in the life of the young Jean-Luc Picard (Tapestry, 1993). This is the first time Robert Duncan McNeill has reprised his role since the end of Star Trek: Voyager in 2001; in the intervening years he has become an in-demand director of such shows as Star Trek: Enterprise, Dead Like Me, Desperate Housewives, Chuck, Supernatural, The Orville, The Gifted, and Resident Alien. The meta references in this episode are almost too many to count, from the existence of collectible plates of the Voyager crew to Boimler humming Jerry Goldsmith‘s Star Trek: Voyager theme tune as he walks toward a turbolift.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Prodigy Season 1 Star Trek

Lost And Found, Parts 1 & 2

Star Trek: ProdigyStardate unknown: In the Delta Quadrant, on the planet Tars Lamora, the Diviner rules over a population of captured slave laborers with an army of robotic guards and his chief enforcer, Drednok. The Diviner’s daughter, Gwyn, has grown up on Tars Lamora, and has never known any other life. Neither has Dal R’El, a rebellious, teenaged slave who can’t even identify what species he is, and has no memory of his parents or life before Tars Lamora. Drednok questions him about the whereabouts of an escaped fugitive named “Zero”, but later, once he’s out of earshot, Dal begins planning an escape, one which goes badly, largely because his escape plan involved using a wheeled ground vehicle to launch himself into space via an enormous ramp. Succeeding only in wrecking the vehicle, Dal is taken prisoner and questioned by Gwyn. Dal is sent back into the deep core mines with an enormous Brikar with whom he can’t even communicate; a near-fatal accident at that depth reveals to them a completely intact Federation starship, U.S.S. Protostar, which has no crew aboard. Accidentally awakening the ship’s systems, Dal and Rok-Tah, the Brikar, can suddenly understand one another and communicate – and they find they’ve been followed aboard by Zero, who has escaped the Diviner’s service. Zero is a Medusan, a non-corporeal entity who, if seen by humanoids, will drive them mad; the Diviner has been using Zero as a weapon, a life Zero wants no part of. Now that the combadge discovered by Rok-Tahk allows them to communicate with other species, the three recruit a young Tellarite, Jankom Pog, for his engineering skills. But their escape attempt is cut short by Gwyn, whose father has been searching for the Protostar for his own purposes. Drednok and his robot army arrive, and Gwyn is sent aboard the Protostar to make sure that no other fugitives are aboard. Jankom Pog and Rok-Tahk start fighting back against the robots, and with Zero in tow, they board the ship and take off. After a fierce fight, Rok-Tahk captures Gwyn and she is tied down to the captain’s chair at the center of the bridge. The Protostar’s shields are still disabled, however, until Dal – still clinging to the outer hull as the ship escapes through the massive underground caverns – can install a new power cell. Drednok also climbs onto the ship to stop Dal from doing that, but Dal is eventually able to power up the shields, climb back into the ship, and they escape into deep space with the Diviner and his forces in hot pursuit. Only then do they discover that the ship have a training hologram, modeled after a Starfleet Captain named Janeway, who thinks they’re all cadets.

Order DVDswritten by Kevin & Dan Hageman
directed by Ben Hibon
music by Nami Melamud
Star Trek: Prodigy main theme by Michael Giacchino

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Brett Gray (Dal R’El), Ella Purnell (Gwyn), Jason Mantzoukas (Jankom Pog), Angus Imrie (Zero), Rylee Alazraqui (Rok-Tahk), Dee Bradley Baker (Murf), Jimmi Simpson (Drednok), John Noble (Diviner), Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway)

Notes: The first Star Trek series since the 1970s designed specifically for a younger viewing audience, Star Trek: Prodigy was intended from the outset to be aired on the cable channel Nickelodeon, but the CBS/Viacom merger in 2019 saw Prodigy slide over to the streaming world via Paramount Plus (formerly CBS All Access), which is where it eventually saw its premiere in 2021, with Nickelodeon to air the already-streamed episodes at a later date. This is the third animated Star Trek series after The Animated Series and Lower Decks. The Medusans were introduced in an episode of the original Star Trek, Is There In Truth No Beauty?, in 1968. Though Tellarites have been seen in the original series, The Animated Series, and Enterprise, this is the first time a Tellarite has been a regular character in a Star Trek series.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Prodigy Season 1 Star Trek

Starstruck

Star Trek: ProdigyStardate unknown: Welcoming what she assumes is a fresh batch of cadets to the Protostar, the hologram of Captain Janeway offers an introduction to the Federation’s history, purpose, and structure, and that of its Starfleet as well. While Zero, Rok-Tahk, Jankom Pog, and even the gelatinous life form nicknamed Murf immediately find this appealing, Dal is annoyed by their enthusiasm – to him, the Federation sounds like yet another group of authority figures who will tell him what to do, and he opts to set the ship on a course further away from Federation space. When the hologram of Janeway tries to warn him of what lies in his path, he shuts her down quite literally. He also throws Gwyn in the brig, and claims the captain’s quarters for himself. He’s ready to claim the privileges of authority for himself, but his distrust of the nearest authority figure – namely Janeway – leaves the Protostar in a catastrophically dire position near a dying star.

Order DVDswritten by Chad Quandt
directed by Alan Wan
music by Nami Melamud
Star Trek: Prodigy main theme by Michael Giacchino

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Brett Gray (Dal R’El), Ella Purnell (Gwyn), Jason Mantzoukas (Jankom Pog), Angus Imrie (Zero), Rylee Alazraqui (Rok-Tahk), Dee Bradley Baker (Murf), Jimmi Simpson (Drednok), John Noble (Diviner), Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway), Bonnie Gordon (Ship Computer)

Notes: The holographic “slide show” used by Hologram Janeway to illustrate the histories of the Federation and Starfleet are packed with easter eggs, including line-art representations of Archer’s Enterprise, Janeway’s Voyager, the Defiant (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), Discovery, the Enterprise-D (Star Trek: The Next Generation), and the Enterprise and shuttlecraft Galileo from the original Star Trek, along with humans, Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites (the Federation’s founding member races), and the accompanying lines are actually one of the better introductions to/explanations of the Federation in the history of the franchise. (Technically, since all records of Discovery and its mission were purged from official Federation history, Discovery shouldn’t appear in this lineup of famous ships.)

LogBook entry by Earl Green