Tag: Klingons

Categories
Enterprise Season 04 Star Trek

Divergence

Star Trek: EnterpriseColumbia pulls alongside Enterprise so Trip can transfer to his old ship to sort out the engine damage. On the Klingon colony, Phlox has discovered that an attempt by the Klingon military to splice their own DNA with that of human Augments has created a highly contagious plague. Worse yet, the Empire’s response to that plague has been to begin a widespread program of “sterilization” – destroying any infected colonies, ships or outposts – and the colony where Phlox is fighting the odds to find a cure is next. Captain Archer gives Lt. Reed one last chance to help, and Reed leads the Enterprise and Columbia to the colony where Phlox is being held. Phlox has narrowed his research down to four possible antiviral strains, but even if he finds one, he won’t have enough time to create the cure. Captain Archer beams down to the colony to rescue Phlox, but he may be forced to take on a new role as a human incubator for the cure.

Order DVDswritten by Judith Reeves-Stevens & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
directed by Dave Barrett
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Terrell Tilford (Marab), John Schuck (Antaak), James Avery (General K’Vagh), Ada Maris (Captain Erika Hernandez), Eric Pierpoint (Harris), Kristin Bauer (Laneth), Wayne Grace (Krell), Matt Jenkins (Tactical Officer)

Star Trek: EnterpriseNotes: Section 31 is, of course, the same covert intelligence organization within Starfleet that takes an active role in the 24th century Dominion War (and recruits Dr. Julian Bashir of Deep Space Nine). Given Section 31’s ambitious attempts to manipulate other governments, it’s not entirely unlikely that Admiral Cartwright (and, in added scenes for the home video and DVD releases, Colonel West) may have been working for Section 31 in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Section 31’s interest in the Augments exists in an alternate timeline as well (Star Trek: Into Darkness).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Phase II / New Voyages Star Trek Star Trek Fan Films

To Serve All My Days

Star Trek: Phase II

This is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Stardate 6031.2: Bringing Ambassador Rayna Morgan to the Enterprise from Babel via shuttlepod, Chekov has to do some fancy flying to avoid a Klingon warship. The Enterprise arrives just in time, but Captain Kirk and Captain Kargh only exchange a volley of words in this battle. A later visit to engineering puts Chekov in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he receives what should be a nearly lethal dose of radiation, though Dr. McCoy is startled to see no ill effects – at least at first. A day later, Chekov has aged 25 years, and McCoy can find no way to stop his rapid aging. A ship which appears to be a Klingon battlecruiser attacks the Enterprise, doing serious damage, and Kirk finds himself on the brink of plunging the Federation into war – and his best weapons officer is marching inexorably toward death’s door.

Watch Itwritten by D.C. Fontana
director not credited (most likely Erik J. Goodrich)
music by Patrick Phillips

Cast: James Cawley (Captain Kirk), Jeffery Scott (Mr. Spock), John Kelley (Dr. McCoy), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Mary-Linda Rapelye (Ambassador Rayna Morgan), John Carrigan (Captain Kargh), Andy Bray (Lt. Chekov), Julienne Irons (Lt. Uhura), John Lim (Lt. Cmdr. Sulu), Charles Root (Cmdr. Scott), Ron Boyd (Lt. DeSalle), Shannon Giles (Nurse Chapel), Jeff Mailhotte (Sentell), Jay Storey (Lt. Kyle), Giovanna Contini (Ensign Carr), Mari Okumara (Yeoman Okuda), David Dufrane (Cadet), Tim Brazeal (Klingon 1), Kent Schmidt (Klingon 2), Larry Nemecek (Esterion), James Lowe, Debbie Mailhotte, John Whiting, Patrick Cleveland, Linda Cleveland, Amanda Root, Steve LeClerc, Chris Lunderman, Jessie Mailhotte, Anne Carrigan (Federation Ambassadors), Ed Abbate, Ron M. Gates, Michael Struck, Ian Peters, Nathan Gastineau, Riva Gijanto, Steve LeClerc, Danielle Porter, Ralph Miller, Max Kiserman, Michael Tavares, Jerry Storey, Paul Seiber (Starfleet Personnel)

Notes: The shuttle piloted by Chekov is the Archer, and it’s pursued by a Klingon vessel seen in Star Trek: Enterprise and identified there as a Klingon Warbird; though it resembles the Bird of Prey, there are significant differences, and it could conceivably still be in service by the fourth year of Kirk’s original mission (after all, the D7 cruiser is still around in the 24th century). Chekov came into contact with the rapid aging virus in The Deadly Years; when reminiscing about his younger days, he refers to events in The Apple and Spectre Of The Gun. Guest player Tim Brazeal headed the controversial TrekUnited.com movement, which tried to raise enough money to convince Paramount to produce a fifth season of Star Trek: Enterprise, while Larry Nemecek is the author of such books as the “Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion.”

Review: In the New Voyages gang’s third outing (or second, depending on how sacred you hold their insistence that Come What May has been jettisoned from their canon), there’s some all-star help on hand – Walter Koenig reprises the role of Chekov, and D.C. Fontana does the honors as the writer of his return engagement. It’s a marked departure from previous New Voyages installments in that character development and internal drama are very much to the fore, rather than the admittedly neat spectacle of “wow, we’re restarting and updating original Trek!” Sure, there are some extravagant special effects sequences (the opening chase with the Klingon ship, even with its slightly anachronistic proto-Bird of Prey from the Star Trek: Enterprise era, is a dazzling piece for a fan production), but at the story’s heart are a mystery and a character story which would’ve done a production of any budget level proud.

Categories
Star Trek Star Trek Fan Films Starship Farragut

The Captaincy

Starship Farragut

This is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Stardate 4625.1: Captain John Carter assumes command of the Constitution Class starship U.S.S. Farragut after a tragic incident forces her previous captain into retirement. His hand-picked choices for his chief engineer and first officer are also aboard, though he’s a little bit put off by the by-the-books demeanor of the security chief he’s inherited. The Farragut is ordered to investigate the disappearance of another Federation vessel and a survey team headed by the headstrong Commodore Broughton – and what Captain Carter and his crew find waiting for them is a party of Klingons, led by Commander Kruge and guarding a secret weapon. Focusing the energy of an entire planet on its targets, the Klingons’ new weapon could threaten any world in the Federation on a planetary scale. With the Farragut searching for survivors from the destroyed ship elsewhere, it’s up to Carter and his crew to put the Klingons out of commission.

Watch Itwritten by John Broughton & Paul Sieber
directed by Paul Sieber
music by John Seguin / additional music by Patrick Phillips

Cast: John Broughton (Captain John T. Carter), Michael Bednar (Commander Robert Tacket), Holly Bednar (Lt. Commander Michelle Smithfield), Paul R. Sieber (Lt. Prescott / Klingon voice), Tonya Bacon (Lt. Alissa Moretti), David Sepan (Baker), Amy Sepan (Dr. Holley), John Broughton Sr. (Commodore Broughton), Mark Hildebrand (Kruge), Chris Carothers (Karek), Trey Thomas (Kray), Larry Manzare (Admiral Wainwright), Amanda Root (Bell), Bob McDonough (Galway), Cherise Rosemond (Shuttlecraft Pilot), Daniel Awkward (Nash / Klingon voice), Ralph Miller (Computer voice), Michael Struck (Jennings / Strickland), James Cawley (Captain Kirk), Jeff Quinn (Mr. Spock), John Kelly (Dr. McCoy), Sally Arkulari, Daniel Awkward, Ken Brison, Nancy Ellis, Brad Graper, Steve Kaserman, Dan Manherz, John Miller, Roger Miller, Michael Oetting, Tracy Phelps, Laird Sheep, Eric Van Arsale, John Winsley (Klingon Warriors), Patrick Bell, Bruce Dennis, David Dufrane, Denis Durand, Ron Gates, Natalie Montgomery, Ian Peters, Trey Thomas, Rob Turner, Jessica Young (Farragut Crew)

Review: The premiere of a new fan series set in the classic Trek era, Starship Farragut has a roughly equal number of things going for it and things that need improvement. But it’s a very impressive first effort, and the people who put it together can hold their heads high with this latest addition to the Trek universe. Though it seems as though the ranks of Kirk-era fan films are swelling, each series is unique enough to provide a different experience, and Farragut is no exception.

Categories
Star Trek Star Trek Fan Films Starship Farragut

Crew Logs: A Rock And A Hard Place

Starship Farragut

This is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Stardate 4901.2: Investigating dilithium readings on an otherwise unremarkable planet, Captain Carter and geologist Dr. Bishop find indications of vast mineral wealth both promising and dangerous – not only is starship-powering dilithium abundant, but so is tricobalt, an ingredient for destructive weaponry. And it turns out that the planet’s mineral riches haven’t gone unnoticed by the Klingons…a fact that almost escapes Carter as he and Bishop – who were an item earlier in their Starfleet careers – enjoy a romantic moment. Not only are the Klingons killing the mood, but they might kill a Starfleet captain as well.

Watch Itscreenplay by John Broughton
directed by Mark Hildebrand
music by Hetoreyn

Cast: John Broughton (Captain Jack Carter), Michael Bednar (Commander Tacket), Holly Bednar (Lt. Commander Smithfield), D.D. Hatcher (Dr. Angela Bishop), Jamie Hanna (Klingon Commander), Eddie Lao (Borok), Jake Azachi (Akiva), David Sepan (Baker)

Review: A bite-sized 17-minute chunk of adventure that requires a little less investment of time than a full episode, with slightly less story as a result, Rock And A Hard Place is a neat little adventure, highlighting both the strengths and weaknesses of the Starship Farragut project as a whole.

Categories
Phase II / New Voyages Star Trek Star Trek Fan Films

Blood And Fire – Part II

Star Trek: Phase II

This is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Stardate not given: A boarding party from the Enterprise is trapped aboard the derelict Copernicus, which is infested with Regulan bloodworms – an infestation which demands the immediate destruction of the Copernicus and the sacrifice of anyone left aboard her, per Starfleet regulations. But the boarding party includes Spock, Rand, DeSalle and Captain Kirk’s nephew Peter, so he’s in no hurry to execute the mandatory order to destroy Copernicus. Scotty tries a last-ditch maneuver, beaming the boarding party to another deck of the Copernicus – one where, amazingly, Spock’s team finds survivors, including Dr. Jenna Yar and the secretive Commander Blodgett. Dr. Yar claims to be working on a cure for the plague spread by the bloodworms, but McCoy dismisses her proposed treatment as impossibly dangerous for any patients subjected to the process. With time running out, McCoy comes up with his own alternative to Yar’s treatment, and insists on beaming himself to the Copernicus to administer it; if it doesn’t work, he’ll be sentencing himself to death along with the boarding party. In the midst of this already-bleak scenario a Klingon ship arrives, commanded by Kirk’s nemesis Commander Kargh, who is ready to destroy the Copernicus and all aboard if Kirk won’t.

Watch Itwritten by Carlos Pedraza & David Gerrold
directed by David Gerrold
music by Fred Steiner

Cast: James Cawley (Captain Kirk), Ben Toplin (Mr. Spock), John Kelley (Dr. McCoy), Bobby Quinn Rice (Ensign Peter Kirk), Evan Fowler (Alex Freeman), Denise Crosby (Dr. Jenna Yar), Bill Blair (Commander Blodgett), John Carrigan (Commander Kargh), Charles Root (Scott), Jay Storey (Kyle), Kim Stinger (Uhura), Ron Boyd (DeSalle), Andy Bray (Chekov), Meghan King Johnson (Rand), Nick Cook (Hodel), Paul R. Sieber (Agrens), Patrick Bell (Xon), Debbie Huth (Fontana), Jeff Mailhotte (Sentell), Joel Bellucci (Bren), Anne Carrigan (Le’ak), James Avalon (Klaar)

Notes: Dr. Jenna Yar (full name: Jenna Natasha Yar) is the grandmother of Lt. Tasha Yar from Star Trek: The Next Generation; by this stage she has already had a daughter, presumably Tasha’s mother, who is safe on Earth and isn’t seen in this story. Section 31 is retroactively worked into the classic Trek timeline here; it was actually first mentioned in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in the 1990s, and later in Star Trek: Enterprise.

Review: The long-awaited second half of this Trek cliffhanger arrived more than a year after the first part hit the web, and even so, I’m writing this review based on a mostly-complete pre-release edit whose final two acts are still in the “temp edit” stage.

Categories
Phase II / New Voyages Star Trek Fan Films

No Win Scenario

Star Trek: Phase II

This is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Stardate not given: Klingon Captain Kargh gathers his allies at a less-than-obvious location to lay out his final plans for an assault on Federation territory which will result in the deaths of millions of humans, a crippling blow to Starfleet’s morale and Federation security. But as far ahead as Kargh believes he has planned, someone else has outplanned him and is listening in.

Watch Itwritten by Erik Korngold
directed by Erik J. Goodrich
music by Fred Steiner

Cast: John Carrigan (Kargh), Anne Carrigan (Le’ak), James Cawley (Captain Kirk), Paul R. Sieber (Klingon Ops), Larry Nemecek (Tellarite Grolst), Jeff Quinn (Mr. Spock), Julienne Irons (Lt. Uhura), Jeff Mailhotte (Klingon), Kent Schmidt (Klingon), Chris Lunderman (Klingon), Tanveer Naseer (Klingon), Mark Strock (Klingon), Jay Storey (Lt. Kyle), Andy Bray (Chekov)

Star Trek Phase IINotes: Originally filmed in 2005 along with the already-released vignette Center Seat and other vignettes still not released to this day (Change Of Command and Auld Lang Syne), the raw footage shot for No Win Scenario was misplaced until actor John “Kargh” Carrigan provided his own copy and secretly edited and post-produced it himself, with FX provided by Tobias Richter of The Light Works (who also provided CGI FX for Enemy: Starfleet!). The completed episode was presented to Phase II star and showrunner James Cawley as a surprise, and was made available on October 8th, 2011 – 7 years to the day after the release of the first New Voyages episode, Come What May. As such, this episode is shot in letterboxed standard-definition video and features many actors who have not participated in Phase II’s more recent releases. It is still unknown if or when the other previously-shot vignettes may be released, especially since every Phase II production since World Enough And Time has been filmed in HD.

LogBook entry & review by Earl Green

Categories
Reboot (Abrams) Movies Star Trek

Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek MoviesStardate 2259.55: After recklessly risking his ship in a first contact situation where he ends up throwing the Prime Directive to the wind, Captain James T. Kirk is relieved of command and busted down in rank; the Enterprise is reassigned to the command of Admiral Pike and Kirk is demoted to his first officer. Spock is scheduled to be reassigned to another ship as first officer.

After an explosion at a Starfleet facility on Earth is revealed to be the work of a Starfleet officer, the Starfleet admiralty is summoned to an emergency meeting, where it is revealed that the mastermind behind the explosion, Commander John Harrison, is still at large. Top priority is given to finding and eliminating Harrison. But Kirk quickly realizes that Harrison will come to them: a vehicle arrives just outside of Starfleet HQ and begins firing into the conference room. Admiral Pike is killed, and Kirk personally takes down Harrison’s ship, but the mysterious officer escapes, miraculously unharmed, and beams out using the long-range transporter technology invented by Scotty. Kirk tracks Harrison to the Klingon homeworld and requests the reinstatement of his command of the Enterprise. Admiral Marcus agrees, and provides Kirk with a new top secret weapon, long-range photon torpedoes, to carry out a shocking order: take Harrison out on the Klingon planet, even if it starts a war with the Klingons (which Marcus feels is inevitable already).

On the Klingon homeworld, Kirk elects not to use Marcus’ weapons, instead beaming down to personally capture Harrison. A fierce firefight ensues between Kirk’s landing party, Harrison, and the Klingons, but to Kirk’s surprise, Harrison surrenders himself willingly upon learning that the Enterprise has advanced torpedoes trained on his location. Once in custody aboard the Enterprise, he suggests that Kirk open one of the weapons. The torpedoes have built-in safeguards against being opened, but once defused, each torpedo is revealed to have a cryogenically frozen human being inside, each one a specimen of genetically enhanced “superhumans” created to fight in a 21st century conflict. And Harrison isn’t even really Harrison – he is the leader of these enhanced humans, blackmailed into cooperating with a top secret warfare division within Starfleet, which is expecting conflict with the Klingons.

Right on cue, a huge Starfleet ship appears, dwarfing the Enterprise. The U.S.S. Vengeance, commanded by Admiral Marcus (who is, curiously, out of uniform), takes an aggressive position against the Enterprise, and Marcus demands that Kirk surrender “Harrison” and his fellow augmented humans. Kirk refuses Marcus’ order, certain that Starfleet shouldn’t be on a war footing. But can he place any more trust in Harrison, who has already committed acts of mass murder? And can he fight both adversaries without sacrificing the Enterprise and her crew in the process?

Order this movie on DVDscreenplay by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof
directed by J.J. Abrams
music by Michael Giacchino

LogBook entry and review by Earl Green

Categories
Star Trek Star Trek Fan Films Star Trek: Axanar

Prelude To Axanar

Starship Farragut

This is an episode of a fan-made series whose storyline may be invalidated by later official studio productions.

Stardate 2241.03: Decades of long-simmering tensions between the Klingon Empire and the young United Federation of Planets explode into war when the Klingons attack the colonized Arcanis system, on the border between Federation and Klingon space. With Starfleet spread thin as the Federation expands, Arcanis falls quickly to the Klingons’ might, and the taste of fresh victory spurs to Klingons to continue their advance into Fedeation space. With the promotion of Admiral Ramirez to lead Starfleet, development begins on a new class of Starfleet vessel capable of meeting the Klingons on an equal footing. Captain Kevlar Garth and Captain Sonya Alexander are among the sharp tacticians who begin to turn the tide against the Klingons, handing them their first defeats.

Watch Itwritten by Alec Peters & Christian Gossett
directed by Christian Gossett
music by Alexander Bornstein

Cast: Richard Hatch (Commander Kharn), Tony Todd (Admiral Ramirez), Kate Vernon (Captain Alexander), J.G. Hertzler (Admiral Travis), Ambassador Soval (Gary Graham), Alec Peters (Captain Garth), Orion Acaba (Narrator), Steven Jepson (Admiral Slater)

Prelude To AxanarNotes: Tony Todd appeared as Worf’s brother, Kurn, in several episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. Though often remembered as Ellen Tigh in the 21st century reboot of Battlestar Galactica, Kate Vernon has also appeared in Star Trek (namely, the In The Flesh episode of Voyager). J.G. Hertzler was a recurring guest star in Deep Space Nine’s fourth through seventh seasons as the Klingon General Martok, while former Alien Nation star Gary Graham appeared in many episodes of Enterprise as Ambassador Soval. Richard Hatch was Apollo in the original 1970s iteration of Battlestar Galactica, while narrator Orion Acaba is the voice of Clyde in Pac-Man And The Ghostly Adventures.

Prelude To AxanarGarth of Izar was seen in the classic Star Trek episode Whom Gods Destroy, many years after the events of this story, by which point he had gone mad, gone rogue, and has been given shapeshifting ability; his historic feats at the battle of Axanar are briefly mentioned in that episode. This “historical film” is narrated by “John Gill”, a Federation historian who himself went rogue, also encountered by Captain Kirk and company in Patterns Of Force. The Four Years War between the Federation and the Klingons, the Arcanis surprise attack, and Garth’s command of the Marklin-class U.S.S. Xenophon, are lifted directly from the Four Years War expansion module of FASA’s 1980s Star Trek Role Playing Game; other characters, ships and locations are new creations. Co-writer and co-star Alec Peters has worked on Star Trek in an official capacity for CBS, overseeing the auctions of props, models and costumes from all of the television series following the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise; as head of his own company, he was instrumental in recovering the original ’60s Galileo shuttlecraft prop and arranging for its restoration, after which the prop “landed” at the visitor center at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Director and co-writer Christian Gossett is a well-regarded comic writer and artist, known for creating the military-sci-fi-with-magic comic The Red Star. His media credits include work on the 2005 King Kong remake, the screenplay for the video game Pitfall 3-D: Beyond The Jungle, and concept art for Star Wars Episode I and Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland.

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

The Vulcan Hello

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1207.2: An uncrewed communications relay at the edge of Federation space suddenly stops working, and the starship U.S.S. Shenzhou is sent to investigate. Captain Philippa Georgiou sends her first officer, Commander Michael Burnham, to investigate an object near a binary star that seems to be deliberately scattering the entire electromagnetic spectrum, including visible wavelengths. Burnham flies a thruster suit toward the unknown object, finding it to be an ancient vessel of some kind. When Burnham lands on the object, her presence triggers a sudden activation of the vessel, and an armed Klingon warrior appears behind her. When the Klingon attacks, Burnham attempts to escape, accidentally impaling the Klingon with his own weapon before slamming into part of the Klingon vessel and tumbling back toward the Shenzhou, unconscious.

Burnham awakens aboard the Shenzhou, rescued by suffering from acute effects of exposure to the radiation emanating from the binary star nearby. She leaves sick bay before her treatment is complete to warn Captain Georgiou of the Klingons’ presence. When Georgiou orders the Shenzhou‘s weapons brought to bear on the object just visited by Burnham, an enormous Klingon ship decloaks just ahead. As Georgiou consults with Starfleet, Burnham seeks the advice of her adoptive father, Ambassador Sarek of Vulcan. Georgiou is steadfast in her desire for a diplomatic solution, but Burnham advises her that the Klingons will only respect a show of strength: a battle worthy of their mettle. When she is unable to convince her Captain of this course of action, Burnham attempts a mutiny, but it’s too late: as the Shenzhou waits alone for reinforcements, an entire Klingon fleet warps into view.

The Klingons have been anticipating the humans’ spreading influence in the galaxy, and T’Kuvma, the leader of the Klingons aboard the ceremonial ship discovered by the Shenzhou, wants to unite all 24 of the Klingons’ disparate houses to attack the Federation before they themselves are attacked. T’Kuvma is annoyed when not all of the Klingons share his zeal…but the Federation ship before him has fallen so easily into the trap, he sees no reason to delay the war he sees as not only inevitable, but prophesied.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Bryan Fuller and Akiva Goldsman
story by Bryan Fuller and Akiva Goldsman
directed by David Semel
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Michelle Yeoh (Captain Philippa Georgiou), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), James Frain (Sarek), Chris Obi (T’Kuvma), Maulik Pancholy (Dr. Nambue), Terry Serpico (Admiral Anderson), Sam Vartholomeos (Ensign Danby Connor), Arista Arhin (young Michael Burnham), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Justin Howell (Torchbearer / Rejac), Javid Iqbal (Voq), Ali Momen (Kamran Grant), Bonnie Morgan (Crepuscula), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Or’eq), Tasia Valenza (Computer Voice), Chris Violette (Britch Weeton), Romaine Waite (Troy Januzzi)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Stardate 1207.2 equates to May 11th, 2256 – ten years before the first season of the original Star Trek (and 2-3 years after the events depicted in The Cage and the Cage-derived flashback scenes from The Menagerie), and 95 years after These Are The Voyages…, the series finale of Star Trek: Enterprise. As that finale takes place 5 years after the remainder of the fourth season of Enterprise, this may mean that Captain Archer’s last contact with the Klingons (in Affliction and Divergence) was one of the last contacts with the Klingons “a hundred years ago”.

Tasia Valenza, the new Federation computer voice (assuming the role left vacant by the late Majel Barrett Roddenberry), is the only cast member with ties to prior Star Trek: she was a Vulcan would-be Starfleet cadet vying against Wesley Crusher and others for a coveted slot at the Academy in 1988’s Coming Of Age. She also appeared in the 1990s series Space: Above And Beyond.

Star Trek: DiscoveryThe Klingons’ ritual scream at the heavens – a warning that a dead warrior is ascending – was first established in Star Trek: The Next Generation (Heart Of Glory, 1988); the concept of a multitude of Klingon “houses” originated in another TNG episode (Sins Of The Father, 1990). Ironically, Burnham’s adoptive brother, Spock, took a similar headlong plunge into danger in a Starfleet thruster suit in 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The original Klingon Torchbearer’s weapon is identified by Burnham’s heads-up display as a bat’leth, though very different in design to the one wielded by Worf in many an episode of TNG; it’s possible that, much like the Torchbearer’s title, this bat’leth is more ornately ceremonial than functional (though that doesn’t prevent it from being deadly).

Star Trek: DiscoveryCredited, but not appearing in, this episode are series regulars Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, and Jason Isaacs.

The Shenzhou is named for a real family of Chinese spacecraft that had only just started flying the last time there was a Star Trek series on the air.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Battle At The Binary Stars

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Starfleet reinforcements arrive to assist the Shenzhou, with further ships on the way. As Captain Georgiou orders Burnham escorted to the brig, the shooting begins, and heavy losses are incurred on both sides. Admiral Anderson arrives, commanding the Europa, and tries to broker a cease-fire with the Klingons, only to have his ship rammed head-on by a cloaked Klingon ship. The Shenzhou is in no shape to keep fighting, but when the Klingons begin retrieving their dead from the vacuum of space, Captain Georgiou decides to attach an armed photon torpedo warhead to one of the floating Klingon corpses, causing critical damage to T’Kuvma’s ship. Georgiou and Burnham beam aboard the ship to try to capture T’Kuvma, which would disgrace him in the eyes of his society, but their mission has a far higher price than they expect – and rather than making T’Kuvma a pariah, they make him a martyr…and the Federation and the Klingon Empire are now at war.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts
story by Bryan Fuller
directed by Adam Kane
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Michelle Yeoh (Captain Philippa Georgiou), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), James Frain (Sarek), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Chris Obi (T’Kuvma), Terry Serpico (Admiral Anderson), Sam Vartholomeos (Ensign Danby Connor), Arista Arhin (young Michael Burnham), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Javid Iqbal (Voq), Ali Momen (Kamran Grant), Clare McConnell (Dennas), Thamela Mpumlwana (young T’Kuvma), Damon Runyan (Ujilli), Tasia Valenza (Computer Voice), Chris Violette (Britch Weeton), Romaine Waite (Troy Januzzi)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: This episode includes a mention of the last Klingon/Federation battle taking place at Donatu V, a planet first mentioned in The Trouble With Tribbles (1967), though Trouble established that battle as having taken place in the 2240s, not a century ago. Donatu V was a Klingon planet by the 24th century (DS9: Sons And Daughters). The unusual design of the Shenzhou‘s transporter room – an early reveal of which caused fan uproar – is cited as being an outmoded transporter design still in use aboard the Shenzhou due to the ship’s advanced age.

Star Trek: DiscoveryRepresentatives from House D’Ghor and House Mokai stick around to listen to T’Kuvma’s sales pitch; other known Klingon houses include Duras, Martok, Mogh, Korath, Kozak, and Antaak, though it is not known how fragmented this system of Klingon society might have become by the 24th century. (It is clearly stated that the Klingon Empire is currently comprised of 24 Houses.) Voq says that T’Kuvma devised the cloaking device; though in much official and unofficial backstory surrounding Star Trek III: The Search For Spock, the Klingons are said to have gotten cloaking technology from the Romulans. Both could be right: perhaps T’Kuvma is padding his resume just a bit. When T’Kuvma is shot by Burnham, his blood briefly vaporizes purple – the color of Klingon blood as it appeared in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (in nearly every other instance in the franchise, it appears red).

Star Trek: DiscoveryChris Obi is the latest crossover actor to have appeared in both Star Trek and Doctor Who, having appeared in the 2011 Doctor Who episode Closing Time.

Credited, but not appearing in, their second episode in a row are series regulars Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, and Jason Isaacs. Not showing up is good work if you can find it.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not For The Lamb’s Cry

Star Trek: DiscoveryNo stardate given: Burnham, having been let in on the secret of Discovery‘s experimental “spore drive” that allows the ship to traverse trails of microscopic organic particles throughout space, is re-adjusting to wearing a Starfleet uniform (albeit one with no rank). Captain Lorca assigns Burnham to work on weaponizing the creature that nearly killed the Discovery boarding party aboard the Glenn, and assigns Commander Landry, Discovery‘s security chief, to work with her. Landry’s impatience leads to a fatal accident (for her), while Burnham continues to warn anyone who will listen that the creature, a kind of macroscopic alien tardigrade, is not inherently violent. A Klingon attack on one of the Federation’s most important dilithium mining facilities forces the Discovery into action, and the still-not-fully-functional spore drive must be used…whether it gets Discovery to the besieged planet, or drops it into a situation even more dangerous than a Klingon assault.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Jesse Alexander and Aron Eli Collette
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Michelle Yeoh (Captain Philippa Georgiou), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Rekha Sharma (Commander Landry), Dennis Andres (Engineer Rance), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Jordana Blake (Betarian Girl), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer Voice), Javid Iqbal (Voq), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Christopher Russell (Milton Richter), Tasia Valenzia (Shenzhou Computer Voice)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Corvan II is noted here for producing 40% of the Federation’s supply of dilithium crystals, but it’s also home to the endangered Corvan gilvo creature prized by Worf’s son Alexander in the TNG episode New Ground (1992). Kol hails from the Klingon House of Kor, which means he may or may not be related to Kor, the Klingon encountered by Kirk on the planet Organia (Errand Of Mercy, 1967). Macroscopic organisms are rare in Star Trek, but not unheard of, whether it’s the enormous energy-eating amoeba that nearly destroys the Enterprise (The Immunity Syndrome, 1968), or macroscopic viruses that swarm aboard Voyager (Macrocosm, 1996).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Choose Your Pain

Star Trek: DiscoveryWith the secret of navigation with the spore drive finally unlocked – the enormous tardigrade-like creature must be harnessed to perform the navigation – the Discovery has been busy in the war with the Klingons. Starfleet Command even advises Captain Lorca to be less visible for fear that the Discovery‘s experimental drive system could be discovered by the Klingons, a fear that seems to be borne out when Lorca’s shuttle flight back to Discovery is cut short as a Klingon ship appears, and Klingon warriors board the shuttle in short order. Lorca is taken prisoner and, in captivity, meets a shifty human named Harry Mudd, also a Klingon prisoner, and a Starfleet officer named Ash Tyler, a prisoner of war since the battle at the binary stars. As Lorca endures Klingon torture and tries to plan an escape, Saru finds himself in command of Discovery by default with a crisis on his hands: the continual use of the spore drive is draining the tardigrade’s energy and sapping its will to live. Soon, it will be unable to help the Discovery crew find their missing captain.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazontelelplay by Kemp Powers
story by Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts & Kemp Powers
directed by Lee Rose
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Rainn Wilson (Harry Mudd), Conrad Coates (Terral), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Simon Northwood (Shuttle Pilot), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Christopher Russell (Milton Richter), Kirk Salesman (Shuttle Klingon 1), Tyler Evan Webb (Shuttle Klingon 2)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: Lorca’s previous command, the U.S.S. Buran, was named after the ultimately aborted Soviet-era Russian attempt to duplicate or improve upon the design of the American Space Shuttle. Faced with allowing his crew to fall into Klingon hands and endure torture or worse, Lorca blew up the Buran with all hands…as he escaped. Harry Mudd is seen here ten years before the events chronicled in the original Star Trek episode Mudd’s Women, and at this point is married to Stella (I, Mudd). The tactical plot seen very briefly on Discovery‘s bridge shows Rura Penthe (Star Trek VI, Enterprise: Judgment) and Khitomer (Star Trek VI, TNG: Sins Of The Father) in relation to the current outlines of Klingon and Federation space; Deep Space K-7 (TOS: The Trouble With Tribbles, Star Trek: DiscoveryTAS: More Tribbles, More Trouble, DS9: Trials And Tribble-ations) is perilously close to that boundary. Choose Your Pain has the dubious distinction of dropping Star Trek’s first F-bomb (thank you, Cadet Tilly), which drew a mixed reaction from some segments of the audience.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1308.9: Having deposited a landing party consisting of Saru, Burnham, and Tyler to the planet Pahvo, the Discovery diverts to answer a distress call from U.S.S. Gagarin, under Klingon attack. Lorca’s previous strategy – to drop in out of a spore drive jump and blast every enemy in sight – is no longer a guarantee of success: as more Klingon houses rally to Kol’s side, their ships are armed with cloaking devices. Discovery‘s overwhelming advantage has been negated, and the Gagarin and her crew pay the price for this revelation.

On Pahvo, a planet whose ecosphere audibly sings in a variety of frequencies, boosted into space by a crystalline transmitter that may or may not be of natural origin, Saru’s landing party is there to see if that transmitter can be altered in such a way as to help the Federation’s war effort. But what couldn’t be seen from space is quite visible on the ground: the planet is inhabited by energy beings who are curious about their unexpected visitors. They offer peace to Saru – a peace that he’ll willingly betray anyone to keep.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Kirsten Beyer
directed by John S. Scott
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Michael Boisvert (Kovil), Conrad Coates (Admiral Terral), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Anthony Grant (Klingon Communications Officer), Julianne Grossman (Disocvery Computer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Bryce), Tyler Evan Webb (Klingon Guard)

Star Trek: DiscoveryNotes: The title of the episode translates from Latin to English as “if you want peace, prepare for war”, originating in a 5th century written work, “De Re Militari” (“Concerning Military Matters”). This is not the first Star Trek episode to use a Latin phrase as its title; that honor goes to Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges (1999), an episode of Deep Space Nine‘s seventh and final season.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

Into The Forest I Go

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: The crystalline transmitter on planet Pahvo is sending a homing signal identifying its location to both Starfleet and the Klingon fleet. Though ordered to withdraw to protect the Discovery‘s one-of-a-kind technology, Captain Lorca is ready to stay and fight. Saru and Burnham devise a means of gathering data on the Klingon cloaking device through a series of over a hundred spore drive jumps in rapid succession. In lieu of a suitable tardigrade creature, Lt. Stamets prepares to serve as the spore drive’s navigator yet again, over Dr. Culber’s objections. Burnham and Lt. Tyler beam over to the Klingon ship of the dead to plant the sensors that will gather the data, but discover that they’re not the only human life signs on board: Admiral Cornwell is still alive in Klingon captivity. So is L’Rell, imprisoned by Kol for her treachery. Burnham has to go it alone when the sight of L’Rell leaves Tyler in a state of post-traumatic shock, and to buy time, Burnham reveals herself and challenges Kol to a duel. Though Burnham is unable to overpower Kol, it will be his last fight as the Discovery gains the upper hand by finding the means to defeat the cloaking device. Burnham, Tyler and Cornwell are beamed safely back aboard Discovery, but L’Rell throws herself at Tyler in order to escape as well, and is promptly thrown in the brig. Though weakened, Stamets volunteers to navigate Discovery for one last jump home…though it would seem that Lorca still isn’t ready to return to Earth.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt
directed by Chris Byrne
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek: DiscoveryCast: Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), Michael Ayres (Transporter Technician), Conrad Coates (Admiral Terral), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Julianne Grossman (Disocvery Computer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Rhys), Sara Mitich (Airiam), Oyin Oladejo (Joann Owosekun), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Klingon Bridge Officer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 1 Star Trek

The Wolf Inside

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Aboard the Shenzhou, “Captain” Burnham receives orders to wipe out an enclave of an organized resistance. These renegades, inclduing Klingons, Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites, have banded together to fight the xenophobic oppression of the Terran Empire. With Tyler at her side, Burnham beams down to meet with the resistance leader – the Klingon known in Burnham’s timeline as Voq. The sight of Voq has a strange effect on Tyler; moments after this timeline’s Sarek establishes that Burnham is telling the truth, Tyler screams in Klingon and attacks Voq, but is nearly killed for his trouble. Burnham manages to plead for his life and return to the Shenzhou, where Tyler admits that his recent confusion and flashes of trauma are a glimpse into a horrifying surgical procedure that transformed him from Klingon to human.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Lisa Randolph
directed by T.J. Scott
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Shazad Latif (Lt. Ash Tyler / Voq), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), James Frain (Sarek), Michelle Yeoh (Emperor Georgiou), Emily Coutts (Keyla Detmer), Riley Gilchrist (Shukar), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Devon MacDonald (Service Engineer), Alo Momen (Kamran Gant), Dwain Murphy (Captain Maddox), Tasia Valenzia (Shenzhou Computer), Chris Violette (Britch Weeton), Romaine Waite (Troy Januzzi)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: After months of fan speculation, Voq and Ash Tyler are revealed to be one and the same. This episode features the first Andorians and Tellarites seen since Star Trek: Enterprise, as well as continuing the odd Mirror Universe tradition of male Vulcans wearing goatees (Spock, Soval, and now Sarek; only Tuvok seems to have bucked the trend).

LogBook entry by Earl Green