Tag: Series Premiere

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Lost In Space (Netflix) Season 1

Impact

Lost In SpaceThe Resolute, a massive space colony ship outbound from Earth, is attacked by robots of unknown origin; the colonists are ordered to evacuate in their landfall craft. But unknown to any of them, a rift in spacetime has opened, sucking in the evacuating colonists’ ships, and the wreckage of the Resolute, and depositing them in another galaxy far beyond the reach of Earth. The Robinson family’s landfall craft, the Jupiter 2, homes in on a barely-habitable planet and comes down for a hard landing on a frozen lake. Moments after evacuating the ship containing all of their survival gear, the Robinsons are helpless to do anything but watch as their ship’s heat melts the ice, allowing it to sink into the water. Combat veteran John Robinson seems to be unable to get his wife, Maureen, or any of their three children to stick to anything resembling military discipline. Maureen’s leg, broken in the crash, is a cause for immediate concern. Judy Robinson, the eldest daughter, dives into the water to retrieve batteries to power their makeshift camp, only to be trapped beneath the rapidly refreezing ice in a spacesuit that will eventually run out of oxygen. Penny Robinson, the middle child, is left to look after her mother while John and his son Will go to search for magnesium that could be ignited to burn through the thick ice. Will falls into an ice tunnel, emerging in a heavily wooded area, where he discovers that he is not the only crash survivor: one of the robots has survived, but in the crash has forgotten its hostile intent. Will persuades it to reunite him with his family and to help them survive the various dangers. Neither Will nor any of his family saw the attacking robots, and do not realize that one of their attackers is now among them. They only know that they wouldn’t have survived their first night on this planet without it.

written by Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless
based on the teleplay Lost In Space: No Place To Hide by Irwin Allen and Shimon Wincelberg
directed by Neil Marshall
music by Christopher Lennertz
original Lost In Space theme by John Williams

Lost In SpaceCast: Molly Parker (Maureen Robinson), Toby Stephens (John Robinson), Maxwell Jenkins (Will Robinson), Taylor Russell (Judy Robinson), Mina Sundwall (Penny Robinson), Ignacio Serricchio (Don West), Parker Posey (Dr. Smith), Brian Steele (Robot), Bill Mumy (Dr. Zachary Smith), AnnaMaria Demara (Tam Roughneck), Natasha Quirke (Salesperson), Vanessa Eichholz (News Anchor)

Notes: Arriving 20 years after the previous one-off big screen remake and over 50 years after the original Lost In Spaceseries, the premiere episode of the reimagined Lost In Space still finds a moment to look back over its shoulder, casting Bill Mumy (the original Will Robinson) in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo as the “real” Dr. Smith (whose identity is stolen by Parker Posey’s character, whose real identity would be revealed later in the season).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Audio Series Star Cops

One Of Our Cops Is Missing

Star CopsNathan Spring, commander of the International Space Police Force (known more informally as the Star Cops), is dragged into a new case by his old Earthbound colleague, Brian Lincoln. One of Lincoln’s best undercover cops has infiltrated a presumed drug operation being run by the Collier brothers – and has now gone completely silent, breaking off all contact. The case involves Spring because all signs point toward the Colliers trying to launch the illegal narcotics trade into space, which is a dangerous enough place even with a clear head. Meanwhile, Colin Devis investigates a series of suspicious spacesuit malfunctions on a space station operated by the government of India, but initially blows them off as routine malfunctions…until he himself nearly becomes the next victim. When Spring and Lincoln perform a surprise spot inspection of cargo about to be launched by the company the Colliers are using as a front, they’re run off the road and held hostage. Lincoln is horrified when he is interrogated at gunpoint by Paul Bailey…the undercover agent who broke contact.

written by Andrew Smith
directed by Helen Goldwyn
music by Howard Carter

Cast: David Calder (Nathan Spring), Trevor Cooper (Colin Devis), Linda Newton (Pal Kenzy), Philip Olivier (Paul Bailey), Rakhee Thakrar (Priya Basu), George Asprey (Alby Royle / Steven Moore), Delroy Atkinson (Charles Hardin). Ewan Bailey (Martin Collyer), Nimmy March (Shayla Moss), Andy Secombe (Brian Lincoln)

Notes: This is the first story in a four-story box set continuing the much-lauded but short-lived 1987 BBC2 sci-fi series Star Cops. Original cast members David Calder, Linda Newton, and Trevor Cooper reprise their roles from the original series, as does guest star Andrew Secombe, who played Lincoln in the TV series pilot. (Original TV series regular Erick Ray Evans died in 1999.) The original series’ life was cut short due to an ongoing feud between series creator Chris Boucher and producer Evgeny Gridneff; neither of them is involved with the Big Finish audio series. Also absent is the much-derided original theme song written and sung by Justin Hayward, replaced by an original (and entirely instrumental) composition for the audio series.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Short Treks Star Trek

Runaway

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate not given: Freshly promoted from Cadet to Ensign, Sylvia Tilly is still aboard the Discovery, and she still can’t convince her mother, via communicator, that she can handle the rigors of command training without washing out of Starfleet. When she retreats to the mess hall to drown her sorrows in a snack, Tilly makes a new friend. Tilly’s new friend is a stowaway aboard Discovery, and worse yet, she’s a stowaway who belongs to the royal family of a strategically important planet. Tilly has to keep her new friend from running and going into hiding, a test of her diplomatic skills that just isn’t part of the command training program.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Jenny Lumet and Alex Kurtzman
directed by Maja Vrvilo
music by Jeff Russo

Cast: Mary Wiseman (Ensign Sylvia Tilly), Vadira Guevara-Prip (Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po), Mimi Kuzyk (Siobhan Tilly)

Short TreksNotes: Devised as a means of keeping Star Trek fans subscribed to the CBS All Access streaming service, rather than cancelling their subscriptions the moment Star Trek: Discovery’s first season ended, Short Treks was the tip of the iceberg of a new deluge of Star Trek spinoffs to go into development following the success of Discovery’s first season. Each Short Treks episode runs approximately fifteen minutes, and the first four typically involved a very small cast on existing sets from Discovery (with a promise that later installments would venture further afield in the franchise) – in a way, almost as if the producers had to abide by most of the rules and guidelines CBS had set down for Star Trek fan films as a direct result of the contentious lawsuit over the fan-made project Star Trek: Axanar, which came under legal scrutiny after it raised over half a million dollars in crowdfunding. The shorts also served as a proving ground for future talent to be associated with later spinoffs, including writers Michael Chabon and Mike McMahan.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Resistance Season 1 Star Wars

The Recruit

Star Wars: ResistanceKaz Xiono, a young pilot for the New Republic Navy (and the son of a senator), is trying to return valuable intelligence to the Republic when his X-Wing squadron is ambushed by a crimson TIE fighter. Kaz ensures that the rest of his group escape, but finds himself outgunned when trying to take on the First Order fighter alone until another X-Wing joins the battle. That fighter, piloted by Poe Dameron, not only saves Kaz’s life but escorts him aboard a cruiser belonging to the Resistance. Considered extremists by many members of the New Republic, the Resistance is recruiting for a fight against the First Order, a remnant of the Galactic Empire that many (including Kaz’s father) refuse to believe is a credible threat. Poe thinks Kaz has what it takes to join the Resistance, and brings him to the ocean planet Castilon to install him as a Resistance spy. Poe tells Kaz to lie low and blend in…and is horrified when, within a day, Kaz’s boast of being the best pilot in the galaxy is taken out of context. Now Kaz is expected to prove his claim in a life-or-death race…and neither Poe nor his local allies at the rough-and-tumble Colossus station can intervene without blowing their new recruit’s cover.

Download this episode via Amazonteleplay by Brandon Auman
story by Dave Filoni
directed by Steward Lee and Saul Ruiz
music by Michael Tavera
based on original themes and music by John Williams

Star Wars: ResistanceCast: Christopher Sean (Kazuda Xiono), Josh Brener (Neeku Vozo), Scott Lawrence (Jarek Yeager), Suzie McGrath (Tam Ryvora), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Bobby Moynihan (Orka / Yani), Cherami Leigh (Mia Gabon), Dee Bradley Baker (First Order Comm Officer / Glem / Grevel), Fred Tatasciore (Bolza Grool / Hapless Pilot / Orthog), Greg Proops (Jak Sivrak), Jim Rash (Flix), Jonathan Lipow (Glitch), Lex Lang (Major Vonreg), Myrna Velasco (Torra Doza), Sam Witwer (Hugh Sion), Tovah Dekshuh (Aunt Z / Random Human), Tzi Ma (Hamato Xiono), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron)

Notes: Set prior to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Resistance is a marked departure in animation style from the Lucasfilm animated series that preceded it, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels. Series creator Dave Filoni wanted the animation style to more closely resemble anime, and drew from his father’s World War II experiences in setting up a scenario in which an obviously imminent threat is ignored by the populace at large.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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2010s Season 1 Twilight Zone

The Comedian

The Twilight ZoneStruggling comedian Samir Wassan bombs on stage with his usual brand of political humor, and then has a chance encounter with one of his comedy heroes, a man who had it all and then all but vanished from public view. He can’t resist asking for pointers, and is told to use more personal anecdotes from his life…and then to be ready to let those stories go forever. Part of Samir’s next routine concerns his dog…who has disappeared by the time he gets home. In fact, his girlfriend doesn’t remember ever having a dog. Her nephew, after helping him post flyers for his lost dog, accompanies him to the comedy club the next night, and becomes part of the act as well…only to vanish from existence when his name is mentioned. After overcoming an initial wave of guilt, Samir begins mentioning more names in his act, settling old scores, and each time, erasing someone from existence. It’s too late to stop and return to his dead-on-arrival political humor, but Samir’s only beginning to discover how erasing people from history with a mere mention can change the history of those around him. His comedy career on the rise, even Samir’s skeptical peers admit he’s killing it. They just don’t realize how many he’s killing to do it…until someone discovers his secret.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Alex Rubens
directed by Owen Harris
music by Marco Beltrami and Brandon Roberts
original Twilight Zone theme by Marius Constant

The Twilight ZoneCast: Kumail Nanjiani (Samir Wassan), Amara Karan (Rena), Diarra Kilpatrick (Didi Scott), Ryan Robbins (David Kandel), Tracy Morgan (J.C. Wheeler), Marc Joseph (Deven), Toby Hargrave (Joe Donner), Danny Dworkis (Pete), Jacob Machin (Bartender), Briana Rayner (Candy Gower), Darcy Michael (MC), Sean Hewlett (Will), Brendon Zub (Gabe), Harry Han (Finance Bro #3), Melanie Rose Wilson (Waitress), Bryron Bertram (Murray), Lesley Mirza (Marjorie), Khamisa Wilsher (Drunk Woman), Willy Lavendel (Drunk Man), Ryan Beil (Ventriloquist), Jane Stanton (Standup Comic #3), Jordan Peele (The Narrator)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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For All Mankind Season 1

Red Moon

For All MankindJune 26, 1969: Around the world, people gather to watch live television coverage of the first moon landing carried out by human beings from Earth. The coverage is of particular interest to those at NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, where Mission Control is packed with engineers and Apollo astronauts, watching as Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov becomes the first man to set foot on the surface of the moon.

Everyone from the American public to President Nixon demands answers – what happened to NASA’s commanding lead in the race for the moon? Chief astronaut Deke Slayton and Wernher von Braun, the architect of NASA’s Saturn V rocket, find themselves facing the questions of the press. Apollo 10 astronaut Ed Baldwin, like many of the rest of his fellow astronauts, spend the following weekend drowning their sorrows and frustrations at the bar…but Baldwin makes the mistake of opening up to a reporter about how timid and risk-averse he feels NASA has become. When his comments make headlines, Baldwin is pulled from the flight rotation, losing his seat aboard Apollo 15…assuming there is an Apollo 15 following both the Soviets’ surprise victory. NASA and the rest of America continue to pin their hopes on the upcoming Apollo 11 mission, though any talk of ramping up that mission’s schedule is squelched by the need for the crew to not land in total darkness. If, for any reason, Apollo 11 fails, the American space program will likely fail with it.

For All Mankindteleplay by Ronald D. Moore
story by Ronald D. Moore & Matt Wolpert & Ben Nedivi
directed by Seth Gordon
music by Jeff Russo

Cast: Joel Kinnaman (Edward Baldwin), Michael Dorman (Gordo Stevens), Sarah Jones (Tracy Stevens), Shantel VanSanten (Karen Baldwin), Jodi Balfour (Ellen Waverly), Wrenn Schmidt (Margo Madison), Chris Bauer (Deke Slayton), Colm Feore (Wernher von Braun), Eric Ladin (Gene Kranz), Michael J. Harney (Jack Broadstreet), Dan Donohue (Thomas Paine), Arturo Del Puerto (Octavio Rosales), Olivia Trujillo (Aleida Rosales), Ben Begley (Charlie Duke), Rebecca Wisocky (Marge Slayton), Meghan Leathers (Pam Horton), Jeff Branson (Neil Armstrong), Chris Agos (Buzz Aldrin), Ryan Kennedy (Michael Collins), Noah Harpster (Bill Strausser), Nick Toren (Tim “Bird Dog” McKiernan), Daniel Scott Robbins (Hank Poppen), Deniz Akdeniz (Paul Santoro), Brandon Bales (Winston Blake), Dave Power (Frank Sedgewick), Nick Wechsler (Fred), Steven Pritchard (Pete Conrad), Spencer Garrett (Roger Scott), Teddy Blum (young Shane Baldwin), Tony Lewellen (Coop), Jason Scott David (young Daniel Stevens), William Lee Holler (young Jimmy Stevens), Graciana Rosales (Vanessa Lyon), Jeffrey Muller (Del), Max Barsness (Tommy), Christopher Wallinger (Harvey), Paolo Cesar (Guide), Christopher Kohls (Control Officer), Curtis Fortier (Reporter #1), Brian Houtz (Reporter #2), Laura Patalano (Teresa), Frank Gallegos (Angel), Margarita Reyes (Elena), Colton Castaneda (Jim)

For All MankindNotes: Best described as an alternate history of what would have unfolded following surprise Soviet steps on the lunar surface, For All Mankind is an exercise in total speculation and facts that have come to light since the real Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who had already made history as the first human spacewalker, was indeed the Soviets’ choice to command their first lunar mission, though repeated spectacular failures of the real N-1 rocket kept the Soviets from ever putting cosmonauts in lunar orbit, let alone landing there (launch attempts were made in February 1969, as noted in this episode’s dialogue, July 1969, June 1971, and November 1972). Additionally, Nixon’s speech – written for him in the event of the death of the Apollo 11 crew – was indeed real, written by White House speechwriter Bill Safire; the original document, repeated word-for-word in this episode, can be seen online in the National Archives.

Replaced by fictional alternates for dramatic purposes in this story were the actual crew of Apollo 10, astronauts Thomas Stafford, Gene Cernan, and John Young; of the three, only Stafford was still alive at the time this episode aired. Gene Kranz was indeed the lead flight controller on duty for the Apollo 11 landing, though he would become more famous for his relentless push to get the men of the doomed Apollo 13 mission home in 1970, which is the actual source of his quote, “Failure is not an option.” The Apollo Applications Program was a real program as well, and while it perhaps wasn’t as “sexy” as landing on the moon, it wasn’t viewed as “Siberia”, as it would beget such real missions as the Skylab space station program and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. Apollo Applications was simply a typically dry name for a program that would have put the Apollo technology originally For All Mankinddeveloped for the moon landings to use for practical applications both closer to Earth, and further away, including long-duration lunar missions and even an audacious crewed orbital mission to Venus in an uprated Apollo command/service module, a mission which never left the drawing board; in real life, Apollo Applications would fall victim to President Nixon’s aggressive push for what was hoped would be a more cost-effective, reusable vehicle called the Space Shuttle.

Co-created by Star Trek: The Next Generation and Battlestar Galactica writer Ronald D. Moore, For All Mankind is staffed behind the scenes with a considerable number of alumni from both series, including writer/producers Naren Shankar, David Weddle, and Bradley Thompson, producer Steve Oster, technical consultant Michael Okuda, and casting director Junie Lowry-Johnson.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Avenue 5 Season 1

I Was Flying

Star Trek: The Next GenerationIn the late 21st century, high-end passenger travel has extended into the stars, thanks to Judd Galaxy’s space luxury liners. The newest member of that fleet, the Avenue 5, has embarked on its maiden voyage, which will loop out toward Saturn, grab a gravitational assist from its large moon Titan, and return to Earth in the space of eight weeks. The eccentric (and very rich) founder of Judd Galaxy, Herman Judd himself, is aboard for this first voyage, though he leaves the running of the ship to Captain Ryan Clark, and the running of his business to his right-hand woman, Iris Kamura. When a gravity glitch throws everyone in the ship up against one of the walls, Avenue 5‘s course shifts unexpectedly, turning its eight-week cruise into a loping three-year tour of the solar system – a longer journey for which there aren’t enough consumables aboard. The passengers learn of this development and begin to protest, and Captain Ryan Clark has to privately admit to Judd that he’s not actually a captain – he was hired by the ship’s actual, socially-deficient captain to present an acceptable point of contact for the passengers, but has no knowledge of how to run the ship…and the actual captain who hired him was one of the handful of fatalities of the gravity incident.

Download this episode via Amazonteleplay by Armando Iannucci & Simon Blackwell & Tony Roche
story by Armando Iannucci
directed by Armando Iannucci
music by Adem Ilhan

Avenue 5Cast: Hugh Laurie (Captain Ryan Clark), Josh Gad (Herman Judd), Zach Woods (Matt Spencer), Rebecca Front (Karen Kelly), Suzy Nakamura (Iris Kimura), Lenora Crichlow (Billie McEvoy), Nikki Amuka-Bird (Rav Mulcair), Ethan Phillips (Spike Martin), Andy Buckley (Frank Kelly), Matthew Beard (Alan), Jessica St. Clair (Mia), Kyle Bornheimer (Doug), Joplin Sibtain (Joe), Julie Dray (Nadia), Adam Pålsson (Bridge Crew), Andrea Pizza (Anthea), Ankur Bahl (Passenger), Vaughn Joseph (John), Simon Connolly (Max), Anne Witman (Lauren), Andrew Boyer (Passenger), Wanda Opalinska (Baily), Eugenia Caruso (Verity), Ako Mitchell (Passenger), Yasmine Akram (Passenger), Sonia Dorado (Yoga Teacher), Oseloka Obi (Dan), Priyanga Burford (Lori Hernandez), Sandra Gayer (Passenger), Daisy May Cooper (Sarah – bridge crew), Sophie Salako (Passenger)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Picard Season 1 Star Trek

Remembrance

Star Trek: PicardStardate not given: A rising AI specialist, Dahj, is celebrating her acceptance as a research fellow at the Daystrom Institute on Earth, when a group of armed and armored men beam into her apartment. Her boyfriend is murdered, and somehow she survives the encounter, calling on self-defense skills in which she has never trained, overcoming all of her opponents. She has a momentary vision of a man’s face before she flees, and sets out to find him.

The man whose face she sees is hardly an unknown: retired Admiral Jean-Luc Picard is being interviewed on the anniversary of his attempt to evacuate the population of Romulus before its sun went supernova. When a surprise attack on Mars by rogue synthetic life forms caused Starfleet to abandon the massive rescue attempt, Picard felt that the Federation was no longer living up to its ideals and resigned his Starfleet commission in protest. In the years since, he has retreated to his family’s vineyards in France, a quiet existence that is disturbed a little by an intrusive interviewer, and disturbed more when Dahj shows up unannounced. She has never met Picard, but somehow knows he will be able to help her. When hints begin to point toward Dahj being a sentient synthetic life form, and possibly even a true descendant of Data, Picard grows more protective of her. But a second attempt on Dahj’s life proves to be deadlier than the first – she is destroyed before Picard’s eyes, but not before her assassins are unmasked as Romulans.

Picard goes to visit Dr. Agnes Jurati, one of the Federation’s foremost experts on synthetic life forms and a protege of cyberneticist Bruce Maddox, even though her research is now entirely theoretical since actual development of synthetics has been banned in the wake of the Mars attack. Jurati has B4 – the last known Soong-type android – in storage, disassembled – and theorizes that someone like Dahj would have to have been created by, or from, Data…and she also reveals that synthetics were previously produced in twinned pairs. Picard decides he must find Dajh’s twin before she suffers the same fate.

Order DVDsteleplay by Akiva Goldsman and James Duff
story by Akiva Goldsman & Michael Chabon
and Kirsten Beyer & Alex Kurtzman and James Duff
directed by Hanelle L. Culpepper
music by Jeff Russo

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Jean-Luc Picard), Alison Pill (Dr. Agnes Jurati), Isa Briones (Dahj / Dr. Soji Asha), Harry Treadaway (Narek), Brent Spiner (Lt. Commander Data), Orla Brady (Laris), David Carzell (Dahj’s Boyfriend), Merrin Dungey (Interviewer), Jamie McShane (Zhaban), Sumalee Montano (Dahj’s Mother), Maya Eshet (Index), Douglas Tait (Tellarite)

Star Trek: PicardNotes: Picking up plot threads from both Star Trek: Nemesis (the death of Data) and the 2009 J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie (the supernova destruction of Romulus, which drove Nero to go back in time to change events), the first episode of Star Trek: Picard also references episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, including The Measure Of A Man (the only prior appearance of Bruce Maddox) and The Offspring (Data’s first attempt to create a daughter). In Picard’s imagined encounters with Data, the android wears both an original Next Generation uniform and the somewhat less colorful uniforms worn in Nemesis. The synthetics’ attack on Mars was shown in the Short Treks episode Children Of Mars.

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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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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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

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Season 1 Star Trek Strange New Worlds

Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: ProdigyStardate 1739.12: Recovering from his recent experiences involving the loss of the starship Discovery, Captain Christopher Pike has retreated to a cabin in Montana to ride horses, watch movies, and enjoy the companionship of Captain Batel of the U.S.S. Cayuga. But Batel must soon return to her ship, and Pike has been avoiding answering a persistent series of hails to his communicator… which brings new, less welcome company to his door: Admiral Robert April, with orders for Pike to be aboard the Enterprise in mere hours for an urgent mission to recover the ship’s missing first officer. Pike’s Number One, Commander Una Chin-Riley, opted to take part in a first contact mission aboard the U.S.S. Archer at planet Kiley 279 rather than taking shore leave; the Archer has gone silent.

At Kiley 279, the Enterprise finds a pre-warp civilization in turmoil, not a warp-capable society ready to make contact with the Federation. The crew determines that the warp signature that attracted that Archer was indeed warp technology, but geared toward manufacturing massively destructive weapons rather than a faster-than-light drive. Pike, Spock, and security chief La’an Noonien Singh beam down to Kiley, disguised as natives of that planet, to recover their missing contact team and to find out how they acquired the technology that they may yet use to obliterate themselves. It turns out that the scientists of Kiley merely watched nearby Federation starships in action – namely the incident that marked the last time anyone in the 23rd century saw the starship Discovery – and Pike decides that, as the Federation is responsible for bringing Kiley 279 to the brink of extinction, it’s his responsibility to stabilize the planet’s precarious peace, despite this violating Starfleet’s non-interference rules.

Order DVDsteleplay by Akiva Goldsman
story by Akiva Goldsman & Alex Kurtzman & Jenny Lumet
directed by Akiva Goldsman
music by Nami Melumad
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds main theme by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Ethan Peck (Lt. Spock), Jess Bush (Nurse Christine Chapel), Christina Chong (Lt. La’an Noonien Singh), Celia Rose Gooding (Cadet Uhura), Melissa Navia (Lt. Erica Ortegas), Babs Olusanmokun (Dr. M’Benga), Bruce Horak (Lt. Hemmer), Rebecca Romijn (Commander Una Chin-Riley), Adrian Holmes (Admiral Robert April), Dean Jeannotte (Lt. Samuel kirk), Gia Sandhu (T’Pring), Melanie Scrofano (Captain Batel), Samantha Smith (Eldredth), Carla Bennett (Palion Aide #2), Jon Blair (Kiley Guard #2), Peter Bou-Ghannam (Palion Leader), Marienne Castro (Shuttle Pilot), Bessie Cheng (Eldredth Aide #2), John Chou (Kiley Scientist #1), Joseph Daly (Eldredth Aide #1), Myles Dobson (Vulcan Waiter), Rong Fu (Jenna Mitchell), Chandra Galasso (Lieutenant), Jaimee Joe Gonzaga (Terminal Jockey #2), Sandy Kerr (Starfleet Scientist #1), Andre Dae Kim (Chief Kyle), David Kirby (Palion Aide #1), Joel Lacoursiere (Kiley Guard #1), Dana Levenson (Newscaster), Andrew Locke (Terminal Jockey #1), Etan Muskat (Starfleet Scientist #2), Daniel Pagett (Kiley Scientist #2), Rachel Sellan (Woman in Elevator)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: As these iterations of Captain Pike, Spock, and Una “Number One” Chin-Riley originated in the second season of Star Trek: Discovery, there are numerous references to the events of that season, including the loss of Spock’s adopted sister Michael Burnham, Discovery‘s opening of a wormhole to the future, and Pike’s time-crystal-induced vision of his own future at the Klingon monastery on Boreth. Among the display of planets with which first contact is only now being conducted, other than Kiley 279, is Gamma Trianguli VI, also known as the planet dominated by Vaal (from the original series episode The Apple), Scalos (a planet which will later be found uninhabited in the original series episode Wink Of An Eye), and Xahea, which raises the strange possibility that Ensign Tilly’s meeting with Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po (Short Treks: Runaway) may have been among the first contacts with that world. Captain Pike has a fondness – perhaps, if you’re Captain Batel, too much fondness – for the 20th century film The Day The Earth Stood Still. Star Trek DiscoveryAdmiral Robert April later boarded the Enterprise with his wife en route to their retirement in the animated Star Trek episode The Counter-Clock Incident. That a shuttlecraft has been named after Discovery‘s Commander Stamets would seem to be in line with Starfleet’s (and Section 31’s) official cover story that Discovery was destroyed in the 23rd century, with all hands lost. (Of course, Discovery‘s adventures continued nearly a millennium later, chronicled in that series’ third season.) After enthusiastic fan response to Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Rebecca Romijn stepping into the roles of characters from Gene Roddenberry’s original Star Trek pilot The Cage in season two of Star Trek: Discovery, the characters were given further exposure in the second batch of Short Treks before Strange New Worlds was greenlit in 2020, during the summer of the COVID-19 lockdown. The series couldn’t begin filming until early 2021, and when it launched in 2022, it streamed concurrently with the finale episodes of Star Trek: Picard‘s second season. This premiere episode was the most-watched Paramount Plus original production of 2022; a second season had been greenlit before the first season premiered.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Obi-Wan Kenobi Season 1 Star Wars

Part I

Star Wars: Obi-Wan KenobiTen years after the fall of the Republic and the birth of the Skywalker twins, exiled Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi ekes out a minimal existence on Tatooine under the assumed name of Ben, working an ordinary job and keeping as low a profile as possible. When Imperial Inquisitors land in Mos Eisley in search of any Jedi Knights who survived the Empire’s purge of the Jedi order, they immediately finds not Kenobi, but a former youngling who has been using his abilities with the Force to aid a local saloon owner in exchange for shelter. The young Jedi seeks out Obi-Wan to ask for assistance, but Kenobi’s advice is to forget the Jedi order and survive by leading a normal life. The young Jedi does not heed this advice, and is killed by the Inquisitors in a grisly public display. The Inquisitors continue their search, with the Third Sister, Reva, threatening to kill moisture farmer Owen Lars if the whereabouts of other Jedi are not revealed. Owen doesn’t divulge Kenobi’s presence, though he harbors little affection for the Jedi. Reva, obsessed with finding Kenobi, is brought to heel by the Grand Inquisitor, but she simply changes her tactics. Reva hires a bounty hunter to abduct the young princess of Alderaan, Leia Organa, whose father is a known associate of Kenobi from the days of the Republic. Bail Organa pays Obi-Wan a visit to ask for the Jedi’s help to recover his daughter, leaving Obi-Wan little choice but to reluctantly resume his role as a guardian of peace and justice from a more civilized age.

teleplay by Joby Harold and Hossein Amini and Stuart Beattie
story by Stuart Beattie and Hossein Amini
directed by Deborah Chow
music by Natalie Holt
Obi-Wan Theme by John Williams / adapted by William Ross

Obi-Wan KenobiCast: Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Rupert Friend (Grand Inquisitor), Sung Kang (Fifth Brother), Moses Ingram (Reva), Benny Safdie (Nari), Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars), Bonnie Piesse (Beru Lars), Simone Kessell (Breha Organa), Vivien Lyra Blair (Princess Leia Organa), Flea (Vect Nokru), Jimmy Smits (Senator Bail Organa), Ming Qiu (Jedi Master Minas Velti), Aiden Arnold (Jedi Youngling), Jonathan Ho (Jedi Youngling), Yonas Asuncion Kibreab (Jedi Youngling), Mila Lavin (Jedi Youngling), Ayaamii Sledge (Jedi Youngling), Derek Basco (saloon Owner), Kingsley Hao (Local Mos Eisley Boy), Heath McGough (Foreman Groff Ditcher), Chad Parker (Worker Padu Chend), Leilani Shiu (Teeka), Grant Feely (Luke Skywalker), Molly Miller (Handmaiden Agira), Hossein Mardani (Dardin Shull), Karen Constantine (Local Anchorhead Woman), Gabe Fonesca (Duke Kayo Organa), Roberta Sparta (Duchess Celly Organa), Ian Inigo (Cousin Niano Organa), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Aviel Ayoung (Mercenary #1), Amy Sturdivant (Mercenary #2), Sonia Jackson (Attendant)

Obi-Wan KenobiNotes: Based on, and expanded from, what was originally intended to be a future entry in the curtailed series of self-contained Star Wars “anthology” films, this series brought back numerous familiar faces from the prequel trilogy, most notably star and executive producer Ewan McGregor, Jimmy Smits, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Simone Kessell, and – in later episodes – Hayden Christensen. The ties to the prequel trilogy are strong with this one, including a flashback to younglings attempting to escape from the Order 66 purge of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, but the ties to the animated series Rebels are also numerous, including the first live-action Inquisitors.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ahsoka Season 1 Star Wars

Master And Apprentice

Star Wars: AhsokaRecently apprehended Imperial sympathizer (and ally of the missing Grand Admiral Thrawn), Morgan Elsbeth, is being transported back to the New Republic for trial. Unexpectedly, a shuttle of former Imperial design drops out of hyperspace. Its occupants identify themselves as Jedi and claim they are here to see the prisoner. The captain of the New Republic transport, skeptical, welcomes the “Jedi” aboard with a full security contingent. While his two visitors prove not to be Jedi, they are still well versed in the ways of the Force; they draw lightsabers, kill the captain, and make quick work of his security detail. They eventually accomplish their goal: freeing Morgan Elsbeth and escaping.

The former Jedi apprentice who captured Elsbeth in the first place, Ahsoka Tano, investigates the ruins of a temple, following up on information Elsbeth gave her under interrogation. She cautiously activates a series of puzzle-like pedestals until she finds what she has been looking for: a star map that will supposedly lead her to the whereabouts of exile Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn. Though most in the New Republic believe Thrawn fell in the final battle to free Lothal, Ahsoka has run across rumors that he still lives and may be trying to rebuild his power base, and ultimately reconstitute the Empire. Ahsoka’s rendezvous with the Republic cruiser reunited her with General Hera Syndulla. When told that the map has been found, Hera’s thoughts turn immeidately to finding their lost comrade, Jedi apprentice Ezra Bridger. She also recommends that Ahsoka find Sabine Wren, another former Rebel, because she’ll need backup if she’s now hunting down Thrawn, Elsbeth, and two Force-wielders trained in the use of the dark side. But Sabine doesn’t want to be found. She has set up shop in Ezra’s abandoned home in a communication tower on Lothal, having begun training in the ways of the Jedi under Ahsoka, but never finished that training. Ahsoka needs Sabine’s more artistic eye to help decode the locked map to Thrawn, and against Ahsoka’s express instructions, Sabine takes the map and returns home with it. This leaves her without protection when Elsbeth’s Force-wielding enforcers track her down.

written by Dave Filoni
directed by Dave Filoni
music by Kevin Kiner
additional music by Sean Kiner, Deana Kiner, and David G. Russell
“Igyah Kah” written by Kevin Kiner, Ludwig Goransson, Deana Kiner and Noah Gorelick / vocals by Sarah Tudzin

AhsokaCast: Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka Tano), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (Sabine Wren), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (General Hera Syndulla), Ray Stevenson (Baylan Skoll), Ivanna Sakhno (Shin Hati), Diana Lee Inosanto (Morgan Elsbeth), David Tennant (Huyang), Eman Esfandi (Ezra Bridger), Mark Rolston (Captain Hayle), Shakira Barbera (First Office Jensen Corbyt), Clancy Brown (Governor Ryder Azadi), Matt Law (Captain Porter), Bonnie Wild (Navigator Droid), Kat Kuei Chen (Helm Officer), P.J. Johal (Comms Officer), Helen Sadler (HK Assassin Droid Leader), David W. Collins (Home One Comms Officer), Vinny Thomas (Senator Jai Kell), Michele Weaver (Lieutenant Callahan), Chris Bartlett (Navigator Droid performance artist), Paul Darnell (Marrok performance artist), Barry Lowin (Home One comms officer performance artist), Nicole Botelho (Home One power droid performance artist), Leeanna Vamp (Lothal Protocol Droid performance artist), Terri Douglas (additional voices), Robin Atkin Downes (additional voices), Michael Ralph (additional voices), Sam Witwer (additional voices), Matthew Wood (additional voices), Shelby Young (additional voices)

AhsokaNotes: Perhaps more than any other live-action Star Wars series to date, Ahsoka is steeped in lore from The Clone Wars and especially Rebels, and effectively serves as the fifth season of the latter series, picking up many of its loose ends, and as with the final season of Rebels, Ahsoka also inherits the character of Grand Admiral Thrawn, originally created by author Timothy Zahn in the early ’90s trilogy of post-original-trilogy novels still held dear by many Star Wars fans of a certain age. Ahsoka’s apprehension of Morgan Elsbeth and her quest to find Grand Admiral Thrawn were first seen in The Mandalorian (The Jedi, 2020), as was Ahsoka’s reluctance to take on an apprentice of her own. Returning actors from the various animated series include David Tennant, who voiced Huyang in the fifth season of The Clone Wars, and Clancy Brown, now playing his Rebels character of Governor Ryder Azadi in live action. Lars Mikkelsen, who voiced Thrawn in Rebels, plays that character in live action here as well, though he does not appear in the first episode. There are also some Ahsokafamiliar names credited as “additional voices”.

Irish-born actor Ray Stevenson, who plays Baylan Skoll, died in 2023 prior to the premiere of the series; the episode is dedicated to his memory.

LogBook entry by Earl Green