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➡ Reminder: I will be writing much less frequently and much shorter in November — and November only. So for this month, I have paused payment from paid subscribers.Also, I'm making all new content free without a paywall. In December, however, everything will be back to normal: typically three meaty essays and two enlightening Q&As a week, along with a pro-progress podcast like this one
Aron shares his recent STAR TREK reading list including Harlan Ellison's memoir and Rodenberry hate tome CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER. Paul considers different settings for Trek storytelling before getting caught up on the news. Then, and only then, the guys discuss the end of Discovery Season 4 and get current on Picard season 2.
Join on as we continue to talk #StarTrek with fellow Red5Network pod @SWations. Last week we Trekked with Amanda @JediCaligula and the mission continues as we continue to discuss the 'other' 'STAR' franchise. We were lucky to include one of the @SWations STAR WIVES to get her insight on Trek, her first love and compared both franchises. Leaning on last week's discussion we continue to examine Rodenberry's notion of utopia in Star Trek and how that is looked upon by fans especially in today's times. How we doing folks? As always, we are a proud founding member of the #Red5Network. Thanks for listening.
Welcome to Watchers of Tomorrow! A podcast where we go through the world of science fiction television episode by episode, talking about the themes, concepts, ideas, the good, the bad, and the weird. We are great fans of sci-fi and would like to invite you on our journey through the funky and strange worlds that we are to explore… Today's episode: Jessie Gender joins us to confront what is commonly referred too as the worst Star Trek film, at least of those with the original cast. But does this much maligned film have some good in it? Can it bring people together in harmony? And perhaps encourage the Rodenberry ideal of a future where we all live in peace because we all went through some nonsense and had to come together to over come it? Let us find out! ====== Who are we? Gepwin: https://www.youtube.com/user/Gepwin Dr. Izixs: https://www.youtube.com/user/DrIzixs Jessie: https://www.youtube.com/c/lostrekkie Check out our web presence: Website: https://watchersoftomorrow.com/ Podbean: https://watchersoftomorrow.podbean.com/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyH1i8-qV9pI0q8CC-453nw Google Play: https://play.google.com/music/m/Ixcksgjzjkeadxpqzurf52aaol4?t=Watchers_of_Tomorrow Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/watchers-of-tomorrow?refid=stpr TuneIn: https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/Watchers-of-Tomorrow-p1153654/ Digital Podcast: http://www.digitalpodcast.com/feeds/98431-watchers-of-tomorrow Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/2gKB Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7iIHJyPt9LbfSX5nFPco4L Music: “Waveform” and “Mori's Principle” by DRKRN "Quirky Dog" by Kevin MacLeod https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/collections.html?collection=34&Search=Search Discord: https://discord.gg/s59QNqh
This week on Red Shirts, we begin our run of picking random episodes we know nothing about. This week Nathan picks "The Savage Curtain" based purely on the title. The result is Abraham Lincoln in space. Unrelatedly the penis joke comes very early on this time, we meet an eco-fascist and Nathan waxes lyrical about Rodenberry's legacy. Follow Us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RedShirtsCast (@RedShirtsCast) Jake: @DonaldsonComedy, Maddy: @PaperTigerMaddy and Nathan: @NTommis Follow Us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redshirtscast/?hl=en (@redshirtscast) Maddy: @thewuzzy Subscribe on all the good places to get podcasts including iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher and Anchor!
RODDENBERRY ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES #TALKTREK, A CAMPAIGN WITHIN YEARLONG #THINKTREK CELEBRATION HONORING STAR TREK VISIONARY GENE RODDENBERRY'S CENTENNIAL YEAR Bill Nye, LeVar Burton, George Takei, Michelle Yeoh, Alison Pill, Santiago Cabrera and Many More Partner With Roddenberry Entertainment to Recite 100 of Gene Roddenberry's Inspirational & Insightful Quotes in Honor of Late Creator's 100th Birthday, August 19, 2021 As part of the yearlong #thinkTREK campaign, honoring Star Trek creator and visionary Gene Roddenberry, over sixty notable celebrities, creatives, and scientific leaders have collaborated with Roddenberry Entertainment to share 100 of Mr. Roddenberry's most impactful quotes over the course of the 100 days leading up to his 100th birthday on August 19, 2021. As part of the sub-campaign dubbed #talkTREK, the videos will post daily across Roddenberry Entertainment's social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, beginning on May 12. Accompanying the video quotes, is a 100 episode, limited series, daily podcast called "Quoting Gene Roddenberry" hosted by famed blogger Trent Vanegas (Pink is the New Blog) and actress Rachel True (The Craft). Each short-form episode begins with an audio reading of the day's quote from the video campaign, followed by a lively discussion between our hosts and that week's guest host. The conversations are invigorating deep dives into the meaning, history, ethos and impact of Gene Roddenberry's words. Currently, guest hosts include actor Ming Chen, actress Mary Chieffo, Oscar nominated screenwriter Josh Olson and more. During the same 100 days as our videos, and coordinated to match the video quotes released, Amazon's Alexa will be able to respond to the prompt "Alexa, play the Rodenberry daily quote?" - providing that day's quote through the Alexa voice app. "My father, Gene Roddenberry, was an ordinary man with an extraordinary vision for the world - one of unconditional love, diversity, and unity of all people - and that vision is shown through not only Star Trek, but through the words he spoke in his lectures, his interviews and his writings. To have members of the Star Trek franchise and celebrity fans bring those words back to life is a very exciting way to celebrate a momentous year in his history," says Rod Roddenberry. Noteworthy participants in the #talkTREK campaign include Bill Nye, LeVar Burton (Star Trek: TNG), George Takei (Star Trek: TOS), Michelle Yeoh (Star Trek: Discovery), Alison Pill (Star Trek: Picard), Santiago Cabrera (Star Trek: Picard), Michelle Forbes (Star Trek: TNG), Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: TNG, Star Trek: Picard), Jerry O'Connell (Star Trek: Lower Decks), Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Comic Book Men), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas, Nixon), Brenda Strong (Star Trek: TNG, Desperate Housewives), and many more. #talkTREK is one component of a yearlong, multi-faceted celebration of Roddenberry's creative genius and his contributions to culture and the humanities. In an effort to promote Roddenberry's ethos of kindness, inclusivity, and always working to better yourself, Roddenberry Entertainment and Star Trek fan communities are encouraging everyone to #thinkTREK: to see and act on Star Trek's philosophies in our own personal relationships, in daily life, and in the world. The #thinkTREK campaign initiatives include not only #talkTREK but also #seeTREK, #beTREK, and #makeTREK, each playing out online and across social media. Thousands of Star Trek fans have engaged with the #seeTREK and #beTREK campaigns by submitting examples of where they see Star Trek out in the world (like in a pie presented to look like the Starship Enterprise), and of real-life people and stories who represent being Star Trek, which means reflecting the values embraced by the series, like an astronaut who achieved his dreams after starting out in life as a farmworker. In #buildTREK, master builder Samuel Hatmaker is designing and building a series of four iconic moments from the series out of toy bricks, the first of which was Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura's Kiss, which was shared by Collider. For more information on Roddenberry Entertainment and their centennial celebrations, please visit Roddenberry.com/thinktrek, or follow their social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Also this year, The Roddenberry Foundation has donated $100,000 to the Comic-Con Museum to support renovation and programming plans, recognizing the Museum's efforts to highlight inclusivity, innovation, and creativity while honoring Gene Roddenberry's legacy.
RODDENBERRY ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES #TALKTREK, A CAMPAIGN WITHIN YEARLONG #THINKTREK CELEBRATION HONORING STAR TREK VISIONARY GENE RODDENBERRY'S CENTENNIAL YEARBill Nye, LeVar Burton, George Takei, Michelle Yeoh, Alison Pill, Santiago Cabrera and Many More Partner With Roddenberry Entertainment to Recite 100 of Gene Roddenberry's Inspirational & Insightful Quotes in Honor of Late Creator's 100th Birthday, August 19, 2021As part of the yearlong #thinkTREK campaign, honoring Star Trek creator and visionary Gene Roddenberry, over sixty notable celebrities, creatives, and scientific leaders have collaborated with Roddenberry Entertainment to share 100 of Mr. Roddenberry's most impactful quotes over the course of the 100 days leading up to his 100th birthday on August 19, 2021. As part of the sub-campaign dubbed #talkTREK, the videos will post daily across Roddenberry Entertainment's social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, beginning on May 12.Accompanying the video quotes, is a 100 episode, limited series, daily podcast called "Quoting Gene Roddenberry" hosted by famed blogger Trent Vanegas (Pink is the New Blog) and actress Rachel True (The Craft). Each short-form episode begins with an audio reading of the day's quote from the video campaign, followed by a lively discussion between our hosts and that week's guest host. The conversations are invigorating deep dives into the meaning, history, ethos and impact of Gene Roddenberry's words. Currently, guest hosts include actor Ming Chen, actress Mary Chieffo, Oscar nominated screenwriter Josh Olson and more.During the same 100 days as our videos, and coordinated to match the video quotes released, Amazon's Alexa will be able to respond to the prompt "Alexa, play the Rodenberry daily quote?" - providing that day's quote through the Alexa voice app."My father, Gene Roddenberry, was an ordinary man with an extraordinary vision for the world - one of unconditional love, diversity, and unity of all people - and that vision is shown through not only Star Trek, but through the words he spoke in his lectures, his interviews and his writings. To have members of the Star Trek franchise and celebrity fans bring those words back to life is a very exciting way to celebrate a momentous year in his history," says Rod Roddenberry.Noteworthy participants in the #talkTREK campaign include Bill Nye, LeVar Burton (Star Trek: TNG), George Takei (Star Trek: TOS), Michelle Yeoh (Star Trek: Discovery), Alison Pill (Star Trek: Picard), Santiago Cabrera (Star Trek: Picard), Michelle Forbes (Star Trek: TNG), Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: TNG, Star Trek: Picard), Jerry O'Connell (Star Trek: Lower Decks), Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Comic Book Men), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas, Nixon), Brenda Strong (Star Trek: TNG, Desperate Housewives), and many more.#talkTREK is one component of a yearlong, multi-faceted celebration of Roddenberry's creative genius and his contributions to culture and the humanities. In an effort to promote Roddenberry's ethos of kindness, inclusivity, and always working to better yourself, Roddenberry Entertainment and Star Trek fan communities are encouraging everyone to #thinkTREK: to see and act on Star Trek's philosophies in our own personal relationships, in daily life, and in the world.The #thinkTREK campaign initiatives include not only #talkTREK but also #seeTREK, #beTREK, and #makeTREK, each playing out online and across social media. Thousands of Star Trek fans have engaged with the #seeTREK and #beTREK campaigns by submitting examples of where they see Star Trek out in the world (like in a pie presented to look like the Starship Enterprise), and of real-life people and stories who represent being Star Trek, which means reflecting the values embraced by the series, like an astronaut who achieved his dreams after starting out in life as a farmworker. In #buildTREK, master builder Samuel Hatmaker is designing and building a series of four iconic moments from the series out of toy bricks, the first of which was Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura's Kiss, which was shared by Collider.For more information on Roddenberry Entertainment and their centennial celebrations, please visit Roddenberry.com/thinktrek, or follow their social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.Also this year, The Roddenberry Foundation has donated $100,000 to the Comic-Con Museum to support renovation and programming plans, recognizing the Museum's efforts to highlight inclusivity, innovation, and creativity while honoring Gene Roddenberry's legacy.
RODDENBERRY ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES #TALKTREK, A CAMPAIGN WITHIN YEARLONG #THINKTREK CELEBRATION HONORING STAR TREK VISIONARY GENE RODDENBERRY'S CENTENNIAL YEAR Bill Nye, LeVar Burton, George Takei, Michelle Yeoh, Alison Pill, Santiago Cabrera and Many More Partner With Roddenberry Entertainment to Recite 100 of Gene Roddenberry's Inspirational & Insightful Quotes in Honor of Late Creator's 100th Birthday, August 19, 2021 As part of the yearlong #thinkTREK campaign, honoring Star Trek creator and visionary Gene Roddenberry, over sixty notable celebrities, creatives, and scientific leaders have collaborated with Roddenberry Entertainment to share 100 of Mr. Roddenberry's most impactful quotes over the course of the 100 days leading up to his 100th birthday on August 19, 2021. As part of the sub-campaign dubbed #talkTREK, the videos will post daily across Roddenberry Entertainment's social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, beginning on May 12. Accompanying the video quotes, is a 100 episode, limited series, daily podcast called "Quoting Gene Roddenberry" hosted by famed blogger Trent Vanegas (Pink is the New Blog) and actress Rachel True (The Craft). Each short-form episode begins with an audio reading of the day's quote from the video campaign, followed by a lively discussion between our hosts and that week's guest host. The conversations are invigorating deep dives into the meaning, history, ethos and impact of Gene Roddenberry's words. Currently, guest hosts include actor Ming Chen, actress Mary Chieffo, Oscar nominated screenwriter Josh Olson and more. During the same 100 days as our videos, and coordinated to match the video quotes released, Amazon's Alexa will be able to respond to the prompt "Alexa, play the Rodenberry daily quote?" - providing that day's quote through the Alexa voice app. "My father, Gene Roddenberry, was an ordinary man with an extraordinary vision for the world - one of unconditional love, diversity, and unity of all people - and that vision is shown through not only Star Trek, but through the words he spoke in his lectures, his interviews and his writings. To have members of the Star Trek franchise and celebrity fans bring those words back to life is a very exciting way to celebrate a momentous year in his history," says Rod Roddenberry. Noteworthy participants in the #talkTREK campaign include Bill Nye, LeVar Burton (Star Trek: TNG), George Takei (Star Trek: TOS), Michelle Yeoh (Star Trek: Discovery), Alison Pill (Star Trek: Picard), Santiago Cabrera (Star Trek: Picard), Michelle Forbes (Star Trek: TNG), Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: TNG, Star Trek: Picard), Jerry O'Connell (Star Trek: Lower Decks), Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Comic Book Men), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas, Nixon), Brenda Strong (Star Trek: TNG, Desperate Housewives), and many more. #talkTREK is one component of a yearlong, multi-faceted celebration of Roddenberry's creative genius and his contributions to culture and the humanities. In an effort to promote Roddenberry's ethos of kindness, inclusivity, and always working to better yourself, Roddenberry Entertainment and Star Trek fan communities are encouraging everyone to #thinkTREK: to see and act on Star Trek's philosophies in our own personal relationships, in daily life, and in the world. The #thinkTREK campaign initiatives include not only #talkTREK but also #seeTREK, #beTREK, and #makeTREK, each playing out online and across social media. Thousands of Star Trek fans have engaged with the #seeTREK and #beTREK campaigns by submitting examples of where they see Star Trek out in the world (like in a pie presented to look like the Starship Enterprise), and of real-life people and stories who represent being Star Trek, which means reflecting the values embraced by the series, like an astronaut who achieved his dreams after starting out in life as a farmworker. In #buildTREK, master builder Samuel Hatmaker is designing and building a series of four iconic moments from the series out of toy bricks, the first of which was Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura's Kiss, which was shared by Collider. For more information on Roddenberry Entertainment and their centennial celebrations, please visit Roddenberry.com/thinktrek, or follow their social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Also this year, The Roddenberry Foundation has donated $100,000 to the Comic-Con Museum to support renovation and programming plans, recognizing the Museum's efforts to highlight inclusivity, innovation, and creativity while honoring Gene Roddenberry's legacy.
RODDENBERRY ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCES #TALKTREK, A CAMPAIGN WITHIN YEARLONG #THINKTREK CELEBRATION HONORING STAR TREK VISIONARY GENE RODDENBERRY'S CENTENNIAL YEAR Bill Nye, LeVar Burton, George Takei, Michelle Yeoh, Alison Pill, Santiago Cabrera and Many More Partner With Roddenberry Entertainment to Recite 100 of Gene Roddenberry's Inspirational & Insightful Quotes in Honor of Late Creator's 100th Birthday, August 19, 2021 As part of the yearlong #thinkTREK campaign, honoring Star Trek creator and visionary Gene Roddenberry, over sixty notable celebrities, creatives, and scientific leaders have collaborated with Roddenberry Entertainment to share 100 of Mr. Roddenberry's most impactful quotes over the course of the 100 days leading up to his 100th birthday on August 19, 2021. As part of the sub-campaign dubbed #talkTREK, the videos will post daily across Roddenberry Entertainment's social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, beginning on May 12. Accompanying the video quotes, is a 100 episode, limited series, daily podcast called "Quoting Gene Roddenberry" hosted by famed blogger Trent Vanegas (Pink is the New Blog) and actress Rachel True (The Craft). Each short-form episode begins with an audio reading of the day's quote from the video campaign, followed by a lively discussion between our hosts and that week's guest host. The conversations are invigorating deep dives into the meaning, history, ethos and impact of Gene Roddenberry's words. Currently, guest hosts include actor Ming Chen, actress Mary Chieffo, Oscar nominated screenwriter Josh Olson and more. During the same 100 days as our videos, and coordinated to match the video quotes released, Amazon's Alexa will be able to respond to the prompt "Alexa, play the Rodenberry daily quote?" - providing that day's quote through the Alexa voice app. "My father, Gene Roddenberry, was an ordinary man with an extraordinary vision for the world - one of unconditional love, diversity, and unity of all people - and that vision is shown through not only Star Trek, but through the words he spoke in his lectures, his interviews and his writings. To have members of the Star Trek franchise and celebrity fans bring those words back to life is a very exciting way to celebrate a momentous year in his history," says Rod Roddenberry. Noteworthy participants in the #talkTREK campaign include Bill Nye, LeVar Burton (Star Trek: TNG), George Takei (Star Trek: TOS), Michelle Yeoh (Star Trek: Discovery), Alison Pill (Star Trek: Picard), Santiago Cabrera (Star Trek: Picard), Michelle Forbes (Star Trek: TNG), Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: TNG, Star Trek: Picard), Jerry O'Connell (Star Trek: Lower Decks), Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Comic Book Men), Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas, Nixon), Brenda Strong (Star Trek: TNG, Desperate Housewives), and many more. #talkTREK is one component of a yearlong, multi-faceted celebration of Roddenberry's creative genius and his contributions to culture and the humanities. In an effort to promote Roddenberry's ethos of kindness, inclusivity, and always working to better yourself, Roddenberry Entertainment and Star Trek fan communities are encouraging everyone to #thinkTREK: to see and act on Star Trek's philosophies in our own personal relationships, in daily life, and in the world. The #thinkTREK campaign initiatives include not only #talkTREK but also #seeTREK, #beTREK, and #makeTREK, each playing out online and across social media. Thousands of Star Trek fans have engaged with the #seeTREK and #beTREK campaigns by submitting examples of where they see Star Trek out in the world (like in a pie presented to look like the Starship Enterprise), and of real-life people and stories who represent being Star Trek, which means reflecting the values embraced by the series, like an astronaut who achieved his dreams after starting out in life as a farmworker. In #buildTREK, master builder Samuel Hatmaker is designing and building a series of four iconic moments from the series out of toy bricks, the first of which was Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura's Kiss, which was shared by Collider. For more information on Roddenberry Entertainment and their centennial celebrations, please visit Roddenberry.com/thinktrek, or follow their social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Also this year, The Roddenberry Foundation has donated $100,000 to the Comic-Con Museum to support renovation and programming plans, recognizing the Museum's efforts to highlight inclusivity, innovation, and creativity while honoring Gene Roddenberry's legacy.
On this edition of ST, we look into the upcoming Tulsa Chautauqua 2021, a virtual festival happening next week (June 8th through the 12th) on the theme of "20th Century Visionaries: Catalysts for Change." For this series of events -- which will be presented this year in an online-only format -- five different scholar/performers will offer entertaining and educational presentations and workshops on the lives of Gene Rodenberry, Gertrude Bell, Marshall McLuhan, Marie Curie, and Frank Lloyd Wright. For each of these important historical figures, an individual has extensively researched their life and work -- and thus each individual will "perform" these personae in period costumes. Our guests today are the scholar/performers who will present Rodenberry and McLuhan. For more information on this free festival, or to register, please go to the Tulsa Chautauqua 2021 website .
Aly is co-founder and executive director of UPchieve, a free 24 seven online tutoring, non-profit organization that provides high school students with academic support to finish high school, attend college, and achieve upward mobility.Eligible students can create a free account and request help in a specific subject (e.g., Algebra) 24/7. When UPchieve gets a request, we search for an available volunteer who is certified in that subject. In under 5 minutes, the student and volunteer are paired in our virtual classroom.Their mission: To democratize access to academic support so that all students have an equal opportunity to finish high school, attend college, and achieve upward mobility.Aly has been featured on the Forbes 30 under 30 lists for education and honored as a Rodenberry fellow in 2021. Aly was a low-income student without access to many things despite her being an excellent student. She started in community college and worked her way to an amazing education and a job at JP Morgan. But her desire to serve in the community was difficult for her to nurture at that job because of the hours, and she decided to start UPcheive. UPcheive makes it easy for students to get help when they need it and makes it easy for volunteers to fit volunteering into their busy lives."Coming up with the idea was easy, but leaving JP Morgan to start UPchieve was difficult." - Aly.Aly shares about the early days of starting her nonprofit and how there isn't an equivalent to angel investors for nonprofits.They talk about what they've learned from the now over 8,000 students and 7,000 volunteers on the platform. They've learned to prioritize availability over all else since it's unreasonable to expect students to know when they will run into issues with their homework. And how to revise their volunteer process to make it very easy to volunteer in the most inflexible schedules.We highlight some of the amazing funding awards that have been won by UPchieve that speak to the technical prowess of their platform and their impact on students.Want to learn more about how you can support UPchieve. Visit their website and donate today.
This ep we have Brad on to talk about his first and only true love, Star Trek.... Also Brad was supposed to write the notes for this ep, but he just didn't....
We talk about Star Trek: Enterprise. I don't remember how this one went, but I enjoyed checking out the show.
Wow. This was a fantastic episode. Bringing back Riker and Troi wasn't just a nostalgia stunt. These character were very well used to fantastic effect. This is a beautiful character episode that adds more depth to Riker and Troi's characters than was done by any of the TNG movies. This episode is packed with scene after scene that makes you feel a variety of emotions. Let's dig in and geek out over this wonderful piece of television. ----more---- This is episode 17 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about Star Trek Picard episode 7 - Nepenthe. I’m away at Ulverstone in North-West Tasmania for a church family camp. So you might hear some rolling waves or even a fairy penguin or two in the background of this episode, because Star Trek waits for no one. And wow, what an episode we have to talk about! The description on Memory Alpha reads Picard and Soji transport to the planet Nepenthe, home to some old and trusted friends. As the rest of La Sirena's crew attempt to join them, Picard helps Soji make sense of her recently unlocked memories. Meanwhile, Hugh and Elnor are left on the Borg cube and must face an angered Narissa. The episode was written by Samantha Humphrey and Michael Chabon It was directed by Douglas Aarniokoski And it first aired on 5 March 2020. And of course, it guest starred Jonathan Frakes and Marini Sirtis. Make it so. Man, I loved this episode. It exemplified what Star Trek Picard is, when it’s at it’s best. It was a slow-paced deeply character-driven story. This week’s flashback takes place just 3 days ago, taking us back to Episode 3 of the show. We get to see a little of what went on between Commodore Oh and Agnus. She asks a few questions about what Agnus told Picard and then she says she’ll show Agnus what will happen if Synthetic lifeforms are allowed to exist. And she performs a mind meld with her. So up until now, my assumption has been that Oh is a Romulan posing as a Vulcan. But can Romulans perform mind melds? We know they are an offshoot of the Vulcan race, and we know that mind melds are a very ancient Vulcan practice, but to my knowledge we have never seen, in any canon or non-canon source, a Romulan perform a mind meld. Raffi and Maddox both believe there are Starfleet officers complicit with the Zhat Vash behind this whole thing, so maybe Oh really is a Vulcan, just working with the Romulans. It seems pretty obvious to me that she knows Rizzo is a Romulan. We don’t know exactly know what she showed Agnus. A few rapid flashes of images. I believe there was an exploding planet in there. We don’t have a full enough picture to see what exactly it was to change Agnus’s mind so completely, to drive her to betray Picard and murder Maddox. It had to be really compelling. So far, we haven’t seen any compelling motivation from the bad guys in this show, other than, “they hate synthetic life”, which is pretty weak. Did Oh convince her, or mind control her? We don’t know enough. In fact, this flashback doesn’t really tell us anything new, other than a mind meld was performed. Anyway, Oh gets Raffi to swallow a tracking device, which will come back later in the episode. Back in present day, The La Sierenna is caught in a borg tractor beam at the artefact. And poor Hugh is being interrogated by Rizzo. I am so ready for her to die! Rizzo says she can’t kill Hugh because as a Federation citizen, it would be a treaty violation. She doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who cares about treaty violations. Her real motivation here is to get Hugh to talk. She can’t get the information out of him that she needs if he’s dead. So instead, she starts killing ex borg. Knowing how much Hugh cares for them. When Hugh refuses to talk, she let’s the La Sierra go, but sends Narak out to follow them. Elnor stays behind to help Hugh. This is where he is needed. MY biggest question is, where was Elnor while Hugh was being interrogated. Why didn’t he just jump in and behead Rizzo right then and there. What I like here is that the people in this show are not stupid. Rios thinks that Raffi hacked the tractor beam, because that’s what she was trying to do, but within seconds, they realise that’s not the case. They know this is suspicious and they have their guard up from that moment on. That brings us to the planet Nepenthe, which is very earth-like. Looks like a bit of a paradise planet. Picard and Soji emerge from the Sakarian gateway thing and are immediately confronted by a warrior armed with a bow and arrow. Quick aside. Am I the only one terrified that the borg now have the technology to beam a drone onto a planet from lightyears away? One drone is all it would take to cause an apocalypse. And they’re using it solely as a means of escape for the queen. That seems … illogical. Anyway. I love how Picard points out that his heart is solid durateneum. I think this is the first time it’s been made clear to new audiences that Picard has an artificial heart. Of course, it turns out the warrior is a child, and that Picard knows her, and her parents. By this point, I’m sure we’ve all guessed that her parents are Riker and Troi. I love that they named their daughter Kestra, after Deanna’s older sister, who tragically died when she was just Deanna was just a newborn. That story is told in one of the few really good Lwaxana episodes that TNG did “Dark Page”. DS9 did several good Lwaxana episodes, and one bad one. Anyway, I Think that’s a wonderful tribute to her sister. We’ll learn later in the episode about Will and Deanna’s other child, who also has a significant name. Through a nice conversation between Soji and Kestra, we find that Soji trusts nobody, including Picard. After what she’s just been through with Narak, and the shock of finding out her entire life is a life, I really don’t blame her. The way Picard breaks the news to Soji that she’s an android was really sloppy. He should have handled that with a lot more delicacy. He should have put off Kestra’s question, and taken the time during the walk to break the news to Soji as gently as he could. Personally, I think that discovering you’re not a “real person” but are actually artificial, would be a massive shock, and quite a difficult thing to accept. But this is all another case of Picard being a good man, but not perfect. Sometimes he stumbles, even just on the little things. And I love that about this show. He kinda stumbles again when he tells her that Dahj WAS real. That implies that Dahj is dead. She assumes this whole thing is just another mind game. Again, I don’t blame her. And we get our first glimpse of Troi. I love the look of joy on her face when she sees Picard. She knows immediately he’s in trouble. And then she just clouds over as she senses the depth of what Picard has been through, and is still going through. Because, of course, she’s an empath. Marina Sirtis is absolutely fantastic in this episode. It’s a good reminder of what a great actor she is. Something Star Trek didn’t always give her the opportunity to show. When Picard introduces Soji and Dr. Soji Asher, she says “just Soji.” She’s just learned that her doctorate, and her surname are both lies. Nice touch. Then we get to see Riker for the first time. He may not have his wife’s empathic abilities but he can either see in Picard’s face, or just knows he wouldn’t show up for a social call. And so Riker says “Shields Up!” That’s such an iconic Riker line. Loved it. And I just love that Riker has shields on his house. He’s prepared for all eventualities. I thought he said “we’ve had some problems with the Xindi, would have been a nice nod to Enterprise, but no, it’s the Kzinti. Have you heard of them? Top points if you recognise the name. I didn’t. But they’re a race of aggressive felines that were previously seen in Star Trek The Animated series. So that’s a pretty deep cut. Deanna recognises the emotion on Soji’s face and acknowledges that she’s been through genuine trauma. But she can’t sense those emotions. This makes me wonder if she could sense Data’s emotions once he installed the emotion chip. The movies never answered that question. Either way, Troi respects the truth of Soji’s emotions, artificial or not. Picard tells his friends that he is in over his head. I think this is the first time he’s slowed down long enough to truly realise that. He’s lost his crew, and his plan was not as fully formed as he’d thought. He was so focussed on finding and rescuing Soji, he hadn’t given any thought to what he’d do once he found her. He needs a place to regroup and formulate a new plan. And where better than he with his most trusted friends. Will Riker, his right hand, and Deanna Troi, his conscience. I’m loving the relationship the Rikers have with their daughter. It seems like a very happy family. And that’s probably, partly because of, rather than just in spite of, the tragedy we’ll learn about later. From what we see of it, Nepenthe is a beautiful world, but I would have liked it if it were just a little more alien. Apparently they have venomous animals called bunnicorns, but they look exactly like rabbits. The name bunnicorn is a bit on the nose. Actually, a lot on the nose. I know they don’t have infinite budget, but I’d have liked it if they’d used a CGI creature, just to add a little alien-ness to the planet. At least in TOS they put horns on the dog. Kestra is fascinated that Soji is Data’s daughter. She asks her if she plays the violin or likes Sherlock Holmes, two things we know about Data. That’s a very kid way to approach it. Kestra is more fascinated with the little human details about Soji, than the superhuman things. The fact that she has mucus fascinates her. This reminds me of the time Julian Bashir met Data. He wasn’t impressed that Data had super strength and speed. He was fascinated that Data breathed and had a circulatory system. Soji doesn’t understand in what sense Data could be her father. She was created long after Data died. Picard really needs to take some time to explain this whole neuronic clone thing to her. I like the relationship that is developing between Kestra and Soji in this episode. There are so many great character scenes. It’s just one after another after another. I like the subtle little moment as Deanna sighs before opening the door to Thad’s room. We learn that the Rikers had a son. Had being the operative word. Last week would have been his 18th birthday. So that’s a very sad development. I love the photo of Picard in uniform holding baby Thad. Picard has such a smile on his face. By this point in his life, he’d mostly gotten over his fear of children, but this was just any child. This was the child of his dearest friends. Of course he’s gonna have a huge smile plastered all over his face. I love the acknowledgement from Picard that as Kestra’s aching for her brother slowly fades, it brings a whole different ache to Deanna and Will. I love the writing in this episode. Their son’s name was Thaddeus Riker. Thad was likely named after Colonel Thaddius Riker, an ancestor of Will’s. He fought in the American Civil War during the 1860s and was named Old Iron Boots by his fellow soldiers. Will knows this story well, and was shocked once to learn that Colonel Riker was rescued by a Q posing as a human. It’s doubtful he remembers this detail, however, as he was transported to the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant to give evidence in a trial against the Q, before being returned to the alpha quadrant with his memories erased. Rios has figured out that somebody is tailing them. Again, the crew are not stupid. Another thing Rios and Raffi are noticing is that Agnes is not herself. Agnes makes a comment about wanting to be the fun crewmember who suggests hiding in a comet that turns out to be a giant gormagander. This seems like a bit of a Star Wars reference, referring, obviously, to Empire Strikes Back, where the Millennium Falcon hides in a cave in an asteroid, that turns out to be a giant space worm. But it’s also a reference to something that was introduced into Star Trek lore by Star Trek Discovery. The gormagander is a space wale. A sentient animal that flies through space. They were on the endangered species list in the 23rd century, so the fact that Agnes is making this comment suggest that maybe they are a little more plentiful in the 24th. Which is cool. Agnus is really out of character at this point. She suggests abandoning the mission, abandoning Picard and abandoning Soji. She was so excited to meet a real living synth, and now she wants no part of it. She’s getting really bad at hiding her true feelings. I love the little shorthand between Rios and Raffi. With just a look, she says “Leave it to me, I’ll work on her.” And with a look of his own, Rios says, “Go for it, she’s all yours.” That demonstrates the shared history of two old friends better than Raffi’s use of JL as a nickname for Picard. Not that I particularly mind the JL thing. Next we get yet another wonderful scene. This time between Picard and Riker. Picard is still trying to protect the Rikers from all this and he thinks the best way to do that is to tell them nothing about his situation. Riker’s comeback is both stinging and heartbreaking. “I was just thinking about how great it would be if ignorance of danger was all it took to keep it away from the people we love.” It’s a very personal statement for Riker, as we see him choke up while he says it. The soil on Nepenthe has regenerative powers. Things grow really well here. It’s why they came here. It seems Captain Riker gave up his Starfleet career to move here to Napenthe for the sake of his son’s health. He and Deanna thought that maybe it would help. Soji is exhibiting more and more android traits. Now that she’s activated, she’s found she can read a 300 page book in a few seconds. And she gives a little head tilt. I recognised that as very Data long before Riker called it out. I’m sure you did too. Riker shows Picard how foolish he’s been trying to keep everything to himself, but essentially recounting the entire story of the show so far. He’s not an idiot any more than Rios and Raffi. And he reminds Picard that he’s not the captain of a starship anymore. He’s dealing with a teenager. Something Picard has no experience with. But Riker does. We get some interesting insight into Thad. He grew up on Starships, mostly, on the USS Titan presumably. He never felt like he had a homeworld. His mother was from Betazed. His father was from Earth. Thad didn’t feel like either of those planets was his home. He was a child of space. But he was fascinated by the idea of a homeworld and invented his own. Ardani. He came up with various different cultures and even whole languages. It’s very creative. I can so identify with that as a writer. Already, this boy that we’ve never seen on screen has so much more depth than half the characters on Discovery. Interesting that. I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m bagging out Discovery. I like Discovery, but I must admit, I’m loving Picard more. Eventually, when they came to Nepenthe, for Thad’s health, it became his homeworld, and he loved it. He had Manadaxic neurosclerosis, a silicon-based virus. The heart-breaking thing is that it was curable, using positronic technology, which of course was banned after the synth attack on mars. The machine that could have saved Thad’s life was made illegal. I wonder if Riker and Troi tried to get their hands on it through illegal means to save their son. This ties into an interesting discussion which starts with a comparison of grown verses replicated food, and culminates in the question of whether real is always better than synthetic. You know what I love about this scene. It’s allowing Troi to be a counsellor again. Her character was used pretty badly in most of the TNG movies. She got to be a counsellor for one brief but fantastic scene in Generations, and then that was it. Voyager gave her the chance to do a little more, but it’s been a long time since we’ve really seen Troi being so awesome in her field. It’s fantastic. But Soji still doesn’t trust anyone. All these friendly faces, these people being caring, just when she needs that more than ever, it could just be another mind game like the one Narak played on her in the meditation chamber. Again, I don’t blame her. And yet I know these people. I know she can trust them. Picard responds to this with bluntness. As Riker said, Picard’s not so great with teenagers. He may not be up to the challenge. But then Troi calls him out and says he had it coming when Soji shoves him. “To you, the idea that this could be some kind of subterfuge or simulation is preposterous, but to her, it would be more of the same.” And then she makes a great suggestion. Pretend our dinner table is the ready room of the enterprise, or more accurately, the conference lounge. I really love Troi and Riker in this episode, but especially Troi. So Hugh is determined to take the cube from the Zhat Vash. He wants to protect the Xbs. As we established last week, they are victims. Hugh is one of the few people who care about them. Sadly, the stupid-face Rizzo appears at that moment. And here we run into that problem. No matter how good you are with a sword, you’re useless against a phaser. At least a lightsaber can deflect blaster bolts. But Elnor just carries a metal sword. Fortunately for him, the Zhat Vash have a duelling tradition of hand-to-hand combat against the Qowat Milat. If that weren’t the case, Elnor would be dead now. But in some ways, this is subterfuge on Rizzo’s part, and there is a cost. Tragically, that cost is Hugh. What sucks the most is that Elnor fails to kill Rizzo because she beams out at the last second. Oh man. I’ll be cheering when Elnor finally chops off her head. I can’t believe Hugh died. That’s so sad. This show has quite a high body count. At least died a hero, trying to save the Xbs from the Zhat Vash. I hope Elnor can fulfil his legacy by saving them in Hugh’s name. You know what upsets me the most about Hugh’s death here. We’ll never get to see him meet Seven. I was sure those two would share scenes together in this show. And we’ll never get to see him reunite with Geordi, his first friend. I feel like both Descent and now Picard have robbed us of that reunion. Which is sad. Raffi is trying to draw out what’s bothering Agnes. She thinks it’s just the pain of losing Maddox. But then Agnes absolutely breaks down. She can’t hold in all the stuff that she’s hiding. But before they can really dig deeper into this, Rios announces that Narak is back, still following them, which doesn’t seem possible. Remember that tracking device Oh had Agnes swallow? I like how Riker just casually calls Troi Imzadi like a pet name now. Back in TNG, they would use this term sparingly, only on special occasions. But they, they’re been married for 20 years. They’re extremely comfortable with one another. Imzadi seems a natural pet name to use at this point in their relationship. WE get a classic Star Trek conference scene, but it has pizza! I’ve missed these scenes. So having one again, with Riker and Troi, but also their daughter and Dahj. That was so cool. And did I mention pizza? I also like how Kestra makes a worthwhile contribution to the discussion, but not in a way that feels unrealistic for a child of her age. I really like Kestra. Rios is playing an interesting game with Agnes. I don’t for one minute think he truly believes that Raffi is being tracked, on purpose or otherwise. Given the strange way Agnes is acting, I think he suspects she has something to do with it, and he’s trying to draw her out by expressing his fake suspicions of Raffi. Remember, he already knows that Raffi was doing down on Freecloud, and why she returned to the La Sirena. And it kinda works. She admits, “it’s not her.” And then we get a very dark scene. Agnes replicates a neutron-toxin. It appears this is a suicide attempt. Is this just because she feels guilty, or does she think killing herself will stop Narak tracking them? Maybe this is part of her mission from Oh. I think she is probably trying to prevent Narak from tracking them, from the way she kind of psychs herself into it, saying “you can do this,” which was horrifying, by the way. I wanted to reach into the screen and stop her. But I couldn’t She injects herself. And then she collapses. And then she starts foaming at the mouth. This was horrific. And my theory is proven true, because once she starts to die, Narak suddenly loses the signal. The EMH gets reactivated and manages to save her life, but she’s stuck in a coma. I wonder what Rios’s idea was, the one Raffi wasn’t gonna like. We never actually get to find out. That’s an odd bit of storytelling. I wonder if that will come back later. If not, why include that line at all? Meanwhile Elnor finds a tag and presses it. It activates a Ferris Ranger SOS. I guess he’s calling Seven of Nine to come help him. Cool!. But what on earth was it doing hanging here in a Borg cube? That’s kind of weird. Now that they’re not being tracked, the La Sirena can finally meet Picard on Nepenthe. I kinda laughed when Picard said his new crew carry way more baggage than the TNG crew ever did. Because, of course, Rodenberry wouldn’t allow them to have baggage. Riker makes it clear he’s still on active reserve with Starfleet, but it would take a very good reason to get him back in uniform again. We have another nice scene between Picard and Riker as they sit by the pond. We do see an interesting rock formation in the background, that lends a little alien-ness to this planet. But then we get an awesome scene between Soji and Kestra. It seems Soji has lost one sister, only to gain another. And I LOVE how Kestra talks about what got her through her hard times was her parents. As a parent myself that affects me deeply. I think the hope of every parent is that their child might be able to say those words to someone. She urges Soji to let Picard be that support to her, a father figure. Those two have a bit of work ahead of them to really let each other in. In noticed in the credits that Jay Chattaway was credited as having written Lullaby #2 in this episode. Not sure what that piece of music was. Jay Chattaway was a regular composer on Star Trek back in the 90s. Especially on Voyager. Maybe it was just a little music queue that they referenced in the score of this episode. I’m really not sure. This was a phenomenal episode. It gave me such a Star Trek: The Next Generation feel, and yet, it was very much not TNG. TNG only ever tried to do a character episode like this one. Family. This show takes the best of what we remember nostalgically, but does something very new and fresh with it. I’ve really enjoyed Star Trek Picard up until now, but if I didn’t already, Nepenthe has definitely made me love it. Well done to everyone involved in bringing this beautiful chapter of the story to our screens. Next week’s episode is called Broken pieces. I wonder what it will bring. A quest to find Soji’s homeworld, no doubt. It’ll be very exciting. As for my walk to Mordor, I got a whole lot of steps in yesterday. Packing for our trip and then walking along the beach with my daughter. I just encountered Old Man Willow, and my next milestone is Tom Bombadil’s house. That’ll be a trippy experience. Stay tuned for the next episode of the Nerd Heaven Podcast. Please consider giving the show a review wherever you listen to podcasts, or if you are watching on youTube, click that like button. Also, if you’d like to support what I’m doing here, you could buy me a hot chocolate. Just go to buymeacoffee.com/adamdavidcollings. Have a fantastic week. Live long and prosper. Make it so.
Jean Luc Picard finally takes command of a new ship and crew in the third episode of Star Trek Picard. Join me for a detailed review and analysis of this episode. This one feels more Star Trek than the previous two. The plot is beginning to heat up. Plus, the return of Hugh, and revelations about Dahj and Soji that raise many more questions than they answer. There's a lot going on in this episode. Geek out with me! ----more---- Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars, and I am a nerd. This is episode 13 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the third episode of Star Trek Picard, titled The End is The Beginning. First of all, though, I have to apologise for something. In the last two episodes, I’ve been saying Akiva Goldsmith, but the man’s name is actually Akiva Goldsman. So, sorry about that. I realised my mistake while listening to other podcasts on the show. You know your eyes sometimes just see what they think is there, rather than what is really there. Okay. Onto this week’s episode. The description on Memory Alpha reads Completely unaware of her special nature, Soji continues her work and captures the attention of the Borg cube research project's executive director. After rehashing past events with a reluctant Raffi, Picard seeks others willing to join his search for Bruce Maddox, including pilot and former Starfleet officer Cristóbal Rios. This episode was written by Michael Chabon and James Duff It was directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper And it first aired on the 6th of February 2020. And as Picard said for the first time this episode, Engage! Well there's certainly a lot of cool stuff happening in this episode. And this is definitely the most Star Trek feeling episode we’ve had so far. First of all, do you remember last week, when I was disappointed that Picard’s old com badge made the wrong sound when he tapped it? Well, in the “Previously on Star Trek Picard” bit, they changed it to make the correct sound. But then, later in this episode, it makes the wrong sound again. What’s that about? Anyway, let’s talk about the story. We get a few quick flashbacks of the attack on Mars yet again, and then we cut to earth. It’s still 14 years ago, and we see Admiral Picard. Inm Uniform! It’s a uniform we haven’t seen before, except in the comics. I gotta say it’s a thrill to see Picard in Starfleet uniform again, even if it isn’t the familiar uniform from the TNG movies. Jean Luc has been presenting his plan to Starfleet command. The rescue fleet is gone, but there are still options. Using reserve duty officers and mothballed ships they could still mount a rescue. Not as significant as the originally planned rescue, but it’s something. But if they used synthetic labour, it would be far less reduced. His first officer, Rafi Mussiker is keen to know how it went. We’re seeing a very different Rafi here. She still has her starfleet optimism. Her idealism. But it’s about to be crushed. They said no. As Picard says, half of them never wanted to help the Romulans in the first place. (something I still find a little hard to believe). We learn a little more about the situation with synthetic lifeforms. Not only is the development of new synths banned, but all current synthetic lifeforms must be dismantled. This seems like quite an overreaction, but again, I can kind of see where Starfleet are coming from. They need to be very careful to prevent a tragedy like this from happening again. But what they really need to do is understand what caused it. They say it was a fatal flaw in the unit’s operating systems. But, in that case, you find the bug and you fix it. You don’t say “all computers must now be dismantled.” I’m a computer programmer. I do this for a living. As rafi says, something smells off about all this. It seems like there is a conspiracy at the highest levels pushing for this overreaction. Could they even be responsible for programming the synths to attack in the first place? That’s a trope we’ve seen in Star Trek before. This also explains why B4 was dismantled. Rafi thinks the tal shiar are behind it, but Picard makes a very logical point. Why would the Romulans do something to sabotage their own rescue efforts. It doesn’t make sense. Weird question, why is Rafi, Picard’s first officer, therefore, a command officer, wearing yellow? Commodore Oh last week made sense. She’s head of Starfleet Security. It’s been established they wear yellow. But Rafi? Picard’s departure from Starfleet is seen in a different light through this flashback. He didn’t just run away in a childish tantrum. He asked them to accept his rescue plan, or accept his resignation. To his shock, they accepted his resignation. And now we learn why present day raffi is so angry with Picard. He gave up. Ironically, just like starfleet did. Raffi holds Picard accountable for the same thing Picard holds starfleet accountable for. In Picard’s mind, there is really nothing more he can do. Offering his resignation was his last hope. Now, without Starfleet, he’s out of options. But Rafi’s not ready to give up. She wants to find a way. Somehow. Who is right? Clearly Rafi didn’t succeed. But if Picard had kept trying with her, could they have succeeded? We’ll never know. Back in the present, Picard makes the same request to Rafi he made to Starfleet. I need a ship and crew to go find Bruce Maddox. And she gives him the same answer. And then…...she smokes. She puts a flow off some plant she calls snake leaf, puts it in some kind of electronic cigarette thing, and she smokes. Honestly, this pulled me out of the story even more than the swear word last week. Gene Roddenberry had a very strict rule as far back as the original series in the 60s. Nobody smokes in the 23rd century. As I’ve said, I don’t always agree with Rodenberry’s rules, but I credit this one as why the original Star Trek has been as timeless as it is (old fashioned looking sets no withstanding). Smoking was very common in the 60s, but much less so now. If you’d had Captain Kirk puffing on a cigarette on the bridge of the enterprise, it would have firmly rooted the show in the 60s, and would feel very wrong today. Kirk did smoke briefly in Star Trek 6, to keep warm on Rure Penthe, and it pulled me out of the story then as well. And later in this episode we see Rios chewing on a cigar. I know Raffi has been through a lot. Character-wise, it’s a realistic move. Anywhere else, it would add an element of gritty realism. But I’m starting to think that Star Trek exists in it’s own little reality. Does realism actually feel unrealistic in Star Trek? I’ve always though I wanted realistic Star Trek, but the F bomb and now the smoking have me wondering, DO I really want realism in Star Trek? Emotional realism from the characters, absolutely. But touches like this? I’m not sure. I guess I need to keep thinking about it. But speaking of that character emotional realism, I’m loving what they’re doing with Rafi. She’s carrying 14 years worth of hurt and rage. But why, at the end of the 24th century, where money and poverty don’t exists, is Rafi living in what she describes as an embarrassing hovel? I can only assume it’s by choice. She’s sealed herself off like a hermit as Vasquez Rocks. Yes, for the first time, this iconic star trek location is being used as itself, not as an alien planet. She burns picard with a scathing truth. It might have been nice to hear from you, and not just because you need me to hook you up with a ship and pilot. I’m loving character scenes like this in the new show. This scene in particular is effective. Beautiful writing and acting. Patrick Stewart is a phenomenal actor. We all know that. So, he kind of needs to be surrounded by other good actors, or else it really shows. Michelle Hurd seems to be up to the task. She can carry a scene with Stewart very well. Now we get to meet Hugh for the first time. We knew he would be in the show, but this is his introduction. We learn that he’s the director of the Romulan borg reclamation project. But what lead him here? The last time we saw him was in Descent. He was leading a small group of Borg who had been disconnected from the continuum and regained their individuality. Where’s he been up to all these years. Where are the others he was leading? How did he get involved in this Romulan project? We’re still to learn all this. And I’m hoping we will at some point. Hugh is very impressed with Soji, the way she speaks to the drones in their own language. She has respect and compassion for the ex borg. Apparently this is rare. Hugh tells us that ex borg are among the most despised people in the galaxy. Which is interesting because Picard is an ex borg. I think the difference is that he doesn’t look like a nex borg. He was reclaimed much sooner than most, so all of his visible implants were able to be fully removed. So Hugh is allowing Soji to interview someone called Ramdha. She’s a romulan ex borg. And this is weird. Soji has seen her dossier from before she was assimilated. Hugh is shocked by this. Soji says, “I find if I ask people for help they’re happy to give it.” So….does soji have some kind of android powers of persuasion? I suspect this is something we’ll come back to. Picard has already figured out that the Federation has to be complicit for the Tal Shiar to be operating so openly on Earth. Raffi saw Romulan connections 14 years ago. Picard didn’t believe her then. She claims to have concrete evidence that a high ranking starfleet official allowed the attack on mars to go forward, in order to stop the rescue mission going forward. That’s…... pretty heavy. Raffi refuses to help Picard on this mission, but she does offer to connect him with a pilot. That’s the depth of their relationship, even though she currently hates him. I like this because it shows that Picard has that same sense of family with Raffi that he had with Riker and all the others on the Enterprise. We didn’t get to see it develop, but it’s there. And that makes sense. Picard had a life during all those years he wasn’t on our screens. Raffi is new to us but she sure isn’t new to Jean Luc. The show sells this well, and so we’re willing to just accept raffi as if we’d always known her. Picard does form strong family bonds with those he works closely with. When he was younger, he didn’t show it as openinly, but it was still there. And then, we see Commodore Oh wearing sunglasses. Have you ever seen something more comical? More out of place? Ok. Realistically, in the 24th century, you still need a way to shade your eyes in the bright sun. Makes sense. But seeing a starfleet officer wearing present day sunnies, and a vulcan at that. It’s not wrong, it just pulled me out of the story again, much like the swearing and the smoking. It’s weird isn’t it. The realism touches seem to be having the opposite effect on me. That’s really strange. Although, memory alpha reminds us that vulcans have inner eyelids that make sunglasses unnecessary, based on an episode of enterprise. But I’m still suspecting that Oh is Romulan, even though everyone, including Picard, believes she is vulcan. So is this some clever foreshadowing? This is interesting. Hugh says he’s come to see patient 4822 stroke 2. I have the subtitles on so I know how to spell things. Looking at the way it’s written, I’d pronounce that as slash 2, not stroke 2. I’ve never heard anyone pronounce the slash character as stroke. Is that an American thing? Anyway When romulans are assimilated, and then reclaimed, they seem to lose their minds. All the romulan former drones have severe mental illness. That’s fascinating. Is that a peculiarity of romulan Physiology? That’s fascinating, but also, very sad. It means that if a Romulan is assimilated by the borg, they’re never coming back. Even if they are restored, they’ll never be the same again. Although that contradicts the voyager episode Unity. I’m sure there were Romulan ex borg in that episode. I’d have to re-watch it to be certain. I love the scene when Picard calls Rafi. You’re doing the research, aren’t you? No I’m sending you all I have on Bruce Maddox. I don’t want it. Carry on. That really amused me. That’s character-based humour done the right way. Then we get our first look at the new ship, and we meet Santiago Cebrera’s character. Rios. I love how it plays the TNG theme when Picard first breams aboard the ship. He probably hasn’t set foot on a starship in 14 years. I love that Rios has an EMH. Makes perfect sense that after 20 years they’d be so common that everyone would have on on their ship. This is the perfect situation for one. Little ship with minimal crew. Rios isn’t gonna hire a doctor to travel with him in case he needs one occasionally. A holographic doctor would be a bit like a microwave. Something everybody has, and nobody can remember how we ever lived without them. It’s also logical that his EMH looks like him. By now this is a mature technology. Of course you’d be able to skin your EMH with a custom appearance and personality that you find agreeable. It’s possibly telling of rios’s character that his choice is to have holographic representations of himself, with various different accents. Let’s talk a little about Rios’s ship. On the outside, it doesn’t look very star trek at all, in design. Based on the trailers, I didn’t think the inside looked very star trek either, but now that I’m seeing details from various angles, I’m noticing little touches like the navigation thing at the from between the two forward stations, just like on Kirk’s Enterprise. And I think I can even see some LCARS on one of the consoles. This ship has elements that root it in the Star Trek universe, while still feeling very fresh and new. We get hints of a rich backstory for Rios. He was the XO of a starfleet ship called the ibn Majid, named after an Arabian navigator and cartographer from the 1400s. It strikes me how little I know of non western history. Apparently, the ibn Majid ws erased from official starfleet records, kind of like the Discovery. Rios served a grand heroic captain, who died horribly. Somebody we know, I wonder? Clearly they’re hinting at something significant in the past there, and I can’t wait to learn what it’s all about. Raffi locates Maddox on a place called freecloud. Looks like a casino. I wonder if we’ll see some Ferengi when we get there! Wouldn’t it be interesting if Quard had moved up in the world. I’d love to see him. We need some more deep space nine references in Picard. DS9 was always my favourite. Anyway, I noticed the text Gorn Egg on the screen as she’s researching. Significant? Judging by her facial expression, the name Freecloud has great emotional significance to Raffi, and clearly negative emotions. I love the emergency navigation hologram fanboying all over Picard. He name drops some important references to the past. The Q continuum, Picard’s role as arbiter of succession. Cool stuff. This show seems to handle fan service better than any other show I’ve seen. It does it right, in a way that feels completely natural. There’s a nice touching scene between Picard and Laris. I’m gonna miss Laris and Zhuban just as much as Picard will. I hope we see them again as the season goes on. I chuckled quite a bit when Hugh called Soji a know it all. Lots of characters in Star Trek are knit alls, if we’re really honest, but I don’t think anybody has ever been called out on it before. There’s a whole lot of interesting stuff going on between soji and Ramhda. Cool cultural details about false doors on Romulan houses. Stuff about romulan mythology. I don’t know what it all means, yet. Ramdha knows about soji. She is one of the twins. One lives and one dies. She says she recognises Soji from tomorrow. What on earth is that about? Are we hinting at time travel? This interesting. But we don’t get any answers in this episode. There’s a whole mystery about what caused this borg cube to die. And it seems it has something to do with ramdha’s ship, the last ship assimilated by the cube. I’m hungry to learn more about this, too. There’s another great action scene as Romulan comandos invade chateu picard. I like how they acknowledge Picard needs protecting. He’s not a young man anymore. But this doesn’t diminish him in any way. And then Agnes Jurati is forced to kill a romulan to save them all. She is clearly shaken up by this. Of course she is. She’s not a soldier. Taking a life takes a huge toll on people. The episode doesn’t take a lot of time to really delve into the emotional impact this will have on her. I hope they continue to give this time to develop over future episodes. It should haunt her. The romulan forehead ridges in this show are a lot subtler than they were in TNG. So much so that at first I thought those were just creases in the actor’s face that plays zhuban. But apparently, it’s northerners that have the ridges. In episode 1, I thought it was an overloading disruptor that killed dahj, but I have to agree with everyone else now, it seems these zhat vash Romulans spit some kind of acid. There is clearly more to learn about Dahj and Soji. The romulan fear of them seems to be much more than a generic hatred of androids. Two romulans refer to her as the destroyer. Interesting. Soji contacts her “mother” just like Dahj did. The mother lies to soji about dahj being okay. I'm pretty certain the mother doesn’t exist, but is just a part of the girls’ programming. And just like dahj, soji gets flashes of knowledge that she shouldn’t have. Risso is back on the cube, and no longer disguised as a human. Not sure why. She and Narak are … strangely intimate for brother and sister. All the talk of Rios being expensive to hire, and Agnes earning her keep, is kinda of strange in a world where we know they have no money. That never made any sense anyway. I have to imagine that people like Rios probably interact outside of the federation a lot, so they use money. But where is Picard getting the money to pay for Rios’s services? I’m living the longer transporter effect, that we saw when Picard and Laris beamed into Dahj’s apartment, and also on Rios’s ship. It’s very reminiscent of the tng transporter, just updated. I’m really liking Agnes. Her youthful innocence helps balance out the world-weary characters like Raffi and Rios. Raffi still doesn’t want to join Picard’s mission,but she wants to ride with them to freecloud, for reasons she won’t disclose. Interesting. So Picard has a new crew. They’re a motley lot. It’s going to be an interesting ride. And then….he says it. Picard says “engage”. And as the TNG theme swells in all its wonderful glory, the ship jumps to warp. I’ve watched that scene 3 times and I still get goosebumps. Now, it’s star trek! I love it. No doubt, there will be people who say it’s taken too long to get to this point. But i’m going to disagree with that. I’ve enjoyed the slow burn, taking time to let Picard get to this point on Earth. Exploring setting and character. But this all makes good sense, and the reason is story structure. Remember, we’ve been told this show is a 10 hour movie. Another way to look at it, is it’s a novel on TV in 10 chapters. The episodes of this show are made in chunks of 3. A collection of 3 episodes are all directed by the same person. These first 3 were directed by Hanelle M Culpepper. The next 3 will be directed by Jonathan Frakes. Akiva Goldsman described these first three as act 1 of the story. In story structure, act 1 takes us up to the first plot point at the 25 percent mark of the book, and that’s roughly where we are now. Something significant happens and at the 25% mark, the character reacts to it, and will spend the rest of the story reacting to it. This is the moment when the protagonist really engages with the plot. They have a mission they’re all in. The next quarter of the story will be quite different. Picard is actively on the case. I’m really enjoying Star Trek Picard so far, and I’m excited for the next part of the story. Bring it on, mate. Well, it’s time for an update on my walk to mordor. I’ve walked 71.1 kms so far. I’ve had my encounter with the black rider, and I’ve met the elves. My next milestone is the edge of farmer maggot’s field, which I’ll hit in 27kms. I need to get out and have another significant walk this weekend. There have been days this last week I’ve been too busy to fit in my working and afternoon walks. I still haven’t read the third Star Trek Picard countdown comic book, but I’ll endeavour to be able to talk about that next week. Don’t forget, if you like Star Trek, which you must, because you’ve listened this far, I think you’ll also love my Jewel of The Stars series. My setting has drawn significant inspiration from Star Trek, and there’s a real boldly going kind of feel to it, even though these people are hardly starfleet. They’re the crew and passengers of a cruise ship that can no longer return home. So there’s a bit of battlestar galactica going on in there as well. You can get book 1 for just 99 cents at all the popular ebook retailers, and it’s also available in print if you prefer that. Also, if you’ve been enjoying my in-depth discussions on Star Trek Picard, why not shout me a hot chocolate. Just go to https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AdamDavidCollings I’ll see you next week when we geek out over episode 4 of Picard, titled “Absolute Candor” Until then Live long and prosper Make it so
In the second episode of Star Trek Picard, Jean-Luc goes head to head with Starfleet, and things get very heated between him and Admiral Clancy. We learn quite a lot in this episode about what the Romulans are up to, but there's plenty more to discover. Basically, a lot of setup this time around, but that doesn't mean it isn't compelling viewing. Join me as we dig deep into this episode of Star Trek Picard. ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars, and I am a nerd. This is episode 12 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the second episode of Star Trek: Picard. Maps and Legends. The description on IMDB reads Picard begins investigating the mystery of Dahj as well as what her very existence means to the Federation. Without Starfleet's support, Picard is left leaning on others for help, including Dr. Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) and an estranged former colleague, Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd). Meanwhile, hidden enemies are also interested in where Picard's search for the truth about Dahj will lead. This episode was Written by Michael Chabon & Akiva Goldsmith And Directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper And it first aired on the 30th of January 2020. Make it so. So episode two begins with a flashback to the synth attack on Mars. There have a bunch of androids who live in a closet. They appear to be manual labourers. I’ve heard a few people say that the shuttles in Picard are copies of Discovery shuttles. And that may be so. I’d have to look at them side by side. By honestly, they fit in much better here. They look like 24th century shuttles. So I don’t see that as a problem. Their use here is fine. Their use in the 23rd century is the issue. One of the human workers is kind of mocking the android F8. This just seems weird to me. I mean, I don’t insult my toaster and make fun of it because it’s not alive. And from what we understand, these androids are not sentient. In fact, this was all established way back in Voyager. In the episode Prototype, B'elanna Torres is asked whether her culture includes artificial lifeforms. She answers “As a matter of fact, it does. They come in different shapes, different sizes, some have limbs, some don’t. Most don’t have your cognitive abilities. I guess you could say that the robots we use are servants in a manner of speaking, but they aren't sentient like you. In fact, we have only one sentient artificial lifeform in our society and he is treated the same as any human.” She, of course, is speaking of Data. What we’re seeing here fits very nicely with what Belana said in Voyager. Anyway, that woman was a bit odd. She didn’t feel very federation. I’ve heard some people saying that this new show completely destroys Gene Roddenberry’s utopian view of the future, and this was before the show even came out. That’s not the way I see it. Deep Space Nine pushed back against the upotian thing, and I think the show was better for it, but I think it might have done a better job. This woman being intolerant of a non-sentient non-living android is a bit clumsy. And then F8’s eyes flash and he starts doing something at the computer which initiates the synthetic attack. What brought this on? Was it the woman’s mockery? Were they rising up because they weren’t being treated with respect? I don’t think so. F8 isn’t capable of feeling offense The flashing eyes seems to represent something activating in him. Some latent programming that somebody has turned on. I’m very interested to learn more. Fun little tid-bit. Looking at the various images in the opening title sequence, we see some 3d glass polygons. We’ve seen something that looks like that before. A holographic portrait of Tasha Yar that belonged to Data. Interesting. I wonder why they chose that particular image. Back at chateau picard, Jean Luc is on the case, trying to learn what he can about the attack on dahj. And we learn about the Romulan myth of the Juk vash. A romulan police even more secret than the tal shiar. Most romulan, including zhaban don’t even believe they exist. In this opening scene, they keep cutting between Picard at his home, talking with his romulan friends, and Picard 7 Laris investigating Dahj’s apartment. It’s pretty confusing, and I’m left having no idea which of these two events took place first, chronologically. Some people enjoy filmmaking tricks like this, but I find it pulls me out of the story. I’m the same with books. I tend to like fairly basic prose that doesn’t draw too much attention to itself, because it’s the story I care most about. We get another look at the new transporter effect. When Picard and Laris beam into the apartment, the effect is longer, and looks more like a modern update on the classic TNG transporter effect. It seems logical there are different types of transporters in operation, and one available to civilians (and retired starfleet officers) would be an older type. Anyway, I like this effect more. Looks more transporter-ish The romulan technology that lets Laris somehow see what was happening in the room several days ago based on particle residue or something, seems a little absurd to me. I know most of the technology in Star Trek is essentially magic, but I have a harder time suspending disbelief with this than I do warp drive, transporters or phasers. Maybe someone more in the know could explain the science, or at least pseudo-science behind it, but I don’t get it. It gives a clear photorealistic image and even sound. Where’s it getting that data from? But the biggest thing here is the massive consequence a technology like this has on the world of Star Trek. If you can do this, it changes everything. So, at the heart of this mysterious Juk Vash is a deep hatred for artificial lifeforms and AI. We just don’t know why yet. Through a bit of technobabble, Picard and Laris figure out that Dahj’s twin sister is not on earth. Which takes us to the borg cube We learn quite a bit more about the cube in this episode. We learn that the romulans are actively trying to reclaim the drones and the technology. Freeing borg and giving them back their individuality, just as was done for Picard and Seven. This is admirable. I’m sure they have selfish reasons as well. They want the borg technology. And given there are very few of them left, I don’t blame them. They need any advantage they can get at this point. Soji’s job is to help seperate the drones from the collective, so I was wrong about her being a psychologist. She’s more of a surgeon. So those glimmers of attraction I thought I saw in Soji’s eyes when she met Narak last episode turned out to be true. And they’ve gone straight from attraction to sleeping together, because that’s how it works in hollywood. Narak is very unwilling to share much about himself, which is funny since last week he was basically, “G’day. I’m Narak. I have a dead brother which makes me very sad.” Now we meet a brand new character. Doctor Moritz Benayoun. He’s an old friend of Picards. They served together on the Stargazer, which, of course, was Picard’s first command. This is a nice touch and reminds us that Picard had a full life before we met him as he first took command of the Enterprise D. I dunno if Benayoun has a great bedside manner, though. His face immediately gives away the bad news, and then he tells Picard he might need a stiff drink. But then this isn’t just a doctor talking to his patient. This is one friend to another. So basically, Picard needs medical clearance so he can approach starfleet and ask to be reactivated to go on a mission to help find Dahj’s sister. Picard is very healthy, except for a little defect in his parietal lobe, which of course, Beverly discovered back in All Good Things. Now I loved this because they’ve acknowledging the intergalactic elephant in the room. Picard’s irumodic syndrome. I’ve been wondering if they’d just ignore that altogether. I’m kind of glad they are acknowledging it, because it will gives us a whole other dimension to Picard’s character. Clearly it’s not as advanced as it was in the alternate future created by Q, but it’s still there. Picard is heading toward dementia. And there’s nothing he can do about it. The dreams are likely part of it. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do with this. Seriously, what other TV show gives us a hero in their 90s dealing with the inevitable onset of dementia? For the sake of friendship, Benayoun is willing to sign Picard off as fit for duty. But he says if he’s lucky, whatever he’s getting himself into will give him before the syndrome does. That’s kinda dark. But I get it. Many people would rather go out in a blaze of glory than slowly descend into madness. Now we get the scene where finally, Picard returns to Starfleet headquarters. The show is beginning to feel a lot more star trek. We hear the starfleet fanfare, and then the TNG theme. And in this moment, Picard is relishing in it. Despite the problems he had in the past with Starfleet, it still means a lot to him. That uniform, everything it stands for, that’s what his life was all about. As he walks into the building, he feels home. Just look at his face. I quite like the public transporter chambers. They look pretty cool and they make sense as a logical form of public transport on 24th century earth. And as he looks up, he sees holographic representations of a constitution class ship and then a galaxy class. Beautiful. OF course, what we’re seeing is the Discovery retconned design for the constitution class. Still not sure what how I feel about that. But you can still imagine that it was a different version prior to a refit when Kirk took command. Anyway, it’s a minor thing. The fact that the guy at reception has no idea who Picard is gives him a harsh reality check that the world has moved on without him. I think anyone at least approaching middle age can probably identify with this a little. Picard tries to be cordial but he’s got some annoyance there which bubbles to the surface. That brings us to the scene with Picard in the admiral’s office. First of all, I want to talk about this whole neuron cloning thing that was brought up last episode and again in this scene. Maddox thinks he can re-create the entirety of what Data was from a single positronic neuron. Which really doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. We’re talking about a neural network here, which is a real world concept in computer science. A neural network is made up of many neurons, connected by pathways of varying weights. It’s a simulation of how the human brain works, at a very basic level. But a neural network is just that. It’s a network. The data, the understanding, is stored in the various weightings between neurons. If you’re got one neuron, you’ve got one neuron. That can’t tell you anything about how all the other neurons relate to each other. All I can think is maybe each neuron stores a cached backup of the entire network within itself, which seems kinda of extreme redundancy. I dunno. It really doesn’t make sense. But, data’s neural network was more than just a software concept. He had a positronic brain, which was a physical hardware device. So, I guess there’s a lot more to it than what we understand in the 21st century. Still, this is probably the hardest thing in the show for me to swallow. I have very mixed feelings about the conversation between Picard and Admiral Clancy. First of all, let’s just get the swear word out of the way. I’ve talked a little about this regarding Discovery in the past. It is basically Star Trek canon that swearing is not a thing in the future. Kirk and Spock are exposed to it in Star Trek IV when they travelled back to the 1980s. Kirk says “It’s simply the way they talk. Nobody listens to you unless you swear every other word.” Both Kirk and Spock attempt to swear to fit in, but neither of them do a particularly good job of it. Spock especially. Clearly, they swearing is not something they’re accustomed to doing, or hearing. Now, I’ll grant you that In Star Trek III and V, Kirk does utter a mild word. And Data also makes that amusing utterance as the Enterprise D is crashing, but I can kind of hand-wave those away. But the sudden propensity of Starfleet officer to drop F bombs, that’s not Star Trek. I argue it’s not canon. Plus, Star Trek has always been a family show. Does this add anything? Maybe. Enough to make it worth losing the younger audience? I’m not convinced. However, I’ll say this for Picard. The way that word was used in Discovery was very badly done. Tilly says “this is so effing cool”. It added nothing to the drama. It wasn’t used to emphasise strong emotions. It was basically just the writers saying “Hey, we’re on streaming now. We can swear…...because we can.” Contrast that with how it is used here. It powerfully gets across Clancy’s emotions. It shows us a lot about who she is, about how she’s feeling, and about what she thinks of Picard. It’s used in a moment of high tension. And that’s the way I prefer swearing to be used in fiction. If it’s peppered all over the place it loses its impact. But placed here, to emphasise drama, it actually means something. I still don’t think Star Trek needs f bombs, but I much prefer how it was used here than in discovery. Also, I love the little thing Patrick Stewart does with his eyebrows when Clancy starts her triade. Great physical acting. So clancy comes across as a massive jerk. We absolutely do get to choose whether a species dies, she says. I’d like to have a little bit of balance in all this. I’d like to see a sympathetic character who sees things differently to Picard.Who has different opinions, but not the almost ridiculous extremes that we’re seeing from Starfleet as represented by Clancy. I’d like to see the issue actually explored and honestly look at both sides. We get a little of that, but I think Starfleet is being set up as a bit of a caricature of pure evil. We start to understand some of the pressure that went into starfleet’s decision not to help the romulans. 14 member species threatened to pull out of the Federation unless they cut the Romulans loose. Again, that seems very un-federation. But it’s also realistic. So many species with so many values and ideas. The Federation council had a lot of difficult things they were trying to keep together. I’m not saying I agree with Starfleet’s decision to abandon the romulans, I just like the acknowledgement of the complexity of the issue. This is something that Babylon 5 was especially good at. Looking at multiple sides of an issue and then asking the audience, what do you think? Discuss? Picard does probably come in here with a little too much ...arrogance isn’t quite the right word. But he expects they’ll give him a ship and crew. And he’ll concede to be demoted to Captain. He also admits that he shouldn’t have spoken against starfleet in the news interview. That was a mistake. I like how they allow Picard to be imperfect, but still good. In the end, Picard comes out of this as a man with a very strong moral conscience, which is the core of his character. I think I can safely say that Gene Roddenberry would not have liked this show. But then, I don’t always agree with Gene Roddenberry either. And honestly, if it’s a choice between this, and the Rodenberry rules of early next generation, where no crewmembers were allowed to have conflict with each other, I’d choose this in a heartbeat. We get to see a number of familiar star trek species in the background on the borg cube. I like that. I saw a few Andorians, and quite a few of a species that I honestly can’t remember the name of, but I’m sure I’ve seen them. The have kinda slimy green faces with a bit of a beak.. The sign that says 5843 days without an assimilation is chilling. Good reality check of what they’re dealing with here. Where they are. I assume the safety badges are coded to turn green when they detect the presence of Borg nanoprobes. We still don’t know the history of this cube. How was it damaged. When did the Romulans find it. I hope we learn more about that. Why doesn’t Narak need authorisation of the director to watch the procedure? I guess we’ll find out later. We get a bit of a look at the borg makeup in this episode. Not much more than we’ve seen in the trailers. We still haven’t really seen a full borg, completely assimilated, but what I’m seeing so far I like. Pretty close to the First Contact borg. And then, finally Picard takes out his old com badge. It’s the familiar one we remember from the TNG movies. My favourite com badge design. It’s a wonderful moment. But it’s kind of broken when he taps it and it makes the wrong sound. I’ll be honest, that really disappointed me. I wanted to hear that familiar high-pitched click. Anyway, Picard calls somebody named Rafi. We’ll come to her shortly. I gotta say, I really love Laris. Zhuban too, but especially Laris. She’s so cool. She worries a lot about Picard. She really does mother him, which is funny given his advanced age. The way those two romulans play off each other is delightful. I’m not sure why Picard won’t take Zhuban with him. He says “the grapes are in far more need of protecting than I am.” Which is just plain wrong. Picard knows the Tal Shiar are dangerous, these people after Dahj and her sister even moreso. So why does he want zhuban to stay? I enjoyed the name drops of Riker, Worf and LarForge. They are the obvious ones for Picard to go to for help. Picard’s excuse that he doesn’t want to get them involved feels like a flimsy excuse for “we’re not getting all the old actors back.” but at the same time, Picard doesn’t want to risk loosing his closest friends. Which kinda makes it seem like Rafi is expendable. Doesn’t matter if she dies, as long as Riker, Worf and Geordi don’t die. We get to see some inner workings at starfleet. Admiral Clancy is talking to a vulcan officer about picard. The vulcan’s name is Commodore Oh. That’s a weird name, especially for a vulcan. Let’s briefly talk about the new Starfleet Uniform. I don’t mind it. It’s not my favourite, but it’s both new while still having familiar elements. There are two things I especially like, because they call back to the future uniform we say in All Good Things. First, there’s the com badge, which is very similar to the all good things combadge. Nice touch. Then there’s the rank pips on the chest, again, quite similar to the all good things uniform. I can very much believe that this is a slight update on that uniform. Anyway, Oh meets with a lieutenant Narissa Rizzo. At first, her performance felt a bit wooden and stiff. The kind of less realistic acting that my friend Paeter often associated with Star Trek. Both my wife and I were actually looking at the ears to see if she was Vulcan. But no, she looks human. But something about the angle they shot her really emphasised her ears and made her look almost vulcan. It’s starting to look as though we have a secret romulan incursion in the heart of Starfleet. It seems that Oh and Rizzo are behind the people that killed Dahj. I think Rizzo is a Romulan surgically altered to look human. And as for Oh, well, she doesn’t even need to be altered, because Romulans and vulcans look so similar. And Narak is working for them as well. So it seems he is manipulating Soji, rather than having a genuine romantic interest in her. Some people got some manipulative vibes from him at the end of last week’s episode. I didn’t, but I can see it now. Actually, I missed this on first viewing, but we get confirmation Rizzo is absolutely a Romulan in disguise. Narak makes fun of her rounded ears. And calls it a terrible disguise. More than that, she is Narak’s older sister. Anyway, I now have no issue with the way Rizzo talks. Because she’s talking like a Romulan. Let’s talk holographic communications. They did this in Discovery and I really didn’t like it. There, it was a significant canon issue. They tried to patch it up in season 2. Not really satisfactorily, but they tried. Here, it makes a lot more sense. Holographic technology is all over the place in the 24th century. We know Starfleet dabbled in holo communicators during Deep Space Nine’s 5th season, before letting it go by the wayside. It’s logical that they would improve the technology and then bring it back. So that’s all fine. I don’t have any canon issues with it. It makes a lot more sense in this setting. Except...I dunno. I still don’t overly like it. My main problem with it is the way it’s done. The way holograms walk around the room. The worst example was in Discovery when a holographic Sarak actually sat on the edge of a desk in Georgou’s office. The only way I can see this working is if Rizzo is in a holodeck, and she’s seeing a holographic representation of Narak’s room. She sees everything he sees. And for both of them, it’s like they’re in the room together. That works and I’d be cool with that, in fact I kinda like that, so until I’m proven wrong, I’m going to adopt that as my head canon. Picard goes to see Raffi Musiker. You may be wondering who she is, and if that’s the case, you clearly haven’t read the Picard Countdown comics. Essentially Raffi was Picard’s first officer on the Verity which he commanded after the Enterprise, while he was trying to evacuate Romulans. It seems that she left Starfleet as well, and clearly she has some issues with Picard. I don’t know all the backstory yet, because I haven’t yet read book 3, which has just come out, but I would certainly recommend reading these comics to ge the full experience. Without that backstory, this would feel kinda weird. There’s not much more to say about her at this point, so let’s delve into her character next week. Interesting that so many locations we saw on the trailers, which I assumed would be alien planets, turn out to be Earth. So there you have episode 2 of Star Trek Picard. When the credits appeared I was shocked. What? Over already? I’m not sure if I felt that way because I was really into it, or because it felt like nothing much actually happened in the episode. I think it’s probably both. This episode had a lot of setup in it. It actually moved the plot forward a whole lot less than episode 1 did. And that’s ok. That’s the nature of serialised storytelling, and this show is even more serialised than Discovery. Some people may not like that, but I love serialised storytelling. The last thing I want is to see Picard go on 40 minute advntures of the week every episode. I’ve got 7 seasons of that I can go back and watch. I don’t need any more of it. What I want is a big grand story that has enough time to really dig into characters, and shoe us long term consequences. Which is exactly what we’re getting. So overall, I’m still really enjoying star trek Picard, and can’t wait to see what we get next week. I wonder which episode Picard will finally go into space. Do you think it’ll be next week, or further away than that? When do you think we’ll get our first Engage or Make it so? I know he’s going to say engage at some point because it’s in the trailer. We’ve already heard a twist on Tea, Earl Gray. Hot. So last week I mention I’d started a walk to Mordor, based on the journey taken in Lord of The Rings. I’m pleased to report that it’s still going well. I have now reached the encounter with the black rider. Overall, I’ve walked 55.41 kilometers. Just 3,053.76 to go. My next milestone will be an encounter with the elves at 10.57 kilometres. Don’t forget to check out my Jewel of The Stars books. You can get the first one for just 99 cents at books2read.com/jewel. And that’s the number 2. Or, you can read it for free, on wattpad. I add a new chapter every weekend (except for last weekend. I forgot because I was so busy making the podcast.) I’d appreciate a review wherever you listen to this podcast. Reviews on iTunes are especially helpful, even if you’re not an apple person. I’m an Android man myself. But if you are on Ios, you can leave a review directly from your phone. I’m told it’s quite easy. That really helps raise the visibility of my podcast so others can join us on this journey. Anyway, I’ll talk to you all next week when we discuss episode 3, “The End is The Beginning” Live long and prosper. Make it so.
We're kicking off a new series based on utopias and dystopias in Trek. Laura goes into teacher-mode and provides some background and definitions for the concepts while Emmanuel makes surprisingly insightful jokes. We talk about Rodenberry's utopian dreams for humanity and look at various examples of both utopia and dystopia including: A Taste of Armageddon; The Masterpiece Society; Justice; The Caretaker. Next time we'll decide whether This Side of Paradise deserves the utopia label.
He is an unsung hero from The Original Series. Associate producer Bob Justman was a key figure in keeping the production side of Star Trek functioning on time ...and on budget. He came to Star Trek in 1965 and started at the beginning, working on the first pilot, The Cage. Justman stayed until 1968, working on 14 of the 24 shows in the third season. Like Gene Coon, Bob Justman had a real impact on the show while he was there. He was a major player in getting Star Trek off the ground and functioning as a production. On this episode of 70s Trek, co-hosts Bob Turner and Kelly Casto tell you about Associate Producer Bob Justman. Show Notes Robert "Bob" Harris Justman was born July 13, 1926 in Brooklyn ⁃ As a boy he really liked Science Fiction ⁃ His father Joseph Justman was in the produce business. He and his partners did very well. ⁃ In 1944, Bob signed up for the draft. He didn’t get drafted so he went to the draft board and asked why he wasn’t drafted. They said he wasn’t needed. He told them he wanted to go so they sent him the PE building in LA for a physical. He failed due to his eye sight. He protested so they sent him to Ft MacArthur to get a real physical and made it. ⁃ While Bob was in the Navy during WW II his father, Joseph, founded the Motion Picture Center studio ⁃ He rented it to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and in 1950 they bought. The studio became part of Desilu Studios. ⁃ When Bob returned from the navy he worked at the produce firm. He didn’t get paid very well so when his dad asked him to come to LA to work in the motion picture business he decided to leave the produce firm and go to LA. ⁃ He hung around the studio for a time until his money ran out. He then went to one of the producers and asked for a job. This landed him his first job working on the film “Three Husbands” as a production assistant Justman had quite a career in film and TV as a Production Assistant and Assistant director prior to TOS ⁃ Production assistant on such films as ⁃ 1951's ⁃ The Scarf (featuring Celia Lovsky), ⁃ New Mexico (featuring Jeff Corey and John Hoyt) ⁃ M (featuring Norman Lloyd and William Schallert) ⁃ He Ran All the Way (also with Norman Lloyd), ⁃ 1952's ⁃ Japanese War Bride (with George D. Wallace), ⁃ Red Planet Mars ⁃ Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (with Leonard Mudie) ⁃ 1953's ⁃ The Moon Is Blue - made in 2 version an english version and a german version ⁃ The Moonlighter. ⁃ Assistant Director and producer ⁃ To be an assistant director you had to be in the Director’s Guild. At the time, to get in the Guild you had to be either the son of a member or be nominated by a studio which was only allowed one nomination a year. He didn’t have either but he requested to be accepted anyway. After waiting an agonizing 30 minutes for an answer the president of the Assistant Directors Counsel, Bob Aldrich, went to him, shook his hand and said, “Welcome brother” ⁃ everyone starts as a 2nd assistant director. It only took Justman about a year to become 1st assistant director which was unheard of ⁃ After Superman Justman was approached to be 1st assistant director on a series of 3 films called “The Americans” which never saw the light of day ⁃ As an assistant director, Justman worked with director Bob Aldrich on several projects. ⁃ They first worked together on the 1952-53 NBC series The Doctor, - This was his first AD job ⁃ after which they collaborated on such films as Kiss Me Deadly (1955) and ⁃ Attack (1956, featuring William Smithers). ⁃ Justman's other films where he was assistant director included; ⁃ The Big Combo (1955, featuring John Hoyt and Whit Bissell), ⁃ Blood Alley (1955, starring Paul Fix), ⁃ While the City Sleeps (1956, with Celia Lovsky) ⁃ Director - Fritz Lang ⁃ Noticed Justman looking at his set plans and Lang spent time to explain the plans to him even though Justman was the 2nd AD ⁃ This was technics that Justman used in the future ⁃ Lang had issues with John Drew Barrymore ⁃ Barrymore looked to his wife for direction instead of Lang which did not make him very happy ⁃ Green Mansions (1959, starring Nehemiah Persoff), and ⁃ 1962's Mutiny on the Bounty (featuring Antoinette Bower, Torin Thatcher and stunts by Paul Baxley). ⁃ Justman was also an assistant director on television shows such as ⁃ The Adventures of Superman (1953-58, 78 ep) ⁃ associate producer for all 78 episodes and ⁃ assistant director on the classic series during its 1954-55 season. ⁃ Justman says that George Reeves was a trooper given what he was put thru ⁃ One time the wire broke and he dropped down to the cement ⁃ Justman learned early to schedule certain shots very carefully. As an example he tells a story about how Reeves would drink his lunch so when he would do the spring-board jump out the window he sort of missed and hit his knees on the window sill ⁃ The Thin Man (1958-59, 31 ep) ⁃ Northwest Passage (1958-59, 13 ep) ⁃ Philip Marlowe (1959-60, 26 ep) ⁃ Alcoa Presents One Step Beyond (1959-1961) ⁃ Produced at the same time as the more well-known The Twilight Zone (1959) ⁃ Some stars included Cloris Leachman, Warren Beatty, Jack Lord, Christopher Lee, Elizabeth Montgomery, Donald Pleasence, and William Shatner, ⁃ Dr. Kildare (1961-66, 6 ep) ⁃ Was asked by the President of MGM TV if Justman new any composers. Justman had heard some of Jerry Goldsmith’s scores and recommended him. As we talked about in Episode XXX This was one of Goldsmith’s breakout opportunities. ⁃ Justman and Goldsmith have never met ⁃ The Outer Limits (1963-65, 20 ep) ⁃ He served as the assistant director for all 20 episodes and a Production Manager in 1964 ⁃ Appeared in the 1964 episode "A Feasibility Study" (directed by Byron Haskin, written by Joseph Stefano, and starring David Opatoshu) ⁃ Worked with Shatner on “Cold Hands, Warm Heart” (1964) ⁃ Sally Kellerman, James Dohan ⁃ Lassie (1965-66, 4 ep) ⁃ My Friend Flicka (1956-57) ⁃ While the City SleepsFritz Lang ⁃ In Oct 1964 Justman met GR at Desilu to talk to him about Associate Producer role for the first TOS pilot “The Cage”. Justman recommended Byron Haskin saying that he (Justman) did not have enough post production experience ⁃ first to call Gene Roddenberry "The Great Bird of the Galaxy," drawn from a throwaway line from the original series episode "The Man Trap" That takes us to October 1964. Gene Roddenberry was in pre-production for Star Trek’s first pilot, The Cage and he needed an associate producer. An Associate Producer’s job is to do the dirty work on a show. This person makes sure both the production and post-production phases are running smoothly for every episode. They are also responsible for making sure each episode doesn’t run over budget. So with a show as complicated as Star Trek was going to be, Gene needed an experienced hand. He asked James Goldstone who had worked with Gene on The Lieutenant if he had any suggestions. He recommended Bob Justman. Justman met with Gene for about 30 minutes and Gene offered him the job. While Justman really wanted it, he turned down Roddenberry’s offer. He felt Star Trek’s post-production needs would be great, and he was afraid he didn’t have the experience to get the job done. But they also needed an experienced assistant director. Justman was, at the time, working on The Outer Limits. But Desilu’s Executive in Charge of Production, Herb Solow, called and asked if Justman could work for Star Trek temporarily, just 6 weeks. And that was it. The deal was done and Justman came to Star Trek. Now the original position that Justman had interviewed for, associate producer, went to Byron Haskin. He was an experienced producer, but was hard to get along with. And as work started on The Cage, he and Roddenberry butted heads a lot. Rodenberry would want a certain effect on a shot, and Haskin would tell him it couldn’t be done. Period. He gave Gene no alternative ideas. Often times, Justman was in the middle of these disputes trying to nudge Haskin to come up with something Work on The Cage finished, and NBC rejected it. But invited Roddenberry to try again. When Star Trek was offered to do the second pilot, Gene asked Justman back. This time, though, he gave him the job of associate producer. Gene had had enough of Haskin. Because of the budget on the 2nd pilot, when post-production finished on it, so did Justman’s job. This was the summer of 1965. But Desilu had attracted a number of pilot projects that needed produced. So Solow decided to make Justman the associate producer on all of them. This way he could stay at Desilu and be close by if Star Trek was picked up. Some of the work he did included Desilu’s other big show, Mission Impossible. Star Trek was picked up by NBC in March 1966. And Justman’s first task was to move the starship sets from the soundstage where the 2nd pilot was shot, to a new soundstage that would be its home for the series. This was actually a monumental task. Each section had to be removed, crated and put back into place on the new soundstage in exactly the same configuration. The move resulted in some of the sets being redesigned, and reworked for the series. One of those sets was the bridge that got a big make over. As the show started production, it was Justman’s job to make sure all the little details were taken care of. Some of this work included analyzing scripts and establishing production budgets for them, Making sure production on one episode, production and post production on a 2nd were all moving forward simultaneously and on schedule. Any issues for any shows in any of these stages, were Justman’s to work out. Along with his day-to-day duties, Justman also acted in one episode of the series, though he is not creditied for it, He is the voice of a security guard in the episode Conscience of the King. He also found time to come up with a story idea. He came up with the basic story for the episode Tomorrow is Yesterday. In fact, he laid that story out in a memo to Gene on April 12, 1966. When he didn’t hear anything for 8 months, he sent a reminder to Gene about the idea. At that point, the show was hungry for scripts, so Roddenberry approved of the idea and assigned Dorothy Fontana to write the screenplay. But in his second memo, you cans ee a little of Justman’s wit. He wrote at the end, “Please let me hear from you at your earliest convenience, as otherwise I feel I shall be forced to sell this story idea to “Time Tunnel.” ” That’s just one example of Justman’s wit, and it is pretty legendary. He would often let his sarcastic sense of humor and dry wit fly in memos. An example of his humor can actually be seen in the closing credits of the show. For Herb Solow’s credit, Justman intentionally chose a picture of the Balok dummy from the Corbmite Maneuver and positioned Solow’s credit just under the glaring eyes of Balok. Justman later wrote in the Book Inside Star Trek, “I thought it a fitting tribute, as did Herb, who thanked me profusely, thereby depriving me of some heavy-duty gloating. I still have the original credit and display it in my office at home, suitably framed in the cheapest, junkiest frame I could find.” And there’s another incident that speaks to Justman’s humor. The show was shooting a script that was still being written by Roddenberry. The last shot was about to be completed, and if they didn’t get the new pages for the next scene, they would be forced to shut down production. That costs money! So Justman went to Gene’s office. Roddenberry kept writing away, and didn’t acknowledge Justman. Justman waited a few minutes and finally asked, him, “How much longer Gene?” Roddenberry ignored him and kept writing. Justman waited some more. At one point Gene looked up, thinking about something, ignored Justman, and went back to work. Justman later wrote, “He shouldn’t have done that. I climbed up onto his desk and stood there, looking down at him. ‘That’ll teach him to ignore me, I thought.” After a few minutes more, Gene finally ripped the pages free of the typewriter, finished scribbling on them, and without looking at Justman, reached up and handed them to him. Without saying anything, Justman jumped down and went to the set. This became a standard routine through the 1st and 2nd seasons of the show. Whenever Gene was still writing, Justman would jump up on his desk and wait for the pages. But there’s a little addendum to this story. There came a time when Justman tried to get in Gene’s office and the door was locked. He realized that there was an electronic latch on the door that, when Justman entered the outer office, Gene’s secretary would activate. Not to be out done, Justman waited until the secretary left on an errand. Found the switch and unlocked Gene’s door. Then without saying a word, he entered Roddenberry’s office, walked past Gene who was busy writing, and exited through another door at the other end of the office. Justman wrote, “We never discussed it, not even in later years. It was our own private joke and it helped cement an already close friendship.” The 2nd year of Star Trek was by far its best. It’s when all the right people were active in the right positions. Speaking of positions, Justman told Roddenberry at this time that he wanted to move up to a full producer’s position for Star Trek’s third season, and Gene agreed it was probably time. With the letter writing campaign at the end of the 2nd year, Star Trek’s third season was guaranteed. But it wasn’t going to go the way anyone thought it would. NBC first told Roddenberry that Star Trek would be on at 7:30 on Monday. Then it changed the position to Friday at 8:30. But, it finally settled on Fridays at 10pm, a time when Star Trek’s core audience would not be home watching TV. It was this move by NBC that prompted Roddenberry to move out of his producer role and become the Executive Producer of the show. That position is further up the chain of command, and has nothing to do with the day-to-day operations. Roddenberry had, in effect, quit Star Trek. As pre-production for the third season began, the show had no story editor. So Justman jumped in and started reading and analyzing stories and scripts. Then he would forward his thoughts to Gene. Roddenberry never responded and seldom read Justman’s reports. To make matters worse, there was no one to rewrite scripts. Justman urged Roddenberry to hire someone. Gene finally got back to him and said, “Good news Bob, Star Trek’s going to have a new producer this year.” Justman thought gene was about to say, “It’s you.” Instead, Roddenberry said, “Fred Freiberger’s coming in as our new producer…” Hustman was stunned. “Gene, I thought I would be producer.” “You will,” said Roddenberry. “You’ll be a co-producer.” The new studio, Paramount, and NBC wanted an experienced hand at the help of such a complicated show. Justman was viewed as a nuts and bolts guy, and Roddenberry didn’t fight for him. Justman’s attitude toward Star Trek never recovered. In fact the morale of the entire cast and crew began to sink. Star Trek was not a fun place to work anymore. Gene was now gone. Frieberger had to labor to understand the show. And the bulk of the daily chores fell on Justman. He later wrote, “I was alone, struggling against insuperable odds.” Without Roddenberry, the writing process was no longer about good stories. It was now just budget-driven. Justman wrote, “There were no highs and no lows---just a boring in-between…The Star Trek I knew, and was proud to be a part of, was no more.” He expressed his concerns to paramount’s head of TV, Doug Cramer. Cramer asked Justman to stay and promised him his pick of future pilots to work on if he did. Justman said he’s love to do a pilot for Cramer, but he wanted out of his contract. Paramount came back and offered more money, but that wasn’t what Justman wanted. Justman was burned out. That’s when Herb Solow called. He was now the head of MGM Television and he offered Justman a full producers job on the pilot for “Then Came Bronson.” He quit Paramount the next day and, according his own words, became persona non grata at Paramount for the next 18 years. After Star Trek, Justman went on to work on shows like Search and Man from Atlantis. In 1987, he rejoined Gene Roddenberry and others from The Original Series on Star Trek The Next Generation. He served as Supervising Producer for 17 episodes in the first season. In 1996, he and Herb Solow published their book, Inside Star Trek: The Real Story. If you haven’t read this one, it is a very captivating look at what was going on behind the scenes at Star Trek. Bob Justman died of Parkinson’s Disease in 2008.
Ed is joined by Jesse Perry, a fellow Star Trek geek, as we bring you a two hour episode all about Star Trek. Topics include... -The Prime vs "Kelvin" (we call it "JJTrek") universes -Rodenberry's humanism -History of the Paramount/CBS dual ownership of Star Trek -Kelvin timeline (JJTrek, Kurtzman) vs Prime Trek -Jesse and I give you our favorite Star Trek series and movies -Our thoughts on the new Picard Series Thanks for listening, Ed Ciucevich aka SavageTechman 8-27-18
Episode 9 - Into the Forest I Go Discovery awaits the arrival of the Klingon Ship of Death that started the war they now fight, but before its arrival, Star Fleet orders the Discovery back to Starbase 46 to regroup. Now the crew must decide if they stay to help the planet below them or follow orders. Guess what they decide... Featuring Scott McFarland, Mike Muller and Blake Whitson Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/3CNtGIz5844 IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5890578/ __________________________________________ CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE!!! www.thefrontrowmoviereviews.com Subscribe to our Youtube Channel -https://www.youtube.com/TheFrontRowMovieReviews We are also now on Instagram! Just search for "The Front Row Movie Reviews" - https://instagram.com/thefrontrowmoviereviews/ Also find us on Facebook and Like us there as well! You know, if you actually do.... - https://www.facebook.com/thefrontrowmoviereviews/ And of course follow us on Twitter to get the latest news on the Front Row! - https://twitter.com/FrontRowReviewz Please enjoy this episode of DISCOVERING STAR TREK and as always, we'll see you in the front row!
Nicole and Angelo welcome film critics, podcasters, and Beverly Crusher fans Tina Hassannia and Mallory Andrews to discuss Star Trek: Discovery 1x08, "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum," and the TNG classic "Darmok." Topics discussed include: the tyranny of prestige TV, the ethics of first contact, the challenges and rewards of communicating with others, Rodenberry's humanism, and how to have a conversation entirely through Gilgamesh references.
3min - WE like to treat ALL our guests "special" 4min - OBS (Open Broadcasting Software), You-Tube 5min - Tom's "HOT" mic feature, "value added" content Tom's Multimedia (busy guy) miamitom@gmail.com http://everthink.tv https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzvzRGa4nllljimp3mOobkA EX. https://www.youtube.com/user/DarcizzleOffshore 6min - WHO is Tom Schaefer? de-industrialization, off-shoring, content providers, VLOGS, "Cooking Fish with Tom." 14min - Weather warfare? "man-made" chemtrails in Mexico, and beyond. TESLA, HAARP, gen-engineering 18min - Cognitive dissonance, FLAT EARTH, Tom's PIRATE story, life on a nuclear submarine 20min - FAKE NEWS, SPIN, technoKracy 23min - Time Crystals, brushed aside & forgotten, IDIOCRACY, Pokemon Go! vs. AWAKENING 25min - Joe333 & Pizzagate, via Alex Jones / Joe Rogan Televalium, MINDS.com https://www.minds.com/groups/profile/465636439254638606/televalium 27min - Fakebook as part of the KRAKEN 30min - Alcohol, & show quality update from 2 Pirate Joes, #FSD - Full Spectrum Dominance, SS-637, infamous "Thresher" sinking? 34min - Admiral Rickover 38min - Broken Arrow https://www.duckduckgo.com/?q=us+bomber+crashes+british+columbia+arrow+broken 41min - Tom on Coast 2 Coast AM? 42min - FPOTC - freeples, #5013C http://freepeopleofthecosmos.org/ Let's DEFINE "religion" 45min - Radionomy, SHOUTCAST, Royalty free music, licensing fees etc. 52min - Spoof religion? 55min - No HATERS welcome, "Lord" John Oliver to the rescue 1hr3min - Life along Florida's treasure coast 1hr5min - Cults, the Door, the Potter's House. L. Ron Hubbard 1hr8min - Star Trek, TOS legacy 1hr14min - The Invaders, Fred Crisman (Kenn Thomas), Route 66 https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/space-pirate-radio/episodes/2016-06-26T04_30_17-07_00 1hr20min - Kungfu, torrents & file sharing 1hr25min - Billy Jack, B movies, Patrick Dalzeljob, the original James Bond https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Dalzel-Job 1hr30min - Ian Flemming, "First thought BEST thought.", Neil Young (Tears are Not Enough), "Hey, that's my STYLE man." The Hawaiian Church of Elvis, FPOTC "Freeples" 1hr35min - "Honest" Pirate Larry, crypto-currency developments, more upcoming guests & a MILESTONE: Episode #50 !!!!
The crew from #FlipMovie & #BRIMLC took a week off from their regularly scheduled podcast duties to give you a podcast roundtable reaction to Star Trek: Beyond. Plus two very special guests help fill in some points of nuance on our normal total fanboy to complete cynic spectrum. Don't get caught in the cold dark of space without our insights. Know what to expect. If you think you might want to see it, let our impressions guide you to the best decision for you. If you aren't going to see it, but want stuff to complain or criticize so you can be "that asshole" at parties, we've got you covered too. Listen up! Find us on the internet at ragingtitterradio.libsyn.com and buckrogerslifecoach.tumblr.com And we're all on Twitter: @SinisterPurpose, @RumpleSchlepp, @Floatsspitoon Tell a friend to tell a Vulcan to mindmeld our shit directly into someone's brain. We produce this podcast with healthy doses of love for fans of SciFi, Science Fiction, Action, Adventure, 60s Television, Star Trek, 70s Television, 80s Television, 90s Televison, Gene Rodenberry, Chris Pine, Zahchary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, & Reboots
A few hours on board and she's already found Ten Forward. 42073.1 (2365): Welcome to Romulans Bearing Gifts One Two featuring Tom, Caitlin, Carl, Cat, and Eric. Join us as we delve into Eric's pick: The Next Generation Season 2, episode 1, The Child. Let the banter begin! In canonical saucer section episodes of this show, the original 3 hosts take turns choosing a random Star Trek episode from any era/series for the group to digest and discuss. This is a canonical, engineering hull, secondary crew RBG. WARNING: This discussion contains miscellaneous The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and/or classic SPOILERS pertaining to Star Trek. If you are 100% spoilerphobic to new & classic episodes not yet seen, do NOT complain to us. This episode is mostly canonical & contains EXPLICIT ideas, and as always expect strokes of innuendo throughout. LINKS: Message in a Bottle [VOY] 4x14 trailer: youtu.be DISCLAIMER: This episode was originally recorded May 18, 2016. COMING SOON: RBG #13 (saucer section) With all of your neuro nets and hueristics? Is there some combination of circuits that make up a network for bruised feelings possible? ________________________________________________________ Host/Producer: Eric @BullittWHO Podcast: guidetothewhoverse.libsyn.com Co-Host: Cat @fancyfembot Podcast: scifipartyline.com Co-Host: Carl @robominister Featuring: Caitlin @walshcaitlin Tom @chewywater Romulans Bearing Gifts @StarTrekRBG Email: komihncast ~at~ gmail ~dot~com Website: startrekrbg.libsyn.com Patreon: patreon.com/StarTrekRBG Facebook: facebook.com/StarTrekRBG RBG Theme created by E.A. Escamilla
Well, you certainly know how to bring a party to a halt. UNKNOWN (2372): Welcome to Romulans Bearing Gifts One Zero featuring Tom, Caitlin, and Eric. Join us as we delve into Caitlin's pick: Voyager Season 2, episode 23, The Thaw. Let the banter begin! In canonical OR 'Saucer Section' episodes of this show, the original 3 hosts take turns choosing a random Star Trek episode from any era/series for the group to digest and discuss. This is a canonical OR MORE ACCURATELY an 'Engineering Hull', secondary crew RBG. WARNING: This discussion contains miscellaneous The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and/or classic SPOILERS pertaining to Star Trek. If you are 100% spoilerphobic to new & classic episodes not yet seen, do NOT complain to us. This episode is mostly canonical & contains EXPLICIT ideas, and as always expect strokes of innuendo throughout. LINKS: The Flaw [VGR] 2x23 trailer: youtu.be DISCLAIMER: This episode was originally recorded May 4, 2016. COMING SOON: RBG #11 (engineering hull) You know as well as I do that fear only exists for one purpose: to be conqured. ________________________________________________________ Host/Producer: Eric @BullittWHO Podcast: guidetothewhoverse.libsyn.com Co-Host: Cat @fancyfembot Podcast: scifipartyline.com Co-Host: Carl @robominister Featuring: Caitlin @walshcaitlin Tom @chewywater Romulans Bearing Gifts @StarTrekRBG Email: komihncast ~at~ gmail ~dot~com Website: startrekrbg.libsyn.com Patreon: patreon.com/StarTrekRBG Facebook: facebook.com/StarTrekRBG RBG Theme created by E.A. Escamilla
When a gift falls from the heavens, only a fool would let her go. 53918.0 (2376): Welcome to Romulans Bearing Gifts Five featuring Caitlin and Eric. Join us as we delve into Caitlin's pick: Voyager Season 6, episode 22 Muse. Let the banter begin! In canonical episodes of this show, the 3 hosts take turns choosing a random Star Trek episode from any era/series for the group to digest and discuss. This is a non-canonical RBG. WARNING: This discussion contains miscellaneous The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and/or classic SPOILERS pertaining to Star Trek. If you are 100% spoilerphobic to new & classic episodes not yet seen, do NOT complain to us. This episode is mostly canonical & contains EXPLICIT ideas, and as always expect strokes of innuendo throughout. LINKS: Muse [VGR] 6x22 trailer: youtu.be Caitlin @walshcaitlin: Writer for The Daily Geekette dailygeekette.wordpress.com, Admin for Boston Whovians facebook.com/groups/bostonwhovians DISCLAIMER: This episode was originally recorded April 16, 2016. COMING SOON: RBG #6 One to beam... to ascend... to the heavens. ________________________________________________________ Host/Producer: Eric @BullittWHO Podcast: guidetothewhoverse.libsyn.com Co-Host: Cat @fancyfembot Podcast: scifipartyline.com Co-Host: Carl @robominister Featuring: Caitlin @walshcaitlin Romulans Bearing Gifts @StarTrekRBG Email: komihncast ~at~ gmail ~dot~com Website: startrekrbg.libsyn.com Patreon: patreon.com/StarTrekRBG Facebook: facebook.com/StarTrekRBG RBG Theme created by E.A. Escamilla
Con permiso, Capitan. The hall is rented, the orchestra engaged. It's now time to see if you can dance. 42761.3 (2365): Welcome to Romulans Bearing Gifts Four featuring Carl, Cat and Eric. Join us as we delve into Cat's pick: The Original Series Season 2, episode 16 Q-Who?. Let the banter begin! In this show, the 3 hosts take turns choosing a random Star Trek episode from any era/series for the group to digest and discuss. We indulge some Rogue One early impressions. This is a canonical RBG. WARNING: This discussion contains miscellaneous The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and/or classic SPOILERS pertaining to Star Trek. If you are 100% spoilerphobic to new & classic episodes not yet seen, do NOT complain to us. This episode is mostly canonical & contains EXPLICIT ideas, and as always expect strokes of innuendo throughout. LINKS: Q-Who? [TNG] 2x16 trailer: youtu.be Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer: youtu.be Captain Power Lord Dread: google.com/search Sci-Fi Party Line podcast: scifipartyline.com DISCLAIMER: This episode was originally recorded April 9, 2016. COMING SOON: RBG #5 (featured guest) Microbrain. Growl for me, let me know you still care. ________________________________________________________ Host/Producer: Eric @BullittWHO Podcast: guidetothewhoverse.libsyn.com Co-Host: Cat @fancyfembot Podcast: scifipartyline.com Co-Host: Carl @robominister Romulans Bearing Gifts @StarTrekRBG Email: komihncast ~at~ gmail ~dot~com Website: startrekrbg.libsyn.com Patreon: patreon.com/StarTrekRBG Facebook: facebook.com/StarTrekRBG RBG Theme created by E.A. Escamilla
Did you see the love light in Spock's eyes? The right computer finally came along. 4729.4 (2268): Welcome to Romulans Bearing Gifts Three featuring Carl, Cat and Eric. Join us as we delve into Cat's pick: The Original Series Season 2, episode 24 The Ultimate Computer. Let the banter begin! In this show, the 3 hosts take turns choosing a random Star Trek episode from any era/series for the group to digest and discuss. This is a canonical RBG. WARNING: This discussion contains miscellaneous The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and/or classic SPOILERS pertaining to Star Trek. If you are 100% spoilerphobic to new & classic episodes not yet seen, do NOT complain to us. This episode is mostly canonical & contains EXPLICIT ideas, and as always expect strokes of innuendo throughout. LINKS: The Ultimate Computer [TOS] 2x24 trailer: youtu.be DISCLAIMER: This episode was originally recorded April 9, 2016. COMING SOON: RBG #4 Fantastic machine, the M-5: no off switch. ________________________________________________________ Host/Producer: Eric @BullittWHO Podcast: guidetothewhoverse.libsyn.com Co-Host: Cat @fancyfembot Podcast: scifipartyline.com Co-Host: Carl @robominister Romulans Bearing Gifts @StarTrekRBG Email: komihncast ~at~ gmail ~dot~com Website: startrekrbg.libsyn.com Patreon: patreon.com/StarTrekRBG Facebook: facebook.com/StarTrekRBG RBG Theme created by E.A. Escamilla
Beam Me Up VI 1701-A: Doctor Who: Prognosis Negative proudly presents this Beam Me Up, the preeminent Star Trek commentary podcast featuring Steven, Josh, Eric, and Kyle. Join us as we dive into original crew fan favorite, The Voyage Home. Let the mayhem begin! Nowhere will you find a Star Trek commentary that sprinkles in more oblique Doctor Who references. WARNING: This discussion contains miscellaneous SPOILERS pertaining to the film(s) discussed and Doctor Who! If you are 100% spoilerphobic to films not yet seen, do not complain to us. The commentary is littered with EXPLICIT terms, concepts, and as always expect strokes of innuendo throughout. LINKS: ↓The Podcasts that Rule this Commentary↓ Radio Free Skaro: radiofreeskaro.com Mostly Harmless Cutaway: guidetothewhoverse.libsyn.com The Memory Cheats: thememorycheats.libsyn.com Doctor Who: The Writers' Room: dwtwr.libsyn.com Doctor Who: The High Council: dwhighcouncil.libsyn.com Worlds of Tomorrow: worldsoftomorrow.libsyn.com Check out the new podcast from the producer of this show! Now presenting... Romulans Bearing Gifts: startrekrbg.libsyn.com DISCLAIMER: FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY! This commentary was recorded Live April 4, 2016. COMING SOON: ProgNeg #32 Sounds like the goddamn Spanish Inquisition. Kyle @FunctionalNerdSteven @LegopolisJosh @whomeJZEric @BullittWHO Prognosis Negative @ProgNegEmail: guidetothewhoverse ~at~ gmail ~dot~comWebsite: prognosisnegative.libsyn.com Patreon: patreon.com/prognegFacebook: facebook.com/progneg Produced by E.A. Escamilla
You monotone humans are all alike. First you condemn and then attack! 5730.2 (2268): Welcome to Romulans Bearing Gifts Two featuring Carl, Cat and Eric. Join us as we delve into Cat's pick: The Original Series Season 3, episode 15 Let That Be Your Last Battlefield. Let the banter begin! In this show, the 3 hosts take turns choosing a random Star Trek episode from any era/series for the group to digest and discuss. This is a canonical RBG. WARNING: This discussion contains miscellaneous The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and/or classic SPOILERS pertaining to Star Trek. If you are 100% spoilerphobic to new & classic episodes not yet seen, do NOT complain to us. This episode is mostly canonical & contains EXPLICIT ideas, and as always expect strokes of innuendo throughout. LINKS: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield [TOS] 3x15 trailer: youtu.be DISCLAIMER: This episode was originally recorded March 24, 2016. COMING SOON: RBG #3 Change is the essential process of all existence. ________________________________________________________ Host/Producer: Eric @BullittWHO Podcast: guidetothewhoverse.libsyn.com Co-Host: Cat @fancyfembot Podcast: scifipartyline.com Co-Host: Carl @robominister Romulans Bearing Gifts @StarTrekRBG Email: komihncast ~at~ gmail ~dot~com Website: startrekrbg.libsyn.com Patreon: patreon.com/StarTrekRBG Facebook: facebook.com/StarTrekRBG RBG Theme created by E.A. Escamilla
Humanity is no longer relevant. To quote one of your philosophers, Nietzsche: "Mankind is something to be surpassed." MAY 17, 2154: Welcome to Romulans Bearing Gifts One featuring Carl, Cat and Eric, it's our premiere episode! Join us as we delve into Eric's pick: Enterprise Season 4, episode 4 Borderland. Let the banter begin! In this show, the 3 hosts take turns choosing a random Star Trek episode from any era/series for the group to digest and discuss. This is a canonical RBG. WARNING: This discussion contains miscellaneous The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, and/or classic SPOILERS pertaining to Star Trek. If you are 100% spoilerphobic to new & classic episodes not yet seen, do NOT complain to us. This episode is mostly canonical & contains EXPLICIT ideas, and as always expect strokes of innuendo throughout. LINKS: Borderland [ENT] 4x04 trailer: youtu.be DISCLAIMER: This episode was originally recorded March 24, 2016. Peter Weller's character, Admiral Alexander Marcus from Star Trek Beyond was incorrectly referred to as Malik. COMING SOON: RBG #2 Break the rules and you will suffer. Follow the rules and you will suffer less. ________________________________________________________ Host/Producer: Eric @BullittWHO Podcast: guidetothewhoverse.libsyn.com Co-Host: Cat @fancyfembot Podcast: scifipartyline.com Co-Host: Carl @robominister Romulans Bearing Gifts @StarTrekRBG Email: komihncast ~at~ gmail ~dot~com Website: startrekrbg.libsyn.com Patreon: patreon.com/StarTrekRBG Facebook: facebook.com/StarTrekRBG RBG Theme created by E.A. Escamilla
The genius of Rodenberry and the way I've showed my love for my first born and sci-fi.
This episode features a debate on how Star Trek: Into Darkness treats its female characters. Angela and Jen purposefully took extreme stances in order to make the debate more entertaining. The goal was to represent both sides of this discussion while offering the contrasting views of the listeners. The hosts did their best to make this a balanced and respectful discussion. They hope you find it interesting, even if you find their arguements flawed in some way. See the show notes for links at AnomalyPodcast.com. Thank you for listening! Please rate us on iTunes and favorite us on Stitcher Smart Radio.
This is Nervous Teeth 101: An Introduction to Nervous Teeth. This could be considered as Episode Zero, as next week we begin the mammoth task of making the entire Nervous Teeth Podcasting Archive available once again on the internet. For old fans of the show, this will be like going home again, as you'll hear shows long since forgotten. But also we will try to bring in new listeners to the show, and we look forward to their thoughts and comments on this highly controversial and entertaining* podcast. These shows are dedicated to the memory and talent of Rod Rodriguez (Rodrod, Rodzilla and RodenBERRY). This IS Nervous Teeth! *only some will find these shows entertaining...
The crew gives you Fantastic Forum Free For All Friday versus edition! During our Geoffrey's Comics Retail Report the team talks about anticipation for Avengers v X-Men. Because we are nerds Lucas v Rodenberry. Because we are well read, I am Legend v Omega Man. And find out what music group is the "Snooki" of Rock. Fantastic Forum Assemble!
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