![[Opinion] MovieWeb: "Barclay Is Quietly 'Star Trek: Voyager's Most Important Character" | "Without Schultz's character, I genuinely believe that Voyager would have been making the journey for much, much longer." | "I still see Reg as more of a VOY-character due to how central he became to the plot."](https://external-preview.redd.it/2fvQE6xRhIvvRR0kDiQ5kPSYuLJrzniSB5rxm2QyLDc.jpeg?width=140&height=78&auto=webp&s=34201dfbd4fc38e3550f5fbec35bcbd346fd802b)
REDSHIRTS:
"From the opening minutes, "The Menagerie, Part I" hangs on some deeply disturbing images: Mr. Spock, the most logical, regulation-minded officer in the franchise, hijacks the USS Enterprise, abducts a severely injured Christopher Pike, and locks out his current captain. [...]
In 2026, when we’re used to antiheroes telegraphing their justifications, watching Spock simply accept guilt and push forward for reasons we don’t yet know is compellingly stark."
https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/star-trek-original-series-menagerie-part-1-review
Even before the big revelations of “Part II," “The Menagerie, Part I” works as a mood piece and a mystery. The starbase sets, Pike’s eerie, blinking chair, and the understated score all give the hour a somber, almost funereal tone. There’s very little action; instead, the suspense comes from locked doors, rerouted control circuits, and the uncomfortable spectacle of a trusted officer manipulating his ship under everyone’s nose.
Structurally, it’s doing something ambitious for 1966: juggling three timelines at once. You have the present-day hearing and hijacking, Pike’s original Talos IV mission playing as “evidence,” and the hinted at future of what might await Pike if Spock succeeds.
That cross-cutting keeps the episode feeling larger than a standard bottle episode, and it rewards attentive viewing even now. You can watch it as a legal drama, as an ethical puzzle, or simply as the moment Star Trek decided to fold its own unaired past into the present and trust the audience to keep up.
60 years later, “The Menagerie, Part I” remains one of the most rewatchable chapters in Star Trek's history: a 1966 gamble that turned budget pressure and leftover footage into a haunting story about loyalty, law, and how far one Vulcan will go for the captain who came before."
Calvin Townsend (RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)
Full review:
https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/star-trek-original-series-menagerie-part-1-review
REDSHIRTS:
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3’s “Four-and-a-Half Vulcans” is a very funny and vastly underrated episode that primarily dealt with the hilarious consequences of temporarily transforming Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount), La’an Noonien Singh (Christina Chong), Nyota Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding), and Christine Chapel (Jess Bush) into Vulcans.
https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-vulcan-doug-patton-oswalt-returns
However, the episode also introduced fans to Patton Oswalt’s memorable character Doug, and the actor has officially revealed that the lovable Vulcan spiritualist will return to SNW before the series concludes with its fifth and final season. Oswalt casually revealed the news while discussing his character on an episode of the Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend podcast, in which the actor and comedian said (per the Team Coco YouTube channel): “You know what, I’m doing some more episodes.”
Most of Doug’s time spent on the USS Enterprise involved learning more about human behavior from Mr. Spock (Ethan Peck). In order to transform his new Vulcan crewmates back into humans, Spock needed the assistance of someone who was a master of Vulcan katras, aka the soul or living spirit. Doug agrees to help Spock, who graciously shares more about the human condition in return, which includes a hilarious high-five exchange between the two characters, among other funny teachable moments. [...]"
SCREENRANT:
"Before that surprising info drop, Conan, who grew up a fan of Star Trek: The Original Series, and Patton verbally jested about the origin of Doug's name. Oswalt discussed the heretofore unrevealed backstory of Doug, and why he grew up as a Vulcan enamored with human culture. Read their quotes below:
>Patton Oswalt: “Yeah, I’m playing a Vulcan, but it’s a Vulcan who’s obsessed with human culture, and –”
>Conan O’Brien: “His name’s Doug.”
>Patton Oswalt: “His name is Doug.”
>Conan O’Brien: “He’s a Vulcan named Doug, which is my favorite thing.”
>Patton Oswalt: “But his parents were obsessed, so they gave him… It’s the same way as, like, hippies giving their kids names like American Indian names…”
>Conan O’Brien: “Yeah. Starshine.”
>Patton Oswalt: “Exactly. So, why wouldn’t that happen in another culture? Why wouldn’t they try to do that? And unlike Spock, who kind of struck this balance, he’s so clumsy with it because he really loves it. And that’s a really real thing.”
>Conan O’Brien: “So, a Vulcan with an artistic edge.”
[...]
The title "Four-and-a-Half Vulcans" was always a misnomer because of Patton Oswalt, whose Doug was the fifth Vulcan in the episode. Between the barely-contained mutual lust Doug shared with Una, his former paramour, and Spock's hilarious attempts to explain human behavior like high-fives to Doug, Oswalt delivered some of the best Vulcan comedy in the episode. [...]"
REDSHIRTS:
"I also loved how Oswalt’s Vulcan character and Number One/Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) shared such an uncomfortable yet explosive sexual chemistry that effectively rendered both of them powerless around each other, which Una fought tooth and nail throughout the episode.
So, it was a wonderful payoff — after all the awkward moments Doug and Una endured in “Four-and-a-Half-Vulcans” — to witness the first officer of the Enterprise finally caving in and going out on a date with her ex, Doug, to revisit and perhaps rekindle their love at the episode’s conclusion.
Given that Oswalt has revealed he will return in “some more episodes,” I hope there will be plenty more interactions between Doug, Una, and Spock, as well as other members of the crew, whom he didn't have the changce to meet in "Four-and-a-Half" Vulcans."
Steven Thrash (RedshirtsAlwaysDie.com)
Links:
https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-vulcan-doug-patton-oswalt-returns
https://screenrant.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-patton-oswalt-doug-return/
SCREENRANT:
"On Bluesky, Mike McMahan responded to a fan that he "couldn't be prouder" of Star Trek: Lower Decks' five seasons, but Mike announced, "I had at least two seasons more in me." McMahan then lists many great ideas future Star Trek: Lower Decks seasons would have explored, including the USS Cerritos going to the Delta and Gamma Quadrants, and even meeting "a weirdly nice leftover Weyoun (Jeffrey Combs)." Read Mike's post below:
>Couldn't be prouder of the five we made, but I had at least two seasons more in me. Wanted to hit up the Delta and Gamma quadrants. One more Vindicta holodeck movie. Meet a weirdly nice leftover Weyoun, more stories with the whales and Kayshon, T'Lyn and Ensign Olly. Lots of stuff.
As per Mike McMahon's ideas, the USS Cerritos visiting the Delta and Gamma Quadrants would have let Star Trek: Lower Decks tell more loving odes to Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, as would meeting a "weirdly nice" Weyoun, the cloned servants of the Dominion. Another Vindicta story would've capped off a trilogy of holodeck movies within the show.
Star Trek: Lower Decks fans would certainly have appreciated more stories about fan-favorite supporting characters like T'Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) and Kayshon (Carl Tart), as well as Kimolu and Matt, the talking beluga whale lieutenants who help navigate the USS Cerritos from Cetacean Ops.
McMahan's desire for more seasons would have equaled the seven-season run of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a fitting number since Star Trek: Lower Decks is TNG's animated successor. However, as an animated comedy, Star Trek: Lower Decks didn't necessarily have a ceiling beyond what was decided by Paramount+. Star Trek: Lower Decks could have run 10 seasons or more if the streamer allowed. [...]"
Full article:
https://screenrant.com/star-trek-lower-decks-more-seasons-ideas-mike-mcmahan/
POLYGON: "One of the smartest choices made in Strange New Worlds is refusing to treat the arrival of James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) as inevitable. Prequels often struggle with this problem. If audiences already know where everyone ends up, characters can start to feel predetermined rather than human. But Strange New Worlds consistently pushes against that idea. [...]
https://www.polygon.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-the-original-series-kirk/
If we're being honest, The Original Series was never really about deep character studies or the relationships between those characters.
Looking back, the Enterprise often feels less like a place where humans (and aliens) lived together and more like a set piece where epic stories happened. The crew worked side-by-side, respected one another, occasionally revealed deeper bonds, and then moved on to the next mission. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has subtly changed that. [...]
This version of Kirk isn’t introduced like a legendary figure entering the stage. He’s capable and charismatic, but still figuring things out. In season 3, episode 6, “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail,” Kirk is given his first opportunity to command in a stressful situation — and he screws it up. It’s only with the help of Spock (Ethan Peck), Scotty (Martin Quinn), and Uhura that he grows and evolves.
SNW never treats Kirk like destiny. That’s because Pike’s Enterprise already has its own identity. By building a crew that feels emotionally connected before Kirk takes command, Strange New Worlds reframes what comes later. Kirk no longer reads as the beginning of the story. He's just the next chapter.
Going back and watching The Original Series after spending time with Strange New Worlds, the dynamic shifts. Kirk’s confidence feels more earned. Spock’s reserve seems more intentional. The relationships feel deeper because viewers now understand the environment these characters came from. That may be the show’s most surprising accomplishment.
Strange New Worlds doesn’t rewrite The Original Series or replace it. Instead, it reminds us that before Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise became legends, they were simply people sharing meals, figuring things out, and becoming the people history remembers."
Terry Terrones (Polygon)
Full article:
https://www.polygon.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-the-original-series-kirk/
COMICBOOK.COM:
"While he was resurrected for a Star Trek comic recently, William Shatner hasn’t been on-screen in a Star Trek project since he was unceremoniously killed off in crossover movie Generations. But would the Star Trek legend be willing to return? Speaking to TVInsider, the original Captain Kirk is more open to a return than you might expect, and when asked what might get him to consider returning, he said:
>WILLIAM SHATNER: “It’s easy to say money, but you know, the longer I played Kirk, I was allowed to put various shades of character in there. I think Captain Kirk — as the captain of the deadly instrument of war, as well as a ship of peace — could reside in somebody like me very well. I mean, I still have the aggression and the instinct for battle, and I’ve gotten myself into very dangerous things. But there is a planing, a smoothing of all those heights and peaks of attitude and activity that comes with age, as [opposed to] aggression, which is sort of a youthful characteristic. Even at 95, I think Captain Kirk would be a really good captain of a spaceship capable of war and peace.”
[...]
It turns out Strange New Worlds already tried to bring Kirk back, but Paramount wouldn’t meet his demands. The idea was a mirror universe episode that would have brought Kirk back as his “Emperor Tiberius” alter ego, which now ranks as one of the finest Star Trek pitches that never came to be. It now won’t happen in Strange New Worlds, of course, because the final season has been filmed, but that doesn’t mean the idea can’t be revisited or reframed for the potential Kirk spinoff. Having the younger Kirk presented with a Dickensian warning of what he could become if he were to turn to evil would be particularly interesting, and would give Shatner something to really have fun with. We didn’t get to see enough of the Mirror Universe version of Kirk, and allowing him a late villain turn would be a lot of fun.
The alternative is a little difficult to conceive of: Kirk was killed off definitively in Generations, and while not every Star Trek fan was impressed with that decision, undoing his death after this amount of time would be a strange move. There’s always the possibility of another multiversal version of Kirk – like the Spock Prime who turned up in the Kelvin Universe, played by Leonard Nimoy, of course – but something tells me Shatner would have more fun hamming it up as a bigger, grander caricature of his most famous character.
Shatner was also asked what he thinks gave Star Trek its longevity: “Kiddingly, I used to say, well, it’s me. You know, I’ve been around, and it turns out, of course, it isn’t me, but it doesn’t seem to be any individual either. It seems to be the general concept that, 400 years from now, not only will we humans still be around on Earth, but we’ll be thriving, and the possibilities are there.” "
Simon Gallagher (Comicbook.com)
Links:
Source:
"Star Trek & Chill #206" (Virtual Trek Con)
with Ryan T. Husk, Malissa Longo, Matt Bordman
Link (YouTube):
https://www.youtube.com/live/0jRFwy14VxU?si=5-yR_8i1ml5SvqOV
For context:
CBR:
"Like with any feature film, there are untold reasons why it might fail. But if it succeeds? Paramount's reboot of the film franchise could kickstart a new golden age for a continuing mission of boldly going into a hopeful future. Star Trek has beaten the odds before, and it just might do so again. [...]
https://www.cbr.com/paramount-star-trek-movie-reboot-biggest-sci-fi-event/
Modern fans need not worry about the legacy of the television series, though. Deep Space Nine was the most controversial upon its debut, but is largely considered the best of Star Trek today. With a baker's dozen of titles for both big and small screens, Star Trek is a culturally significant property but also a nebulous one. The small but mighty fanbase has very specific ideas about what this universe can (and should) be, but casual moviegoers do not. Paramount's plan to introduce a brand-new starship with an unfamiliar crew could use "Locutus" as its working title, because it might be the best of both worlds.
Folks may not realize it, but super-producer Kevin Feige made the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Star Trek's image. Today, the MCU struggles to break through with new fans intimidated by watching 18 years' worth of movies and shows to catch up. Star Trek has existed for more than three times as long. Creating an alternate timeline situation like J.J. Abrams did for 2009's Star Trek isn't the answer either. Ironically, the only viewers who understood the lack of relationship between Chris Pine's Kirk and William Shatner's Kirk were the diehard fans. Paramount's theatrical reboot will put diehard fans and stone-cold newbies on the same ground.
[...]
A new ship and crew at the center of Paramount's reboot actually simplifies the filmmakers' job. They just have to make one great movie, free of expected fan service or complex continuity. All that's required is the creation of a visually arresting spectacle built around an aspirational, feel-good story. If they can make a space opera that captures Star Trek's spirit, it will be an on-ramp for new fans without risking alienating the diehards. If they pull it off, the studio and filmmakers won't even need to rush a sequel into production to maintain momentum."
Full article:
https://www.cbr.com/paramount-star-trek-movie-reboot-biggest-sci-fi-event/
JAMIE RIXOM:
"Star Trek bosses can literally do nothing right as they bring back a character for Strange New Worlds seasons 4 and 5 that I absolutely hated. [...] I'm not surprised at all that Patton Oswalt is going to be coming back to Star Trek Strange New Worlds season 4 and 5. He said he's doing more than one episode. He said episodes "as the Vulcan Doug."
https://youtu.be/w_WC6VLBeU8?si=OR9ffQ0Wwfej76v1
Bloody Doug. Now, this was supposed to be funny. He was supposed to be a Vulcan that was obsessed with human culture and actually not very Vulcan-y in some ways. He also had a sordid love affair with Number One and she couldn't keep her hands off him ...
Now, this was supposed to be funny.
But just like lots of examples of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, I'm thinking about Pike when he was pretending to be a f'n pirate. Argh. And and on the bridge, I'm like, "It's not very Captain Pike." Or all of Starfleet Academy. All of it.
It's just not funny.
All right, they they go for funny, they miss the mark, and they hit stupid bullseye. I mean, just this like twang, bullseye, stupid. That character Doug and the whole relationship with Number One, the whole thing about being obsessed with humanity, I didn't mind too much, but the stuff he kept saying was just stupid.
It wasn't funny, it was creepy.
And it was just one more reason why season 3 was rubbish. Now, I don't really know what the fan reaction to his character was. And I look at very straight up, I'm saying this is not Patton Oswalt's fault even a bit. He's great. He had a character in Agents of Shield that I thought was brilliant. And to be honest, he's led all loads of characters over the years in little bit parts of things that I thought was brilliant. And he's a very funny guy.
So, I have no problem with the actor appearing in Star Trek. I just have a problem with Doug. [...] The fact he's coming back to more than one episode, obviously thinks that Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, etc. obviously think that his character went down a bomb. And they want to do more with him. Why? Why? I don't understand it. And to be honest, if they hadn't have already made a hundred thousand million billion mistakes, I mean a squillion of them, over the years under Alex Kurtzman, Akiva Goldsman, etc. then I would seriously sort of go,
"Oh, well, I mean this is this is a mistake, but never mind. I like the actor and maybe second time round they'll do a bit better with it."
But because of the billion squillions stupid mistakes over the years, I'm just looking at it and going, "No, [laughter], they're going to do it again." I'm already not looking forward to seasons 4 and 5. I'll just be honest with you, I'm not. I I look at the puppets episode and I just want to cry. [...]
Um, these episodes were actually written like 2 years ago. There's been massive delays getting this series onto our screens. So, they didn't write these episodes for this year. That basically means none of these episodes were written with the 60th anniversary in mind. So, we're not getting anything for it. I think the original plan was for season 5 to drop around the 60th anniversary. [...]
Now, I've heard some people talking about how they're going to learn from their mistakes of season 3, which is immediate just bull crap. Because, um, again, these were written and filmed before season 3 dropped. So, how can you learn from something the fans hadn't seen yet? So, that whole theory is just debunked. Season 5 they could learn from it, but season 4, no, they can't.
So, there're going to be just as many silly, quirky, stupid episodes as season 3, season 2, season 1 to be honest. It won't be a change in the way they're delivering Strange New Worlds. Every episode that Patton Oswalt is in is going to have a big chunk of this in there. And unless they have some sort of miracle, right? Unless Akiva Goldsman and the other writers and other people in charge of Strange New Worlds have had brain implants ala bloody Spock, this is going to suck.
It's going to miss funny, hit creepy, and just stupid.
And they can't help themselves. They can't. I don't know how to help these people. I want to go along and just say, "Right, okay, everything you think we want, do the opposite."
Okay, uh you want to do a musical? - No. You've I don't know what the the the opposite of a musical is. Do the opposite. You want K-pop Klingons? Sorry. And I'm like, "Okay, do it as opera. Don't do it as bloody K-pop. Don't do them all in gold dancing in the background. Do it as opera because at least fans would go, 'Well, at least that makes sense a bit.'"
Everything you think, do opposite.
"I've got this really funny idea about one of the characters swallows their combadge." - Punch that writer in the face. And then don't do it.
Oh god, right. I was actually saying something about Rod Roddenberry recently, and he's admitted that he's there and they ignore everything he says. He's supposed to be there as like the Star Trek gatekeeper. He's supposed to be there to sort of like go, "Oh, that's not really Star Trek enough." But they clearly just ignore everything he says. Really, he's just there to put Roddenberry Entertainment or whatever the company is on the you know, the title card and go: "Look, look we're including Roddenberry. Please don't be angry at us."
And I'm like, well, for the first couple of seasons things I didn't even know he was involved. So you clearly ignored him which just makes us more angry even though I'm not sure how much really I would listen to him anyway. I've seen him in a few interviews and I'm like, "Hmm. I'm not sure that you're, you know, I'm not sure the apple has fallen quite close to the tree there. I think it fell, rolled down a hill. But you know, I don't know the guy. I've seen him in a couple of interviews. But they ignore him.
I just think there needs to be somebody there that actually knows Star Trek, loves Star Trek and when writers come in going swallow the combadge just goes "No, get out of my office!" There isn't that person there. So they keep doing these stupid things. And I'm just going to say it now: those episodes are going to suck. It's not Patton Oswalt's fault. It's Akiva Goldsman and the other writers. [...]"
Jamie Rixom (Tachyon Pulse Podcast)
Full video:
Source:
Sci-Finatics LIVE on YouTube - Ep.5
with
Nick Hallam (Sci-Finatics), David Battrick (Sci-Finatics), Jamie Rixom (Tachyon Pulse Podcast), and "Dr. Trek" Larry Nemecek (Trekland Tuesdays)
Link:
https://www.youtube.com/live/nr35Dc5HZzs?si=YVqaIvIwiB242IPa&t=1866
Time-stamp: 31:05 min
STEVE SHIVES on YouTube:
"The Star Trek company line, beginning with franchise creator Gene Roddenberry, has always insisted that Starfleet is not a military organization. But the actual depiction of Starfleet in the various Star Trek shows and films paints a very different picture. [...]
https://youtu.be/Iht-B0WOsJ4?si=-8q65lNucjb_aqea
Most Star Trek characters, and most of the people who have helped to make Star Trek over the last sixty years, including the original creator of the whole thing, insist that Starfleet is not a military organization, and yet the presentation of it onscreen shows that it is. There’s tension in that contradiction, and if that tension is acknowledged, it could then inform the stories that Star Trek creators tell.
And I’m not talking about some pedantic, literalist, one-dimensional “let’s come up with an in-universe explanation for why Starfleet seems military but actually isn’t that resolves the tension and ‘fixes’ it” bullshit. I’m talking about leaning into the tension, treating it as real, taking it seriously.
There’s a difference between what Starfleet says it is, what most of the people who serve in it believe it is, and what it actually is. What does that mean? Where can we go with that? Suppose the heroic Starfleet captain lead protagonist of a hypothetical future Star Trek series is forced to confront that tension, to wrestle with the fact that Starfleet isn’t what they’ve always believed it to be, to realize that they signed up to expand knowledge and encourage peaceful coexistence between alien species, but they’ve actually spent most of their career patrolling borders or enforcing trade agreements or participating in armed conflicts with other galactic nation-states.
They were recruited with the promise they would be an explorer, but once they joined up they were put to work as a soldier. That’s not a story. That’s not even a premise. It’s just a place to start, a seed that could be cultivated into a story. But, I see potential in it. Star Trek has been around for sixty years now. It’s familiar. It’s well trodden ground. It’s a dilemma for people who set out to tell new Star Trek stories to do that in a way that is fresh and innovative, but still recognizable as Star Trek.
It seems to me, one possible way of doing that would be to acknowledge this tension, this contradiction about the nature of Starfleet, and to have a character or a group of characters who start to challenge the company line — shit, to even admit that it is a company line! I don’t know what the story is or where it goes, but that point of departure is intriguing to me.
That leads into the other reason why I think “Is Starfleet a military?” is a question that matters, and that is because how Starfleet is depicted says something about real life organizations. I know I say this all the time, but Star Trek is only superficially about people living on spaceships in the future. It’s not actually about that — it’s actually about you and me, living on planet Earth, in the present.
The Federation isn’t the Federation — it’s the United States, it’s western civilization, it’s whatever part of our real world it represents in a given story. Starfleet isn’t Starfleet. It is the U.S. military — or whatever other organization it represents in a given story, usually the U.S. military.
We are living in an era where allegedly non-military government departments, at all levels, have become more and more militarized. Here in the United States, police departments, even in small or mid-sized cities with relatively low crime rates, are buying armored vehicles. Squads of immigration enforcement agents, equipped and operating like military units — incompetent, poorly trained military units, but nevertheless — are raiding workplaces and schools, and have committed murder multiple times, on camera, in front of the world.
The President of the United States has deployed the actual military to the streets of American cities to intimidate those who don’t support him. The line between civilian agencies and the military has been blurred, and the view of the military’s proper role in society has been skewed, and that being the case, I dunno, when I think about it, ...
It does kinda bother me that a show typically as smart and aware and with its heart in the right place as Star Trek presents us with an obviously military organization which it constantly tells us isn’t a military. I don’t think it’s being done with any malicious or deceptive intent — I think Gene Roddenberry wanted to have it both ways and present characters who worked for a militaristic organization but who were also more like astronauts than soldiers.
Fair enough.
But, when you tell stories showing that the organization those astronauts work for also patrols the borders and defends the nation and fights the wars, you should be honest — with yourself as the storyteller and with the audience — about what that is.
In the series premiere of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Encounter at Farpoint,” Q selects the crew of the Enterprise as representatives of humanity and places them on trial, with the fate of the entire human race on the line. At one point, Riker asks what they should do, knowing that Q is watching their every move and judging them. “We do exactly what we would do if Q wasn’t watching,” Picard says. “If we’re going to be damned, let’s be damned for what we really are.”
Not a good episode. But, a good approach.
A good lesson for any writers out there — if there’s a story you want people to see, make sure that’s the story you write. And something worth keeping in mind for all of us — whether we’re talking about an organization, a company, a country, or just ourselves as individuals, what matters isn’t what we tell the world that we are, but what we show the world that we are.
In that scene from TNG’s “The First Duty” I referenced earlier, Captain Picard reminds Wesley that his first duty is to the truth. That makes sense morally and ethically, but it’s also just plain practical. No matter what we do to obscure it or disguise it, eventually the truth is always what people see."
Steve Shives on YouTube
Full video:
GIZMODO:
"The potential criticisms of the episode are obvious. Rather than dealing with gay characters explicitly, it deals with a textually straight romance. Soren is played by a cis woman, removing any potential discomfort at the illicit relationship. Jonathan Frakes, who played Commander Riker, criticized the episode in following years, saying that “Soren should have been more evidently male.”
The oppressors here are not really heterosexuals, but rather queer-seeming genderless persons, largely without individual characters. Where Soren’s feelings come from and what exactly they mean, besides a romance with Riker, is vague. She speaks of others who harbor the same feelings as her, though viewers never witness any of them. It’s almost comically palatable to a presumed straight audience.
But in the current context, “The Outcast” feels persistent and resonant. Soren is not a metaphorical gay man, but a textual trans woman. Riker takes her at her word, accepting her as a woman without questioning (a fact that, admittedly, would be more moving if she were played by a male actor). When she is outed and set to undergo conversion therapy, he risks his career to try to rescue her. When Riker tries to cover for her, Soren defies him, stating that he never manipulated her. She declares, “I have had those feelings, those longings, all of my life. It is not unnatural. I am not sick because I feel this way. I do not need to be helped. I do not need to be cured.” It is easy to imagine a trans person making such a defense in a legislature or courtroom today.
But the episode has one more layer of biting, if likely unintentional, critique. Utopian visions of genderless futures often subtextually, or explicitly, make femininity itself out to be a regressive force which must be quashed. In her book A Short History of Trans Misogyny, Jules Gill-Peterson describes, “When movements claim to act in our name, or use our image as their rallying cry, it is often to imagine a world where trans womanhood is implicitly obsolete, no longer needed in gender’s abolition…The cavalry in the global gender wars line up on their opposing sides, cannons ablaze, but each agrees not to admit the premise they share: trans femininity is not integral to the future they are fighting for.” It is in this context which “The Outcast” resonates.
Soren fights for being a woman with tooth and claw. She refuses to apologize for it. “The idea of gender, it is offensive to my people…We have been taught that gender is primitive,” Soren explains to Riker. He responds, “There’s a lot to be said for an experience that’s primitive.” This is a big claim, one a little too large for an essay like this. But womanhood is older than patriarchy. Many things associated with womanhood are obvious goods. While “The Outcast” is frustratingly unspecific, it taps into that truth.
[...]
“The Outcast” is an awkward, but powerful, fable, one which holds an accidental power that many, more deliberate, works about transness cannot touch."
Grace Benfell (Gizmodo)
Full article:
INVERSE:
"This year would, in theory, also make the aesthetics of SNW more closely align with TOS, which is what a hypothetical Year One show would be about: a direct lead-in to The Original Series, with SNW vibes. And that would be best accomplished with an animated show.
If Star Trek: Year One were animated, the challenge of integrating the styles of SNW and TOS would be easier. Animated sets could pay homage to both styles at once, and the uniforms could subtly change as episodes went by. Even the likenesses of the characters could be a blend of TOS and SNW styles; a kind of merging of Paul Wesley and young William Shatner, with Wesley providing the voice. Ethan Peck voicing an animated Spock would also work perfectly, without us having to worry too much about him looking exactly like Leonard Nimoy in TOS.
Year One couldn’t really become an ongoing series anyway, simply because The Original Series exists, and eventually, you’ll start running into the canon of those episodes (arguably, SNW already has this problem). So, a limited animated series that uses the voice talents of the SNW cast, with some artistic, canon-combining flourishes, would literally be the best of all worlds.
Will this happen? Like the hypothetical live-action version, probably not. But if we’re going to dream, we might as well dream logically."
Ryan Britt (Inverse)
Full article:
https://www.inverse.com/entertainment/star-trek-year-one-rumors-animated-series
Source:
The Transporter Room on YouTube
Link:
https://youtu.be/Y8Gw5Q9bvCI?si=5pca4T4sAy_oiwhF&t=2240
Time-stamp:
37:20 min
SCREENRANT:
"The Preservers were introduced in episode 3 of season 3, "The Paradise Syndrome," in 1968. They didn't appear directly, but Spock figured out who they were when he deciphered an obelisk on the planet known as Amerind. Along with Kirk and McCoy, Spock had been surprised to discover what looked exactly like a tribe of Native Americans flourishing on the planet, far from Earth.
https://screenrant.com/star-trek-aliens-look-human-reasons/
Kirk stumbled into the obelisk, lost his memories, and joined the Native American tribe in a storyline that undoubtedly wouldn't be produced today, which is why "The Paradise Syndrome" now ranks as one of Star Trek's most offensive episodes. The only redeeming element of the episode was revealed when Spock deciphered the ancient language of the obelisk:
>It was left by a super race known as the Preservers. They pass through the galaxy, rescuing primitive cultures which were in danger of extinction and seeding them, so to speak, where they could live and grow... Apparently, the Preservers account for a number of [humanoids in the galaxy]
While it's a safe bet that the Preservers were likely not created for the Star Trek universe until "The Paradise Syndrome" was written for season 3, the explanation does fit with many of the humanoid alien species that were featured in the first two seasons. It can even still apply to the franchise, nearly 50 years after "The Paradise Syndrome" established the existence of the Preservers. The ancient, obelisk-distributing alien race may have been a retcon at the time, but it's one that's easy to accept. [...]
Even if The Preservers are mostly forgotten in Star Trek lore thanks to how poorly the main plot of "The Paradise Syndrome" has aged, the introduction of the alien race that seeded humans throughout the galaxy was an important addition to Star Trek canon."
Laura Hurley (ScreenRant)
Full article:
Sci-Finatics on YouTube:
"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's darkest chapter wasn't a single episode — it was 50 years. In this deep dive into the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, we explore how a civilization was systematically dismantled — and what it cost everyone who survived it.
The Cardassians didn't just conquer Bajor. They dismantled it — systematically, bureaucratically, over fifty years. And the Federation watched. In this deep dive into one of Star Trek's darkest chapters, we dissect the full anatomy of the Bajoran Occupation — from the industrialised stripping of resources and cultural erasure, to the uncomfortable role of collaborators, the brutal calculus of the resistance, and the Federation's deliberate silence. Fifteen million Bajoran lives. And a Prime Directive that looked the other way. This is Star Trek lore at its most confronting — and most relevant.
What we cover:
How the Cardassian occupation was engineered as a system, not just a conquest
The role of collaborators — Winn, Opaka, and Odo's complicated legacy
Why the Bajoran resistance was both heroic and morally compromised
The Federation's non-intervention policy — noble principle or institutional cowardice?
What the occupation reveals about power, survival, and complicity
Whether you're a lifelong Deep Space Nine fan or discovering this story for the first time, this is the episode breakdown you didn't know you needed.🖖 "
David Battrick (Sci-Finatics)
Full video:
SLASHFLM: "Klingons "officially" met humans in the "Star Trek: Enterprise" pilot episode, "Broken Bow." A Klingon named Klaang (Tiny Lister) lands on Earth in the year 2151, and Earth sends the Enterprise to the Klingon homeworld to return him. As far as anyone knew, Klingons and humans hadn't met prior to this incident.
Thanks to some plot complications, though, a human from 1893 was whisked back to the 24th century and meets Worf face-to-face. That human was none other than author Mark Twain (Jerry Hardin). [...]
The plot of "Time's Arrow" is rather fun.
https://www.slashfilm.com/2194361/mark-twain-first-human-meet-klingon-star-trek/
When Twain arrives on the Enterprise in the 24th century, he is astonished, but he cannot cease being pushy and curious. He demands to know things of Commander Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and is startled to see Worf. Worf notices Twain's astonishment and merely states, "I am Klingon." Twain wisely backs off.
This scene takes place in the year 2368, long after the chronological first contact humans had with Klingons. (Check out the full "Star Trek" franchise timeline in order here). But because Twain hailed from the year 1893, he technically still counts as the first human to talk to a Klingon. Twain, it should be noted, was deposited back in the year 1893 before the end of the episode, and his career played out as history noted. In the "Star Trek" universe, Twain died in 1910, just like in real life. History is complicated when there's time travel involved.
Of course, Twain's visit to 2368 came with an important lesson. Twain is placated by the calm demeanor and pretty face of Counselor Troi (Marina Sirtis). Twain assumes that a gigantic starship like the Enterprise is built for military conquest, and that everyone on it lives in luxury while the impoverished live in squalor. Troi explains that, no, this is actually a ship of exploration and that there is no more poverty. Hopelessness, despair, and cruelty are gone now that poverty has been eliminated.
Twain can't believe it. "Young lady, I come from a time when men achieve power and wealth by standing on the backs of the poor," he counters, "where prejudice and intolerance are commonplace and power is an end unto itself. And you're telling me that isn't how it is anymore?"
Troi responds simply with, "That's right."
Twain likes that idea. We all do."
Witney Seibold (SlashFilm)
Full article:
https://www.slashfilm.com/2194361/mark-twain-first-human-meet-klingon-star-trek/
