Nerd heaven

This is an author's commentary for the first book in my Jewel of The Stars series. Think of it like the director's commentary on a DVD.

In this episode, I discuss the Babylon 5 animated movie The Road Home. How does it stack up as a Babylon 5 story? Let's dig in and find out.

Blood of the Stars is an epic fantasy novel, the first of a series by debut author Karyne Norton. Learn more about the book at https://www.karynenorton.com/ And check out my books at https://adamdavidcollings.com/books

Bonus Episode - My thoughts on Indianna Jones and The Dial of Destiny.

Today, we're looking at the final episode of Star Trek Continues. "To Boldly Go. Part 2." So how does this episode hold up against other series finales such as "All Good Things" and "What You Leave Behind". And how well does this episode tie together Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. There's a lot to talk about, including some cool stories shared with me by director James Kerwin. Audio Player control at bottom of page. ----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 107 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the final episode of Star Trek Continues. “To Boldly Go, Part 2.” bringing our coverage of this show to a close.   The description on IMDB reads The iconic mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise comes to an end, as Kirk and his crew battle the ultimate adversary.   This teleplay was written by Robert J. Sawyer and James Kerwin. With story by Vic Mignogna, Robert J. Sawyer and James Kerwin. It was directed by James Kerwin And it first aired on the 13th of November 2017.   We pick up in a very tense situation from last episode’s great cliffhanger. Kirk is unwilling to relinquish his bridge. He, Spock, and Uhura all try to fight back. To no avail. Even the security officer’s phasers are useless against Lana’s powers.   And then the big surprise twist happens. Smith’s eyes go silver. She is uplifted as well. This was nicely foreshadowed in the last episode where they mentioned that she was holding Garry’s hand when they passed through the barrier. I felt then, that she was holding something back. She uses the same lightning force powers that Lana was using. We saw Gary Mitchel and Elizabeth Denher use them in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. She forces Lana and Sentek to retreat to the Kongo.   So … it seems Smith wasn’t quite so unaffected as she claimed. I think this is a very cool development. But it raises a lot of questions. Where does Smith sit in the esper scale? Has she always been affected, but has been hiding it, or have her powers only just now manifested. And if so, why?   Kirk asks security to escort her to sickbay. At first, she’s taken aback. After all, she’s one of the good guys right. She helped them against Lana. But after a moment of thought, she relents. It’s probably a good idea. She understands the potential threat she represents. She sees things from Kirk’s point of view. Maybe she’d even do the same thing in his place. She voluntarily goes with security.   The big question is, why are they just sitting there. Why have they not destroyed the Enterprise and her crew? McCoy has the answer. It takes time for uplifted  espers to grow in their powers. Perhaps they’re biding their time until they all reach full strength.   Bones has a medical defence that might help with the illusions. Scotty recommends keeping their distance as the espers don’t have unlimited range with their powers. The Kongo’s engines are offline. The crew must have shut it off before they were overpowered. Maybe the espers don’t know how to get them going again.   Kirk hasn’t slept for two days. McCoy doesn’t argue. Usually Kirk would be wrong, but not this time. He needs to keep going. I’m not sure McCoy is right, actually. As Riker says in Best of Both Worlds, you can’t fight the enemy at the same time you’re fighting your own fatigue. Lack of sleep impairs human decision making. I know my mind is absolutely useless after putting in a day of work, and Kirk has been going much longer than that. Yes, the situation is critical, but for the moment, it’s quiet, This might be the perfect time for Kirk to catch 30 minutes of sleep while the enemy regroups. Of course, there’s a lot to accomplish while they have this time. Coming up with defences, a plan of some sort. There are no good or easy answers, which is probably why McCoy is not arguing with him.   In five years, 73 people have died under Kirk’s command. He remembers the exact number. Of course he would.   McCoy says “we’ll stop them” but that’s not the point. “At what cost, Doctor?” Kirk asks. That’s what’s really on his mind. It’s fitting for Kirk to reflect back on the cost of his five year mission as it’s nearing its end. Especially at a moment like this, when it looks like that cost is about to skyrocket. But there’s more to it, as we’ll soon discover.   McKenna goes to see Smith. Everyone is afraid of her. Understandably. Contact with Gary, at the time of his uplifting left some residual energy in her. She didn’t uplift at the time, probably because she doesn’t have the psi rating necessary. But her proximity to the barrier now has reactivated that residual energy enough to uplift her.   Smith has developed telepathy. She can read McKenna’s mind. She can feel the power flowing through her, but she claims to not be dangerous. She would never hurt anybody.   But McKenna can’t know that for sure. Gary shows early signs of megalomania quite quickly. Denher much less so. She still retained her humanity despite temptation to the contrary. Why?   Was it that Denher was intrinsically a better person? What is because Denher had a lower psi rating than Gary? If that’s the case, it looks good for Smith as she seems to have a lower rating still.   So far, it’s looking like Smith has a good chance of keeping her humanity long term. But there are no guarantees here. We just just don’t know.   Charvanek comes to see Spock. It seems she is still trying to pursue a relationship with him. A relationship he was tempted to enter into in the past, but resisted.   She asks Spock to come with her when her ship departs. The mission of the Enterprise is almost over. His job is complete. It’s a logical time to make a change in his life. She tempts him with the promise of unification between Romulans and Vulcans. A promise that will consume him a century from now. But why would a Romulan commander want reunification? She is as he would want her to be, not as she truly is. This is not Charvanek. When Spock resists the illusion, it disappears.   Other illusions are being used against the crew. An order to Checkov to lower shields and head into the barrier. Even Kirk’s preoccupation with the deaths of crew under his command.   I’m glad these moments were included. The greatest weapon Lana’s espers have is their mental abilities. Their ability to confuse and manipulate the crew of the Enterprise. They should be using it every change they get. Probably a lot more than we see on screen. With that many espers, and so many on board the Enterprise susceptible to them, it’s actually a miracle they don’t blow up their own ship.   This is one weakness I see in Deep Space Nine, actually. Now DS9 is my favourite of all the Star Trek shows, and I love everything to do with the Dominion War and the changelings. But their greatest strength was not the military might of their ships, or the fighting acumen of the Jem Hadar. Their greatest weapon was the ability to infiltrate the Federation. We saw a little hint of the potential they possessed in Homefront and Paradise Lost. And that was only 4 changelings. They should have used these infiltration tactics a lot more during the war. We know the blood screenings were not entirely effective. The Federation wouldn’t have stood a chance.   The reason I bring all this up is just to praise this episode for including these scenes.   The battle begins. The Kongo fires on the Enterprise. The starboard nacelle is damaged. The Romulans join the fight but then move off.   The espers might need a minute to recharge their powers.   The nacelle needs 30 minutes to repair. Kirk orders a risky cold restart. The esper’s powers cannot deflect multiple simultaneous strikes. But two vectors will not be enough. Three would do the job, but they don’t have a third ship….or do they?   Kirk orders the crew to prepare for a risky procedure. One they have never before attempted. Scotty will re-start the engines. They will separate the saucer from the Stardrive. Spock will command the saucer. Kirk, the secondary hull.   Obviously, this is something that TNG did, but TOS never did.  I was already aware that Gene Roddenberry had intended that the TOS Enterprise be able to separate. They didn’t really have the budget to make it a reality until Encounter at Farpoint. What I didn’t realise, until it was pointed out by James Kerwin, is that Kirk referred to the process, which they called “Jettisoning”, not “Separating” in two different TOS episodes. “The Apple” and “Savage Curtain”.   Spock points out that it will be very difficult to re-integrate the ship after this. But not impossible I like this approach. It shows that while yes, the original Enterprise COULD separate the two sections, it wasn’t a routine operation like on the Enterprise D. It’s a last resort. Not necessarily indeed to be undone. Kirk describes it as “jettisoning the stardrive section.” So it’s not the same as in TNG.  I like this a lot.   This gives the final episode of Star Trek Continues quite an epic feel. Now they can conduct a three-pronged attack on the Kingo.   And it’s working. The Kongo’s power is decreasing.   Kirk is commanding the stardrive section from Auxilary control, which was seen from time to time in the original series. The set was built for episode 3 “Fairest of Them All”.  Director James Kerwin shared a story with me. The Auxilary control set was re-assembled for the finale, not having been used in a couple of years. But the buttons and lights on the helm console had deteriorated due to humidity and dust. They no longer worked, and they had to film in two days.   Kermin checked the travel manifest and realised that Grant Imahara, who played Sulu, was flying in that day. Grant was an electrical engineer by trade. Kermin called him on his mobile phone and said “Grant, I’m so sorry, I know you have a day off before you need to film, but could you please come to set now and try to repair the auxiliary control helm console? He gladly did so and made it work beautifully. So when we see Sulu pressing the aux control helm buttons, and the lights on the console flashing, that was Grant’s work.   The Kongo hails the Enterprise. We hear some ominous music. Music that is very reminiscent of the score from Star Trek The Motion Picture. A very nice touch.   This episode was the third time Andy Farber wrote and recorded original music for the show. Starting to integrate some themes from The Motion Picture was a deliberate charge from Mignongna to Farber. This episode is, afterall, the missing gap between TOS and TMP. A handing of the torch. What he did was incredible. He weaved these different styles of music together in an impressive and wonderful way. You hear it clearly during the saucer separation.   What made this extra special was the inclusion of Craig Huxley. This man has deep connections to Star Trek. He played Peter James Kirk - the nephew of James Kirk, and also appeared in the episode “and the children shall lead.” He invented a very unique musical instrument that featured heavily in the score of Star Trek The Motion Picture. The blaster beam. The longest stringed instrument ever. You probably know what I’m talking about. The score for TMP had these deep resonant sounds like nothing you’ve heard before or since. Those sounds came from this unique instrument. Jerry Goldsmith discovered this instrument and wanted to use it in his score. It was also used in Star Trek 2 and 3, and even Back to The future and Alien. I was surprised to hear that, because to me, those sounds are uniquely synonymous with The Motion Picture.   They brought Huxley back to perform some blaster box for the score of this episode, and man does it make a difference. It impacts me on such an emotional level, because of the link to The Motion Picture.   The Kongo’s original crew, including their captain, are alive in the cargo bay. Lana is going to use them as leverage to negotiate.   They want McKenna to beam aboard the Kongo, in exchange for the Kongo’s captain. If she doesn't they’ll decompress the hanger deck. It’s a classic prisoner exchange, like in Generations. But who will it benefit most? McKenna is willing to go. Sentek gives only one minute. Spock tries to contact Kirk but Uhura can’t get through the interference.   McKenna is trained in mediation. She can find a way to a win-win situation.   Spock is in command. He has to make a decision. This could be a deception. The Kongo crew may not even be there. McKenna urges Spock to listen to his feelings, rather than his logic. Interestingly, I would have thought that his emotions would want him to protect McKenna, his friend. But he relents and agrees to the exchange. Mckenna for Captain Azmi.   This raises the important question of why they want McKenna so much.   As soon as McKenna beams away, it is revealed that the lifesigns were an illusion. There are no crew to be saved. Sentek lied. When Spock confronts him about this, saying Vulcans never lie, Sentek says they both know that is not true. And I can’t argue with that. They now have a valuable hostage. One for whom Spock has affection. And that may be motivation enough for the espers wanting the exchange.   Lana orders Spock to stand down or McKenna will die. Spock agrees.   The Kongo warps out of the system.   Can things possibly get any worse?   Lana brings food to McKenna, which gives her the opportunity to try to reason with her. McKenna says there is room for everyone in the Federation. She’ll do all she can to help them find acceptance. Lana points out that time after time, humanity has turned its back on self-improvement. After all they’ve done, Lana knows there is no place for her and her people in the Federation. She may be right. I can’t imagine many in the Federation would be keen to welcome these people, given the danger they possess.   Lana sees her and her people as humanity’s successors. She doesn’t want to assimilate into the Federation. She wants to replace it.   With help from the Romulans, the Enterprise has been re-attached into one piece. They’re now in pursuit, but they’re a long way behind.   Starfleet has requested help from both the Klingons and the Romulans. Both have said no. McCoy’s medical defence is ready to help them focus. This is important for the story, because otherwise, sooner or later, someone on the ship would succumb to an illusion. The good guys have to have a chance to succeed at some point. Uhura has a way to circumvent the esper’s subspace disruption, so they’ll be able to communicate and coordinate.   The Enterprise will be working with the Exeter and the Potempkin. The only other two constitution class ships in service.   Spock apologises for his recent decision. Kirk confirms he would have done the same thing in his place. Smith wants to help. Kirk isn’t convinced it’s a good idea. Her power is growing quickly. But is her ego growing with the power? There seems to be no evidence of that so far.   Five years ago, Smith watched Kirk make impossible choices to protect his crew. That set something in motion in her.  He showed her what it means to serve.   Originally a yeoman, Smith left and got her commission so she could return to the Enterprise and serve her crew. This is what she’s meant to do - help. Either Smith is a very good actor, or she is still herself. Still a good person. It’s a great speech and a very nice character moment for Smith.   If things weren’t already bad enough, it seems the Exeter and Potempkin have both been destroyed. They fired on each other. The espers powers of illusion have grown significantly. Probably greater even than what Gary’s were before he died.   This episode is doing a fantastic job of taking the tension and ramping it up further and then further.   Uhura and Spock have come up with another way to shield the Enterprise from the illusory power of the espers. It will be limited, but might buy them some time.   But without the other two ships, time to do what?   When they see the Kongo on screen, we hear another booming note from the blaster beam. So effective.   Smith is going to try to use her powers to force her way through the Kongo’s shields in order to beam over there.   Kongo has started firing. Spock has located McKenna. Smith is on it. The scene where she storms into the Kongo engine room and throws the espers aside is awesome. She has become a powerful superhero and I love it. Who would have thought, looking at the character in Star Trek’s second pilot, that she would end up here. But now it’s two against one, and their powers have had a lot more time to grow than hers. As they zap her, her eyes seem to dim. So she starts to fire all her power into the ship’s engines. The espers run. Her eyes fade to normal. Her lifesigns are gone. She used the last of her energy to burn out the Kongo’s systems.   And this brings the story of Smith to an end. She dies a hero. She fulfils her dreams. She is able to serve in the most powerful way, doing what nobody else could have done.   When I think back on this episode, I always remember another death, that we’ll talk about shortly. But after this time through, Smith’s death will stick with me just as much, maybe even more. This death is just as emotionally impactful. This is the moment when the good guys win.   James Kerwin really enjoyed shooting Smith’s sacrifice. He and actress Kipleigh Brown had been working together on film projects for many years, and both started working on Star Trek Continues at the same time, episode 3. He was glad to give the character an honourable send-off.   Not only did Kipleigh Brown write the previous episode, “What Ships are For”, she also wrote Smith’s farwell speech to Kirk.   The Romulans are firing killing shots at the Kongo. But they still have someone over there. The Romulans, like their Vulcan cousins, it seems, are very pragmatic in this situation. They’re not willing to risk the galaxy just for McKenna.   The visuals of the damages Kongo with it’s decks exposed looks awesome. Reminds me of the remastered effects in The Doomsday Machine.   Even Charvanek,who is still aboard the Enterprise, doesn’t approve of Tal’s actions. Now the Romulan ship is firing at the Enterprise too.   The Enterprise takes some very significant damage. Casualty reports coming from all over the ship. As the saucer is mangled, and sparks flare all over the bridge, we get an epic sense of disaster you wouldn’t see in any other episode of TOS. This is the finale. It all ends here. This nicely gives an added reason for the ship to undergo a major refit prior to TMP.   Charvanek disables the weapons on her ship, relieving Tal of his position.   The Kongo hails. They’re in bad shape. Even Lana has lost the silver from her eyes. “Well fought, Kirk,” she says. “For a moment we knew the freedom of infinity.”   Their reactor is building up. Scotty needs a minute to beam McKenna out. He doesn’t get it. He’s half got her, but having  trouble re materialising her. It looks like Spock has done it, but it still doesn’t work. Spock’s emotions come out as he hits the console.   McKenna is still standing there, shimmering, allowing them to have a tearful goodbye.   Kirk apologises and thanks her.   Spock approaches. It’s a painful moment for him. She says something to him, although it isn’t overly apparent to me in this scene. We get hints of music from Star Trek 2. Fitting. This scene really tears me apart. McKenna herself seems to have a quiet acceptance of her death. She has a smile that seems to say “Thanks for trying.” She is remarkably brave in the face of her imminent death. Were I in her situation. I’d probably be horrified. McKenna fades away. Dead. It makes narrative sense that McKenna would die in this episode. Over the course of this fourth season, she has become an important part of the show. Part of this family. It makes no sense that she wouldn’t be around in the movies. It’s logical that she would die. I guess the same is true for Smith. And in a story of this magnitude, there needs to be loss. There has to be a price for victory.   In the end, McKennma’s death was kind of senseless. She wasn’t able to make a difference, although it does serve an important story purpose as we’ll see in a minute. But Smith’s death was critical to their victory. They never would have won without her. In a very real sense, she is the hero of this story.   The Enterprise crawls home on its hands and knees. She has come home. But it’s not the triumphant moment they had anticipated. Their recent losses, how close they came to disaster, it all weighs heavily on them. Kirk’s log is spoken with a very sombre voice. We see the spacedock in orbit, where she’ll stay until her refit is complete and Kirk takes her out to confront V’ger.   We see a TOS shuttle fly over the golden Gate Bridge in a scene that otherwise could have come from the motion picture.   Admiral Nogura, who we hear about in the motion picture, but never see, congratulates Kirk on completing his five year mission, and on saving the galaxy. It’s cool to have that character appear in this episode.   In the show, we didn’t see the Enterprise crew saving the entire galaxy. They tended to deal with smaller scale issues most of the time. But it’s very fitting that they have faced and overcome such a threat in their final story.   Kirk still feels the cost acutely. Based on Kirk’s experiences with McKenna, Kirk calls the experimental counsellor program a success. It should continue. Starfleet ships from now on will have counsellors on board.   Kirk looks at a series of models, from Cochrane’s Phoenix, to the NX-01, We see the USS Discovery, the constitution class, and finally, the constitution refit, as the TMP theme starts to play.   I get goosebumps.   Now, potentially, Discovery shouldn’t be seen here, as that ship was classified when it travelled into the future. Of course, Discovery season 1 was brand new when this episode was made, so that canon hadn’t been established yet. Personally, I think it’s not out of the question for an admiral to still have a crossfield class model in his office. It was still a part of Starfleet history. Nogura would have been active in Starfleet during the time of Discovery. And I think it’s worth it for the emotional resonance of seeing it in the lineup. It’s nicely ties old and new Trek together.   The Enterprise will be refit from the keel up. The crew will be given promotions. And the Federation council has voted to reinstate the enterprise Delta as the official insignia of Starfleet.   Kirk says Scotty always thought it reminded him of the port and starboard warp signatures of Cochrane deceleration. I can’t help but wonder if this is a nod to the novel Star Trek Federation. To Kirk, it’s an arrow. Rising upward and outward.   I was never a fan of the alternate insignias for other ships, and I believe, neither was Rodennberry. I remember reading somewhere, and I don’t remember where, so take this with a grain of salt, but I seem to remember Roddenberry wanted the crew of other ships to have the familiar delta, but the costume designer kept making new insignias, probably because he wanted to express his creativity.   For me, this is a part of canon I tend to try to ignore. It’s clear that in most of Star Trek, the delta is intended to be the logo for all of Starfleet, and always has been. But, those alternate insignias are part of canon. And they were further canonised by both Enterprise and Strange New Worlds. Later Star Trek established the delta was used as the general Starfleet logo both prior to Kirk’s five year mission, and again afterwards.   James Kerwin resolved this by having Nogura say that in honour of the Enterprise, they were RE-establishing the delta as the official starfleet logo.   This episode makes it all work here in a fitting way.   Kirk is questioning whether his time has ended. He is not the same person he was. He’s suffered a lot of loss. His preoccupation with the loss of people under his command may have been brought on by the espers, but these feelings are real. He expects more of himself than he’s able to give any longer. He could never be happy with that.   This makes him more receptive to what Nogura is about to offer him.   We see the Enterprise crew assembled in the same room where Kirk briefs them in TMP. It’s fascinating seeing those colourful TOS uniforms in a background plate that looks like it’s taken directly from TMP. I do love the transitional moments like this.   Kirk emerges in his motion picture admiral uniform. Like most people, I’m not a big fan of the TMP uniforms, but the one exception is Kirk’s admiral uniform. I like that a lot. I kinda wish the movie had just used that uniform for everyone.   Kirks makes a speech. He has been promoted to admiral and chief of Starfleet operations. That’s the bad news. The good news is that they will continue to reach deeper into the stars. Explore more new worlds. Venturing further into the final frontier.   Our greatest adversaries, he says, are ourselves. We have much to learn about what’s out there, but also about what’s in here. The experience with the espers has cemented that lesson.   Now the music goes full TMP.   The next thing the episode needs to do is set up where McCoy and Spock will be at the start of the movie.   McCoy says he’s done. He’s seen enough death. What he hasn’t seen is his daughter in five years. He’s leaving Starfleet and going home. I feel that McCoy’s departure hasn’t been as well set up as Spocks, which we’ll get to in a minute. But his reasons are sound. Particularly the family thing 5 years is a very long time to not see your child. We don’t know the exact details of his family in the prime universe canon, but it has been established through the years, particularly in books, that McCoy had a family. The Kelvin movies made his marriage and divorce canon. I can’t begin to imagine not seeing your child for five years, but I applaud him for doing something about it now. This works really quite well for me, but I think it would work even better had there been a little more foreshadowing through the season. Seeing McCoy start to lament the lost time with his daughter. Realising how great that cost had become.   Of course, this isn’t the end of their friendship. And there’s a nice little nod to Drake. There’s an acknowledgement of the awkward but strong friendship that exists between Spock and Bones when he invites Spock to join them.   Spock tells Jim what McKenna said to him before she was lost in the transporter beam. “Forgive yourself.”   A difficult thing. McKenna encouraged Spock to pay attention to his emotions. He did so. He made an emotional decision, ignored his logic and allowed her to beam over.   That decision cost many lives, including hers.   Spock doesn’t know how to deal with the guilt and regret he’s feeling. All he knows how to do with emotions is suppress them. And that leads him to make the decision to undergo the Kholinar. He will purge all his remaining emotions.   This whole Kholinar thing seemed to come from nowhere in The Motion Picture. So Spock’s arc in this episode makes a whole lot of sense. It retroactively makes Spock’s arc in TMP even better. I absolutely love what the episode does here. It’s brilliant character work.   Kirk will see his two friends at dinner. But there’s one last thing he has to do. He goes to the bridge of the Enterprise. Now shut down and empty. And he looks at it. Says goodbye. While Kirk says goodbye to his command, we say goodbye to a bridge that we will never see again - not in this form.   It’s a powerful scene. It holds similar emotional resonance as the poker scene at the end of “All Good Things.”   The episode hangs there. Gives Vic the time just to look and react.   We finish with a captain’s log. Kirk’s last. At least for now.   Then we pull back on a shot of the Enterprise in spacedock, as the music becomes very TMP sounding.   There is no music over the ending credits, just the ambient sound of the bridge.   This episode does everything a series finale should do, and it does it in style. We had a huge story with epic stakes. Powerful impacts for our characters. A sense of full-circle as we link back to the beginning, and a setting up for what will come after.   I’d put this one right up there with the best of the Star Trek Finales, “All Good Things” and “What you Leave Behind.” This is certainly orders of magnitude better than “Endgame.”   I’ve loved Star Trek Continues as a whole, but this final two-parter epitomises the reasons I love this show so much.   I have to give a huge congratulations to the cast and crew. To everyone who made this labour of love a reality. This show has a special place in my heart, and I’m deeply grateful to those who created it.   I would like to acknowledge the tragic passing of actor Grant Imahara who played Sulu. He passed away on the 13th of July 2020 at just 49 years of age   I’d like to say a huge thankyou once again, to James Kerwin for reaching out to me, and generously answering my questions and sharing some cool stories. Thanks, James.   Here ends my coverage of Star Trek Continues.   So what next? Well it seems crazy not to jump right into Star Trek The Motion Picture after this. I’ve covered all the TNG movies on the podcast, but I haven’t covered the TOS movies. So I’ll make my way through them.   I also have some ideas of things I can do along the way. I’ve been thinking of revisiting the original Transformers cartoon from the 80s, which I have powerful childhood memories of. See if there’s anything in them worthy to discuss as an adult. I’d likely cover more than one episode in a podcast, and probably not go into as much recap detail as I’ve been doing with Star Trek. The idea is something I can do a little more off-the-cuff. Something that will take less time as I try to focus more on the fiction writing.   I’m also thinking of giving periodic updates on my reading of DC Comics, using the DC Universe Infinite app.    Anyway, there’s plenty more to come, so I hope you’ll find something of interest in the future of Nerd Heaven.   Until next time, Live Long and Prosper. Make it so.

Today, we're looking at "To Boldly Go Part 1", the first half of the Star Trek Continues grant finale. See how this episode ties back to the Star Trek pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before", how it sets up everything for the exciting conclusion, and hear some fascinating new insights into the episode from director James Kerwin. Player at bottom of page http://AdamDavidCollings.com/books ----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 106 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the first part of the Star Trek Continues grand finale, “To Boldly Go, Part 1”.   I got an email a few weeks ago. It was from James Kerwin. Yes, that James Kerin. Writer, producer and director for Star Trek Continues, including director of today’s episode.   He reached out to me to say he’d been listening to the podcast and enjoying it. This was a huge thrill. It’s very humbling to find that one of the creators of the show has been listening to the podcast, so I want to give a big shout out and thank you to him, not only for his work on the show, but for his encouragement.   And he pointed out a few fascinating things that I’d missed. Remember in episode three, I talked about how good the shuttlecraft exterior looked. It turns out, they didn’t build that from scratch that was the real shuttlecraft Galileo from Star Trek The Original Series. How awesome is that?   I’ve made mention of Nurse Chapel a couple of times, but that wasn’t actually Chapel. They made a conscious decision not to have Chapel appear on screen in this show because she should be off at Starfleet Medical getting her doctorate at this point in time, which makes a lot of sense. So it was always Nurse Burke, a character who had appeared in Star Trek comics and novels.   And Lieutenant Smith has not actually been on the Enterprise the whole time. But we’ll learn more about that in the next episode.   But here’s a big one I missed. The actress who plays her, Kipleigh Brown, was the writer of episode 9 “What Ships are For” I didn’t put that together, but I think that’s really cool.   The description on IMDB for today’s episode reads To solve the utmost mystery, the Enterprise must return to where Kirk's five-year mission began. The teleplay was by Roberty J. Sawyer based on a story by Vic Mignongna, James Kerwin, and Robert J. Sawyer. It was directed by James Kerwin, And it first aired on the 18th of October 2017.   Robert J. Sawyer was the primary writer of this two-parter. He is a very famous Canadian author who wrote FlashForward, which was adapted for TV by Star Trek’s Branon Braga, and Man of Steel’s David S. Goyer.   When Star Trek The Next Generation was preparing to wrap and move to the big screen, they gave it a two-hour finale. This idea was pretty unheard of at the time. Lots of shows in the 90s had movie-length pilots, but not finales. TV shows tended to pitter out and end with a bit of a whimper. TNG changed all that.   But the original Star Trek never got a proper finale, like TNG, DS9, and Voyager.  Even Enterprise got a finale of sorts, which I will partially defend, though not the feature length extravaganza that others got. But things were different in the 60s. TOS had no ending. It was cancelled. Turnabout Intruder wasn’t intended to be the end of the story, it was just an episode.   One of the greatest things about Star Trek Continues is that it rectifies this. It gives TOS the ending it always deserved. And it’s done so well.   Much like “All Good Things”, it calls back to a lot of things from the past, but it specifically links us back to the very first episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Even the titles relate, each is part of Kirk’s iconic phrase. The symmetry is beautiful.   But hold on, I hear you say. “What about the Cage? Isn’t that the pilot of TOS?” Well, yes it is. Star Trek had an unprecedented  two pilots. But The Cage never actually aired in its original form during the run of the show. These days, I tend to think of The Cage as the pilot for Strange New Worlds. So in my mind, it makes a lot of sense for this episode to tie in with “Where No Man has Gone Before.”   Director James Kerwin gave me some interesting insight into the production of these episodes. They actually filmed this two-parter before they filmed the last episode “What Ships are For.” CBS/Paramount had implemented their fan-film guidelines, guidelines.    Now a show like this would have needed some substantial changes to fit with these guidelines. They were required to be less than 15 minutes or no more than 2 30 minute parts in total with no additional seasons, episodes or sequels.   CBS didn’t require the show to shut down, but with these guidelines in place, and Discovery about to release, out of respect, they decided to wind down Star Trek Continues. They did a final fundraiser to complete episodes 8, 10 and 11, but there was no money to make episode 9.   But at the last minute, a generous donor gave them the money for episode 9. They shot the finale first to get it out of the way, and went back several months later to film “What Ships are For.” I’m glad that generous donor made it possible, because that last episode was pretty amazing.   The episode opens with Spock & McKenna meditating together. This is normally a very private affair, but Spock considers it an honour to teach a willing student.    Meditation is the one time that Vulcans truly acknowledge their emotions. You can see why it’s so private.   McKenna’s inclusion in this moment shows the level of intimacy that has grown between these two.   They will both miss these sessions when the mission is over.   We learn here about a vulcan discipline, the Dulhutnar, an alternative to the Kolinahr.  Rather than the purging of emotions, the Dulhutna is about accepting the wisdom of vestigial emotions. Spock considers there to be No chance of him pursuing either. Of course, we know that shortly after this finale, he will return to Vulcan and pursue the Kolinahr.   Spock and McKenna’s relationship is special. They share private things they wouldn’t share with others. Time with humans has taught Spock to value his human side. And then they hold hands. That’s a huge deal. Vulcans are not comfortable with physical contact. And even for humans, holding hands is a sign of affection and physical intimacy.   The Enterprise is scheduled to return home soon. Their 5 year mission is coming to an end. The loss of The Hood crew still weighs on him. You’ll remember that back in “Embracing the Winds” a mysterious life support failure cost the lives of the entire crew. A failure that Scotty was unable to explain.    I remember commenting at the time that I hoped the show would follow up on that. I couldn’t remember if it did. We’ll see in this episode that it is definitely followed up.   The Yorktown and the Republic were both damaged while investigating The Hood’s loss. The Enterprise is being sent to the Federation colony on Aldebran III which went completely silent shortly afterward.   Admiral Thesp, a very cool looking Andorian, admits that the Federation had a secret laboratory on the planet. A supply vessel sent to investigate never returned. They detected anti-proton residue. That means Romulans.   The colony has been destroyed. The central reactor suffered a containment failure. Scotty thinks that should be impossible. He installed the safeguards himself 5 years ago, which, I suppose, gives us a glimpse of what Scotty’s job was before the Enterprise’s 5 year mission began.   Interestingly, Vic pronounces the word Sabotage the same way Shatner does. Sabotage. I don’t know how common that is in America, or Canada for that matter, but here in Australia, we definitely say Sabotage. Anyway, I love these little bits of attention to detail. It’s really cool.   The underground pandora research lab is intact but it has a scattering field so Scotty will have to beam them down outside.   The set for the planet looks very reminiscent of what we might have seen on The Original Series, and yet, kind of better, in my opinion. It’s a real work of art.   I like the little elevator shaft to gain entrance to the lab. The only sign of habitation nearby. Presumably, the colony was elsewhere on the planet.   A drone appears and attacks them. The effects here are a good match for the original series. Again, better quality, but recognisable.   There’s a good sense of danger to this action scene.   After they’ve dealt with it, a human woman, Lana, appears out of the turbolift. She’s surprised to see a Vulcan. The sensors detected him as Romulan.   Lana is played by actress Nichola Bryant who famously portrayed the Doctor Who companion Peri, a character I’ve been known to refer to as “the whinging yank”. But in fairness to her, Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor was a bit of a prickly guy to be around.   James Kerwin was a big Doctor Who fan growing up. Colin Baker and Nichola Bryant were the doctor/companion pairing that he most remembered as a child. It was a big honour for him to work with both of them on Star Trek Continues. Colin Baker appeared in Episode 4, The White Iris, as Amphidamas. And Nichola Bryant appeared in this two-parter.  How cool is it that he got to work with them both on this show?    Lana is wearing a visor. To me, it looks similar to the one that Spock and Miranda Jones had to wear when viewing the Medusans back in “Is There No Truth in Beauty.”   But as she removes the visor, we see her eyes. The same metallic colour we saw in Gary Mitchell after he was uplifted by passage through the galactic barrier, back in the pilot episode.   Ever since this phenomenon was discovered, after “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, Starfleet have been gathering people with high psi-quotients and experimenting with them. Trying to uplift them. There are 25 of them.   This sounds like a REALLY BAD IDEA   My first thought is, are section 31 involved? This woman is part of a first trial. They have already gone through the barrier. They are weaponised humans - to serve as a last resort in case the Federation is invaded by a superior force.   When Kirk questions the legitimacy of such an action, she refers to the starfleet charter. Article 14 Section 31. And there it is.   Lana makes the statement “Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely. It corrupts selectively.”   I don’t believe that all power will always corrupt. I don’t buy into the old adage. Lana makes a fair point - of the two espers that were uplifted in the pilot, one became a megalomaniac. The other retained her humanity. We don’t really know why. Did Gary already have elements of megalomania in his personality? Was he somehow more susceptible to it than Denher was? There could have been all sorts of factors.   And that uncertainty makes this whole thing a very risky endeavour. Lana claims that psychologically unstable espers were excluded from the operation.   But they can’t know for certain what might cause another Gary Mitchell. That, in my opinion, makes what they’re doing too dangerous.   Kirk asks which she is, and she answers by saying she follows “Sas-tar-po-harn” This is a human spiritual movement that follows the pacifict teachings of Surak and T’Mord of Vulcan. I think this is a very interesting idea. And a logical one. In Babylon 5, when humans made first contact, there was a growing interest in alien religions among humans, the theory being that races that are more technologically advanced than we are, must be closer to God.   I can see some people thinking that way. It seems a similar thing may have happened in the Star Trek universe. After first contact with Vulcans, it’s only logical that some humans may have chosen to adopt Vulcan philosophy. So this is a nice touch.   Lana explains that a cloaked ship came here and attacked the lab. It destroyed the Hallifax. The other espers have been kidnapped by the Romulans. Lana played dead with her powers so they didn’t find her.   Spock surmises that Vulcans cannot be uplifted, based on his prior experience at the barrier. He was not uplifted despite his psi-abilities. If Vulcans cannot be uplifted, then neither can Romulans. But this raises a question. Do Romulans have the same telepathic abilities as Vulcans? I’ve never heard of a Romulan conducting a mind meld. The Romulan ancestors left Vulcan during a time of barbarism. The TNG episode “Gambit” suggests that ancient Vulcans had telepathic abilities because they constructed a telepathic weapon called The Stone of Gol. That suggests the Romulans may indeed have similar telepathic abilities to Vulcans, even though we’ve never really seen it. Unless there’s some example I’m forgetting.   The Romulans want to use the kidnapped human espers because they can’t create their own. Seems logical. The interesting thing is, they don’t want to use the force against the Federation, but to overthrow their own Praetor. Apparently, the Romulan Klingon alliance has ended, and this group of Romulans oppose the end of the alliance.   Spock raises concern over taking Lana with them. Better to leave her here. Stranded. As they had intended for Mitchell.   A Romulan appears. Sentek. He is played by Cas Anvar, who played Alex Kamal on The Expanse. The Expanse had already aired a season or two by this point. I continue to be impressed with the actors that Star Trek Continues is able to get. Lana disarms Sentek. They beam out (with the prisoner) just before the explosion.   They’re pursuing the Romulan ship but it’ll enter the neutral zone before they catch up. Admiral Thesp orders him to enter the zone and pursue all the way to Romulus if necessary. Just get the espers back.   Kirk doesn’t look too impressed with this. Among other reasons that he probably realises, this is a suicide mission, but in addition to that, it could provoke a war.   Spock asks Uhura to transmit an encrypted message. It’s all a bit mysterious.   Kirk has some hard questions for Lana. Why was that one romulan left on the planet? Why didn’t she use her powers to overcome him? She theorises that he is a praetorian spy hidden among the dissidents. He fled to the hills. None of her answers sound particularly convincing.   The Enterprise officially crosses the border. They are now in violation of treaty. Of course, so were the Romulans, but it seems they didn’t represent the Romulan government so that will be a very weak excuse as far as they are concerned.   A bird of prey decloaks. It’s not the marauder. When Spock identifies the ship, Kirk shakes his head. He knows what Spock is up to.   They are hailed by the Romulan commander from The Enterprise Incident. Played wonderfully by Amy Rydell, the daughter of the original actor to play the part in the TOS episode. She does a fantastic job, and almost convinces me she’s the time-travelling original actor.   She is referred to Charvanek in this episode but was never named on screen in The Enterprise Incident. She does whisper her name to Spock but we never learn what it is. The Name Charvanek was used in a number of non-canon sources. But she’s also given other names in various novels and games. She doesn’t attack but her words make it clear she considers a formal declaration of war is all but inevitable due to the Enterprise’s entry into the zone.   Kirk isn’t impressed that Spock contacted her of his own volition. Spock admits the reason he didn’t ask is because he knew Kirk wouldn’t agree. How human you are becoming, Mister Spock.   Spock believes he can convince her to assist them in pursuing the dissidents, due to their previous rapport. Kirk gives him 30 minutes.   At the end of The Enterprise Incident, Charvanek was taken into Federation space and released on a world on our side of the border. It seems that Sarak was the one who negotiated the treaty that led to her return to Romulan space. It seems she was able to get her old command back. That must have taken some convincing on her part.   Spock appeals to her loyalty to the Praetor. It doesn’t take much to convince her to help stop the dissidents.   The twist happens when she meets the prisoner. He is no Romulan commander that she knows, and she knows her fleet. She knows her fellow commanders. As he is discovered, Sentek beams out, apparently at Kirk’s command, according to the transporter chief.   Sentek tries to sabotage engineering. In the battle, Charvanek  is rendered unconscious by something similar to a Vulcan nerve pinch.   It’s nice to see Doctor M’Benga again.   McCoy has found that Sentek is actually a Vulcan who lived on the colony, and he’s married to Lana. He had unusually high natural psionic ability, even for a Vulcan. They speculate that he wanted an equal for a mate. A human who could be uplifted to be his equal. They also speculate that Lana’s trip through the barrier may not have been approved by Starfleet.   When Kirk confronts Lana, she explains that she sees her uplifting as a way to accelerate human evolution, which she considers to have stalled.   We get some very interesting worldbuilding. Apparently the barrier around our galaxy was artificially constructed and placed there by the preservers. I love this. It makes sense of what was a bit of a silly idea in TOS, and adds to the mystique and mythology of the Star Trek universe. It’s a shame that Star Trek never explored the preservers more than it did.   When she asks why the preservers did it, McCoy speculates that “it was probably to keep us in, to prevent our violence from spreading”. This reminds me somewhat of C.S Lewis’s space trilogy, which suggests that the vast interstellar distances between stars are God’s natural quarantine to keep sinful humanity confined.   Lana has a different theory, that it was so that naturally superior lifeforms could be uplifted when they devised the technology to leave the galaxy. McCoy pushes back “you don’t know what gods think.” It’s very chilling when she replies “Yes. I do.”   The implication, of course, being that she is a god. When humans start thinking of themselves as gods, you’re probably in for trouble.   It turns out, the ship the Enterprise has been following was just an illusion. Created, presumably, by Lana. But why does she want to start a war between the Romulans and the Federation? Uplifted espers seem to have very similar powers of illusion to the Talosians.   It’s nice to see Sulu taking command on the bridge. He’s showing a good aptitude for the job he’ll eventually have.   Charvanek is still working with her old first officer, Tal. He doesn’t seem interested in apologies. He’s planning to destroy the Enterprise. This raises the question of where Charvanek is. If she’s still on the Enterprise, he’ll be killing her. More likely, she’s on her ship, but left the bridge in the hands of her first office, much like Kirk has with Sulu.   We get some interesting insight into Romulan religion when the commander says he hopes that Spock’s katra finds its way to Vol-to-vor. We know from Star Trek 5, that vol-to-vor is the romulan’s equivalent of Eden. So it seems in their religion, it is both a place of origin as well as a destination. This is somewhat different to Christianity, where Eden and heaven are distinct.   The Romulans can’t fire. They think they’re pressing the button, but they’re not. Lana’s influence, no doubt.   When Charvanek returns to the bridge we see that Tal has been overstepping his authority. She orders that they will assist the Enterprise with their mission. I smell a potential mutiny in their future.   Kirk figures out the truth behind Lana’s deception. There never were any dissidents. The espers weren’t kidnapped by Romulans. There never were any Romulans on the planet. The espers stole the Halifax. The deception was to buy time for the espers to make it to the galactic barrier.   This is what happened to the Hood. The espers convinced the crew to shut off their own life support. Just to see if they could. That’s horrifically cold. These people truly see themselves as above humankind. Of more value. They have no regard for human life. Given that, it seems believable that Lana would be willing to start this war just as a distraction.   There is no doubt now. Lana is a full villain   Kirk is now questioning his judgement   He calls those who were present at the events of “Where no man has gone before” which includes Smith, who is back on the ship now.   Plus others who were not there.   Spock asks Smith if there’s anything she can share of her experience. She was holding Mitchell’s hand when they crossed. She has nothing to add that wasn’t in her report. But her demeanour suggests maybe she’s holding something back.   Scotty is keenly aware of what they’re up against. Gary was difficult enough to defeat on his own. They’re going to face an entire ship full of uplifted espers.  Kirk takes solace in the fact that despite his powers, Gary was still just as susceptible to human frailty. Then he adds “he couldn’t even remember my middle name” which is an amusing little nod to the “James R Kirk” tombstone in that episode. Canon fixed.   Charvanek’s  takes the practical approach. Strike first, before they have the ability to grow in their power. Similar to Spock’s recommendation all those years ago.   Kirk won’t have that. These are still Federation citizens. This is a rescue mission.   I get it. I’m all for idealism, and I’d side with Kirk on this. You can’t just shoot to kill while they’re still human. But calling it a rescue mission? I believe that’s a little naive. These people know what they’re doing. They’re actively trying to undergo this transformation. I guess the difference is that their egoes, their ambitions, will be increased along with their powers. (much like Khan with his genetically engineered nature)   Sulu comes up with an ingenious way to catch up with the espers. Combine a traditional warp field with the space-folding singularity used by the Romulan ship, reminding us of his background in natural sciences, back in Where No Man Has Gone before. There’s a lot of physics to flying a starship so it makes a lot of sense to me that a good helmsman would have a background in science.   Lana decides it’s time to escape captivity. She flings the forcefield away and then forces Drake to kill the other guard, and then slowly commit suicide. This is a very chilling scene, and again demonstrates how little regard she has for human life. Can you imagine the horror of that moment, feeling your arm moving, knowing you’re about to disintegrate your body, and having no power to prevent it. It’s horrifying.   This moment is better than any other redshirt death that has ever happened in TOS, and possibly Star Trek in general.  Firstly because we’ve gotten to know this character. He’s been developed of a number of episodes. He’s not just a nameless face. We know he’s a person with a life, people who love him. In addition to that, it treats the moment with the gravity it deserves.   I’m left feeling something very deeply, and that would probably even be the case even if we hadn’t been introduced to him earlier in the season. Farewell, Drake. You will be missed.   The Enterprise and the Romulan ship have made it to the galactic barrier. The Hallifax is at the border. But have they gone through yet or not?   Kirk hails them. He offers aid, to be a go-between for them with Starfleet Command. He doesn’t give the impression of a neutral party, though. They do, after all, work for Starfleet Command.   But it’s a trap. The Halifax is empty. Another ship appears behind them. A constitution class ship, The USS Kongo emerges from the barrier. It’s too late. There are only around 12 people on board. We get a view of their bridge, and they all have silver eyes. If that wasn’t bad enough, Lana and Sentek enter the Enterprise bridge. “Relinquish command or the Enterprise will suffer the same fate as the Hood.”   To be concluded.   This is a fantastic cliffhanger. Not quite up there with Best of Both Worlds, but better than most.   This episode was a great set-up for the finale. I love how it pulled together so many threads, both from TOS and from Star Trek Continues itself.   Only one left to go. It’s been a wild ride.   Don’t forget to check out my original science fiction at AdamDavidCollings.com/books   And I’ll see you next time to discuss To Boldly Go, Part 2. Until then,  Live Long and Prosper Make it so.

We're taking a brief side-quest from our regular coverage of Star Trek Continues, to look at an episode of Star Trek New Voyages, because it sets up the back-story of Kirk and Carol Marcus's relationship, and I just like to throw it in there when I'm doing a re-watch of Star Trek Continues. ----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 105 of the podcast.   Today, we’re talking about an episode of a different fan series - Star Trek New Voyages. “The Holiest Thing”   Why? I just like to throw this one in when I do a re-watch of Star Trek Continues, because it does a similar thing to Continues, that is, to help develop the story filling in the gaps between TOS and the Star Trek movies. This one introduces Kirk to a much younger Carol Marcus, for the very first time. So I figured, let’s have a look at this one. Next time, we’ll be back with part 1 of the finale of Star Trek Continues.   The description on IMDB reads Captain Kirk and the Enterprise investigate the devastation of Lappa III, apparently by the terraforming efforts of Dr. Carol Marcus.   This episode was written by Rick Chambers It was directed by Daren Dochterman   And it first aired on the 15th of January 2016   We start this episode in a very unexpected place. A shuttle flies past the camera. But it’s not a TOS shuttle. It’s an Enterprise D shuttle. We cut to the inside where we see a woman in TNG era uniform and an older Scotty. So, clearly this is set some time after the TNG episode “Relics” where a retired Scotty finds himself in the 24th century. I have to say, they cast a pretty decent look-alike for older scotty. A guy named Carl Sheldon. He hasn’t done a lot of acting.   Watching this scene, I’m again reminded just how professional the acting and writing are in Star Trek Continues. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Star Trek New Voyages. They did some amazing stuff long before Star Trek Continues was a thing. But the acting, and the dialog here just isn’t at the same standard as Continues.   But I want to give this show credit for set design and visual effects. What we see in this episode is great. And not all the acting feels as amateur as this first scene.   The ensign has been doing some training with Captain Scott. They’re approaching the Lappa system. She asks Scotty if he’s ever been there. He recalls a time in his past, when the world was still very much on the frontier. It was un-inhabited back then. At least, that’s what they thought.   We then cut to the TOS present day. A scientist, who we’ll shortly learn is Dr. Carol Marcus, is working to terraform this planet. Scotty is there, and in this show, he has a moustache. Another little nod to closing the gap between TOS and TMP.   Marcus says “we have Enterprise and her chief Engineer watching over our shoulder.” This is something that bugs me. That she says “Enterprise” rather than “The Enterprise.” Voyager was the first Star Trek show to drop the word “The” when referring to the ship. And I was okay with that because “The Voyager” somehow sounded wrong. In contrast to “The Enterprise” and “The Defant” which both sounded completely natural and right.   Then we got Enterprise, and on that show, they did the same thing. They called the ship “Enterprise”, not “The Enterprise” That annoyed me a little, but I got over it.   But nowadays, in Strange New Worlds, they are referring to the original starship Enterprise, the one commanded by Pike and eventually Kirk, as “Enterprise.” I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong. That ship was always “The Enterprise” so that annoys me quite a bit. I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all. Here, in New Voyages, we have the same problem. Carol is referring to Kirk’s ship. It should be “The Enterprise”   Marcus told the science council she could terraform Lappa III in less than a decade. But with recent problems with the equipment, it’s going to take twice that long. Both Marcus AND the council seem to be very inpatient about that, even though, as Scotty points out, it’s a whole century faster than anybody else has done it before. It amuses me to see her pacing impatiently when we’re talking timeframes of decades and centuries.    And centuries sounds about right for terraforming, something that, if it is actually possible, is not going to be quick.   Apparently, they’re using transporter technology in a whole new way. Scotty wants to see what it’s all about. Something goes terribly wrong and the lab explodes. Scotty and Marcus barely escape in their shuttle. But they crash. This was a pretty spectacular sequence.   The Enterprise crew have recovered Scotty and Marcus. Scotty is pretty banged up. Marcus is unconscious but should be out of here soon. But Kirk is very impatient to speak with her. He needs to know what happened on the outpost.   Jacy King plays Carol Marcus. Married to Brian Gross who plays Kirk. She’s a good choice. She definitely looks the part, a lot more than Alice Eve did in Star Trek Into Darkness. And, of course, she doesn’t have the inexplicable British accent.   I didn’t see Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Kahn at the cinema. I don’t know if it even showed here in Tasmania. But I was only 4 years old. I saw the first half of it on TV, and then watched the whole thing on VHS many years later. When I watched it, it had been quite some time since I’d seen the original TV series. So I had assumed, from the way she was introduced, that we’d seen the character of Carol Marcus at some point in the past. Of course, that wasn’t the case. The back-story of Kirk and Carol Marcus always seemed like this big glaring hole that demanded to be filled. So I liked that Star Trek New Voyages chose to fill that hole.   Carol is shocked and horrified to learn all her team is dead. There’s no evidence of alien contact. Kirk is going to begin the investigation assuming it was an accident. Carol wants to be a part of it. She will work with Spock.   But McCoy thinks she needs to work with someone more sensitive to her current emotional needs, given her great loss. So Kirk volunteers.   Carol’s terraforming technology uses transporters to re-arrange matter. Seems like a pre-cursor to the Genesis device she’ll eventually create.   Scotty thought he saw a ship on sensors, but now they can’t detect anything.   Spock wants to run background checks on Carol’s staff, considering the possibility of sabotage. She doesn’t react to this well. There is now clear tension between her and Spock. He’s not sure she should accompany him to the surface, given her “emotional outbursts.”   This episode actually gives a character arc to both Marcus and Spock. Marcus, of course, is trying to figure out how to deal with the painful emotions of having lost her crew, and feeling responsible. Spock, on the other hand, has to learn how to relate to a human who is experiencing very understandable strong emotions. It’s a learning experience for both.   A quick zoom out shows us that there is indeed a ship hiding in the system. It’s not cloaked. It seems to be hiding in a gas cloud. It’s not a familiar design. At least, it wasn’t to me, in this shot, but we’ll come back to that.   Kirk goes to see Marcus. He apologises for Spock. Marcus has come to agree that Spock asked the right question, she just didn’t like it.   We get some insight into why Marcus is so passionate about terraforming. She talks of a famine that happened on a world. People suffered. She wanted to help. Terraforming dead worlds is an answer, but it’s far too slow to be of any practical help. She is driven by compassion for people.   She sees herself becoming a mother of worlds   It’s a good conversation. There’s no flirting or inappropriate behaviour, as you often get from Kirk the minute he meets a pretty girl, Just 2 people getting to know each other.  They’re both people with authority. They understand each other   Kir acts s little sheepish as he starts to realise his attraction to her. Maybe he’s sensing that he feels more than just sexual attraction. Something deeper.   She’s feeling it too   Spock and Carol beam down to investigate destruction site. We see Xon at transporter console. He is the Vulcan character created to replace Spock in the original Star Trek Phase 2 series that was cancelled in favour of Star Trek the Motion picture, because Nimoy wasn’t going to be involved in that show. When it became a movie instead of a series, Nimoy agreed to return.   Star Trek New Voyages chose to bring Xon onto the Enterprise as a new character alongside Spock.   Spock and Marcus are learning to appreciate each other. Marcus seems to be a little envious of Spock’s ability to suppress emotion as a Vulcan. They’ve found something on the planet. Not something belonging to the team. It doesn’t belong there. They’re bringing it aboard for analysis.   Kirk is seeking counsel from bones on how to help Dr. Marcus through what she’s going through. He claims he has no romantic interest in her. That would be wrong. Interesting to see Kirk say that when nothing usually stops him. But Carol is going through a great deal of emotional pain at the loss of her friends.   Sometimes in older fiction, like Star Trek, you’ll see characters who are trying to comfort someone through grief, and suddenly it becomes romantic. Like they’re taking advantage of the other person. Even Star Trek 2009 did this with Uhura and Spock, but reversing the expected gender roles. It felt really odd. I’m glad to see Kirk not doing that here. His relationship with Carol Marcus is one that is important to us as fans, so it’s nice to see them doing it right.   When the mysterious object causes problems with their respirators, and even Scotty can’t get a lock on Carol, Kirk has a very reckless plan to rescue her. Beaming down without a respirator of his own to give Scotty something to lock onto. It’s a plan that could work, but probably not something the captain of the ships should be doing.   We’re clearly seeing here how much Kirk cares about her.   Fortunately, it works.   The energy reading of the debris they found looks kinda like the graphic depicting the genesis wave in Star Trek 2. But this doesn’t really go anywhere.   Kirk takes carol to the arboretum She’s changed into a revealing outfit. Makes me think it's a deliberate date.   Carol is thinking of giving up. Kirk doesn't think she will. She cares too much   Kirk has been there too. At what point do you say, this is enough. Kirk says he’ll tell her when he gets there. He’s not there yet and neither is she   The way this is written it feels much more real than most of Kirk’s many romances, of which there have been many. He’s not being creepy. He’s not overly flirty. It’s just two people getting to know each other, going deep, and forming a genuine bond. Basically it feels like a real relationship.   It’s condensed for time so it’ll fit into a 1 hour episode maybe, but real nonetheless.   Carol and Spock are also growing in their relationship. A professional one. We get the impression from Star Trek II that Spock knew Carol.   Here’s a question. Why does Kirk think it’s appropriate to talk to the admiral with his shirt off and slung over his shoulder? I wouldn’t dream of talking to my boss half dressed. If I got a surprise zoom call from him, even if I was in an unprepared state, I’d throw on a shirt before I clicked accept.   Anyway, Starfleet are itching to assemble a warfleet to engage the alien ship that might not might not be there. The admiral needs Kirk to get him some real answers. Fast.   And then, of course, we get another scene where a woman walks in on Kirk shirtless in his quarters and gets embarrassed. Seems I only just talked about this an episode or two ago, so I don’t have any further comments, other than to notice it happening yet again, in another fan production.   Carol has been working very hard on her investigation and hasn’t eaten for 9 hours. Kirk invites her to dinner, which she readily accepts. But it very quickly becomes apparent they’re not going to dinner. They have …. Other plans.   It’s really not surprising to me that the actors playing Kirk and Marcus are married. You can see the genuine affection between them. I guess that’s the elusive thing that people call chemistry. Whatever that is, these two seem to have it, as you’d expect from a real couple.   The next morning, Kirk is finding himself in a bit of a melancholy place, thinking about how the Captain’s chair is a lonely one. It was pretty rare for ships captains in Kirk’s time to marry. It was a more wild frontier. Gone from earth for years at a time. They didn’t really have families on board like they did in the 24th century. That hasn’t rarely bothered him with his past conquests. Perhaps because he sees a potential future with Carol.   They’re heading for the dust cloud, to try to find that evidence for Starfleet. After going to warp, Sulu says “like a leap on the solar wind” which is, of course, a reference to Firefly. Not sure exactly why they added that.   Spock has found the cause of the explosion. Protomatter. This is something that is mentioned in Star Trek 3. Apparently, David Marcus, Carol’s son, used protomatter in the matrix for the Genesis device. It was the only way to solve certain problems. We’re told it’s use is unethical because it’s “dangerously unstable”   Here, in this episode, we get a bit more of an explanation of what protomatter is. It’s a remnant from the creation of the universe. It can fluctuate between matter and anti-matter states. If both appeared at the same time, an explosion would occur. It seems the matrix from Carol’s experiment was contaminated with protomatter. Something she acknowledged as a very minute possibility, but so unlikely as to be statistically insignificant.  Sadly, it happened.   They’ve found the alien ship in the dust cloud. My first thought when seeing it this time was “that looks kinda like a Ferengi ship.” The alien’s weapons are no match for the Enterprise’s shields. They’re refusing to respond to Kirk’s hails.   When we see a camera point of view from within the alien ship, we catch a glimpse of the side of their heads. It’s pretty clearly Ferengi. They claim that the transformation of the planet is a hostile act. When Kirk says they weren’t aware of anyone have a claim on the planet, the response is “You didn’t ask,” and Spock says they have a point. But ask who? It was an empty planet. Nobody there. It was claimed by no government that the Federation is aware of. Remember, they won’t make official contact with the Ferengi until TNG season 1. So it seems to me the Federation acted in good faith with all the information they had available. I don’t think they could have asked anyone else.   The alien voice makes it clear they’re not interested in discovery or friendship. Only profit. And then, the episode breaks continuity by having the alien not only show his face, but identify his species as Ferengi. This is a really odd move from my point of view. They already had the Ferengi communicating by voice only. And if they wanted to show the Ferengi on screen, they could have done so purely on the alien bridge Point of View. No need for Kirk to actually see them. Why they started this way and then flipped is beyond me. They’d set it up the perfect way to include the Ferengi without breaking continuity, and then they did it anyway.   Enterprise did, of course, have an episode with Ferengi, not at no point during that episode did they mention their name to Archer and his crew.   But it occurs to me now that in Encounter at Farpoint, before that official contact, Picard had at least heard the name Ferengi. So I guess they could have heard that name this early. But it always felt to me like a more recent thing. That they’d heard of this race, The Ferengi, but just hadn’t met them yet.   Anyway, the Ferengi claim to have a prior commercial arrangement with the Federation. Something that is news to Kirk. And then he say a very interesting line “The only thing more expensive than a question, is the answer.” I wonder if that’s a rule of acquisition. If it isn’t, then it should be.   The only logical possibility is that a member of the team on the planet had made an arrangement with the Ferengi. The question is, did Dr. Marcus know about it? Kirk is quick to come to her defence, based on his knowledge of her character. But can he offer any evidence?   Carol is really struggling with having lost crewmembers. It’s somewhat compromising her ability to think clearly. This is understandable. Kirk has left people under his command before. He sadly has to let her know that it never stops hurting. I like what they’re doing with Carol’s character in this story.   That protomatter came from somewhere. Maybe there was a black market going on behind her back she wasn’t aware of.   They’ve detected protomatter in the Ferengi’s cargo hold. Sabotage is not a logical possibility. It makes no financial sense to kill your trading partners.  The project was behind schedule. Someone could have purchased the protomatter to speed things up, and it went badly.   Kirk is going to try to bluff the Ferengi poker style to get information. Of course, it would be good for him to be aware of the Ferengi love of Tongo. It was the project director, Dr. Robert Dewhitt, who purchased the protomatter. He was as passionate about the project as Carol was. He must have been desperate.   Carol is going to start over. She’s learned a lot from this experience. She knows how to make it work now. She’s going to start inventing the Genesis device.   Three days later, they arrive at the nearest starbase to drop off Dr. Marcus. But first, she goes to see Kirk.   Kirk is hoping they can have dinner before parting ways, but she says no. Then Kirk proposes.   It seems pretty sudden after only a few days. But … Carol Marcus is his soul mate.   But she says no. For the reasons she gave in Star Trek 2. For them to be together, one of them would have to abandon their dream. Carol claims she can’t do her research on The Enterprise. A lot of her work would require her to be on planets, but surely much of it, especially in the early days, would be lab work. Hard to see why that couldn’t be done on the Enterprise. A ship of scientific exploration. Kirk offers to leave the Enterprise, leave Starfleet. But she won’t let him do that. Over time, he would resent her for it. Which is possibly true.   She admits she loves him, but, but asks him to stay away. For all their sakes - all three.   And this is where it gets really unfair. She tells him she’s pregnant with David, and asks him to stay away. To have absolutely no contact with his son. Ever. This is how it has to be, because this is what Star Trek 2 set up. But I believe Carol is wrong here. I believe she is hurting not only Jim, but David as well. Robbing them both of the relationship they both deserve to have.   This is heart-breaking stuff. Kirk gallantly does as Carol wishes. Honestly, I don’t know how he has the strength.   This must haunt him every day for the rest of his life. It would me.   This episode relies on accepting a lot of truncated time regarding Kirk and Carol’s relationship. There’s no way around that when you’re telling the story of the entire relationship in one episode. But I forgive it because it’s a great story. A very fitting prequel to Star Trek 2.   As fun as it was, I’m not sure what the point of the framing device with TNG Scotty was, other than maybe to show that the terraforming efforts eventually succeeded and people are living there now. I would argue that it wasn’t necessary, and might even distract from the episode. But It was cool either way.   But another little thing. At the beginning, Scotty says that Lappa III was uninhabited - or so we thought. I don’t think they paid off that statement. We learn of no indigenous life on the planet. The closest we get to a payoff is the Ferengi, but they’re not living on the planet, just trading with one of the crew. So I’m not sure what happened there.   Next time, we’re going to look at the first part of Star Trek Coninue’s two-part finale. “To Boldly Go.”   I’m looking forward to talking about it.   Don’t forget the first three books in my Jewel of The Stars sci-fi series are available on Amazon, Kobok, Google Play, Apple, all the usual places.   Until next time Live long and prosper Make it so.

In this episode of Star Trek Continues, we are treated to the return of John De Lancie is a new role. But just because he's not playing Q, doesn't mean he isn't awesome. "What Ships Are For" explores an issue that has been topical in our world in recent years - immigration and refugees. ----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 104 of the podcast. (Yes, I’m counting the chat about DC comics from last time) Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “What Ships are For”.   The description on IMDB reads Kirk struggles with aiding a society whose inhabitants view their isolated world in a very unique way.   This teleplay was written by Kipleigh Brown With story by Vic Mignogna, James Kerwin, and Kipleigh Brown,  It was directed by Vic Mignogna   And it first aired on the 30th of July 2017   When I first heard that Star Trek Continues was bringing in the legendary John DeLancie, but that he’d be playing a character that wasn’t Q, my initial reaction was “What a waste of John De Lancie.”   My thinking went something like this. The idea of having Q visit Kirk’s Enterprise would be fun. Something that could certainly happen in-universe because Q can travel through time with the click of a finger. But it couldn’t have ever been done in TOS because The Next Generation didn’t exist yet. It’s the similar problem to having Kirk and Spock make references to Archer and T’Pol. While Enterprise took place before TOS, it was created more than 30 years later. These kinds of references and interactions can only be done by fan productions (or maybe Strange New Worlds). But as fun as it would be having Q show up in a TOS episode, it’s unlikely a fan production would be able to get John DeLancie.   But Star Trek Continues managed to get him. But they didn’t use him for Q. They cast him as another character. Added to the disappointment of him not being Q, was the fact that De Lancie is a very recognisable guy, so seeing him as a different character would be odd to say the least.   After watching the episode the first time, I had to back-pedal my thoughts on this because of De Lancie’s great performance. He did a fantastic job with this character, and now it’s hard to imagine this episode without him.   The Enterprise is responding to a distress call from an inhabited asteroid with a limited warp capable society.   I like that it’s an inhabited asteroid. We always see people living on planets, but I think we need more inhibited moons and asteroids, not only in sci-fi, but in fantasy as well. If I ever write a fantasy book, the world I set it on will be a moon, rather than a planet.   And a nice bit of ongoing continuity, we learn that two Federation starships have been dispatched to investigate what happened to the hood. Both have suffered unexplainable damage. We also learn that Nurse Chapel is already at Starfleet medical, studying to become a doctor. We know that by the time of Star Trek The Motion Picture, Chapen is a doctor. This is the first really big sign that Star Trek Continues is on a trajectory toward that movie, starting to set up some of the big changes that occurred off-screen between season 3 and the movie.   You sometimes see nurses who decide to become doctors in both fiction and real life. It can be almost viewed as a promotion, which, I suspect it technically is, if you look at the hierarchy of authority in a hospital. But nursing certainly needn't be seen as a stepping stone to medicine. Nursing is a respected profession of highly intelligent people. And interestingly, my wife works with a nurse who used to be a doctor, but decided she’d rather be a nurse. You don’t often see it go that direction.   The other hint of the motion picture you see is the white medical uniform the doctor at Starfleet is wearing. Kirk jokes that you’ll never get him in one of those things.   The Hyalini have refused outside contact for centuries. We know little about them.   We get a little TOS style womp-womp humour, which I don’t really care for, but it’s very authentic.   When the landing party beam down to the asteroid, they are surprised to be seeing everything in black and white. When I heard that the creative team behind this show were looking for ways to do a black and white episode, I wasn’t convinced. But the conceit they come up with works nicely for me as a science fiction concept, and also allows them to approach a topical issue in a very unique way. So good on ‘em.   While they puzzle over what might be affecting their eyes, they are met by Galisti, leader of the inner council, played by De Lanci, and Thaius, their newly appointed ambassador to the Federation.   Galisti is surprised that the human visitors look so much like Hyanoid bipeds. He was expecting a tentacle or two. Thaius is the first to notice that Spock is different from the others. I laughed out loud when she asked with all sincerity,  if he was an Earth female. McCoy managed to get by with a stifled chuckle.   She is also fascinated and delighted by Spock’s kindness and gallantry revealed by pure calculated reason.   She notes that in all her excitement at meeting aliens, she didn’t see anything other than his ears. “How often we look but forget to see.” This is an important line, not only because of what it says, but because of who says it. As we’ll see at the end of the episode.   We also learn that Galisti and Thaius are married. Galisti says “How fortunate I am to call my friend, my wife.” And I totally get behind that. I believe that romantic love is best born out of friendship.That’s why I don’t understand this whole “friend zone” thing that “the kids” talk about these days.   Kirk struggles to find the words to ask the aliens about the lack of colour. How do you describe colour to someone who has no concept of it? It would be a bit like describing colour to a blind person. There is simply no common frame of reference.   Gaisti and Thaius don’t really know what Kirk is getting at, but they assure him the way their world looks is the same as it has always been.   They launch right into an explanation of their situation. Their isolation was never meant to end now. Hundreds of years ago, they united in a goal of becoming worthy to one day join the galactic community (clearly they knew, or believed, that alien life existed). They wanted to become a utopian society, somewhat like what Earth has become.   Spock explains the black-and-white as the property of an unusual form of radiation from their sun, which impairs the cone cells in humanoid eyes. So far, this is just a strange quirk of this world. And Star Trek is all about discovering strange new worlds. But this will come into play in an important thematic way later in the episode.   I love the establishing shot we see of the town. Feels reminiscent of the planet where Pike fought the warrior on Rigel in The Cage. I wonder where they shot it. Might even just be stock footage.   When Kirk is introduced to Thaius’s most promising student, Sekara, Kirk goes all … Kirk. When he meets an attractive woman, he can’t help but flirt with her.   Things get awkward when Tomiat, one of the council, points a gun to his head and yells that Galisti shouldn’t have brought the aliens here. They are all ruined. His perspective seems to be that making contact with aliens, before they themselves are perfect, will destroy them. I can kind of understand why a group of people would want to perfect themselves before joining the larger community, but this guy’s ideas seem odd and extreme. Evidently, the others of his people do not share the extremity of his view. He refers to himself as a “true believer”. But a believer in what? Their plan to perfect themselves? What leads him to take the mental jump from “This would be a good strategy” to “if it doesn’t go as we planned, we’re doomed”? It seems a bit of an absurd leap. I don’t know what he’s basing it on.   Spock brings things to a peaceful end with a well-placed neck pinch.   That’s when Galisti explains that Sekara had a disease. She’ll be dead before the year is out. This is why they broke their isolation with the distress signal. They don’t know what it is, only what it isn’t. These people seem to have medical knowledge at least in line with ours.   McCoy is confident the disease is related to the same radiation that makes everything look black and white. Not sure how he concludes this.   He wants to bring Sekara on board the Enterprise to examine her in sickbay, but Kirk sees a potential issue. On the Enterprise, she’ll be shielded from the radiation. Spock isn’t certain whether she’ll see colour or not, but if she does, it could be traumatic. I can totally get that. Kirk tries to prepare her for what she might see. He does a good job of it. He warns her that it will be unusual, it might frighten her, but it will be safe. She accepts this.   When she arrives in the transporter room, we get the reveal that her skin and hair colouring are not what you’d expect from a human. Greenish skin and purple hair. Cleverly concealed by the black-and-white nature of her asteroid home.   She still sees in black and white for a moment. But then it happens. And as you can imagine, it’s pretty overwhelming.She goes into a panic attack. She asks “is it alive?” Again, Kirk does a good job of calming and reassuring her.   This was nicely done.   It's taken millennia for the radiotoxins to induce acute radiation syndrome. Mccoy has started sekaras treatment   Now that she’s gotten used to it, Sekara has a real sense of wonder about colour. It’s like nothing she’s ever experienced before. I like how something that is so mundane to us is so awe-inspiring to her.   The Hyalinans do have limited space travel, but they don’t have shields that can block the radiation. That’s why they still don’t see colour when they travel through space, but Sekara can when on board the Enterprise.   Anyway, treating them for the illness is only a bandaid. It will continue and re-occur as they are exposed to the radiation. But Spock has a daring idea. The spectral signature of the Hyalinus sun can be altered using a modified stellar probe.   This is something I’d approach with caution. You’re talking about fundamentally changing the nature of their sun. What un-expected side-effects could that have? What damage could they cause if they do it wrong? But, with lives on the line, they’re right to try. They just wanna make sure they do it properly   Sulu is going to accompany Spock down to the surface to see how the radiation has permeated the food chain. For once, he gets to use his botany for the story.   Spock took some scans while he was down there. The tricorder doesn’t rely on cone cells to detect colour. His can show there are multiple skin pigmentations on the planet. Sekara has greenish skin with purple hair, while many of the others have orange skin with black hair.   I’m suprised at how shocked and dismayed the crew look. Earth has a number of different skin tones. This needn’t be a surprise. But given the history of Earth, I guess the Hyalians might be in for a shock, and it could lead to treating people differently.   Spock and McKenna conclude, in what I think is a bit of a leap, that Sekara and the other minority that share her pigmentation, are aliens. Not native to Hylinus.   McCoy points out there could be other explanations, but Spock has apparently gathered enough data to know there are other differences. These people are unquestionable a race not currently native to Hyalinus.   And that’s a very interesting development. Uhura and Palmer are searching for any other habitable bodies nearby.   They have to decide whether to confront Sekara about her origins. McKenna suggests not doing so yet. They don’t know who she is, or even whether she knows herself.   Kirk surmises that a species as isolationist as the Hyilini would never allow aliens to live on their world, but given their inability to distinguish colour, they probably don’t know. Sekara was born on Hyalinus and orphaned at a young age. Her intense awkwardness in trying to answer when Kirk invites her in, suggests she may be as smitten with him as he is with her.   She asks an interesting question. “What is the purpose of colour?” Is that something you’ve ever wondered? Probably not, as it’s just such a normal part of our existence. Kirk suggests that it provides variety, vibrance, beauty.  Like poetry for the eyes.   This episode makes me wonder. We feel like our perception of vision is complete, but so did Sekara. What if there is something …. Other. Something additional that we can’t perceive that another species might. What could that be? I can’t even imagine it. It’s so outside our realm of experience.    It also reminds me of the Terry Pratchet book, The Colour of Magic. In that book, there is another colour called Octartine. While the book tries to describe it using a combination of other colours, we can’t actually conceive of what a colour unknown to us would look like. Because as humans, we’ve already given names to all the colours that our eyes can perceive. There is nothing more alien than that which you cannot perceive, or conceive of.   And then Kirk gets really creepy. At least, that’s how it comes across. I’m not suggesting his advances are unwanted by Sekara. But it seems a little premature. But that’s Kirk. At least, how he was portrayed in TOS. Palmer has found radio waves coming from another asteroid in the belt. 2 small shuttlepods approach. Unarmed and barely spaceworthy. The Hyalini lock weapon platforms on the shuttles. The council won’t respond to Kirk’s hails. He makes the decision to intervene. He destroys the platform after it gets off a missing shot.   The Enterprise is now involved in this conflict. A potential prime directive issue.   Now the council wants to talk. They demand an explanation for the destruction of their platform.   Sekara describes the people on those shuttles as Abicians. They’ve been trying to sneak onto Hyalinus to escape the consequences of their own savagery for decades. They lie and conceal their identities so that they can benefit from the peace and prosperity that we’ve worked to achieve. One which they have not earned themselves.   Kirk asks if they are criminals or refugees. Is it a crime to want to live peacefully?   Sekara makes the point, that I think is fair, that Kirk doesn’t know enough about the situation to stand in judgement. Her parents were murdered by abicians.   Kirk concedes this. It’s all too easy to criticise the policies of another until you lose someone those policies could have saved.   Now, Kirk says something that I think is very wise. “Please tell me, Sekara. I want to understand.”   Their world is in turmoil. Territories perpetually at war. Technological innovation fueled solely by the desire to build better, more lethal weapons. They have squandered their natural resources and polluted their world in the process.  Her parents were part of a diplomatic envoy sent to help. To show the abicians a better way to live. Their ship returned to Hyalinus on auto-pilot and all 18 people on board were killed. Sekara was 10 years old.   Kirk admits that those people who killed her parents were barbarians. But that doesn’t mean they all are, does it?   And I think that’s the crux of the matter. The biggest issue with what the Hylians are doing is judging all members of a species based on the actions of their leaders. The reality is, the people on those shuttles probably disagree with the violent ways of their leaders. They only want to get away from the killing. As Kirk says, to be able to live in peace.   Sekara says “you assume they think like us. They do not. They do not respect our laws. They do not value knowledge or honesty and they do not question their conscience before turning to violence.   This sounds like something she’s been taught, rather than something she knows factually about these people from experience. As Kirk says, have you ever met an abician? She admits her answer is no, but says they’ve managed to keep them off their world. This is the moment Kirk chooses to reveal the truth. There are hundreds of thousands of Abicians on Hyalinus. They look just like hyalians, unless you can see colour. You are abician. Your parents were abician. That must be an even greater shock for her to accept than the introduction of colour into her world. And Kirk didn’t do much to prepare her for that shock. But what could he do? In the end, he had to just come out and say it.   Can you imagine discovering you’re a different species to what you thought you were. That you are actually the thing that you have always distrusted?   Sekara now has to face the reality that not all abicians are the way she has pre-judged them to be.   Spock and Sulu have found that the food chain has been affected by the radiation at almost every level, but there is no permanent mutation, which means after they’ve put their plan into action, future Hylanini should be healthy and free of the disease.   Kirk is trying to reason with the council.  Galisti asks if his people must meet some arbitrary moral standard set by Starfleet in order to receive help. Kirk assures him that is not the case. And that’s good. Our compassion for people shouldn’t be limited by our agreeing or disagreeing with them on moral issues.   Kirk is trying to understand why the Hyalini see a few people who are desperate for a better life as such a threat.   Galisti gets to the crux of it. “Granting entrance to some is an invitation for all. They would overrun our world.” They have limited resources. They’re struggling to feed their own people. This is a legitimate concern.   Kirk isn’t suggesting that they open their borders to everyone, but he says they’re defensive system is excessive.   This was a very topical issue at the time this episode was made, especially in America, but also here in Australia.   But it reminds me of the jewish people fleeing Nazi germany. They went from country to country in boats that were falling apart. But nobody would take them in. So they’d have to head back out into open sea, where they faced the very real risk that their boats might just sink.   And I wonder, how can people be so heartless? I’m more conservative than the average Star Trek fan, but I don’t have a problem with immigration - especially if the people are refugees.  I believe in compassion.   Kirk is trying to be reasonable here and see both sides of the issue. He is taking the Hyaliani’s position seriously. But it’s difficult to reach any sort of logical compromise when Galisti refers to Abicians as “vulgar, selfish and violent. A scourge .”   This is a very interesting conversation between the characters. They both say some interesting things. Galisti has quantifiable proof that violent crime went up when they suspected Abicians of being on their world, and down again after they started using their weapon, but again, they’re pre-judging all based on the actions of some.   Galisti has valid concerns for the safety of his people, as their leader. But I really like Kirk’s response to that. “Safety and compassion are not mutually exclusive. Conscience requires balance.” And that’s what missing on Hylainus. Balance.   Then Galisti points out the hypocrisy of the Prime Directive, in the way it is sometimes applied in Star Trek. “And you stand here before me, lecturing me about ‘compassion’ about ‘balance” You condemn the many for the crimes of none. Who do you think you are?   And I’m sorry to have to say it, Kirk, but he’s got a point here. Not necessarily against Kirk specifically, but certainly against the Federation itself. I’m not saying the Hyalnini are right in the way they’re viewing and treating their neighbours, but the Federation is definitely not morally perfect, as much as they’d like to think they are.   Kirk is concerned about what will happen once they cure the Hyalini of their disease and their colour blindness. They’ll be able to see the abicians all around them. He doesn’t necessarily think they’ll resort to violence and killing, but he’s worried they’ll round them all up and send them home, washing their hands of what happens to them.   McKenna recongises that this is deeply personal for Kirk. He’s not just angry, he’s afraid. Afraid of what might happen to Sekara. He cares for her.  Given the few minutes he’s spent with her, I think it’s probably more accurate to say he has the hots for her, but this is based on 60s episodic television. So I guess we have to suspect a little disbelief for the sake of truncated story-telling.   Kirk sees that for all their piety, the hyaliani have no problem turning their backs on desperate people. They have no compassion.   And piety without compassion leads to some dark places.   They take help, but they won’t give it. Kirk wonders if they deserve his help at all? But as a man of compassion himself, as a man of duty to his principles, does that make a difference? Do you only help those who deserve it? Or is this a case where Kirk has to exercise some costly grace?   Because if he doesn’t as McKenna points out, he’ll be no better. He’ll be turning his back on desperate people with nowhere else to go? Some of whom may not agree with the prejudice of their leaders. And that phrase “nowhere else to go” sparks an idea in Kirk.   Sekara is feeling desperate. She’s considering destroying the probe that will save Hyilinus. Because of what will happen next. People will turn on each other. They won’t see neighbours and friends, they’ll see the brutes and thieves they’ve heard about.   She asks Kirk to help find another way to help her sun. One that won’t change the way they see. But there is no other way. The two are inextricably linked. Kirk talks her down.   She feels so powerless. Terrified of the people she’ll return to. Their eyes will change but their hearts may not. Then again - her heart has changed. She is the one person who can change the hearts of their leaders. Galisti and his wife love her very much. She is the proof that Abicians are not all just savages.   It’s time to carry out the mission. Kirk warns Galisti that there are abicians living among them. If he repairs their sun, they will be able to see them.    Despite their attitude toward the abicians, the hyalini have accomplished much to be proud of. They have achieved a peace and unity in a short time, that it took earth Milennia to achieve.  All fueled by the hope that they will one day achieve readiness to join the galactic community. But how will they know when they are ready? The problem is, there is no one answer. An undefined finish line means they never have to finish. Your people will never have to leave the comfort and safety of what they have now.    And if you’ll permit me, just briefly, to get spiritual, this reminds me of how some people approach God. They feel they need to be perfect first. But of course, that’s impossible. I believe that God says, come as you are.   Then we get an explanation for the episodes’ title. An old saying. “A ship in the harbour is safe, but that’s not what ships are for. Do you serve the hope, or have you twisted it to serve you? After making an impassioned speech, Kirk reveals they launched the probe twenty minutes ago.   Thaius tells Galisti their world is about to change forever, and reassure him her love for him will never ever change. Why would it? He must wonder, until he starts to see colour. I like how, even though the two races have different skin colour, this was never about colour. They didn’t even know the difference. It was about fear and prejudice regarding the abician’s character.  But their blindness has given them the proof that they were wong. That they need to re-think their attitude toward abicians. There is the possibility that going into the future, some kind of skin-colour-related prejudice may arise, but maybe, just maybe, this experience has taught them the lessons to avoid that.   Galisti marvels at this wonder called colour. But then he looks at his wife. She is abician. She’s wanted to tell her for a long time, but she was afraid he’d reject her. “I’m still me, I’m still the same person,” she insists. But Galaisti pulls away from her.   “This changes nothing,” he says.  It seems Galisti is still clinging to his attitude. He can’t accept the woman he loves. Kirk has fixed the sun but the asteroid is still bathed in radiation. It needs to be cleared.   Galisti asks Kirk to proceed, but he can’t. He says the Enterprise has been called away on an urgent mission and won’t have the time.   But then the surprise. It turns out the Abicians have the technology to fix your sun.   “But why would they help us?” Galaisti asks. Why indeed. Because they now have something the abicians need. Medicine. Enough for both worlds. Turns out the abicians are suffering the same disease, but they’ve had it much longer. It’s no wonder their world has fallen into chaos.   These worlds can save each other, but they’re going to have to put the past behind them and move on.   Giving half of the solution each to two warring parties, so they are forced to work together, is a very Star Trek way to resolve a plot.   It’s very easy to judge Galisti at this moment. He’s been given the proof. Why doesn’t he see Kirk’s point. He’s still being a jerk - which he is. But changing your attitude and beliefs is not an easy thing to do. If we’re fair, we can’t expect Galisti to change his entire outlook in thirty seconds, but you can see that it is starting, as Thaius and Sekara say “there is no them anymore, only us.”   This is an emotional journey for Galisti. One that will take time, but I have confidence that he will change. He has to. If he doesn’t, his world will die. This was a powerfully written and performed episode. Another example of why Star Trek Continues deserves to be viewed in the same light as official Star Trek.   Only two episodes remain - the two part finale that bridges the gap between TOS and The Motion Picture. But before we go there, next time we’re going to take a brief detour. We’re going to talk about an episode of another Star Trek fan show. Star Trek New Voyages “The Holiest Thing” I like to include this one when I do a re-watch of Star Trek Continues, because, like continues, it delves into the history of Star Trek and fleshes out a gap that exists between TOS and the movies. This episode will introduce us to a much younger Dr. Carol Marcus.   Until then, Live long and prosper Make it so.

In this episode, I talk about some of the DC Comics that I've read in recent time. I cover * Batman: The Killing Joke * Green Lantern Emerald Twilight * Zero Hour: Crisis in Time * Superman: Dead Again   This is a bonus as my next Star Trek Continues podcast is not yet ready. Next fortnight, we'll return to our regularly scheduled program.

This episode of Star Trek Continues takes an alternative look at what might have happened to the USS Defiant after The Tholian Web, making use of a divergence field so as not to contradict In a Mirror Darkly. It also features a guest appearance of Rekha Sharma, before her role in Star Trek Discovery. ----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 102 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “Still Treads The Shadows”.   The description on IMDB reads The Enterprise becomes trapped on the edge of a rift in space where alternate universes meet and Kirk finds himself having to contend with a ghost from his past and danger in the present.   This episode was written by Judy Burns It was directed by Julian Higgins And it first aired on the 1st of April 2017   And this one guest stars Rekha Sharma of Battlestar Galactica fame, and she actually appeared here long before she appeared in Star Trek Discovery.    The Enterprise is investigating a nascent singularity. A gravitational wave engineer has been sent along to help them. This makes sense to me, while one of Starfleet’s primary missions is scientific, and they have their own scientists, if there is no expert on a given field on board, a guest may be sent with them. And if the leading expert on a field is a civilian, it makes sense that a civilian would go along to work with the crew.   There’s a stronger than anticipated gravitational wave. It has consumed planets 3 through 8 in ten days and is about to destroy a moon.   It seems our guest, Avi Samara, is on a first name basis with Kirk. She calls him Jim, then corrects herself.   They’re detecting an interdimensional rift, like the one Kirk was nearly lost in back in The Tholian Web.   They’ve detected a lifeform, it’s not on the moon as they first think, but on a ship. The USS Defiant.   Well that’s interesting. Especially since we know what happened to the Defiant after The Tholian Web. It ended up in the 22 century of the mirror universe. (and that episode aired long before this series was thought of)   Also when The Defiant vanished, there was nobody alive on board.   Samara wants to go aboard to investigate, but Kirk denies her request without explanation.   All the dead crewmen Kirk saw last time are gone. The bridge is empty.   Bones has found the lifesign. It’s a much older looking Kirk. Cryonically preserved.   A DNA scan suggests he’s not a clone because there’s no genetic drift. He’s literally Kirk.   Samara’s research suggests that rogue singularities can move from universe to universe. The Defiant is stuck, halfway between two universes. Her engines have been modified over a long period of time to reach warp 15.   Old Kirk arrives in the briefing lounge. All this time he thought they’d left him behind. Now he finds his old crew, still young, and …. Himself.   Even old Kirk knows Samara, so they’ve known each other prior to this mission. Given their embrace it seems they were close.   Old Kirk remembers the attempt to beam him back to the Enterprise, but he found himself back on the Defient. Samara suggests a divergence field. Two Kirks. Two Defiants. They don’t know where our Defiant went, (but we do) but this is the duplicate. The other defiant has been in another universe for 217 years. The big question is, who put Kirk in cryo?   The old-age makeup isn’t bad. Along similar lines to what was done in the original series. But not at the level of what could be done today with a professional budget. And Vic does a good job of altering his performance, his voice, to help sell it. It would have been interesting if they’d been able to get William Shatner for this episode to play older Kirk. It would be a good way to bring him back, something he’s sometimes said he’d like to do if the role was more than a cameo. Fan productions have had original series actors appear in the past, and Continues is one of the most professional.   Part of me wonders if they actually approached him.   Before we can get an answer, a Klingon ship appears. They claim salvage rights over the Defiant but they’re struck with phaser fire from an unknown source and pulled into the anomaly   The only other ship here is the defiant but there’s nobody on board. That’s when old Kirk appears and orders Uhura to open a channel to the defiant.   Kirk speaks to someone called Tiberius. It appears to be an artificial intelligence. It speaks with Jim’s voice. It claims to be the protector of James Kirk.   Samara speculates that given the time, the Defiant computer could have developed multi-tronic circuits. Which is a bizarre statement to me. Is she suggesting that the computer evolved? By itself? That’s a bit out there.   Tiberius wants its friend back. It wants old Kirk to be returned.   Old Kirk warns against firing at the defiant, saying “you can’t give him the power, it feeds the dark.” He then clutches his head and Bones rushes him back to sickbay. That seems to be a foolish move. Clearly old kirk has information. Information about Tiberius that is vital, that could determine their safety. And Bones just gets him out of there before he can give that information. I understand the need to get the older man medical help, he is clutching his head in obvious pain, but this doesn’t give the impression of a medical emergency so life-threatening that they can’t take a moment to let old Kirk explain. What makes it even worse is that not long after, Bones will confirm there is nothing physically wrong with the man, he’s just old, and will send him to McKenna.   Kirk tries to negotiate with Tiberius but it isn’t interested in the crew’s safety. He blames them for abandoning Kirk, which they technically didn’t do. They didn’t know the duplicate Kirk existed. And old Kirk tried to explain this to tiberius.   Scotty has found a recording of Tiberius saying “it is forbidden for you to remember.” That’s creepy. “Know you are safe. The dark will send you home.”   A brainwashing device. Is Tiberius protecting him from something? Something it thinks old Kirk shouldn’t remember?   They’ve found the duplicate’s logs. Duplicate kirk reprogrammed the computer with a new prime directive, to get Kirk home. It’s started developing a personality.  Kirk says “he’s imprinting on me.” I’m not sure what he means by that.   Now I’m a software developer. Now you can code an artificial intelligence. We’ve done a little of that at our work, with image recognition, but most of my work relates to an asset management system. It has some cleverness and expert knowledge built into it, but it’s essetially a database that stores the details and condition of assets, like bridges. No matter how much data we store in this system, no matter how many features I code into it, it’s not going to spontaneously become self-aware. It’s going to suddenly transform into an AI application like ChatGPT.  You can make an AI, but you’ve actually got to code it. Microsoft Word is not suddenly going to turn into Alexa.   I’m just not buying the idea of Tiberius, which makes it difficult for me to connect with this story, because its existence is kind of crucial to that story.   Anway, after 31 years, Kirk is still failing to find a way home.   Old Kirk is back in his old quarters. This was his cabin once. He has a lot fo talk to McKenna about. It took him 4 months to bury all the crew of the Defiant.   McKenna tries to comfort Kirk with the words of The Ancient Mariner. He was given a second chance to help ensure that others don’t lose hope.   Kirk is struggling with a sense of betrayal on two fronts, first from his crew he thought abandoned him, and second, from the only “friend” he’s had in many years. McKenna says what he needs is to know that although he’s lost all those years, he hasn’t lost who he is. Interestingly, the best person to help him might be our Kirk. Who knows him better? What would Kirk need to hear if he was in old Kirk’s place?   I like that McKenna gets to be a counsellor in this episode.   They reminisce about knowing Samara. Apparently they were close when Kirk was a teenager. Samara rebuilt a biplance.   Another nice touch is seeing the defiant uniform with its custom logo patch. But we’ll talk more about that when we get to the finale.   A question old kirk had to grapple with was Are you even a captain when you have no crew? Are you a leader when no one is following? He knew his crew wouldn't leave him, but the decades passed and they never came. You can’t replace them because there are no other societies to integrate into. It was a universe of void. Nothingness. When does a machine become conscious? When there is nobody around to say it can’t. I never said he couldn’t, so he did. And now he’s as self aware as he is invincible.   And this is all nicely poetic, but I’m still not buying it.   If he’s self aware, maybe he can be reasoned with. Kirk says Tiberious is hiding something. Something so horrific that you could never face it. Old kirk says “the dark.” but he can’t remember what that means.   The rift is emitting dark matter. The Computer suggested a new engine design with the power to open a rift home. In year 51, the computer is sentient. And bloomin McCoy, just as old kirk is explaining things, he wants to give him another sedative. Why? I dunno, because it’s hard for him to get the words out. I'm sure there’s more to it but the episode doesn’t really explain the stakes to us. IT almost feels like McCoy is the one trying to keep this horrible secret.   Shared realities. Two black holes that must not merge. McCoy has to finally give him that sedative because old kirk’s blood pressure is going through the roof.   Spock speculates on what I think is a really interesting sci-fi idea. Binary black holes. Black holes are basically collapsed stars, right? Two black holes,somehow separated into the two realities? Not sure I’m fully putting together what they’re trying to explain. Tiberius was determined to blast through the rift. That would manifest the additional singularity. IF they merge they’ll destroy the entire sector. Old kirk pleaded with him, tried to shut him down. Kirk wanted to get home, but not at the expense of this price. The defiant computer must have drained the oxygen to put Kirk to sleep. But how did he get into the cryo pod?   Scotty may have a way to disable Tiberius, but they’d need somebody on board the Defiant to do it. Kirk says he can’t send old kirk back, so they’ll just have to forget that plan and attack the ship. Okay. Why is it a given that the only person they can send over is old kirk? They have an entire crew of officers. It’s a potentially dangerous away mission, yes. But isn’t that what Starfleet officers are trained for?  Now maybe Kirk weighs up the risk and decides not to put anyone in that kind of danger, but why does he act like Old Kirk is the only one they could send?   Old Kirk wants to know how things are with young Kirk and Samara. They chose their separate paths. I think old Kirk was hoping they’d gotten together.   Bones and Spock discuss (rather heatedly, from Mcoy’s side) the nature evil. Spock argues that Tiberius is not evil. It doesn’t have the capacity for that. It only knows logic. Bones argues that Kirk was able to forgive because he’s human. Tiberius doesn’t get that. An intelligent machine with no mercy. IF that’s not evil, he doesn’t know what is.   Spock doesn’t necessarily agree, but he definitely concede’s McCoy’s point by agreeing to refer to Tiberius as an “evil twin.”   I think this. It’s an interesting little philosophical discussion. THe kind of thing you expect from Spock and McCoy’s banter.   With the Enterprise hidden, Kirk proposes a game of chess. If Tiberius wins, he gets Old Kirk back. If the Enterprise wins, tiberius helps them close the rift. Tiberius agrees.   Risky. But I’m sure Kirk has something up his sleeve. Perhaps he’s going to have the game reprogrammed to let Kirk win. Something old Kirk did to Tiberius once. This is essentially the same way Kirk passed the Kobayashi Maru.   Tiberius accuses Kirk of cheating, but Tiberius cheated as well when he brainwashed his friend. Then Tiberius vanishes in a cloud of illogic. Now THAT is a classic TOS move. Old Kirk hopes that the AI is not dead. Kirk says it just has a bad headache.   Kirk’s trick was a trojan horse program. The defiant auto-diagnostic will restart TIberius in about an hour. There’s a nice moment when Kirk makes it clear he includes Old kirk as a senior officer on this ship. The black hole is still a problem. Old kirk is the logical one to go aboard and solve the problem. But he’s not in great shape. Young Kirk puts his older counterpart in command of the Enterprise. He’s going to the defiant himself. But there’s a problem. He’ll have to take the defiant back through the rift. He’ll end up trapped there, just like the other Kirk was.   Kirk has some guilt over leaving his duplicate behind, even though he didn’t know the duplicate existed.   Scotty offers to go with Kirk, but Samara says she’s the better choice.   At least Kirk won’t be alone in that void universe. He’ll have a friend, possibly something more. They do some good body doubling work in this episode, having two kirks on screen at once.   Old Kirk has sabotaged his younger version’s plan. He uses a hypo on young Kirk and takes him place. Everyone seems cool with this.   But bad news. Tiberius is back. Old Kirk pleads with him to try to feel. To find mercy. Kindness.   Kirk’s only option is to destroy tiberius. Once his only friend. It’s a hard thing for him to do. But he has no choice.   I like seeing the TNG style tractor beam effect in a TOS setting. In TOS they didn’t have the budget to do an effect for the tractor beam. At least, I assume that’s the reason.   I’ve always liked the look of the TNG era tractor beam.   It seems Samara wasn’t sure this would be a one way trip. Old kirk has to stay but Samara doesn’t. He kisses her and helps her escape. He saves her, but dooms himself to loneliness and isolation for the whatever remains of his life. I understand. He cares for her. He can’t put her through what he’s been through. IF she came, after he died, she’d be stuck there for decades alone.   IT’s a selfless act.   And Samar is showing a lot of selflessness as well, wishing she could be with him.   When Samara says he’s all alone, Kirk says “Not anymore.” What does he mean by that? Perhaps that while yes, old kirk is alone, at least he knows he isn’t abandoned.   It’s a bit of a dark ending. But a noble one.   This was a mixed episode. There’s some stuff I really liked in it, and some stuff I didn’t.   Recka Sharma is pretty good in the episode. For a while there I thought I was going to have to say they didn’t give her anything to do, but they rectified that toward the end of the episode.   There were a few logic things I stumbled over, but that could be as much my fault as the episode’s. But the big issue was Tiberius. I just couldn’t buy that. What lifts up the episode, and possibly saves it for me, is the character stuff. Old Kirk’s pain, his PTSD from what he’s gone through. And the relation between both Kirks and Samara.   This isn’t a great episode, but it may still be a good one, ultimately.   NEst time, we’ll be talking about the episode “What Ships are Made For” which features a guest appearance by John De LAncie himself, but not as Q.   I look forward to discussing that one with you.   Until then, don’t forget to check out Jewel of the Stars at AdamDavidCollings.com/books.   Live long and prosper. Make it so.

In today's Star Trek Continues podcast, we talk about the episode "Embracing The Winds" which tries to address Janice Lester's claims that "your world of Starship captains doesn't welcome women" in the episode Turnabout Intruder. This episode does a good job of looking at a contemporary issue in a new way through a Star Trek lens. ----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 101 of the podcast.  Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “Embracing the Winds.”   And I’m excited to announce that the third book in my Jewel of The Stars series is now available in eBook and print from all the usual retailers. You can find links to many of them by going to books2read.com/jewel3 (and that’s the number 2 in books 2 read)   Let me quickly read the back cover blurb and then we’ll jump into this episode.   Tourists on a cruise. Stranded in an alien battleground   When their warp drive mysteriously stops working, the luxury cruise ship Jewel of The Stars becomes easy pickings for humanity’s enemy – the Dracnor. And there may be an enemy agent on board.   Before the fall of Earth, a madman made doomsday predictions on Captain Les Miller’s doorstop. How did he know the invasion was coming? Now that same man has been spotted walking the promenade. Les must stop him, but the evidence contradicts what he knows to be true.   Will the legacy of an ancient war mean the end of the galaxy’s last free humans? So if that sounds interesting to you, please consider checking it out. You can find the first links to all the books in the series at AdamDavidCollings.com/books   The description on Star Trek Continues.com reads   While the Enterprise is sent on a seemingly routine mission, Kirk is recalled to starbase where he faces an ethical dilemma that challenges the very core of Starfleet Command.   This episode was written by James Kerwin and Vic Mignogna It was directed by James Kerwin And it first aired on the 3rd of September 2016   Star Trek has a problem which was introduced in the original series episode “Turnabout Intruder.” That episode postulates that women are not allowed to be Starship captains in Starfleet. Of course, we’ll see a number of female captains after this, in Star Trek 4, Yesterday’s Enterprise, and Voyager just to name a couple, and we even saw a female Captain before this, back in Enterprise. It seems a very out-dated concept to think that there are not female captains in the 23rd century. So how do you deal with this?   This episode of Star Trek Continues is one approach to try to explain this issue, which I find very creative.   Another approach, postulated by the youTuber Lorerunner, is simply that Janice Lester was mad (just look at her) and the whole rule against women being Starship captains was all in her mind. I don’t mind that explanation either.   Interestingly, Star Trek Continues re-shot the final scenes of Turnabout Intruder as a transitional short film to connect to the new show before their first episode.   So Kirk and Spock have been called down to Corinth IV. Sulu is along for sightseeing and Mckennah for work research.   We get a nice little bit of continuity back to the episode “Lolani” dealing with the fallout in the Orion Syndicate, and how things may be changing due to Lolani’s influence. And that’s beautiful. This is the kind of ongoing continuity you just didn’t get in the original series. Not to this extent.   Sulu makes reference to one of his ancestors being in an internment camp during World War 2, which is a nod to George Takai who actually lived that experience.   I love the planet. Very TOS but with effects that couldn’t have been done in the 60s.   I have to ask, are there any high ranking Starfleet officers who don’t indulge in Romulan ale? Perhaps Admiral Ross really was the only one. Even Spock relents and drinks after the news he’s about to be given.   They meet Commodore Gray. She and Kirk have had some differences. She also appeared in Lolani, where she ordered Kirk to return the Orion slave to her master.   The Crew of Hood have been lost. Some sort of life support failure. No evidence of foul play   Kirk and Spock have been called here because the Hood needs a new captain and crew. Starfleet have chosen Spock   Kirk has mixed feelings. I get this. He’s proud of Spock and happy for him, but he doesn’t want to lose his first officer, and his friend.   But there could be a complication with spock’s promotion A Commander Garret had also applied for the job. They decided she wasn’t the best suited for command. She has an excellent service record. She has filed an appeal that she’s been selectively overlooked because she’s a woman.   The Federation was founded around the time of the Romulan war. Earth needed military allies. The Tellarites were founding member. Tellarite men are very adversarial and argumentative. And they frown on female starship captains.  (They probably wouldn’t be accepted into the federation at this point in time, certainly not in 24th century, but at the time of the Romulan war, Earth REALLY needed military allies, and the Tellarites were that. Plus they were one of the major races that Earth helped to broker peace with before the Federation was founded.) The Federation isn’t technically bound by this but after the admission of Corridan (a continuity nod to Journey To Babel), the Tellarites are threatening to pull their seat from the council.   Kirk says Starfleet has always had female captains (see Enterprise). Laura is an example, but she commands a starbase, not a constitution class ship There is no rule officially. Kirk and Spock are both of the opinion that Garrett deserves the ship and should be given command.   But upon further reflection, Spock starts to consider that Starfleet may have been correct in their assessment of Commander Garrett. Maybe Spock IS the best person for the job. He says his opinion is not based on her gender.   Kirk says something interesting. He says “maybe it should be.”   Starfleet has never given a woman command of a constitution class starship. He’s always thought that was just how the cards fell, but perhaps there is a greater good to be considered.   Spock says that if they were to actively and deliberately choose a female officer, Commodore Gray would be the better option, but she doesn’t want the job.   And this is an issue which has certainly had relevance of the last century, even today.   When you have an imbalance like this, the way I see it, there are two ways you can address it. The first is to simply remove the bias, and then proceed, hiring based solely on qualifications and suitability. If you have an equal number of candidates from each group, then theoretically, over time, the imbalance will go away, and you should have a roughly even split, though there could be many other factors that would make it not so simple. And in a sense, this seems like the fairest way. Just treat everyone on their merits. The problem with this approach is that it’s slow. It could take a long time for that imbalance to be corrected.   The other option, which is what Kirk seems to be proposing, is that you actively seek to correct it, by deliberately hiring from the minority group. In this case, females. You steer the ship the other way to correct it. This will set things right much quicker, but it has its own problem. It means that well-deserving people in the majority group will start to miss out. If you’re a male candidate, and would make a great captain, your career is basically on hold. You’ll miss out on a job you’re qualified for because of your gender. Which, ironically, is the exact problem you’re trying to solve. It’s just that it’s happening to people on the other side now. There are no perfect solutions. I’m sure people much smarter than me have been trying to solve this.   Now Spock is willing to forgoe his own opportunity in favour of Garett, maybe partly because as a Vulcan he has less ambition for personal advancement, but mostly because I think he beleives that is what is right. Spock is a good person.   So now that the desire and intention is there to hire Garret because she is part of that minority group, (and I mean minority in the sense of Starship captains, not in the sense of the population) there is one last thing to consider. Is she actually right for the job based on her merits?   Kirk is firmly on team Garrett right now. But he’s been ordered to interview her and form his own conclusions. Spock points out that perhaps Kirk’s opinion is coloured by his desire to keep his first officer and friend on the Enterprise. He admits he can’t deny that is part of what he’s feeling.   Garrett served on the Constitution, the original prototype that the class was named after. When Kirk mentions the loss of that ship, the death of her captain, at Nimbus III, nice little Star Trek 5 reference, Garrett clamps up and doesn’t want to talk about it. Her testimony, and her personal logs are all on record. She feels she has nothing more to say, and doesn’t want to discuss it face to face with Kirk, a matter he finds unusual, and perhaps a little troubling.   Kirk has filled McKenna in on what’s happening. She decides to check in on Spock to see how he’s doing, and he seeks her advice. It may not be prudent to provoke the Tellarites at this time. McKenna says the Tellarites rarely make good on their threats, which makes Starfleet’s hesitance to give a woman command of a Starship that much more problematic. (which in a sense, I think, takes away some of the drama) She thinks Spock’s issue is something else.   She had to work hard to convince people that having a counsellor on board a Starship was a necessary thing.  (which I find extraordinary) but she never felt that the reluctance was because she was female. However, if there is bias in Starfleet it needs to be addressed.   And I think that’s a good word. I don’t think Starfleet is being deliberately sexist, but there might be a bias, and it might not even be intentional. Spock, as someone whose appearance has often been perceived to be the most important aspect of his identity, has sometimes felt that bias as well.   McKenna says if she ever has a daughter, she would want her to know that anything is within her reach if she works hard enough. And as someone who DOES have a daughter, I feel the same way.   Spock points out that there are things in Garrett’s past which require scrutiny. McKenna asks him if she’d be under the same scrutiny if she was a man. He feels she would. But one can never be certain about others’ motives.   McKenna adds “but we can certainly be clear about our own.”   Gray growls at Kirk for antagonising Garrett, something he certainly didn’t intend to do. In my opinion, Kirk certainly did nothing wrong. But Garrett has petitioned for an immediate decision. A hearing will be held, and Kirk will be one of those making the judgement. Probably the last thing he wanted.   While all of this is happening, Scotty has taken the Enterprise to find what is left of the USS Hood.   Star Trek regularly uses the AB Plot format. Where you have two distinct plots going through an episode. It’s generally agreed that this works best if the two are linked in some way, either by plot, or theme. Although it honestly doesn’t bother me when they are completely disconnected. But in this episode, the two plots are definitely connected.   When they find the Hood, there are no lifesigns. But also no evidence of an anomaly.  Something is ringing alarm bells in Scotty’s head. He doesn’t want to tow it back to the planet until he understands more. Chekov is going to remotely re-establish life support. Not sure exactly how that works, but it sounds handy.   He asks to go on the landing party, but Scotty says “not this time,” and then gives the conn to another officer. Chekov is feeling overlooked. Uhura points out that he’s gifted but unfocussed. He has wide interests, doing a little of everything, but has no speciality. Uhura recommends choosing something he’s really passionate about and focusing on that. Interestingly, I’d imagine being a jack of all trades would be a very useful trait in a command officer. Maybe that’s ultimately why he ends up as first officer of the Reliant. In any case, it’s really nice to see Star Trek giving Chekov some character development. Who’d have thought it.   Kirk was feeling certain in his decision to support Garrett before he met her, but now, after her evasiness about his questions, and now this push for a decision, he’s not so sure.   The courtroom is very reminiscent of the original series episode Court Martial, where witness take the stand, touch a glowing metal disk, and have their service record ready by the computer. (They actually used a similar idea in TNG The Measure of a man.)   As usual, somebody always asks to forgo the reading, but Gray objects. Spock’s qualifications are material to this case, which, of course, is true.   Stonn asks Spock how he’d feel if her were to be given command of the Hood, remembering that he is half human. Before he can answer, he asks if his human side played a part in his decision to turn down a role in the Vulcan science academy. Spock says they did not, which the computer picks up as a lie. Interesting.   Kirk objects to this questioning. Spock’s race shouldn’t have any more bearing on the decision than Garrett’s gender. Stonn posits that a person’s character, abilities, judgements and strengths are shaped, in part, by their heritage, beliefs, race, even gender. He says some people are uncomfortable with the idea of a female captain. I’m not totally clear on the point he’s trying to make, but it seems he is in favour of Garrett.   Kirk speaks plainly. He is convinced that it is absolutely time for a woman to command a constitution class starship. But he is not convinced that Garrett is that woman. Aspects like race or gender shouldn’t be the reason a candidate is denied, but perhaps it shouldn’t be the reason (or at least the sole reason) they are accepted either.   Remember that officer a few episodes back who had the artificial arm? Well he’s on the landing party and uses it to remove something from the Hood’s engine. Another nice callback. I appreciate how Star Trek Continues is making use of semi-regular characters. DS9 was the absolute best at doing that. TOS was probably the worst, although the realities of 60s TV certainly play a part in that.   Garrett has been awarded a Tucker memorial medal of honour as well as an aenar award for meritorious service to disadvantaged cultures. Two very nice callbacks to Enterprise. We get a little insight into what happened at Nimbus III. The official investigation found evidence of human error on Garrett’s part. An investigation carried out by a Tellarite. She, and others, “plead the seventh guarantee” during the proceedings. I’m not sure exactly what this means, but Garrett says it cannot be taken as an admission of culpability. There are countless other examples in her file. BLooking at Garrett, Gray sees a pattern of somebody who has reacted with hostility and side-stepping whenever her actions have been called into question. She defends this saying that Hostility is an appropriate response to undue scrutiny and discrimination.   The big question is, has that been the case? Has she been treated unfairly? Or does she have legitimate flaws that needs to be considered?   Gray can’t say for certain whether Garrett has been held to a difference standard because she is female, but regardless of that, She says it is the duty of a Starship captain to admit, and learn from mistakes. But Garrett is still defiant in her belief that she was not in the wrong. And as viewers we still don’t really know if she’s right. If not then her behaviour here is not appropriate, but if she truly did nothing wrong, then she’s right to defiantly stand by her innocence. But could she have been right in every one of the incidences in her file? Can anyone be that perfect?   Because that’s what seems to be holding Gray back. Not the fact that Garrett has made some mistakes, but that she can’t admit to them and learn from them. Nobody is saying a captain must be perfect. But they must be honest about themselves.   There’s a massive power surge in the hood’s engines. The Enterprise can’t beam them back because the Hood’s shields have gone up. The reactor is going critical. Scotty can’t eject the core. It’s looking hopeless.   We get some wonderful performances from Chris Doohan and Kim Stringer as Scotty and Uhura realise that they’re going to die. Scotty places his hand on Uhura’s. This could be seen as foreshadowing of the eventual relationship those two will have in the movie era, but I think it’s more just a comfort thing, two colleagues, two friends, who know they’re not going to make it. The look on Uhura’s face is haunting.   Scotty orders the Enterprise to get as far away ass possibler, to safety.   But Chekov has an idea. Hadley chooses to trust him. It’s a very risky manouvre, and it injures chekov, but it works. The landing party are beamed back to safety, The Enterprise escaping just as the Hood explosed.   Back on the planet, the hearing is back in session. Each candidate can make a motion and then the board will give their verdict. Neither Spock nor Garrett has a motion to make.   Stomm endorses Garrett. Gray endorses Spock. The deciding vote is up to Kirk. But before he can make it, they receive a transmission from the Enterprise. The Hood has been destroyed. There is no ship to command. So no promotions necessary.   Kirk has been saved from a difficult decision by the bell.   Garrett wants to make one final statement. There is an underlying issue that still remains. For decades, she believes Starfleet has overlooked officers for certain positions because they are women. They may admit it, it may not even be intentional,    Kirk asks her if she believes a person should be given special treatment because of their gender, religion or race. She feels that yes, they should, if their gender, religion or race has historically been used to deny them consideration.   Garrett now, has turned her focus from herself, specifically, to other female officers. “It may not be my time, but it most certainly is theirs.” And I think this is an important step in character growth for her.   Gray says “We are all in agreement with that. Kirk and Stomm nod.   As Spock leaves, Stomm says “Peace and long life” to him. I think that’s his Vulcan way of saying, “nothing personal, Mate.” And Spock’s reply of “Live long and prosper” seems to say, “Yeah, not worries. All good.” Chekov is awake and recovering in sickbay. Scotty scolds him a little. His stunt is worthy of a court-martial. Chekov is willing to take whatever consequence Scotty feels is appropriate. Then he realises that Scotty called him Lieutenant. “And thanks him for saving their lives.” And it turns out, this is the origin of the shield prefix code that Starfleet ships will have from now on. Refer to Star Trek II.   Scotty suggests a career in tactical. But they still don’t know what caused the overload in the Hood’s engine. That worries Scotty. I don’t remember if they follow up on this or not. But it would certainly be cool if they did. It’s an interesting setup.   Kirk talks to the Tellarite ambassador and learns that there is a growing movement on Tellar Prime that wants to change their policy regarding women in command.   When Kirk says goodbye to Garrett, she speculates, “who knows, maybe some day a Garrett will command an Enterprise. And if you haven’t figured it out already, this is when you realise that she is likely an ancestor of Captain Rachel Garrett, of the Enterprise C. The way she says it is a little on the nose, but I like it.   This was another well-made episode of Star Trek Continues. I like how it delves into an issue that certainly has similarities and connections to the real world, but is just a little different. A little sideways. I think Star Trek, and sci-fi in general, tackles issues best when there isn’t an exact one-to-one parallel to current events, but that it poses difficult questions that make you think.   Next time, we’ll be looking at the episode “Still Treads the Shadow”. I don’t remember what this one is about, so I’ll find out when I re-watch it.   Don’t forget to check out Jewel of the Stars Book 3   Until next time,  Live long and prosper. Make it so.

I'm very busy preparing to publish my third book and I have run out of time to produce today's episode. I'll be taking a little break over January to rest and publish my book. I intend to be back with regular fortnightly episodes in February.   Thank you so much for listening to Nerd Heaven and have a wonderful holiday.

On this 100th episode of the Nerd Heaven Podcast, I discuss the Star Trek Continues episode "Come Not Between The Dragons" a deeply thematic episode starring aussie sci-fi royalty - Gigi Edgly of Farscape Fame. Join me as we discuss the episode and it's themes, and then reminisce a little over the last 100 podcasts. (Place button to listen at bottom of page) ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David  Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars And I am a nerd.   And it’s a big moment. This is episode 100 of the podcast. How insane is that? When TV shows make it to 100 episodes, it’s a big deal and they usually celebrate by doing something special.    I’m going to spend a bit of time reflecting on the past, and maybe having a little fun, at the end of this podcast, But first, we’re going to be talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “Come Not Between The Dragons”.   The description on IMDB reads A troubled creature pierces the Enterprise hull, pitting the crew against a pursuer that threatens to tear them apart.   The teleplay was written by Greg Dykstra, James Kerwin and Vic Mignogna The story was by Greg Dykstra It was directed by Julian Higgins And it first aired on the 28th of May 2016.   And just a little warning, this episode deals with themes of violent abuse by a parent.   The first thing you’ll notice that’s special about this episode is the presence of Aussie sci-fi royalty - Gigi Edgley. Most famous for her role in Farscape as Chiana. In this episode, she plays Ensign Eliza Taylor. And the cool thing is, they let her keep her Australian accent for the role. I don’t hear many familiar aussie accents in Star Trek, so I found that pretty cool.   While I gave up on it too early back in the day, I’ve become quite a fan of Farscape, so it’s very cool to see her here. By the way, I can’t believe I didn’t notice it, but a few episodes back, in The White Iris, the character of Amphidamas, the alien representative, was played by another member of sci-royalty, Colin Baker, who played the 6th Doctor on Doctor Who. I’m unbelievably embarrassed that I didn’t notice and comment on it. Sorry about that.   This one starts off seeming to be a monster story. But we’ll soon learn that it’s not. This is a real thematic message show, but one with a real difference.   Scotty is currently in command. Eliza Taylor hands him a padd. And then Kirk enters. 8 ships have been destroyed studying an accretion disc. But the crew have been rescued   It’s very telling of Scotty when Kirk says “at least there were no casualties” and Scotty says “there were - the Lexington.”   With the shift over, Smith and Eliza leave the bridge. Smith and McKennah are heading to the rec room, and they invite Eliza to join them. I get the impression she’s not quite part of their little friendship circle, but they’re welcoming her in. And isn’t that just the way a friendship group should work? I know it’s not easy. You really need an extrovert in your group to do the inviting, but cliques are not healthy, and being excluded can be quite hurtful - even for an introvert.   The Enterprise suffers a hull breach from a meteorite travelling near light speed.  As Chekov says, “that should be impossible.” But I’d have to believe that an object travelling that fast making impact with the ship would have to completely destroy it, so there must have been some substantial and rapid deceleration.   Whatever it is, is moving through the ship, from Deck to deck. Scotty can’t find it. As we end the teaser, we see that whatever it is has broken into Eliza’s quarters. But we don’t see it, only her reaction.   This is an okay use of the ‘hide the monster’ trope because we’ll almost immediately see what she’s seeing after the credits, but her reaction gives us a powerful hook. And Taylor isn’t sure what she’s looking at just yet. We experience it with her as the thing slowly unfolds. Some kind of lifeform. Hard and rocky with glowing eyes and a part that looks almost insectoid.   This creature was a practical effect. The alien was designed by the writer of this episode, Greg Dykstra, who appeared in the previous episode as the union doctor. He pitched this story to Vic because it was very personal to him. We’ll get to that. Dykstra designed the alien and then they got a creature effects company to actually build it. It was huge. An actor could wear it as a suit, but it was very heavy and hot, so the guy they cast needed to have breaks.   I’m a big lover of CGI creatures, but I have to admit that this alien works very well as a practical effect. It looks awesome. It provides a link to the original series who always had to use practical effects, because CGI wasn’t a thing yet. It’s also fitting because we have a Farscape actor in this episode, and Farscape was really into practical creatures, being made by the Jim Henson company.   The alien stands tall. Much bigger than a human. It’s bipedal. Taylor cowers in the corner and throws something at it. It retreats.   I’d say Taylor reacts in a very non starfleet way here. She’s trained to experience the unexpected. But she may be a new officer. This might be her first experience with the unknown. And despite all your training, seeing something like that in person for the first time could be quite scary, especially if it suddenly appears in your quarters. So I can’t judge her too harshly.   It doesn’t take long to find the intruder. It rips holes through walls. It’s not exactly subtle.  Kirk begins by assuming the intruder is intelligent. He asks if it understands him. The lack of reply certainly doesn’t imply a lack of intelligence, though.   Kirk calls the transporter room and asks the chief on duty to beam it out of here. Now when I hear that, it implies to me that Kirk wants it beamed into space. But he asked the chief about his intra-ship beaming skills. Either way, Kirk’s order is very imprecise. Where exactly does he want the chief to beam the intruder to? In any case, the alien can shield itself from scanners so they can’t transport it.   Kirk’s next action is strange. He throws some debris at the alien. The alien reacts pretty much as any lifeform would to being attacked. It lashes out in self defence, requiring security to stun it with a phaser.   I’m not sure what Kirk was trying to accomplish there, but it certainly didn’t help build any rapport of trust between them.   Kirk and Bones have found some fascinating things about the creature’s biology. It’s a unique lifeform - probably natively spaceborn. It has multiple hearts and no lungs. But all McCoy’s tricorder will register is a rock. Again, suggesting the creature can shield itself from their sensors.   Spock and Uhura have configured the universal translator to better work with the alien’s unique vocalisations. I don’t know that we’ve ever seen a hand-held universal translator like this in TOS before, but I could be wrong. In the TNG era, we know that Starfleet universal translators are embedded in the com badge (while Ferengi use implants in the ear)   Kirk gives the honour of speaking to the alien to Taylor, as she was the first human to encounter it. This is a big deal. First contact is what Starfleet are all about, afterall.   Taylor seems to carefully consider what her first words should be. She wisely, in my opinion, chooses to start with “I’m sorry if I hurt you.” and then asks what it’s called. It replies, Usdi. When asked why he came here, Usdi replies “Me. To. Hurt.” That doesn’t sound good. Is it a threat? It’s hard to tell with such a limited understanding between them.   Usdi is an example of a cosmozoa, a space-fearing lifeform. His species is called the Utana.   Something out there is using a form of echo-location to search for something. The shockwaves are damaging to the ship.   When the next wave hits, Spock begins to act very strangely. His voice filled with anger, he calls Udsi disobedient and demands his respect. Fires a phaser at him. He then attacks Taylor when she tries to intervene, and blames it on Usdi.   This, I believe, is a common thing with people who struggle with extreme anger problems. Blaming the subject of their anger for their own actions.   Something is clearly going on with Spock. He’s not himself. Perhaps in a literal sense. But others are feeling it too. Kirk is the first to vocalise his concern, in a way, opening it up for others in the bridge crew to discuss what they’re experiencing without fear of judgement. Checkov is feeling suspicion and paranoia.   Spock’s in a bad way. We learn that the part of the brain responsible for suppressing emotions in Vulcans is called the mesiofrontal cortex. So that’s pretty cool. But it’s working so hard right now McCoy is worried it’ll burn up. Spock is filled with powerful emotions. But they’re not his. Spock is also physically injured. Possibly from his dust-up with the alien. He asks Spock to lock him up. He’s dangerous. Something dark and dangerous in his Vulcan mind is being awoken. Kirk would do well to follow Spock’s recommendation here. Spock knows what he’s talking about, and currently still has the presence of mind to communicate it.   The next wave is stronger than anything so far. It drives Spock to rampage through the ship after the alien. He says “Usdi is hiding from me.” He looks like he’ll tear the alien limb from limb.   After Kirk stuns him, he orders Spock put in the bridge. McCoy argues against this, because Spock is not himself.   The funny thing is, Kirk is right. He’s absolutely right. For the wrong reason. He’s wanting to put Spock in the brig as punishment for insubordination. McCoy is right that Spock isn’t himself, but he needs to be put in the brig for his own safety, and the safety of those on the ship.   When McCoy helps Kirk realise that he’s not himself either, that he’s filled with unnatural anger, he changes his turn and has Spock taken back to sickbay under double restraint. Yeah, good luck with that.   The brig was the best option for now. He still needs medical care, of course, but I wouldn’t be trusting any restraints, double, triple, or quadruple, in sickbay when the next wave hits.   By the way, this is the third episode in a row to have original music composed by Andy Farber. And I have to give it to the student musicians that are performing it, they’re brilliant.   While all of the crew are experiencing elevated levels of anger, and lowered patience, Kirk and Spock specifically seem to be experiencing anger directed at Usdi.  It’s like when Spock was stunned, Kirk became the new puppet of this force. Kirk refers to Udsi as a delinquent brat. He also describes him as disobedient and undisciplined.   I’m embarrassed to say the first time I watched this, I didn’t put it all together until later, but watching it now, it all seems so obvious what we’re dealing with.   Taylor is hiding Udsi in her quarters. She calls in McKenna for help. She doesn’t know who else to turn to.   Taylor has figured out that Udsi is familiar with these waves. And he gets more and more afraid each time one of them hits. McKenna is now having her rage directed at Udsi, as the latest wave hits. “You must have done something to deserve this,” she says. Could it be the proximity to Udsi is what focuses the rage, while those who’ve had little or no contact with him just feel general anger directed at whatever is at hand?   But the most interesting thing of all is that it’s pretty clear at this point that Taylor is not being affected. She may be the only one on the ship that is truly herself.   McKenna is very aware of her condition. She’s trying to push through it. But it’s hard. Taylor made a wise choice here. As a trained counsellor, McKenna may have more tools at her disposal to fight this anger than the rest of the crew. She genuinely wants to be free of it.   She needs alpha wave generators. When she says “Leave McCoy to me” I wasn’t imagining she’d just slug him in the face and knock him out, but it was effective. She can’t fight the anger in her, but here she was able to use it for something good. Well, not that punching McCoy is good, but it’s for a good cause in helping her in her mission.   She asks for the alpha generators from a nurse, but not chapel. She calls her Sarah. While I like seeing familiar characters show up in this show, it’s kinda cool that they’re filling out the medical staff. It often felt, in TOS, like McCoy and Chapel were the only two medical officers on the ship. We know this is not true, of course, but the budget likely didn’t allow for filling sickbay with extras.   Scotty is reacting to all of this a little differently. Rather than getting angry at everyone, he’s having a lovely old time drinking. Scotty hasn’t had contact with Udsi, so his priorities are different. He cares, as he always does, about his engines.   They have now cured a couple of crew members of the anger influence. They have McKenna, Uhura and a redshirt. They figure that Usdi is hiding from the ship that is generating the waves. But he’s not talking.   The redshirt figures out if they move Usdi to engineering, the ship might have a harder time locating him. He’s able to simulate Scotty’s voice using the universal translator, and a little technical magic from Uhura. He calls for an evacuation of engineering. But Kirk sees through it, because he knows Scotty is in the brig.   Once engineering is cleared, all they need to do is beam there with Udsi. Saves trying to drag him through the ship in front of crew who want to attack him.   Smith finds McKenna and the transporter chief in the transporter room. She’s still under the influence of the waves. Kirk should be here soon as he told Smith to meet him here. We’re not sure what he’s doing on the way yet.   Smith insists that Udsi is going to get what he deserves. McKenna gets her to stop and think a little when she asks “Why”. Smith can’t answer, because she’s being motivated not by logic or reason, but by emotions. Emotions that are clearly not hers.   McKenna’s question, and her offer of an alpha generator definitely gives her pause. If Kirk hadn’t called her, she might have relented, but a conflict ensures. Possibly not a great idea of McKenna’s to attack her while she was distracted. Smith is clearly the better fighter, and the fight only serves to feed the anger.   I’m noticing that in this episode, there’s a real focus on the female characters. Taylor, McKenna, Smith, Uhura. They’re all taking on significant and powerful roles. But the episode doesn’t make a big deal about it. And I think that’s the best way to do it.   I recently watched the Star Trek animated episode “The Lorlelai Signal”. That episode came up with a convoluted way to put Uhura and other female officers in charge of the ship, and then have Uhura do very little. This episode succeeds well where that one failed. And I don’t know if this was even a deliberate and active choice, to make this a female-centric episode, or if it just ended up that way. And I think it’s better for it. Contrast this to that scene in Avengers Endgame which just felt a bit on-the-nose to me.   Anyway, I’m loving it because these are great characters played by great actors, and I’m enjoying seeing them get to do much more than the original series would have allowed them. I’m especially enjoying how they’re developing Smith.   Usdi is communicating with Taylor again. She says she understands, but we’re not hearing a verbal translation this time. So … I’m not sure how that works.   Kirk beams in with Smith and several security officers. Kirk has a big phaser rifle, so that’s what he was up to. That’s not good.   All 4 of them fire their phasers at Udsi. Luckily, he survives. His body is essentially made up of stone, afterall. Interestingly, the Utana feed on space-born rocks and minerals.   Those under the influence are subdued, mostly because of quick thinking on the parts of Taylor and Uhura. With generators on their arms now, they’ll all be able to think clearly.   Honestly, I’m not sure it would have gone down that way. Kirk and his team seem to be the better fighters, and they all started armed with phasers. But let’s apply a little suspicion of disbelief so the good guys can win and move the plot forward.   The ship has arrived in visual range, but it’s not a ship. As the image appears on the monitor, we see that it’s another Utana, but much bigger than Usdi.   The entire crew are wearing alpha generators now, so we’ve resolved that particular conflict and moved on to the next. I think that was a good choice for the script. We don’t want an entire episode of mutiny among the crew, because ultimately, that’s not what this episode is about.   Kirk surmises the difference in size between Udsi and this attacker could be the difference between an adult and a child. And he’s right.   Greg Dykstra actually chose the Cherokee word Udsi, which means little, as the name of the alien. When we first see him, he seems anything but little, but now, as we realise he’s a child, and he’s very small compared to the adult outside, the name makes sense.   Scotty apologises for his behaviour. Hardly necessary, since they were all in the same boat. Kirk’s answer “I’ll fire you later,” reminds me of a line he’ll say much later in Star Trek 3. “Fine. I’ll kill you later.”   The adult refuses to respond to hails. It attacks the Enterprise. I wouldn’t necessarily expect a space-born lifeform to be able to receive and respond to subspace radio signals. But anyway.   Spock points out what might be their only logical option to survive this. Release Usdi into the adult’s custody. But how can they? That thing wants to kill him.   Kirk finds an alternative. Fire a torpedo at the part of the alien’s body that seems to be generating the destructive waves.   When Usdi sees the attack against the adult on the screen, he says “Usdi protect.” Taylor misunderstands. Usdi isn’t asking for protection. He’s stating that he must protect the adult.   Taylor goes to the bridge to explain the situation. The alien out in space is Udsi’s father. Usdi has left the ship. Positioned himself between the Enterprise and his father. The attack has stopped.   If we haven’t already figured it out, we realise at this moment what this episode is really all about. This is about parental abuse. Greg Dykstra wrote this story because there was a history of this kind of abuse in his family. His grandfather had been a violent abuser. It had affected his father and grandmother profoundly. He wanted to explore that theme, and a Star Trek episode turned out to be the perfect tool for that kind of thematic expiration.   The creatures look at each other - moving their heads. Most likely engaged in communication we can’t perceive.   Now it’s time for Kirk to make one of those famous Starfleet captain speeches. He points out that while all the entity’s anger was directed at his child, Usdi still protected him. Udsi saved his life, because The Enterprise would have killed him.   Only time will tell if that will make a difference.   This is the heart of the message that Greg Dykstra wanted to get across. That despite the hurt and damage caused by an abusive parent, the victims of that abuse still love the parent. It’s a complex paradox. A difficult one.   There’s a nice scene between Kirk and Spock. I’m noticing that over time, Todd Haberkorn is winning me over more and more as Spock. It just took a little longer than with Kirk and Scotty. But he really is doing a good job of it.   Kirk is used to being able to persuade others with words. He’s frustrated that he was unable to convince Udsi’s father to change.   Spock points out that the alien had a deeply ingrained behaviour. Did he really expect to be able to change that with words? With one conversation? This also, is very thematic. I’m sure there are many loved ones of violent abusers who want so desperately to change that person. But it’s probably not an easy task.   In the case of Greg Dykstra, his father learned to move on from the experience, but his grandfather never changed. Never overcame that darkness inside him.   Ultimately, Kirk didn’t expect silence.   But maybe silence isn’t so bad. Maybe silence represents thinking. Maybe a contemplation of one’s own actions is better than lashing out.   Kirk wonders, what would it take to change someone like that?  Spock’s answer, “one is better able to lead someone down an unfamiliar path when one has already been down that path oneself.” Wise words.   Kirk is a little surprised to learn that Spock has regular conversations with McKenna about life and people.   This, I believe, is the first hint of a growing connection between those two characters. We’ll continue to explore it, to see where it might lead.   They’ve found where Udsi and his father have gone. Kirk goes to see Taylor. “I wasn’t able to reach him, but maybe you can.”   Spock’s words have sparked an idea in Kirk. And I think maybe he knows something about Taylor that we don’t yet.   Gigi Edgley’s acting in this scene is wonderful. (not to mention the CGI shot of the Enterprise parked next to the cloud)   Taylor knows that Usdi came to her for a reason.  “Your son loves you very very much. Just like I love my father,” she says. “I know in your heart that you’re not a monster, but every time you lash out in anger at your son, you become less the father he loves, and more the monster he fears. Please, find a way to heal yourself. Because my father never did.” The alien says one word back. “Heal.”   “Change for Usdi.”   I’m sure this alien has a difficult challenge ahead of him, but maybe, just maybe, he can do it. Because Taylor reached him.   Wow, what an emotional scene. Huge credit to Gigi Edgely for this. What a legend. And huge credit to Greg Dykstra for a powerful story.   This episode is something of a masterpiece. This is true Star Trek at its core. One of the things I love so much about this episode, is that it’s a thematic episode, it’s a message episode, but there’s nothing political or controversial about it. It’s the kind of message I’ve never seen in a TV show before, but it’s an important message. The creators of this show found something important to say that not many others have said before. And I’m not saying sci-fi shouldn’t address political or controversial issues, but I think this episode left the well-trod paths and found something new and interesting to say.   When we watch a show like this, it’s easy to think, “well, obviously this is not for me. This is for those deeply problematic people, those violent abusers, the ones with the real problems. But maybe rather than thinking about others we know who need to hear this, we should stop and think, what can I take away from this.   Most of us are not violent abusers. But most of us who are parents, at some point, have become exasperated with our children. Have lashed out and treated our kids more harshly than they deserve, because of frustration. Maybe it’s because the child has genuinely done something really bad, or maybe it’s pressure in life that has nothing to do with them.   I know from time to time, I’ve taken the time to stop and examine my parenting. To ask hard questions of whether I’m taking my frustrations out on my children in a way that I shouldn’t. To see if there are any changes that I need to make in how I parent. And I think that’s a healthy thing to do. For the sake of our kids.   Anyway, Star Trek Continues never fails to impress me. It’s just a whole other level above most other fan productions in so many ways, and honestly, sometimes better than actual real Star Trek.   So as I said. This is episode 100. I still can’t believe I’ve been talking about sci-fi for that long. It seems only yesterday that I started Nerd Heaven.   It was the 6th of December 2019 when my first podcast went live. I talked about Star Trek: The Next Generation “Best of Both Worlds.” I was doing a little series in the lead-up to the launch of Star Trek Picard season 1. Covering episodes and movies that I had selected as a good lead up to the new series based on what I’d seen in trailers. It was a fun little series and allowed me to cover some old favourites.   I remember I’d recorded just enough episodes to release one weekly until the premier of Picard episode 1. I did them in a big batch and scheduled them for release so they’d drip out while I was away on an extended Christmas holiday. We visited family in Tamworth, New South Wales, and then took a carnival cruise to New Caladonia and Vauatu. What a wonderful experience that was.   After finishing Picard season 1, I did a few random things. I talked about my own history with the Star Trek franchise, I covered the remaining TNG movies I hadn’t already talked about, and I watched Stargate Origins: Catherine for the first time. I also started looking at Lord of The Rings, both the book and the movies. I never actually finished that series though. I was doing a walk to Mordor challenge, but the unexpected pandemic kind of got in the way of that.   I then started going through the movies of the DCEU. I really love some of those movies, like Man of Steel and Batman V Superman. And I had a lot to say about them.   After making my way all the way to Shazam, it was time for Star Trek Discovery season 3 to come out, so once again, I covered this show live as I did with Picard. This was really challenging. I’d watch the episode on Friday night just for fun. Then I’d watch it again on Saturday morning, taking notes. Then I’d record the episode, and spend most of Saturday afternoon editing and publishing it. It really did consume a lot of my weekend. In addition to doing a travel vlog on youtube, this is when my writing life really took a hit. I no longer had time to work on my books.   After I finished Discovery season 3, I knew I needed to make a change. I couldn’t keep up this pace. And there were so many other content creators covering new Star Trek. I couldn’t compete with them. Even today, after 100 episodes, I only average around 10 to 20 listeners per episode. Not big numbers. Not enough to justify the huge amount of work I was putting in. I needed to have the freedom to spend time with my family.   So I made a switch to covering retro stuff. Doing re-watches of old classics. Stuff I’d loved in the past that I really wanted to talk about.   The obvious choice there was Stargate Universe. A divisive show. A show that so many dismiss. But I knew the show had something to say. And I knew I had a lot to say about it, beyond just the question of whether it’s good or bad.   While this was a less crowded niche, I didn’t suddenly become a superstar, but I did pick up some new passionate listeners, which I really appreciated.   In any case, I now have a complete set of podcasts discussing every single episode of SGU. That will stand forever as something people can find and enjoy. And I’m really proud of that.   After finishing SGU, I jumped into Star Trek Continues because again, there were things I wanted to say about it. And I’m having a blast.   So what lies in the future? I’m not sure. I have plenty of ideas of shows I could talk about after I finish Star Trek Continues.   The biggest challenge I face is balancing all my creative endeavours. This podcast, my travel vlog, and my writing. I still don’t have all the answers, but at least I’m not burning myself out like I was this time last year.   I’m pleased to say that I have got back into my writing and at the time of recording, I’m nearing the time where I’ll finally publish book 3 of Jewel of The Stars. I can’t wait to talk about that in a future episode of the podcast.   I want to thank all those who have listened to this podcast. I’m sure my audience has changed over times as I’ve covered different shows. I don’t know if there’s anyone listening who’s been around since the early days, but if there is, let me know. Because that would be really encouraging.   Next time, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “Embracing the Winds.”   Until then, have a great two weeks. Live long and prosper. Make it so.

Today in the podcast, we talk about the Star Trek Continues episode "Divided We Stand" which sees Kirk and McCoy living out something of a nightmare in the American civil war. And we discuss what the mysterious nanites might represent in the greater world of Star Trek. ----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 99 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “Divided We Stand.” And if you’d like to check out some of my original science fiction, head over to AdamDavidCollings.com/books   I recently appeared as a guest on the Yum Yum Podcast with fellow Australian nerds, Ryan and Rachel, discussing the Babylon 5 episode “Ceremonies of Light and Dark.” If you love Babylon 5, as well you should, be sure to check out the episode, and all the other stuff that Ryan and Rachel do at Yum Yum Podcast.   The description on IMDB reads After an explosion on the bridge resulting from a failed attempt to isolate the ship's computer from a nano-virus, Kirk and McCoy wake up to find themselves in the middle of one of America's bloodiest conflicts.   The teleplay was written by Marc Cushman & Susan Osborn With story by Vic Mignogna and additional material by Todd Haberkorn It was directed by Vic Mignogna And it first aired on the 25th of September 2015.   This episode was dedicated to the memory of Grace Lee Whitney. Another of Star Trek’s veterans who sadly passed away during the making of this show.   This one gets right into the action, making good use of the captain’s log to skip past all the setup and throw us right in the thick of the crew’s trouble. The Enterprise computer has been infected with a virus, or as Kirk calls it, a pathogen, a term I haven’t heard in computer science before. This happened when they tried to make contact with an old Earther probe called Friendship 3. This is significant, because, as you may remember, Voyager once encountered the predecessor - Friendship 1 - in the Delta Quadrant.   What makes this pathogen interesting is that it is of a much more advanced technology than the primitive earth probe. It is quickly migrating through the entire ship, Spock’s library computer, scotty’s engineering specs.    Spock doesn’t think this is a virus, and it’s not singular. He says he detects hundreds of thousands of microscopic objects. So…are we talking actual physical objects? He’s also seeing evidence of high-level intelligence.   McCoy shows a startling lack of awareness as he casually arrives on the bridge and berates Kirk for not keeping his medical checkup appointment. Now if the circumstances were different, McCoy would be well within his rights, but it’s very obvious that the bridge crew are in the middle of a crisis. Kirk clearly has a good reason for missing his appointment and this is not the time or place to hassle him about it. That time will come later, of course.   The intelligence of whatever is invading the ship is growing.   As the bridge controls overload, Kirk finds himself in a very unexpected place and time. He’s on a primitive battlefield, surrounded by men firing rifles, and wearing unfamiliar uniforms.   This scene marks “Divided We Stand” as the first episode of Star Trek Continues to take us off the ship. If you think about it, the last four have all taken place on board the Enterprise.   If I’m not mistaken, this is the American civil war. Is this a holographic simulation? A fantasy created by a being like Trelane? In Star Trek, there are many possibilities, but in their shoes, time travel wouldn’t be my first thought. I mean, what could have caused it right? So Kirk and McCoy would be feeling understandably disoriented and confused. But, they’re in uniform, which means they’re expected to fight. At the very least, they can’t just sit here and wait for the bullets. They may have to play along until they figure out what the go is. But they wisely manage to remove themselves from the situation to avoid taking any rash actions they may not be able to undo.   They wisely also choose to treat this as real, and not take any unnecessary risks.   Now, you’ll have to excuse my lack of knowledge about his particular event in history. Oh, I know the basics. North vs South. I believe it was primarily fought over the issue of slavery, although they may be more to it? I imagine American audiences would be able to tell immediately by looking at their uniforms, which side Kirk and McCoy are meant to be on. At this point in the story, I haven’t figured that out yet.   The interesting thing is, it seems that they are both on different sides. Now THAT could make things interesting.   And it was cool to see Dr. M’Benga in this episode. It’s only logical for him to step up and take on the role of chief medical officer while McCoy is missing. I believe M’Benga only appeared in two episodes of the original series, although he is, of course, a series regular on Strange New Worlds. At the time of recording, I still have no idea why, although he was chief medical officer under pike, he seems to have been demoted by TOS. I mean, he’s still serving on the Enterprise but McCoy is chief. So what happened? Strange New Worlds is gonna have to address that at some point.   At first it seems strange that Spock is asking M’Benga about the computer virus. Why would  you have a medical doctor assess a computer problem? Then we pan over and see Kirk and Bones unconscious in bio-beds, their faces pale. Whatever has infected the ship has also infected their bodies.   I think this episode is lacking some precision of terminology when it comes to what we are dealing with. From what I gather, this isn’t a computer virus, which is simply a self-perpetuating piece of software with malicious intent. It’s some kind of swarm of small physical objects that are interfering with the computer somehow, but also invading Kirk and McCoy’s bodies.   M’Benga can’t prevent the spread of these things in the human bodies, he can only slow it, but in a day or two, they’ll be dead.   So, what we can gather so far is that despite the episode descrition, we’re not dealing with time travel here. We’re dealing with some kind of mental projection from an alien entity.   Kirk refers to McCoy as a southern gentleman, so I gather his uniform is from the south. But then again, McCoy himself IS southern, so Kirk could be referring to that. A group of Kirk’s team find them. They assume McCoy is Kirk’s prisoner, at least until they notice Bones still has his weapon.   The leader of this group is pretty aggressive toward McCoy, but then, this is war. He takes Kirk’s word for it a little too easily when he pretends to be a famous Kirk from the time, especially given his uniform has the wrong rank.   The leader is shot by a sniper on the other side. And we get verbal confirmation that McCoy’s uniform is confederate, which I believe is the south. Kirk wants to bury the confederate sniper. The northerners are hesitant. Afterall, he’s the enemy.   Kirk tries to preach the virtue of having compassion for all people, even one’s enemies, but they’re not very interested.   It’s hard to judge them too harshly. Kirk is correct, of course, but it’s not easy to have compassion on somebody who just killed one of your own - probably a friend.   McCoy could easily save this wounded soldier’s life with 23rd century technology, but it’ll be a challenge with period instruments. But I don’t think it’s just technology. A doctor of the time could probably do a lot more because they’re familiar with the equipment.   McCoy raises the typical time travel problems. What if man is supposed to die and they heal him, or what if he was supposed to live, but by being here, they caused him to get shot? Being in the past is very risky. Of course, they don’t know that they’re not actually in the past. They have to treat this as if it’s real.   Like the previous episode, this one had new music composed by Andy Farber and performed by the STC Orchestra.  Back in the original series, they didn’t write all new music for every episode. Each season, they’d record some new music cues to add to the toolbox, and a music editor was apply them to the scenes of episodes, But when something big, special, or out-of-the-box happened, they’d write specific new music for it.   That’s kind of how they did this episode. With all the civil war stuff going on, this episode really cried out for new original music. They re-used stuff where appropriate, but created new stuff where it was needed.   Some really interesting trivia. They used the melody of Uhura’s song about Charlie, in the episode Charlie X, but that melody actually dates back to the American Civil war. It was a folk song about union volunteer soldiers. In this episode, it becomes Billy’s theme.   Spock and Scotty have found a way to draw the alien presence out of the Enterprise computer. It’s attracted to new sources of information. They can lure it into a backup module and then jettison it.   I’m a little shocked that Spock chose to destroy the jettisoned objects with the phasers. Yes, they were an infestation that caused problems to the ship, but there was also evidence that collectively, they represented an intelligent lifeform. It doesn’t seem very Starfleet to just blow them up. Once removed from the ship, they were no longer an immediate danger.   In any case, the ship is safe. Now they’ve just got to save Kirk and McCoy.   The northerner doctor doesn’t care about uniforms, he is just happy to have another set of hands to help the wounded. And as a doctor, McCoy is willing to help whoever is in medical trouble, regardless of who they are.   Spock clearly values McKenna’s services. He knows that this will be a stressful time for the crew, with the captain and doctor incapacitated. But he naturally assumes he is immune. McKenna not-so-subley makes it clear she is available to him as well.   It raises the question of Vulcan mental health. Vulcans have emotions, strong ones, so it would seem that counselling and psychology would be needed, and a logical people would understand their importance. But because of their mental disciplines, Vulcans are so good at suppressing their emotions. They don’t let themselves be controlled by their emotions.   Does this negate the need for counselling? For a human, to suppress everything you’re feeling is not healthy, but Vulcans aren’t humans.   Doctor M’Benga has discovered something interesting. While their bodies are still, he is detecting high levels of neural activity in Kirk and McCoy, very unusual for patients in a coma. And they spike at the same time, showing that they’re linked. He’s well on the way to uncovering what’s actually going on here.   Checkov has found that at the time the computer was shut off, the entity was reviewing a particular battle in the American Civil war, as part of its analysis of Earth history. So while they don’t have solid evidence, the Enterprise crew have pretty much figured out what is happening to Kirk and McCoy.   One of the soldiers is no longer sure what he’s fighting for.  Just to free some slaves? He doesn’t know the victims of slavery so it doesn’t feel personal to him. Kirk suggests that they’re all slaves to something, and this war is about freedom for all.    They’re all having doubts. One of them wants to be there for the birth of his grandchild, but instead, he’s here taking lives. And he’s right to see that as a tragedy. But Kirk explains that what they do here will be remembered. He knows this as a matter of historical fact. They can’t understand that, of course. So his words fall flat for them.   I’m really struck, in this scene, just how much Vic looks like William Shatner. It’s almost uncanny.   Bones is horrified by the brutality of it all. The wounds, the lack of proper anaesthetic. It all feels barbaric to him. But it’s not about technology, it’s about the human suffering he’s seeing.   Kirk blames himself. If he’d gone to his physical, McCoy wouldn’t have been on the bridge. But as I said, in this case, he had a good reason. But I like what Bones says back to him. “The only thing worse than being stuck here with you, is you being here all by yourself.” Now that’s friendship.   McCoy raises an uncomfortable reality. It’s one thing for him to be saving lives, even lives that history says should be dead, but tomorrow, Kirk has to go onto the battle field and kill people. He can’t do that.   Despite that, he’s on the front line with the other men. Kirk has formed quite a bond with Billy, the young kid fighting for the first time.    I’ve got to give it to this episode, the scale is something else. The many actors, the horses, the canons. For a period piece like this to be done on a fan production’s budget is very impressive.   Kirk was fighting, but he’s badly wounded. I wonder if that’s because he held back from doing his best in an attempt not to kill. With the equipment of the day, all Bones can do is amputate Kirk’s leg below the knee. That’s a pretty big deal. We know that even in the 24th century, Star Trek medicine can’t just magically grow back a limb. Nog was given an artificial leg in Deep Space Nine. This is a loss Kirk is going to have to live with for the rest of his life, if this were real, of course, which we know it’s not, but Kirk and McCoy don’t.   Can you imagine what it would feel like to have your leg cut off with a saw, when all you have for pain relief is a piece of wood to bite down on?   I can’t. The thought absolutely horrifies me.   Even if it’s not real, the pain Kirk experiences is real. But it’s even worse. M’Benga finds that back on the Enterprise, Kirk’s real leg is dying. I’m not even going to try to make sense of that. There’s no reason that should be a thing, so let’s just accept that and move on.   M’Benga has managed to extract one of the pathogen objects. Turns out they’re nanites. Not a big surprise. The episode was clearly leaning in that direction.   Spock has an idea. They can help Kirk and McCoy the same way they cleared the Enterprise computer. Shut down their brain functions temporarily to starve the nanites, then lure them away with a trail of new information sources.   M’Benga can do it for a very limited time, but the while feasting on a biological brain, the nanites might not be tempted by an inorganic source. They need something cybernetic. Nurse Chaspel suggest a prosthetic limb. There’s a crewmember with a bio-mechanical arm but confidentiality prohibits her from disclosing who it is. But with the captain and doctor’s lives at stake, Spock asks her to forgo her principles. The ideal way to handle this would be to approach the crewmember privately and ask if they were willing to help, but what if they said no?   Another thing you wouldn’t normally see in a fan production is a practical effect for a soldier missing half his arm. It’s just a background detail, but it’s another example of this show’s professionalism.   Billy is in bad shape. Not physically, the bullet just grazed his head, but emotionally, he’s suffering from what was once called shell shock, a form of PTSD. McCoy doesn’t blame him.   Turns out, when the shooting started, he turned and ran, crashing into a tree. Now he feels like a coward. Kirk’s words touched him last night, but he’s questioning it all. He noticed that Kirk didn’t shoot anyone.   Kirk can’t properly explain his reasons for not firing, but he can say  that his freedom was taken away. Taken by the alien entity. Once again, Kirk tries to inspire Billy. When Spock explains the situation to Lieutenant Drake, he’s quick to volunteer his cybernetic arm.    I was confused when M’Benga said that if this fails, he’ll lose all three of them. Kirk, McCoy, and Drake. So …. Why would they lose Drake? Are they not just going to remove his arm and use it as a tool? Worst case scenario, he doesn’t get his arm back. And he has to wait until a new one can be made for him, maybe on a Starbase.   But apparently, Drake’s arm cannot be removed. He’s sitting there in a chair between the biobeds holding a device. So….I guess that means there’s a risk the nanites could enter Drake’s body.    Kirk must have been asleep for some time. When he wakes, Billy isn’t in the next bed anymore. Turns out that Kirk’s words had a big impact on him. When all hope seemed lost, Billy led the charge, inspiring the other men to fight for freedom. He lost his life in that battle.   I think Kirk is feeling both proud and guilty. It was his words that led that boy to his death. That’s got to be a heavy thing to live with.   When someone announces that the president is here, Kirk jumps out of bed onto his crutches, despite his injuries. He doesn’t want to miss the chance to see a famous historical figure like Abraham Lincoln. Although, he’s already met him once. That was a pretend Lincoln, of course, manufactured by aliens, but then, so is this one. Kirk just doesn’t know it yet.   There’s a historical photo I’ve seen of Lincoln talking to some soldiers outside a tent. The staging of this shot looks very similar to that photo, and at the end of the scene, we see someone taking a photo. So I’m assuming this was meant to be the moment in history when that real photo was taken. It’s pretty special for Kirk to be there. McCoy points out that while Kirk only has one leg, he still has purpose, and that can allow him to stand just as tall. M’Benga successfully draws the nanites out of Kirk and McCoy, then gives them stimulants. Their skin returns to normal colour. Drake is escortedto the transporter room for some reason. It’s still not clear exactly how this whole plan is working. But I think the nanites are not so much in Drake’s artificial arm, as they are in the device he was holding.   Except when Drake enters the bridge to see Kirk, he’s missing the arm. So …… I’m really confused. None of this was clear to me.   McCoy points out there could be more of the nanites out there. Kirk says God help anyone who encounters them.   This sounds like the episode is suggesting the nanites might be something we’ve seen before.   The obvious place my mind goes is the Borg. We know they use nanoprobes. The Enterprise wasn’t assimilated, and neither were Kirk and McCoy, but their skin did go gray. So maybe these are early Borg nanoprbes. I’m sure they had less sophisticated ways of assimilating before they developed nanotechnology properly. Perhaps in Kirk’s time, they’ve only recently assimilated that technology and have yet to perfect it.   It’s all speculation, of course, But that’s half the fun of science fiction.   I felt the script was a little lacking in this one, when compared to the previous 4 episodes. Some things weren’t explained as well as they could have been. But it was still a good story. And the production with all those extras, costumes, location shooting, was very well done.   This is hardly a bad episode, just not as the good as the ones that have preceded it. But still well worth watching.   Next time, on what will be our 100th episode, we’ll be talking about a special episode that gives us some practical creature effects, and a special guest appearance by an Australian actress of Farscape fame.   I’ll see you for Come Not Between the Dragons.   Until then, have a great two week Live long and Prosper Make it so.

While not as memorable as the big tentpole episodes, "The White Iris" is a true classic. This is a very emotional character-driven episode that advances Kirk's arc and adds depth to a number of previous Star Trek episodes. This episode is a great example of what makes Star Trek Continues so special. ----more---- Transcript Welcomed to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars And I am a nerd   This is episode 98 of the podcast.  Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “The White Iris”   The description on IMDB reads Captain Kirk finds himself haunted by guilt from his past as the fate of an alien world hangs in the balance.   The teleplay was written by James Kerwin, Chris White, and Vic Mignogna Based on a story by Vic Mignogna and Chris White.   The episode first aired on the 29th of May 2015. This episode was dedicated to the memory of Leonard Niymoy, placing it in time just after he passed away ,which was certainly a significant and sad moment for all Star Trek fans.   Going into this one, I didn’t remember the episode. Looking at the thumbnail and description on the Star Trek Continues website didn’t ring any bells, but I knew I must have seen it before, because I’ve watched all of Star Trek Continues.   It gets right into the action from the get go. Some aliens, the Calsins, are expressing their pleasure at the invitation to join the Federation when Kirk is unexpectedly attacked from behind by one of them. He’s beamed to sickbay but is suffering fatal damage to the part of the brain responsible for emotional memories.   Spock suggests an experimental drug. It hasn’t even been tested yet. They don’t know the dosage. Now I have a feeling that in the real world, by administering this drug to a patient, McCoy would be doing something highly unethical and probably illegal. Although Kirk does give his verbal consent.  Still, giving an untested drug that doesn’t have approval to a patient has got to be a huge risk.   Kirk sees a vision of Rayna, an android woman Kirk had feelings for in the episode Requiem for Methuselah, one that I don’t remember in huge detail either. Spock erased all memory of Rayna from Kirk’s mind, to spare him the pain of her death. But now he remembers it all again.   After just a few seconds of receiving the medication, Kirk is himself again. And then he’s straight off the bed and back to duty.   I get there’s a time-critical situation on the planet, but minutes ago he was near death. Now he looks okay but he’s been given a guessed dosage of an experimental drug. Who knows what kinds of side effects he might experience. I think it’s kind of insane not to keep him in sickbay for observation for a while. Spock is an accomplished commander and a capable diplomat. And he can always liaise with Kirk from Sickbay. This was a big believability problem to me.   Anyway, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura marvel at how nothing can keep Kirk down.   Kirk has a lot of guilt over Rayna. In his opinion, while she started out as an android, she was human when he pushed her too far and she malfunctioned, unable to deal with the conflicting emotions inside of her.   I’m not sure that human is the right word here, but Kirk clearly saw her as a sapient being.   So Calsis, the planet they’re currently orbiting, wants to join the Federation, but their sister world opposes it and will do anything, including assassinating Kirk, to prevent it. Although I do wonder how they think Kirk’s murder will accomplish what they want.   The Federation is giving them a defence grid to protect their world, but Kirk is suddenly hesitant. Possibly because he’s seeing another vision. Time time, a woman named Nakia. She appears to be a new character created for Star Trek Continues. Interestingly, she is named after the actress that plays her - Nakia Burrise.   Nakia is ghostly translucent. Kirk can’t remember the passcode for the defence grid. He created the code himself, with the understanding he would make the final decision whether or not to give the grid to the Calsins. Nobody else knows it. See, this is why you use a password management product like KeePass.   Kirk leaves Spock in charge while he reports to sickbay for further tests.   Spock hopes that Checkov might be able to decrypt Kirk’s forgotten password. It wouldn’t be a very secure system if that were possible. But Checkov mentions that at the academy, he once decrypted something of Xindi origin. This is very cool as it’s a reference to the Xindi who nearly destroyed Earth in Enterprise season 3, a story that took place chronologically long before TOS, but was, of course, produced long after TOS. I do appreciate these touches.   On the way to sickbay, Kirk sees a little girl in the hallways. Who is she?   So the sister planet fires a missile at Calsis. They’re not mucking about. The representative is desperate for that defence network now.   Why hasn’t Kirk told anyone about his hallucinations? This is an annoying trope in Star Trek. A character is undergoing something super weird but they keep it to themselves. It’s pretty annoying. McCoy senses there’s something Kirk isn’t telling him, but Kirk is a little non-committal as to what that is. There’s something wrong with Kirk’s heart. It’s weakening and McCoy has no medical explanation.     Spock asks Checkov if he’s tried a brute force attack to guess the password. Checkov points out the computer on this device is designed to shut down on repeated failed login attempts. Well that’s something. Honestly, if a brute force attack could work then Starfleet needs to fire their entire IT department, and Spock is pretty silly for suggesting it.   Kirk finally opens up about Nakia. They served together on the Farragut 13 years ago. They were very close but she died in the line of duty and Kirk blamed himself. He’s never spoken of her. He thought he could forget her.   I quite like that they created a new character from Kirk’s past to go alongside the older ones we’ve seen in the show previously. It means we’re not just dwelling in nostalgia, as cool as that is, but we’re also pushing things forward with new backstory. That’s what sets this kind of writing apart from a lot of fan fiction. Technically, of course, this show is fan fiction, but it’s of a very high quality.   I’m really curious what a psycho-tricorder detects.  There is a strong link between the biological and the mental, of course, when it comes to health. There are physiological things that affect the mind, the emotions. But a standard medical tricorder should show you all you need to know about the physiological, and how can a device like a tricorder tell you about the non-physiological aspects of mental health? It would have to be a telepathic device. Perhaps it’s not so different from a standard medical tricorder, it’s just configured to focus on aspects of the brain and body that are specifically related to mental health.   In any case, Kirk’s emotions are being affected. He’s cranky. He’s giving in to emotional outbursts that he’d normally control. He’s ignoring very reasonable recommendations from McCoy and Spock, and honestly, being a little paranoid.   The actres playing Edith Keeler is very well cast. She does a fantastic job of replicating Joan Collins’ way of speaking.   A replacement console is days away. Sulu emphasises to Uhura to inform Spock as well as Kirk, which already shows how he’s starting to lose the confidence of his crew.   Also, interesting to note that Smith is back, this time the prime universe version. So, she’s probably been on the Enterprise this whole time since “Where No Man has Gone Before” which I think is cool.   The Enterprise is unable to destroy the incoming missile because it seems to have disappeared. We’re never really given an explanation for this. I assume the sister planet has some form of cloaking technology on their weapons.   We get a little more insight into the cultures of these sister planets. The people of Calsis developed a spiritual culture while the others became more materialistic, and disdainful of the Calsis way.   Now this is an example of the planet of hats problem which Star Trek does so often, where an entire planet’s population will share a specific personality trait. And this concept has been rightly criticised by many. But on the other hand, I think there’s room for a little of it. If we look at the countries of Earth we see there are some commonly shared traits.  For example, the British people are often thought of as stiff while we Australians have a reputation for being laid back.   You could say that Americans are generally quite materialistic as a people, but some European cultures might be focussed more on family.   It’s all generalisations and stereotypes which will, of course, break down, but that doesn’t mean there can’t be some truth to these kinds of perceptions. So I’m willing to let the episode get away with this.   Spock is meeting with McCoy and McKenna to discuss Kirk’s state of mind. The physical injury is healed. His problems might be related to the experimental drug but there’s no evidence of this. McKenna can’t assess his mental state without Kirk’s cooperation. This might be one of the big differences between physical and mental health. While patient consent is certainly a big issue in medicine, you don’t need much input from the patient to set a broken leg, but you can’t help a patient with mental health difficulties unless they’re willing to be a big part of it.   And Kirk is certainly not willing. He dismisses McKenna to discuss the issue at hand with his officers.   The next hallucination Kirk sees is Miramanee, Kirk’s late wife from the planet Amerind, where Kirk spent some extended time, having lost his memory. That episode had a number of issues, but it also dared to do some darker character stuff you wouldn’t typically see in the 60s. For that, and the introduction of the mysterious preservers, I quite like The Paradise Sydrome. It’s biggest flaw, of course, is that it has zero consequences. We never hear of Miramanee and her child again. It’s as if Kirk is just over it. But that’s more of flaw of the series, and 60s television mentality in general, than it is a flaw of this particular episode. Anyway, that’s where Star Trek Continues comes in.   The little girl shows up again. I wonder if Kirk is starting to put it together yet?   McCoy is surprised to note that Spock is considering that what Kirk is seeing may be more than just hallucinations. Vulcans believe in the katra. McCoy uses an argument I’ve often heard. “I thought Vulcans were a people of science,” implying that being a person of science precludes a belief in anything spiritual. Spock counters this by saying “To be a people of science is to acknowledge that sometimes science points to something more. Vulcans are also a people of spirit. The two are not as contradictory as people assume.”   I think it can be argued whether this statement is consistent with Spock’s character as established in TOS, but I really liked its inclusion. Star Trek usually comes from such a strictly naturalistic point of view, that it’s nice when it does acknowledge the possibility of something more.   Smith reports a drag on the enterprise’s flight path. I like the moment when both she and Sulu put it together at the same time and share a knowing look. This drag could be caused by the missile, and this might be their clue to locating it.   Kirk is so distracted by the ghosts of his former lovers that he can’t give the order to fire. Spock very wisely gives the order himself. Technically this is a breach of the chain of command, but Kirk is clearly not himself. This was the right call.   When Kirk gives an outburst in front of everyone, addressing his hallucinations, he finally realises how compromised he has become. He should have known it a lot sooner, but that was probably another symptom of his condition. He relieves himself and hands the ship over to Spock. I mean he relieves himself of command, of course, not the other kind of relieving oneself.   The camera pans to Spock and holds there for a few seconds. He has a satisfied look on his face, but it’s not because he has ambition. It’s not because he wants Kirk’s job. It’s because his friend has finally seen the light and done what’s best for him, and others.   McCoy reminds me, on purpose I’m sure, of Doctor Boyd when he brings Kirk a dose of brandy. But he needs a distraction to scan him.   His heart is working at 15% efficiency. Another arrest is inevitable. When Kirk doesn’t respond to McCoy as a doctor, he tries to engage him as McCoy the friend. But Kirk doesn’t believe he’s not alone. He’s reminded of the women he has lost. Duty first.   Kirk asks McCoy if he thinks Kirk loved those women. McCoy answers, “I think you’ve loved a lot of women, Jim.” Kirk does have a reputation as a ladies man. But that’s not what Kirk is asking. Yes, he’s had a lot of lovers in the past, but did he actually love them?   Kirk answers yes. He did love them. And he can’t let them go. Bones assume Kirk was just a playboy who wanted a string of one night stands. But deep down, Kirk wants more than that. He always has. But command leaves no room for those kinds of indulgences. At least at this point in Star Trek history. By the 24th century we’ll see captains marry and have families, raising them on Starships. But this is not that kind of Starfleet. Not yet.   This is where things get really interesting. Spock enters as Kirk is seeing all three women. He mind melds, and he sees them. He asks them what they want. So what does this mean? Does it suggest they are more than just hallucinations?   Can a Vulcan see another’s delusions through a mind meld? I’m honestly not sure.   Delusions and hallucinations happen in the brain, in the mind, and it is the minds that are connected. Spock says they need resolution. Closure. Of a type only Kirk can offer. So he’s viewing them as something more substantial.   Kirk is heading down to the planet with the console, against McCoy’s recommendation. But is this different than before? He’s relieved himself of duty, so Spock is currently in command, but maybe Kirk still needs to play a part in all this. If he can get better, maybe he can remember the password.   Except, that’s not where he goes. So maybe I misunderstood. When he enters McKenna’s quarters, there’s a little moment that kind of mirrors one in the first episode, where McKenna walking in on Kirk shirtless. McKenna is hardly naked, but she does seem taken aback and kind of covers her shoulder. I think the show might be suggesting there’s some mutual attraction between these two, possibly because the actors were together in real life, but from memory, that doesn’t go anywhere.   Kirk doesn't know why he’s here. But he’s looking for answers.   McKenna thinks this isn’t about resolution. It’s about guilt. Kirk is the one who needs the resolution. He needs to explain to them why he failed them, which he never had the chance to do before they died.   These hallucinations give Kirk a unique opportunity that few of us ever get.   Enter the pseudo holodeck. I’d forgotten that the show revisited this. He meets the women from his past in the place where he last met them.   And he better hurry because there’s 23 new tri-cobalt warheads headed for the planet.   Edith wants to know why Kirk held McCoy back from saving her. Why did he deliberately let her die. She forgives him. She understands. I think it’s possible the real Edith Keeler may have understood as well. She dreamed of the world he was saving.   Next he visits the Farragut. Nakia knew the risks when she signed up for Starfleet. She doesn’t blame him. She doesn’t forgive him because she says there’s nothing to forgive. “No more guilt, Jim”.   Back on Amerind, Kirk says his farewell to his wife, Mirramanee. He says that she, and their baby, were gifts he could never repay. And she says something interesting. One does not repay a gift. And that’s true. That’s what makes it a gift. “The great spirit calls us to forgiveness, of others, and ourselves.” It’s a hard moment. Of all the woman Kirk has loved, Miaramanee was the longest and most committed relationship. They were married. They conceived a child together. We always remember Edith Keeler and Carol Marcus. But we forget Miramanee. We shouldn’t do that.   Rayna is last, and she doesn’t look impressed. This might be the hardest one of all. But then her face softens into a smile. There are no words exchanged. It seems none are necessary. It’s a good performance from the actors.   It’s done. Kirk has experienced closure with all of them. But he still doesn’t remember the password, and Calsis only has 6 minutes.   Spock recommends withdrawal. When you have failed, there is nothing left but to try to survive.   But Kirk has another idea. Put the Enterprise in the path of the missiles with full shields. Spock surprisingly say they might be able to survive that, but they can’t block all the missiles. But it’s all they’ve got.   This is the starfleet way. You put your life on the line to protect others.   Kirk is still seeing the little girl. Perhaps that’s why his memory hasn’t returned He chases her through the ship. She offers him a gift. The same patterned stitching on the native american headbands from Amerind. Realisation dawns on him. This is his unborn daughter. She has no name because he never gave her one. And at this point in the episode, my heart is just shattering.   Kirk apologises to her that she never had a chance. He promises to love and remember her all the days of his life. As a father this is a very emotional moment for me to watch.   I can well believe that Kirk will think of her every day for the rest of his life. Of course, we’ll never see that, because this story was written long after the TOS movies that follow it chronologically. But it would be nice to see some sign that he continues to think about her in future episodes of Star Trek Continues.   As she fades away she whispers something in Kirk’s ear   Evidently, this final closure allowed Kirk to remember the code. Kirk’s log entry makes that sufficiently clear. The episode doesn’t need to spend any more time on it.   After seeing the technological might of the Federation, the Eritrans have requested formal peace negotiations. That’s a good outcome.   We come to understand later, that Irises, the word that Kirk’s daughter whispered in his ear, was the password.   Kirk is now sold on the need for a ship’s counsellor. He has approved a dedicated office for McKenna. I guess she had to use her quarters beforehand. You need privacy for her kind of work. It turns out, the password was likely inspired by the painting by Vincent Van Gough. It is said he only painted one of the irises white because he was lonely. Just like Kirk. If that's what he chose for his password it shows just how lonely he really does feel.   The episode closes with McCoy suggesting that the part of Kirk’s heart that wouldn’t give up belongs to another lady. The obvious meaning to this would be the Enterprise. She has always been Kirk’s lady. But I couldn’t help but think about Carol Marcus. The other great love of Kirk’s life who wasn’t mentioned in this episode. Probably because he hasn’t met her yet. In fact, another fan series, Star Trek New Voyages, did an episode that told the story of Kirk and Marcus’s first meeting. I’m kinda tempted to add that episode into the mix as we’re going through Star Trek Continues.   I can’t believe I didn’t remember this episode, though it started to come back as I watched it. This is a beautiful character piece. It helps to solve one of the big problems of TOS, lack of continuity. This episode provides consequence and continuation to some important emotional beats for Kirk in previous episodes. And much like how Avengers Endgame made some of the weaker Marvel movies more meaningful in retrospect, this episode adds power to those previous Star Trek episodes. So I think this is a triumph. Star Trek Continues actually reminds me a lot of Enterprise season 4. It seems to be trying to do a similar thing.   Next time, we’ll be travelling through time with another episode that I don’t remember much about. Divided We Stand.   In the meantime, have a great two weeks. Live long and proper Make it so.

Today's episode of Star Trek Continues, "Fairest of Them All" takes us back to the mirror universe, for a direct sequel to the original Star Trek episode "Mirror Mirror". We get to see what happened next after prime Kirk planted the seeds of change in mirror Spock's mind. It's a fun and meaningful story. Let's dig in and talk about it. ----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 97 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “Fairest of Them All”   The description on StartrekContinues.com reads In the Mirror Universe, Spock faces a choice that determines the future of the Terran Empire.   The teleplay was written by James Kerwin and Vic Mignogna Based on a story by Vic Mignogna It was directed by James Kerwin And it first aired on 15th of June 2014.   You’ll notice as we go along, that many episodes of Star Trek Continues are sequels, either direct, or subtle, to TOS episodes. This is the second one that is a direct sequel, in this case, to Mirror Mirror.   The mirror universe is an interesting thing. When you start to think about it, the idea breaks down quickly. The more the universes diverge, the less likely it would be to see the same people. For example, how astonishingly unlikely, in this universe, that Sarak still married Amanda, a Terran, and brought Spock into the world.   At its core, the mirror universe is silly. I’ve heard some argue that because of this, mirror universe episode should be campy. I strongly disagree with that. Mirror Mirror, while built on the somewhat silly premise, was serious drama. The only hint of campiness, to me, was mirror Kirk’s over-acting, but even that was done for dramatic effect. When DS9 started doing mirror universe episodes, it also took the premise seriously and made gritty drama about it. Sadly, as these episodes went on, they got progressively sillier, the last of them, in season 7, being a Ferengi comedy.   People point to Spock’s beard, claiming this is a campy idea, but I think that’s mainly just because it’s become such a meme. At the time, putting a goatee on Spock served a very practical purpose. Not only did it make him look more menacing, but it very quickly and effectively showed us, visually, that something was different. This wasn’t our Spock.   Even the trend of having other mirror universe Vulcans wear the same beard doesn’t feel like a campy move to me. We know that vulcans are creatures of tradition. They practically all have the same hairstyle, so it’s only reasonable to assume that having a goatee would be a cultural imperative for mirror Vulcans. Look at the real-world culture of the Amish, who all grow a beard after they marry.   So, yeah, my point is, I’m up for treating the mirror universe as fodder for serious drama. And this episode follows its predecessor in just that.   The episode begins with Kirk’s closing speech to Spock at the end of Mirror Mirror. It’s a great speech. He has some very compelling words for Spock. It was always a favourite part of that episode. And I love how at the end of it, Spock says “I shall consider it.”   And with that note of hopefulness, We follow Kirk and his crew back to the prime universe.   But in this episode, we instead stay in the mirror universe with Spock, to see what he does next.   And I have to say this is a brilliant move. From the moment I first heard Intendant Kira tell the story of how Mirror Spock had dismantled the Terran Empire, turning it into a more reasonable and peace-loving organisation, and then its subsequent conquest by the alliance, I’ve been enthralled by the idea of seeing that play out.   During early DS9, Leonard Nimoy was still young enough to play this. I imagined a TV movie, set during the TOS movie era, where an older Spock had risen to emperor and was taking the dangerous steps of trying to change the culture. This episode of Star Trek Continues is the closest we’ll likely ever get to that. But this tells the very beginning of the story. Spock’s first steps into the light.   The return of mirror Kirk is bad news for the Halkans. Our Kirk did everything he could to try to spare them, but now that this universe’s Kirk has returned, his first order of business is to destroy their city.   Rather than just destroying one city with the phasers, Kirk decides to use a full spread of photon torpedoes. The radiation of which is likely to make the entire species extinct. Spock argues for leniency and diplomacy. Prime Kirk’s words are already having an effect on him. But mirror Kirk isn’t interested. He does, however, have his first hint that his prime counterpart has sowed seeds of revolution in Spock’s mind.   This episode takes a page out of Enterprise’s book and creates specific mirror-universe opening titles, much as “In a Mirror Darkly” did. It was awesome in Enterprise, and it’s awesome here.   Note also that this is the first episode that doesn’t have Larry Nemechek as McCoy. We have a new actor - Chuck Huber.   I wondered what the reason for the cast change might have been. I found a Facebook post by Star Trek Continues, stating that Nemecek filled in for Chuck Huber in the first two episodes. This suggests that Larry was never intended to be the long-term actor in this role, but maybe Chuck Huber wasn’t available for the first two? I don’t know.   It’s also the first appearance, in Star Trek Continues, of Smith, a character we last saw as a yeoman in “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” In that episode, Kirk kept calling her Jones. It seems mirror Kirk is still making that mistake all these years later.   The original series had a pretty male-dominated cast. Continues adds in a few more female characters to be regulars and semi-regulars. We already know it’s added McKenna, as a brand new character, but I like how they went back to the well and used this old character. This episode won’t be the last we’ll see of her.   You’ll notice Spock is the clear protagonist of this episode. We get a personal log from Spock, rather than a captain’s log from Kirk.   There’s a really interesting dynamic going on between these two, even now. Kirk confronts Spock for questioning his orders. Spock again tries to point out the logic of his alternate approach. When Kirk asks Uhura to make his report back to the empire, he makes it very clear that he personally destroyed the Halkens, and he asks Uhura to include Spock’s objections. On the surface, this may seem like he’s respecting Spock’s opinion, but of course this is the opposite. Kirk is letting his superiors know that Spock made a very controversial suggestion. A suggestion that could get him in a lot of trouble. A suggestion that might make them question giving him a command of his own. This is a subtle power play against Spock, and I’m sure Spock is aware of it.   New twist, something planted in the planet by the Halkens means that the torpedo barrage is setting off a chain reaction that could destroy all of that precious dilithium the empire wants to strip mine out of the planet.   All of a sudden, Spock is looking like the more reasonable person, and Kirk’s overkill is going to cost them a lot. And that message has already been sent to the Empire. Very interesting.   Kirk does his best to turn things around again, by insisting that Spock should have detected that the dilithium was rigged to explode. But it sounds a little hollow.   Uhura sounds a very valid warning. Kirk’s enemies don’t stick around very long. Spock already knows about the device in Kirk’s quarters, and that’s just where Kirk is headed.   If Spock isn’t careful, he may disintegrate.   So two Andorian ships arrive, and we know from Discovery that the mirror Andorians were part of a rebellion with the Tellarites and Vulcans, but this was written before discovery. The Andorians say they witnessed the destruction of the Halkens and no longer recognise the authority of the Terran Empire. I think you can make this work. While many Andorians were rebels, years earlier at the time of Discovery, I’m not sure all of them were. Some were probably willing subjects of the empire. I mean, Spock himself is first officer of a Terran ship, and he’s Vulcan, who were also part of the rebellion, (which features Spock’s own father).   But the more important thing here is that Kirk’s prediction is already coming true. Other races are rebelling against the empire. It doesn’t line up exactly because it implies there hasn’t been any rebellion up until now.   And we hear the computer voice, which in the mirror universe, is Male. Excitingly, the voice is Michael Dorn, who, of course, played Worf. That’s a nice touch.   When Kirk orders Spock to attack the Andorian ships, he openly refuses to obey.  Naturally, Kirk assumes Spock is making some kind of play, because that’s how things work in the Mirror Universe, but he also recognises that his Prime universe counterpart has had some influence on Spock, and maybe on Moreau as well.   He turns on the tantalus field, and spies Spock speaking of mutiny with Uhura. But when he pushes the button to kill Spock, it fritzes out and dies. It’s not working.   I think Kirk suspects Moreau of doing something to the device at first, but stops short of having her taken away by security.   Spock’s next target is Scotty. He tries to recruit him, appealing to the peace he witnessed in the prime universe. Scotty saw that peace as weakness, but is he just parroting the party line? His biggest concern is not a fundamental disagreement with Spock, but fear of committing mutiny, which is a very dangerous game in the mirror universe.   I don’t think Spock was successful in recruiting Uhura, but she’s wishing she wasn’t on the ship. If I have one criticism of this episode, it’s that, other than Kirk, none of the crew are really mirror-universe enough. I’m not seeing the angry bloodthirsty callousness that I’m expecting, I’m mainly seeing fear. But then, fear would be a natural state for most people living in a world like that.   We actually get our first real glimpse of this with McCoy. He’s injecting a security officer with something. He casually remarks “I’ve never used this much before.” Then grins and says “I wonder what will happen.” I think doctors provide the best opportunity for highlighting the difference between mirror and prime characters. Because Doctors have such strong ethics in our world, and a doctor without ethics is terrifying. This idea is so powerful that the showrunners of Star Trek Discovery’s first season said they would never show a mirror universe version of Culber, because it would be so dark it would tarnish the memory of that character. Of course, that didn’t stop them showing a version of Georgaeu who would eat the meat of sentient lifeforms.   Now that Kirk knows where Spock is, the only thing keeping him alive is the malfunction in the tantalus field. Checkov is wise to join Spock’s side when given the chance. Spock’s use of the stun setting on his phaser is a powerful statement that really gets Checkov thinking. “Murder is the way of the empire. The captain’s way.” Kirk put Checkov in the front lines as cannon fodder to die. He has much better hope for a future with Spock than with Kirk, even if he doesn’t share Spock’s values. Of course, I am surprised that a mirror universe phaser would even have a stun setting, but perhaps it could be useful occasionally. After all, you can’t torture someone who is dead.,   Spock gives a rousing speech over the comm system. He’s getting through to Uhura. You can see it on her face.   Moreau joins Spock in Auxiliary Control. She tells him their best hope is to get to Kirk’s quarters. The tantalus field is the key, just as Prime Kirk said it would be.   Kirk is starting to realise the seriousness of his situation. Crew are not reporting for duty. They’re starting to switch sides. Smith is willing to serve Kirk, but his anger at her is eroding any goodwill she has for him. He does something really stupid. He relieves her of her commission and tells her to report to the brig. She was one of the few allies he had, and he’s just given her to Spock because she’s unable to do what would be reasonably accepted to be impossible in her situation.   Kirk realises his mistake when Sulu arrives and reports that Checkov has turned. He tells Smith to resume her post, but the damage is already done. She’s not going to respect Kirk anymore. The only thing that’s been holding her here is fear, and that fear will continue to erode as Spock gains more and more power.   We get confirmation that Moreau sabotaged the tantalus field. Now she offers it to Spock. When Moreau says “Yes, she is the captain’s woman, but not this captain,” I believe she’s thinking about prime Kirk. He changed her way of thinking. He gave her a new hope. She’s doing this based on his example, and possibly even out of love for him.   But Spock isn’t willing to use it. “No revolution can succeed using the same methods that failed in the previous one.” Wise words. There may come a day when Spock has to use this device to protect himself, but he’s not going to stoop to Kirk’s level. He’s not going to become the monster he’s trying to defeat. The key is not using the device himself, but ensuring that Kirk can’t use it.   Moreau wants to be sent to the prime universe, something Spock can’t do. But together maybe they can recreate something of the prime universe here.   Kirk is learning. He’s realising that screaming and ranting is not going to get him anywhere. So he’s trying a more reasonable approach. At least, an approach that seems reasonable. He tells Spock that he sees the merit in his logic. He’s lying, obviously, but he’s calmed down enough to be able to try this tactic.   Moreau cautions against this. It’s obviously a trap. Scotty knows this. Spock knows this. But if there is any hope for the empire to change, he must give Kirk the opportunity to change as well. So he walks into what is almost certainly a trap. Because he has to give Kirk a chance. It’s interesting. I can see his logic. Scotty and Moraeu are right. This is a foolish step that can likely achieve nothing. But this is exactly what Spock has been preaching. Sit down and talk rather than fight. To refuse would be to go against the essence of the message he’s preaching. And I think Kirk knows this.   I couldn’t help but notice the camera shot panning up from the chessboard to Spock and then seeing Kirk  enter. Very symbolic of the chess game Kirk and Spock are currently engaged in. A game in which they are currently locked in a stalemate.   Kirk brings up the valid point that there are many other ships out there loyal to the empire. Even if Spock wins control of the Enterprise, he’ll still have a very difficult fight ahead of him. A fight against the odds.   When Kirk tries to shoot Spock, we learn that Scotty has put an energy dampening forcefield on the entire deck. Spock has given Kirk his chance, but also given him a chance to prove he cannot be trusted.   The dilithium on the planet is overloading. They have to warp away to avoid being destroyed.   Spock is offering the crew an alternative. Kirk shows what he really thinks of them. “They’re pawns. They don’t need alternatives. Pawns need a king. He sees no intrinsic human value in any of them. And this is why Kirk will lose.   This happens sooner than expected when we realise that Spock had activated the intercom. The entire crew heard Kirk ranting about them. Uhura and Smith already have knives at Sulu’s throat. Security arrive in the rec lounge to take Kirk into custody.   Spock demonstrates compassion by giving Kirk and his followers a shuttle, sparing their lives. Part way through this scene I got a little excited when I realised they’d built a shuttle for this show. You see, I get so caught up in this that sometimes I just think I’m watching TOS. And then I realise, oh yeah, this is a fan show. Fans had to build that life-size shuttle. I’m sure the hanger deck itself is CG, but it looks as it should.   Apparently there were some Halken survivors. I’m surprised by that. I thought Kirk slaughtered them all.   I think the Halkens would be glad to know, survivors or not, that their sacrifice had helped to secure the end of the empire, and the beginning of peace. At least, until the Klingons and Cardassians form the Alliance, but that’s a whole other story.   So Spock orders a speed of warp 2 with no heading, prompting Checkov to ask for the heading. Spock replies “forward.” This reminded me of Kirk’s “first star to the right” quote from Peter Pan at the end of Star Trek 6. And I get it. It’s poetic. That’s nice and all. But…..what exactly is Checkov supposed to do with that? Spock is there waiting for the ship to move. Checkov pushes some buttons. Is he just making up his own course? Maybe plotting for the nearest Maccas fly-through? These moments kind of bother me.   So, the Enterprise flies off into the sunset, having taken the very first step into a better future.   I really enjoyed this one. It was a great script, exploring how Spock took Kirk’s advice and made changes in the mirror universe.   It’s the kind of episode I’m not sure they could have done in “real” Star Trek. It doesn’t actually move the story forward in our world at all. But it’s a perfect story for a fan series to explore. Not so much a ‘what-if’ story, but certainly a side quest, but a very meaningful one.   Next time, we’ll be talking about an episode that I don’t really remember - The White Iris. Looking forward to it.   Don’t forget to check out my original science fiction at AdamDavidCollings.com/books   In the meantime, have a great two weeks, live long and prosper Make it so.

Lolani is the first of the really focussed "issue" episodes of Star Trek Continues. It examines the theme of slavery, but even moreso, the theme of apathy in the face of evils such as slavery. It's a hard-hitting drama that really makes you stop and think. Join me as I delve into this latest episode of Star Trek Continues to see what it's all about. ----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 96 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “Lolani”   The description on StartrekContinues.com reads A survivor from a distressed Tellarite vessel pulls Captain Kirk and his crew into a moral quandary over her sovereignty.   The teleplay was written by Paul Bianchi With story by Huston Huddleston and Vic Mignogna It was directed by Chris White And it first aired on the 8th of January 2014   And you’ll notice that’s a good 7 months since the last episode came out. That’s the reality of a fan-made web series. This is a show of professional quality, but it’s being made by amateurs. It’s not their full-time job. They get the work done in the time span that they can. But it meant that each new episode was an event, like a new mini movie coming out. Of course, now, you can binge the entire series, which is great.   First of all, I’d like to say how happy it made me to see this show portraying Kirk as a bookworm. Which of course, he is. I found that the Kelvin universe movies kind of misunderstood Kirk’s character, especially his younger self. They portrayed him as this hard-partying bad boy. And I know it was already a new timeline, and the absence of his father explains the differences, but that’s not the Kirk we knew in the original series. Young Kirk in the prime timeline was a nerd. He had a reputation at the academy for carrying books wherever he went.   Anyway, Cool to see him so disappointed to have to leave his book behind when the Enterprise picks up a distress call from an unidentified ship.   And cool to see Sulu’s viewer rising out of his console. Nice touch.   The ship is Tellarite in design. And this is where we meet Ensign Tongaroa. My first thought when I heard him speak was “Ugh. American’s can’t do Australian accents.” But I was very quickly corrected when the character says he’s from New Zealand.   But he didn’t really sound Kiwi to my ears either. Admittedly, I’m not from New Zealand, but we do hear the Kiwi accent, and it has a lot of similarities with the Australian accent. Some definite differences too. Certain vowel sounds come out very differently.   Anyway, I looked up the actor, Daniel Ogan. Turns out, he is indeed from New Zealand. And not only that, as a child, he played Boba Fett in Star Wars Episode 2: Attack the Clones. Which is really cool. Interestingly, in Star Wars, he sounded much more like what I would think of as a Kiwi accent. So I don’t know if his accent has changed over time as he’s gotten older, or if I’m just talking rubbish and don’t have a good ear for these things.   Anyway, it’s really cool to have him in the show, and it’s always fun to see a fellow Australasian in Star Trek. (and if you’re not aware, Australasian is a blanket term that includes both Australia and New Zealand).   There’s only one life form aboard, life signs are erratic and life support on the ship is failing. Despite this, Spock is not convinced it would be a good idea to beam the survivor on board. He doesn’t really give a reason, other than this being an unknown lifeform.   So what’s the alternative, Spock? Just let the person die?   Kirk orders security to the transporter room, which is a reasonable precaution. As Kirk and Spock enter the transporter room, they both say, in unison, “Mr. Scott, you have the bridge.” Kirk remarks at this being strange. And I agree. No explanation is given. Kirk is in command of the bridge at present, so why would Spock get involved?    They’re expecting a Tellarite, but instead, they find a scantily dressed Orion woman, an Orion slave girl, threatening the transporter chief with a knife. But she quickly runs into the corridor and ends up cowering near a Jefferies tube, holding the knife. She looks genuinely afraid. And we meet Chief of Security Drake. We never got to know who the chief of security was in TOS. That position didn’t really exist in Star Trek lore until TNG. Anyway, the situation is resolved when Spock is able to incapacitate her with a nerve pinch.   She seems a little calmer when they visit her in sickbay later. According to records, she was recently purchased by a Tellarite. She’s got some cuts and bruises, and the Tellarite crew are all dead. The obvious conclusion is that she killed them, no doubt due to the way they were treating her.   Obviously, this episode is going to really delve into the issue of slavery. This is the first of the issue episodes on Star Trek Continues. Last episode had some thematic stuff, but this one is very much exploring an issue. We’ll see there’ll be a lot of these in the series, which is a very Star Trek thing.   The Tellarites were founding members of the Federation. That means we have Federation citizens engaged in the purchase and exploitation of a slave. And that’s pretty horrifying. But as we’ll see in coming episodes of Star Trek Continues, the Tellarites are a rather problematic member race. Which I think is really interesting. We tend to think of the Federation as this big club where everyone has the same values. But the reality of holding together so many disparate species would be somewhat less utopian. There would be internal struggles. It would be a constant effort to keep this thing together. I don’t think that goes against Roddenberry’s utopian vision, but it’s a much more DS9 kind of take on it. I like it.   There is an elephant in the room when looking at the idea of Orion Slave girls. And that is Enterprise. Enterprise season 4 did an interesting episode that explored Orion Culture more so than had ever been done before. They were practically an untouched species, which is interesting, given that date all the way back to TOS. The big revelation of that episode was that it was the men, not the women, who were really the slaves, due to the women having a pheromone they can use to control the men.   Now I interpreted this a little less literally than it seems the writers of this episode did. The way I saw it was that, yes, technically the women are bought and sold as slaves, but with their powers, they manipulate and control the men, behind the scenes, from a position that appeared subservient. And that idea, I think, is not at odds with anything else portrayed in Star Trek about them.   This episode addresses the issue with Spock explaining that around 70 years ago, Orion women held dominion over men but there was a revolt and civil war. The men gained control. Rather than ending the slave trade, they made it worse.   This dialog is clearly meant to be a way of reconciling this episode, and the rest of Star Trek, with Enterprise. But I’m not convinced it actually works. It implied that the women enslaved the men in a more literal way than I think the Enterprise episode intended to suggest. And I’m not sure any reconciling really needed to be done.   But either way, it’s a fascinating concept. Think about it. A civil war between the two sexes. Procreation of the species would be very difficult under such circumstances. And in fact, the only way that the species could have survived takes my mind to a place that I don’t really want to think about.   At this point in time, Women are kept uneducated and subservient to keep them from rising up again, and as punishment for the past.   The age-old problem of trying to make a right with two wrongs.   The slave doesn’t speak until Dr. Makenna arrives. She reveals her name is Lolani. She didn’t know whether the crew of the Enterprise were friend or foe, so she kept silent, and listened. Not a bad way to go. Listening less and speaking more is usually wise.   To add extra tragedy, she was born off-world, but forced back to Orion and into slavery when her parents died. So she has known freedom and then been forced into slavery. I can only speculate, but I suspect that may be even more painful because you’ll know what you’re missing.   Lolani is played by Fiona Vroom. Fun bit of trivia, Fiona Vroom appeared in Star Trek Beyond as an Orion crew member. So ….. Was that the Kelvin timeline version of Lolani? My headcanon would like to say it is. Beyond came out 2 years after this episode, so I can’t help but wonder if her cameo was a deliberate reference to this episode. I believe JJ Abrams was interested and enthusiastic about Star Trek fan productions, and even spoke in defence of the controversial Star Trek Axanar during their lawsuit with Paramount. Who can say, but in my headcanon, in the Kelvin timeline, Lolani had a better life and entered Starfleet. I guess her parents didn’t die in that timeline.   Kirk feels like he has rescued Lolani, but Commodore Gray has some bad news for him. According to Orion law, Lolani reverts to being the property of the one who sold her, once her owner dies. The Orions are not members of the Federation (they’d never qualify while they support Slavery). The owner has been notified and is already on his way.   This kind of thing is a very real problem in our world. Different nations have different rules. If we want them to respect our laws, we have to likewise respect theirs. Even if we disagree with them. But what if one of their laws is something as immoral as slavery?   What it comes down to, as the commodore admits, they can’t afford an inter-stellar incident over one person.   Mackenna and Lolani talk as they walk through the corridor. There’s a lot of echo in the dialog in this scene. A rare moment when the ameteur nature of this show peeks out from behind the curtain, perhaps. There was also something about the acting at the start of this scene that didn’t quite work for me somehow. Mackenna explains that while there are some generalised differences between males and females, people in the Federation are treated as individuals. They are not defined by their gender. There are a whole bunch of different things that make up a person.   We get a very 60s TV moment when they arrived on the bridge all the male crewmembers stare with googly eyes. Now, the sight of an attractive woman wearing very little clothing IS distracting. I can’t deny that. That’s just biology. But when you’re at work, you don’t ogle people like this. I’d have expected the crew of a Federation starship to show a little more professionalism than that.   I don’t think Scotty is flirting with her when he takes her to see his station. I think he’s being friendly, but also he sensed that Mackenna needed a moment to speak with Kirk privately.   Spock has found physical evidence that Lolani was involved in the death of the Tellarite, and likely is the killer.   Kirk is subtly encouraging Lolani to think about changes that could be made to her planet’s culture, for the better, by lending her a book.   When confronted with the evidence, Lolani tells an implausible story about how it all just happened while she was hiding with her eyes closed. When Kirk doesn’t buy it, she asks “if you were a slave, wouldn’t you just want to be free?” And Kirk agrees. He hates the idea of a sentient being enslaved, but he says something that I think is very important. “The truth always matters.”   When she learns her previous owner is on his way to collect her, Lolani tries to use her sexuality to manipulate Kirk. And given the circumstances, the bleak future that lies ahead of her, it’s hard to blame her. She’ll do anything to escape that brutal mistreatment she knows is waiting for her.   Kirk tries not to succumb, because he’s not an idiot. He knows what is appropriate and what isn’t. He knows getting involved with Lolani in that way is a bad idea. But remember female Orions have those pheromones with which they can influence people.   It’s Uhura’s call on the intercom that helps Kirk snap himself out of it. There’s a nice moment where they both apologise. Kirk promises to do whatever he can to help Lolani.   But she can’t just leave it at that. Again, I don’t blame her for doing anything she can to escape her fate. And she continues to use the one tool she feels she has. The transporter chief has less moral strength than Kirk. He’s trying to fly her away in a shuttle craft.   With evidence that proves two of the Tellarites were killed by Lolani, Spock says “she is no longer an unfortunate slave. She may be a murderer.”   Of course, it’s likely that she is both.   Notice that Spock says she MAY be a murderer. They know she killed two of those tellarites. But there may have been extenuating circumstances. She may have killed them out of self-defense, which is technically not murder.   With Lolani confined to quarters, Kirk asks McCoy if there is a medical defence against Orion pheromones. McCoy says there is a known inoculation and he can begin immediately. If the issue is so well known that they already have an inoculation on file and ready to go, I have to wonder why it’s taken this long before anyone has thought about it.   In fact, I wonder why it isn’t included in the standard set of vaccinations for Starfleet personnel. In the real world, military officers are inoculated against all sorts of things as a matter of course. You can’t afford your soldiers getting sick from preventable diseases when they’re busy in the line of duty. I imagine Starfleet would be the same. We know there are a lot of dangerous alien diseases out there. It would be quite logical to inoculate starfleet officers against Orion pheromones as a matter of course. The risk of one of your people being mind-controlled seems a reasonable reason to do so.   It’s possible Lolani may have blocked out much of what happened on the Tellarite ship, and genuinely doesn’t remember. So Spock is going to mind meld with her. The fact she’s willing to trust him and consents to the procedure suggests she’s not deliberately hiding anything.   She killed the tellarites in self-defense, while they were trying to rape her.   Kirk and Spock are in a difficult position. They know Lolani is right. It’s wrong to send her back to be beaten, and worse. She could be a voice in the Federation for her people, but not if they send her back in chains.   In the conference room, MacKenna plead’s Lolani’s case to the senior crew. She makes a good point. “Starfleet aren’t here. Perhaps if they were, they’d see things differently.” In a lot of ways, this ties into a classic Star Trek theme. The needs of the many vs the needs of the few - or the one. Starfleet is willing to turn a blind eye to one woman’s slavery because to do otherwise would risk an inter-stellar incident - perhaps war.   When the owner, Zaminhon, arrives, Kirk’s plan is dinner. Pull out all the stops for him. All Kirk can hope is that they can somehow change this man’s mind.   He’s a very intimidating-looking bloke. The actor has an amazing deep voice. I don’t know if there’s some artificial enhancement going on, or if it’s all natural. But it really suits the big Orion.   I laughed at Scotty’s line. “He seems nice. For a slave trader.”   The transporter chief, Kenway, fabricates a story about orders to get into Lolani’s quarters to see her. He still seems very smitten. Despite his inoculation, he seems to still be suffering effects from his previous exposure to her pheromones.   That said, he seems to genuinely want to help her, not because she’s attractive, but because it’s right. Lolani has some good things to say. Kenway feels that he’s nobody. That he can’t make a difference. Lolani says that everybody is somebody. That’s the message that needs to reach people on her planet. And she mentions a quote that is apparently falsely attributed to a guy named Edmund Burke. “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” And that is what’s happening here.   In the end, Kenway just says sorry and leaves. What can he do? It must be very difficult for the crew to laugh and chat with this slave driver. Especially McKenna. Zaminhon confirms that the male Orions do have a natural scent, but it’s been kept from developing the same potency as the female pheromones.   Whatever Kirk’s plan, in trying to charm Zaminhon is shattered when Scotty casually says “Lolani says you’re a brutal monster.”   Zaminhon just laughs it off and says he treats his slaves well. Kirk’s plan starts to come out as he plays along, pretending to be as comfortable with slavery, even offering McKenna to him for a price. Zaminhon surprisingly sees and even defends McKenna’s value as a person. She is civilised and capable. Slavery is not for her. An interesting admission from him. Then Kirk drives in the knife. What about Lolani? She is every bit as capable. She has a thirst for knowledge. But even without that, as a woman, she has a fundamental right to be free.   Of course it doesn’t work. As Zaminhon points out, “We’re not going to change each other’s minds over a fine dinner.” Which is quite true.   Still, Kirk had to try. That’s who he is. That’s the Starfleet way. You talk. You reason.   With the crew out of ideas, it’s Spock who has to verbalise it. “Then it might be time to say goodbye.”   The guard at Lolani’s door is terrible at his job. You don’t just abandon your post to check with the captain because a visiting alien tells you he’ll take it from here. He has orders, and until they are countermanded from up in the chain of command, those orders stand. By walking away he leaves the door unguarded so Zaminhon can enter Lolani’s quarters.   Zaminhon doesn’t even wait to get off the Enterprise before starting the physical abuse. Honestly, I don’t think he cares. Starfleet have to abide by Orion law in this case and he knows it.   Of course, that doesn’t stop Kirk from intervening when he enters to tell Lolani the bad news.   The re-used TOS music fits so well into the scene. It’s a lot more than just a copy-and-paste job.   Kirk has one last-ditch idea. And it’s something of an ethical dilemma. He offers to buy Lolani from Zaminhon. It’s a trope you often see in fiction. The hero buys the slave for the sole purpose of setting her free.   On the one hand, it’s a good thing as it’s an effective way of freeing a slave. On the other hand, it means taking part in the morally reprehensible practice. It is morally justified to engage in slave trade in order to free a slave? Probably.   Zaminhon is not impressed. He refuses to sell, out of spite, for Kirk’s hypocrisy. There is no price he’d accept to sell Lolani to him. He won’t let Kirk win this one.   Commodore Gray is not impressed. She likens his intervening when Zaminhon hit Lolani to striking a foreign politician. She reiterates the Federation’s position. They will noit risk war over one slave. And I do understand their point. How many will die, be tortured and abused if this leads to war? I’m not saying they’re right, but I certainly understand their position. Gray says it’s the job of the diplomats to fight this issue of slavery. Kirk is ordered to return Zaminhon to his ship with Lolani. I can’t see that these diplomats are going to be very effective in their efforts, unfortunately. Orions have practised slavery since they discovered fire. And they’re now an interstellar civilisation. Zaminhon leads Lolani to the transporter pad, back in her skimpy slave outfit and chains.   Kenway is on duty so he has to be the one to push the button. He doesn’t take it well.  The look on the actor's face sells it beautifully. This is where Kirk realises Kenway’s feelings, whatever they are, are real. Not something you can inoculate against. He knows this because he’s feeling it too. Not a sexual attraction, but a desire for justice. It’s going around and around in his head. He was determined to help Lolani. And he failed.   That’s when he announces to the crew that he is about to commit a direct violation of his orders. He’ll take full responsibility. This is a very Kirk action. Even Picard has been known to do something like this.   As the Enterprise closes on Zaminhon’s ship, ready to beam Lolani aboard, the ship explodes. Everyone is devastated. Evidently, Lolani sabotaged the ship, preferring to due than to live as a slave. If Kirk had been just a few minutes sooner he could have saved her.   But then, what would have happened to Kirk? I suspect it would have ended his career. This isn’t Admiral Kirk of the movie era, who can get away with anything. This is young Captain Kirk, still in his first 5 year mission.   Lolani left a video message for Kirk. She believes her death will mean nothing, but Zaminhon’s death may light a fire in the hearts of the people on her world - young girls desperate to be free, and maybe some men, who don’t want to be a part of enslaving them.   Kenway asks Kirk for a leave of absence from Starfleet. He has been deeply touched by Lolani’s words. Her message. He wants to take up her cause. Kirk gives him Lolani’s recording. Will he make a difference? I don’t know. But a good man is about to stop doing nothing.   This was actually a really powerful message show, perhaps one of the best that Star Trek has ever done, which is saying a lot for a fan-made production.   I really like this ending. It’s not a happy ending, but it’s a fitting one. And it gives hope. Even meaning to Lolani’s life and death.   I think when you get down to it, the real message of this story is about apathy. I mean, you’d be hard-pressed to find a human being in this world today that believes slavery is a good and acceptable thing. But how does that belief affect our actions?   Slavery does still exist in some form in our world today. Not like it used to be, not like the Orions suffer, but it does exist. I don’t know enough about it. I find myself feeling challenged to learn more. To see what might be able to be done.   How about you?   I hope you’ve enjoyed my thoughts on Lolani. Next time we’ll be looking at another amazing episode. A direct sequel to the original series episode Mirror Mirror.   Until then, have a great 2 weeks Live long and prosper. Make it so.

Star Trek Continues is a fan-made Star Trek series of professional quality. We begin a new series talking about this incredible show with the pilot episode "Pilgrim of Eternity" Star Trek Continues does exactly what the name suggests, it continues TOS giving us a mythical 4th season, filling in the gap between Star Trek and Star Trek The Motion Picture. In "Pilgrim of Eternity" Michael Forest returns in the role of Apollo, the god-like alien that first appeared in the TOS episode "Who Mourns for Adonais".   Watch the episode I'm discussing at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G-ziTBAkbQ&t=423s ----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 95 of the podcast. Today, we begin a new series, looking at the first episode of Star Trek Continues. “Pilgrim of Eternity.”   And if you’d like to check out my original science fiction, head over to AdamDavidCollings.com/books   The description on StartrekContinues.com reads Apollo returns to wreak havoc on Kirk and the Enterprise in the first episode of the new series.   The teleplay was written by Steve Frett and Jack Travino With story by Vic Mignogna and Jack Marshall   It was directed by Vic Mignogna And it first aired on the 26th of May 2013.   So with so much new Star Trek, with so much other classic sci-fi on TV, why cover a fan-made series?   The first answer to that is that right now, every bloke and his dog is talking about Discovery, Picard, Strange New Worlds. I’ve found it very difficult to stand out amongst so many podcasters and youTubers who are so much better than I am? I can’t break into that.  But there aren’t so many who have done an in-depth series of podcasts on Star Trek continues, in the way that I do. It’s a beloved show, but I feel like there’s more room to place myself in that niche.   The second, and more important answer, is that I love the show and want to watch it again and share my thoughts.   If you haven’t seen Star Trek Continues before, you can watch all 11 episodes for free. They’re all on youTube, and you can also download them to play locally from StarTrekContinues.com   There are a number of fan-made Star Trek shows. They all seemed to emerge after the cancellation of Enterprise. After 18 years of non-stop new Star Trek on TV, we were suddenly in this void where there wasn’t any Star Trek. It was weird.   So the fans stepped up and made their own Star Trek. It was a time of great creativity and expression. So many people worked hard to share their love of the franchise. And keep it alive.   There was a lot of good stuff, but I think Star Trek Continues stands out as one of the best, if not the best. It’s won a ton of awards, and has been praised by Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. He considers the show canon and says his father would probably agree.   It all got started when Vic Mignogna directed an episode of Star Trek Farragut. He went into partnership and took part ownership of their sets, and set up some studio space where it could all live. Then he went about making his own show, assembling some very talented people around him.   So let’s talk about this first episode, which of course, is a sequel to the original series episode Who Mourns for Adonais. Quite a few of Star Trek Continues stories were follow-ups to TOS episodes.   We begin in an unexpected place. A cowboy is holding Kirk at gunpoint. An old-fashioned revolver. He threatens to shoot Kirk. And for a brief moment, I’m wondering, am I watching the right episode? Star Trek has certainly done wild west planets before. But this is the one with Apollo, right?   It’s a common story-telling technique to start right in the middle of a tense moment like this. They call it in media res. And it’s effective. Things are cleared up quickly when we hear Scotty’s voice say “Freeze program.” Turns out, this is a holodeck. A very early experimental prototype of a holodeck.   But wasn’t the holodeck first invented just before Encounter at Farpoint, you may ask? Certainly the crew of the Enterprise seemed amazed by its newness.   Well, I think this works.  Voyager made it clear that as a child, Janeway played the holoprogram, Flotter. That was clearly before Farpoint. And Star Trek The Animated Series featured something very much like a holodeck. Most people dismissed the animated series as not canon back in the old days. I’ve even heard somewhere that Gene Roddenberry did not consider it canon. But people seem to be much more accepting of it these days. And it has been referenced multiple times in TNG, Picard, Lower Decks, maybe Discovery too. On top of all that, this is not a proven technology. It’s certainly not something that is in everyone’s homes. So I think we can accept that holographic entertainment has been around for some time, but in more primitive forms. The holodeck on the Enterprise D took things to a whole new level, and was soon enhanced even more by the Bynars.   In any case, I think it’s pretty cool to think that Scotty may have been one of the early minds responsible for what would eventually become the holodeck. It’s also nice to see Kirk enjoying some play time off duty.   The over-working hero is a bit of a tired trope at this point. And it’s certainly not a healthy thing to emulate in real life.   The Enterprise is investigating a series of space-based power stations that have been drained of power and gone offline. Kirk heads to the bridge.   The casting of this show was phenomenal. The first two characters we see are Kirk played by series creator Vic Mignogna and Scotty played by Chris Doohan, the son of James Doohan, who played Scotty in the original series.   Having Chris Doohan resume his father’s role is a big asset to this show. And it’s not just about name recognition. He does a great job of it, and that voice is eerily familiar.   Vic also does a fantastic job of Kirk. Of all the actors, other than Shatner, who have played Kirk, I think Vic is the one that convinces me the most, that he’s the same guy. I’m very curious to see how Paul Wesley goes playing the role in season 2 of Strange New Worlds.   While many fan productions used a lot of ameteur actors, Star Trek Continues fills its sets with professional, or at least, experienced, actors. And it shows. That’s no slight against any of the other fan-produced shows. But this one has some very good performers.   So we pick up with Kirk as he enters the bridge. And you have to admire this set. You’d swear you were back on the set of the original series. It looks phenomenal.   Spock is in the captain’s chair, played by Todd Haberkorn. Now I have to admit, I have a bit of a harder time accepting this guy as Spock. And it’s nothing to do with the actor’s performance. He does a great job. He does everything right. But Spock is a particularly hard character to pull off, just because Leonard Nimoy had such a unique presence to him. The look.The voice. Nobody else can truly be Spock in the way that Nimoy did. Todd Haberkorn, Zachery Quinto and Ethan Peck have all done remarkable jobs at it, but none of them have managed to make me fully believe they are truly the same person as was portrayed by Nimoy. But at some point, you just have to suspect your disbelief and accept this is the same person.   While the characters speculate on what has happened to the power station, a strange object appears. Like a big spikey rock surrounded by green glowing energy. Is it a ship? A probe?   While on the bridge, we see Sulu, portrayed by Grant Imahara, of Mythbusters fame, who has sadly passed away since the conclusion of this show, Checkov, portrayed by Wyatt Lenhard, and Uhura, portrayed by Kim Stinger. They all do a good job of portraying these characters in a realistic way, based on roles’ previous occupants.   And then McCoy walks in, portrayed by Larry Nemecek. He’ll be replaced later by another actor. But Larry Nemecek is a big name in Star Trek fandom. He’s written a lot of Star Trek reference books. He’s appeared in a number of fan productions, and a small role in the final episode of Enterprise. And he was a creative consultant on Star Trek Continues through it’s run. McCoy is another character that’s really hard to recast. I think the only actor who’s ever come close to truly convincing me is Karl Urban. Again, nothing against Larry’s performance here, but DeForest Kelly had such a presence, with his face and his voice. It’s hard to replicate.   The object starts draining the Enterprise’s power. Kirk has no choice but to destroy it with a photon torpedo. There are two lifeforms in the centre of thing. Kirk doesn’t want o kill them, but in the end, it’s a case of self-preservation.  The torpedo has done the job, but sadly,there are no lifeforms. McCoy expresses what we’re all feeling in this moment. He knows it had to be done, but it’s hard to see the taking of any life, even if it’s to save our own.   That’s when a appears in a flash of bright light. Apollo, with a woman in his arms. And he’s a lot older than when we saw him last, but played by Michael Forest, the same actor that played the role all the way back in the 60s.   And that’s when we cut to credits. The opening credits for Star Trek Continues are very reminiscent of the TOS credits. But featuring some much more impressive visuals of space phenomenon, thanks to around 50 years of advancement in visual effects technology.   And this is probably a good time to talk about music. One of the big things that strikes you immediately with this show, other than the sets and costuming, is the music. How faithful to the original series it sounds. That really over the top bombastic kind of music that had in the 60s. It sounds very Star Trek. And a lot of it is. They used a lot of original music recorded for TOS in this show. But they did some very clever editing. To make the music effectively fit the scenes, Vic would chop it up, move bits around, extend or contract it. And even compose and play his own original music to edit in seamlessly. All in all giving a very authentic TOS sound to the show, but still unique and custom made for Star Trek Continues. The music feels like it belongs. It’s really clever what they did.   In some later episodes, they move up to a whole other level in terms of music, but we’ll get to that.   So it turns out, the old woman with Apollo is Athena. Another of the Greek gods. We didn’t see her on Pollux, back in the original story, but I guess he’d re-connected with her since then.   She’s dying. It’s a very heartfelt scene as they bid a final farewell to each other.   She vanishes, leaving nothing behind but a brooch, which Uhurua picks up. Even Apollo doesn't know where she’s gone. She’s just … gone.   McCoy and Scotty’s reactions to Apollo are quite telling. The ever compassionate doctor, McCoy wants to get him to sickbay, not that he knows what he can do for an ageing Greek god.   Scotty is hesitant about Kirk allowing this creature on the ship. Scotty’s met him before. Scotty has seen what Apollo was capable of. McCoy was there too, but Scotty was very close to the young woman that Apollo had under his thumb.   A quick external shot shows that something has gotten itself onto the hull of the Enterprise. Something from that artefact they destroyed, which presumably, is where Apollo and Athena came from.   That stuff is gonna cause a lot of problems. They’re not going anywhere until it’s removed. Sulu thinks they can go out and dissolve it with hand phasers.   Kirk feels somewhat responsible for whatever has happened to Apollo. It was Kirk who rendered him powerless two years ago. He and Spock can’t speculate on how he has aged so much in this short amount of time.   And this is when we hear the computer voice for the first time, played by none other than Marina Sirtis of Deanna Troi fame. She doesn’t try to mimic MAjel Barett’s voice, which I think would have been a mistake. Her voice is a welcome familiar one to any Star Trek fan and I think it works nicely for the computer voice. It’s also fitting given that Sirtis played Barett’s on-screen daughter on The Next Generation.   They’ll continue to make improvements and tweaks to the digital model of the Enterprise, but it already looks really good. Very recognisable as the ship from the original series.   The sickbay set looks good. Just as you’d expect it. All the sets on this show are absolutely spot on.   In addition to recasting all the old favourites, Star Trek continues introduced a number of new characters. We meet one in this scene. Doctor Ellse McKennah, the newly assigned ship’s counsellor, played by Michele Specht, who was in a relationship with Vic at the time, but they are no longer together.   I really like McKennah. The character is a fantastic addition to the TOS cast, and she’s played wonderfully by Specht.   The thing about bringing in a new character like this is that the show can give her a complete character arc, from beginning to end. And she definitely has that.   Back in the days of the original series, an episode like this might very well introduce a character like McKennah. She’s be a part of the plot of that episode, but you’d likely never see her again after that. It was the nature of episodic TV back in the 60s. But Star Trek continues does the exact opposite, making her a regular and giving her arguably more character development than any of the characters had in TOS.   McCoy has found something interesting. The extra organ he had, which humans don’t, it’s barely detectable. That could explain a lot.   Apollo gives us a little exposition. His people created a place called The Realm which would give them the energy to live out their retirement for eternity. An alternative to the energy they previous received from being worshipped. But it didn’t work. Instead of giving them energy, it sapped them of it. Their sanctuary became a prison.   It seems that’s where he disappeared off to when he left Pollux IV. Perhaps the artefact was the physical manifestation of the realm in our universe. When they sensed the Enterprise approaching, Athena sacrificed the last of her energy to help them both escape the realm. That’s why she died on arrival.   So this explains the power station and the rapid ageing.   Kirk is concerted that Apollo will once again desire their worship, to keep himself alive. But that is something they cannot give. But he no longer seeks it.  He just wants them to take him to a planet where he can live among the locals, as one of them, and die with the sun on his face.   But Kirk sees a big risk in this. He may trick the local population into worshipping him, like he did in ancient Greece. This is something Kirk isn’t willing to risk. Even though Apollo swears he will won’t do it, Kirk says no to his request.   Of course, if he were to seek worship, it would only be to keep himself from dying. But then, that’s no different to what he did in the past. It’s an interesting situation.   Kirk wants McCoy to make sure Apollo is as powerless as he claims. He has little time for welcoming McKennah aboard, and wants her to help McCoy.   Next we see Sulu and Simone phasering the stuff off the hull, live action performance integrated with an exterior view of the ship. While more modern shows like Enterprise had previous done similar shots, this is a first for TOS. We never would have seen anything like this back in the day.  Shooting in front of a blue screen was quite doable, but the shooting model of the Enterprise just wasn’t detailed enough to provide a backdrop.   The interesting thing here is that Simone is played by Jamie Bamber, who was Lee Adama on Ronald D Moore’s rebooted Battlestar Galactica, which I love. The amusing thing is that Lee’s callsign was, of course, Apollo. So that’s quite fitting.   The original series EVA suits look totally authentic. Just as ridiculous as they looked in TOS, but very faithful, which is a good thing. But it’s a shame that for all of his brief appearance, Bamber is behind the grate of that helmet, so you can barely tell it’s him. Something goes screwy with the phasers and YY is plunged out into space. Sulu’s report to the Enterprise is not very effective. He says “emergency” and then lets it hang for several seconds. No explanation of what the emergency is. No indication of what he needs from then. Finally after what feels like an eternity, he requests an emergency beam out.” This kind of thing has been common in Star Trek for a long time. It used to drive me crazy in TNG. The crew were so slow to react to things it was painful. They should all have died well before the show ended.   Anyway, this is our first look at Star Trek Continues’ transporter effect. It looks pretty authentic to what we saw in TOS.   McKennah goes to talk with Apollo. If anyone could use some counselling, it’s somebody with a terminal condition. She mentions that Lieutenant Carolyn Palomys. The only mortal woman to ever spurn his love. Sadly, she’s no longer alive. After her experience with Apollo she left the Enterprise. She died helping colonists affected by a plague. So that’s a nice nod to her character. A noble sacrificial wasa a fitting way for her to go out. Apollo explains that they never sought out another planet where they might find worshippers, because they were so heartbroken when humanity, who they loved deeply, rejected them. And this adds a lot more texture and depth to the relationship. Far from just being evil overlords, they had deep feelings. A real connection to the humans that worshipped them. And they felt a great sense of loss and grief when that relationship ended.   The problem that Sulu and Simone experienced seems to be related to the power drain. Scotty is quick to blame Apollo. I can understand why, given his past experience, but he’s being a little blinded by his emotions. His prejudice against Apollo. A likely cause is probably the very stuff they were cleaning off the hull. It was part of the realm artefact.   The next set we see is the briefing lounge. I’d tell you good it looks, how accurate to the original, but you’re probably getting bored of me saying that.   A lot of the conflict in this episode comes from Scotty blaming Apollo for everything that’s going on, and the others disagreeing. Even McCoy agrees with Spock, which evokes a few comical raised eyebrows.   I have to say, I think Scotty is being led a little too much by emotion and assumption right now. If he’d stop and think things through a bit more, he’d see that there are other possibilities. Others, that are more likely given the current evidence. But then, we’ve all been Scotty. Haven’t we?   I think a lot of Scotty’s perspective comes from the feelings he had for Carolyn. And while Apollo had nothing directly to do with her eventual death, he probably played a part in her leaving Starfleet. So in some way, Scotty may blame him.   Kirk wants the opinion of his senior officers, Spock, McCoy and Scotty. Spock suiggests letting Apollo go, giving him “just enough rope” to hang himself.   Now, Scotty is providing a valuable and necessary alternative opinion to Spock and McCoy. Kirk doesn’t blame him for distrusting Apollo. But his outburst before he leaves the briefing room does cross a line, and certainly isn’t in character with who he usually is. Just further evidence that this is personal and emotional to him.   Kirk as ever, sits in the middle, trying to take the advice of both sides. Ultimately agreeing with Spock, but tempering his actions with some of Scotty’s caution.   It seems that everyone agrees that it is the realm itself that took the energy from  Simone and Sulu’s suits. The real question is whether Apollo is controlling it or not.   The prime directive will not allow Kirk to put a creature like Apollo on an unsuspecting world, whether he truly intends to set up church or not. Apollo accuses the Federation of lacking the compassion they pride themselves on. And this can sometimes be a valid criticism. Certainly in The Next Generation, the way the Enterprise D crew implemented the prime directive definitely lacked compassion, and was sometimes downright immoral, in my opinion.   Apollo is glad to know that he was remembered, showing footage of the Apollo mission. But as a mythological figure, not a deity.   The episode picks up on an important element of Uhura’s character. Her love of singing in the mess hall for her crewmates, and in a rather flirty seductive kind of way if I may say so. Kim Stinger can sing. And again, the set looks perfectly authentic to me. She has kept the brooch safe, knowing it was important to Apollo. When she tries to give it back, he tells her to keep it.   And then he praises her voice. At that moment, Uhura realises that Apollo was the greek god of music. How must that feel, to be complimented on someone who has a high level of ability or authority themselves in that field? And while Apollo may not be a god in a true sense, he is an extremely long-lived being of immense knowledge and experience. There are likely many things you could learn from sitting down with him. Imagine what you could learn about ancient earth history from somebody who was there!   And then he unexpectedly bursts into song. Moments like this rarely work for me. Question - are the characters in the show able to hear the stringed instrument that is accompanying him, or is that just for the audience’s benefit? When watching a music, my father-in-law will often joke, “where’s that music coming from?” Watching a musical definitely requires an extra level of suspension of disbelief, but it works because of the genre. But having a moment like that in a show like this, that’s a whole other thing.   The crewmembers in the mess hall are quite taken by Apollo, for the reasons I just mentioned.   Unfortunately, Scotty has found that the corrosive debris from the realm has gotten into more of the Enterprise’s systems than just the hull. Not good news.   So McKenna comes to Kirk’s quarters to see if they can finally have that chat, but is shocked and taken aback to find he’s not wearing a shirt. This kind of moment is taken directly from the original series. I found it juvenile then, and I find it juvenile now. McKenna actually seems a little flustered throughout the entire scene after this awkward beginning.   McKenna and Kirk have something in common. A need to prove themselves. Kirk, as he was the youngest Starfleet officer to make captain at the age of 32, and McKenna, as Starfleet’s first on-board counsellor. It may seen kind of ludicrous that up until this point Starfleet haven’t had anyone on board to look after the mental health of the crew, but this show is based on the original series, and in the 1960s, menstrual health was thought of very differently than it is today. Of course, there was Doctor Denher, in Where No one has Gone before, but perhaps she was just on board conducting scientific research, rather than taking patients from amongst the crew.   McKernna has a specific recommendation regarding Apollo. She believes in his sincerity. She believes he has changed, from what he once was. The recommendations that Kirk grant Apollo’s request is implicit but unspoken.   And Kirk takes that onboard. He always takes the opinions of his crew on board, but he needs more if he’s to risk Apollo become what he was in the past.   McKenna makes a decent point that within all of us, there is the potential to do good or bad. Apollo is no different in that regard.   And Apollo doesn’t really have the powers he once had. So is he any more dangerous than a human begin? Well, we’ve seen in the original series the damage a single human being can do on a primitive world. Apollo has been worshipped as a god, and that desire to be so again was still very strong in him recently.   But being weakened, and seeing his friends die, that’s the kind of thing that does change a person. He’s facing death himself.   McKenna seems to be quite emotionally involved in this situation. Perhaps more so than is professional.   When  Spock calls Kirk to come to the rec room, he follows a trope you often see on TV, especially in Star Trek. He won’t explain what’s going on, he simply says “you should see for yourself.” Now I understand why a line like that works for a script. You don’t want to bog things down in exposition. You want the audience to see if for themselves. But from an in-character point of view, I can see no reason why Spock should refuse to explain himself here. Is it that hard to say “Apollo is telling stories and the crew are entranced?” It seems a little insubordinate. Could they not have Spock’s line “You need to come to the rec room, and then cut to the next scene? Maybe that would be an awkward transition.   Now I get that Kirk is concerned that the crew are enthralled by Apollo. He’s worried that Apollo is up to his old tricks, wanting to be admired by lowly humans, but in the end, all he’s doing is telling a story. He’s doing it dramatically, but how is that any different than Uhura singing and rubbing foreheads with the males in the audience? It’s a performance.   He’s not actually doing anything wrong.   But the way Kirk yells “Apollo!” and then “we need to have a word.” It seems overkill for the situation. Not that Kirk shouldn’t have a word with him, but it’s a little overdramatic. But it’s very Shatner.   It’s interesting. I’m finding that I’m not entirely sure how to judge this show. By 60s standards, or by today’s standards? This is a modern show, but it’s being made with deliberate 60s aesthetic and sensibilities. The scene with MacKenna walking in on shirtless Kirk is another example of that.   I feel that as the show goes on, it will find a balance between modern writing and acting, but still maintain its place in the 60s inspired 23rd Century. I think it’s possible, that the makers of the show, on this first episode, are still finding their way themselves. And that’s perfectly understandable.   The trouble is they do such a good job of it. Everything about this, the sets, the hairstyles, the music. Honestly, if I didn't know better, I’d easily be convinced that this was made around 50 years ago.   The professionalism behind this fan-made production is seen on every level. That’s why I’m podcasting about it, basically treating it no different than any other professional TV show.   Anyway, despite what I said earlier, Kirk is proven correct. They’re barely into their conversation before Apollo declares Kirk unworthy and sweeps him away with telekinetic powers. So … not so powerless after all.   It seems Apollo is unchanged. He still craves humanity’s worship. I’ll be honest. He had me fooled along with McKenna.   He says he wants what he’s always wanted. Humanity’s love. Kirk counters that humanity never loved him. They feared him. No god should survive on fear.   The word worship means to give worth to something. To ascribe to another, that which it is worth. What it is rightly due.   On that level, in my opinion, Apollo fails to meet the standard of a god. He had demonstrated time and again that he is not worthy of what he craves.   It’s McKenna who shorts him with a phaser, to rescue Kirk. But she’s clearly torn up about it. Personally, I don’t think she’s spent enough time with Apollo to become near as emotionally caught up with him as she has. I think that’s a flaw in this episode. McKenna is being portrayed as extremely over-emotional. Again, this is how a 60s TV show might portray a female character. So... I’m not sure if the episode should be criticised or praised for this. It’s so confusing. This is actually the last we’ll see of McKenna in this episode, as she’s led away, in her grief, by Uhura.   Spock has an interesting perspective on all this. He feels on some level, Apollo cannot control his actions. That lifeforms generally find it very difficult to change their ways, to change deeply embedded behaviours. And he’s right about that. Changing your ways is not easy. Even if you’re determined. You try, you fail. Hopefully, you try again. It is often tragedies that make the difference. But the, Apollo has been through a lot of tragedy in recent time.   Kirk is determined that Apollo’s therapy will not be at the expense of the crew of the Enterprise.   Apollo is voluntarily restrained. He believed he could control the deepest ancient drives within himself by sheer force of his will. But he lost control. As Spock said. And this all makes a lot of sense. Often we can’t change the things about ourselves that we want to change just by force of will. We need to look outside of ourselves, to the support of friends, professional help, and yes, maybe even God.   Despite all of this, Kirk and Apollo now agree that Kirk can’t, and shouldn’t trust Apollo.   Kirk sees no alternative than to just leave Apollo restrained until he dies. But Apollo has another idea. That extra organ in his body, that humans don’t have. It allows him to channel the power, but it apparently serves another purpose. It’s what converts mortal worship into energy.    This whole idea of converting something as intangible as worship into energy is a pretty high-concept idea, but it’s been done before. This is how the Ori in Stargate SG-1 get their power. Apollo now knows he can’t control this organ. But he doesn’t want to let it control him.    And then McCoy quotes Matthew 5:29. The idea is that if there is something in your body, or your life, that causes you to sin, get rid of it. This is exactly the wisdom Apollo is coming to. Better to not have that organ than to fight a losing battle against it.  Sometimes, the battle is best avoided. He wants McCoy to surgically remove the organ.   McCoy is hesitant. He can remove an organ easy enough, but this is an alien. He doesn’t understand Apollo’s physiology. The risks are impossible to predict. But Apollo is willing to accept those risks.   So, they go for it. And Scotty is having success getting rid of the gunk in the ship.   It’s looking like all their problems might just be solved.   Now that Apollo likely no longer has the will to seek worship, he wants to revisit the idea of re-settling him on a planet somewhere. And being Kirk, he wants input from his most trusted advisors.   McCoy and Spock are both convinced. But Scotty still warns caution. They only have Apollo’s word that removing the organ will make a difference. And that’s true. There’s still some emotion bubbling below the surface, but Scotty has got it more under control now. He’s a little more reasonable. And he admits, he’s not sure what the alternative is.   They still have no consensus. Kirk doesn’t need consensus, of course, but with a decision as important as this, he’d like it. Scotty’s words have really made Kirk think.   If they don’t make a decision soon, Apollo will die on board the ship anyway. It seems his end is pretty close. Even if they take him to a planet now, he probably won’t have enough time to cause much trouble.   I’m pretty sure Star Trek Continues is the first fan-made show to reconstruct the Jefferies tube set. It’s pretty awesome, with the shot looking down the tube at him working. I love it.   Uhura gets zapped by her console. Apparently, she didn’t move away from the console quick enough after Scotty’s warning. I can’t help but feel Scotty should have given the warning earlier.   And if the bio-bed readings are to be believed, Uhura is dead.   We know the show won’t leave her dead, but despite that, Larry and Vic sell the drama of the moment with their performances.   Apollo sees Uhura drop the brooch.  He uses what energy he has left to bring Uhura back to life. Does that mean he lied about the organ? More likely, without the organ, he couldn’t convert any more worship to power, but he still had a little energy left in him. Energy he needed to recover from his surgery.   Turns out it’s not that simple. He has more energy now than before the surgery. McCoy can’t explain it.   They have an interesting theory. Apollo’s species can draw energy from sacrifice. They may have assumed that because worship empowered them, it was the only thing that did so. But without the organ that converts worship, his body now must pull energy from other sources.   Apollo has found another way. A better way. The energy he draws from sacrifice is less than what he once enjoyed, so no more thunderbolts, as McCoy puts it, but if he restrains himself from all that, he should be able to prolong his life indefinitely. A God sacrificing himself for humanity. That sounds familiar.   And even Scotty is convinced. It’s a nice emotional moment he he finally nods.   The episode wraps in a very TOS way, with Kirk summing up the moral and theme of the story, and then he and McCoy sharing a silly joke at Spock’s expense. I wasn’t a bit fan of those kinds of endings, but it’s very authentically TOS. But then, when you’d expect the credits to roll, the camera lingers on the planet.   One Year Later. We get a nice little epilogue scene as Apollo helps a local family, and we see his face is now younger. This scene wasn’t necessary, but it was welcome. I really enjoyed it.   Another little tidbithere, Doug Drexler appeared in this episode as Paladin. I’m honestly not sure who that character was, but … he was in there. Drexler is a visual effects artist who was instrumental in the Berman era of Trek. He also did that beautiful opening credits footage for this show.   Also, I have to saw that Bones and Spock grew on me through this episode.   Tod Haberkorn has a very different face and voice to Nimoy, but it’s the performances of both of these guys that ultimately sold me that they were these characters.   As a modern production, mimicking something of an older style, this is nothing short of fine art. The  detail, the artistry, it’s all so well done. But what would I think if I were to judge this episode as if it were the beginning of TOS season 4?   It’s not one of the great episodes of Star Trek. It probably wouldn’t be one of the classics, but it’s a better than average TOS story. It had some nice drama, some difficult decisions for the characters to wrestle with, and it gave a fitting ending to a guest character from a previous story.   All in all, I think Pilgrim of Eternity was something of a triumph, worthy of much praise, but it’s not the best of what Star Trek Continues has to offer. This show is only going to get better, according to my memory.   So let’s see what the show has in store for us in episode 2 - Lolani. I’ll see you then.   In the meantime, have a great 2 weeks, live long and prosper. Make it so.

We've come to the end of our analysis of the Dark Knight Trilogy with The Dark Knight Rises. Can this one live up to the awesomeness that the previous two movies were? Where does this movie work and where does it not? Let's dig in and talk about how this trilogy ends. ----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 94 of the podcast.   Today we’re talking about the movie The Dark Knight Rises.   The description on IMDB reads Eight years after the Joker's reign of anarchy, Batman, with the help of the enigmatic Catwoman, is forced from his exile to save Gotham City from the brutal guerrilla terrorist Bane.   The screenplay was written by Jonathan Nolan and Christpher Nolan The story was by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. It was directed by Christopher Nolan And it first released on the 16th of July 2012.   Once again, I hired this on DVD when it came out, and only saw it once. But I own the complete trilogy on Blu-ray now.   The movie starts with Commissioner Gordon praising Harvey Dent at his funeral. Doing just what Batman told him to do. As hard as that is for him.    That ties us into the end of the previous movie. Then we’re straight to the new plot.   It’s a hostage situation. Bane is introduced as a mercenary. A masked man. It’s a terrifying interrogation, the way they’re threatening these people, but not actually killing them.   He wants to know, who is Bane? This guy is looking for him.   It turns out one of them IS Bane. Now my first introduction to Bane was the game Batman Arkham Asylum. In that game, he’s this big monstrous creature powered by the venom serum. Basically DC’s answer to the Hulk.   When I heard Bane was going to be the primary villain of this movie I was surprised. How can a big mutated monster fit in with this serious realistic Batman?  I was surprised to see when he appeared, that he was just some bloke, but he’s got this weird metal mask around his mouth.   No explanation is given for this odd facial decoration when he’s introduced. But he does say that nobody cared about him until he put on the mask. And I have to say, his voice doesn’t at all match what I would expect to hear coming out of someone who looks like this.   He’s got this happy-go-lucky English accent. Sounds like it could be quite high-pitched but it’s distorted by the mask.   Without any explanation, this mask is just really distracting and odd.   Bane crashes the plane. He’s stealing blood from one of their bodies. This is all a pretty impressive sequence to look at, but it’s very disorienting. Who are all these people? What do they mean to each other?  None of it is clear.   Bane Leaves one of his own behind, so a body can be found in the wreckage. And the guy doesn’t even object. What hold does he have over them they’d so readily die for him? Spoiler alert - we’ll never find out.   Even after seeing the whole movie, looking back it still wasn’t entirely clear what this scene was all about? They abduct Doctor Pavel and fake his death. That’ll be important later. But what’s with the blood?   Back in Gotham, we learn about Harvey Dent day. A new public holiday.  The city has undergone a historic turnaround. Gotham is without organised crime. For the first time in forever. A real difference has been made. It’s nice to know that Bruce was right. Gotham has been rehabilitated. He’s proven Ra’s Al Ghul wrong.   There’s some talking about repealing the dent act, which gave police the power to act, but no real details on what they meant. And some talking about how Batman murdered Dent.   Gordon hates playing along with all of this. But what can he do? When he says he has a speech, telling the truth about Dent, but now is not the time, I think he means the real truth. Maybe one day he can tell the real truth and clear Batman’s name. But not today. The peace is too fragile. Too new.   Things are not going well for Gordon. His wife and kids left him. The mayor wants to get rid of him. He was a war hero, but this is peacetime. I feel really sorry for him. The last movie destroyed his marriage. Between faking his own death - letting his wife think he’d died, and their son nearly dying, I can see how it ended. It really sucks.   So we’re seeing a very different world than that of the first two movies. But let’s not assume it’s all gonna stay happy and nice. There’d be no movie then.   Batman might be on the run, but Bruce Wayne isn’t. He doesn’t have to be. Nobody knows Bruce is Batman. But Bruce is living as a recluse. His new beard speaks volumes. He needs a cane to walk. It’s not entirely clear why this is. But he’s not faking this. He really does have trouble walking.   The maid is stealing his mother’s pearls.   And the maid is, of course, not a maid, but a cat burglar. Selina Kyle. And here’s yet another example of Hollywood star casting  I would never have thought of, but I like Anne Hathaway in this role. She does a decent job of it. I think at this point, she was still stepping out of the shadow cast by The Princess Diaries. Although she had already played Agent 99 in the remake of Get Smart, which I found surprisingly good.   Wayne Manor has been rebuilt. Bruce can now operate back in the original bat cave. But it’s a lot more developed.    Selina likes the pearls. She won’t sell them, but what she wanted was Bruce’s fingerprints.    Alfred is worried about Bruce. He hung up the cape but he never began a new life. He’s not living. He’s just waiting. But he’s still grieving the loss of Rachel.   Alfred tells his cafe story, which is important and will be paid off wonderfully later on. When Bruce was away, travelling the world, learning how to fight criminals, Alfred hoped he’d never come back. Why? Because he wanted Bruce to find his happy ending, and live a life free of the wounds of his childhood. Alfred would go on holiday to Florence every year. He’d go to a particular cafe. Every time he’d fantasise that he’d look across and see Bruce with a wife, maybe a couple of kids. Neither would speak to each other, but they’d both know that he’d made it. That he was happy. He never wanted Bruce to come back to Gotham. There was nothing here for him but pain and tragedy. Alfred wanted something more for him than that. And he still does.   Next, we meet an idealistic young cop named Blake. He’ll be a pretty important character in this movie, but it won’t be clear why for some time. He’s played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, who is most famous for the teenage-bodied alien in the sci-fi sitcom Third Rock from the sun. But he really sells his performance as an adult cop in a serious drama.   Selina meets a guy named Stryver.  Selina got the prints for THIS guy. Stryver is gonna kill Selina, but she’s well prepared. In a lot of ways, like Batman. She puts on a good act to appear an innocent bystander to cops.   But Blake is on the case.   Thugs capture Gordon and bring him to Bane. There is a connection between Bane and Stryver.   Blake comes to see Bruce. In relation to Harvey’s murder. But starts telling him the story of Bane.  He needs Batman’s help. Does Blake know Bruce is Batman? Blake tells the story of his own tragic childhood. He’s an orphan too. Bruce Wayne Billionaire orphan was a hero to those kids.   It was never really clear to me how or when Blake discovered that Bruce is Batman, but it also seems pretty clear that at this point, he DOES know. And he believes Batman was innocent of Harvey’s crimes.   I guess Bruce’s injuries are from his time as Batman. That would seem logical. But Batman didn’t seem this banged up at the end of Dark Knight.   Bruce meets with Gordon in a ski mask as Batman. Gordon says Batman needs to return. He is still needed. Bruce is not convinced Batman exists anymore.   Bruce finds Selina at a charity party. This is a masquerade and Selina has chosen a black mask and cat ears. This is the closest to a cat costume we’ll get to see her in. It’s a realistic take that works in the context of this trilogy. Although she’ll kinda continue to wear it again later in the movie for some reason, which doesn’t seem to fit. Honestly, I’d probably have been okay if this was the only scene where we saw her wear it.   This party is also where we meet Miranda Tate, a bright young woman who has business dealings with Bruce, and is very interested in his clean energy reactor, which he’s never put into production.   Selina ended up a thief because she did what she had to. But once you start there,  they’ll never let you do what you want to. You get stuck in a life of crime. Does that excuse her actions? It certainly gives us a little more sympathy for her as a character. I suspect this is a common story in the real world. Nobody grows up thinking “I really wanna be a criminal”. She says “There’s no fresh start in today’s world.” And it’s starting to look like a fresh start might just be something she’d be interested in, if it were possible.   In the meantime, she sees herself as a robin hood figure   Selina threatens a coming storm that may bring down the rich in Gotham. And then she steals Bruce’s sports car.   Wayne Enterprises not doing well financially. Bruce put all his money into the clean energy project, but won’t turn it on for some reason. But you can bet he does have a reason. Miranda supports the project and doesn’t understand why he won’t follow through.   Lucious has some gadgets to show Bruce, even though he says he’s retired. It’s some kind of aircraft. Bruce is using a device to help him walk and even kick.   We learn a little about Bane. There’s a prison pit where prisoners are sent to suffer and die,  in another part of the world. Bane came from that prison. He was born and raised in hell on earth. He was trained by Ra’s al Ghul. But excommunicated from the league of shadows. Apparently he was too extreme for Ra’s. And that’s gotta be a bad thing.   Alfred thinks Gotham needs Bruce, not Batman. He’s not afraid Batman will fail. He’s afraid that he WANTS to fail. He’s a shadow of who he was. Physically and mentally.   So Bayne and his goons break into the stock exchange. There’s no cash here. So what’s his plan? It’s an online theft. They don’t stay long. And they leave with hostages   Bruce wears the batman suit for the first time in ages. He arrives on the bike that was once part of the tumbler.   This is more dangerous for him than ever because the police think he is a murderer. They won’t hesitate to take him down.   This proves to be a real problem - because the cops are more interested in catching Batman than they are dealing with Bane and Co. Good for Bane.   Putting aside the question of whether the bike was originally part of the bridging vehicle, it continues to do some pretty cool stuff in this movie. The way the wheels rotate and allow quick direction changes is a lot of fun to watch.   But then all reality goes out the window when we see this movie’s version of the batwing, which is basically a full-on spaceship. I mean, I like it, but it doesn’t fit this series very well. And they don’t even try to explain it. The batmobile was introduced in a way that made sense in this world, in Batman Begins. No attempt was made to do likewise with the Batwing in this movie. I found that pretty disappointing.   Selina is after a program that will clear her name. A clean slate. It erases your identity from every database on earth. It literally makes you disappear. So her desire to escape her life of crime and have a fresh start is quite genuine. But the guy claims it doesn’t exist.   Batman rescues Selina from Bane’s people.   Selina sold Bruce’s fingerprints to Daggart, who Stryver works for, for that program. She hasn’t been paid, so you can imagine how she’s feeling.   Alfred is really not keen on Bruce trying to be Batman again. He’s gonna get himself killed. He used to want a life beyond Batman, but with Rachael’s death, that’s not possible. He can’t move on. And that’s when Alfred decides to finally tell Bruce about Rachael’s letter. It’s a very powerful character scene. And this choice hurts both of them very deeply. Alfred has just sacrificed his relationship with Bruce in an attempt to keep Bruce alive. A painful representation of what love is all about. Brilliant scene. Sadly, that means we won’t see any more of Alfred until near the end of the movie.   Now we find out what Bane and Daggart were up to. They’ve effectively bankrupted Bruce and acquired Wayne Industries. Bruce’s main concern is applied sciences, but Lucious has done a good job of keeping that off the books and safe. As he should have.   But they do have his energy project.   Bruce shows the reactor to Miranda. The reason he never put the reactor into active use is because some Russians found a way to weaponise similar technology. In particular, Doctor Pavel from the plane at the beginning. The risk was too great for Bruce.   He’s putting Miranda in charge of the company, in charge of the reactor. “Keep it safe and hidden. If it becomes too dangerous, she’s to flood it.” Bruce has been officially kicked out of his own company. His father’s legacy.   Bane kills Daggett and takes over, calling himself a necessary evil. That’s kind of how the League of Shadows see themselves, right?   Bruce wants to recruit Selina to help find Bane. He offers her the fresh start. Claims it does exist. Bruce acquired it to keep it out of the wrong hands. He may be willing to let Selina use it, but he needs to trust her first. When he tells her that they’re letting him keep the house, Selina makes a very interesting point. “You don’t even go broke like the rest of us.” And that’s very interesting. When super rich people go broke, they tend to still have resources behind them. A former billionaire is not going to find himself living on the street begging for food, like a normal person might when they lose everything. It’s all relative. And I find that fascinating.   It reminds me of Alastair in the British comedy show As Time Goes By. When he said he was broke, what he really meant was he was down to his last million.   Bruce and Miranda get intimate. That seems to have come out of nowhere.   It turns out Batman couldn’t trust Selina. She’s done a deal with Bane, delivering Batman to him. Bane knows who Batman is as well. Selina overhears so she knows too   Now in some ways, Bane is a very similar character to Doomsday.  Doomsday is good for one thing. Killing Superman. So if you’re gonna put Doomsday in your movie, you’d better be willing to have him Kill Superman.   In a similar way, Bane is famous for breaking Batman’s back. That’s his purpose. It doesn’t mean you can’t do other things with the character, of course, but Bane’s inclusion is something of a promise.   I’m not as familiar with this incident from the comics as I’d like to be. I am in the process of binging the important Batman comics from the 80s and 90s, but I’m not up to Knightfall yet. Looking forward to it, though. Bane says something I find fascinating. “Peace has cost you strength. Victory has defeated you.” By winning peace in this city, Batman has not kept up his training. His physical conditioning. That has made him weak. His great victory has become his defeat.   Bane claims to BE the league of shadows. Fulfilling Ra’s Al Ghul’s destiny.   “You merely adopted the dark, '' he says. “I was born in it, moulded by it. I didn’t see the sun until I was a man.”   Bane has found applied sciences. He has all of batman’s tech And then he does it.  He brake’s Batman's back.  In a shot that looks very reminiscent of the comic.   I think Selina is already realising that she made a mistake. She’s on the run, not from the police, but from bane. When Blake says he can offer her protection, she just gives him this look, and Blake kinda shrugs, as if to say, okay, maybe we can’t protect you from someone like that.   Selina honestly tells him she’s not sure if Bruce is dead or alive.   He is alive, but barely. Bruce doesn’t fear death - he longs for it. Bane has taken Bruce to the prison where he grew up. Underground and dark. The tunnel is open. You can see the sky. But climbing is impossible. That impossible hope is what tortures people’s minds.   Bruce has to watch on a TV screen as Bane destroys Gotham.   Bane seems to be the only one to ever have escaped from this hole. He was born in there, and he escaped as a child.   And he’s found the reactor. The board are coerced into turning it on for him.   Bane’s first move is to detonate explosives he's buried in concrete all over the city. The visuals of the football field slowly collapsing looked amazing.   There are some similarities between Bane’s plan and Ra’s al Ghul’s. Isolate the island in the middle of Gotham and then use some advanced technology to destroy people.   Most of the city’s cops are in the tunnels under the city. Except for Blake.   At this point, most first-time viewers are probably surprised by how big a role Blake has in this movie, and wondering why he’s in here.   It seems Doctor Pavel is the only person in the world capable of disarming the reactor bomb. After confirming this, Bane murders Pavel in front of the entire stadium.   Now we see a little of The Joker’s theatricality come into play. This is going to be a game. One of the people in the crowd has the detonator.  It’s not clear at this point, whether this is somebody working for Bane, or if the person doesn’t actually know they’re the one. Perhaps something innocuous they’ll do will set off the bomb. This could have been explained better.   I feel like the writing in this movie isn’t up to the same level as the previous two. Ra's al Ghul had a clear goal and motive. The Joker was completely insane, but even he had a clear motive and goal - as crazy as it was. But I can’t get a reading on Bane. He says he’s giving Gotham back to the people. What exactly does that mean? Gotham is finally at peace, better than it’s been in decades. What does he think he’s liberating them from? But does he actually care? Of course not. He sees himself as carrying the torch of the League of Shadows. He wants to destroy Gotham. But why? Batman has succeeded in proving that Al Ghul’s extreme measures were not necessary. Gotham has been rehabilitated. So ….. What’s it all about?   Interesting to see a bunch of tumblers, in their original cammo colours driving through the city streets.   Bane tells the city the truth about Harvey Dent, reading from the stolen speech Gordon planned to one day deliver. He’s raging against the corruption of the Gotham police. Now in fairness, much of their current peace has been built on a lie. But the criminals locked in that prison are still criminals. Justice HAS been served. So what is to be gained by letting chaos reign and releasing all those dangerous criminals back out into the street? Maybe Bane wants to watch the city tear itself apart, but he can just set off the bomb.   It seems to me that Bane is his own brand of crazy, but a much less interesting version of crazy than we saw last time with The Joker.   The people of the city seem to be taking up Bane’s cause and rioting. I find that extraordinary.  So Blake points out some of the criminals have been denied parole due to the Dent Act. Well….that’s a potential moral issue. But it’s not a well-defined one. We just don’t have enough information to make a fully informed opinion. The justice system is supposed to punish the guilty, but also preserve certain rights and freedoms that they still have as human beings. But this was an act of legislation. It was a law. We don’t understand the subtleties and details of that law, but the police had the legal right to keep those criminals locked up, regardless of whether Harvey Dent was a nice bloke or not. Whether what the law allowed them to do was morally right is a completely different question.   And now for the people of Gotham to want to let all those dangerous criminals out to roam the streets, and string up the cops. I’m losing all sympathy for them. The thing is, I’d be quite interested in a story that genuinely looked at the moral issues of a police force doing something a little dubious to protect the city from the special class of criminal we see in Gotham. Get some real interesting shades of grey going on so you have something to discuss. Except I don’t think this movie does it at all well. It doesn’t delve in and explore any of that. It’s all brushed over so briefly that it becomes meaningless and there’s nothing to talk about.   We cut back to Bruce and we get a little more backstory about Bane. How he came to be born down there in that pit. I don’t know what country this is supposed to be, but you want to talk about corrupt justice systems mistreating the freedoms of its prisoners. This is where you look. Apparently, young Bane was attacked by other prisoners during a plague. One of the prisoners was a doctor. He tried to fix Bane’s face, but his fumbling efforts left Bane in perpetual agony, and the mask on his face holds back the pain somehow. Um……..okay.   So they’re trying to fix Bruce’s back. A broken back doesn’t necessarily mean death. My wife suffered a broken vertebra in her back from a roller-skating injury as a teenager. It’s something she’s lived with all of her life. The muscles learn to adapt. But Bruce is in a pretty bad way. He’s got vertebrae sticking out. It’s believable that Bruce could get back into physical shape again someday, but it’s gonna be a very long and slow recovery.   Bruce hallucinates that Ra’s Al Ghul is there with him. He surmises that Ra’s was the mercenary whose wife was thrown into the pit. Ra’s is Bane’s father. This is reasonable speculation, but Ra’s isn’t really there alive to confirm it. This is all in Bruce’s head. So maybe Bruce is right, and maybe Bruce is wrong. But we’re expected to believe that it’s true - at least that Ra’s al Ghul was the mercenary, and the child’s mother was his lover. But the only reason Batman, or the audience, knows this, is because Bruce learned it in a dream.   At this point I’m left wondering how long exactly is this siege taking? For Bruce to recover and build himself up to the physical strength to climb out of the pit, realistically, I’d think he’d need a year. He was in much worse shape than my wife, and she lost the better part of a school year to her injury. But it feels like the stuff in Gotham is just taking place over a few hours, or maybe a few days.   Blake actually gives us a number. It’s been 3 months. 3 months those cops have been trapped underground. So much about this movie just isn’t ringing true. Wouldn’t the federal government have done something about this after all that time? An entire city under siege?   Lucious gives us some more bad news. The fuel cell in the reactor is deteriorating over time. In 23 days it’ll go off, regardless of whether the trigger man pushes the button. If he could get his hands on the core he could put it back in the reactor and stabilise it.   After a few failed escape attempts, the prison doctor gives Bruce some psychological advice. Not being afraid of death doesn’t make you strong. It makes you weak. Fear of death is necessary. It’s what makes you go that extra mile and do what should be impossible. Because if you don’t you die. So he advises Bruce to do the climb the way the child did. Without the rope. I don’t know if this is good advice or not, but in a way it kind of makes sense. Bruce is not fully committing. Because somewhere deep down, he knows if he misses, the rope will save him. Without that safety net, he simply HAS to make the jump. So his body and mind will be more willing to do what is needed. It’s all mental. Makes some form of sense. But if he fails - he can’t try again. It’s a gamble I wouldn’t make. But Bruce would.   It’s a genuinely triumphant moment when he climbs out to freedom.   We get another cameo from Doctor Crane, also known as the scarecrow. He’s trying people in Bane’s dodgy court.   When Gordon goes to recruit one of his cops to help, we learn a little more about the situation. The government has apparently done a deal with Bane. The details of which, we don’t know. Seems unlikely.   This is a weird setting. It’s almost post-apocalyptic. The cop says Gordon doesn’t know whether the bomb will go off tomorrow, except … he does. Why doesn’t he tell him about the time decay?   So Wayne has arrived and recruited Selina to help him. He still sees something good in her. Is that naive? Maybe. But part of being a literary hero is looking for the good in people. Gordon has been captured by the goons and is being forced out on the ice, even though he would prefer to be shot than play along with the charade.   Bruce lights his symbol in flames on the side of a building, because he knows the power of a symbol to give people hope is an important weapon in this fight. Batman can’t save the city alone. That will take good people to stand up.   Blake and Selina are gonna lead people out of the city to safety while Batman leads an army against Bane.   Selina is still ultimately selfish, but she wants Bruce to come with her. There’s an inkling of something between them, at least from her side. She makes the point that he doesn’t owe these people anything more. He’s given them everything. And she may be right. Maybe they don’t even deserve him anymore. But true heroism gives what is undeserved. And as he ominously points out, he hasn’t given them everything. Not yet.   It really does look like a war. The cops all lined up in their uniforms, facing off against the crowd of Bane’s thugs.   A big battle like this is a pretty epic way to finish off the trilogy, I’ll grant them that.   So big surprise, Miranda is the child of Ra’s al Ghul, not Bane. She’s working with him and she has the trigger. Bane was her protector. I’m not sure this really works.  Did she really know about the reactor before Bruce told her? Because Bane seemed to. I dunno.   Also, this calls into question a lot of the backstory we thought we knew about Bane. So…has he actually been in that pit since childhood? Did he grow up there? Was the whole story about the doctor messing up his facial surgery so he needed the mask to keep the pain at bay true or not? We’re just left feeling a little bewildered.   Fortunately, Gordon has managed to block the detonator, so it doesn’t explode at once. Selina has finally decided to have a change of heart and help Bruce.   Miranda has flooded the reactor so there’s no way to prevent the bomb from exploding anymore.   The only thing that can be done now is to fly it away from the city. A suicide mission. Batman is quick to sign up for that with his batwing. Now he really will have given everything.   Gordon wants to know Batman’s identity, not because he ever cared, but because people should know who gave his life for them. Bruce subtly tells him who he is by relating an experience from his childhood.   When this movie was soon to come out, I remember saying to a workmate of mine that I suspected Batman would die in the third movie, sacrificing himself for others. My reasoning was that it had been confirmed the series would be a trilogy. This would be the end. And Batman dying just seemed a fitting end that would fit the tone of the series.   So I felt kind of gratified when I saw exactly that play out. Of course, it’s not over yet.   It’s fitting that Bruce’s funeral is attended by Gordon, Lucious, Blake, and Alfred. The people who knew who he was. I’m curious what kind of cover story they came up with for Bruce’s death. I don’t think Gordon revealed Batman’s identity publicly, because when asked about who saved the city, he simply says “The batman.” But with all the death and destruction, it shouldn’t be too hard for Gordon and Blake to explain it.   Poor Alfred. He’s so heartbroken. He blames himself. He feels he let down Thomas and Martha Wayne.   Blake has thrown in his badge. I think the inability to adapt of the officers that wouldn’t let him escape with the kids has hardened him to the rigid structure of the force.   I got pretty emotional at the reading of Bruce’s will. He’s left everything to Alfred, the man who raised him, who was as much a father to him as Thomas was. And Wayne manor is to be used to care for the city’s orphans.   So we learn that Blake’s real name is Robin. Bruce has left him information to find the batcave, in case he wants to continue Batman’s work.   So that’s why Blake’s story was so important to this movie. He is…this universe’s equivalent of Robin. In the comics, Robin was just a code name given to a number of people. Dick Grayson, Json Todd, Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown, and Damien Wayne. In this version, Robin was the guy’s real name. It’s little more than a nod to the concept, but it kinda fits this interpretation.   And that brings us to that last scene. We learn with Lucious that the Batwing’s autopilot was fixed after all. So Bruce Might have survived.   Then we see Alfred taking a trip to that cafe. The one where he used to fantasise about seeing Bruce happy and okay. He looks up, and there he is. Bruce is sitting at a table with Selina. They nod to each other and Alfred leaves. All is okay now. It seems that the clean slate program has given both Bruce and Selina a fresh start.   This is a powerful scene. It pays off the earlier scene so beautifully. It shows that Bruce and  Selina have made a happy new life together, but most importantly, it provides reconciliation between Bruce and Alfred. Forgiveness. A promise that they are still family.   It’s a wonderful way to end the movie.   As for Bruce and Selina, I love that they end up together. There is always an aspect of attraction and tension between Batman and Catwoman. But this movie didn’t do enough to establish that. They kiss shortly before he dies, for no real reason. And that’s it. I think It would have worked better if they’d established a little more between them earlier in the movie, maybe instead of with Miranda. The sex with Miranda did nothing other than to make her betrayal sting a little worse, but honestly, I don’t that was needed. Miranda’s betrayal would have been just as powerful whether they’d had sex together or not.   So … how can I sum up this movie? I derive some enjoyment from watching it, and I’ll probably watch it again some day. But in terms of quality, it’s not even in the same league as Batman Begins or The Dark Knight. This one has a reputation for not being as good, and I do think they dropped the ball. I can’t help but wonder if it was rushed. It seemed like they needed a little more time to revise the script. I was going to say that a longer runtime might have helped it as well, but I was surprised to look up and learn that this movie was actually the longest in the trilogy.   I found myself really having to concentrate to fully get my head around this one. I had a similar experience with The Dark Knight, but that was because there was so much going on. But all those pieces fit together beautifully like a jigsaw puzzle. It was meticulously put together. There was a lot less going on with this one, but the pieces didn’t seem to fit together quite as well, and some of the pieces were missing.   So what do I like about it? It’s got some really cool visuals. The effects and the camera work are beautiful to look at. I liked Blake’s character. I liked Batman’s sacrifice and his new secret life. That whole last scene is beautiful. I liked Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Selina Kyle, though as I said I felt they could have done more with her and Batman. I liked that they tried to tie this in a lot to Batman Begins, to round off the trilogy and make it feel whole and complete. But I don’t think they really succeeded in doing that effectively. And I like the whole Bane breaking Batman’s back thing, and I liked Bruce’s journey of getting himself back on his feet and out of that prison - although the timing doesn’t really work.   So that’s a decent list of positives.   This was as good as the average superhero movie, but a bit of a disappointment when compared to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.   Ultimately, though, this trilogy has held up really well for me. The awesomeness of the first two more than makes up for the shortcomings of the third. This trilogy changed the way Superhero movies were made. At least for a time. It showed that Superheroes really could be taken seriously as dramatic characters. And it laid the foundations for the Snyder universe that I love and adore so much.   I’ve enjoyed covering these movies. I hope you’ve enjoyed my thoughts on them. Next time, we start a whole new adventure. We’re going to be covering all ten episodes of Star Trek Continues. It’s gonna be a lot of fun, so I hope you’ll join me for that.   Until then, have a great two weeks Live long and prosper. Make it so.

The Dark Knight has a reputation for being one of the great superhero movies, and it is completely deserved. Revisiting this movie for the first time after my initial viewing I was blown away by the writing. This is a masterpiece of thematic story-telling. With fantastic performances, especially from Heath Ledger as The Joker. So let's see what Batman is up to this time as we discuss The Dark Knight. ----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 93 of the podcast.   Today, we’re talking about the movie  The Dark Knight   The description on IMDB reads When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.   The screenplay was written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan (who are brothers) With story by Christopher Nolan and David S Goyer It was directed by Christopher Nolan And it was first released on the 14th of July 2008   In 2008 I was raising a very young family. I had just bought my first house or was shortly about to. I wasn’t made of money. Consequently, instead of buying this movie on DVD as I did with Batman Begins, I hired it from the local video rental place because that was cheaper. And forget the cinema. I didn’t go to the cinema for years when my kids were little. So I’ve only ever seen this movie once.   I remember continuing to enjoy the serious tone, but it didn’t have that origin backstory element that I loved so much in the first movie. So I was really interested to see how I’d react to a rewatch after all these years.   The movie has a very silent beginning. So much so I had to keep checking that the sound was working on my computer.   We know from the ending scene of Batman Begins that this movie would introduce The Joker as its villain. The Joker is well known as the most famous, most iconic Batman villain. And this in large part thanks to the Adam West TV show, I believe.   I think it was smart to use lesser-known villains in the first movie, like Falcone, Scarecrow, Ra's Al Ghul and Even Victor Zzazz. It expanded the world for those not familiar with the comics and gave Batman room to really shine as he came into his own.   But this was the time to introduce his famous arch-nemesis.   When we first see a criminal wearing a clown mask our natural inclination is to think, this has got to be the joker, or someone who works for him, right? Turns out these guys are working for him, but it’s not a close association. He planned this heist, and he wants a cut.   He calls himself The Joker because he wears makeup to scare people, like war paint. We’ll come back to this. It’s a shock when one robber is killed by another as soon as he’s finished his work on the security system. And it would seem to make sense at first. One less person to split the money with, and these are hardly moral people. Unless something goes wrong and you need that guy again, or if you get a bad reputation for killing your team members and nobody wants to join your crew for future endeavours.   Turns out, this is a mob bank. One of the workers has a shotgun. I have to admit, the idea of the mob owning a bank is a concept I’m struggling to get my head around.   Looks like none of these crooks really know the full plan. Half of them are instructed to kill the other half.   The mob guy makes a good point. If you work for someone like the joker, who orders his own people dead, he’ll only do the same to you.   Except the guy he’s talking to ends up being the joker. In the end, he doesn’t have to share the money with anyone. But who’s gonna want to work with him? So taking a more active role than it appeared. He definitely has a flair for the dramatic in the way he kills people.   Using the school bus as a getaway vehicle to blend in with all the other school buses is clever, but it would require expert timing, and wouldn’t the back of his bus be banged up from crashing through the wall?   I was surprised to see someone wearing the scarecrow mask from the last movie.   It’s not surprising, however, that there would be a copycat batman or two. But this guy doesn’t compare to the real thing.   And It seems it’s actually Doctor Crane himself. Has he escaped from jail? And why would he now be playing vigilante? That’s a bit weird. There’s a story-telling reason to do this. The idea is you show the villain who was such a threat last time as being ineffectual compared to the new villain, thus emphasising how powerful and threatening the new villain is. Except, Doctor Crane was never much of a threat to Batman. Ra’s al Ghul was the main threat. The big difference, of course, between Batman and these fakes, is competence. He’s got the skills, the experience, and the equipment. They don’t.   Bruce has obviously affected some upgrades to the tumbler. It has some auto-drive features, which are not so unbelievable in 2022, but were still science fiction 2008.   Batman doesn’t always come when Gordon turns on the signal, because he’s busy. But Gordon likes to do it anyway, to remind people that Batman is out there.   That one scene when Alfred brings breakfast into an empty bedroom speaks volumes without a line of dialogue. Of course, the next scene has the dialogue which is almost redundant. Bruce has set himself up with a temporary batcave under a Wayne Enterprises facility while the mansion is being rebuilt. It’s a massive empty area with white ceiling. It looks somewhat unreal. Alfred warns Bruce that he needs to know his limits. Bruce says Batman doesn’t have any, and Alfred points out that Bruce does. What’s going to happen on the day when he realises them.   And that’s a clear ominous warning about a coming theme in this movie. And while Bruce likes to think that Batman has no limits, he clearly does, because even as a symbol, he’s portrayed by a human being. Batman is built on the flaws of that human.   We meet the exciting new DA. Harvey Dent. And for those who haven’t picked up on it, we see him making decisions by flipping a coin. Rachel is not only working for Dent, she is apparently dating him. She gave Bruce a little sliver of hope that maybe they could be together someday when Gotham no longer needs Batman, but at the same time, it doesn’t seem that she’s willing to wait for him. I’m not saying that she should, but by dating someone else it makes her offer kinda hollow.  So now we have to talk about Katie Holmes. Because Rachel has mysteriously changed her face like a timelord.   Katie Holmes didn’t return for this movie. And we don’t know exactly why. We probably never will. We know that Christopher Nolan wanted her to return and was reportedly a bit upset that she didn’t. She was quite busy at the time and has said publicly that it was a decision that was right for her at that moment but would love to work with Nolan again someday.   I was disappointed when I learned that the character had been recast. I quite liked Katie Holmes in Batman Begins. The role went to Maggie Gyllenhaal. And I have to say, having just re-watched this movie, she did a fantastic job. It can’t be easy to come in and portray a character previously played by someone else, especially if you’re supposed to be in the same continuity as the previous. But Maggie made me believe. And while I really liked Holmes in Batman Begins, I think I can say that Maggie Gyllenhaal gave a better performance in The Dark Night. She plays Rachel as a little older, a little wiser. And I really enjoyed what she did.   The new head of Falcone’s crime organisation, Maroni, who’s played by Eric Roberts, an actor I quite like, has apparently got a fall guy to admit to being in charge, much to the amusement of everyone in the audience. I’m sure that’s not what they’re called in a court case, but you know what I’m talking about.   This guy has smuggled a gun right into the courtroom, even up to the witness stand, which is a little hard to swallow, but at least this movie gives an explanation. It’s made of carbon fibre, which I’m guessing doesn’t set off metal detectors? Last movie, both Bruce and one of Falcone’s men got guns into the courtroom and that was never explained.   Dent comes across as very cocky, but also very capable. He disarms the witness without a single hint of anxiety.   Gordon and Batman are trying to cripple the mob by depriving them of their money. They plan to raid the mob banks before the Joker and rob them. The Joker is a side-problem at present.    Bruce is falling asleep in board meetings because he’s out all night being Batman, but that doesn’t mean he’s neglecting the company. He’s keeping a tight eye on things, more so than appears. I like that.  This is his father’s legacy, after all.   The rivalry between Bruce and Harvey over Rachel is kind of embarrassing to observe. I guess I can’t blame him. Bruce and Rachel are not together, but not by Bruce’s choice. Often in Superhero stories, you’ll have the hero tell his love interest that they can’t be together but then get all moody and belligerent when the woman pursues something with someone else. I believe Smallville did this once or twice. But you can’t have it both ways. Anyway, nothing quite so angsty is going on here. Bruce would have Rachel in a second if she’d have him, and Harvey is in the way of that. This is a point we’ll connect back to later when we talk about character goals.   As far as we know, Harvey has no beef with Bruce, but when another guy puffs out his chest at you in a passive-aggressive kinda way, you’re gonna puff back. That’s just how it works, right. So there’s this mutual ribbing that’s going on during the conversation. I mean, it was quite rude of Bruce to intrude on their date the way he does. But he doesn’t really care.   They begin debating the merits of Batman. Ironically, Harvey is in defence, and Bruce against. I like how Bruce’s date isn’t just portrayed as a bimbo. She has considered opinions and she’s the one who brings up the topic.   Rachel points out the example of Cesar, who was appointed by the people to defend them but then never gave up his power. Could the same end up being true of Batman? Harvey’s answer is important. This is his thematic sentence. “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”   Let’s see how this particular theory plays out with our main characters throughout the story.   But Harvey thinks Batman doesn’t want to do this forever. He’s looking for someone to take up his mantle. Maybe even somebody like him.   And he’d be shocked to learn just how right he is about this. Bruce is sold. He wants to throw his financial support behind Dent. But he has his own ulterior motives.  What if Harvey Dent is the hero that can solve Gotham’s problems in a more ‘by the book’ kind of way? What if he could take over the mantle from Batman? That would then leave Bruce free to pursue a relationship with Rachel - one she claims she’d be interested in once Batman is a thing of the past.   Ultimately, Batman is thinking more about his own personal wants and needs here than about what’s best for the city. It’s hard to blame him. He’s an imperfect person who does have wants of his own. But we’ll have to see what he ultimately puts priority on when the time comes. That will determine what kind of man he is.   So surprise, Lau, the guy that Wayne Enterprises was thinking of doing business with, the guy that Bruce decided not to work with, is involved with the Gotham Mob. The Joker has stolen a few million dollars from them. But Maroni isn’t convinced that the Joker is the real problem. The cops are the bigger issue. They’re trying to seize the rest of their cash. Lau hides the money for them so when Gordon gets in there, there’s nothing to find.   And that’s when the Joker barges into their little meeting. This scene is the first introduction we really get to Heath Ledger’s Joker. His first act is to kill one of the mob guys who tries to throw him out, using a pencil. Now, this whole pencil in the eye stunt really disturbed me the first time I saw it, and it really stuck in my memory. I remember cringing in revulsion. That wasn’t something I needed to see. This time around, it didn’t affect me as much, possibly because I knew it was coming. That first time, when it happened, I really thought through the implications. Really disturbing.   It’s clear to the Joker that the mob are afraid of Batman. Despite what they say, they’re not having their meetings in broad daylight because of Harvey Dent.   The Joker makes an offer. I’ll kill the Batman, but not for free. That’s why he’s here.   But can they take him seriously? He’s shown he’s clever. He’s shown he can pull off a heist. He’s demonstrated his competence and his boldness by stealing some of their money.   But does that mean he’s capable of killing Batman? That’s quite a different task than stealing money from a mob bank. The outspoken gangster, Gambol, isn’t impressed and says he’s putting a price on the Joker’s head, but I think their new leader is seriously thinking about it all.   So let’s talk about this version of The Joker. I see Heath Ledger as the definitive on-screen version of The Joker. I know a lot of people will point to Mark Hamill, but I’m just not really into a lot of animated stuff. So to me, Ledger was the ultimate portrayal of what I traditionally thought of as The Joker. His personality is creepy. He comes across as somewhat unhinged, but at the same time capable, and a worthy adversary for Batman. The make-up is dishevelled and badly done, and he has big scars on his cheeks, extending into a sickening smile, covered crudely with lipstick. It gives a wonderfully creepy vibe that works wonderfully for me. If the makeup was applied better, it would lose all its power. Incidentally, that’s why I didn’t like Joaquim Phoenix's look for the Joker in the trailers, although when I watched the movie and understood the character’s backstory, I realised that it worked for that version of the character.   But some people took issue with the whole make-up idea. I know a friend of mine has talked at length about how he didn’t want a joker wearing makeup. He wanted a joke with chemical-bleached skin.   Now because I don’t have much of a comics history in my youth, I was simply unaware of this aspect of the character. I’m bingeing on DC comics now, but that didn’t help me in the past. You see, I always thought The Joker wore makeup. My main previous exposures to the character were Ceasar Romero, who wore makeup right over his moustache, and Jack Nicholson.   As I explained last time, I completely misinterpreted what was going on in the 1989 Batman movie. I thought that Nicholson’s Joker wore makeup to cover his disfigurement from landing in the chemicals. It was only very recently that I learned that the natural skin tone was in fact the makeup, and the clown face was his real skin. And I’m sorry, but I just find that kind of silly. Especially the hair. I can buy the idea of bleached skin from chemicals, but not if it just looks like white makeup. And green hair from landing in chemicals. No. That doesn’t work for me at all.   So to me, The Joker has always been, and probably always will be, a creepy guy who wears clown makeup. I’m sorry, but I didn’t know any different before, and now that idea is solidified in me.   Anyway, it goes without saying that Heath Ledger’s performance in this movie is outstanding. He won an oscar for it. It’s just such a tragedy that he died before even receiving it.   So Dent and Gordon meet Batman on the rooftop. There’s a lot of blame going around for what happened, but what really matters is they need to get Lau back. He’s fled to Hong Kong. Harvey can get him to talk if Batman can get him back somehow.   Is it just me or are all the actors in this movie really young?   When Bruce goes to Lucious for help. The scene always plays like a Bond film, where 007 gets his latest gadgets from Q. But somehow, that works.   The Joker comes to see Gambol, but his method of arrival is suitably theatrical. He arrives in a body bag, pretending to have been killed. And that’s when we hear his question for the first time. “Do you want to know how I got these scars?” It’s not the last time he’ll ask somebody that question, and each time, he’ll give a completely different story, each as dark and twisted as the last. Of course, at this point in the movie, we don’t realise that, so we take the story about his wife-beating mother at face value. Ah, so that’s why The Joker is so messed up. But that’s too easy. Too trite. Does a tragic childhood justify the person The Joker is? It certainly doesn’t excuse it. Does it explain it? Plenty of people have had horrible childhoods like the story he tells, but they don’t grow up to be psychotic serial killers. Ultimately, I think the reason the writers had him give all these conflicting stories is that they’re showing that no one incident really truly explains or justifies what he is. He’s just insane.   Normally, I don’t like it when explanations are not fully given, when stuff like this is left hanging as a mystery that’s never resolved. Often, it’s done badly so it leaves me feeling unsatisfied. But here, it works wonderfully. So I’m with it.   The Joker is slowly taking over the criminal underworld in Gotham. But he’s doing it in such a Joker way. He has Gambol and some other goons fight it out, to the death, for the privilege of joining his team.   This guy really is sick.   Fox has a clever way of getting into the interior of Lau’s building and planting another jamming device in there. I quite like seeing these two working in the field together.   This part of the movie really does feel like a spy thriller. Batman usually confines himself to Gotham. I think this is the first time I’ve seen him operating in another country on screen.   The method of extracting Bruce and Lau from the building into the plane looks awesome, but man it would be terrifying.   It seems strange to me that Rachel - a lawyer for the DA’s office, is interrogating Lau, not a police officer. Is that normal in America? Because here, it’s the police who interview people. Then, when they think they have sufficient evidence, they charge the suspect. Then they appear in court. Although, interestingly, we don’t have District Attorneys, like in America. As far as I understand, it’s actually the police themselves that prosecute criminal cases. You hear the term police prosecutor.   Gordon makes mass arrests. Rachael and Dent have worked out some legal options where if you get a conviction on one, you can get a conviction on a bunch of their accomplices. I don’t fully understand, but it’s looking pretty nice for the good guys at the moment.   Until the Judge finds a playing card, a joker, amongst her papers. The Joker makes a direct challenge to Batman by dumping the dead body, in Joker makeup, of one of the copycat batmen into the Mayor’s window.   The Joker wants Batman to step up and take off the mask. Every night he doesn't, people will die.   Despite the jokes and ribbing, Bruce is genuine when he says he believes in Harvey Dent. Yeah, he’s got his ulterior motives, but he genuinely believes Harvey is what the city needs, maybe even more than it news Batman. Gotham needs a hero with a face. Bruce opens up to Rachel. He believes that day is coming very soon when Batman won’t be needed. And when that day comes, he’s asking her to be there for him.   The people The Joker plans to kill tonight are quite important. The judge and Commissioner Loeb are among them. Harvey Dent may be another. The Joker crashes Bruce’s fundraiser for Dent.   Rachel stands up to him and that’s when he tells his second scar story. This one is about a wife who was disfigured. He disfigured himself to be like her, and she left him.   When Batman shows up, The Joker throws Rachel out the window. Batman has to jump out, catch her, and reach the ground safely. His cape barely opens as he’s seconds from crashing into a car uncountable stories below. This is even more unbelievable than the fall out the window in Batman Begins. It’s laughable to expect us to believe that Batman and Rachel are still alive. That’s a real problem for me.   Alfred seems to have a greater understanding of The Joker. This is not a man with a rational goal. He’s not after the things that most criminals are after. Some men just want to watch the world burn.   So how do you understand a man like that? How do you defeat him? Batman has been called the world’s greatest detective. We get to see him doing a little detective work. Specifically, some forensic work, analysing gunshots into brick.   I really like how the movie acknowledges that somebody in Wayne Enterprises is going to notice their own tech from applied sciences being used out there by Batman. That’s only logical. But Lucious is quite capable of dealing with that.   What’s harder for me to swallow is that Bruce gets a fingerprint of the shooter off the hundreds of shards that were once a bullet.   The Joker’s next target is the mayor, who is giving a speech at Loeb’s funeral. It’s interesting to see the Joker out of makeup as he pretends to be one of the cops giving a rifle salute.   Gordon has been shot, but we know he can’t die because he hasn’t become commissioner yet. Still, they play it for real. And they portray the emotion of it very well.   Rachel is the next target. Harvey needs someone he can trust, and Rachel suggests Bruce Wayne.   So, you know the trope, where the vigilante holds the crook out a window, threatening to drop them. We know they won’t. The crook knows they won’t. In this case, Batman has specifically chosen a height that won’t kill Maroni, so that he can make good on his threat when Maroni calls his bluff.   Maroni makes a good point. Batman has rules. The joker has no rules. Nobody is gonna cross The Joker for Batman. The only way to find him is to take off his mask and let the Joker come to him. Or he could just let more people die while he makes up his mind. Harsh truth.   Dent is trying a different tactic. Putting a gun to the mobster’s head. But Maroni was right. This guy won’t talk. Dent offers a toss of the coin. But is he really gonna kill the guy? I know he’s worried about Rachel being the next target, but is the DA really ready to take a life in cold blood? Turns out, this guy is a paranoid schizophrenic. There’s not a lot Dent is gonna learn from him. Batman has some words for Harvey. He is a legitimate voice standing against the crime in Gotham. Doing it by the book. That’s the first ray of light this city has seen in decades. What would happen if people saw their white knight holding a gun to a man’s head? Bruce is convinced that the people need someone better than a vigilante in a bat mask. They need somebody working on the correct side of the law with his face uncovered. That’s something Batman can never be.   I love how all of this is building toward the conclusion of this movie. It’s like a tapestry where all the threads are coming together to make something greater. There really is some great writing in this one. It’s all very thematic.   Bruce is ready to pass on the torch. Right now. He’s going to unmask himself so nobody else dies on his behalf.   Dent considers giving up. Even Rachel isn’t convinced that this will keep The Joker from killing people. But it may flush him out and allow somebody to stop him. I understand Bruce’s perspective. What choice does he have? He can’t just keep watching while people die. Is protecting his secret identity really more important than all those lives? I think he’s making the only call he can under the circumstances.   Rachel admits she meant what she said to him at the end of Batman Begins. If he ends Batman, she’ll be with him. But she believes that if Bruce turns himself in, they won’t let them be together. “They” could refer to a lot of people. The Joker, any criminal with a grudge against Batman. The police.   Bruce is destroying any evidence that could lead back to Lucious or Rachel. Today, Bruce has found out what Batman can’t do, but as predicted, Alfred doesn’t want to say “I told you so.”   At a press conference, Dent debates whether Batman should be turned in with the crowd. They all want his head, so he gives in. As Bruce begins to step forward, Dent falls on his sword. “I am the Batman,” he says.   Bruce hesitates. He doesn’t turn himself in. What should he do?   Rachel isn’t impressed. Dent reveals how he makes his own luck - both sides of his coin are heads.   The Joker makes his move to capture Dent from the prison transport. But Batman makes his move as well, essentially proving that Dent is not Batman by appearing in the tumbler.   Action scenes with The Tumbler are always fun. But sadly, it’s been damaged beyond immediate repair. So…..Bruce ejects in a motorbike.   This is a problem. I can’t believe that the bridging vehicle was designed to come apart and partially transform into a motorbike. Clearly, Bruce and Lucious have made a lot of alterations. But I just can’t buy that. I mean, the bike with the massive wheels looks cool and all, but this breaks the believability a bit too much for me. This is no ordinary bike, though. It can do some really cool things. Despite all he has done, Bruce still holds to his rule. He doesn’t kill The Joker.   Just when all hope looks gone, who should show up but Jim Gordon. Alive and well. Now they have The Joker in custody. Gordon says he couldn’t risk his family’s safety, which is why he went through this ruse. But he still put them through the heartbreak of thinking he was dead. And that’s pretty bad. And they haven’t even found out the truth yet. Gordon is on his way home to tell his wife he’s alive now. She gives him the slap that I think he deserves. But in all the commission, one thing that I missed in my first watching all those years ago. The mayor names Gordon Commissioner. So he’s finally reached the position he’s known for.   They’ve found no Id on him. No idea what The Joker’s true identity is. His name.   How do you charge someone without knowing their name? It’s not like they can just call him “The Joker.”   But there’s some bad news. Dent didn’t make it home. So who has him? Gordon lets Batman do the interrogation. This is where we see the beginning of the nemesis relationship. The Joker doesn’t want Batman dead. What would he do without Batman? Go back to knocking off mob bosses? The Joker needs a worthy adversary. Batman completes him.   The Joker tells Batman he’s going to have to break his one rule tonight - his rule against killing. And he’s already been considering it. But it seems the Joker knows who Batman is, or at least, he knows there is a connection between Batman and Rachel. Batman is going to have to choose between Dent and Rachel. One life or another. The Joker tells Batman where each of them are. Batman’s decision is made without even thinking. He’s going after Rachel. The police will go for Dent.   It’s a sick setup. They’re both wired to bombs, but there’s a speakerphone between them, so they can talk to each other. Hear each other’s screams.   The Joker’s method of escaping is clever, but disturbing.   Rachel doesn’t want to live with Harvey, so he finally gives him the answer he’s been waiting for. The question is obvious. Her answer - yes.   So…seems she’s not willing to wait for Bruce after all. She’d already decided that, as we’ll learn from her letter. She’s convinced a day will never come when Bruce doesn’t need Batman.   And now comes the real tragedy of this whole thing. Batman bursts into the location where he was told Rachel would be. But it’s Harvey. The Joker gave him the wrong addresses. He switched them. So that by thinking he saved the one he chose, he’d actually be killing them.   Harvey is not happy that Batman came for him instead of Rachel - which of course he didn’t mean to do.   And Rachel has to calmly accept it. It’s that moment when you realise you’re about to die and there’s nothing you can do to stop it, so there’s no use struggling. But at least the one you love is safe.   And then it happens. The buildings explode. Harvey is saved, but Rachel is not.   Rachel is dead. And Batman unknowingly killed her. This is a heart-breaking tragic moment. It was a gutsy move. It was not normal, especially at the time, for a superhero to actually kill off the love interest like this. That was dark.   Of course, I’m not against tragedy or darkness in stories. But ouch. This hurts. But sometimes stories are supposed to hurt. That’s what makes them powerful.   Before she died, Rachel gave Alred a letter for Bruce, telling him she’d decided not to wait for him. She was gonna marry Harvey Dent. Alfred ultimately decides to destroy this letter rather than give it to Bruce. I think he reasons that the rejection on top of the death is just another level of grief he doesn’t need. He’ll at least let Bruce keep the hope that Rachel was going to be with him. It’s hard to say which would be more painful, knowing that you could have been with her if only she’d survived, or knowing that no matter what, you’d never have been able to be with her.   Harvey’s face is half-burned in the explosion. We know what that means. When I first saw this movie, I was embarrassingly unfamiliar with Harvey Dent, and who he was destined to become. I think the coin gave me some hints but I remember being surprised when I realised where this was going.   So…..Two Face is born. The makeup effects are very well done. But….it looks really gross. Not something I actually want to look at. Harvey is not accepting skin grafts. I’m no doctor, but I don’t think he’s going to be able to just walk around with a big hold in his cheek, with his eyeball all exposed like that, without getting some serious infection.   Maroni claims he can tell Gordon where the Joker will be tonight.   The Joker proves he’s a different kind of criminal when he burns all the money. He’s an agent of chaos. Then he calls the talkback show that’s about to reveal Batman’s identity and threatens more chaos unless someone called “Coleman Reese” isn’t dead within the hour. It wasn’t entirely clear to me at the time, but Coleman Reese is the guy who has figured out Batman’s identity.   Rese is not dead, so true to his word, The Joker sets off a bomb destroying the entire hospital.   They managed to clear it, fortunately.   Bruce has developed a system where he can use every mobile phone in the city to listen in and pinpoint people of interest. As Lucious points out, it’s a clear violation of privacy and potentially gives too much power to one person, even though the only person Bruce trusts to use it, over even himself, is Lucious.   It’s an interesting dilemma. It may help Bruce find The Joker, and Lucious is willing to help him this one time, after which, he’ll resign.   Batman is a vigilante. He operates outside the law. It’s interesting that this is the line that Lucious feels so strongly about.   What do you think? Has Bruce crossed a line here? And if it helps him stop The Joker, is it worth it?   Havey is after the people that took Rachel. Moles within the police department. The Joker has threatened more chaos and death in the city, and half the population are evacuating Gotham via ferry.   The joker is running a sick social experiment. Two boats. One full of criminals. Another full of evacuating civilians. Each rigged with a bomb. Each with a detonator to destroy the other boat. At midnight he blows both boats up, unless someone on one of the boats pushes their button - destroying the other. The Joker will let that boat live. So by sacrificing (murdering) the people on the other boat, they’ll save themselves. The civilian boat is taking a vote. The guards on the criminal boat are desperately trying to stop the prisoners from rioting and pushing the button.  This kind of sick game is exactly the kind of thing that The Joker delights in.    Meanwhile, Harvey has taken Gordon’s family. It’s all happening.   There’s lots of fantastic drama as the crews of the boat try to make their decisions. It’s really interesting how it all develops.   Thanks to his invention, Batman has found The Joker. And so begins their epic showdown. In the end, neither crew destroys the other. Likewise, Batman and the Joker won’t kill each other, Batman because of his morals, and the Joker because fighting Batman is too much fun.   The joker is fighting for the soul of Gotham. That’s not gonna be won with a fistfight. Much  like Lex in Batman V Superman, he’s trying to make a philosophical point about morality. But the people in those barges have just proven that the city is full of people willing to do good.   But for how long? The Joker has taken the white knight - Harvey Dent, and transformed him into something ugly. I’m not talking about his face. He’s turned Dent into a killer. The beacon of hope that Bruce so believed in. When people see that, their idealism, their hope in good, will evaporate.   THAT is the joker’s victory.   But the Gotham police arrive and arrest him. He’ll spend the rest of his life in a cell, and that’s the last we see of him in this movie. But there’s still a good 20 minutes left of the film. How can you have a climax without your primary villain? Isn’t that The Joker? Well, he may in fact be the primary villain, but putting aside that word, he’s not the primary antagonist. Harvey Dent is the primary antagonist. The antagonist is the one who stands opposed to the protagonist’s goal in the story. Our protagonist is Bruce Wayne. And what does he want? Ultimately his goal in this movie is to stop being Batman, so he can be with Rachel. He wants to raise up Harvey Dent as a different kind of hero, a better hero, a white knight who can do the things Batman can’t.   Harvey opposes Bruce’s goals the whole way through. First, simply by being with Rachel, keeping her from a relationship with Bruce. But ultimately, by becoming bad. By failing to be the hero Bruce wanted him to be. By constantly making bad choices, proving that he’s not the good person Bruce so desperately wants him to be. And that’s what we’re about to see play out in this final sequence as Harvey threatens Gordon’s family.   So if the Joker isn’t the antagonist, what role does he place in this movie? I learned this from an old episode of the Writing Excuses podcast about the Hollywood Formula with a guy named Lou Anders. The Joker is what is referred to as the relationship character. The relationship character is the embodiment of the story’s theme. The Joker is constantly trying to convince Batman that he’s more like The Joker than he is like the idealised hero he wants Dent to be. “You’re a freak - just like me.” In the end, Batman fulfils this by accepting his role as The Dark Knight. This is fascinating stuff to me.   It’s interesting to me that Harvey has chosen Gordon as the target of all his rage. I understand he failed to save Rachel, but there are bigger targets. The Joker is the most obvious, of course, but he has his reasons why he wants to go for someone more directly connected to the failure.   Batman is a more logical target. Batman was the one who went to the wrong place and saved Harvey instead of Rachel.   I could totally understand Harvey targeting Batman, but Gordon? I guess the difference is, Gordon is tangible. Gordon is a real person with an identity and a family. What is Batman? A persona. How do you hurt Batman? Who are his loved ones? You can’t know that without knowing who is behind the mask.   And Harvey’s approach is very Joker-like. He’s playing games. He’s gonna pick one of Gordon’s family, the one he decides Gordon loves the most. That’s the life he’s going to take. One for one. He doesn’t even want to escape from this, and that makes him especially dangerous.   Batman shows up, mercifully. Harvey feels betrayed not just on a personal level because of Rachel but on a larger leve., “You lied to me. You said we could be decent men, in an indecent time. You were wrong. The world is cruel. And the only morality in a cruel world is change.” In his mind, that’s fair.   The Joker chose Harvey because he was