Star Trek: Odyssey - The Lotus Eaters
Stardate not given: After fending off yet another Archein ambush, Ro and the Odyssey crew are surprised to hear a Starfleet distress signal of a kind that hasn’t been used in nearly a century. They track the signal to a planet surrounded by gravitational disturbances and small singularities - a breeding ground for black holes - and find a crippled ship in orbit. Ro, T’Lorra and Stadi discover that the ship is occupied only by a middle-aged married couple, whose male half is reluctant to leave before completing his research. His wife, however, is far more eager to leave and stuns him, bringing the research along when they abandon ship. The Odyssey shuttle used to dock with that ship, however, is damaged when the dying ship explodes. Stadi sends a distress signal to the Odyssey and then brings the shuttle in for a hard landing. The truth emerges about the couple that Ro and his crewmates have rescued: they are neither humans nor Archein, but Kelvans, endangered inhabitants of the Andromeda Galaxy who last visited Earth’s galaxy in the days of Captain Kirk. The Kelvans - of whom there are more on the planet - are also secretly using an Omega power source to protect themselves from the Archein, and Ro quickly realizes that this same powerful energy source could also send Odyssey home…but at what cost?
story by Rob Caves and Eric Weaver
teleplay by Eric Weaver
directed by David O’Neill
music by Bodo HartwigCast: Brandon McConnell (Lt. Commander Ro Nevin), Michelle Laurent (Subcommander T’Lorra), Matthew Montgomery (Dr. Owen Vaughan), Julia Morizawa (Lt. Maya Stadi), Tim Foutch (Ensign John Gillen), Melodee M. Spevack (Dr. Achiys), Hal Alpert (Dr. Panos), Sharon Savene (Seram), Adam Browne (Caecus), John Whiting (General Morrigu), Jennifer Cole (Grand Majan), Beau Williams (Lt. Dagad), Ryan Keating (Lokell), Jacob Reitz (Melantko), Sam Basca (Lt. Alex Wozniak), Heather Ashleigh (Ensign Kristen Laws), Wayne Wilkening (Estime)
Review: Okay, I think I’ve said before that I haven’t gone back and caught up on Hidden Frontier, the Star Trek fan series that spawned the current spinoffs, Odyssey and Helena Chronicles. Perhaps I really need to go back and catch up on Hidden Frontier…because I was completely lost here. (click here for the rest of the review…)
