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Short Treks Star Trek

Runaway

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

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

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

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

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Short Treks Star Trek

Calypso

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate not given: His stolen escape pod failing, an Alcorian soldier who identified himself only as Craft is brought aboard Discovery. But the crew didn’t rescue him, because the ship has no crew – Discovery is unoccupied, and has been for a thousand years. The ship’s onboard computer, in that millennium alone, has evolved to sentience, and relishes having humanoid company again. Unsure if he can ever return home to his wife and child, Craft is willing to provide that companionship…up to a certain point.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Michael Chabon
story by Sean Cochran and Michael Chabon
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
music by Jeff Russo

Cast: Aldis Hodge (Craft), Annabelle Wallis (Zora voice), Sash Striga (Zora holo-dancer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Short Treks Star Trek

The Brightest Star

Star Trek: Short TreksStardate not given: On the planet Kaminar, the Kelpien race ekes out a simple but productive existence, each of them knowing that they will die, and soon: adult Kelpiens are required to “maintain the great balance” by submitting themselves to the harvesting of an alien race called the Ba’ul. The Kelpien priest, Aradar, leads Kelpiens who have reached a certain age to a stone circle where they are sacrificed to a Ba’ul ship. Aradar’s son, Saru, does not understand the great balance, and does not heed his father’s instructions to dispose of a scrap of Ba’ul technology that fell off of one of their ships. Instead, Saru studies and reverse-engineers the device, sending a simple greeting into space. When that greeting is answered by a human Starfleet officer from the Federation, offering Saru the chance to leave Kaminar and see the stars, can he leave behind everything, including his sister Siranna, to see them?

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt
directed by Douglas Aarniokoski
music by Jeff Russo

Short TreksCast: Doug Jones (Saru), Hannah Spear (Siranna), Robert Verlaque (Aradar), Michelle Yeoh (Lt. Philippa Georgiou), Lisa Auguste (Female Villager #5), Krista Deady (Female Villager #4), Clayton Scott (Male Villager #3), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Male Villager #1), Adam Winlove-Smith (Male Villager #2)

Notes: Saru mentions Siranna in the second season Discovery episode Brother, noting that there is “terrain” between them that cannot be crossed, referring to Lt. Georgiou’s insistence that Saru cannot be returned to Kaminar without contaminating the natural development of his pre-warp society. David Benjamin Tomlinson appears in Discovery’s second season as Saurian crewman Linus.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

New Eden

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1027.32: Burnham reveals Spock’s personal log entry – and its coded message – to Captain Pike. Spock not only knew of the signals, but of their locations, before any of them were detected by Starfleet. But Pike has more troubling news: Spock took a leave of absence to check himself into a psychiatric ward due to whatever was troubling him. Discovery is diverted to an unexplored planet in the Beta Quadrant which is the source of the newest signal, necessitating use of the spore drive. But despite an alarming distress signal, the planet is home to a peaceful, pastoral, and most importantly pre-warp human civilization. Pike, Burnham and ops officer Joann Owosekun beam down incognito to find out how a human settlement reached this far into deep space before the invention of warp drive. What they discover is a group of survivors of World War III who have no idea how they got there. A sudden displacement of radioactive particle from the planet’s rings threatens all on the surface – including the landing party – with extinction, but Pike’s absolute adherence to the Prime Directive forces a monumental decision: are Discovery and her new captain here to save a civilization, or witness its destruction without interference?

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Vaun Wilmott & Sean Cochran
story by Akiva Goldsman & Sean Cochran
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Sheila McCarthy (All-Mother), Andrew Moodie (Jacob), Bahia Watson (May Ahearn), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Raven Dauda (Dr. Tracy Pollard), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Noah Davis (Lieutenant in 2053), Kira Groulx (Rose), Claire Qute (Teen May Hologram)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: The mention of a Third World War in Star Trek’s otherwise hopeful vision of the future first appeared in the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, with Picard’s identification of Q‘s kangaroo court based upon the near-anarchic state of law in the “post-atomic horror” of the 21st century (fortunately, if you’re reading this, you’re only in the pre-atomic horror). Later incarnations of Trek carried this idea forward, particularly the movie Star Trek: First Contact and numerous episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. Even after Earth rebuilt itself following these events, there wasn’t a universal embracing of a technological lifestyle, as Lt. Owosekun is said to have grown up in “a Luddite collective”. No one in this episode ever refers to the Prime Directive, only Starfleet’s General Order One. The Beta Quadrant has long been known to be where portions of the Romulan and Klingon Empires are located, but the New Eden settlement is much further into the Beta Quadrant – 51,000 light years from Federation territory in the Alpha Quadrant, or, for comparison, roughly 2/3 of the distance that the U.S.S. Voyager would be flung into the Delta Quadrant in the 24th century. (Clearly, events yet unseen rule out further development or use of the spore drive technology by Voyager‘s time, otherwise the rescue of Captain Janeway’s crew would have been a simple matter.) The stardate for this episode is not given in the episode itself, but in the season finale, Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Point Of Light

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1029.46: A Vulcan diplomatic ship registered to Sarek catches up with Discovery, but rather than welcoming Sarek aboard, Burnham finds herself welcoming Amanda aboard. Having stolen encrypted files related to Spock’s internment in a mental care facility on Starbase 5, she wants Burnham to break into them, since no one at the facility is willing to divulge anything related to Spock’s condition, even to his next of kin. When Captain Pike contacts the commander of Starbase 5, he learns that Spock has supposedly murdered his caretakers and fled – a claim that neither Burnham nor Amanda believe…and neither does Pike. Ensign Tilly’s behavior is becoming increasingly erratic as she continues communicating with what appears to be her childhood friend May, someone who no one else can see. Tilly’s unusual behavior puts her command-track career in jeopardy.

On the Klingon homeworld, Ash Tyler is an outsider by any measure. As consort to recently-crowned Chancellor L’Rell, his very presence is constantly challenged by her political rivals and allies alike. What no one outside House Mokai knows is that Tyler is Voq, the former Klingon torchbearer remade in the image of a human and given a new set of memories. Tyler is stunned when he discovers that L’Rell and Voq had a child, a baby boy whose skin is the same unusual pale white as Voq’s. This news – gleaned from a microscopic listening device – is also a surprise to Kol-Sha, the father of the Klingon leader who died in the battle at Pahvo during the war. Kol-Sha intends to use this information to force L’Rell to abdicate her throne, allowing him to ascend to the head of the High Council. Another damning piece of evidence Kol-Sha intends to use is that Tyler has recently contacted Burnham, warning her that L’Rell’s position as Chancellor – and therefore the tenuous peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire – are in danger. But while help does arrive for Tyler and L’Rell, it comes from an unexpected source – one with an unthinkable list of its own demands.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Andrew Colville
directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Mia Kershner (Amanda), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Mary Chieffo (Chancellor L’Rell), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol-Sha), Bahia Watson (May Ahearn), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Xavier Sotelo (Captain Diego Vela), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Linus), Pay Chen (Starfleet Psychiatrist in Recording), Damon Runyan (Ujilli)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: The Klingon monastery on Boreth will later be the site of the apparent return of Kahless himself (TNG: Rightful Heir, 1993), as witnessed by Worf among many others. In the purely speculative department, it may or may not be significant that, after Voq, the only albino Klingon seen in the Star Trek franchise is the one hunted down by Kor (a relative of Kol and Kol-Sha), Koloth, and Kang to assert their right of vengeance for the Albino’s killing of each man’s firstborn son (DS9: Blood Oath, 1994), with help from Jadzia Dax. (At the time Star Trek: Discovery takes place, the Dax symbiont is part of Torias Dax, a thrill-seeking Starfleet test pilot, and not Curzon Dax, the diplomat who would help negotiate peace between the Klingons and Federation in the late 23rd and early 24th centuries, and who joined Kor, Koloth, and Kang in a pact to seek out the unnamed Star Trek: Discoveryalbino Klingon to avenge their sons’ lives). L’Rell and Tyler are revealed to be the architects of the Klingon D-7 battle cruiser, a design first glimpsed in Elaan Of Troyius (TOS, 1968), carried through the animated series and the Kirk-era movies, and even seen briefly in Star Trek: The Next Generation (Heart Of Glory, 1988), though this may be the D-7 Mark II as a completely different design was identified as the D-7 in Discovery’s first season. Kenneth Mitchell played Kol in the first season of Discovery, returning to play the role of Kol’s father here. Alan Van Sprang first appeared as Section 31 operative Leland in a short scene released directly to YouTube following Discovery’s season one finale in 2018.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

An Obol For Charon

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Captain Pike is visited by his first officer from the Enterprise, who has managed to bring him data on the trajectory of Spock’s shuttlecraft. But moments after Discovery sets off on that heading, it’s yanked out of warp by a dense sphere of pulsing energy. Attempts to hail the sphere are fruitless, and moments later Discovery‘s systems begin failing, beginning with the universal translator and engineering systems. The fungal life form that Stamets extracted from Tilly is no longer contained, and reasserts its hold over Tilly. Saru, who seemed unwell at a briefing prior to the sphere’s appearance, is now seriously weakened, and reveals that he has entered the Vaharai, the stage of the Kelpien life span at which an individual is ready to be harvested by the alien predators that cull the Kelpiens. Since he is no longer on Kaminar, Saru will not be harvested, but can look forward to slowly going mad as the Vaharai advances; still, he insists on aiding Burnham in trying to stabilize the ship’s systems and determine the sphere’s intentions (which Pike is assuming are hostile). Speaking through Tilly, “May” tells Stamets that Discovery‘s travels through the mycelial network are harmful to the network and the life it supports. Saru deduces that the sphere is also a life form – a dying one trying to pass on all of its knowledge and experience before it expires – and urges Pike to drop Discovery‘s shields to allow the ship’s computers to absorb all of that information. But Saru feels that his time has come too, and asks Burnham to end his suffering.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Alan McElroy & Andrew Colville
story by Jordon Nardino & Gretchen J. Berg & Aaron Harberts
directed by Lee Rose
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Tig Notaro (Commander Jett Reno), Rebecca Romjin (Number One), Rachael Ancheril (Commander Nhan), Bahia Watson (May Ahearn), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Raven Dauda (Dr. Tracy Pollard), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Linus)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: Gum and duct tape, and burgers and fries, all still exist in the 23rd century. (Especially fries, as both Number One and Jett Reno mention them.) Also, David Bowie and Prince still have fans in the 23rd century, as they likely will long afterward. Many of the elements of Kelpien society mentioned by Saru were previously seen in the Short Treks episode The Brightest Star (2018).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Saints Of Imperfection

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Anguished by Ensign Tilly’s disappearance into an organic alien coccoon, Stamets is refusing to give up on the idea of somehow retrieving her, believing that she has been transported into the mycelial network. Discovery is chasing a shuttle believed to be Spock’s, and disables it with a photon torpedo only to discover not Spock inside, but deposed Terran Emperor Philippa Georgiou (now an agent of Section 31) inside. After a terse exchange of information, Georgiou leaves, but not before leaving another Section 31 agent – the recently recruited Ash Tyler – aboard Discovery. Stamets devises a plan to perform a “partial jump” with Discovery’s spore drive to enter the mycelial network and recover Tilly, though at great risk to the ship. Inside the network, Tilly is surrounded by any number of things that could kill her…along with May, who says she is the avatar of a race called the Jah’Sepp, which lives in the network and tries to avoid a monster that is killing them. When Discovery slices into the network’s dimension, Burnham, Stamets and Tilly discover that the “monster” which needs to be removed is one of their own.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Kirsten Beyer
directed by David Barrett
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Rachael Ancheril (Commander Nhan), Bahia Watson (May Ahearn), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: The wearable communicator badge common throughout Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager apparently has its roots in Section 31 technology, though it’s clearly a shock to Captain Pike in the 23rd century. Given that Pike is in the dark about Georgiou’s origins in the mirror universe, it’s also likely that – despite whatever briefing he received (Brother) – he doesn’t know the full story about Captain Lorca.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

The Sounds Of Thunder

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate 1035.86: With his recent exposure to an unusual space phenomenon having accelerated Saru past the stage of life at which Kelpiens are expected to surrender themselves to culling by the Ba’ul, he is free of constant fear for the first time in his life. When the latest detection of one of the mysterious signals sends Discovery racing to Saru’s home planet, he is eager to stand up for his species – perhaps, Captain Pike notes, too eager, as Saru has also undergone a radical shift in thinking regarding the “Great Balance”, the belief system that keeps Kelpiens subservient to the Ba’ul. Should Saru revisit his planet and reveal that the Great Balance is a lie, that would be a clear violation of the prime directive, though Burnham argues that it doesn’t apply to the Kelpiens, since the Ba’ul’s presence has already revealed advanced technology to their prey. Saru introduces Burnham to his sister, Siranna, and learns that his own father was culled shortly after he left the planet. But Saru’s return to Discovery triggers a swift response from the Ba’ul: they want him returned to the planet, and threaten the entire Kelpien race to secure his return. Saru allows himself to be taken aboard a Ba’ul ship. As Burnham, Tilly, and Airiam search records from the data downloaded from the sphere and discover that the balance of power on Kaminar was once quite different, Saru learns that he is far from defenseless against the Ba’ul… and is willing to break every Starfleet rule on the books to help his people achieve the same ability to protect themselves.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt
directed by Doug Aarniokoski
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Javier Botet (The Ba’ul), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Hannah Spear (Siranna), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Mark Pellington (Ba’ul voice-over), Raven Dauda (Dr. Tracy Pollard), David Benjamin Tomlinson (Linus / Kelpien Villager #1), Michael Ayres (Transporter Officer)

Notes: The pre-first-contact state of Kelpien society, and Saru’s departure from Kaminar, were previously seen in the Short Treks episode The Brightest Star (2018). The stardate for this episode is not given in the episode itself, but in the season finale, Such Sweet Sorrow Part 2.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Light And Shadows

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Burnham returns to Vulcan to see if Sarek and Amanda have any answers about Spock’s whereabouts, while Discovery remains in orbit of Kaminar to study residual affects of the appearances of the signal and the Red Angel. When deep scans are conducted, a temporal rift appears, and Pike sets out to pilot a shuttlecraft as close to the anomaly as he can without getting pulled in. He’s annoyed when Tyler insists on going with him, as Section 31 has now claimed an interest in Discovery‘s mission and has placed Tyler aboard the ship on a semi-permanent basis. Temporal anomalies cause Pike to see events that have yet to happen, with no context, and before he knows it, the shuttle is sucked into the time rift…and the most recent future event he has forseen is himself firing a phaser at Tyler. On Vulcan, Burnham and Sarek discover that Amanda, claiming diplomatic immunity, has sequestered Spock in a Vulcan temple. Rambling quotes from the Vulcan principles of logic as well as Alice In Wonderland, Spock seems lost. Sarek insists that Burnham take Spock to Section 31 to receive medical attention, a prospect that she finds less than appealing – and, as Georgiou reveals to her when she arrives, with good reason. But an even more unlikely destination awaits Burnham – coordinates that Spock has been chanting repeatedly since she found him.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonteleplay by Ted Sullivan
story by Ted Sullivan & Vaun Wilmott
directed by Marta Cunningham
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), James Frain (Sarek), Mia Kirshner (Amanda), Ethan Peck (Spock), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Arista Arhin (young Burnham), Liam Hughes (young Spock)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: The dumping and igniting of the shuttlecraft’s fuel is very similar to a last-ditch maneuver executed by Spock roughly a decade later (TOS: The Galileo Seven); Rhys says it’s a technique taught at Starfleet flight school, which makes it odd that Scotty and others don’t recognize it on that future occasion. Talos IV was previously visited in the original Star Trek pilot, The Cage (1964), which was not shown on television in anything resembling its original form until 1988; footage from The Cage was worked into the 1966 two-parter The Menagerie, during which Spock returns a crippled Captain Pike to Talos IV, thus making that Spock’s third visit and not his second. (That’s two Star Trek Discoverymore visits than most Starfleet officers are expected to survive: The Menagerie establishes that travel to Talos IV is the only remaining death penalty under Starfleet’s paramilitary law.) It’s worth noting that Spock’s mental state when he’s first seen, including the repetition of phrases, is similar to that of T’Pol at the beginning of the Enterprise episode Shockwave Part II (2002), in which she is seen in a similar state of shock upon discovering that time travel is not only feasible but is in fact taking place. Spock originally fled to the Mutara Sector, an area of space where he will, in fact, later die during the battle with Khan for the Genesis Device (Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan, 1982).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

If Memory Serves

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: The coordinates chanted in reverse by Spock bring Burnham to the forbidden planet Talos IV, visited just a few years earlier by Spock and Captain Pike aboard the Enterprise. Spock has to help Burnham overcome the illusion of a black hole in the planet’s place, a barrier erected by the Talosians to keep outsiders away. After landing the shuttle, Burnham is greeted by a young woman named Vina, who says she has been in the company of the Talosians for some time since a ship she traveled on as a child crash-landed on Talos IV. She recognizes Spock and extends an offer of help from the Talosians, who not only help Spock recover from his mental collapse, but share with Burnham what triggered it: an encounter – and a mind-meld – with the Red Angel. That mind-meld gave Spock a glimpse of a future in which some unknown enemy destroys the major worlds of the Federation. Spock believes that the Red Angel is trying to change the timeline so these events do not happen. Aboard Discovery, the miraculously revived Dr. Culber finds himself unable to return seamlessly to his life with Stamets…and, worse yet, sees Ash Tyler, his killer, and feels compelled to confront Tyler violently. Tyler grows suspicious of Pike’s focus on finding Burnham and Spock, despite direct orders not to do so. When evidence of sabotage from within the Discovery appears, Pike immediately has Tyler confined to his quarters. If he uses Discovery to return to Talos IV to help his crewmates, Pike will only be tipping his hand to Section 31.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Dan Dworkin & Jay Beattie
directed by T.J. Scott
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Melissa George (Vina), Ethan Peck (Spock), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Commander Nhan), Dee Pelletier (Talosian #2), Rob Brownstein (The Keeper), Alisen Down (Starfleet Psychiatrist), Hannah Chessman (Lt. Commander Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Julianne Grossman (Discovery Computer), Arista Arhin (young Burnham), Riley Gilchrist (Andorian Admiral), Liam Hughes (young Spock), Harry Judge (Tellarite Admiral), Jon de Leon (Section 31 Engineer), Sara Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Tara Nicodemo (Admiral Patar)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: For the first time in the franchise’s 53-year history, an episode of a Star Trek spinoff revisits the events of The Cage (1964), the original Star Trek pilot, making “official” the originally filmed ending of an illusory Captain Pike remaining on Talos IV with Vina. (This had previously been subject to some interpretation, since The Cage footage was incorporated into the classic series two-parter The Menagerie, which reinterpreted that ending as the real Pike, in an illusory healthy body, rejoining the similarly afflicted Vina, as seen by Captain Kirk.) The opening teaser is a stylized montage of footage from The Cage, with an on-screen title simply reading “previously on Star Trek”. The Talosians are extinct in the mirror universe, exterminated by Empress Georgiou. Guest star Alisen Down played Olivia in Syfy’s 12 Monkeys series, and head guest starring roles in Stargate Universe, Supernatural, the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, The Dead Zone, and Stargate SG-1.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2

Project Daedalus

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Admiral Cornwell visits Discovery via shuttlecraft with disturbing news – Section 31’s threat assessment system, Control, has stopped accepting input or offering information to Starfleet’s admirals, and Section 31 itself seems to have gone incommunicado. Cornwell recommends proceeding to the same coordinates that Tyler is believed to have been sending signals to – a formerly abandoned penal station – to wrest control back from Section 31’s Control. Space around the station is heavily mined, and once a boarding party consisting of Burnham, Nhan, and the cybernetically-augmented Lt. Commander Airiam beams over to the station, they find it littered with long-dead corpses – including an admiral Cornwell had communicated with recently. Control is now calling the shots at Section 31, and worse yet, it has infiltrated Airiam’s cybernetic systems, forcing Captain Pike to make a terrible decision to preserve most of the boarding party…assuming any of them survive long enough to execute his orders.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Michelle Paradise
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Ethan Peck (Spock), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Cmdr. Nhan), Hannah Cheesman (Lt. Cmdr. Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Arista Arhin (young Burnham), Alisen Down (Starfleet Psychiatrist), Tyler Hines (Stephen), Tara Nicodemo (Admiral Patar)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

The Red Angel

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: A post-mortem scan of Lt. Commander Airiam’s cybernetic implants allows Tilly to sift through the information uploaded into Airiam by Control, which includes detailed information on the Red Angel’s spacesuit apparatus – an abandoned Section 31 time travel project – and its wearer, a perfect DNA match for one Michael Burnham. An artificial intelligence, the Control system used by Section 31, has also been following through the micro-wormholes allowing the suit to time travel. But even as Burnham reels from the news that the Red Angel’s actions are apparently actions that she will take at some point in the future, she learns that her parents were Section 31 operatives using a time crystal stolen from Klingon space to build and power the suit…and that a younger Leland’s irresponsibility is directly responsible for their deaths. But Spock, in studying the movements of the Red Angel to date and the appearance of the seven signals, has discovered that the signals do not necessarily correlate to appearances of the Angel. The Angel has, instead, responded only to situations when Burnham’s life was in immediate danger, which makes sense: a future Burnham acting as the Red Angel can’t allow younger Burnham to die. A trap is set on the inhospitable plant Essof IV, using Burnham as the bait to catch her older self. But once captured, the Red Angel is someone no one – especially not Michael Burnham – ever expected to see again.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Chris Silvestri & Anthony Maranville
directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Ethan Peck (Spock), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Sonja Sohn (Dr. Gabrielle Burnham), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Cmdr. Nhan), Hannah Cheesman (Lt. Cmdr. Airiam), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Sarah Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Jason Anthony (Control Computer)

Star Trek DiscoveryNotes: Stamets echoes the 23rd century belief that wormholes are “inherently unstable”, though the 24th century will see the discovery of a wormhole stabilized by an advanced alien species (Deep Space Nine: Emissary). Saru mentions Discovery‘s away team, a term more commonly associated with Star Trek: The Next Generation; as it’s more or less interchangeable with “landing party”, away team is probably a piece of Starfleet lingo that predates the 24th century, but just wasn’t one we heard used by Captains Archer or Kirk. Spock’s instant recall of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” persists even into his next life (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). Airiam’s bridge station is now occupied by Lt. Nilsson – played by Sara Mitich, who played Airiam in the first season of Discovery.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Discovery Season 2 Star Trek

Perpetual Infinity

Star Trek: DiscoveryStardate not given: Burnham comes to aboard Discovery and learns that she wasn’t hallucinating: the Red Angel has been captured and immobilized, and inside the time-crystal-powered suit was Dr. Gabrielle Burnham, believed to have died over 20 years ago in a Klingon attack. However, Burnham’s mother was also rendered unconscious by the extreme means used to capture the Red Angel suit, and Burnham herself must stay aboard Discovery until her treatment for exposure to both the elements on Essof IV and the burst of tachyon radiation generated by the Red Angel is completed. On the Section 31 ship, Georgiou begins to suspect that something is amiss with Captain Leland. What neither she nor Tyler know is that he has been taken over by Control, and the man they knew before is essentially dead. “Leland” concocts a cover story that Dr. Burnham is a vessel for Control, and orders Tyler to obtain the data Discovery holds from the spherical repository of alien knowledge encountered earlier. Dr. Burnham refuses to speak to her own daughter, instead opting to demand that Captain Pike delete the alien sphere data from Discovery‘s computer to avoid Section 31’s Control AI from ever using that knowledge to evolve. But the sphere data has asserted itself within Discovery‘s main computer, protecting itself from deletion – and leaving the door open to a future in which Control destroys all life in the galaxy.

Order DVDsStream this episode via Amazonwritten by Alan McElroy & Brandon Schultz
directed by Maja Vrvilo
music by Jeff Russo

Star Trek DiscoveryCast: Sonequa Martin-Green (Commander Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Lt. Commander Saru), Anthony Rapp (Lt. Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Cadet Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike), Michelle Yeoh (Philippa Georgiou), Ethan Peck (Spock), Alan Van Sprang (Leland), Sonja Sohn (Dr. Gabrielle Burnham), Kenric Green (Burnham), Rachael Ancheril (Lt. Cmdr. Nhan), Emily Coutts (Lt. Keyla Detmer), Patrick Kwok-Choon (Lt. Gen Rhys), Oyin Oladejo (Lt. Joann Owosekun), Ronnie Rowe Jr. (Lt. R.A. Bryce), Sarah Mitich (Lt. Nilsson), Arista Arhin (young Burnham)

Notes: Dr. Burnham knows of the fate that awaits Captain Pike in his future (Star Trek: The Menagerie Part 1), but says nothing more than that. No one in 23rd century Starfleet seems to be aware of time travel’s role in Starfleet’s past and future (see Star Trek: Enterprise), so presumably Captain Jonathan Archer took what he knew of the Temporal Cold War to his grave.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
2010s Season 1 Twilight Zone

The Comedian

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

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

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

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
2010s Season 1 Twilight Zone

Nightmare At 30,000 Feet

The Twilight ZoneInvestigative journalist Justin Sanderson, fresh from a nightmarish assignment in Yemen and turbulence in his personal life, takes on a new reporting assignment in Tel Aviv, boarding Northern GoldStar Flight 1015. Justin finds an MP3 player left behind by a previous passenger, containing a podcast…about the mysterious disappearance of Northern GoldStar Flight 1015 over the Atlantic. He begins listening and is alarmed when such events as a bird striking one of the plane’s engines is described more or less in real time, and he starts trying to alert the plane’s crew and fellow passengers to what he believes is imminent disaster. But for all the disturbance he causes, the only threat perceived by anyone is Justin himself. One fellow passenger, however, does believe him. Claiming to be a former airline pilot himself, he has the skills necessary to turn the plane around and avert disaster…if only Justin can help him break into the cockpit.

Download this episode via Amazonteleplay by Marco Ramirez
story by Simon Kinberg, Jordan Peele and Marco Ramirez
based on the teleplay and short story Nightmare At 20,000 Feet written by Richard Matheson
directed by Greg Yaitanes
music by Marco Beltrami and Brandon Roberts
original Twilight Zone theme by Marius Constant

The Twilight ZoneCast: Adam Scott (Justin Sanderson), Chris Diamantopoulos (Joe), Dan Carlin (voice of Rodman Edwards), Katie Findlay (Flight Attendant), Nicholas Lea (Captain Donner), China Shavers (Air Marshal), J. Cameron Barnett (Flight Attendant), Nabil Ayoub (Fawwaz Khalidi), Hana Kinani (Sadeen Khalidi), Greg Zach (Suspicious Punk), Vladimir Ruzich (Tsezar), Alexander Mandra (Igor Orlov), Demelza Randall (Mandy), Emanuel Mokhtari (Fadi Khalidi), Arkie Kandola (Omesh Singh), Tarun Keram (Tanveera Singh), Tim Howe (TSA Agent), Brea Schneider (Gate Attendant), Jordan Peele (The Narrator)

The Twilight ZoneNotes: Among the wreckage that has washed onto the shore from the downed plane is a stuffed animal of the gremlin glimpsed in the original Twilight Zone episode Nightmare At 20,000 Feet (1963). That original episode – which wasn’t made and aired until early in the original series’ fifth and final season – had already been remade once in the 1983 Twilight Zone movie. This is a much more significant reworking of the story, bringing in such 21st century elements as “true crime” podcasts, TSA patdowns, and suicidal airline pilots. We eagerly await Enigmatique’s podcast on the mystery of Oceanic Flight 815.

LogBook entry by Earl Green