Year: 1998

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Season 05 Star Trek Voyager

Timeless

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 52143.6: After creating a new slipstream drive for Voyager – thanks to Seven’s Borg technology – Janeway and the crew are ready to give the new drive its test flight. Tom and Harry are certain that they’ve spotted a potentially fatal flaw in the slipstream drive, but Harry proposes a quick fix that involves flying point ahead of Voyager in the Delta Flyer. The powerful new propulsion system brings Voyager within parsecs of the Alpha Quadrant in a matter of minutes – and then fails disastrously, slamming the ship into a class L planet and killing everyone except Harry and Chakotay, who are aboard the Delta Flyer. It is a tragic loss from which neither of them will ever recover.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky
story by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky
directed by LeVar Burton
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Christine Harnos (Tessa Omond), LeVar Burton (Captain Geordi La Forge), Majel Barrett (Computer voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Deep Space Nine Season 07 Star Trek

Covenant

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate not given: Kira is visited by her old friend and teacher, Vedek Fala, who gives her a red crystal. It is a homing transponder which is activated, causing her to be beamed by a Dominion transporter to Empok Nor, where a community of Bajoran pagh-wraith worshippers has settled, led by none other than Gul Dukat. Dukat tries to convince Kira to join his followers, but she wants nothing to do with them or the pagh wraiths. When the first child born to the community turns out to be half-Cardassian, Dukat claims it’s a miracle, then attempts to kill the mother. Rather than let his followers learn the truth, he decides to lead them to suicide.

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonwritten by Rene Echavarria
directed by John Kretchmer
music by David Bell

Guest Cast: Marc Alaimo (Dukat), Norman Parker (Vedek Fala), Jason Leland Adams (Benyan), Maureen Flannigan (Mika), Miriam Flynn (Midwife), Mark Piatelli (Brin)

LogBook entry by Tracy Hemenover

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Babylon 5 / Crusade Season 5

Sleeping In Light

Babylon 5Twenty years after the end of the Shadow War, only Zack remains on Babylon 5, waiting to fulfill his promise to be there when they turn the lights out. Garibaldi and Lise run their corporation and a family that includes a daughter. Franklin continues his xenological medical research from Earthdome. Ivanova is a respected, but tired, General in Earthforce. Emperor Vir Cotto has helped Centauri Prime recover from its devastation. The Rangers seek them all with a message from Delenn, now president of the Alliance…as Lorien predicted, Sheridan’s life is coming to an end. But even as they gather to commemorate his imminent passing, there is still a place for the hope of new beginnings.

Order now!Download this episodewritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by J. Michael Straczynski
music by Christopher Franke

Babylon 5Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (John Sheridan), Claudia Christian (General Susan Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Michael Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (President Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Stephen Franklin), Stephen Furst (Emperor Vir Cotto), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Wayne Alexander (Lorien), Romy Rosemont (Publicist), David Wells (Commander Nils), Sharon Annett (Mary Garibaldi), Dan Sachoff (Aide), Lair Torrant (Ranger), Kent Minault (Captain of the Guard), J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5 shutdown technician)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

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Season 05 Star Trek Voyager

Infinite Regress

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate not given: A chance encounter with the remains of a destroyed Borg vessel has an unusual effect on Seven of Nine. The former drone experiences brief flashes of many of the personalities assimilated into the collective of the shattered ship. The vinculum of the Borg ship, the piece of equipment which connects a particular vessel’s local collective, is found intact, and efforts to dismantle it instead turn up evidence of deliberate tampering – and Seven’s condition worsens. A powerfully-armed alien ship arrives, challenging Janeway for possession of the Borg vinculum, and these new visitors don’t care if Seven lives or dies. After all, their attempt to virally infect and destroy a Borg ship has proven successful…so what’s the life of one more drone?

Order the DVDsteleplay by Robert J. Doherty
story by Robert J. Doherty and Jimmy Diggs
directed by David Livingston
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: Scarlett Pomers (Naomi Wildman), Neil Maffin (Alien), Erica Mer (Human Girl), Majel Barrett (Computer voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 05 Star Trek Voyager

Nothing Human

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate not given: Voyager is struck by a forceful energy field which does little damage and deposits information in the ship’s computer. Janeway decides to investigate the source of the energy wave, finding a badly damaged ship with a curious, non-humanoid life form aboard. The creature attaches itself to B’Elanna, nearly killing her in the process, and the Doctor is unable to remove the creature without destroying its victim. The Doctor creates a hologram of famed Cardassian exobiologist Krell Mocet to assist in the desperate fight to save B’Elanna, but both B’Elanna and a young Bajoran crewmember remember Mocet for his war atrocities during the Bajoran occupation. Making matters worse, the slowly dying B’Elanna forbids the Doctor to allow Mocet’s assistance in a surgery that could save her life. The question of whether a former torturer’s research should be used to save one crewmember soon divides the crew.

Order the DVDswritten by Jeri Taylor
directed by David Livingston
music by Dennis McCarthy

Guest Cast: David Clennon (Krell Mocet), Jad Mager (Ensign Tabor), Frank Welker (Alien voice), Majel Barrett (Computer voice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Season 05 Star Trek Voyager

Thirty Days

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate 52179.4: Voyager encounters a planet without a surface, a spherical construct consisting of a global-sized ocean and a gravitational containment field to maintain its planetary shape. The planet’s inhabitants, the technologically advanced Moneans, cautiously visit Voyager and reveal a problem with their aquatic world – the containment field is failing and it’s falling apart. With a few modifications to the Delta Flyer, Paris is able to take an away team into the ocean to examine the enormous reactor whose power prevents the sphere of water from dissipating completely. But the Moneans didn’t build this reactor and they don’t understand it – and their very presence in the planet’s vast ocean may be the cause of the instability.

Order the DVDsteleplay by Kenneth Biller
story by Scott Miller
directed by Wilrich Kolbe
music by Paul Baillargeon

Guest Cast: Willie Garson (Riga), Benjamin Livingston (Burkiss), Heidi Kramer (Megan Delaney), Alissa Kramer (Jenny Delaney), Warren Munson (Admiral Paris), Majel Barrett (Computer voice)

Original title: Down Deep

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Star Trek The Movies The Next Generation

Star Trek: Insurrection

Star Trek: The Next GenerationOn the planet Ba’ku, a small ringed world tucked away into a dangerous expanse of gaseous clouds known as the Briar Patch, a team of Federation and Son’a scientists observe the seemingly simple Ba’ku people from the safety of a cloaked observation post. But Data, who has been assigned to the project, makes a discovery that changes his status from member of the research team to hunted fugitive. Data destroys the cloaking device, revealing the observers to the Ba’ku, and attacking the Son’a command ship. Starfleet Admiral Dougherty, at the urging of the Son’a leader Ru’afo, contacts the Enterprise and demands Data’s schematics. Captain Picard is alarmed by the news of Data’s behavior, and decides to set the Enterprise on a course for Ba’ku to investigate personally. Picard and Worf – visiting during a break in his duties aboard Deep Space Nine – manage to capture Data and bring him back to the Enterprise, but questioning him reveals more surprises. Hidden beneath a lake on Ba’ku, a Starfleet ship with a huge holodeck awaits to take the small populatuion of 600 Ba’ku away from their home, leaving the rings of their world to be mined by the Son’a for their unique restorative properties. The rings have made the Ba’ku nearly immortal, and they will die if removed from their planet. And, to Picard’s disgust, Ru’afo has the cooperation of Admiral Dougherty – and, the admiral claims, the entire Federation Council – in his venture to relocate the Ba’ku by force.

Having befriended the Ba’ku during his visits to the planet, Picard decides that it may be necessary to abandon his Starfleet career to save them. His crew joins him in his fight to preserve the Ba’ku, but Ru’afo has other ideas, and is quickly tiring of the Starfleet procedures that Admiral Dougherty insists upon following. Riker and Geordi take the Enterprise on a course out of the Briar Patch to contact the Federation without the interference of the nearby gases, with Son’a attack ships in hot pursuit with orders to shoot to kill. Meanwhile, Picard and the others try to lead the terrified Ba’ku to a safe haven, avoiding Ru’afo’s attempts to kidnap them via transporter. On the way, a critical discovery is made, revealing the real reason the Son’a are trying to conquer the Ba’ku – and revealing that Dougherty has gotten the Federation involved in a centuries-old struggle to the death…

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxscreenplay by Michael Piller
story by Rick Berman & Michael Piller
directed by Jonathan Frakes
music by Jerry Goldsmith

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Riker), Brent Spiner (Data), LeVar Burton (Geordi), Michael Dorn (Worf), Gates McFadden (Beverly), Marina Sirtis (Troi), F. Murray Abraham (Ru’afo), Donna Murphy (Anij), Anthony Zerbe (Admiral Dougherty), Gregg Henry (Gallatin), Daniel Hugh Kelly (Sojef), Michael Welch (Artim), Lorella Cuccarini (Ensign Perim), Mark Deakins (Tournel), Breon Gorman (Lt. Curtis), Max Grodenchik (Security Officer), Stephanie Niznik (Ops Officer), D. Elliot Woods (Starfleet Officer #1)

LogBook entry by Tracy Hemenover

Categories
Lexx Season 2

Mantrid

LexxDespite the defeat of the Gigashadow, His Divine Shadow has one last trick up his sleeve – he has taken Kai as his host body. Kai reanimates himself and insists on returning to the Light Universe via an extremely risky maneuver to create a new fractal core bridging the two universes. Kai plans to retrieve one of the enormous insect larvae left over from the Gigashadow’s destruction to extract more protoblood from it – or so he says. Stan and 790 experience a rare moment of complete agreement when they both suggest blasting the larva that Kai retrieves back into space. Kai suddenly presents Stan and Zev with a new mission: to find Mantrid, His Divine Shadow’s imprisoned bio-vizier. Mantrid’s knowledge was critical to the Divine Order, but his knowledge and ambition were both dangerous enough that he was kept alive but imprisoned. When they reach the distant world where Mantrid has languished for centuries, Stan and Zev are horrified when Kai offers Mantrid passage on the Lexx. Using his independent floating self-replicating “arm” drones, Mantrid embarks on an experiment to transfer his consciousness to the more powerful insect body. But under the Divine Shadow’s influence, Kai attacks Mantrid and instead transfers the Shadow’s consciousness to the insect – and the prospect of a new insect race hunting down all human life is imminent, unless Zev can convince Stan to destroy the planetoid while she and Kai are still on it.

Season 2 Regular Cast: Brian Downey (Stanley Tweedle), Eva Habermann (Zev), Michael McManus (Kai), Xenia Seeberg (Xev)

Order the DVDswritten by Paul Donovan
directed by Cristoph Schrewe
music by Marty Simon

Guest Cast: Dieter Laser (Mantrid), Holger Kunkel (Mantrid’s Assistant), Jeffrey Hirschfield (790), Tom Gallant (Lexx), Chris Duffy (Captain), Burgandy Code (Navigator), John Davie (Rockhound)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Season 05 Star Trek Voyager

Counterpoint

Star Trek: VoyagerStardate not given: As it passes through the territory of the Devore, Voyager must frequently stop and allow the Devore to search it. The aliens’ government searches all visitors to keep telepaths from escaping their grasp, but unknown to the Devore, Janeway has already granted asylum to several telepaths aboard Voyager. Kashyk, the commanding officer of the Devore inspection teams, confides his desire to defect to Janeway, who not only gives him passage aboard her ship, but her heart as well. But is Kashyk really abandoning his people – or is his defection too good to be true?

Order the DVDswritten by Michael Taylor
directed by Les Landau
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Mark Harelik (Kashyk), Randy Oglesby (Kir), J. Patrick McCormack (Prax), Alexander Enberg (Ensign Vorik), Randy Lowell (Torat), Jake Sakson (Adar), Majel Barrett (Computer voice)

Original title: Refugee

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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BBC Radio

The Syndeton Experiment

Blake's 7: The Syndeton ExperimentAvon hatches a risky plan to take over the planet Syndexia, the last remaining source of the hyperdrive fuel substance called Syndeton. But the already delicate plot is unraveled when Vila gets drunk in a bar on another planet and mentions Syndexia as the crew’s next destination. Vila is only barely rescued by the others as a Federation squadron moves in. Thanks to Vila’s carelessness, Servalan is alerted to Avon’s next destination, yet he presses on. Avon’s concern with Syndexia is not just with the coup to be gained by taking over the supply of Syndeton, either – in so doing, he intends to overthrow Madame Gaskia, Syndexia’s ruler, who once betrayed Avon to the Federation long before he joined Blake. Servalan is interested not only in the power to be harvested from Syndeton, but from its potential as a mind-controlling substance as well, an ability she tests by taking over Tarrant. Before long, the chase is on to find Dr. Rossum, a missing Federation scientist whose research into Syndeton could unlock its dangerous mind-control abilities. Scorpio’s crew finds Rossum first, but at the last minute, Avon insists on conceding this battle to Servalan – and the spoils could be control over every life form in the galaxy.

Order this CDwritten by Barry Letts
directed by Brian Lighthill
music by Jeff Mearns

Cast: Paul Darrow (Avon), Michael Keating (Vila), Steven Pacey (Tarrant), Jacqueline Pearce (Servalan), Angela Bruce (Dayna), Paula Wilcox (Soolin), Peter Tuddenham (Orac / Slave), Judy Cornwell (Gaskia), Peter Jeffrey (Doctor Rossum), Graham Padden (Vledka)

Original BBC Radio 4 broadcast: December 17, 1998

Timeline: this story takes place between The Sevenfold Crown and the fourth season episode Animals.

Categories
Lexx Season 2

Terminal

LexxWhen awakened from cryostasis with the wrong reanimation sequence, Kai unexpectedly fires his brace at Stan, mortally wounding him. In an attempt to save his life, Zev convinces Stan to surrender the key to the Lexx and then freezes him in Kai’s cryochamber. Zev sets 790 to the task of finding medical help for Stan, and his search leads them to MedSat, a hospital space station. When the medical space station’s receptionist refuses help due to a lack of insurance, Zev orders Lexx to destroy the planet that the station orbits, and immediately Stan’s case is assigned to the station’s top doctor. After he saves Stan’s life, the doctor takes Zev to dinner, where he tries to convince her to give him the key to the Lexx; when she refuses, he knocks her out and takes her to an operating room while his underlings capture Kai and 790. When Zev comes to, she is given one last chance to give up the Lexx’s key – and when she refuses, she is tortured to the point of death, initiating the transfer of the key.

Order the DVDswritten by Jeffrey Hirschfield
directed by Srinivas Krishna
music by Marty Simon

Guest Cast: Simon Licht (Dr. Kazan), Jeffrey Hirschfield (790), Tom Gallant (Lexx), Oliver Stern (Dr. Funz), Barbara Geiger (Dr. Veezra), Eva Ebner (Mrs. Deebee), Errol Shaker (Administrator), Ian T. Dickinson (Berg), Tatiana Alexander (Nurse)

Note: This is Eva Habermann’s final appearance in the role of Zev.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Lexx Season 2

Lyekka

LexxAs Lexx flies through a swarm of space-borne life forms, one of them slips aboard and scans the crew, listening in on one of Stan’s dreams and taking the form of a girl he once (unsuccessfully) asked out on a date. Despite his having just woken up, this incident still registers as unusual enough with Stan to convince him to awaken Kai. The girl, Lyekka, seems to take an instant dislike to Kai, but she’s still perfectly cheerful about it. The Lexx receives a signal from a spacecraft from the planet Potatoho, whose astronauts are venturing into interstellar space for the first time. Stan welcomes them aboard and gives them a tour of the Lexx, and Lyekka expresses an interest in the astronauts as well. When Stanley demonstrates Lexx’s destructive power, he accidentally destroys the Potatoho space capsule. As Stan sleeps, the astronauts explore Lexx, and one of them finds Lyekka lurking on the flight deck. She offers herself to him, and mere moments later, his crewmates can find no trace of him. The same fate soon befalls another of the astronauts, only this time Kai sees it happen – Lyekka reverts to a jellyfish-like form and devours the astronaut. Now, with only one of the astronauts remaining, Kai knows it’s only a matter of time before Lyekka turns to Stan for dessert. But first, Lyekka has a gift for Stan.

In the meantime, the planet Potatoho receives visitors of its own: a swarm of robotic drone arms which attack and completely destroy the planet, with Mantrid’s ship not far behind.

Order the DVDswritten by Lex Gigeroff and Paul Donovan
directed by Stephan Wagner
music by Marty Simon

Guest Cast: Stephen McHattie (Captain Moss), Louise Wischerman (Lyekka), Jeffrey Hirschfield (790 / Bando), Roman Podhora (Boosh)

Notes: This episode marks Xenia Seeberg’s debut in the role of Xev (the same character as Zev, more or less reborn in a new body).

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Deep Space Nine Season 07 Star Trek

It’s Only A Paper Moon

Star Trek: Deep Space NineStardate not given: Having lost a leg in battle, Nog returns to DS9 with his new biosynthetic one. Although the leg works perfectly, Nog is walking with a cane due to the psychosomatic pain he feels. His friends and family are concerned as Nog withdraws from them emotionally, choosing to take his medical leave in the holographic world of Vic Fontaine. Will Nog retreat into fantasy for the rest of his life?

Order the DVDsDownload this episode via Amazonteleplay by Ronald D. Moore
story by David Mack & John J. Ordover
directed by Anson Williams
music by Jay Chattaway

Guest Cast: Aron Eisenberg (Nog), Max Grodenchik (Rom), Chase Masterson (Leeta), James Darren (Vic Fontaine), Tami-Adrian George (Kesha)

LogBook entry by Tracy Hemenover