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Star Trek: The Motion Picture

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Star Trek MoviesStardate 7412.6: Two and a half years after the end of the mission of Kirk (who has now become an admiral) and his crew, the Enterprise has been refitted inside and out, almost an entirely new ship, and some of the crew have drifted apart – McCoy has taken an extended leave, Kirk has accepted a desk job, and Spock has returned to Vulcan to pursue the Kolinahr discipline, a total purge of emotions. In the meantime, Sulu and Uhura have stayed with the Enterprise during its testing phase, while Chekov has become ship’s chief of security and Nurse Chapel has become a full doctor. Captain Willard Decker, son of the late Matt Decker, is slated to become the ship’s new commanding officer. An “energy cloud” of unknown origin and intent has carved a path of destruction through the galaxy on a direct course for Earth, having destroyed a flotilla of Klingon ships as well as Federation communications relay station Epsilon 9.

Admiral Kirk convinces Starfleet to give him command of the Enterprise, displacing Decker to the position of first officer. The refitted ship still has problems, most notably a transporter malfunction which kills two incoming crew members, including the ship’s new Vulcan science officer, whose duties Kirk again hands to Decker. Once the transporter is repaired, the final crew members board the Enterprise, such as Lt. Ilia, the ship’s new navigator who once had a relationship with Decker on her home planet of Delta IV; and Dr. McCoy reluctantly resumes his position after being called back into service by Starfleet. Kirk’s unfamiliarity with the Enterprise’s new design is proven when he orders the ship to warp speed against the recommendations of Decker and Scotty, plunging the ship into a wormhole which it escapes with a last minute order from Decker. While repairing the damage, the ship is boarded by a ship from Vulcan carrying Spock, who offers to resume his post as science officer. Spock begins by helping Scotty overcome the difficulties with the warp engines, enabling the Enterprise to head for the cloud at top speed.

En route, Spock reveals that he was unable to complete his Kolinahr training because he detected an intelligence which he believes is part of the cloud. Penetrating the cloud, the Enterprise wards off an attack but is weakened in the process. After Spock manages to devise a makeshift message to speak to the cloud-entity in its own language and frequency, the ship delves further into the cloud and is boarded by a beam of energy which tries to access the ship’s records on Starfleet and Earth defenses. Spock damages the computer so the beam cannot gather any more information, but is attacked by the beam, which then seems to envelop Lt. Ilia and disappears from the ship, leaving no trace of Ilia. The Enterprise is trapped inside an enclosed, solid space within the cloud, and Ilia turns up again soon afterward, but this time as a puppet of the cloud-entity, identified by the now-dehumanized Ilia as V’ger. Curious to find more about V’ger, Spock steals a spacesuit and a thruster pack and launches himself into a small opening through which the Enterprise cannot travel, and finds himself floating through the memories of V’ger’s entire journey through the universe, eventually coming to an image of Ilia as she was before V’ger’s invasion of the bridge. Spock tries to mind-meld with V’ger through the image, but the staggering amounts of V’ger’s memory and thought overloads Spock’s mind, and he is ejected back to the Enterprise, where he is recovered and given medical attention.

The Ilia-probe tells Kirk that V’ger is on its way to Earth to find its own creator, although V’ger refuses to believe that its creator could be a member of the human race, which it intends to wipe out, if necessary, to complete its search. The cloud has reached Earth and is ready to commence with its task. When Kirk promises the Ilia-probe that he has the information V’ger seeks, V’ger releases the Enterprise and draws it to the center of the cloud, where V’ger itself rests. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Decker, led by Ilia, find that V’ger is, in fact, a NASA Voyager space probe that was encountered by a race of intelligent machines and, taking the probe’s instructions – to learn all it can and report its findings back its creator – literally, the machines created the cloud-vessel as a means for Voyager to return to Earth and deliver its wealth of information. But the probe is unwilling to transmit its information on command, demanding to become one with its creator. Decker manually forces Voyager to transmit its information, but is absorbed by a wave of energy when V’ger believes its creator – the only being who could operate it – has arrived. Kirk, Spock and McCoy rush back to the Enterprise just in time. The cloud dissipates, leaving the Enterprise in orbit over Earth. Kirk and Spock speculate that Decker’s emotions concerning his relationship with Ilia, the loss of his command of the Enterprise, and other feelings will transform V’ger into a new life form that the Federation may meet again in the future.

Order this movie on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxscreenplay by Harold Livingston
story by Alan Dean Foster
directed by Robert Wise
music by Jerry Goldsmith

Cast: William Shatner (Admiral Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Sulu), Majel Barrett (Dr. Chapel), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Persis Khambatta (Lt. Ilia), Stephen Collins (Commander Decker), Grace Lee Whitney (Chief Petty Officer Rand), Mark Lenard (Klingon Captain), Billy Van Zandt (Alien Boy), Roger Aaron Brown (Epsilon Technician), Gary Faga (Airlock Technician), David Gautreaux (Commander Branch), John D. Gowans (Assistant to Rand), Howard Itznowitz (Cargo Deck Ensign), Jon Rashad Kamal (Lt. Commander Sonak), Marcy Lafferty (Chief DiFalco), Michele Ameen Billy (Lieutenant), Terrence O’Connor (Chief Ross), Michael Rougas (Lt. Cleary), Susan J. Sullivan (Woman), Ralph Brannen, Ralph Byers, Paula Crist, Rik Lane, Franklyn Seales, Momo Yashima (Crew Members), Jimmie Booth, Joel Kramer, Bill McTosh, Dave Moordigan, Tom Morga, Tony Rocco, Joel Schultz, Craig Thomas (Klingon Crewmen), Edna Glover, Norman Stuart, Paul Weber (Vulcan Masters), Joshua Gallegos (Security Officer), Leslie C. Howard (Yeoman), Sayra Hummel, Junero Jennings (Technical Assistants)

Notes: As is generally well known now, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was the final remnant of a 1978 attempt by Paramount Pictures to launch its own fourth television network, with a revived Star Trek as its biggest attraction (not unlike the launch, almost 20 years later, of UPN with Star Trek: Voyager). Persis Khambatta, Stephen Collins and David Gautreaux were originally signed to series regular contracts, with Gautreaux slated to play the role of Lt. Xon, a full-blood Vulcan science officer. (Leonard Nimoy wasn’t aboard the project until after the release of Star Wars had permanently transformed the new series into a major feature film, and even then he had to be talked into the project by director Robert Wise and several Paramount bigwigs.) Over a dozen scripts were written, including a two-part cliffhanger taking Kirk behind Klingon lines, before the series was abandoned; two of those scripts, Devil’s Due and The Child, would later be resurrected as Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes, while a third, World Enough And Time, would be dusted off as an episode of the fan-made video project continuing the Kirk era, Star Trek: New Voyages. Before his death, director Robert Wise revised Star Trek: The Motion Picture, adding and deleting scenes, editing the movie tighter, and replacing some effects scenes with CGI; this is currently the only version of the film available on DVD.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

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Star Trek MoviesStardate 8130.4: “Captain” Saavik, a Vulcan lieutenant in Starfleet, manages to lose to the Kobayashi Maru simulator’s preprogrammed no-win situation, like every other cadet ever to take the test (with a single exception). Spock, now Captain of the Enterprise, returns to the ship to prepare for Kirk’s upcoming prelaunch inspection after dismissing the students from the simulator exercise. Kirk returns home and is visited by Dr. McCoy, who, after presenting him with a birthday present, tells Kirk that his abilities are wasted on a desk job and that he should resume his command of a starship.

USS Reliant, on assignment searching for lifeless planets as potential test sites for the top secret Genesis project, arrives at Ceti Alpha V. Beaming down, Captain Terrell and his first officer, Commander Chekov, discover a series of cargo bays formerly of the SS Botany Bay, a vessel full of genetically engineered supermen from late 20th century Earth led by the cunning Khan. Chekov urges Terrell to return to the Reliant, but they are captured by Khan and his followers. Khan, after fifteen years, is still seeking revenge against Kirk for exiling the Botany Bay’s crew. Khan infests Chekov and Terrell with Ceti eels, which affect the brain and make their victims susceptible to suggestion, although the eels’ victims will eventually go mad and die painfully. Khan hijacks the Reliant and has Chekov contact space station Regula 1, where the Genesis project is being developed by Dr. Carol Marcus, an old flame of Kirk’s, along with a team of scientists including her son David. Chekov tells the Regula 1 scientists that Kirk has ordered the Genesis device to be transferred to the Reliant upon arrival for immediate testing. David Marcus fears the worst, always suspicious of Starfleet’s motives concerning the Genesis project. Carol contacts Kirk while the Enterprise is on a cadet cruise to verify the orders, but her signal is jammed before she can tell him much.

Kirk takes command of the Enterprise and sets it on a course to the station. En route, Kirk, Spock and McCoy review a presentation prepared by Carol which reveals that the Genesis “torpedo” is a device which will, when fired on a lifeless planet, restructure it into a verdant, life-supporting world ready for colonization. The Enterprise arrives at Regula 1 and is fired upon by the Reliant, which, since the shields were not raised in the presence of a presumably friendly ship, causes critical damage to the Enterprise and kills many of the unprepared cadets. Khan reveals himself and demands that Kirk surrender himself, but Kirk bluffs Khan into giving him time to consider. Kirk overrides Reliant’s shields by remote control and returns fire, forcing Khan to retreat. Kirk, Saavik and McCoy beam down to the space station, finding most of the scientists slaughtered and the Genesis device missing. They do find Chekov and Terrell, apparently left for dead by Khan although the Reliant officers are actually keeping an eye on Kirk for their master. Deducing that the Genesis team must have had an underground test site on the dead planetoid Regula that the station orbits, Kirk gambles on beaming down into the surface under the station. There, they find the Genesis device, but are ambushed by David and one of the other scientists. Terrell kills the other scientist, and then contacts Khan, who orders Terrell and Chekov to kill Kirk. Terrell goes mad and kills himself, while Chekov collapses and the Ceti eel vacates his body. Khan beams the Genesis device up to Reliant.

McCoy begins tending to Chekov as Kirk and Carol discuss why David – their son – remained with Carol and became a scientist himself. They all go deeper into the test area and find a lush cave with vegetation and a waterfall, created by a fraction of the Genesis device’s power. Kirk then reveals to Saavik that he became the only cadet in history to beat the Kobayashi Maru test by reprogramming the simulator, which elicits a comment from David that Kirk has never had to deal with death on a personal basis. Reliant returns to the station after makeshift repairs, but the Enterprise is nowhere to be seen. The Enterprise, apparently contradicting the repair estimates of an earlier communication between Kirk and Spock, on which Kirk realized that Khan would be eavesdropping, arrives and retrieves Kirk and the others while hiding behind the other side of Regula. Kirk orders the ship into the nearby Mutara Nebula, where sensors of both ships will not function. Khan is unable to resist the chance to pursue, and plunges into the nebula behind the Enterprise.

In the ensuing battle, the Enterprise’s warp drive is damaged. Sulu manages a few lucky shots of his own, crippling the Reliant and killing most of Khan’s crew, but the dying Khan is unwilling to admit defeat and prepares to detonate the Genesis device at point blank range, which will destroy both ships. Scotty is unable to repair the engines, and Spock rushes to engineering without a word to anyone (except for what seems to be a very quick mind-meld with Dr. McCoy), forgoing safety precautions and entering the radiation-saturated engine chamber to repair the warp engines. When Spock finishes his task, Kirk orders the ship out of the nebula at top speed. The Reliant explodes, initiating the full Genesis effect on Regula, as Kirk, receiving a message from McCoy, hurries to engineering only to see Spock die from massive radiation poisoning. Spock’s body is loaded into a torpedo casing, which is fired at the Genesis planet. David admits that he may have misjudged Kirk and says he is proud to be his son, while the crew reflects on Spock’s sacrifice and the marvel of Regula’s transformation into a world of its own.

Order this movie on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxscreenplay by Jack B. Sowards
story by Harve Bennett and Jack B. Sowards
directed by Nicholas Meyer
music by James Horner

Cast: William Shatner (Admiral Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Captain Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Scotty), Walter Koenig (Chekov), George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Bibi Besch (Dr. Carol Marcus), Merritt Butrick (David Marcus), Paul Winfield (Terrell), Kirstie Alley (Lt. Saavik), Ricardo Montalban (Khan), Ike Eisenmann (Cadet Peter Preston), John Vargas (Jedda), Judson Scott (Joachim), John Winston (Lt. Kyle), Paul Kent (Beech), Nicholas Guest (Cadet), Russell Takaki (Madison), Kevin Sullivan (March), Joel Marstan (Crew Chief), Teresa E. Victor (Bridge Voice), Dianne Harper (Radio Voice), David Ruprecht (Radio Voice), Marcy Vosburgh (Computer Voice)

Original title: Star Trek II: The Vengeance Of Khan (changed to avoid confusion with Revenge Of The Jedi, which also later changed its title)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

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Star Trek MoviesStardate 8210.3: Heading home, the Enterprise receives no replies from Starfleet regarding the Genesis planet. Most of the trainees have been reassigned to other ships by now, and Kirk is still mourning the death of Spock. Arriving at spacedock, the crew also sees the USS Excelsior, a ship much larger than the Enterprise and boasts the faster transwarp propulsion system. But before the ship can rest easy, someone breaks into Spock’s cabin, which Kirk had declared off-limits. Kirk goes there himself and hears Spock’s voice asking why his body was left on the Genesis planet. Kirk finds that McCoy, on the edge of a nervous breakdown, is the trespasser. On arrival, Admiral Morrow reveals that the Enterprise is to be decommissioned instead of repaired, and also tells the crew that the Genesis device has become a hot topic in the Federation and a topic not to be discussed openly. Scotty is made Captain of engineering for the Excelsior, and the rest of the crew are promised extended leave.

Klingon Captain Kruge, having obtained an illegal copy of the Genesis proposal from a pirate vessel (which he then destroyed), orders his ship, a new Klingon Bird of Prey armed with a cloaking device, to the Genesis planet to investigate the device’s potential as a weapon for the Klingons. At the same time, the USS Grissom, with its new science officer Saavik and Genesis specialist David Marcus, arrives at the planet and detects life signs near the torpedo tube in which Spock’s body had been disposed.

Kirk and his officers, minus the hospitalized McCoy, relax at Kirk’s home when Sarek, Spock’s father, visits. Sarek mind-melds with Kirk in search of Spock’s katra – his spirit. Revealing that Vulcans can pass their spirits on to others when their bodies are near death, Sarek admits that Kirk does not possess Spock’s spirit. Kirk checks ship’s logs and sees that Spock did, in fact, pass his katra on – to McCoy. Sarek tells him that McCoy must be taken to Vulcan so that Spock can be released into a body of his own.

After arguing with Captain Esteban, Saavik and David get permission to beam down, where they find that the life form is a kind of giant slug, probably having developed from microbes on the torpedo’s surface. But they also find the body of Spock missing, and the planet seems very unstable, with extreme weather conditions isolated in random geological locations. Kirk tries to get permission from Admiral Morrow to return to Genesis and retrieve Spock’s body, but is unable to convince Morrow of the validity of Vulcan mysticism. McCoy, in the meantime, tries to hire a private ship from an alien merchant in a bar, but is removed by Starfleet agents when he begins to argue loudly with the alien about going to Genesis. McCoy is put in detention, where Kirk visits him, and, with Sulu’s help, distracts the guards and smuggles McCoy out of the holding area. Uhura, having taken an assignment at a transporter station, beams Kirk, McCoy and Sulu to the Enterprise, where Chekov is waiting. Scotty, in the meantime, has divided his time between sabotaging the Excelsior’s warp drive and preparing the Enterprise for operation by a minimal crew. Kirk and the others, minus Uhura, who plans to travel to Vulcan with Sarek, steal the Enterprise from spacedock. Captain Stiles and the Excelsior are ordered to pursue, but Scotty has disabled the larger ship’s supposedly superior capabilities. The Enterprise continues unchecked toward Genesis.

On the planet, Saavik and David follow more life form readings through a zone of arctic cold until they hear the cries of a child, who turns out to be a very young Vulcan male. They contact the ship with a theory that the Genesis wave may have resurrected Spock. Before allowing the landing party to return, Captain Esteban tries to contact Starfleet but communications are jammed. Kruge’s ship uncloaks and attacks, and the Grissom, a small vessel meant only for scientific duties, is destroyed with a single shot, leaving David, Saavik and the young Spock marooned. Kruge and a party of his men beam down to find them and interrogate them about the Genesis device. While trying to elude the Klingons, David reveals to Saavik that he took some shortcuts with the development of Genesis, resulting in the planet’s abnormalities and a dangerous acceleration of the age of the planet as well as all life-forms present during the Genesis detonation – meaning the childlike Spock. Spock’s rapid aging means that the male Vulcan’s mating drive that normally strikes every seven years of adulthood will occur with greater frequency in his accelerated development and will also bring periods of instability to the planet.

The Enterprise arrives at Genesis, where it is awaited by Kruge’s Bird of Prey, which cannot fire while cloaked. Sulu detects the ship despite the cloaking device and fires before the Klingons can attack. Kruge beams up from Genesis and takes charge of the battle. firing back at the Enterprise and destroying most of Scotty’s automatic systems. Kruge – after one of the Klingons remaining on the surface kills David – forces a grief-stricken and enraged Kirk to surrender. Kirk sets the Enterprise to self-destruct and, with the others, abandons ship and beams down to Genesis just as most of Kruge’s men board the Enterprise. Kruge realizes what is about to happen, but not in time to save his crew. The Enterprise destroys itself and the Klingons aboard, and the debris plunges into the atmosphere of the Genesis planet as Kirk and the others do away with the Klingon guards left on the surface.

Kruge has the last remaining member of his crew beam him to the planet, where Kirk promises to give him the secrets of Genesis in exchange for beaming the others to Kruge’s ship. Kirk and Kruge fight furiously as the planet begins to tear itself apart, and Kirk manages to kick his Klingon opponent off a cliff and beams up to the Bird of Prey. The last Klingon is taken prisoner, and the ship is set on a course for Vulcan. Sarek and Uhura greet Kirk and the others on Vulcan, now carrying Spock’s body which had, before leaving Genesis, grown to roughly the same age as it was when Spock died. McCoy and Spock are taken to the Vulcan High Priestess, who performs a dangerous ritual to return Spock’s mind to his body and free McCoy from the effects of Spock’s katra. The process is successful, and McCoy is restored to health. Spock, however, will have to be re-educated on Vulcan, and will never be exactly the same again. Kirk and the others decide to stay on Vulcan for a time and receive political asylum from Sarek.

Order this movie on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxwritten by Harve Bennett
directed by Leonard Nimoy
music by James Horner

Cast: William Shatner (Admiral Kirk), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Scotty), Walter Koenig (Chekov), George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Robin Curtis (Lt. Saavik), Merritt Butrick (David Marcus), Phil Morris (Trainee Foster), Scott McGinnis (“Mr. Adventure”), Robert Hooks (Admiral Morrow), Carl Steven (Spock, age 9), Vadia Potenza (Spock, age 13), Stephen Manley (Spock, age 17), Joe W. Davis (Spock, age 25), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), Paul Sorenson (Merchantship Captain), Cathie Shirriff (Valkris), Christopher Lloyd (Kruge), Stephen Liska (Torg), John Larroquette (Maltz), Dave Cadiente (Klingon Sergeant), Bob Cummings (Klingon Gunner #1), Branscombe Richmond (Klingon Gunner #2), Phillip Richard Allen (Captain Esteban), Jeanne Mori (USS Grissom Helm), Mario Marcelion (USS Grissom Communications), Allan Miller (Alien in bar), Sharon Thomas (Waitress), Conroy Gedeon (Civilian Agent), James B. Sikking (Captain Styles), Miguel Ferrer (USS Excelsior First Officer), Mark Lenard (Sarek), Katherine Blum (Vulcan Child), Dame Judith Anderson (Vulcan High Priestess), Gary Faga (Prison Guard #1), Douglas Alan Shanklin (Prison Guard #2), Grace Lee Whitney (Woman in cafeteria), Frank Welker (Spock screams), Teresa E. Victor (Enterprise Computer voice), Harve Bennett (Flight Recorder voice), Judi Durand (Space Dock Controller voice), Frank Force (Elevator voice)

Notes: Many events in this movie resurface again. The loss of David creates an even stronger prejudice against Klingons in Kirk than ever before, which nearly proves to be fatal in Star Trek VI. The Excelsior, whose transwarp drive proves to be a failure, makes a dramatic comeback in Trek VI under a new captain, while the fact that Spock’s personality changes drastically as a result of being re-educated by Vulcans rather than his human mother is addressed in Star Trek IV and Star Trek V. Merritt Butrick, who appeared in this movie, Star Trek II, and one episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation, died of AIDS in 1988. Judi Durand would return to the Star Trek fold nearly a decade later, as the station computer voice on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

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Star Trek MoviesStardate 8390.0: An enormous alien probe on a heading for Earth encounters and completely cripples the USS Saratoga, continuing unchecked toward Earth, where a high-ranking Klingon Ambassador is trying to convince the Federation Council that the Genesis device was, in fact, a weapon designed to eradicate the Klingon species. The Ambassador promises that there will be no peace between the Klingons and Federation while Kirk lives. In the meantime, Kirk and the rest of his crew, excluding Saavik, who stays behind, leave Vulcan in their hijacked Bird of Prey, which McCoy has christened the “Bounty.”

While en route to Earth, they receive an emergency transmission informing them that Earth’s defenses have been neutralized by a huge vessel of unknown origin, and that the alien ship is beginning to destroy the atmosphere and oceans, all the time transmitting indecipherable sounds. Analyzing a recording of the sounds transmitted by the alien ship, Spock determines that the probe can not be responded to because the sounds are apparently analogous to songs sung by humpback whales – extinct in the 23rd century. Kirk decides to risk a slingshot around the sun to send the Bounty into a time warp to Earth of the past and bring back enough whales to repopulate the species and, more importantly, respond to the probe.

The Bounty lands in San Francisco, 1986, and the crew splits into three teams. Kirk and a thinly disguised Spock set out to find the whales, which Kirk decides to take from the Cetacean Institute, a museum devoted to whales. There, Kirk meets Dr. Gillian Taylor as she leads a tour of the Institute, during which she shows off the Institute’s two whales, George and Gracie. Gillian also reveals that the whales will have to be released into the open sea due to the cost of keeping them in captivity. Spock dives into the whale tank and mind-melds with one of the whales, finding that Gracie is pregnant, but Gillian throws them out of the Institute, only to find them walking back to Golden Gate Park and picks them up again.

Chekov and Uhura find the Navy’s USS Enterprise and sneak in to collect photon spillage from the ship’s nuclear reactor in order to replenish the dilithium crystals on the Bounty for the return trip to the 23rd century, while Scotty, Sulu and McCoy seek out the materials necessary to build a tank for the whales and their water in the Bounty. Scotty’s team visits a plexiglas factory, where he trades the “recipe” for transparent aluminum (common in the 23rd century) in for the necessary materials and the loan of a helicopter to return the tank walls to the Bounty. (Scotty insists no damage is being done to history – perhaps the director of the factory to whom Scotty revealed the “secret” is the inventor!) Uhura and Chekov gather the necessary energy to ready the Bounty for its next time warp, but they are detected on the carrier. Chekov gives Uhura the collection device and has her beamed back to the Bounty, while he is captured and briefly interrogated.

Chekov escapes again, but is seriously wounded and taken to a hospital. Kirk, having befriended Gillian and learned how upset she is that “her” whales are about to be turned loose, gets the frequency to radio tags that the whales will be carrying so scientists can track them, but even Gillian doesn’t know the exact location to which the whales will be taken. Kirk receives the news of Chekov’s injury and, with McCoy, mounts a rescue operation which will require the help of Gillian. They enter the hospital disguised as surgeons, and McCoy performs a quick fix returning Chekov to normal after expressing alarm that 20th century medicine would have called for a hole to be drilled into Chekov’s skull. They “kidnap” Chekov from the hospital and take him back to the Bounty, where Gillian stows away by joining Kirk just as he is beamed aboard.

The Bounty lifts off and reaches the whales’ coordinates in the Pacific, only to find a whaling ship is in hot pursuit of George and Gracie. Kirk orders the Bounty to decloak, which frightens the poachers away while the two whales are beamed aboard. The Bounty makes it back to the 23rd century and crash-lands in San Francisco Bay after being disabled by the probe, and Kirk releases the whales into the ocean. George and Gracie re-establish contact between Earth’s whales and the aliens – a dialogue which had been in progress before man even existed – and Gillian begins her new life as a Federation cetacean biology specialist.

Kirk and the others are exonerated for all charges against them concerning the theft and destruction of the starship Enterprise, except for Kirk, who is demoted to Captain and given command of a new, more advanced vessel: the new Enterprise, NCC-1701-A.

Order this movie on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxscreenplay by Steve Meerson & Peter Krikes and Harve Bennett & Nicholas Meyer
story by Leonard Nimoy & Harve Bennett
directed by Leonard Nimoy
music by Leonard Rosenman

Cast: William Shatner (Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Scotty), George Takei (Sulu), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Jane Wyatt (Amanda), Catherine Hicks (Dr. Gillian Taylor), Mark Lenard (Sarek), Robin Curtis (Lt. Saavik), Robert Ellenstein (Federation Council President), John Schuck (Klingon Ambassador), Brock Peters (Admiral Cartwright), Michael Snyder (Starfleet Communications Officer), Michael Berryman (Starfleet Display Officer), Mike Brislane (USS Saratoga Science Officer), Grace Lee Whitney (Commander Rand), Vijay Amritraj (Starship Captain), Majel Barrett (Commander Chapel), Nick Ramus (USS Saratoga Helmsman), Thaddeus Golas (Controller #1), Martin Pistone (Controller #2), Scott DeVenney (Bob Briggs), Viola Stimpson (Lady in tour), Phil Rubenstein (Garbageman #1), John Miranda (Garbageman #2), Joe Knowland (Antique Store Owner), Bob Sarlatte (Waiter), Everett Lee (Cafe Owner), Richard Harder (Joe), Alex Henteloff (Nichols), Tony Edwards (Pilot), Eve Smith (Elderly Patient), Tom Mustin (Intern #1), Greg Karas (Intern #2), Raymond Singer (Young Doctor), David Ellenstein (Doctor #1), Judy Levitt (Doctor #2), Teresa E. Victor (Usher), James Menges (Jogger), Kirk Thatcher (Punk on bus), Jeff Lester (FBI Agent), Joe Lando (Shore Patrolman), Newell Tarrant (CDO), Mike Timoney, Jeffrey Martin (Electronic Technicians), 1st Sgt. Joseph Naradzay USMC (Marine Sergeant), 1st Sgt. Donald W. Zautcke USMC (Marine Lieutenant)

Notes: Often, the version of the “past” presented in Star Trek in the 1960s dealt with events still in the future, such as the Star Trek IVEugenics Wars mentioned in Space Seed, supposedly in the late 1990s. Happily enough, such events have not taken place, and a similar inaccuracy, though it didn’t exist when the movie was first released, now occurs in Star Trek IV. Though in 1986, while the story was being written and filmed, there was still a Leningrad and still a Soviet Union, those officially ceased to exist in 1991 with the advent of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the city of Leningrad was promptly restored to its original name – St. Petersburg. Early drafts of the story split Dr. Gillian Taylor into two characters – the marine biologist we saw in the movie, and an idealistic schoolteacher, a character written for comedian Eddie Murphy. The two characters were combined in later drafts of the screenplay, and in any case, Murphy was busy with another Paramount film at the time, The Golden Child.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

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Star Trek MoviesStardate 8454.1: On the planet Nimbus III, a central location where one ambassador each from the Federation, Klingon Empire and Romulan Empire have met to discuss solutions to the mutual hostility each government holds for the others, talks have virtually ceased despite the arrival of a new Romulan ambassador and Nimbus III has become an arid desert. A renegade Vulcan – apparently breaking from the tradition of his race and embracing emotions and impulses – has generated a strong following on the planet and takes the three ambassadors hostage. The Vulcan, Sybok, then sends a message to the delegates’ governments, demanding a fair hearing of his demands in exchange for the hostages’ lives. A Klingon vessel, commanded by trigger-happy Captain Klaa, heads for Nimbus III with Klaa spoiling for a fight with the legendary Enterprise.

The Enterprise arrives first, and Kirk mounts a rescue operation involving distracting the guards, but he finds himself being held at gunpoint by the hostages he was meant to rescue, Kirk realizes that the affair has been a trap. Sybok now intends to hijack the Enterprise, and succeeds in earning the loyalty of Sulu, Uhura and Chekov by “releasing” them from painful memories in their lives. Sybok sets the Enterprise on a course to the Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy, where he believes he will find the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree and, according to Sybok’s theory, that world’s inhabitant – God. Surviving the supposedly deadly trip through the barrier, the Enterprise arrives at an uncharted planet, convincing many of the ship’s crew that Sybok may be right. In their excitement, no one notices that Klaa’s ship is now arriving at Sha Ka Ree as well.

Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Sybok fly a shuttle to the surface and, although initially finding no sign of life, encounter the projection of an enormous face which claims to be God and greets Sybok. However, when the being insists that the Enterprise be brought in close enough that he may meld with it for the journey beyond the Great Barrier, Kirk is suspicious and questions the being’s authenticity. The creature lashes out at Kirk and Spock when they doubt his identity, and Sybok realizes that it is not God. Grappling with the entity so that the others may escape, Sybok gives Kirk time to order a torpedo fired at the creature, but it is not easily killed. When they return to the shuttle, Kirk, Spock and McCoy discover that it has been crippled by the creature, and Kirk orders Scotty to beam Spock and McCoy up.

As soon as they have safely returned to the Enterprise, Klaa opens fire on the Enterprise, damaging the transporters once more. Spock convinces General Koord, the Klingon delegate from Nimbus III and one of Sybok’s recent converts, to use his rank to commandeer Klaa’s ship and rescue Kirk. Koord agrees, and Spock takes over the gunner’s seat on the Klingon ship to destroy the God impostor in time to save Kirk. The Klingons and the Enterprise leave Sha Ka Ree peacefully (and after profuse apologies from Klaa), offering some hope for a peaceful future, in which the formerly disgruntled Nimbus III delegates promise to take a more active interest.

Order this movie on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxscreenplay by David Loughery
story by William Shatner, Harve Bennett and David Loughery
directed by William Shatner
music by Jerry Goldsmith

Cast: William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Scotty), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), George Takei (Sulu), David Warner (St. John Talbot), Laurence Luckinbill (Sybok), Charles Cooper (Korrd), Cynthia Guow (Caithlin Dar), Todd Bryant (Captain Klaa), Spice Williams (Vixis), Rex Holman (J’onn), George Murdock (“God”), Jonathan Simpson (Young Sarek), Beverly Hart (Vulcan High Priestess), Steve Susskind (Pitchman), Harve Bennett (Starfleet Chief of Staff), Cynthia Blaise (Young Amanda), Bill Quinn (McCoy’s Father), Melanie Shatner (Yeoman)

Note: Although the movie’s end seemed to touch on a Federation peace with the Klingons, the situation obviously was a small instance of cooperation between the two, as Star Trek VI indicated that they were still deadly enemies. David Warner would return to Star Trek VI, though in a drastically different role, as well as a later appearance in a two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Charles Cooper would also resurface in Next Generation, again as a Klingon, but minus the belching, as would George Murdock, appearing as Admiral Hansen in the fan-favorite story Best Of Both Worlds. Rex Holman appeared in the original series Spectre Of The Gun.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

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Star Trek MoviesStardate 9522.6: A colossal explosion on the Klingon moon Praxis sends intense shock waves through space, which are encountered by the USS Excelsior in its third year of duty under Captain Sulu. The Excelsior is damaged by the leading edge of the energy burst, but regains her balance. When offered assistance, the Klingons tell Sulu to mind his own business and stay out of their territory. Later, on Earth, the command crew of the Enterprise is invited to a top priority, high-security briefing at Starfleet Headquarters, where it is revealed that one of the Kligons’ main sources of power, located on Praxis, released radiation that will eat away the Klingon homeworld’s ozone layer in roughly fifty years, and the Klingons, whose economy is devoted entirely to military development, are unable to combat the deterioration of their planet without aid. Spock, acting as an ambassador, has opened the door for discussions with Chancellor Gorkon of the Klingon High Council, and has taken the liberty of volunteering Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise – both of which are three months away from mandatory retirement as Starfleet prepares to decommission the ship itself – for the duty of escorting Gorkon and his party to the first Federation-Klingon peace talks.

Over dinner on the Enterprise, the Klingons and the Starfleet officers seem to be unable to avoid eventually insulting or offending each other, and General Chang seems more interested in Kirk’s reputation as a warrior than in peace. The Klingons return to their ship, and shortly afterward, torpedoes from the Enterprise’s direction pummel Gorkon’s ship, and two figures in Federation spacesuits beam aboard and kill the Chancellor and many of the Klingon crew. Still unsure of what has happened – Scotty finds that none of the Enterprise’s torpedoes have been fired – Kirk surrenders when Chang threatens to fire on the Enterprise point-blank. Kirk and McCoy beam over, where McCoy tries to save the dying Gorkon, but with Federation medicine’s limited knowledge of Klingon anatomy, McCoy cannot prevent Gorkon’s death. Kirk and McCoy are arrested and given a trial where Chang’s unusual evidence – including entries from Kirk’s personal log stating his distrust of Klingons since they killed his son – insinuates that Kirk was behind the assassination. Kirk and McCoy are sentenced to work for the rest of their lives in the dilithium mines on Rura Penthe.

At Spock’s command, the Enterprise conveniently develops a malfunction that prevents them from receiving Starfleet’s order to return home while the crew searches for the equipment used by the two Starfleet officers who assassinated Gorkon. A few leads appear, but then are revealed to be false alarms – someone is deliberately trying to lead the investigation off track. In the meantime, Kirk and McCoy fight for their lives on Rura Penthe but are helped by exotic fellow prisoner Martia, who warns Kirk that even in the penal colony, there is a price on his head. Martia helps them escape, hoping that Kirk, who she says is the most attractive prisoner to appear in a long time, will repay her somehow. During their escape, Martia is revealed to be a shapeshifter, and perhaps not even a true female. Kirk realizes that the escape has been too easy and that Martia is the one out for he and McCoy. Martia changes into a copy of Kirk, but when the prison guards catch up, Kirk tricks them into shooting Martia instead.

Bluffing their way past Klingon border guards, the Enterprise crew beams Kirk and McCoy up just before the two would have been executed. After returning to the Enterprise, Kirk and the others discover two dead crewmen – the assassins – and realize that there is one more conspirator. Kirk suggests laying a trap by announcing to the crew that the dead crewmen are alive and in sick bay awaiting the court reporter, which would lure the culprit to sick bay to kill the two crewmen before they could talk. The ploy works, and the conspirator is Lt. Valeris, Spock’s trusted protege’. Spock forces a mind-meld with Valeris to find out who the main conspirators are, and discovers that Klingons and a member of the Federation top brass are already cooperating peacefully – to ensure that peace is destroyed by the assassination of the President of the Federation.

Kirk contacts Captain Sulu, and their two ships head for Khitomer to save the President and reveal the conspirators, but time – and Chang’s prototype Bird of Prey that can fire while cloaked (the real source of the attack on Gorkon’s ship) – are against their efforts to save the negotiations.

Order this movie on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxscreenplay by Nicholas Meyer and Denny Martin Flinn
story by Leonard Nimoy and Lawrence Konner & Mark Rosenthal
directed by Nicholas Meyer
music by Cliff Eidelman

Cast: William Shatner (Captain Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy), James Doohan (Scotty), George Takei (Captain Sulu), Walter Koenig (Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Kim Cattrall (Valeris), Mark Lenard (Sarek), Grace Lee Whitney (Excelsior Communications Officer), Brock Peters (Admiral Cartwright), Leon Russom (Chief in Command), Kurtwood Smith (Federation President), Christopher Plummer (Chang), Rosanna DeSoto (Azetbur), David Warner (Chancellor Gorkon), John Schuck (Klingon Ambassador), Michael Dorn (Klingon Defense Attorney), Paul Rossilli (Kerla), Robert Easton (Klingon Judge), Clifford Shegog (Klingon Officer), W. Morgan Sheppard (Klingon Commander), Brett Porter (General Stex), Jeremy Roberts (Excelsior Officer), Michael Bofshever (Excelsior Engineer), Angelo Tiffe (Excelsior Navigator), Boris Lee Krutonog (Helsman Lojur), Christian Slater (Excelsior Communications Officer), Iman (Martia), Tom Morga (The Brute), Todd Bryant (Klingon Translator), John Bloom (Behemoth Alien), Jim Beoke (First Klingon General), Carlos Cestero (Munitions Man), Edward Clements (Young Crewman), Katie Jane Johnston (Martia as a Child), Douglas Engalla (Prisoner at Rura Penthe), Matthias Hues (Second Klingon General), Darryl Henriques (Nanclus), David Drance (Sleepy Klingon), Judy Levitt (Military Aide), Shakti (ADC), Michael Snyder (Crewman Dax), Rene Auberjonois (Colonel West – home video release only)

Notes: Although Next Generation was approaching its second season when Trek V was made, the film ignored the TV series (aside from using several barely-redressed sets). However, in Trek VI, many Next Generation connections were present: a Klingon defense attorney (Michael Dorn) is briefly identified as Colonel Worf, the grandfather of the Enterprise-D’s security chief; Khitomer is the site of the 24th century Romulan attack on a Klingon colony, killing Lt. Worf’s parents in Next Generation lore. Events in this movie happen at least 3 years after Trek V, as Sulu states that he has commanded Excelsior for 3 years – though some reports place Trek VI 10 to 15 years later than Trek V, which would better account for the crew’s signs of age. The events in Trek VI were mentioned briefly in the Next Generation two-parter Unification, in which it is mentioned that Spock met Romulan Senator Pardek at the Khitomer Conference. Also, some time after Trek VI and the 23rd century scenes of Generations, Scotty, aboard a transport ship, encounters the enormous alien device which causes him to attempt a last-ditch maneuver to save his life, as told in the Relics episode of Next Generation.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Mind War

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Babylon 5After a narrow escape from an Earth Alliance fighter squadron, outcast Psi Corps member Jason Ironheart takes refuge aboard Babylon 5, hoping to make contact with Talia, his old student and former lover. Matters are made no easier when two Psi Cops – capable of immense telepathic power – arrive to grill Talia and Sinclair about Ironheart’s possible whereabouts. When it becomes apparent that Ironheart is not only aboard the station but is also somehow dangerous, Talia risks her standing with the Psi Corps to discover that Jason has become a new breed of telepath thanks to the Corps’ illicit experimentation. And Catherine Sakai, on a routine planetary survey mission, encounters a spacecraft of unfathomable size…

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

Guest Cast: William Allen Young (Jason Ironheart), Felicity Waterman (Kelsey), Walter Koenig (Bester), Julia Nickson (Catherine Sakai), Don Dowe (Earth Fighter), Elisa Pensler Gabrielli (Guest Liaison), Michael McKenzie (Narn Captain), Kevin Page (Businessman), Mark S. Porro (Security Guard), Macaulay Bruton (Garibaldi’s Aide), Marianne Robertson (Dome Tech #1)

Babylon 5Notes: This episode marks the first appearance of the First Ones. Bester also makes his first appearance, though Walter Koenig was originally slated to guest star as one of the “Knight” characters in And the Sky Full of Stars which, although it aired later, was filmed before Mind War; Koenig’s heart attack in 1993 prevented his planned appearance. The gift given to Talia by Ironheart is explored further in A Race Through Dark Places.

Star Trek: Generations

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Star Trek: The Next GenerationStardate not given: Kirk, Scotty and Chekov are present for the christening of the newly constructed starship Enterprise NCC-1701-B, during which Kirk gives the first order to launch the ship. Shortly afterward, an emergency arises, and the new Enterprise is the only ship close enough to respond, despite the fact that it is untested and carries only a skeleton crew. The Enterprise is battered in an urgent mission to reach a smaller vessel and rescue her crew, and many of the doomed ship’s survivors are pleading to go back from where they came, though it is obvious that they are not referring to their destroyed vessel. One of the survivors, Soran, means to rediscover something amazing he found, something which caused the destruction of his ship. Another survivor, a mysterious woman named Guinan, will someday be aboard a ship called Enterprise again. As the Enterprise-B limps away from her first crisis, an energy remnant from the same phenomenon that destroyed the smaller ships strikes the Enterprise, and Kirk is killed – or at least it seems so to his colleagues…

Stardate 48650.1: A holodeck celebration of Worf’s promotion to lieutenant commander is cut short by a personal communique to Picard and a distress call from the Amargosa Solar Observatory. By the time the Enterprise reaches the observatory, attackers – apparently Romulans – have already left their mark. Back on the Enterprise, Data decides that the time has finally come for him to try Dr. Soong’s emotion chip for himself. Dr. Soran, a researcher from the observatory, insists on returning there so he can continue his work in spite of the recent attack. It is discovered that the Romulan attackers were searching for trilithium, a vital component in a new and highly destructive explosive device. Data and Geordi are scanning for trilithium on the observatory when Data is overcome with emotions; Dr. Soran appears and takes this opportunity to take them hostage. Aboard the Enterprise, Picard reveals to Troi that he received a message earlier informing him of the death of the only other living members of the Picard family, leaving him the sole survivor of his family line. When Soran launches a probe from the observatory into a nearby star, the star explodes, leaving only minutes before the stellar shock waves reach and destroy the Enterprise and the entire solar system. Worf and Riker beam to the observatory and rescue the fear-stricken Data, but Soran has captured Geordi and transports away to a Klingon Bird of Prey which, along with the Enterprise, barely escapes the star’s death throes in time. The Klingon ship is commanded by the Duras sisters.

On the Enterprise, the incident nearly 80 years ago involving the Enterprise-B is investigated when Soran and Guinan are both discovered to have been there. Guinan explains to Picard that Soran is trying to replicate the ribbon of immense energy that destroyed the ship they were on decades ago, since it was a doorway to an ethereal plane of eternal happiness, so he can return there. Picard and Data find out that Soran destroyed the star to divert the energy so he can once again reach the Nexus, but another star will have to be detonated before Soran can reach his goal – and that star’s solar system is heavily populated. The Enterprise tracks down the Duras sisters’ ship, and Picard agrees to exchange himself for Geordi as a hostage so he can try to stop Soran. Picard finds himself on one of the target star’s planets, where Soran is moments away from firing another probe that will finally allow him to reach the Nexus. Geordi is returned to the Enterprise with a nanite-like transmitter that sends his VISOR’s input to the Klingon sisters, who use information Geordi sees in engineering to launch a withering attack on the Enterprise. Worf discovers a weakness in the Bird of Prey’s defenses, and manages to destroy the Duras sisters at last, but the Enterprise has sustained more damage than can be contained, and the crew is evacuated to the saucer section so the warp drive section can be jettisoned before it goes critical.

Picard manages to attack Soran, but not before the scientist launches his probe into the star. The Enterprise’s drive section explodes, catapulting the saucer straight into the planet’s atmosphere, where it lands safely, though the Enterprise will never take to the stars again. When the Nexus opens up, Soran and Picard are sucked into it; moments later, the exploding star destroys the planet the Enterprise’s saucer has landed on.

In the Nexus, Picard encounters a fragment of Guinan that was left in the rift in the Enterprise-B incident. She informs him that he can go to whatever time he wishes, and Picard intends to use this ability to prevent Soran from launching the probe that destroys the star and its planets. Guinan also suggests that Picard seek the help of another starship captain who was captured in the Nexus when the Enteprise-B was struck by its energy discharge after rescuing Guinan. That individual happens to be James T. Kirk. Picard convinces Kirk to help him stop Soran, and they emerge at the point in time before Soran launched his final probe. The captains’ combined efforts thwart Soran’s plans and result in the mad scientist’s death at the hands of his own grounded probe, but Kirk has suffered mortal injuries in the course of the battle and dies just before a shuttle from the Enterprise arrives to retrieve Picard, while the Enterprise crew is evacuated to the starship Farragut, leaving the wreckage of Picard’s most legendary command on the planet surface.

Order this movie on DVDDownload this episode via Amazon's Unboxscreenplay by Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga
story by Rick Berman & Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga
directed by David Carson
music by Dennis McCarthy

Cast: Patrick Stewart (Picard), Jonathan Frakes (Riker), Brent Spiner (Data), LeVar Burton (Geordi), Michael Dorn (Worf), Gates McFadden (Beverly), Marina Sirtis (Troi), Malcolm McDowall (Soran), Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan), James Doohan (Scotty), Walter Koenig (Chekov), William Shatner (Kirk), Barbara March (Lursa), Gwynyth Walsh (B’etor), Alan Ruck (Captain Harriman), Jacqueline Kim (Ensign Demora Sulu), Jenette Goldstein (Enterprise-B Science Officer), Glenn Morshower (Enterprise-B Helm), Tim Russ (Enterprise-B Lieutenant), Thomas Kopache (Enterprise-B Communications), Patti Yasutake (Nurse Ogawa), Christine Jansen (Journalist), John Putch (Journalist), Tommy Hinckley (Journalist), Michael Mack (Ensign Hayes), Dendrie Taylor (Lt. Farrell), Granville Ames (Transporter Chief), Henry Marshall (Security Officer), Brittany Parkyn (Girl with Teddy Bear), Rif Hutton (Klingon Guard), Brian Thompson (Klingon Helm), Marcy Goldman, Jim Krestaiuce, Judy Levitt, Kristopher Logan, Gwen van Dam (El-Aurian Survivors), Kim Braden (Picard’s Wife), Cristopher James Miller (Rene), Matthew Collins, Mimi Collins, Thomas Alexander Dekker, Madison P. Dinton, Olivia Hack (Picard’s Children), and Spot

LogBook entry by Earl Green

A Race Through Dark Places

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Babylon 5At Psi-Corps’ headquarters on Mars, Bester interrogates a telepath for information on an underground railroad helping unregistered telepaths evade the Corps’ rigorous supervision. Bester goes to B5, which he believes these telepaths are using as a way station. The underground railroad does turn out to be running through B5, and the telepaths try to kill Bester, who manages to take cover, though Talia is kidnapped. The rogue telepaths are more organized than anyone has realized, and they have a friend on the station – Dr. Franklin. Bester closes in on the telepaths’ hiding place DownBelow, and the telepaths can only escape alive if they can convince Talia to rebel against the Psi Corps.

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

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain John Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Lt. Commander Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Andrea Thompson (Talia Winters), Stephen Furst (Vir), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Robert Rusler (Warren Keffer), Mary Kay Adams (Na’Toth), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Peter Jurasik (Londo), Walter Koenig (Bester), Apesanahkwat (Telepath #1), Brian Cousins (Rick), Diane Dilascio (Telepath #2), Gianin Loffler (Lurker), Eddie Allen (Man), Kathryn Cressida (Bartender), Judy Levitt (Psi Cop), Christopher Babylon 5Michael (Shooter), William Allen Young (Jason Ironheart)

Note: There is a hint that the gift given to Talia by Jason Ironheart in Mind War consisted not only of telekinesis, but also an involuntary shield from telepathic scans, though this could also be attributed to a revelation made in Divided Loyalties. The lurker who is the head of the underground railroad is the same one who tipped Garibaldi off on the whereabouts of Devereaux in Chrysalis.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Dust to Dust

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Babylon 5 Bester asks to come aboard the station, trying to track down a source of the deadly, telepathy-inducing drug known as dust. Ivanova, afraid that Bester will eventually learn of their conspiracy against Clark, wants to simply kill the Psi Cop. When Bester hints that Talia Winters’ body has gone the way of her personality, Garibaldi isn’t so inclined to disagree. But with help from the Minbari, Sheridan manages to even the playing field and get Bester to agree to take telepathy-suppressing drugs. Once he does, he and Garibaldi discover that Bester is, maddeningly enough, correct – a major dust supplier is peddling his wares on Babylon 5. And unfortunately for Londo, that supplier has found an eager buyer in G’Kar. The Narn uses his brief burst of dust-induced telepathy to pry into the secrets surrounding the Centauri’s secret allies in the war against his homeworld. But at the end of G’Kar’s revenge lies a surprising epiphany.

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

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain John Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Commander Susan Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Security Chief Michael Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Stephen Franklin), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Jason Carter (Marcus Cole), Stephen Furst (Vir), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Peter Jurasik (Londo Mollari), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Walter Koenig (Bester), Julian Neil (Lindstrom), Jim Norton (Narn Image), Ardwight Chamberlain (Kosh), Harry Hutchinson (Security Guard #1), John-Frederick Jones (Centauri Diplomat), S. Marc Jordan (Shop Owner), Judy Levitt (Psi Cop), Gwen McGee (Med Tech), Philip Moon (Ashi), Walter O’Neil (Crazed Man), David Shark (Man), Kim Strauss (Vizak), Dani Thompson (Ombuds)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Ship Of Tears

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Babylon 5Bester comes to the station again, this time offering to help in the fight against the Shadows. He has information about a shipment of weapons components being sent to the Shadows, and Sheridan agrees to take the Psi Cop along on the White Star to intercept. But even Bester is surprised when the components in question turn out to be rogue telepaths who have been subjected to surgical implants that will force them to become the pilots of Shadow vessels. A number of important discoveries are made – the telepaths can merge with any computer system thanks to their implants, and the Shadows leave the White Star alone simply due to the presence of Bester. The pilot of the Shadow transport is a being called a Drakh, though no one realizes its significance. But all of these findings are overshadowed when the Shadows themselves break cover and begin attacking openly, starting with Brakiri space.

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

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain John Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Commander Susan Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Security Chief Michael Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Stephen Franklin), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Jason Carter (Marcus Cole), Stephen Furst (Vir), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Peter Jurasik (Londo Mollari), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Walter Koenig (Bester), Joan McMurtrey (Carolyn), Diana Morgan (Alison), Debra Sharkey (Med Tech)

LogBook entry by Dave Thomer

Epiphanies

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Babylon 5In the wake of the war, President Clark panics because his Shadow allies are no longer there to help him, and sets wheels into motion to bring down those responsible for the Shadows’ departure – Sheridan and the others aboard B5. Bester learns of a plan to tarnish B5’s public image by having a squadron of Psi Corps’ Black Omega fighters attack the blockade at the nearest Earth outpost to the station, claiming to be from Babylon 5, and travels to the station to warn Sheridan. But the price for this information is an ill-advised trip to Z’Ha’Dum so Bester can try to recover Shadow technology that could free his former lover from their influence, a trip which is cut short when an intruder detection system destroys Z’Ha’Dum completely. Other surprises include Garibaldi’s sudden resignation after receiving a mysterious call, Londo and G’Kar returning to the station, the arrival of a new alien race on Centauri Prime, and at least one Elvis sighting.

Order now!Download this episodewritten by J. Michael Straczynski
directed by John C. Flinn III
music by Christopher Franke

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Commander Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Jason Carter (Marcus Cole), Stephen Furst (Vir), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Peter Jurasik (Londo), Walter Koenig (Bester), Damian London (Minister), Victor Iundin (Psi Corps Official), Robert Patteri (EA Pilot), Lauren Sanchez (News Anchor)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Moments of Transition

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Babylon 5On Minbar, the warrior caste stoops to treacherous new lows as Delenn receives the news that Shakiri, the warrior leader, will openly attack the capitol of Minbar and its population unless the religious caste offers its immedaite surrender. On B5, Lyta finds herself at a disadvantage since she has gone on the run from Psi Corps. Potential clients who need a telepath to perform even the most routine duties will not accept the services of a known renegade. Psi Cop Bester happens to be on the station, and offers Lyta the renewal of her Psi Corps certification if she will agree to have her Vorlon-enhanced body turned over to Bester upon her death. Lyta refuses to sign such a contract, but she is left with little alternative. The room she occupied during the height of the war is too expensive for her, a visit to Garibaldi seeking work almost but doesn’t quite work due to the insistent disapproval of Garibaldi’s new employer, William Edgars of Mars, and the only other offer of work she gets is from Zack, who wants the evasive former security chief scanned without permission. Lyta must now reluctantly return to the Psi Corps, Delenn must surrender and risk being killed as a symbol of her caste’s strength, and forces under the control of Earth President Clark engage in a killing spree which incites Sheridan to declare war on Earth.

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

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Commander Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Jason Carter (Marcus Cole), Stephen Furst (Vir), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Peter Jurasik (Londo), Bart McCarthy (Shakiri), Walter Koenig (Bester), John Vickery (Neroon), Scott Adams (Mr. Adams)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

The Face of the Enemy

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Babylon 5More and more Earth ships switch sides to join Sheridan’s fleet, including his old command, the Agammemnon. While visiting his old ship, Sheridan receives a call from Garibaldi, a warning that Sheridan’s father has been seized and taken into custody, and an offer of help. Against the advice of Ivanova, his former first officer on the Agammemnon, and probably even his own common sense, Sheridan agrees to Garibaldi’s terms to come to Mars, alone, only to find that it’s a trap. Sheridan is captured and brutalized by Earth Force, and in exchange for this demonstration of reliability, Edgars tells Garibaldi the whole truth – he’s not trying to keep the Psi Corps from gaining power, he’s trying to ensure the extinction of all telepaths. Even though Garibaldi agrees to help Edgars, he himself has unwittingly been gathering intelligence for Bester and the Corps. And perhaps worst of all, Bester reminds Garibaldi of something he’s forgotten.

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

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Commander Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Jason Carter (Marcus Cole), Stephen Furst (Vir), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Peter Jurasik (Londo), Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (William Edgars), Richard Gant (Captain Edward McDougan), Denise Gentile (Lise Hampton), Marjorie Monaghan (Number One), Diana Morgan (Alison Higgins), David Purdham (Captain James), Ricco Ross (Captain Frank), Mark Schneider (Wade), Walter Koenig (Bester), Harlan Ellison (Psi Cop)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Rising Star

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Babylon 5Having liberated Earth, Sheridan hands himself over to Earthforce authorities, now under the command of acting President Luchenko of the Russian Consortium. But the new President isn’t the only person wanting to have a word with him – Bester and more than a few right-wing generals are lined up to take Sheridan’s head off at the first opportunity, but Luchenko offers him the opportunity to resign his Earthforce commission and grant his allies amnesty from any further prosecution. On Babylon 5, Susan is out of danger from the injuries she suffered in the attack by the Shadow-based Earth destroyers, but suffers from a raging guilt that her recovery came at the expense of Marcus’ life. Delenn assembles the League on Non-Aligned Worlds one last time, to ask them to dissolve that entity in favor of a new Interstellar Alliance which would hold all of the involved worlds as equal. Her next task is to go to Earth to convince the new President to join the alliance, provided that the new Earth government is willing to grant independence to colonies such as Mars, where Garibaldi is trying to free Lise from the Martian Mafia. Also free is Sheridan’s father, who meets his future daughter-in-law when Delenn arrives on Earth. What remains to be seen, after the wedding of Sheridan and Delenn, is if Earth will accept him as the first president of the new Interstellar Alliance.

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

Cast: Bruce Boxleitner (Captain Sheridan), Claudia Christian (Commander Ivanova), Jerry Doyle (Garibaldi), Mira Furlan (Delenn), Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklin), Bill Mumy (Lennier), Jason Carter (Marcus Cole), Stephen Furst (Vir), Jeff Conaway (Zack Allan), Patricia Tallman (Lyta Alexander), Andreas Katsulas (G’Kar), Peter Jurasik (Londo), Joey Dente (Luko), Denise Gentile (Lise Hampton), Rance Howard (David Sheridan), Michael Potter (General Foote), Beata Pozniak (President Susanna Luchenko), Walter Koenig (Bester), Alex Coro (Max), Maggie Egan (ISN Anchor), Julie Ow (Med Tech)

LogBook entry by Earl Green