Why did you come in contact with Orillian lung maggots? And what are they doing in their lower bowels? You bathe in a bog? What? Next. Um, I think I swallowed my combatch. Hello and welcome to Star Trek Mission Report. I'm Josh. I'm Steve. How's it going? Good, how you doing, man? Good, good. It's been a day or two. Yeah, a little bit, a little bit. I know I say this every time at Broken Records, like we're gonna have more episodes, but we will, we will. Yep. I mean, if we were getting paid, I think we would definitely be like, you know what, let's just call in sick today and we'll just... Even if we were getting some sort of Patreon that just gave us McDonald's for lunch. Right, right.
It's like if you do an episode once a week, we'll give you McDonald's. You'd have probably 50 episodes by now. Oh, yeah. For sure. For sure. It'd be a daily thing. Right. And I'd be bigger. Same. Probably have IVs hooked to us and stuff. Cool. For you today, we have some news items we're going to discuss. Also, we're going to discuss Star Trek Con. Last episode, we just started listening to it. So that finished back in November, I think. Yeah, it did. Yeah. And that's by the time that I finished it. Yeah. Yeah. I was behind. I was driving a lot, so I had it in the car. Oh, sure.
Perfect. Well, that's great. Traveling back and forth. It was just like, well, that's a lot, though, because it gets sleepy. Yeah, it was great because, you know, traveling between here and Omaha all the time was just, it was beautiful. I could listen to that. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it was good. Nice, nice. And then we also watched the first two episodes of Starfleet Academy. That just ended the, not the show. Well, maybe they have two seasons. I think season two just wrapped. Okay. Season one just wrapped or just finished airing. So we've just watched the first two episodes. So they had a two season guarantee? I believe so. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, that's set. You know, geez, you got to get at least a couple of years out of it, I guess. You would hope, right? Yeah, it's massive. But yeah, let's get started here. This just happened, I think it was last weekend, the 53rd Annual Saturn Awards. So Star Trek actually entered the Hall of Fame. Oh, yeah. And they were given, like, everyone involved with Star Trek got an award. Fortunately, Christmas got one, too. But so anyway, it's celebrating 60 years this year. 60 years. In September. Isn't that cool? Yeah. You know, you feel old when Star Trek's four years older than you. Not me. Not you. Not you.
William Shatner, I think he's 95 now, or going to be 95. He's finally showing it, but he still looks pretty good. He's pretty spry still. He seems pretty mentally with it still. Yeah, he does. He actually came out before everyone was given an award for 60 years and did his own little acceptance speech. Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner presented it to him. Spiner, of course, did his Patrick Stewart impression. It was cool because they were talking about all the captains. Then that led into William Shatner coming out. I didn't know this, but when Shatner did that Rocketman back in the 70s, that was the Saturn Awards. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't know that. I didn't make that connection, and that was part of his speech.
He was saying they wanted him to do it. It wasn't his idea. He's like, I don't sing. And so, yeah, he just said how he broke it down and analyzed it. Yeah, he didn't know there were going to be cameras. They said it wouldn't be filmed, but sure enough, it was. I always thought it was his idea to be that weird and sing. But, yeah, I just kind of accidentally fell into it, looks like. He did some press afterwards, and I feel bad for this mic guy. This guy, the mic was trying to adjust the mic, you know, for Shatner. And it, like, broke or came off the stand, and Shatner was like, just give it to me. But the problem is Shatner had it super fucking close to his. But I don't think anyone had the balls to be like, yeah, Bill, can I pull that back? So it was, like, kind of muddled. But he was asked if he'd seen Star Trek Academy. And he actually said he hasn't seen any Star Trek other than his own. And he hasn't even seen all the 79 episodes he did.
Wow. I thought that was like, wow. I'm shocked. I mean, I know these actors don't really watch everything they're in and stuff, but I would think the original episodes maybe would... Watch that. I get it. You know, I remember when I was on the radio, I would never listen to myself later. Even when I've done my own podcast. I publish it. Yeah. And as far as I'm concerned, it never happened. That's okay. Yeah, that's all right. It didn't exist anymore. I have to listen to us because I edit everything. You edit, so I feel bad for you because... You know, I've gotten used to it. And not that I like the sound of my own voice, but I pick apart, like, how I talk and everything. Oh, yeah. So, you know, it's good improvement technique. Yeah. That's for sure. If anyone gets edited, it's mostly me. Because I'm like, that sounded stupid. I'm going to cut that out. Terry Metallus actually got awarded there, too, with the Robert Forster Artist Award. Of course, he did season three of Star Trek Picard, which was the best.
Loved it. He's actually currently launching Vision Quest on Disney+. Okay. Looking forward to that, because if he can turn around Picard, he can definitely do that with Marvel's Troubles. Dropping Names is a new show with Brent and Johnny. Oh, yeah. Have you seen any of it yet? Have you? I love it. Yeah, it's really great. But they've had quite the lineup so far. LeVar Burton, John Logan, who wrote Nemesis. And he did confirm Data didn't die. Oh, yeah, that's right. But Picard Season 3 kind of rewrote that anyway. Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk. That was awesome. Seth MacFarlane was the latest one. I saw that. Okay. That was great. Overall Season 4 scripts were written, but they're not sure when they can have it made. My whole question is...
You know, just thinking financially, like, do they keep the sets? They can't just leave sets like that, right? I would think normally they don't. I think they, you know, either destroy or recycle. Right, yeah. Redress up. That's crazy, though. Then it definitely diminishes the chances of picking it up again because they have to build a set. It does because, you know, that's just another cost. Yeah. You know, and it's too bad. I mean, Marvel was quality. Yeah, and it was just getting better and better and more theatrical, you could say, and more and more. Every episode was like a film, you know. Right. And I know we'll talk about Starfleet Academy, but it's not a...
they don't blend the humor and the cool stuff as well as the orville did yeah you know right i mean orville at first i'm like oh boy it's just i love seth mcfarland yeah me too i think he's a treasure but i'm like he's doing a space show it's live i don't know yeah i'm sure it'll be funny but you know i didn't expect it to be great right it was oh yeah i i dug it and it looked great and i know the critics butchered it before it even aired and once it aired though i was like i like this i don't see what people and then you get to like the third episode and i think it's um oh what is it it's the it's not the baby There was some kind of concept. I was like, whoa, that went deep. I can't remember what it was. I think it was whoever that species is, the security officer. Like, they have to be males. Yes. I think that was the first episode. That's right. Yeah. And I think McFarlane, years ago, before J.J. Abrams came along, I think he wanted to take over Trek. Yeah.
And I think, I wouldn't want the Orville type of humor with Trek if he ever did Trek. Right. I'd want it more reserved and more dry, you know? I don't think he would do that because he loves Trek. I think he would honor what, yeah, which, you know, current Trek does not really honor. It doesn't. It's like, hey, we're going to talk just like you guys do. Right. Over 1,500 years in the future. Well, and the difference between, you know, everyone always says Star Trek was always woke. And yeah, it was. You know?
And was the Orville? A little, but guess what they did? They didn't beat you over the head with it. Right. It wasn't preachy. They introduced it subtly and let you decide what you wanted to do. Right. Introduce conflict. Yeah, exactly. There's not black and white. There's a lot of gray areas in life. Yeah, don't club over the head. Right. You know, whisper it. Yeah. You know, and let it internalize. That's what New Trek does wrong. That's exactly what you do wrong. Everyone takes it as, oh, you're racist. Yeah, it's like, no, I have absolutely nothing wrong with...
I mean, that's why I love the original Star Trek. I think that's why most fans love it. Again, I'm only four years younger than Star Trek, so I didn't see it. I wasn't able to internalize it until the 70s when it was in syndication. I always thought it was cool, the diversity of the show. You know, and as a young boy...
That helped form my opinion on what diversity looks like. I think it is important. I think Star Trek has always done a good job doing that until recently. Right. Now, you know, they take a baseball bat. I'm not questioning the content. I'm questioning the delivery of the content. Now, some haters out there rightfully so because they just. Oh, 100%. They have people out there. They have an agenda. Yeah. We don't. I think we're pretty. We try to be fair. You know. Oh, yeah. Because we'll talk about Star Trek. Yeah. And there's great things about it. Yeah. Honestly. Yeah.
Yeah, I think there's pros and cons to everything. There's things that really aren't there. But there are some cool things. It's that whole, it's not what you say, it's how you say it. Right. Which is like, you know, I love Jonathan Frakes, and I think he says this kind of so he can have a job with Star Trek and all that directing. But, you know, he was saying, like, he had an interview with IGN, and he was comparing a hatred today to Kurtzman's Trek to their TNG days. I honestly think it's totally different, though. Like, I get what he's saying. I think there's a small percentage of that. But if you look at TNG, it pretty much honored everything that came before it. And it was trying to be its own thing. It was, and I remember all that because I was very much aware and watching and, you know.
The hate they received was strictly around, oh, it's not the same as the original series. Yeah. How dare you give us something other than Kirk Spock McCoy. It was more anti-change. Yeah. You know, so I mean, I think there's a lot more layers, justified and unjustified, you know, with the hate that they receive. Ever since Enterprise, everything's been a prequel to the TNG, except Picard, obviously, and Lower Decks and Partijic, I think. But it's funny how they've rebooted in the weirdest or remade in the weirdest way. They remade through rebooting, you know, like Discovery. It's almost like those haters, initial haters that wanted Kirk Spock McCoy.
It's like full circle. Like, we're getting them again. Yeah. And it's like, wait a minute, what? Right. At least TNG didn't try to recast and... Exactly. You know? Yeah. So I just... I think ever since they've gone down this prequel route, they're trapped. And that's why things have... looks have changed. Yeah. Technology has advanced more than it should, matching the original series and so on. Enterprise, I think, did the best with the whole prequel. It was the first one to do it. They really kept it, like...
They were really careful not to get too advanced. Yeah, they weren't too flashy with it. Yes, exactly, yeah. Even went to the actual Enterprise eventually on, I think, one of the Mirror episodes. But everything was, like, pristine just like it was. And that's the problem with all these prequels. It's like, maybe you should have just remade it, you know, at this point. Because, I mean, they have Pike's different and Kirk's different. And then Thomas James is going to be McCoy for the last season. I'm like, he's super fucking old compared to Kirk. But whatever. They paint themselves into corners by doing that, you know. And the beauty of the Star Trek that we had in the 90s was that, you know, they weren't.
recreating they were creating yeah you know i mean deep space nine you know received all sorts of hate because they weren't out in a ship every episode and you know eventually got that kind of yeah and space nine critically might be the best yeah voyager is my favorite from that i love but i love them all next generation was fabulous they were all fabulous right and they all did their own thing yeah they used to try to take more and more steps outside of the whole roddenberry thing i feel like christman jj and christman track is like they just jumped they ran and it was like Didn't really gradually. How flashy can we make it? Right. And it's a prequel, so it's like, what? And how can we blunt force trauma the message? Right, right. We want Star Wars. Like, it's not Star Wars. It's totally different than Star Wars. There really should be no competition. They're totally different. Oh, yeah, exactly. I mean, they're in space. That's about all they have in common. That's the only thing they have in common. Right. With Academy completing Season 2, Freaks might be the last track he directs. I mean, it depends under the new regime, which is Skydance. You know, I think we talked a little bit about that last time. Summer of 2025, it went into effect. The merger. And, you know, of course, they're buying Warner Brothers now, which is... Right.
I think it's crazy. Kurtzman's whole future is kind of up in the air. I'm hoping they'll put someone else in. I know they want to do some films. Yeah. So I don't know about, you know, TV series. But, yeah, Kurtzman, you know, he was saying, like, talks have started, but there's so much going on right now. And it could be bullshit, too. Maybe they're not returning his calls. I don't know. Because they do want to do Star Trek year one. Kurtzman's first year on Enterprise. I'm like, do we ever see this shit? Go watch TOS. What are you doing? It's trying to rewrite everything. The overall direction is just not entirely sure what's going to happen. Good. Yeah, it'll be the first time in 10 years there will be no TV Trek ordered. Right.
Yeah, that's going to be interesting. Yeah, I think they should rest it, and they should do Legacy like everyone wanted, pretty much, including, I think, Jerry Ryan. I think she turned down a 7 of 9 show because it was going to be something different than what Picard Season 3 kind of introduced to us. Also, a couple developments still from Kurtzman. Star Trek Year One is one of them. That's just gotten to, like, I think they're just pitching it. You know, it's not even a guarantee. Tawny Newsome, who played Ensign Beckett Mariner on Star Trek Lower Decks. I guess she's doing a Star Trek comedy. I'm really nervous about that. I guess their scripts are done. They're just waiting in a green light. So I just don't like modern.
I don't like comedy with my Star Trek. You know, like you can be humorous and you were, but it's just like. Star Trek 4 showed an example of how comedy can work. Yes. You know, because they're out of time. It was all fish out of water. Yes. Yes. So to speak. With the language too. Yeah. With the language too. But yeah, absolutely. I mean, it worked, you know, and they always did it in smart ways back then, you know, and that I have no problem with, you know, but it's, I don't know, when you're getting goofy with it. Yeah. It takes away from the stoic approach of Starfleet. Yeah. You know, it's not.
Dumbing it down. It's not a revered organization anymore. It's one where, you know, you just walk around barefoot and lay in your chair. Yeah, it's a perfect lead-in to Star Trek Academy. So we watched the first two episodes. I went in with an open mind. I think you did, too. I gotta say, like, all the visuals and stuff, a lot of eye candy. Like, it's attractive. It looks expensive. It looks awesome. Yeah.
Sets are great. I thought the sets were great. And the CGI was cool. They did that thing in the beginning of episode one. Was that dust storm or whatever it was? You know, just that very brief shot of the planet or wherever mom was on with the sun. Oh, I see what you're saying. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. Oh, that outpost. Yeah, it was an outpost. Right, yes. And that was like kind of the first big CGI moment, you know. And I'm like, oh, that looks pretty slick, you know. And the rest of the show has done that. You know, that looks pretty sweet. Yeah, it's pristine. This has got brightness in it. It's not just dark and dreary, you know. Tatiana Maslany, is that her name? She played the mom. She was in She-Hulk. She was She-Hulk. Yeah.
I recognized her. I was like, oh, okay. I'm not saying she's a huge star, but they got some star power in this. Yeah, definitely. I mean, definitely with Paul Giamatti. He was just nominated, what, like two, three years ago for an Oscar? Yeah. And now he's this. Yeah. So, I mean, honestly, the very, very, very, very, very beginning. I thought that cool little Starship montage celebrating the 60th year. Yeah. That was pretty cool. That was cool. You know, the one thing I don't, what is the ship called? Athena. Kind of ridiculous design, but. Oh, boy. I don't like the design. It's like a combat in space. It's like a combat in space. And I don't know.
It looks pretty ridiculous, but, you know, whatever. Well, he doesn't have in the cells detached. That doesn't make sense with Discovery. Right. Oh, well, you're in space. You're not in gravity. It was just weird. Yeah. And, you know, to me, the whole premise is just starts off a little harsh to me. It's like, all right, well, this lady gets sentenced to at least 15 years for felony theft. You know, in our timeline, murderers get off in half that time sometimes, you know. Right. She's manipulated. Yeah, it was just like, what the heck? You know, I mean, and, you know, Giamatti.
Not my favorite performance from him. We're just really trying to jokerify every villain in the world anymore. Right, and it's like contemporary references. The lingo, the whole thing is just, yeah. Make up your own shit. Like Battlestar Galactica, they need Ronald Moore to come on board because they said, like, frack. Why are we saying shit? Like, Star Trek IV, going back to Star Trek IV, it was a perfect example of, like, it was okay to cuss in that one because they even said it was primitive language. Use of colorful metaphors, right? And, you know, I think you forgave the movies. They would slip in a dam and shit and all that.
All this Kurtzman shit is all juvenile. It's very juvenile. Falling each other, bitch. Turn off. Yeah, exactly. I don't like it. They did that a lot in the second episode. And, you know, the kid growing up, right? Yeah. So we catch him. You know, mom's been gone. He gets separated and the whole thing taken away. And, you know, we fast forward 15 years and he's basically Bruce Lee'd the crap out of everybody. Yeah, copy asshole. I can do it. And he can do everything. Yes. Not only can he Bruce Lee a bunch of bad guys, he can also Han Solo a ship. Yes. You know, I don't know what kind of education you get as a kid who lives in dumpsters. Right. You know, but to be able to.
You know, they just really, people said about Rey in Star Wars that she was a Mary Sue. Yes. He's clearly the male equivalent of Mary Sue. Peter Sue? I don't know. Mark Sue? I don't know. I don't know. They just really overpowered. Right. This kid, you know, who has no business being that powered. I'm not saying don't make him the focus of your story because he is. Right. And the actor is doing a great job with the material. I think all the actors are pretty solid. Yeah. I mean, with the exception of two performances, the writing is what it is. Yes. But the performances are very good. Right. And some characters.
really really really shine in my opinion sure you know i mean holly hunter and paul giamatti just no thanks yeah i just don't like the whole laid back in the captain's chair like this isn't a big deal we're here to have fun and yeah i don't wear shoes like gross yeah there's no reverence like you can see like black on her feet like come on yeah yeah the hell there's no way to like direct tarantino's drooling but yeah he produced it probably who knows finally got a star trek version right the problem the other problem is so it's such a big ask even since discovery went to the future a thousand years it was a huge ask because it's like how the hell are you going to imagine you know, how the future is, especially a thousand years from it, when you already have a lot of technical, you know, advancement. You need better writing if you're going to do that. Right. And that's the problem with the whole prequels. Like, it's all about writers. Like, if you're in a corner, a good writer can get you out and figure out a way, but not these. And the idea of going a thousand years in the future is so freaking cool. Yeah. You know, because that's when you have a chance to actually experiment and do things from a sci-fi level that just haven't really been done. But that's where you need the writing to be able to match the concept. Exactly. And I think they did that to get away from all the, like, critics, because it's like, yeah. But then they did strangely. But if you do that, do it right. Right. You know, I mean, you know, don't just jump for the sake of,
you know getting out of the deep end of the pool killing an AI or whatever it was which they killed before they even jumped so I'm still lost on that one right like Admiral Vance yeah and he's a carryover from Discovery right yeah but he uh I mean he feels like Starfleet yeah you know he reminds me of right what Starfleet she's more of a radical she's more radical and he's very grounded yep you know um I liked his character I mean she's part Let the night I say it this species was introduced in Star Trek strange new world season two a long time, right? So it's not it's a brand new like introduction. It was made up with the new Trek regime She's part so I think the one on Star Trek is like 2,000 years old was just fucking crazy. Yeah, and then She is like 500, I think. Yeah, something like that. I had to look that up. I did too. Because when she made the reference of her age, I'm like, huh? You know, that's why I had to look that up. Well, I was thinking like Ellarions. Is that how you say it? For Guinan species? Because I thought they were kind of like similar. I'm like, why didn't they just have them be that? But they're a race of listeners. I looked that one up. It's been a while. Because I remember there was an episode where she was, Data went back in time and was able to talk to her. That's right. Yeah. At first I was like, is that the same species or similar? And if it's similar, why make up a whole other species? Probably just because you own that. Right. So they don't want to use it, which I won't. Yeah.
But at least it's there. That's what sucks about all this, like, ownership is, like, that's why they don't honor a lot of the things that we love is because they want to make it their own. Yeah. And it just fucks things up. And, you know, that's OK, too. But then if you're going to do that, write it the right way. Right. You know, I like the scene overall with, you know, when Admiral Vance went to go find her again, try to recruit her. She had that line where she said something like, I won't make more promises to kids that I can't keep or something. And I thought that was a pretty cool. Yeah.
cool moment. But then she follows it up with Sorry, Charlie, and we get some Star Kist humor. Yeah. You know, from the 70s. I'm like, that's stupid. Yeah, the imagination is just not there. It's like, they're pulling things out from, like, our time. And I get that because we can relate to it. But it's like, at the same time, it's hard to take this person as 500 years old when she's referencing things we only know of. And, you know, they're putting in some cool moments. And then all of a sudden, they're trying to balance it with some humor that just falls flat. Yeah, I don't like that. It's like, you don't have to have humor. This, you know, this is why, in my opinion, Marvel.
can't sustain because, you know, everybody goes in these movies expecting a comedy. Yeah. You know, I always remembered, you know, this movie is hilarious. You'll love it. I'm like.
okay, I don't want to see the Avengers for hilarity. I want it for some cool superhero action, right? Yeah, some humor's fine, but, you know, let's feel like the stakes are high here, you know? Right, and, you know, she's told that Caleb's alive and all this stuff, and, you know, he's been on the run the whole time. He's a petty thief. That's not what I've done before. Yeah, so besides mastering Jeet Kune Do and being a Han Solo-level pilot. He's the one. Yeah, you know, basically, he's, you know. He's schooling them. He's schooling them. You know, he's combining Star Wars and Star Trek universes the way he connects, but I don't know. I mean, I love the color grading. I love how the series looks. I love the CGI. Yeah, uniforms are nice. I love the, um...
speech that she gave to Caleb about how she quit because of separating Caleb and her mom and his mom and stuff. And she'll help him find him if he just didn't listen and start fleeing. Yeah. And I'm glad that at least in the writing, I liked that piece of it, too, because she also thought that felony theft shouldn't be like a quadruple life sentence. You know, that's me exaggerating. Yeah, sure. You know, that's how they treated it. But I mean, there was.
There was some really moments of cool writing, and then there was just moments of really 8-year-old to 10-year-old type writing. You can tell when some writers took a break from the writer's room. 100%, yeah. Or they just, all right, we're going to let maybe ChatGPT fill this part in. Right. How do we get out of this little piece? How do we make it really funny? And it's just not really funny. Sadly, that's probably 100% true, what they're doing. Because it's a time crunch. They have to get it out. I did enjoy his makeover. I thought that was kind of cool. Even though some of the beaming since Kurtzman has been kind of magical. Even JJ, when they did that.
warp beaming like right uh transwarp beaming yeah uh which makes it just makes it more magical than like technical yeah exactly but i did kind of like when he got his makeover that was cool and i i excused it because it's like okay this is a thousand years in the future it's kind of inventive when you you know but i know i wrote a note or something like that that i wish i had that Right. You know, like when I'm going to an appointment, I can just, you know, look like this, walk through it. You know, I got a button up and some slacks on that. I'm good to go. So, yeah, I thought that was kind of funny when he's like, what? Yeah, his reaction to it was pretty cool. That was cool. Yeah, I thought that was fun. Jaden Krog, did I say it? Long Duck Dong of the Klingons. That name, you know, just sounds so weird. Oh, yeah, my notes. The Klingon guy looks like a traditional Klingon and a great voice. Yeah. And then after that, Bruce Lee got exposed after a few push-ups. Right. So I think Caleb was when he was doing those push-ups and he got tired real fast.
Yeah, which is when we met Thok. Is it Thok? Thok, yeah. What do you think about half Klingon, half Jem'adar? So, my notes. Commander Thok looks pretty joyless, so I like her already. And then right after that... She's us. She's us, basically. Thok is establishing disciplinary dominance in a scene that feels comedic, thus relieving her of actual credibility. It's like Kurtman said, oh, she's a badass, so let's put it to cartoon music.
Right. And that's how I felt during that scene. Yeah, a little whistle. Yeah, I'm like, oh, shit, she's going to be tough. Well, she is tough, but then they make it comedic. And they didn't have to do that. And it does take away from a character's credibility when you're making her badass scenes into comic relief. It's like Saturday morning cartoon shit. Right. I mean, it's like...
I'm just trying to dumb it down for like kids. But it's like you were a kid when you watched it and I was a kid and I loved it. Yeah. I didn't need to be dumbed down. The more we dumb it down, the longer people stay dumbed down. Right. You know, I mean. The longer you are is like, you know, just a juvenile like, you know, bitch. When I'm watching something and I see a concept that maybe I'm not mature enough for. I mean, if I'm interested enough and they do it the right way, I try to figure it out. Yeah. And what happens when you're figuring it out? Well, you grow. Right. But when you're when you have ham handed attempts at humor and all this other crap, you know, it's like you're delivering it to people at a lower level than maybe they should. Yeah. You know, absolutely.
And the actor, the actress who is playing Thok, you know, has chops and she has a presence. Take advantage of that presence. Yeah. You know, because, you know, at her first introduction, I'm like, we've got a tough character. It's going to be cool. No, I will. Like the haters out there or the strict nerds of Trek, because I'm not that way, but I get it.
Gem and Dars, I guess, are all male. They're genetically engineered. So there's really no parents. But I forgive it, again, because this is like 1,500 years from when we first got an introduction to them. This is a long time forward. Yeah, one of them could have escaped the nest. So it's possible. Those changes don't bother me in the sense. No, it's possible. Yeah, 100%. I don't understand that. It is funny how many, well, we got two characters that have Klingons. Her and Braga, Paul Giamatti's character. Klingons got busy. Yeah, they've been around. Robert Picardo is definitely welcomed back.
I love him. I have the Voyager Doctor in all caps and like 60 exclamations. Nice. Yeah, yeah. No, and he pretty much picks up where he left off. He's older, which, you know, his character's older too. I think he said something about he turned his age off after 500 years or something. Yeah, he did something like that.
You know, make everyone else comfortable around him, too, or whatever. Right. Yeah. So, I mean, it was a good explanation for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was good enough, and I got it. And, you know, just seeing him and his delivery is just masterful. Yes. I didn't look this up. You've seen more Voyager than I have. Was he into opera? Oh, yeah. Okay, so that's a carryover. Oh, yeah. I don't know if it was a whole new thing or not, but... Yeah, he's a professionally trained singer, the actor is. Okay, because... So they used it in Voyager, and now they're using it here. Episode 2, he was singing. I was like, that sounds like him. Yeah, he's a professionally trained singer. That's awesome.
He's phenomenal. That's creative writing for you. It is. This is where that writing balances. It's like, oh, there's so many cool moments. And then what the fuck is this? He's diagnosing people. And our main character has like some kind of, I think it's the same thing Kirk got given when he. With his eyes. Or no, he has lung worms, I thought. Or something. Or maybe he was comparing what he, Parasite he had to that. But I think that was kind of like a connection to, even though it's not connected, because it's all over the place. Crispin J.J. Trek is just, it's bonkers. So you got.
you got two different actors playing the same character with spock and kirk and all that um no but yeah this is when we meet a cadet badge eater which um i think that's the first negative really um that was the first thing that i mean there was already some questionable yeah she eats her badge toddler what are you doing here i know how did how did you even get in like how's that like yeah if an army cadet did that uh no they would be in an episode two you know when the betas uh zoid guy, the leader guy, talking about, you know, standards it takes to get into Starfleet and, you know, testing and all this. Who's swallowing their com badge that is able to actually pass the entrance exams to Starfleet? Right. Well, I think Thog should punch her until it comes out. Until it comes out, yeah. Until the punching is done. Remember this. Yeah. This is where the comedy falls. It'll be funny. Right.
Who's it funny, too? Yeah, right. You know, your seven-year-old? Well, if she beams out organs, that'd be terrible. Because, I mean, that's the thing. Beam out the... That's the combat. Beam out the stupidity. No, but it's like in this Christmas world, she'll probably become captain of a ship. Yeah, yep, absolutely. And she'll still swallow her fucking badge. Admiral combat swallower. Yes. Yeah, there's a lot of interesting cadets. I think the dynamic's pretty good. I don't... Again, I don't like the PR campaign they had where they're all, like, on the field, like, we're friends. You know, it's like, so CW. Yeah, right. Yeah, I just didn't like that. But I do like the characters themselves. Sam...
I'm not a big fan of the hologram, the hologram to join. Yeah, it's like she's out of a Disney movie show cartoon or something. She's just so, it's just odd. Yeah, another example of it, and I hope the girl who plays her... It's an upgrade in the show. Well, I just don't like the hate that the actresses. Yeah, I like the actress. I think it's not their fault. It's totally the writing, you know. She's doing what she's told to do. And so in that sense, she's doing it just fine. She's directed to do it that way, too. I don't know. It's just it doesn't fit. I hope they give her and she's had some cool scenes. Yeah, but, you know, I hope they give her some better development. Sure. And she's out of this infantile. Right. You know, she's programmed as a 17 year old, but she's like four months old.
So she acts more four months old than 17. Right. And again, not her fault as an actress. Right. Right. But it's the writing. I think they could I think she does a good enough job that they could give her better material to work with. Right. And I hope they it seems just so magical kind of like she's from Kosk. I think that's how you say it. Yeah. Her home world. There's a colony of holograms on it. So I kind of want a backstory of that. But I'm afraid they won't be able to write it well and capture like I know all the all the ideas and thoughts like would it make sense? Could they make it make sense? Probably not. And it's just like new charts, new Star Trek. They're introducing some really sweet concepts.
With not great follow-through. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah, I 100% agree. And this is just a throwaway note that I wrote, but when they were on the ship itself before they got to San Francisco, I wrote down, there's another Asian ensign. And I said, oh, I hope he gets promoted looking at you, Voyager. You know, I was hoping they'll hold some of those traps. Right, which there is a wall on the ship of everyone. I think Henry Kim finally got promoted, right? I think he did. He was an admiral, I think, in canon, essentially. Yeah, that's so crazy. He was always an ensign. It's wild. Derham?
He's a, gosh, I can't pronounce his shit. Yeah. He's a shy, shy, shy, shy, I don't know. First of a species that joins Starfleet is semi-aquatic. He's got gills. And he can transfer into human form because, you know. He's the bully type character. Yes, he's an asshole. But he does a spacewalk, which is pretty riveting. Yeah, I was like, oh, that's interesting. Like, why would he just look like that all the time? Probably because he doesn't want to go through 10 hours of makeup. Well, yeah, and they did it. It's a budget.
I have two minds on that character because they introduced him as complete douche nozzle. But obviously he had some redeemable qualities. And, you know, when push came to shove, he did the right thing and all that. So, you know, I'm interested to see how they develop that character. Yeah. And I get it. They're all like kind of I mean, they're coming into their own adulthood or whatever. And they're still young. Yeah. You know, I just don't like I just don't like them like you. You're the bitch, bitch. Yeah. Come on. We don't talk like this, guys. It takes me out of it. Like this is not American Pie. Right. You know, yeah. The ship itself is like a magical school bus. Yeah. You know, it's like that's kind of bad to have everybody on there. Like it gets taken out. You lose all your cadets like.
There's no Starfleet Academy, basically. First episode when they drop out of war. That's when Braga introduces himself again. But it looked like they never raised shields. Did you catch that? I'm like, why the fuck would you raise shields? Am I the captain? Or are you the captain? I know, and then they raised it too late, didn't they? Because I think she said raise shields. Of course, yeah. But the minute they came out of that, I'm like, just...
You don't know what's going on. Because that whole idea was like, oh, there's some kind of storm happening. It's weird. And then her back and forth with him. It's like flirtatious kind of and weird. I know. It's like, get a room already. Yeah, you're going to kiss? Like, what the fuck? Yeah, I don't know. It was just too silly. But she wasn't like that in the beginning of the show. No, she transformed. This is where the writing is just bad in spots. She goes from excellent stoic speeches.
to an 11-year-old in a chair. Yeah. You know, and it's just... Warpoint? Yeah, it transforms way too much from someone that you can respect too silly. I mean, maybe she's just on edibles. I don't know. She mellowed the hell out. She might be either coming off the edibles when she's having a good scene or really on the edibles when she's not. Because even some of her one-on-one moments with Caleb, those are really strong moments, you know, and some good character building and that sort of thing. But then you run into her when she's doing that stuff, and it's like... Right.
Jesus Christ, I'm checking my phone. Right. Episode two, again, middle fingers. I'm like, really? We're doing this? And how much spitting are they doing on this ship? You know, there's like eating scenes. Yeah. Yeah. Like, is this a National Lampoon's comedy? Right. What are we doing here, guys? Yeah. What's the janitorial staff think of all that? Oh, shit. Well, yeah. I remember that you threw that apple into the garbage can and then caught it. Right. Threw it away or something. So, yeah, we get the Betazoids in episode two. That was that was cool. They built this wall or something. Keep them separated. Yeah. I don't know if it's a telepathic type, whatever they do. Right. You know, I mean, just as an overall nutshell.
If this is the best episode you could ever have from Star Trek, here's the first episode. But here's the second episode. Yeah. You know, I mean, it's not up here. Right. But it was vastly overall better to me. You know, like if I only saw one episode of Starfleet Academy and it was a second episode, I'd be like, all right, you know, some dumb moments here, but I'll watch this goddamn thing. Right. There was some really cool moments. And the actress that played the... Betazoid princess, I guess you could say. I guess, yeah. She was...
she was really good yeah i like that dynamic you know he's trying to he's trying to escape which is kind of dumb like i'm tired of this like i'm out of here type of yeah this is where that character goes from some really cool moments and great potential too Right. What? They all have bipolar disorder. They all have bipolar disorder. Yeah. And so this is where Emotional Trek comes back into place. Right, right. You know, you trust these people to, you know, explore space. We put the ship in danger for this episode because we called Mommy. Yeah. And it's like, why did you do that, dummy? Yeah, there's no emotional intelligence in Star Trek. Right. This is the problem with Star Trek. Yes. There's no emotional intelligence. Yes. But they introduced, like, that Beta Zed character. Yep. Tarama Sadow, I think that's her name. Okay, yeah. And she, I've never seen her name. The character name, but not the actress name. I didn't get the actress name. But she exemplified what I would picture a Beta Zed to be. You know what I mean? I mean, she, I think she nailed that.
She she was interesting Just like come back whales. That was kind of cool. No, that was really so I know it's low-hanging fruit to fans You know you're in San Francisco. Why not take which the setting alone? Yeah, the setting loads great like I'm happy we're in San Francisco. I'd have thrown that scene in Yeah, I mean and I thought that was pretty cool. Now was it like that they were under were they underwater? I think it was oceans Yeah, some sort of deal I don't know if it was just like a the modern-day cetacean Institute that they used in right now, right But it was that was pretty sweet. I did I did like that like a lot of great set pieces Yeah, you know the jumping ahead towards the end of the episode. I found it weird
It's always, like, the endgame is a stretch to me a little bit. Like, in the end, you know, the better way to walk away from negotiations, and all it took was, like, this, like, little... Little story. Yeah, well, and also, like... if you're going to negotiations as seriously, it's a big deal. Why would you do it in front of an open forum with all the cadets? Yeah, doing it in front of the class. I get it's like a learning activity, but maybe film it and show it to them. Yeah, it's like having Mideast negotiations in front of a college class. Yeah, exactly. I get it's interesting because you got all the characters and stuff, but it felt weird. Maybe you should be somewhere else. Negotiations, I don't think should have been like that. I like the party scene. You got the doctor in the opera and all that stuff. That makes sense to me. Post negotiations, you're having this little get-together type deal. You saw that on TNG a million times. You saw that on the originals.
right you'd always see that on every series it was like a trial and it's like no this is negotiations right and you know everybody's witnessing it that's in a ready room you know whatever yeah that was just to me it just felt like a way to include everybody you know it didn't make sense right and then this female character she's like um Very advanced. I mean, they always have to have people who are like, very advanced and all this. I'm different. She's got, like, this inhibitor that I guess she could, like, Xavier their mind, probably. I didn't look this up, but the actor playing her father, I wonder if I'm guessing he's deaf in real life, maybe? Because they did sign language, which I don't think Betazoid ever did that. It was always through the mind, so I was wondering, why didn't they communicate through the mind? Yeah, I was wondering that, too. I think that would have been better, especially with the brother and sister dynamic, you know? Also, at the end, not only did negotiations go well, but both his kids stayed back and joined Starfleet Academy. And the kid's, like, so, like...
them, you know, like he's got the same mannerisms and the brothers, he's douchier than the other guy. Yeah. He was reserved when we first met him, but then he became a total like party brat, you know, dorm or a total of a frat geek. Yes. Thank you. Yes. And then she who liked whales joined the war department or the war, what do they call it? Yeah. I'm like, that's really far away from whales. I think she just wanted to see him. We'll see. I mean, they're going to have to end up in the same room again. So we'll see what happens with that. Yeah. Cause I mean, I thought she was an interesting addition. Yeah.
it felt very TNG, the way they treated the Beta Zed stuff. I was not unhappy with it. The sign language, yeah, that was a little weird to me, but again, you know, whatever. I mean, it's fine with the actors that way. That's kind of cool, and I understand. I mean, we don't know everything in Beta Zed. There's probably some deaf ones on the planet, but I just think some of the, even more creative, some of the dialogue would be in the mind. Show off their powers. Show off their powers. I mean, there needs to be some better emotional intelligence. The whole, and as much as I like the Beta Zed character girl, she...
It felt forced when she found out that he was trying to find that planet, you know, because that's where his mom was. So, I mean, there's still contrived writing, you know. Again, that's not her fault or the guy that plays Caleb. It's not their fault, you know, but it's the writing. It's got some growing to do. I don't know if it'll ever get there. I don't know if it'll get there. I doubt, I don't have hopes that it'll get there. You know, when I start seeing those kind of characters have stronger, I mean, and when I say it's better emotional intelligence, that doesn't mean take away the fact that, you know, everyone has issues and no one's perfect. Yeah. You know, but.
To be in Starfleet Academy, or to even, you know, be in charge of Starship, you need to have a little bit more, you know, emotional intelligence to do so. You know, you can't just be a... It's not for everybody. It's not for everybody, and, you know, it's not for, you know, three-foot-tall, barefoot weirdos to... A jacked-arm, man. She works out. She does work out. Great actors. She's just... I don't know. It's just... It's just a weird... It's weird writing. It's like, I'm Holly Hunter. Like, I'm gonna do whatever I want. Like, okay. Yep. Which is rightfully so. Right. But, you know, I don't know. It's like, I don't feel like they're taking advantage of her skill set.
Same with Paul Giamatti. I just don't think they're taking advantage of it. But she does make Tom Cruise look tall. I didn't know how short she was until I saw her standing next to other people. That's not a dig on her. It was just like, oh, geez, she's just small. They've already wrapped season two unless they're going to do a lot of reshoots after the criticism of season one. So I don't know if they can really change up much at this point. I don't know what the future is, obviously. We don't know. And Kurtzman himself doesn't know what the future is. I think he's optimistic that he'll still get to be on and do his projects. I feel like Star Trek Discovery is on this side of the...
way too dramatic side. Yeah. And I feel like Starfleet Academy is starting on this side where maybe it's a little too silly. Yeah. You know, if we could just knock it over here, I think they're going to go places with it. I mean, I don't hate it. I don't love it. Right. You know, I think there are some really cool things about it. Yeah. I mean, certainly, yeah, it looks great. But Discovery looked great. Sure. And it was a big steaming pile of shit in my opinion. Yes. Yes. But I don't feel like this is a big steaming pile of shit. I think it's, I think it needs to move over. There's particles. Right. Yeah. You know, and I'm not, I'm not trying to throw politics into it, but you know, if this is left and this is right. Yeah.
let's get in the middle a little bit more you know what i mean and i don't mean that from a political perspective i mean from way too dramatic to way too silly you know let's let's knock it in the middle and i think because in the middle it really makes your mind like wander and think of like well how do we satisfy both people's well yeah it's like yeah there's that gray area and you can have silly moments you know um and you can have people that are growing from a dramatic perspective you know and and you know i don't want to see caleb in season two still trying to escape Right, right. Are we going to see that? And my gut says probably. Yeah. You know, is he always going to be this rebel and he always has to be, you know, pulled back in. There needs to be some growth at some point, you know. And I don't know. Not a terrible start. No. Not a great start. No. Right, right. Yeah. And again, if the people in charge just did their homework more, like watch all the episodes or hire people who have. And maybe they have. I can't say they haven't. But it's like you can make it your own.
like just see how they did it like it's just like when books are written and comic books all this material you know even with star wars that's so much better than what we've gotten it's like if the people would have just embraced and you could have merged some storylines together or characters yeah to me be as creative as you want yeah but Star Trek, Star Wars, these are all franchises. So franchises have a spirit to them. Yes. You know, you're following the spirit of the franchise. Do whatever you want within that overarching thing. Yeah. Right. Otherwise, make your own show. Otherwise, make your own show. You know, it doesn't have to be Starfleet at that point. You know, Star Trek. 100%. I mean, make your own sci-fi. Yeah. You know, Battlestar Galactica did. Yeah. You know, I mean, yeah, it was a reboot from the 70s. It was a worthy remake because the original wasn't really like...
Great, you know. It never took off. I loved it as a kid, but it was made for kids. It was a knockoff Star Wars. It was a total knockoff Star Wars. And it made its own, yeah. Star Trek never had to be that. It never had to be that. You know, and it was very comfortable. I mean, Star Trek came first. Yes. But, you know, Star Wars really amplified, so I find Star Trek still stayed in their lane. Yes. You know, and. It's trying to be like other things now. Right, it's trying to be like, you know, I mean, like, especially that whole, before he got to Starfleet Academy, you know, it felt very Star Wars-y. Yeah, a renegade. Oh, yeah, and all of a sudden this petty thief is, all the petty thieves I know can fly F-14s. Yeah.
You know, he's in the spaceship just doing all. I mean, come on, stop. They read a book or something weird. I don't know. So, yeah, overall, I'm still interested in watching it. And I think we'll review it going forward. Yeah. We'll move on to Star Trek Con. So this is the podcast I just wrapped back in November. Yeah. I had to catch up real quick for this episode. I was telling you I listened to like one and a half speed. Tried to. It was really too fast. But unfortunately, I listened to it and I stopped and I kind of forgot where I left off. So I had to like kind of revisit things. And so what were your thoughts of the podcast overall? The overall. So I'm a huge, huge fan of.
Audio dramas or audio comedies. So, you know, like old time radio, you know, they have a radio classics channel on Sirius XM. I still listen to that. You know, you got like your funny programs like a Jack Benny show. But then you have like, you know, Johnny Dollar, who's an insurance investigator, you know, and you have all these really cool things that are just strictly made for radio. This very much reminded me of that, but with, you know, modern effects and sound effects. And I thought...
I thought it was super well done. The sound design was great. The sound design was great. A lot of TOS effects. Voice work was phenomenal. Actor's pretty solid. Oh, yeah. Whoever... I can't remember the guy that did con. Yeah. He's on Lost. Okay. Sounded great. Yeah. Sexy con. Yeah. But, you know, I thought it was awesome because you always wondered what happened to these people after, you know, they got over to City Alpha. Turns out a lot of shit happened. Turned out a lot happened. Yeah. And it was so cool. Yeah. You know, from, you know...
planet dynamics and, you know, the... Yeah, the shift of five being destroyed, right? That was really, like, wow, you got them on the ground, like, experiencing this and... The whole thing, you know, and even at first, you know, with the predators that are on the actual planet themselves. Oh, that was terrifying. They had, like, a wild pig or something? Something, yeah. Then they discovered the... Well, was it after... See, I can't remember. Was it after the five incident that they discovered the eels? I thought that was before. It might have been after. I don't remember. But then they were there either way. It's not like five caused the eels to, like, appear, but goddamn those things are, like...
You know, it's terrifying. Yeah. And, you know, without the use of visuals, they did a phenomenal job playing that up, you know. And then, you know, the other, you know, the other visitors to the planet. That was crazy. I'm like, there's aliens on this planet? I can explain this. Yeah. Yeah. The Elborians are telepathic species. Yeah. And yeah. So that was a.
That was a shock. I'm like, what the hell? And then when they were gearing up to attack them, I'm like, oh, this is not a good idea. They're probably not enemies or whatever. Right. Do more. I mean, do more of these types of podcasts. Awesome. Going forward with the new regime, if they could do some miniseries, because this was originally going to be a miniseries. I think it was going to be a three-night deal. I would have loved that. Yeah, I would have loved it. See, that's just it. Even the cast is great to be put on the screen. After listening to it, I'm like, I would have loved to have been able to see this. Yes, same, same. Because sometimes it's hard for me to kind of, I mean, they do the best they can.
There is one issue with the lady playing Marla. She's a great actress. I don't remember her name offhand. I'll put her right here. She's on For All Mankind, which you need to check out. It's really good. But anyway, the only problem I had was her voice sounded like another actress's voice on the show. There were a couple similar voices. I couldn't tell the characters apart. And so that really was distracting. Especially in the times where they had scenes together. Yeah, she was like, is she talking to herself? Yeah, so she sounded just like someone else. And so when Con would be talking to either one of them, I'd be like, what are we talking to? So I was playing Star Wars Jedi Survivor. And the main...
female character from Dathomir. She's one of the characters in Khan. Oh, okay. Yeah. I think I remember this now. Yeah. Yeah. I was just like, when I heard her talk for the first time, I'm like, yeah, I just heard her voice last night playing this video game. You know, I was at the same game. So I looked it up and I'm like, oh, she's in this. You know, that's pretty cool. Nice. Nice. Yeah. When we're talking about the eels, I think a lot of us picture like the small little ones that went in the ear. These are the big ones. This is where Khan like pulled those little ones from. So yeah, that alone was terrifying just to think, the thought of it. And it's just how they introduced it though was great. Yeah. You know, they really put good bows and bookends on what we saw in Star Trek II. Right. That was so cool. What I couldn't get around though was
It was like, they instantly went insane when they had these, and they were infected with them, you know, around their cerebral cortex. And Khan, like, actually killed one of his men because he was just so out of it and he killed somebody else. Of course, Marla gets it too, which is like, we knew it was coming. It was set in Star Trek II. I even watched that scene again to see if I could pick up anything different. I was like, how did Chekhov survive? You know, because it's supposed to be a certain death. But then I looked it up, and I don't know if it's someone's theory or this is actually, like, you know, kind of put in the details. But the thing is, when Terrell, remember Terrell? Captain Terrell, he vaporized himself. Well, he killed the...
bug at the same time the eel yeah his brother is came out of checkoff at like protest of death that's what they said so okay so he didn't get to finish his what he does he didn't finish eating his cerebral cortex right so that's why i stopped checkoff survived because i was like why are they acting like this is so like this is it it's permanent because when they had to like take marla like kill her brain or whatever which was terrible it was like she finally got to enjoy i think it's like the first moment she actually got to relax on the planet because she was in this um She's at the spa. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Right. Well, they do call it like something spa. Hot spring. Hot spring or something like that. Yeah. She's like she's pregnant, which I'm like, oh, shit. She's pregnant. So she's like relaxing in the spa. And then that's when she gets it by the eel. And I was like, oh, man, that was like when she I felt like it was symbolic kind of like the first time she let her guard down entirely. And she got infected or whatever. And then the other child was Kali. So it turns out the Aboreans caused City Alpha 6 to be destroyed. Right. I think it was like something with her engines burnt the atmosphere up or something. So.
When that was revealed, I was like, well, why is he so mad at Kirk in Star Trek II? Yeah. You didn't check on it, sir. You thought, because this whole idea with this investigation with these tapes was to prove, like, Kirk, like, deliberately maybe put them there in harm's way or something. And, of course, Sulu was, you know, objecting to that, and rightfully so. Right. So it was nice how they explained all that. And I don't know, did you see the twist coming with the main person investigating the tapes? I honestly didn't. No. I started to once. There was the daughter, and she was leaving the planet. I was like, I wonder if that's her. Yeah. So that was interesting how she was trying to prove, like, her father wasn't this terrible tyrant guy. Right. In a way, she did prove. Yeah. He just lost so much that.
He just wanted vengeance. And Kirk was the only one basically around he could seek his vengeance on. Right. And you know what? That's what made Khan such a phenomenal villain. Yeah. Even in Star Trek, too. I mean, they did enough of explaining that he wasn't your just typical I'm bad for the sake of being bad. You know, hey, I was genetically engineered to be kind of bad. Yeah. You know, but then.
you know he he wanted to go start his own thing and you know and they let him and it was kind of a peaceful right circumstances happened that were just screwed up and you know and yeah so those make the best villains you know they're layered yes absolutely they're not paul giamatti right i would have preferred a narrator maybe to kind of direct the scenes like to put you there yeah um but i do it's just like i just found myself kind of pay a lot of attention like i would definitely like kind of like go on auto mode you know i do that sometimes when i'm at work i listen to crime i'm like wait a minute oh my god i just totally was like blah blah blah i think it was interesting how they would uh start the The flashbacks, if you will, the recorded tapes with it sounding like a recording. And then it just did that transition where it was talking. Yeah, like October. Very cool. Russian and they go British or whatever. Yeah, I thought it was awesome. But yeah, overall, I really dug it. I hope they do more or like I said, do like a miniseries. I would have loved to have seen this. And I just feel like it was Christmas ego that wouldn't allow it. Nicholas Meyer wrote it. And Robert Meyer Burnett, I've talked to you about it. I follow him on years ago. I still remember this. You got a hold of the scripts. Right. Because it was it really looked like it was not going to happen. Right.
And I remember I was painting my ceiling, my bathroom, listening to it. And I just kind of got distracted. But he was doing this live. He was reading the scripts. And I turned it off. I'm like, oh, I'll listen to it later. Well, Nicholas Meyer was kind of pissed. So he, like, sent him a few emails. Yeah. And he had to take it down. So I never got. Couldn't finish listening to that. Right. I know. I was so devastated. I was like, I really wanted to listen to it. You know, Nicholas Meyer writes books. Maybe he can adapt this to a book or novel for him. That would be cool. Even with pictures. Even with pictures. That would be neat. There's so many cool things that they could make into these little podcasts or whatever, you know. Sure. Well, you could bring Kirk back that way. I mean, Shatner is starting to sound.
old yeah he's getting nice and so sulu yes that was it was stretching we'll just say he had a cold we'll say he had a cold you know but uh yeah that was if i hate saying that that was my only complaint yeah you know but i mean his he was sounding his age for sure i know it's unfortunate yeah i don't know i'm reading a star trek novel i wish i had the name of it i'll book review it for us yeah i'll do it when i'm done yes it takes place in three different timelines like holy uh the first couple years of the five-year mission okay after yes and then present day nice today yeah um There's a true crime podcast investigating the disappearance of Jillian, the whale lady. No shit. Are you kidding me? How do I not know about this? Oh my God, it's so great so far. Wait, this is in the book? There's not a podcast. No, it's in the book. That's the shit you could tap into. Right. Yeah, that's what's intriguing. That is so cool. And so they're bouncing back right now between timelines. And so I'm only maybe a quarter into it. I love that shit. So I'll do a review when it's done. I also want to know what happened to the whole Genesis project. All that stuff. These are all the podcasts you could make.
Right. Just a quick side note. Yeah. The character Genesis in Starfleet Academy. Yes. It's probably my very favorite one so far. Sure. She's consistent. She's a badass. She's, you know. Yes.
That might be my favorite character so far. Yeah, she's the one that's most grounded, pretty much, right? Yes, very much so. Probably a love interest. She's friendly with the, you know, Cadet Tries Too Hard. Paul's not on the shit, though. But she does. She's very, she's badass. There's a lot of promising aspects of it. You know, I think they've learned it. It took Chris been 10 years. Not to say he's 100%, like, his legacy's great. No. No, it's not. And this still has its issues. But I'm excited to see where it goes. Yeah, same, same. Anyway, I just said Genesis, and I remembered her name. I'm like, I forgot to mention her when we were talking about Starfleet Academy. Yeah, no problem at all. But yeah, I hope that's what I would say if they take a break from TV.
least do miniseries i think that would be great more podcasts and movies of course my whole thing is if they they you know go into like um exploring these like older subjects that they honor the looks and the surroundings of when it took place and not try to make it all future too futuristic and just totally like not matched right you know i mean like it takes you out of the vibe it does for me yeah i know now if you're a you know 15 year old it's your first time ever watching you're thinking oh man this is the coolest in the world right you know and and that's fine but well my hope is like new fans like thank you welcome aboard yeah literally um as you watch investigate it all yeah if you do the research go back and watch the the the first shows and my my hope is they'll realize they'll see the flaws of the new shows maybe but you'll have to you know stop looking at your device so much like the attention spans that's the other reason i think to kind of give them like you know a little understanding like yeah they probably want it to be go go go go oh yeah no slow moments or pacing or and you know i think it's important to note that not a single one of the series were ever perfect no no oh yeah season three of tos was terrible yeah and you know spock's brain every series had their stinker episodes and you know all this stuff so you know it's not
That's the problem now is like we're not reviewing Starfleet Academy thinking that, you know, everything was pristine. Yeah, you know, because it wasn't Oscar material. None of it, you know. So, I mean, but it also had insanely amazing moments. The stinkers were more forgiven because, yeah, they were fillers. 20 episodes a season versus nine. So if you have a couple of stinkers in that, it's going to seem like everything sucks, especially when the quality is consistent.
You know, it's easy to say, oh, boy, all right, well, this episode is kind of dumb. But, you know, this series doesn't disappoint overall. So, you know, it's palatable. And I'm for a miniseries. Like, you don't have to have, like, all these seasons. Like, do a miniseries. And if it's successful, do another one. Right. The BBC does it well. They know what they're doing. Yeah, they know what they're doing. And, you know, it's just, I don't know. It's just.
I still think it's not a, I don't think it's an acting issue. It's certainly not a special effect issue. It's a writing issue. You know, it's not what you're saying. It's how you say it. Yeah. Most of the modern day Trek, it's got great actors aboard and stuff. It's just, yeah, it all comes down to the writing and imagination. So it's, once you can get that, you know, harnessed, like Metallus was able to do it. And even Discovery had great actors. Yeah. You know, they just were given material. And visuals, but yeah. You know, and they did such a good job from an acting perspective that, yeah, it was like, well, it's so annoying being written so terribly. I mean, as much as I want it to be forgotten and stuff. Right.
i still want the actors to be part of the family and they are they're on those cruises which are very tempting to check out how fun yeah and then conventions like there's aspects about it like you know saru i do like the the actor and i do like the design some of it got corny but that's discovery so But the first two seasons, I mean, he was probably one of my favorite characters. Oh, yeah. For sure. I thought he was really cool. Yeah. Most creative, probably, character. Oh, and one of the coolest looking aliens I thought they made in a long time. Which was, I'm sure, hard to pull off, especially with his heels the way they were and all that. You know, Enterprise, I don't feel is, I think it has a lot of issues. I haven't seen it for a long time, but, you know, I was watching it as it came on and I kind of just trolled off. They had to correct. Yeah. Unfortunately, by the time they corrected, I think Les Moonves was like, see ya. We will be back sooner.
Yes. We say that every, that's our tagline. Yeah. So at this rate, 20, 27, we'll see. So we'll get that Patreon started if you want to give us like some hamburgers. Yeah, we don't need much. Yeah, we don't need much. We don't need much, but yeah. $20 a month. Yeah, there you go. Total. Yeah. Yeah, we don't eat per person. Yes. You know, total. That'll buy us enough lunch. We can buy more chips for the table. Right. We don't, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Just give me a large fry and a quarter pounder. I'll show up. After recording. After recording. Gas will come through the mics. You'll be perping all the time. Stomachs, yeah. Yeah, exactly. So this episode was really great. I swallowed my combat. I swallowed my combat.
Well, with that said, I'm Josh. I'm Steve. Take care. Live long and prosper.