From the Collective to the Circuit: Voyager's Manu Intiraymi on Voyager, Producing and More!

Blasting through to the sixth and seventh seasons of Voyager it can be easy to overlook some of the elements that helped evolve the show in its final years.

One of the biggest additions to the ship was Icheb. Originally one of the Borg children discovered in Collective, he would be the only one of that small group of survivors to would remain on the ship and return with it to the Alpha Quadrant (whatever happened to the baby?!).

But actor/producer Manu Intiraymi's (pronounced Inter-aye-may) association with Star Trek doesn't end there and in the last couple of years he's even brought Icheb back for the independent film, Star Trek: Renegades.

"I'd just finished a film called Whatever it Takes," recalled Manu when he spoke to me from Los Angeles shortly before the widespread release of Renegades. "It was a teen comedy with James Franco, Aaron Paul, Shane West and Colin Hanks and then a couple of months later I got the call from my agent to go and read for a part on Voyager. Originally I was reading for the Borg character that dies (First which went to Ryan Spahn) and I didn't get it so I was depressed. They called me and said that I'd actually got the other part of the number two supporting character. I was bummed but I still got to do Star Trek even though it wasn't the bad guy role. It then turned into two years of television because they kept that guy alive and turned him into Icheb."

Whether that was the plan from the start or something that happened along the way is a point Manu still doesn't know to this day. It may well have been they realised that he could be an asset to the show after the Icheb-focused episode Child's Play which took the character back to his homeworld. Not only that but the story revealed how Icheb was linked to the demise of the Borg ship from Collective and also put Manu onscreen alongside sci-fi stalwart Mark Shepherd; "Whether that was a tester episode to see what I could do I don't know," said Manu, "but I do owe thanks to Michael Taylor and Ken Biller as those guys were responsible, as I discovered recently at Las Vegas from Brian Fuller, for creating the character."

"A couple of years ago when we filmed Renegades I went back and watched those last couple of seasons and they were pretty good. I'm very proud of the work I did on that show. It was great opportunity to steal from all those guys (the cast) and learn their acting tricks and camera tricks. There were a lot of really good actors that I was lucky enough and smart enough to get as much knowledge as I could when I had the chance."

Oddly the way in which Manu got the chance to audition for Voyager isn't totally straight-forward. It seems that his first onscreen performance in Senseless alongside Marlon Wayans wasn't the best it could have been. Ron Cerma cast him in that movie and it ended up with the director yelling at Manu with him considering quitting acting and going home depressed. Three years later Ron was getting a pedicure alongside Manu's agent, Julian Lowry-Johnson, who suggested he should see the young actor for the role of Icheb. Ron gave Manu a second chance as his agent got his toe cut in frustration and if not for that, Manu Intiraymi may never have had the opportunity.

Manu's Borg costume was a little different to the standard outfit although it was designed by Bob Blackman. "He had designed an outfit that was half-assimilated (because of the virus Icheb had been carrying which awoke him early). All the way up to my crotch he left the leg open and then on the other side he had holes in the costume for my skin to show. The Borg bodysuits are pretty hard plastics and so anytime I moved where the plastics were and it met my skin it would chafe and slice into my leg or dig into my hip. At the end of the day I would go home and have marks all over me. It was uncomfortable and I threw a fit over the leg piece and said I didn't want to do it, I looked like a dork and would have to hide the open leg every time the camera was on it.

"Brannon Braga had to come down from the main office. He asked what was the problem. I told him that I was this bad-ass Borg with a skinny white leg and he took one look and said "Yeah; I wouldn't want to do that either; tough break man. That's the costume.

"I asked if we could at least put a panty-ho in there so they ended up putting a couple of Borg implants onto a panty-ho that they made me wear to make it look a little less skinny. It was funny because that was enough for me to feel comfortable!"

Manu recalled a lot of experiences on other shows as the guest character where the main cast would treat you as though you weren't there but on Voyager it was different, "Those actors were very welcoming. I felt like a part of the cast immediately. I didn't feel any pressure from the cast and they were all very friendly, enlightened, humble - good people. I got to know them then and I've got to know them even more from doing conventions every now and then. 

"I worked with Kate, Jeri and (Robert) Picardo a lot and Ethan (Phillips) for The Haunting of Deck Twelve and every other character at least once but the only person I only had one scene with was Robert Beltran. Over the last couple of years I've got to know him very well. He's one of the most respectful, funny, welcoming guys around. Now we're working on a project together. I've worked on three things with Tim Russ, I'm trying to get Ethan and Robert into a new movie I'm doing. They were all very kind to me and I don't have anything negative to say about them."

It's been almost two years since Renegades was filmed and Manu found it difficult to slip back into the character of Icheb which was down to how the project had evolved. "The screenplay that I read and thought was great and in which Icheb was a main character, had a lot of dialogue and a lot of scenes which were CG heavy was axed and they had to re-write."

While he was working on Unbelievable!!!!! which has a Star Trek-laden cast in itself, Manu spoke with Tim Russ only to discover that Renegades had undergone some drastic changes with the removal of Icheb which meant that Manu would be playing another character. 

"I got annoyed because I'd spent the previous year promoting it and then I got written back into the movie but whoever wrote him back in didn't seem to know the character because the dialogue wasn't like him. Icheb in Voyager was a genius, he had a big vocabulary and he spoke in a certain way and I remember there were lines in Renegades that would never come out of his mouth or if they did they would be much more creative! I kept fighting against it and would speak to Tim (Russ) who was directing and say "Look what Icheb's about to say in this scene - he wouldn't say that would he?"

"Tim would take a look at the line and say "No man, he wouldn't" and then we'd try and rewrite what he would say and if we couldn't come up with anything then I would just say nothing and drop the line. Even though Icheb is in the film quite a bit he's become a much more silent character. He's not the character we've got to know. If they do another I hope that they let Icheb speak some more and find out a bit about the man he's become because we don't learn a lot in Renegades except that he's been altered by Section 31.

"I'm very proud of Renegades and I do hope they do another. It'll be good to find out what happened to Icheb and why. He certainly looks cool in Renegades and I enjoyed making it!"

Talking of Star Trek (which we always like to do on here, surprisingly), we had to ask how the Icheb actor had found the recent Las Vegas convention; "It was amazing! It was a really nice show. The fans were great and I got to see so many fans, showrunners and writers that I'd not seen in so long. The panels were good and I got reconnected with Brannon Braga, bumped into Brian Fuller, saw friends and family and talked about developing The Circuit."

We'll come to that project in a bit as there's even more on his plate at the moment. You may recall from a while back that he's also involved with 5th Passenger and on this project, as a producer for the third time.

Written by Morgan Lariah and Scott Baker, it's the story of a group of characters stuck together on a lifepod with something sinister in there with them. The big thing that Manu brought to the table here was the cast, calling in stalwarts from the sci-fi sphere including Armin Shimerman, Tim Russ, Marina Sirtis and Hana Hatae among others.

"It was a blessing to get Armin," explained Manu as the part had been recast twice with Ethan Phillips then Robert Picardo in the role, "He brings something to the character that Ethan or Robert might not have done. Originally the character was a talky guy but over the rewrites his lines began to go away as he's a supporting character but Armin is such a good actor that even when he's in a scene not saying anything you're still focused on him. He brought this great subtle silence to his scenes."

"I think this film has a chance to be great," said Manu; "We have 70 minutes cut, we have a lot of digital effects to wait for and we probably won't be out until some time late next year but the film looks really good!

"We have to make sure that it's perfect. We shot a film for a little bit of money that looks like a big budget film and my terror going into it was that we were making a B-movie because we didn't have enough money. About a week in I knew we were shooting a really good movie and now the last thing we need to do is to raise the extra money and don't release it before each and every visual effect looks as good as the rest of the film."

So what has made 5th Passenger just so good an experience to work on? "Everything came together;" said Manu, "All the guys involved aren't getting paid what they're used to and with that usually one department (makeup, special effects, wardrobe, art, actors...) doesn't bring their best work and it only makes one thing to make a movie bad. In this case everyone brought their A-game. We had three guys building sets that were literally ready an hour before we were using them. I remember the roof for the lower half of our spaceship was up minutes before we moved the cameras over there. It was a miracle movie in so many ways - I didn't think it was going to get made for a few years and then we found these ship sets and we could go in and get the right to shoot on and redesign from an art design perspective.

"The fans were amazing. We knew we had to shoot the ship within a certain time-frame and we had three weeks to raise the funds so I called all the actors, we threw up a last minute Kickstarter and the fans donated $82,000 which was a miracle. Thank you to every one of them. Matching funds and getting more money meant we could get it all filmed in 17 days rather than three separate shoots. I'm really proud of everyone who worked on it but I don't think I could ever recreate all those miracles that happened to bring it all together!"

The movie Unbelievable is also due to come out with a 50-something cast list of sci-fi actors. A farce, it's cost $3 million dollars and Manu has yet to see the finished product; "It's going to be a funny and weird film. If it's terribly bad it might get to the point it's good!"

Now the big thing that is coming in 2016 is The Circuit. "I'm putting together this project which is ten different stories about ten different genres that have happened over the last 50 years of Star Trek/sci-fi/pop culture conventions. Five stories based on absolute fiction and five based on a true story. The first 12 minutes will be a thriller then that will end and the camera will follow someone and the genre will twist and suddenly you'll be watching a romance and that will end and you'll be in a noire film then a horror and then maybe a sci-fi epic. What's neat about it is that we want to tell the ten best stories that have happened in 50 years of this phenomenon of the convention.

"There's so many stories that happen behind the scenes that the fans don't get to see and that they need to know about. There's ten different directors, ten different writers and a single cinematographer to keep a certain look. All these stories will intertwine so it's one movie. Usually in an anthology film you would fade to black after ten minutes, a title card comes up but in this one we're going to switch genres instead.

"So far we have Walter Koenig, Tim Russ, Armin Shimerman, Gary Graham, JG Herzler, Robert O'Reilly, Vaughn Armstrong, Gigi Edgley (Farscape), Corin Nemec (Stargate) and probably Ethan Phillips and Robert Picardo (if they like what I write!), Robert Beltran, Nana Visitor, Terry Farrell, Bernard Wells (Mad Max: The Road Warrior), Doug Jones (Hellboy), Hana Hatae, Jerry Doyle (Babylon 5) and more!" (that is one HELL of a list)

Once this gets opened up next year, Manu is looking for five of these stories to come from the fanbase because these aren't just the actors' stories. "I was standing on the stage at the closing ceremony for Fedcon last year and looking out thinking 'look at all those stories! All these people are living lives and there must be some great stories out there. I know the stories I've heard over 15 years of going to conventions so I have lots to share but I know the fans must have them too. 

"We will be opening it for direct submissions from the fans and they will be story editor and work alongside our writers to get it right. Whoever that story is about be it them or their friends will then get played by famous actors if their piece is picked. It may be the first time that the fans and the actors will be involved directly and creatively in the making of a film. It's a really fun thing and I hope people get behind it. The first Indiegogo campaign should go live in April next year."

So to finish I had to ask - what was Manu's biggest moment from his association with Star Trek in the last 15 years?

"When I got the episode Imperfection I thought it was so well written and said so much about human kind's ability to do brave things and sacrifice oneself for friends and family. I called my mother and cried that I was finally going to get to do something that counts. I put everything I had into making sure that episode came off right. When you do TV it's different to doing theatre because you don't see if you've affected someone anywhere. The main reason that I act is because once in a while you get a chance to do a story that really affects people on a deep emotional level and vicariously through another human being's experience something that is important to us all.

"Then a year later I was in Germany at my first convention (Fedcon). I didn't know what a Q&A was and someone handed me a microphone and said that I had to go on stage and talk for a couple of hours. I went out and started talking. It was the first Q&A I did, it was also the best Q&A I ever did. I really connected with the audience in a way I've never had since. 

"About halfway through a man stood up and said that he wanted to thank me for the episode Imperfection because his cousin, who was standing next to him, had a kidney operation he was going through and they had watched that episode. It had given them the courage to believe that he was going to get a kidney, believe that he was going to be OK and it helped them get through that experience. They just wanted to thank me and the guy was in tears. It was powerful to the point where I just started crying with that individual and said thank you. That was the whole point to give everything you have to get more empathy and love if you can. I'm most thankful for that moment."

The show also gave Manu two great years of working with great actors, telling great stories but also gave him the opportunity to see the world, get cultured "...and most importantly meet fans. There's no other show in the world that I could have done which would have given me that."

You can follow Manu on Facebook, on Twitter as @manuintiraymi or on Istagram as @manuintiraymi - do it now!

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Mind Over Matter: Dream on Data

"Data...sometimes a cake is just a cake..." 

Season seven's Phantasms is among my favourite The Next Generation episodes ever. I spent a whole weekend in my teens transcribing the script from VHS volume 79 and typing it up. In some respects it makes Schisms look like a trip out to the seaside for utter weirdness yet it has me enthralled thanks to its unique plot and imagery. Then real shame is that the basis for the story is only explored in two episodes of The Next Generation and tragically never gets any more airtime due to the demise of Data in Nemesis. 

I guess it was one if those things that really would need it's own episode to talk about and I guess coming up with plots surrounding a dream programme aren't the easiest of things to come up with. This breakthrough in Data's programming was unleashed about half a season earlier in Birthright, Part I which I now think is a great little story. While the plot around the activation of the dream programme is only explored in the first part, it's one of the strongest indicators that Data is capable of becoming so much more and gets to keep an improvement for once rather than having it bestowed as a thank you or stolen from him. 

Now, Phantasms. I would absolutely love to wax lyrical over this one... Oh go on then, I will. Twenty years since it first aired (Really?! That long?) it's one of those classic The Next Generation moments for me. As an immediate successor to Birthright, Part I,  it does the story of Data's dreams the justice they were ill-afforded and ignored by the concluding part of the sixth season instalment. Brandon Braga is of course the man behind the script while Patrick Stewart held the directorial reins for the episode. This could easily have mutated into a schmaltzy "Data-learns" story as he comes to terms with his dreams and what they mean it goes as opposite in direction as possible. 

While saving the ship from some slug-like hitchhikers, we gain a troubling entrance into Data's psyche. Perhaps placing it against the recent emotions he experienced due to Lore in Decent would be as justified as relating it back to the more understandable visions that were realised in Birthright. There it was about Soong as creator, forging Data using his own hands and then letting him loose to explore and evolve. It was evidence that Data could make significant jumps in his understanding and abilities but there is a far more poignant moment in the sequel of Phantasms. When I rewatched it I still got the tingle of amazement that this line made it into the final version. When Data awakes from his second dream sequence he speaks to Geordi in engineering and starts to say that when he woke up he..... And never finishes the sentence. 

Is it that eventually the emotion chip he finally receives in Generations (and conveniently turned on and off for First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis) would not have been required? Was Soong's surprise in his appearance to Data in Birthright to do not only with the fact that his ultimate creation had managed to access such a deeply ingrained programme that he knew it could lead to self-development of emotions without external assistance? For me it's one of the most jaw-dropping cast off lines of the entire series, even more "argh" inducing than the Picard/Crusher romance that never quite happened. Had we explored the dreams of the android some more would this have been an eventual outcome?

The benefit of hindsight, hmm? I actually think we'd never get an answer to that unfinished question and it's important to remain on target here. Phantasms perhaps highlights how far Data has come since the beginning of The Next Generation while perhaps showing that he still has a great distance still to complete. His dreams bleed into reality and while it eventually becomes clear that there is a purpose to his "waking dream state" which reveals the existence of the creatures feeding on cellular peptides, it genuinely emotes some of the most chilling sensations I've ever felt within an episode of the series, specifically the sequence with Troi in the turbolift which was originally trimmed by the BBC when they first aired the episode. While Data is able to dream and thus be a step nearer to his goal of becoming human he still has the ability to turn it on and off at his will - there is still that last hurdle to overcome where it will "play" automatically rather than being instigated when desired. While the Troi incident is naturally chilling, the reminder of the dream sequence which repeats itself through the story is as bizarrely imagined as it is apparently logical by the tale's end and it would be more than criminal to avoid at least one reference to the "Troi Cake". All signs of consumption - and did you notice that the slice Worf is eating is cut into the Starfleet delta shape?

Anyway, let's look more like at what these stories say about Data. I actually think that the dream programme is far darker than we sense here. I I personally don't think Data really understands the power of the visions even when realises the significance of the visions at the conclusion of Phantasms which ultimately leads to the salvation of the Enterprise crew. In fact it could be seen that this addition is a weakness. I look at it this way, not only does he oversleep but there is the attack on Troi to consider. In Birthright, Data is wiling to effectively self harm to experience the programme again and becomes fanatic to the point of obsession with recreating images from the initial vision. While he might see it as some kind of Holmesian mystery to solve there is genuine danger to reach that goal and learn what it might all mean. It is perhaps more of a lost opportunity in Phantasms to push Data to yet another level that would be artificially provided in Generations. Maybe this belays that Data's personal evolution is not finite and that he simply does not understand how the dream programme could aid the ongoing development of his humanity even when there is moment that could define his future and is (almost) missed. 

While the choice of location for both of Data's dream experiences are firmly on the Enterprise (budget limitations i expect) is limited his dreams relate firmly to his past with fantastical embellishments - Riker's straw, Soong as a blacksmith. This latter vision has a thread carried into the sequel with the workmen i dressed in equally period garb. Interesting that such a futuristic being as Data would hark back to such an age - maybe hints of his preference for the odd Sherlock Holmes mystery coming through his android subconscious here! The very unsophisticated look of the workmen as well as Dr Freud's involvement perhaps are even further suggestions that Data's dreams and possibly his evolution are still in their infancy - he has yet to evolve to a more high-tech age and is still regarded by his now-deceased creator as a child in so many ways. 

While the workmen and Freud, like all the aspects of the dream are in some way symbolic, they are the most memorable aspects of the story. Where else would you find three manual labourers attempting to dismantle a plasma conduit in the office of a famed psychologist in the dream of an android lieutenant commander on a starship (souonds even more bizarre when you read it back). The addition of that emotion chip back in Brothers might have been a bit early given some of Data's nuances over the later seasons (particularly when fed emotions from that very chip in Descent).

Just to take a few moments to indulge in Phantasms it is more unusual when you look at the structure of the story. The Data plot is also aligned with a faulty warp core, the Annual Starfleet Admirals' Banquet and a love-struck young ensign in Engineering. It's packed to the saucer section with great moments which all intertwine into one strand at some point along the way whether we realised it or not. Data's dreams act as the core to the narrative with all these elements packed around it seemingly separate but yet all fundamental to the solution - even if that solution is keeping the captain busy for a few minutes elsewhere.

While the dream in Birthright is all about expression and growth, the second tale of Data's mental state is much darker and unnerving as a whole. Birthright is more open and inviting to Data, making him want to explore the possibilities buried within his cranium but that's totally flipped by the surrealism and haunting melodies that are played throughout Phantasms.  You're never quite sure what the visions mean right up to the close of either installment and it's the deciphering of the experience which helps us to not only, perhaps, get to grips with the story but also understand how Data deals with a new experience, function or program. How we would have seen this expanded further we will never know. Interestingly after Phantasms there is only one more throwaway reference to Data's dreams in a single line at the end of Masks near the middle of the season. 

Not only that, but while it's one of my favourite episodes I would really like to find out how the cellular peptide eating critters manifested themselves into Data's dreams in the first place. Maybe it was one of the great misfires of the latter years of The Next Generation alongside the cringe-worthy Force of Nature's warp five speed limit. I think an even more mind-bending third story would have been necessary to top these two pieces. Data as a bird and Troi as a cake? Surely Picard as the White Rabbit had to be the logical next step?

A Little Unfair on Rick Berman

Going all the way back to January I decided to go easy on JJ Abrams and even defended him in light of the ferocious revelation that he would soon be helming Star Wars Episode VII. 

Then I spent some of March blubbering on about whether or not we should recognise the JJ reboot universe visualised in 2009's Star Trek and it's 2013 sequel as official material. Then it dawned on me that we had been in a similar situation some time ago with another individual. His name wasn't JJ Abrams but the anger directed at him from fandom was probably just as vehement (although after seeing some of the comments about Star Trek Into Darkness I'm tempted to retract that). 

My fingers flew over the keyboard and an article took form however, I let it piece fester and wallow around in the backwater of Draft Hell as the reboot sequel came and went; then the DVD and blu-ray came and went...and before you know it, it's Christmas 2013. Indeed, what could be a better time to dust this piece off as, appropriately, it's also Rick Berman's birthday. 

Already some of JJ Abrams' comments have, apparently, placed him in deep water with Trekkies since he wants his Star Trek to be the only one that's remembered etc etc... with fans supposedly crying out for a return to the "old ways"  of Star Trek that was known and loved from 1966 through to 2005; what JJ was doing "just isn't Star Trek".

Flip back a few years and the odd thing is that towards the end of Enterprise we were a grumpy old lot especially when it came to Rick Berman. As the cartoon I was inspired by (top) goes to show, we didn't like what he'd done to the franchise when it came to Enterprise and, dare I even write the name, Star Trek Nemesis. The grass had to be greener so to speak. Manny Coto had taken over the reins of the faltering, stumbling Enterprise but alas it was too late and the franchise disappeared into a Bajoran-sized wormhole for the next four years. A real shame given the quality of that last season. Circling the back of beyond is precisely where Abrams found it, kicked it a few times and  rebooted it - and then we all started grumbling again....you get the picture I'm sure.

But was the "Berman Era" really THAT bad? Should Trekkies/Trekkers across the globe be as disgruntled with Rick as history suggests? I would say not but I'll make sure I back this up with some evidence. 

Rick Berman was pretty much at Gene Roddenberry's side from the inception of The Next Generation in 1986 until the Great Bird's death in 1991. During those years he would take on more and more of the day to day production of the series and helm the show to its end in 1994. It's a harsh thing to say, but once Gene was no longer part of that Star Trek equation there was more freedom for the writers and we were presented with some intensive character development and edgier stories. It was interesting to watch Trek Nation which has helped map my thoughts for this piece as Ronald D Moore notes that there was more they could do with the Star Trek universe post-1991 even though Berman appeared to keep hold of the reins fairly tightly.

Yes, he allowed the infamous space pirates two-parter, Gambit, in the shows final season but we got to understand the characters a lot more if we dig deeper than that superficial yet very entertaining story. Look at where the writers went in the second half of the fifth season for instance. The earlier stories are very much science fiction based whereas there is a definite flexing of wings when we hit installments such as The Outcast, New Ground, Hero Worship and Perfect Mate to name but a few. These were stories tackling slavery, sexuality, childhood trauma and more which were never attempted just a couple of years before. 

Now Rick was never The Next Generation's most prolific writer, penning as he did two episodes in the entire run from 1987 to 1994; Brothers and A Matter of Time. All other episodes that Berman was directly involved with in the scripting paired him either with Michael Pillar or latterly Brannon Braga. That said, he had the final say on what would make it to the screen and let the writing staff explore the cultures of their characters in a great deal more depth especially the Klingons through Worf in season five and further more with Birthright and Rightful Heir the following year. Data was expanded with the dream programme, Troi got a uniform, a promotion and dare I say it a significant amount more respect from the viewers. It was the heyday of Star Trek and the characters were not stagnating. I'm not sure we can really complain about his input into The Next Generation but could this be due to the fact that it was built on such a solid base to start with by Roddenberry? It's certainly a thought to ponder over but then how do we account for Deep Space Nine? In my opinion the greatest of any Star Trek generation. Is there more to this?

Perhaps most revealing is the interview Berman conducted with startrek.com back in 2012. He truly believed in Gene's vision of the 24th Century and fought to uphold those elements that the shows creator held dear even after his death. However Berman knew, just as Abrams did in 2009, that Star Trek had to change and develop if it were to survive. Maybe his choices weren't as extreme as those that have enshrouded the latest two big screen adaptations but by taking Deep Space Nine and Voyager into the uncharted depths of the Gamma and Delta Quadrants respectively there was chance to do something different under the security of the franchise umbrella. Now significantly with both these shows Berman held overall control but the day to day decisions were in the hands of others. Michael Piller and Ira Steven Behr ran the show at one time or other on Deep Space Nine while Jeri Taylor and Brannon Braga did likewise on Voyager. 

Now I think this shows a great contrast between Abrams and Berman - while JJ's attitude appears more hands on, Rick allowed those who understood the material and "lived" the experience of each show to develop it and nurture the creativity. He seems to have placed people in particular spaces to ensure the quality of the franchise continued. It would only be when Enterprise became the sole focus of the production team that Berman would be more directly involved and certainly more influential in the direction of the show. Notably Enterprise would be the series where Rick received more credits for stories than any of the other Star Trek series he had worked on.

This change in focus might reveal where Berman wasn't as strong. Enterprise would be more in the hands of Braga than anyone else during its four year run but it would be the first series Berman had not created or run in the Star Trek universe with Michael Piller. 

Piller himself is highly regarded for his work on Star Trek especially when it comes to a certain Borg-based two-parter from 1990. Maybe his influence was more than we can appreciate in just a few blog paragraphs but without Rick Berman managing the overall shape of the franchise these pieces would not have been in place and the show would not have lasted in some form on TV until 2005. Since Berman took over the franchise in 1991 there have only been 8 years where there has not been an episode of Star Trek in production and during two of those the Abrams movies were released. If it had been "killed" by Gene Roddenberry's heir-apparent would we have seen so much Star Trek over three decades? Would we have even had the films in 2009 and 2013? Potentially not. If Berman's involvement in the franchise was indeed so toxic towards the end, why are they releasing Enterprise on blu-ray and why do Voyager and Deep Space Nine continue to sell DVDs, magazines and a million tons of other material? If the effect had been that bad then the franchise would not have survived nor evolved.

What really gets me is that fandom complained so bitterly about how Enterprise was ruined by Berman especially in its second year. I would challenge fans to look back at any of the previous three series and say that the early years of those shows produced consistently brilliant material. All three took time to evolve and only really hit their stride in the third and fourth years. Enterprise's problem was the whole prequel premise and the Xindi attack which you just knew had to work out fine in the end because of the effect it would have on all other series thereafter in the timeline. 

While the Xindi were a bit like a knockoff Dominion, Berman directed the show to do something that no other generation had attempted. Not only was he showing how it all began and in some way reinventing the wheel (or warp drive) but he upheld the beliefs and standards of Roddenberry and created a season long arc which did work in my opinion. Bringing Manny Coto in for year four was another good move (whether his choice or not) but it left Rick in charge of Star Trek with some great three-part concept stories only tragically let down by THAT horrific finale that did nobody any justice.

JJ Abrams had the chance to reboot from the beginning; to do what he wanted with the franchise and make it his own; a new version of someone else's creation. A re-imagining as we're fond of calling it. Berman had to remain true to the fold and the finale is an attempt to pull everything together when it was apparent that the series was being cancelled and there would be no more new Star Trek on TV. But it failed. While you can see the attempt to make it cuddly, warm and in some respects have a similar feel to something like All Good Things... it nosedives. Producing something new for the show week in week out for such a long time can't be easy. After all there are notoriously only seven types of story and after a while things can get a bit "samey". I still stand in the belief that everything Rick did was in the name of the fans because he knew what Star Trek meant direct from its creator. 

Abrams might have regressed the show back to a fist-fight-of-the-year concept with low impact on themes and characterisation but even at its worst points under Rick Berman these were key factors that were always maintained and time invested in to make sure they retained the mythos. You have to consider that when one or two series were in production there would also be one or two movies hovering in the background. Berman must have, for a fair few years between 1994 and 2000, been spread quite thinly in his control of the franchise which might well have contributed to some of the stories surrounding Ira Steven Behr tricking Berman into allowing certain actions to take place on Deep Space Nine.

Berman allowed the Dominion War which was something Gene might never have allowed. He also brought in conflict among the main cast (but not Starfleet characters) which added not only dimensions for the actors to explore but expanded the potential of the Star Trek universe. While this added another level of action and adventure to the story it didn't stray from ensuring there was always a theme or a motive underlying each story - something JJ might want to reconsider for his third big screen Star Trek outing. Playing on the unexplored was key to the vision of the universe while, in some respects, Abrams has stayed on safe ground, close to Earth - oh, that and blowing up Vulcan. 

Let's be honest here, Rick Berman wasn't afraid of trying new concepts which is easily highlighted by the very existence of Enterprise. His role lay in ensuring that the series remained true to its origins and that it really was "Based upon Star Trek" as created by Gene Roddenberry. Maybe things went the way they did because he felt constrained by that Big Picture and the need to stay true to the Great Bird. Abrams has no such concerns and even Roddenberry himself, as part of an interview I saw on Trek Nation, was keen for someone else to put their spin on the Star Trek universe. Abrams did and so did Berman - so much so his bust of Gene now, legendarily, wears a blindfold. 

He could take risks and allow more exploration and still be the preserver of the Roddenberry vision. Perhaps look at it another way - if Gene had remained in the seat for another 10, 15 or 20 years, would we have seen Deep Space Nine develop from the "adventure of the week" format that had pervaded The Next Generation and The Original Series? I suspect not - which might have seen it dwindle and die after three years because I think we can be certain that the arrival of a certain squat warship in The Search, Part I would not have been the first or last thing Gene would have done - nor perhaps would we have had the Klingons withdrawing from the Khitomer Accords in The Way of the Warrior.


OK, OK, so clearly I like to defend Mr Berman. Why? Because he put the right people in the right places to make a difference and make the shows what they were. Piller, Berman, Moore, Braga, Echevarria, Taylor...all were brought in during Rick's tenure and made Deep Space Nine and Voyager especially into their own. They made us care and he helped and directed that evolution. It can't have been easy juggling three series at various points in their lives plus a motion picture series and maybe that's the problem.

There was, eventually, too much. For me there was a Star Trek peak around the mid to late 1990's, probably reaching a climax with What You Leave Behind. Once that had closed the quality seemed to take a dip. We, as fans expected a lot and didn't get it. There were a lot of good things that did come out of the Star Trek stable by this stage but it needed something fresh and the people that had made it successful in the Golden Age of the 1990's had moved on. Braga was a good writer but as a producer his inexperience, I think, showed through which led to the arrival of Manny Coto which was too little too late. I think his work on the final year of Enterprise is superb and produced some moments of true brilliance. A fifth season and the Romulan War would have really set the show apart but we never got the chance to see how it could have evolved. 

Is it Berman's fault he stayed so long? Maybe not. He was doing something he was passionate about and was doing it for the audience and more significantly he believed he was doing what the fans wanted. His over familiarity with the material by 2004/5 may well have assisted the toll of the bell for Enterprise and after such a long run the franchise was more than a little out of puff. A break was due, it needed a holiday and a change of management. Berman had done his best and given his all to uphold the standards but, as someone once said, All Good Things...must come to an end.

So let's thank Rick Berman for giving us some damn fine shows and classic stories over the years and you know what, it wasn't that bad after all - and for the record he had nothing to do with the movies that are rated at the bottom of the pile. So let's start lighting the torches for JJ and Shatner shall we or are we all waiting to see who will be taking the reins for the third reboot movie? We'll be keeping track in 2014 you can be assured of that.

A Certain Continuity: Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Six

I've come to the end of the sixth year of The Next Generation. One to go.

With season five I managed a few episode pieces but time and Star Trek news have been against me which meant only Schisms and Chain of Command were given a run out in blog form. With my attention turning to the 1993/94 season very soon, I'll be using that time to reflect back on some of the things and themes that made the series tick for me over the course of 178 episodes.

But for now let's look at the last 26 episodes that I've powered through, accompanied in my watching by my one and a bit year old son. Start 'em early....

While the fifth year turned experimental and delved into some quite personal issues as well as coping off-screen with the death of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, I was never the greatest of fans. At the beginning of the sixth season the first two episodes originally left me incredibly cold and worried as to where the year was going to be heading. Time's Arrow had provided a thrilling conclusion but the season opener was a massive comedown from all the set up of the previous year. Indeed, there had been a lot of escalation and only 45 minutes to conclude the story which could maybe have done with a third part to ensure that it didn't come across as rushed as it did. While on the re-watch it's not a bad episode it's not the way you would hope to start a season. It's very convenient and when Data turns up as if by magic I still find myself cringing. 

While a return to Realm of Fear made me realise it's not as hokey as I first thought, it's not until Relics that we see any sign that this season has promise. I would go as far to say that not since season two had I experienced such a mediocre start to a year of The Next Generation. Relics is undoubtedly one of the classics of The Next Generation's entire run and a personal favourite. It is still the only episode of Star Trek I have ever watched more than once in the same day. Schisms isn't a high profile episode yet it does manage to reaffirm the average nature of the early season with True Q, Rascals and The Quality of Life close by doesn't help. Now I'm not saying they're rubbish, just less than you would expect from a show that's heading into its sixth series.

Maybe the point that this is the first season completely without the influence or guidance of Gene Roddenberry; how would the final two years have turned out if he'd still been around to oversee (and would we ever have seen Gambit make it past draft status?!). When you look at the quality you might question what had happened in the hiatus because it's a very slow start as though the show is trying to reaffirm itself with the Scotty driven Relics as the head and shoulders above those first dozen-or-so episodes. It's a different tack and that's more evident when you read the season notes in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion by Larry Nemecek. The opening of the sixth season was designed to be more experimental and away from the "soap opera" of the fifth. Sadly time constraints meant that they had to produce the latter half at speed and waiting for stories to develop wasn't an option. Odd because I actually think that once the series bedded down and had the pressure of deadlines to meet it becomes a much better and more concentrated animal producing some superb installments and much more watchable TV. Experimental is good but the early part of this year might be just pushing that boundary even for Star Trek. Perhaps it's something to do with retaining that "believable" factor. Also notable after only a few episodes is the sudden absence of Alexander, Ro and Guinea who all vanish after Rascals. In fact so does Keiko so this appears to be some sort of midseason send off of sorts  

While the stories themselves at this stage might not have been making waves there was a lot more going on within them. Character development seems to take a Moon-sized leap. Secondary characters such as Dwight Schultz's stammering Barclay get flesh to their transporter-phobic bones and while Man of the People is easily contender for worst episode of the season it gives Troi a decent level of screen time not being overshadowed by her mother and giving the Betazoid something more to do than sit at Picard's left hand or worry about some kid's feelings. A Fistful of Data's also allows Sirtis to spread her wings a bit and when not restricted to the role of counsellor she really gets to shine - i might as well add Face of the Enemy in here too since its all about Troi and adds weight to that exact point. This experience comes in more than useful by season's end and the visit to the time frozen Warbird in Timescape. She's an expert, don't you know. 

When Marina gets some space she's more than capable of running with it. The more you think about it, doesn't it become apparent that this is Troi's best year? Character development and finally her own Starfleet uniform courtesy of Captain Jellico in Chain of Command can't be such a bad thing - add to that it's a Lwaxana-free year and things are definitely on the up.

I've talked about Chain of Command previously in Some Kind of Star Trek so I won't go over it again suffice to say it's one of the stronger two-parters in The Next Generation most likely helped by being mid-season rather than having its conclusion unwritten before the return from holiday. This re-watch even made me review my grumbles with the later Birthright duo which we'll come to in due time however I seem to be getting well ahead of myself here!

While the previous year had been about hitting some big moral issues, the writing staff appear to refocus here and look at the existing crew in more depth than ever before. The above shows how much breathing room Troi was appreciated and Worf, likewise gets to be our guide into the Klingon culture both in the Birthright two part story and the later Rightful Heir. What this second one shows is that continuity was being honoured and events were not being seen as one offs as soon as the Enterprise left orbit. Ship in a Bottle also carried this theme with the return of Moriarty from season two's Elementary, Dear Data. It also had an absolutely brilliant twist that even when I see it now still gives me a smile. This second appearance from Holmes' nemesis and Daniel Davis is definitely well overdue (and allegedly because of legalities with the Conan Doyle estate).

The distinctly dodgy Aquiel doesn't quell too many fears (but still not going to beat Man of the People) that this isn't holding up as a season; don't tell, but the dog did it. It's not until the Troi-centred Face of the Enemy that we really see the year finally finding its feet. A good story, Sirtis at her best chewing out a Romulan commander and genuinely being in danger for once. What this makes you realise is perhaps how gimmicky those early shows are in the '92-'93 season - just think back to how many of them seem like "neat" ideas - transporter has creatures in it, crew turned into kids, holodeck malfunction - or reliant on past characters (Scotty, Q, Barclay, Moriarty). Was there a genuine concern that they had nothing new on the boards? Continuity is a big factor - Face of the Enemy references Ambassador Spock's underground movement and Tapestry finishes off the story first mentioned back in season two's Samaritan Snare which led to Picard to gain his artificial heart. Later episodes would open up old romances (Troi and Riker in Second Chances) and the return of both the Borg and Data's brother, Lore at the end of the year. Rightful Heir even manages to link back to Birthright and that's only a few stories distant.

This unexpected second visit to the Enterprise by Q is probably his best outing since Q Who? . With the withdrawal from such heavy handed themes and stories that we experienced at this point in the previous year it does seem that the cast are enjoying themselves a lot more with their characters. We learn a lot about Picard here as well as in Chain of Command although it's a more somber affair there with four lights. That brings us to the Birthright tale which, even though it's better than I remember still gives me one niggle - it's a two part story yet Data's dream programme is only worth building on in the first 44 minutes?! I remember hoping that the conclusion would expand on the speech his vision of Soong gives and we got nothing....and we had to wait until Phantasms (personal favourite) in the following season to get any kind of next step in the story. That would be the second and last time we'd get to experience the wonders of Data's sleeping state for ourselves. This was a great departure for the character and I'm surprised that it wasn't expanded on further. The remainder (more accurately the majority) of the two-parter is Worf 100% and importantly one of the biggest episodes to talk about the background of the Klingon people while also fleshing out some of the security chief's background. In fact it's another instance of series continuity as we're reminded of the Khitomer Massacre - the first reference since Redemption I think. In the 90's it wasn't something that captured my attention but now I can see the value of the story and how it strengthens the character of Worf.

Talking of character strengths - if Tapestry wasn't a step in the action direction for Picard then Starship Mine certainly was. As well as being Tim (Tuvok) Russ' first Star Trek appearance it's The Next Generation's blatant take on Die Hard. As an adventure installment it's great for the captain to get something to do and for the senior staff to also be placed in a seemingly impossible position. Commander Calvin "Hutch" Hutchinson provides a memorable, if short-lived guest role as well as providing Data with an excellent opportunity to explore "small talk". Picard gets a good run at the end of the season with Lessons next up and the captain getting the girl - and Beverly a few uncomfortable conversations along the way. It could well have descended into major chintz but the story remains sensible with a real threat to the romance where you're not too sure if everything will come right in the end. Just to juxtapose the position though against Kirk, it's Commander Daren who chooses to ditch the relationship rather than Picard. Perhaps his second life/death episode with Q earlier in the season had a profound effect on Jean-Luc?! While we're at it, it's amazing what a movie budget can do to your stellar cartography department...!

While Lessons gives us a lighter breather, he's back cruising the universe in The Chase looking for clues. Certainly an episode that raises the temperatures of many a Star Trek fan with its explanation of why so many races look the same, The Chase brings Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians together for what was, at the time a rare occasion - by the time we got to the end of Deep Space Nine seven years later such an occurrence was all but common place each week.

It's only towards the end of the season that Riker gets some screen time with two outings nearly as the "Picard Trilogy". Frame of Mind and Second Chances are securely focused on the first officer and are far from easy episodes for the XO. He's trapped in the prison of his mind and then upstaged by...himself. Can't be good and how he's not been committed by the end of season six is a hard question to answer. While we're seeing all these returning plotlines and familiar characters season six remains firmly encroached in the arena of good characterisation and interesting stories rather than taking a step onto its soapbox and moralising. 

One character I do feel sorry for is Beverly. Still to tackle the "interesting" ghost tale that is Sub Rosa she gets her nose put out of joint by Commander Daren, plans to resign during the incident with the metaphysical shielding in Suspicions and then to add insult to injury she's on the business end of a Romulan disruptor in Timescape. We all thought Geordi got a bad deal sometimes. This is one of my favourites of the year and got watched a lot when I was younger. I'm always amazed that this is the single The Next Generation episode to feature a runabout and that the rear section used here was never seen in Deep Space Nine for which it was built on this show's budget. It's classic Braga and must have been a nightmare to film considering the temporally-twisted plot. Who can forget the bizarre moment of Picard drawing a smiley in the smoke of a warp core breach?

Season six is a much better slice of The Next Generation than the 26 episodes standing on either side. Not brimming with classics it does manage to bring two memorable nemeses in the form of the Borg and Lore. Indeed, this is almost the perfect way to end the season that we're already noted brought back a lot of The Next Generation's recurring characters. The reintroduction of the Borg through the opening of the sealed door was just brilliant and at this time we didn't know that these individual Borg were Hugh's fault. Data's exploration of emotion is long overdue but it's certainly not the approach he might have hoped for and the second part would only emphasise the darker side of the android's nature. As a season cliffhanger it ticks the boxes but just as with Time's Arrow, it would be tragically let down by a poorly conceived conclusion. When the Sons of Soong join together, you damn well expect them to at least bother the Federation at the least... Rewatching this season i recalled the excitement i felt when I first saw it around 20 years ago. It's lost none of its appeal and has probably gained a little bit over time. There's a good mix, only a couple of clunkers that you can easily get past and a bulk of high quality material that I think has aged well and was great to experience in full this time around. How the final batch will stand in comparison I will find out shortly. Let's hope it's faired just as well...