Short Treks: Q&A and The Trouble with Edward

After successfully keeping our attention on the franchise between seasons one and two of Discovery, Short Treks returned in October to satisfy our hunger for new content ahead of Picard in January 2020.

What better way to kick off this series of six 15 minute stories than with one of the most popular elements of Discovery’s sophomore year in Ethan Peck’s Spock and Rebecca Romjin’s Number One. 

The premise covers Ensign Spock’s first day on the USS Enterprise, reporting to Number One - and then proceeding to get stuck in a turbolift. Ok, its an old story trick - confine two characters in a small space and let them talk and in this case it’s even more interesting because Spock took on a lot of Number One’s emotional character traits for the second commissioned pilot and beyond back in the 1960’s. 

These two characters have a lot in common and this is played out almost straight off the transporter pad with Romjin’s character pushing Spock to ask questions. Her computer-like mind is akin to the Vulcan’s and their confinement in the turbolift gives the pair a chance to see the similarities and realise for a moment that Number One might have bitten off more than she can chew. 

Spock is certainly thorough in his line of investigation leading to both characters in fact acting out of character for a moment. While welcoming back Spock and Number One was something we were clamouring for (as well as Anson Mount’s exceptional Chris Pike), the inclusion of a Gilbert and Sullivan rendition might have just been pushing us to the limit - and there are many of us still in counselling after Insurrection’s HMS Pinafore. 

Here’s the thing; at this point the two have realised how they are both in control of their emotions, exuding logic at every occasion and remaining absolutely to the letter on rules and regulations and at ease with strict routine and organisation. For one minute in the presence of the other they are able to have a release that can never be spoken of and sort of explains Spock’s apparent emotions during The Cage. 

Number One at this time is more in control, more heavily restricted and potentially provides support to the young ensign in terms of emotional control. This is the youngest we have seen Spock; Q&A is very effective, simple and straight to the point but that musical rendition still, even with me trying to justify it, seems very out of place. 

Released on 12th October, The Trouble with Edward is a huge Marmite of an episode. Pike is back to send Captain Lynne Lucerno (Rosa Salazar) off on her first command aboard the USS Cabot. 

What appears to initially be a routine science mission is turned upside down thanks to Lieutenant Edward Larkin (H Jon  Benjamin) and his discovery of the Tribbles. Initally there is the suggestion to use them as a food source however Lucerno redirects Larkin’s efforts towards the mission. 

This however drives the scientist against the captain’s wishes as he increases the Tribbles’ reproductive abilities, leading to them, unsurprisingly for us veteran Trekkies, overwhelming the ship and leading to the end of Lucerno’s first command after just two weeks.

The Trouble with Edward is played for humour with Larkin’s head to head with Lucerno being a particular highlight. H Jon Benjamin is excellent as the insubordinate lieutenant. I can see where the hints of Reg Barclay have been suggested with Larkin disobeying orders to work on the Tribbles rather than the work that the crew is meant to be pursuing.  

He’s not your typical Starfleet officer, attempting to spread discontent and believing his own self-importance and brilliance above everyone else.  His incompetence ultimately destroys the Cabot, but its not without a bit of tongue in cheek humour to line up aside this shoehorning origin story.   Advances in technology definitely help to emphasise the Tribble menace with their final, explosive breeding expansion right to the doors of the escape pod being particularly effective. 

However.... the explanation of their origin as just pretty boring if cute balls of fluff with a meaty core is a bit puzzling. How did Kirk and the Enterprise crew not know about them and their appetites and reproductive agility? How did they not know that this was a creature that could breed at such a ridiculously alarming rate that had been meddled with by Starfleet?  This makes absolutely no sense given the severity of their offspring-popping. 

It’s an entertaining 15 minutes and one of the most comedic segments of the latest age of the franchise but don’t look too deeply as it doesn’t quite make sense why Starfleet would bury all information on them (unless they were just damn embarrassed that one of their number was responsible for their genetic alteration!) I thoroughly recommend sticking around for the post-credits advert set aboard the USS Ravenous - a highlight without question but one more piece to 100% take with a pinch of salt...but not a Tribble (and read the small print in the pic below...)

Strangely both of the most recent Short Treks have chosen to travel a more light hearted path than anything we have seen from the franchise in the Kurtzman era. Perhaps a respectable choice in hindsight to the rather serious and at times almost pitch black first two seasons of Discovery.

Picard too appears to be treading a similar serious path and its refreshing to see that Star Trek can still afford not to take itself far too seriously. On many occasions the franchise has nearly disappeared up itself in heavy political statements and instalments like this remind us that it does have a heart after all. Honestly, it does and its here for us all to see.  

A good pair to kick us off into the next phase of Star Trek’s evolution which makes me hungry for more...content that is and not Tribble cereal even if the fun never stops...!

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Tribble Trouble: The Official Starships Collection Deep Space Station K-7

What is not to love.

Since Deep Space Nine - actually more likely since issue one of the Collection, fans have been asking/demanding that we get more starbases - Spacedock, Regula One, the Caretaker Array - and one in particular.

K-7 is as iconic as the episode in which it featured in 1967. A spinning outpost packed with quadrotriticale and the centre of attention for both the Enterprise and the IKS Groth, it’s unusual design makes it instantly recognisable. 

Now Eaglemoss have brought that beauty down onto the diecast level and by gum has this been worth the wait. Arriving in one of the biggest specials boxes to date, K-7 is, as always, styrofoam packed to ensure damage-free delivery. 

Easing her tenderly out, this is definitely one of the largest models to date with a diameter of xxcm so be sure to plan your shelf space in advance. 

Starting down at the cylindrical base, the series producers have even managed to include a shuttle bay and not just sealed doors with actual depth to the open deck disappearing back into the main structure. The panelling here and at every point is kept very simple with everything seeming to spread out from the central core of the station. There are one or two panels highlighted in a darker shade but these are few and far between on this item.

Travelling vertically the shuttlebay is connected by a slender strip of plastic which leads up towards the main central hub of the station. Here, first, there’s another larger circular section from which the trio of outer modules are attached. As with the other classic remastered vehicles from The Original Series, the detail is minor, with the shape and overall style being more in dominance of the design rather than a lot of flashy finishing touches.

That base actually sits into the claw shaped display holder. It's a good fit and with the base being a hefty metal weight it certainly keeps K-7 grounded and looks fantastic out on display. Wish Deep Space Nine had something official to stand it on like this one but hey, different times...!

Now we do like a good greeble but putting this alongside the NCC-1701 or a Klingon D7 if it was super detailed would just look plain wrong. Here minimal is optimal and from that grey mid-cylinder you are drawn up to the large mushroom head of K-7. That uniform space grey colour is in every orifice of the station yet even on the top of the central unit there are defined panel lines which do function to take a degree of over-simplification away. Eaglemoss have scored the panelling in very precisely on this circular hull and there’s no horrid blobby buildup of paint.

Topside is the most prominent of the details on the station being the United Federation of Planets banner printed around the structure and K-7 just above on the cone-shaped command unit. All the windows here and out on the KA, KB and KC trio of pods are, as you would expect from Eaglemoss, completely misaligned with the surface details moulded onto the station. In respect to the upper ones on the central structure, they almost slip onto the darker grey top aerial. My aerial did come a little bent however with some encouragement it has now gone straight.

The station, above the shuttlebay is totally plastic and it's the only way that the three outer units would feasibly work. scored with vertical panelling lines, the arms reach out to the three small structures, two of which are "lit" red and the third, "green". Aside from the lettering and colours, the three are identical and there's not even a glimmer of difference in quality between them. Very nice and to some degree they are scaled down versions of the large central piece with the cylindrical unit replaced with the connecting point of the arms.

I love the 1960's basic design here. The lines are so clean and the lack of detail makes this even more enticing as a piece. Even when you turn her over the underside is equally simple; just the grey and that splayed panel design which has everything emanating from the middle of each unit whether outlying or the large core.

This feels like a no-brainer for any collector and while it is more expensive this is such a lovely model and one of the few that seems to have retained its distinct appeal and look from The Original Series. I've appreciated the ships from the remastered episodes but this has something more exciting to it. It represents not only a classic moment from the first series but also from the revisit in Trials and Tribble-ations. Apart from the horrid window alignment which now seems to be an Eaglemoss hallmark of "quality", it is a stunner and does make me kind of forget about the blandness of the previous Swarm Ship special. 

As for display purposes this has something that Deep Space Nine lacks - a stand! However, hang on from singing its praises because the stand is more of a cradle and the station isn't totally secure. It can spin and lift out very easily so just bear that in mind when you're lifting it onto that top shelf. Also has anyone else noticed that the plastic "grip" pieces are not fitting as well into the black bases on a lot of models recently?

In the magazine there's a skant overview of the station and it's role within The Trouble with Tribbles (shame it missed getting in the nod made in Choose Your Pain from Discovery). Second in is a section narrated by David Gerrold, writer of The Trouble with Tribbles covering the development of the episode and then we have a further piece on the creation of Trials and Tribbleations and the technology involved to bring it to life. 

The magazine is lacking some plan views of the station for print reference however in the bigger picture the episodic info is far more useful and a better utilisation of the space available. The content is wonderful but I would have loved more background on the model especially as it's only the second space station that has graced the collection in four years.

Absolutely love this one and now just need to make a big enough gap for it to take a good spot on display!

What's the next space station we should get from the collection?

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