To Trek With Love: The Finale of Continues

While Discovery temporarily halts its first season you might have been forgiven for missing out on the finale of Star Trek Continues. But not for too long.

Let me be so bold as to say you would be a fool if you had because, simple fact, this is a masterpiece, a well-made and brilliant conclusion to an 11 episode run that has been as innovative and exciting as The Original Series was in when first aired.

Now you'll note I am running the two parter as a single review here so be aware that there will be SPOILERS ahead especially if you've not seen the second part (and why the hell wouldn't you have by now?!).

Let's set the scene straight away. The Federation has been up to its old tricks of doing silly experiments away from the public eye and this time it involves attempting to replicate the "god powers" that we saw back in Where No Man Has Gone Before. To some extent these have been successful however Lana (played by one-time Doctor Who companion Nicola Bryant) wants to take it to the next level and get all of her ESPer colleagues powered up by visiting the Galactic Barrier. Bryant is excellent in this story playing an initially welcoming scientist before turning to something darker and more driven as the story twists and turns on the way to the edge of the Milky Way.

Of course Kirk and co take exception to this based on their rather destructive experiences with Gary Mitchell which nearly saw the captain dead (nice nod to Gary getting the "T" wrong on the gravestone by the way).

Behind Kirk's back however, Spock contacts Romulan commander Charvanek (an inspired piece of casting with her played by the original actress Joanne Linville's daughter Amy Rydell) whom we last saw in The Enterprise Incident from season three of the original show. He plans to have her aid them in recapturing the ESPer group and so the two unlikely allies join forces.

The ESPer group escape on an Antares Class freighter (another superb nod to continuity both in The Original Series remastered and The Animated Series) and rendezvous with the USS Kongo which they take control of (cliffhanger as the Kongo faces off against the Enterprise and the Romulans) while they are chased by the Enterprise accompanied by 

While Part I created a ton of set up and could, at times get a little over talky, Part II balances it out sublimely with 45 minutes of the best fan series episode I may have ever seen.

I won;t go into too much detail here but let's say that the ESPer story is neatly concluded. The thing is that there's a much bigger picture to appreciate with this finale that covers not just the second part but the first too. It's about a solid closure and a way to successfully link the original 79 episodes to The Motion Picture and for it to make absolute perfect sense.

Indeed, spot how many references there are throughout to the dwindling number of Constitution Class starships (Kongo, Potemkin, Exeter and Enterprise) and what the future holds for the fleet. It's much more encompassing an episode than that however. The feeling of bringing the show full circle back to the second pilot is firmly in keeping with the tradition of both All Good Things... and What You Leave Behind in that they refer back to their starting blocks to round out the story. It makes the show feel more complete and Vic Mignona and the whole of the Continues team should be applauded for what is just a mezmerising piece of work in this closing two part story.

While there is that sense of closure in the story, we also have some moments of tragedy with the loss of not just one but two of the crew we have come to know through the Continues saga. Both Lieutenant Smith (Kipleigh Brown) and McKenna die and are given exceptional ways to end their tenure on the webseries. With both characters the two parter definitely rounds out their arcs and the endings for both actresses are most fitting and suit the story perfectly. Particularly with McKenna from the very first scene (you appreciate it more on a rewatch) you can see where her story is going straight away. Their passings are poignant in every way and there are a lot of characters in the franchise who have departed in less appreciative ways.

Kirk is easily the most prominent of the regular crew through this story being the man of action as the Enterprise chases the Kongo back to Earth but Vic Mignogna gets to play much more with a Kirk deeply moved by the loss of two crew members, affected by the actions of his first officer to contact the Romulans and ultimately a Kirk who comes to realise its time to pass the torch once he brings the battle scarred Enterprise back to spacedock. The final transition to the blue/white admiral’s uniform from The Motion Picture truly completes the Continues story and the way in which the show has tied up loose ends dovetails effortlessly into the first of Star Trek’s big screen adventures.

The double-team alongside the Romulan Bird of Prey is a great touch to the episode and hints towards a more unified Galaxy post-Voyager although normal of the crew share Charvanek’s ideology.

Another brilliant move in this episode is the tactic deployed by Kirk to attack the Kongo. For the first - and likely the last - time we see the Constitution Class undergo a saucer separation. It’s not as smooth and seamless a process as the Galaxy Class but to see the saucer and drive sections working independently is an absolute cannot-miss moment from the two-parter. Having it be a little more hap-hazard a process emphasises how last-gasp this would be as a manoeuvre plus it’s a cool nod to past mentions in The Original Series about jettisoning nacelles and tech manual notes indicating that the Enterprise was capable of such a feat.

Both Spock and McCoy’s actions place then ready for their reappearances in The Motion Picture and in I way feel forced or fake. One admission is that while their stories get paid some sort of lip service Sulu, Uhura, Chekov and oddly Scotty seem to be left out of any kind of Continues send off. Now for me that’s a bit bizarre since both Smith and McKenna are given significant chunks of the episode to say farewell yet the regulars don’t have that opportunity. Not a complaint as such, more an observation and on that note could we have risked Scotty with a moustache....?!

While recognising the guest cast in the fantastic - and exceptionally English Nicola Bryant, it’s also more than worthy of talking about the appearance of Cas Anvar as Lana’s superbly duplicitous Romulan-cum-Vulcan second in command. Just slimy enough to be a great baddie of sorts, I loved seeing this guy on Continues after watching is awesome work on one of my favourite shows of the moment, The Expanse. In fact his performance here was so different to that role I didn’t recognise him at first which is a clear sign of a versatile actor. 

There is one searing issue with To Boldly Go which gnaws at me every second - that it’s the last one. This webseries has had some incredible high points including the Mirror Universe sequel, Lolani and the excellent Embracing the Wind (for example) and while it does go out on a euphoric high it is still a tragedy that circumstances have led to this series being cut short earlier than planned. 

The final speech from Mignogna’s Kirk hints at lots to come both in its words and the admiral’s body language as he realises that his trek to the stars may well be over and he is handing the keys to the next generation. It’s a heartfelt speech from both character and actor it appears and after such a great episode you kind of don’t want it to end. Fans will also love the nod to Discovery with the line of models in Nakamura's office which includes both the Crossfield Class starship from the latest show and, at the very end of the line, the refit Constitution Class we will see in the six original crew movies.

On that very note, To Boldly Go has everything - and I mean even the kitchen sink levels of everything that will make any Star Trek fan proud. It's a well-crafted ending to a brilliant show that has constantly exceeded expectations and gone that step further still with each new story. For me the second half of this is their finest hour with all the cast truly stepping up and forward to produce a stunning hour of drama that would fit perfectly at the end of the original show's three seasons. Seventy-nine episodes you say? I might have to insist there are now 90...

What was your favourite episode from Star Trek Continues? Read every one of our 11 episode reviews here

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So What Are Ships For? - Star Trek Continues Episode Nine

The latest Star Trek Continues installment packs a story written by cast member Kipleigh Brown (Lieutenant Smith) and two stellar guest stars. 

The Enterprise arrives at the isolated Hylenas where it is needed to help with a dangerous virus which is attacking the native populace and evolves rapidly causing death and thereby the extinction of the people.

Not only that but the planet is subjected to such a high dose of radiation from the Hyleni sun that means everything is monochrome. Yep, we're delving into the world of black and white with this story and its just like when I first saw The Original Series.

Perhaps more notable than the two-tone look of the episode is the guest cast which boasts classic Battlestar Galactica actress Anne Lockhart and for The Next Generation fans, Q himself, John De Lancie. It's great to see him as something other than Q but there are a few moments where the omnipotent being's personality shines through in his performance. Even the attire they choose to dress him in has glaring echoes to the Napoleonic era uniform Q sported in Hide and Q. De Lancie is a big draw and will get a lot of people talking about this episode. 

His role within the story is key from the perspective of the natives and it is his attitudes that drive the conclusion. Lockhart on the other hand feels underused and while she is a major element to the story I just couldn't get excited or really involved with her role as it seemed more to be a plot device than a character to be developed.

While the lead guest actor gets to shine, it's a fairly ABC plot for a Star Trek Continues  episode as we are introduced to a neighbouring planet with whom De Lancie's people have some beef and in true form for the franchise it comes down to Kirk to mediate on their differences.

It's a familiar line with Star Trek and most relevantly The Original Series which took great pleasure on many occasions at playing the race versus race card.  Let This Be Your Last Batrlefield, A Taste of Armageddon and Patterns of Force being just three that spring straight to mind in a flash. It's a fairly established trope of the show and here in What Ships Are For it's strongly forecast from the start and never lets up. That's not to say that Brown's teleplay isn't enjoyable but in comparison to the previous eight episodes of Continues this is just not as dynamic when it comes to the impact of the story or the umph that the superb guest cast pack into the hour. It feels as though we've trodden this path many times over.

It does, to some extreme, feel like a box ticking exercise with Kirk falling for Inner Council intern, Sekara, one of the inhabitants of the planet they are helping to save. But then there's a twist when she beams up to the Enterprise which you can probably see coming through your black and white tinted spectacles. In fact the whole monotone thing itself is a thinly veiled allegory for the story of you think about it.  

Elizabeth Maxwell goes all out as Sekara, playing the vulnerable victim, the frightened child and the lover. Certainly the part in What Ships Are For allows her the most flexibility of the guest cast and also the most screen time of the visitors to Continues. The role is very much in keeping with the female guests of the Kirk era even down to the foil-esque costume and that sweeping vulnerability.

For me What Ships Are For - exploration and the discovery of the new if you go by Kirk's speech at the end of the episode - is a bit disappointing. The main cast are utilised well with Mignogna, Haberkorn and Huber all taking the expected fair share of the episode. It is heavily Kirk-centric with the romance between himself and Sekara (Elizabeth Maxwell) being the mainstay of the time on the Enterprise and considering very little else. It does come across as a very singular episode because of this with there being nothing outside the main thread ti really comment on. Everything hinges around saving Sekara to build up to the big reveal and just who the neighbouring Obeshians are.

While De Lancie is captivating whenever he is on screen, Lockhart can at times be a little overhammy even for a retro webseries such as Star Trek Continues. She acts as De Lancie"s conscience for the most part and is then a major part of the big reveal towards the end of the show and a factor in the resolution but it still lacks any punch. It is for me the weakest of the 11 announced episodes so far released and plays on a race playing very dumb. I suppose in some sense that is keeping with a few of the races encounters in The Original Series and I have to say that the style of writing for the script is incredibly in keeping with the Kirk era episodes. It feels authentic to the 60's classic as does the usual Continues attention to costume detail that beds it in the original show.

As for the ensemble behind the lead characters, everyone is back in play and doing their bit for a low amount of screen time be it Kim Stinger's Uhura, a fleeting appearance by SKoST friend Kat Roberts as Lieutenant Palmer or Grant Imahara's very underused Sulu. I wish with Continues that they had been able to use some episodes to explore their secondary characters more than they have as there is a ton of potential in there. Even Kipleigh Brown is under the radar in her own penned episode.

So as you can see for quality and presentation Continues still shines brilliantly strong but What Ships Are For attempts a big hit in its story material but just slightly misses the mark. Every minute is still inspiring from a fan film angle due to the level that the Continues team go to in order to remain authentic to The Original Series. The choice of black and white in the episode might not be in keeping with the desire for everything to be in bright colour for the TV of the '60's (had an interesting Twitter discussion over whether it was appropriate) but the storytelling is still well in keeping with the ethos of the show so why the heck shouldn't this be allowed?

That being said, given current political climate in the US this episode may have more relevance than we can really assess - or want to more by chance than design. A rewatch in a few months with the benefit of hindsight might well be worth it.

You can check out What Ships Are For HERE

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Lessons from the Past in "Divided We Stand"

Continues is back!!!

It doesn't seem that long since we were watching and reviewing The White Iris (it was only May!) but here we are with Divided We Stand. Be warned, I guarantee there will be spoilers.

Opening straight into the heart of peril, we find the USS Enterprise at the mercy of a strange life-form which has invaded the computer systems from the Friendship Three probe and is scanning through all the ships records. Just when it looks like the situation is about to be resolved, a freak explosion plunges Kirk and McCoy seemingly back in time to the American Civil War and the eve of the Battle of Antietam Creek (aka Sharpsburg) in 1862.

From the end of the titles we effectively have two stories in play. First there's the Kirk/McCoy story as they become involved in the events leading up to the battle. Kirk takes the role of a Union corporal while Bones is a Confederate sergeant. The latter is "captured" by the northern army but quickly becomes useful thanks to his medical skills in the field. Then there's Enterprise crew's efforts to save their colleagues lives - as it turns out the whole civil war experience is just in their heads caused by some nanite-like creatures who are gradually killing them.

Divided We Stand is satisfyingly different from previous episodes as we've dealt with gods, Orions, the Mirror Universe and mental illness before dropping on a time travel/history episode.  I'd only recently watched Starship Farragut's For Want of a Nail which takes place during the War of Independence so I was well geared up for another taste of US history and this was a level above that 2007 effort with a great deal of outdoor location work and some truly great performances all round. 

While there is clearly an exploration of war, cowardice and bravery, we do have the more booming theme of freedom bearing down from the very start of the episode. It's "hinted" at from the name of the troublesome Earth probe the Enterprise encounters and in dealing with the topic of the American Civil War in which slavery was a decisive matter, there's going to be no escaping the discussion. OK, so there's immediate concerns from Kirk and McCoy about becoming too embroiled in events that may or may not be real and thereby changing history but with a brief bit of narrative exposition we're up and running onto the more important themes of the story/

Of the two regulars, Vic Mignogna as Kirk is given a lot more time since he is out on the front lines and is placed into a terrifying situation that McCoy (Chuck Huber) must resolve. It's one of the great moments of the episode I'm surprised that Mignogna didn't play the trauma of it a little greater than he did but there's only 42 minutes of episode so we have to get a move on I suppose! Huber is excellent as always as McCoy, having to deal with basic medical practices and the nightmares of the battlefield as well as saving the life of his commanding officer. Chuck has the southern doc down-pat and for me he's one of the shining lights of Continues adding a little more compassion and a little less grump to McCoy.

What they do play on with this story is the matter of oppression and segregation that in some respects still rages across the world today. It is most evident because of the source material and the nature of the war but we still manage to divert into points regarding honour and the weight of history in how people are remembered and for what.

On the ship Spock (Todd Haberkorn) is once more in command as the medical staff struggle to battle the infection taking over Kirk and McCoy. Why they were exactly reacting the same to stimulus is a little confusing since they weren't at exactly the precise same place all the time but I guess we can let it slide since they are technically in the same place. Fairest of Them All was much more Haberkorn's episode to chew out as the Mirror Spock and here his role is pretty straight-forward. Not having McCoy to bounce off when we have the captain incapacitated does mean that the emotionless Vulcan doesn't get challenged to any degree and while it's great to have a Kirk/McCoy episode, I think Spock could have done with being at least a little more on edge given the state of his two closest friends.

Aiding him though is Chris Doohan as Scotty whose engineering skills are called into action but he sadly doesn't have a great deal to do other than that this time round. Getting a lot more exposure in his first Continues outing is Dr M'Benga played by Martin Bradford.

M'Benga is the latest canon character to board the ship and just manages to swerve to the side of hamming it up although his "serious eyebrow" and furrowed brow do come into play a lot. That said I really enjoyed his performance all the way through and maybe his straight, almost logical performance was a calming influence on Spock. As for the other recurring cast they really are, sadly, sidelined. Grant Imahara is there and gone in a few seconds; Chekov and Uhura barely get a couple of sentences each while Kipleigh Brown's Lieutenant Smith might be there at the navigation station but she's again only given a fleeting few lines of dialogue to handle. Chekov however does help make a dangerously big leap of plot in the aid of the story, suggesting that Kirk and McCoy are trapped in some form of illusionary recreation of the Civil War after he discovers what was being examined by the nano-machines at the time of the explosion on the bridge.

Even Michelle Specht's Doctor McKennah has a fleeting appearance (boo) that feels forced just to give her a few lines and remind viewers that she's a part of the crew and that Spock may be having some emotional issues with the situation regarding his friends. 

To be fair Marc Cushman and Susan Osborn's script (from a story by Vic Mignogna) doesn't present a great deal of action or suspense and instead once more delves into what Continues seems to do best and use only a select couple of characters to tell a character-driven story. The dialogue is fairly brisk too, moving us swiftly from one point to another and I do believe that Vic is sounding like William Shatner even more everyday. There's certainly points within this story where the lines could easily be directly from a classic episode and that certainly resonated with me in relation to the captain. I wouldn't class it as hammy either and given what other Star Trek fan episodes and films have been around, I think this is one of the best jobs so far. I'm not saying it's gold-plated but there weren't any moments I truly cringed at and I think the writers produced something here that was thoughtful and avoided all the subtlety of a sledgehammer given the subject matter.

Martin Bradford, as I noted is a great addition and I hope to see him back but there's also Scotty Whitehurst as the young Billy Palmerson is key to the civil war encounter and does a very good job at pulling off the inexperienced and scared young man pitched into a bloodbath. Of all the characters within the episode he is the one who perhaps takes the longest journey from a timid "boy" sickened at the sight of McCoy pulling a bullet from the chest of his sergeant to a soldier leading a deadly charge to turn the tide of the battle. Palmerson might well be influenced by Kirk in his change of heart but Scotty Whitehurst manages not to jump from one extreme to another and certainly grows his character as the story progresses. There's a nice little parallel on the Enterprise with a personal sacrifice as well but it's nothing in comparison to that which young Billy makes.

As for the settings, well we don't get that new Engineering set just yet (!) and all of the ship scenes are effectively confined to the bridge and sickbay so there's nothing new in that respect. When it comes to the outdoor scenes, Continues has performed a master-stroke. I suspect it's fairly easy(ish) to get a recreation organisation to get together as your background cast but filming outside can't have been the easiest thing and for that the production must be commended. 

Vic's direction is steady and does the job more than adequately, sticking to basics since this is a very "talky" episode which relies on us, the viewer, being up close with the characters a lot of the time. Fortunately we aren't treated to some sort of bloodbath episode which is all about the glory of war or how the US was formed and I think it's a good call to steer clear of such matters instead resting the narrative on the more human aspects that all those involved encountered. There is, of course, a bit of action but only using that tool for a matter of a minute or two is all that's needed to remind us of the setting for our story. 

Divided We Stand is another solid episode from the Continues stable and means we're taking note of everything that comes from this production team. Only thing that did annoy me here was that we've had to revert to using deadly infection/computer attack to work out a story and this concept does feel very tired by this point. It might have worked in the '60's in original Star Trek but now it's been overplayed so many times you would expect more. Perhaps what is also missing except for a few lines in the pre-titles sequence is that spark between Kirk/Spock/McCoy that Continues has worked so well to maintain. Separating the trio is always a good tool but as I've said already, it does seem to work against the story in some ways.

Coming off the back of Fairest of them All and The White Iris, both of which I thoroughly enjoyed, Divided We Stand is a bit of a let down. Why? Because of the calibre of episodes that Continues has been producing. Every one has been a magnificent effort, well acted, well thought out and crisply presented on schedule and well packaged for the Star Trek-hungry audience and maintaining that level has to be a near-impossible challenge. Here we do have something, again, different, a piece of history Star Trek has never visited and one I didn't expect to encounter. It's not the best one of the five but we can see how things are moving on, how stable the cast is and how much this series is a work by fans that means to deliver every time.

What did you think to Divided We Stand? A good episode? Or not?

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Retreading the Shadow? Star Trek Continues Unveils Episode Eight

The USS Defiant returns courtesy of writer Judy Burns in the eighth episode from Star Trek Continues. Beware there WILL be SPOILERS.

A sequel of sorts to the classic third season Star Trek episode The Tholian Web which i discussed only a week or so ago, Still Treads the Shadow starts off with a big question and a potential contradiction against a certain Enterprise two-parter but resolves that dilemma fairly quickly although it will make you think of a few other similar instances.

Y'see the immediate challenge with the story is that it does parallel at least a couple of existing Star Trek episodes, namely The Next Generation's Second Chances and to a minor extent Time Squared from the show's evolutionary second season.  Not to dwell too much on the story and save the enjoyment for your viewing but Still Treads the Shadow brings the crew of the Enterprise into contact with a Kirk who believes that he was abandoned when the Defiant phased out into another dimension. Suffice to say that's not precisely what occurred and leaves the universe with a second Kirk. Time has passed somewhat more quickly for the new arrival who is aged around 80 and has spent a good proportion of time - a good proportion of 300 years - in stasis. What transpires is that the Defiant computer has become sentient, gained the name of Tiberius and sought out a way to get Kirk home.

This Defiant is one that has undergone a severe number of modifications over the time it's been gone from the Prime Universe including the ability to hit Warp 15 and is intrinsically linked to two black holes which provide an additional danger to the USS Enterprise as we come to experience.

There's more than a little hint of 2001: A Space Odyssey in here as well as we experience a Kirk two way between the computer that was his only friend and company for decades and then a three-way James T fest as things begin to unravel. The friendship with the Defiant computer is not too far from the crumbling connection between Bowman and HAL in the classic sci-fi movie even down to the nature of their final meetings and the monotone rumble of Tiberius' voice. I dare you not to think about Daisy when the computer speaks or wonder about pod bay doors.

Mignogna is absolutely front and centre here playing Kirk in triplicate as both the older and younger versions plus putting in duty as the voice of the Defiant computer aka Tiberius.  In fact it's such a strong Kirk episode that while everyone gets their moments to play and their catch of dialogue they are all very much playing second fiddle to the lead actor.  That in no way is meant to be derogatory to the rest of the cast but the very nature of the script relies on Mignogna's strength as an actor to carry it off and carry it through to the end. He drives every interaction and every scene because of Kirk's prominence in the story which is, ironically exactly the opposite of The Tholian Web where Kirk is absent for the majority of the episode. 

Spock is almost completely relegated to a science role and the rest of the cast - Chekov, Sulu and Uhura especially - are left with little to do except man their stations and relate events taking place off-screen. For recurring cast Kipleigh Brown and Cat Roberts they get minimal screen-time but again good to see them returning for another round of Continues. 

McCoy fairs decently once again although Chuck Huber does seem to be summoning up his deepest inner DeForest a little more than usual in this story and it might just slip into hammy territory. I can let it slide because Huber's southern doctor is such a great take on the original and here he does play a strong part of the story.     

Michelle Specht's McKennah actually does some counselling this time allowing her to play off the on-screen-all-the-time Mignogna who doesn't even seem to take a breath. Specht gets to be involved with arguably the best scene of the show as we see the older, wearier version of Kirk open up about his experience on the Defiant and its effects on him; the pain of taking four months to remove all the bodies of the dead crew for instance. 

Cleverly the end of this scene flips onto the younger Kirk and allows McKennah a moment to make him realise what needs to be done to help his older, lonely self before allowing the two Kirk's the chance to talk. Here Mignogna delivers a sterling speech (as the older Kirk) about how his view on his role as a captain has changed. For me this is absolutely the pinnacle of the story as he changes into a truly tragic character now lost in the place he knew so well. 

It's the older Kirk's relationship with the guest starring Rekha Sharma (best known for her time on Battlestar Galactica as one of the "Final Five") that acts as one of the focal points for Still Treads the Shadow but not as much as the Kirk/Kirk/Tiberius triumvirate.

Sharma isn't as prominent as other guest stars of recent episodes (Gigi Edgley or Clare Kramer for example), more gelling into the cast and acting within that circle rather than being a stand-out character around which the story is etched. I believe this is a better way of handling the episode in that the true stars remain the established cast themselves without too much being overblown about the guest. Rekha Sharma is more than capable in the role but I did feel that the relationships with the two Kirk's was not explored as much as they could have been. It almost felt as though they were skated over and not looked into deeply enough, indeed it's a good way through the episode before we really understand the connection between the captain and the scientist.

The parallels between the Kirk/Avi Samara and Kirk/Tiberius relationships are interesting to watch as we see a lost friend versing a jealous companion who has conditioned the older captain for many years. It's a distinct case of examining what has been forced upon Kirk versus a friendship that was lost over time. 

Still Treads the Shadow is, for all intents and purposes, a solid episode of Star Trek Continues from start to finish. The plot is sound, the acting is faultless and the CG is perfect but the problem is that for the most part it's horribly unoriginal.

Not only do the repetition of plotlines from other Star Trek episodes nag at me but I even felt there was even a blatant link across to 90's sci-fi flick Event Horizon with note of multiple realities and the whole black hole as a power source spin. I half-expected that the Defiant had been to Hell and back with all the black hole action that was going on at one point and that might even have improved the episode.

I can't fault Continues for effort - not one bit - but I was expecting more than this considering the quality of their run to date and the fact that this comes from the pen of a classic Star Trek writer in Judy Burns. I really really want to love this story because of it's links to The Tholian Web but the niggles get the better of me every time. Round that off with the knowledge that older Kirk won't survive the episode - something which you can pretty much guess from the word "go" and you can see where I was left needing. Of course you could say that it's the journey to the sacrificial point which is what the episode is really about and I wouldn't argue with you but having him sacrifice himself and save the life of Avi was all just too cliched at the end. Likewise the reviewing of the captain's logs from the aging Kirk on the lost Defiant. I'd have thought a lot of those inner conflicts would have been dealt with in the first year or so not over such a long period of time but hey, dramatic effect an' all...

Still Treads the Shadow may well be my least favourite of the Continues episodes to date purely because of the "seen it before" factor. I love this show because it's kept The Original Series alive (god knows how under the new guidelines) but yet I just couldn't get excited here. I really was disappointed that such great promise gave out so little twist and vibrancy that I've come to love from the diverse range of stories that the show has explored thus far. With only a few episodes guaranteed (nine through eleven) I hope that the remaining few are more original and thought-provoking than this.

What did you think to Still Treads the Shadow? Good episode or an average offering?

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Core Concerns in Embracing the Winds

The second episode this year from Star Trek Continues plunges us into very topical territory.

Tiff Groves steps in to helm her first review of the superb fan series and beware there are SPOILERS ahead.

However It is a sad fact that there is something of a state of flux within the corporate world of Star Trek at present and it is not of this series' making.

Exec producer and Kirk actor Vic Mignogna has addressed his concerns on the website and blog and like all non-profit Star Trek projects, he is awaiting clarification on the guidelines for the future of his work. If things remain the same this could well be the last episode of Continues to be made.

So to the seventh episode of the series; Embracing the Winds is a dialogue driven episode, and an opportunity for writers, Mignogna and James Kerwin to explore the nature of how prejudice affects important decisions.

OK, bit of background first on this one. The entire crew of the USS Hood, is found dead and adrift in their ship (the life-support system having failed under mysterious circumstances which are never really explained). The Enterprise is recalled for two reasons with the first being a salvage operation to bring back one of the seven remaining Constitution Class starships.

In the light of this tragedy, Starfleet command must decide on who is suitable to take over the now captain-less ship which leads to the second reason.

We are then introduced to the first of two guest stars, Commodore Gray played by Erin Gray (Buck Rogers/Baywatch) who reprises her role briefly seen in the last episode and this time plays a much more prominent part of the narrative rather than just being a face on a screen.

Gray has already selected two candidates for the captaincy of the now crew and captain-less USS Hood; Mr Spock, who has been earmarked for promotion for some time, and Commander Diane Garrett, played by Clare Kramer (most well known as Glory during the fifth season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Although keen to promote the first female officer to captain a Constitution Class starship, delicacies of diplomacy are involved especially adhering to Tellarite traditions and their male dominated society. Gray is loathe to commit and would rather Spock be placed in command however he and Kirk (initially) believe that Garrett with her extensive commendations and experience would make the better commander.

Garrett forces Gray's hand however and the decision on the assignment is to be made by a panel of three senior officers, including Gray, Vulcan Admiral Stom and Kirk himself. Despite accusations by Garrett that gender bias has always affected her career, it soon becomes clear that competency and suitability are arguably more essential concerns.

Mignogna has found his feet I think, displaying a more understated homage to The Original Series and letting the narrative of the script and its timeliness lead the way.

Overall it is a statement about the nature of prejudice, and whether it is even possible to avoid our own ‘inner prejudices’ when asked to make decisions. But the script does delve deeper and creates a riveting debate about gender bias and matters of competency in juxtaposition to desire.

There is much to admire about Star Trek Continues and their devotion to their craft, but I think this episode particularly will stand out in the future as courageous effort. Far from being a nostalgia trip or crowd pleaser that we have experienced so far with episodes such as Fairest of them All and Pilgrim of Eternity for example, the story is intimate and fully intended to be thought provoking.

There are definitely parallels with this story and what is happening right now in our world, certainly there is an air of uncertainty about the future direction of all Star Trek.

But also in this age where ‘diversity’ is the buzz phrase of the day, it takes head on accusations of gender bias being the decisive factor in female promotion, but also analyses the counter arguments accordingly.

Above all it actually makes us ask ourselves ‘what would we decide?’

That being said, amongst the relative ‘heaviness’ of the storyline there is still a parallel plot filled with exciting peril involving Scotty (Christopher Doohan) and a critically overloading warp core! It's a secondary part to the story with the Enterprise sans Kirk and Spock retrieving the Hood and does allow the engineer a much larger chunk of the episode than he has been granted before. Doohan definitely manages the scenes using that super-accurate new (for episode six) Engineering section. While not on the Hood, Chekov is given more meaty material to work with in the episode and his closing payoff is both a wonderful tribute to the character and explores the "continuing" nature of the show.

These are the ever growing strengths of Star Trek Continues; the stories feel genuine yet still leave room for traditional franchise adventurism.

The supporting cast are as ever, devoted and able, and more important than perhaps some people realize.

Cat Roberts (who was guest host on the sixth episode of our podcast) dutifully served as Lt Elizabeth Palmer and Michelle Specht as Counsellor McKennah, shares a wonderful dialogue with Spock in one key scene.

By having such an active ‘background’ of extras the production always benefits by looking more authentic. The only tragedy with both these two wonderful female actors and with Grant Imahara's Sulu is that they are given very little to work with in comparison to more recent stories. Chuck Huber's McCoy is AWOL right until the very end of Embracing the Wing and his sudden return does make you wonder where he's been for the last 40 minutes.

The Galileo Shuttle features greatly in the first act which will please many and the visual effects of the Enterprise and the Hood are just superb. It may not be ‘Hollywood’ but the SFX team must be very dedicated to create such convincing work.

The real heart of this episode though has to be Clare Kramer as Commander Garrett. Embracing the Wind because it is very much her story as both a woman in a seemingly male dominated environment plus having to overcome personal issues that have blemished her otherwise exemplary career. Having Spock even agree that she is the better candidate adds significant weight to the argument that Garrett is, logically, the best choice for the job.

Kramer gets a lot of the substance within Continues has always challenged preconceptions and controversial subjects much as The Original Series was intended to do under the guidance of Gene Roddenberry. Gender equality exists right now in our time and the focus here will remind you of its presence not only now but also within that fictional world of The Original Series. Just remember how many yeomen Kirk went through in the first couple of seasons or how many strong female characters were in senior Starfleet positions  and you'll see just how close to the bone the discussion Mignogna and Kerwin raise actually is. It may well be one of the best social commentaries on Star Trek we've ever had.

Kramer is utterly believable and her scenes with Todd Haberkorn (Spock), Mignogna and Grat especially are the best of the episode. It's tightly shot and the courtroom environment really helps to focus that section of the story. Balancing against the salvage operation means the episode retains a good pace and keeps your interest all the way; 43 minutes just flash by.

The closing dialogue of the episode is filled with hope and drive (and the mention of the possibility that one day a woman - and a Garrett - may captain a ship named Enterprise?) 

I hope that Star Trek Continues indeed, continues on and completes the episodes it plans to make.

Whatever happens in the future the entire cast and crew can be very proud of what they have created in what on the surface appears a very straight forward episode but in fact has a much deeper story to tell.

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