The Problem with Hugh: "I, Borg" Dissected

So here we are, my time with Season Five of The Next Generation is drawing to a close. However, before we hit the cliffhanger of "Time's Arrow" or the monumental "The Inner Light", let's pause and take a moment to consider the Borg.

Coming almost two years after "The Best of Both Worlds", it's been well overdue for a return of the assimilation specialists but was this really what we wanted as fans from their next appearance?

Actually before we get there, I need to talk about something else.

Of all the blogs I have written thus far, this one has been the most difficult to get right or more precisely get to a point where I'm happy with the content. It's much like my A-Level English Language exam I guess; I had the choice of two extracts to analyse and decided on the one I was much more familiar with.  It was, of course, a bad idea and possibly cost me an A grade.  Now, I'm not saying that I should always write about the less interesting episodes or the ones I am not overly thrilled to discuss but this is the first one that I've talked about that I genuinely liked on the original viewing and still like today. It is perhaps that sense of familiarity that makes it more difficult to construct something on the page around the themes and concepts of the episode without overcooking it and ruining an otherwise very enjoyable fifth season outing.

My initial conclusion as I tapped away on the keyboard was that "I, Borg" sanitises the Trek villains, giving them a personal face which in turn makes you feel sorry for them. In fact it isn't and I couldn't be further from the point if I tried. What we actually get is a piece which looks at what happens when you instill a Borg with individuality; is it right to send it back home on a suicide mission? It reinforces that the whole is much stronger than the parts it is constructed from and that the creatures beneath the masks may not actually have the same drives as they are programmed with by the Hive mind.

Importantly in the bigger Star Trek picture, this marks the first of several instances where the audience is made to re-examine some of Star Trek's more prominent nemeses. In  Deep Space Nine we had the opportunity to analyse the Jem'Hadar on several occasions including "The Abandoned" and "Hippocratic Oath" while Voyager encountered a replica of Starfleet Academy to study Species 8472  "In the Flesh". In itself this was something of a considerable turnaround given that the crew joined forces with the Borg to stop them only a year previous. In fact from the fourth season of the Voyager, the presence of Seven of Nine was a weekly reminder that the Borg could be saved and "unassimilated" (but that's for another blog in the future). 

As I've mentioned, I was all out prepared to go down the line that this is about making the Borg human when actually both "I, Borg" and the occasions listed here give us a better insight into the cultures of these races. In fact I would go as far to say more than any other episodes where they appear. Indeed, I would highlight them as essential viewing if you have any interest in these species and their understanding their background within the Star Trek universe.

Within "I, Borg" there are five key individuals whose actions and thought processes carry the story, helping to unravel a bit more about the cybernetic lifeforms. It these people we need to focus on to understand the core of the episode, namely Picard, Geordi, Beverly, Hugh (the Borg) and Guinan. Initially it is Doctor Crusher who twists the captain's arm to bring the lone survivor aboard to receive treatment that will save his life and Picard is vehemently against bringing it aboard although ultimately convinced otherwise.  It of course allows for another chance for the crew to get a close look at a Borg and while it means we see a "proper" Borg under the microscope it becomes apparent that it could have other uses.

Picard is placed in a difficult situation here. He himself was captured and mutilated by the Borg to speak for them in "The Best of Both Worlds". During his fencing match with Guinan, the bartender is keen to show,by faking an injury, that the Borg will take no prisoners no matter whether the Enterprise has saved one of their number of not. Even though he is haunted by the experience as Locutus it seems is is uncertain how to proceed given that this lone drone is aboard the ship. Guinan is adamant that any sign of weakness will be stamped on by the Borg and Picard is clearly being too soft and for once, she's probably spot on.

Picard is not the only one guilty of changing judgement and generally being unsettled as the episode evolves. Before he has one to one contact, he is all for the use of their prisoner as a conduit to fire an "...endless and unsolvable puzzle...", as Data puts it, into the Collective consciousness which will disable their neural network. He refers to the drone as "it" when discussing its need to feed in the holding cell. His second discussion with Guinan wherein he notes that she "...tore my foil out of my hand..." to demonstrate that the Borg were dangerous when Picard felt sorry for her. Jean-Luc is clear that he does not want to speak with Hugh and that IT is a Borg and not a person but once he has the final face to face meeting where Hugh uses the first person to describe himself, Picard is made to realise that this individual has become different; he is no longer the single-minded machine from the beginning of the episode.  

When Hugh chooses to resist the commands of "Locutus" he then comes to terms with the fact that this drone has been changed.  He is not like the others however they will still come for him no matter what stands in the way  It is a difficult journey for the captain because of his own personal experiences and I'm not still not convinced that he would ultimately even entertain the possibility of giving Hugh asylum based on the past but this is Jean-Luc at one of his most vulnerable moments, to some degree reliving a horrific nightmare and I believe that it is impairing his judgement but ultimately he sees that sending Hugh back - at his own choice - would spread "a feeling of singularity..." through the Collective which could be worse than the initial concept of a computer virus.


Guinan too is in an equally difficult position, perhaps from the other side of the coin. She, like Picard, shares a dialogue with their Borg prisoner but her initial outlook is strongly against any reasoning while Picard approaches the situation with at least a pinch of skepticism  She reminds Geordi that he, like Picard, cannot let his guard down because the rest of the Collective will come looking whether they like it or not.  They are relentless in their purpose, Ultimately her perceptions, at least in regards to Hugh, are altered because he shows an understanding of individualistic terms and concepts that he has himself acquired through interaction with the crew. Guinan even needs the captain to convince her that they should send him back as a sleeping weapon and incites him in turn to meet with the drone.

Notably it's not often that TNG delves into some form of continuity. It's a facet that would be utilised most significantly in DS9 and to some extent through the Borg/Hirogen/Kazon arcs (for example) within Voyager. Perhaps only Q and the Klingon/Worf/Gowron arcs are the only true examples within this series and with the Borg we get a third. Their first appearance ("Q Who") was referenced in "The Best of Both Worlds" and "I, Borg" in turn reflects on the latter with the benefit of a two year gap. It's almost as if they waited long enough for us to "forget" about the Borg before bringing them back. The crew and the viewer are invited to revisit our perceptions of these creatures and now I actually think nothing has changed in my mind as to how we should view the Borg after the credits roll.  They are still going to assimilate and seek to improve themselves.  Hugh is the exception that proves the rule. Whether it was conceived that the Borg would then be left in utter turmoil after this I don't know but their next appearance reigns in this attempt to destroy them in extreme measures - and I intend to examine that in more detail later.

Now originally in draft one, I was going to propose the question about whether or not we need to see a Borg become an individual  however as it progressively rewrote itself I came to see that we do need this and here's why. 

Essentially, what do we know about the Borg by this time? Very little apart from the whole assimilation thing, generally malevolent, unstoppable, adaptive and fly around in big (and small) cubes conquering anything in their path - but getting one Borg on its own gives both the TNG crew and us, the viewer, the chance to see a Borg drone up close and personal; to see how it reacts in an unfamiliar environment and also to understand that there is a living being under all those technological additions. In a way, the Borg themselves might even be slightly responsible for Hugh's transformation given the fact he adapts to his environment the longer he is there. To put it even more bluntly - he assimilates the culture around him and forms his own choices, the last of which is to be returned to the surface to be collected by the Borg. Whether that was intentional or not, this episode does make you think and while we watch the crew develop their opinions as Hugh develops his personality we do change our views but they are strictly limited to this drone and no others.  The Borg are still the Borg just as the Jem'Hadar are still the Jem'Hadar - lest we be reminded of Chakotay's speech in Voyager in reference to the scorpion and the fox; "It''s in (their) nature." to be the way they are.

Now going back to the question I posed right at the start of this blog - is this what we wanted? Ok, so it's been almost two years since Picard became Locutus and we saw the aftermath of Wolf 359. In this time the incident has become a memory to both the viewer and the Enterprise crew. Now it would have been an easy call to give us something good similar as even Riker notes that they are at war with the Borg (even though there has been no formal declaration). Instead Rene Echevarria flips the sentiment of the story and force a reevaluation while reminding us that these guys are still out there and could threaten at any time (can't wait for my Star Trek: First Contact blog). In the conference lounge for example we are strongly reminded by Riker that the Federation is at war "(even though) there's been no formal declaration..." noted by Beverly, who is the only one capable of seeing past the Collective to the person beneath. She does that from the very start, retaining the medical, objective eye from start to finish and it is her viewpoint that all eventually transition to. Beverly can see beyond the single-mindedness and the ruthlessness to the teenager who she sees as deeply vulnerable. Through all their dislike and distrust of the Borg, it is the doctor and Geordi that dramatically alter Hugh - it is effectively their "fault" he becomes an individual and they have to deal with it... And will have to again with more serious consequences.

I like how the conflicts rise between the crew and it is a rarity to see so many opinions generated, discussed and actioned within such a short frame of time. In many ways I Borg needs to be singled out because it embraces those differences in a world that was envisioned without conflict by the then recently passed on Gene Roddenberry. Do we need to feel sorry for the Borg? As a whole, probably not because of what they represent and the still vague background that existed in 1992. It wouldn't be until Voyager that we have a more defined perspective on the effect of becoming Borg, being a part of their Hive mind for so long and then being disconnected. Here we have no point of reference to Hugh's past. Has he always been Borg? Was he assimilated? We have no idea and his subsequent appearance wouldn't give much more.

Knowing what we do now about the way in which the Collective operate,  this seems like a missed opportunity BUT saying that there is consideration of a plan to cause havoc in the Collective however ultimately it comes down to being human and Geordi and Beverly's interaction with Hugh that causes the most significant changes. Ultimately Hugh is given a choice and his decision is based on what he sees as the best for the whole, for the ship and for Geordi. He realises that they cannot be assimilated and his return will stop that from happening.

Our individuality here is the ironic twist. Whlie it becomes a concern within the final quarter of the show that they cannot force Hugh to go back it will disrupt the Collective of his mother ship however not as we may have thought as he is transported away at the conclusion. That's where "I Borg" proves to be a further winner. Actions, for once, have consequences and again this is where it wins against other "humanising" episodes. The results of the Enterprise's interference will be felt. We do not experience this in Voyager or Deep Space Nine however the thread is that while one individual can be different it does not mean that the whole can also be altered.

So what do I actually conclude from all this?   Aside from it being one of my longer efforts of late and taking a damn long time to construct I'm actually pleased with it and haven't ruined an episode.  We know the Borg a little better here after "The Best of Both Worlds" because we assess them on a more intimate level and we are not simply seeing them pursed by the Enterprise to Sector 001. Writing this has taught me to go a little easier on occasion and not to look for things that aren't there but I want to make it clear that I won't do a plot synopsis.  That's not what I'm about. I have some ideas about episode blogs for the future so they don;t end up just being me droning on about episode after episode. 

I want discussion and that's what you'll find here.  My thoughts and feelings on Trek in its different shapes, forms and sizes.  "I, Borg" is a solid episode, it does indeed make you think about the Borg and what's really underneath. To some degree you do feel that it's not a great conclusion in the fact that Hugh is sent back, but the final beam out shot where he looks to Geordi heralds something that COULD have been a lot more interesting than it turns out to be...

Cold Equations Book One: The Persistence of Memory

They say honesty is the best policy - so here it goes. I haven't read a Star Trek novel for a long, long, long time. Even then that might not be enough to cover it.

The last Trek novel I read was probably something from Voyager while it was still on TV so that gives you an indication of how long it's been. Now, to be fair I've been much more of a fan of the background material such as Action!, Where No One Has Gone Before, numerous companions, technical manuals and the like but I felt now was the time to start getting back into something meatier; I was starting to have withdrawals for new Star Trek stories.

So that's brought me to this point and just to be a bit different, here's how it all began a week or so ago....

Admittedly I don't think Spielberg is quaking in his boots after that, but hey, it's the first attempt and something a bit different - oh yes, and that is me; no stunt double or pre-recorded audio I can assure you.

I have the perhaps enviable benefit of a bus journey to work and back five days a week which gives me ample opportunity for a good read and in the case of this book I was not disappointed. What I would add here is a SPOILER ALERT - it is very, very likely I am going to mention plot details in here so if you haven't read it, skip to the final paragraph for my overall opinion!

Set over a time period of 16 years, numerous planets and including several major races, there is one thing I can say without doubt after just the first few chapters of The Persistence of Memory - David Mack knows his material and of that fact alone he should be very proud. The time period of 2367 to 2384 covers events from the last few minutes of The Next Generation's "Brothers" to a point a few years after the credits rolled on Star Trek Nemesis but not in a linear manner.

Mack has split this trilogy opener into three sections with the first and last set in the "present" of 2384 while the central - and perhaps more substantial third - is an autobiographical account of events from one of the novel's main protagonists. Let's first summarise the plot here before we get into the meat of this story.

The Enterprise is called to the Starfleet Annex of the Daystrom Institute on Galor IV by Captain Bruce Maddox but upon arriving discovers that the facility has been attacked and the Soong-type androids under the cybernetics expert's care have been stolen including Lore, Data's daughter Lal and B-4. Worf, now first officer of the Enterprise leads search teams across the planet to locate the missing androids before they can be secreted from the surface...

As an opening section and probably due to the fact that it's been a while since I last read a Trek novel I was wow-ed and at some points confused.  Mack does an excellent job of introducing us to the story.  The first chapter or so is a nice mini-potted history of both Maddox ("The Measure of a Man") and the various droids that were in his care. Fans will no doubt remember Lore, Lal, B-4 and Juliana Tainer but I admit it took a few moments to recall the three early non-functioning prototypes mentioned back in "Inheritance". Now it's been a while since we last actually saw this crew on the screen so there have been a few changes in the faces; no more Troi, Riker or Data (of course), instead we have a Cardassian exchange officer Glinn Dygan at Ops and Jasminder Choudhury at Tactical. Worf now takes his place as Number One next to Captain Jean-Luc Picard. I think David Mack has done an excellent job of recreating the Enterprise crew and adding his own flavourings including the fact a certain captain and doctor are now married with a son. Significantly, and it's something that is evident throughout the expanded Trek universe is that continuity is a massive factor and cross-referencing is vitally important - kind of unusual when you consider that TNG was probably one of the series less concerned with having ongoing narrative threads unlike its shadowy relation, Deep Space Nine.

Sadly I can't compare it to his earlier Destiny trilogy so I can't say if these are details carried across and that's one of my niggles from early on. There are occasionally bits which are inaccessible to newer readers, namely the crew alterations and also the peppering of references to the "recent" Borg attack. It can make you stop and think about whether you've missed something but for those of you who have followed the author's earlier works I don't think you'll have a problem joining the dots. In truth while it did confuse me it has made me inquisitive over the earlier novels so they might get added to the reading list (after the next two in this series) just to fill in these gaps in my post Nemesis knowledge. Anyway, Mack does a good job of recreating our regulars and introducing his own assorted group of cast members. While Geordi, Picard and the blink-and-you'll-miss-her Doctor Crusher receive accurate portrayals which meant I could concretely envisage them in my mind I do have reservations to some degree with the character of Worf. As probably the most documented Star Trek character of all time I'm not convinced that some of his dialogue works or that some of his character motivations, particularly in reference to personal relationships, are totally believable considering what this Klingon has been through since Farpoint Station. This is not levelled at Worf as a character for the whole of the novel mind, only one or two occasions but they do take a bit to adjust to and seem out of alignment with my understanding of the character.

As the chase for the missing androids continues we are privy to Mack's extensive Trek standing with name drop/guest appearances from Admiral Nechayev, Captain Sisko and Lieutenant Barclay among others (two of whom appear within about the same number of pages) but that's not where this is heading.  What is evident from section one is that this story would have cost an absolute fortune to film what with Starfleet security squads, planet-hopping, cityscapes and even a wink to a lost Generations scene with an orbital skydive are all within a matter of pages and packed tightly into the story. The pace is break-neck at times but progresses in a very logical and easy to follow manner up to its conclusion and the identity of one of the main protagonists is revealed.  Interestingly this is essentially a massive set-up piece for the second and third portions of The Persistence of Memory and while I thought this was a really good intro I never expected what came next.

Now, for those of you who kept reading after I said that there were likely to be spoilers, this is your second and final warning. There are DEFINITELY things here that will ruin your enjoyment of the book so turn away now.

Whether I agree with the revelation that Noonien Soong isn't dead is neither here nor there as sci-fi always requires something of a leap of disbelief and it's actually an essential part of the experience that anything can happen.  If I thought Mack was in his element in the preceding 85 pages then I sorely misjudged him as the fast pace is set aside and we get a marvellous and intimate narrative from the perspective of the cybernetics genius.

So he didn't die at the hands of Lore and we get to follow him across the galaxy, setting up a complex web of businesses to support him for the future as he explores, settles, evades and spies on a number of people and planets. David Mack does a great job here of creating a character we have previously only seen as a dying old man, a hologram and as part of a dream program. I can see the nuances that were part of the character here but I found myself far more fascinated with the story of the doctor himself and the tragic past that is interwoven with his androids and Juliana Tainer; his one true love. 

At first I was a little tepid over where this section was heading - was it going to be a "What Dr Soong Did Next" or was there a bigger point to it all?  Of course there's a point! Moreover I suspect that the introduction (or is that re-introduction?) of another canon character will be a key move that will echo through all three volumes of the Cold Equations trilogy. I ended up thoroughly enjoying this section as Mack provides extensive detail to the doctor's actions while reminding us of how it fits in with events in Data's life through the final seasons of TNG and into the subsequent movie series. Very cleverly done - I even felt that Soong became overly obsessive with his creations as even in death he follows them everywhere, never completely moving on with his life, searching for the answer to keep them alive forever more. For the doctor it's all set up and preparation, back up plans and out-thinking his opponents although ultimately there is one person he can't outwit who manages to do for one of his androids the very thing he has been hoping to master himself. What I didn't get was any real emotional resonance around Soong even as each of his sons is declared dead and then he realises that Juliana too has passed away. 

Now the clever bit through all this is the relationship we are witness to only by proxy that existed between Ira Graves, Soong and Emil Vaslovik. This is key to the book and Mack weaves it within the narrative almost unnoticed and natural while it will evidently become key to everything that is happening in relation to one individual in particular. As viewers we know all three of these characters to some extent but once more Mack has pretty much free reign to develop Vaslovik if only, at this point, from a distance and from one perspective.  Let's not forget that, for a good portion of The Persistence of Memory we are getting one person's viewpoint and subsequently one person's viewpoint.  I'll be interested to see how this has potentially jaded our view of Vaslovik by the time we will no doubt meet him again.

While I won't give anything away about the final section of the book I have to say the conclusion left me a bit uneasy and I wasn't as satisfied as I thought I might have been. It is most certainly action-packed and to a much greater degree than the first section however the scenarios that play out left me a little cold and I felt that David Mack wanted me to have a much more emotional response than I did on a couple of occasions however because these events were not involving more familiar characters it perhaps didn't catch me in the right place. 

There are unanswered questions too; lots of threads left for us to follow into Book Two and this is a good thing. It certainly worked in my case because I wanted to pick up the following volume immediately. In fact, I did because I had it with me on the bus in preparation for finishing Book One!

Mack has done a first class job here and although, as admitted, I've been a bit out of the loop for a few years in terms of Star Trek novels this was a great reintroduction to the series (and I've now got an understanding on the Typhon Pact - cool idea and more in Book Two please!). The difference in pace over the course of nearly 400 pages works well to balance the character and temperament of Soong against the action and adventure that he ultimately finds himself in during 2384. While not a central character at the beginning, Soong is very much the cornerstone of the final section and the showdown which takes place in a most unusual setting. His legacy appears to be the thing that will drive the narrative in Book Two, Silent Weapons, and probably beyond that into the final novel too.

I must congratulate the author here once more referencing the extensive TNG back catalogue while still making many of the characters, situations and settings very much his own at the same time - which no doubt will add weight to the sequel, Silent Weapons. I can only hope that the remaining two books live up to the hype and the buildup that David Mack has moulded here. It's controversially something of a new beginning that could well ignite a good round of heated debate amongst TNG fans. I never thought you could play with canon as much as is here and get away with it however the author does and to some extent, begrudgingly, I must admit it makes The Persistence of Memory a damn good page turner.

Good work there, Mr Mack; let's see what Book 2 has to offer.

Star Trek: The Next Generation "Cold Equations Book 1: The Persistence of Memory" is available now from Simon and Schuster priced £6.99. ISBN 9781451650723

You can read my review for Book Two: Silent Weapons now!

Thirty Seconds Into Darkness

I've even managed to avoid using any headers relating "Superbowl" to the film title (after a revision) because it's already been cliched to death and that's not what we're about here!!!

Accompanied by a sudden power outage at the beginning of the second half, it was (eventually) a great night not just for Baltimore Ravens fans but cinema lovers too with a plethora of new trailers wedged among some of the most expensive advert slots of the year.

Of course we're here to look at particular 30 seconds worth of $2.5 million and for those of you who haven't seen it yet,  here's a nice little link to the latest teaser for Star Trek Into Darkness  which some fans will now get to see TWO DAYS early at special IMAX 3D screenings!

It's not the longest piece of footage we could have wished for but it does give us a couple of juicy new lines of dialogue and some stunning new images of the Enterprise crumbling as it falls to Earth. As a flagship this baby sure does get one helluva kicking whatever reality it exists in. Whatever the case, it's definitely a mouth-watering lure for the big event.

"You think your world is safe. It is not."

As a trailer this works to an absolute tee as we once more see Harrison in the cell, a new shot of an apparent bomb attack on San Francisco (which would suggest the reason for the recall of the Enterprise to Earth), Spock alone on the fire/volcanic world, with Uhura and finally jumping off that really tall building ...again.  

"Who the hell are you?"

We have more familiar images of Kirk and Harrison "facing off"; masses of trademark lens flare and then Harrison getting bad-ass with his big gun. Before you worry that there's "more of the same" but in a shorter time span than the first trailer, we get some additional footage which suggests that the Enterprise crash is in some way responsible for the destruction we saw in the original 2 minute super-teaser a few weeks back. Dispersed between the last 15 seconds of the montage we also get an ominous warning backed by that haunting Inception/The Dark Knight Rises soundtrack (again) with a wonderful retro addition. Did you hear it? Yep - the bleepy, bleepy sound from the viewscreen pacing lights!  Wonderful touch there!

To be fair, it's well worth watching just for the snippets of the ship more than anything else!

"I am better..."

So the trailer has sent theories into orbit with its new dialogue putting it even more firmly into a lot of minds that Harrison is Khan - but he's in a Starfleet uniform? Well, if you recall the first reboot film, Kirk spent a good deal of time in black because he wasn't officially part of the crew; he was just an "observer" which would answer those who say he's a renegade Starfleet commander (ie Garth of Izar) but then that doesn't rule him out as Khan or maybe...Flint? As we know, he's a pretty old guy by the time of The Original Series and lived a load of lifetimes. One to consider fellow Trek fans. Sadly now it's a virtual certainty we can rule out Gary Mitchell. Sorry, sir, you're off the list.

"At what?"

How about this for another theory to throw into the mix - what if we haven't seen Khan yet? Could Harrison really be Harrison; one of his minions preparing the way for the Super Baddie who we get to see later in the film? One thing we seem to be forgetting is that no-stranger-to-Star Trek Peter Weller hasn't turned up in one bit of footage yet. Is JJ performing one of the greatest slight of hand tricks ever, making us all examine Harrison and get hooked onto this protagonist to then pull the rug and reveal that he's just the cover for something even more impressive? I would add the fact that we have only seen a TEASER poster so far and that makes me think that there might be another, more revealing one to come before release date. After all, Trek films of the past have always had a teaser poster (as per the background of this blog) so this one might not be an exception. 

"Everything."

So here we are again - another trailer making us think and counter think about the possibilities which will either prove a ton of people right since the beginning that it's Khan or give a lot of conspiracy theorists the smug satisfaction that they weren't sucker-punched and drawn into the Abrams web of secrecy. Hilariously from the producers' point of view they must be loving it - they don't provide much new material and the whole of Trekdom is going to Red Alert. I applaud thee, Mr Abrams. Let's hope the endgame matches the opening moves.

"...Shall we begin?"

While we're at it let's not forget that the super, wonderful, amazing, brilliant mobile app I discussed a few weeks back has been released and does everything you would want; trailers, scanning things for extra special stuff and all linked into the new film. Rank up, get rewards and enjoy! Stunning!!! Shame it's not available in the UK so we'll have to take our US and Canadian friends' word for it I'm afraid. Epic fail there, JJ (and associates) - should've been a global opportunity to sell the film to the fans by giving them some treats into the palms of their hands on Android and iPhone. Fingers crossed that there's something to ease our Trek withdrawls as we get nearer to May - and what's going on with Are you the 1701? Who'd forgotten that existed?

OUR WORLD WILL FALL

Trekollections II: What Does God Need With A Starship?

The excitement of The Voyage Home had to be bettered, surely?  Well - I hoped it would be when 1989 brought news that we would be embarking on a voyage to The Final Frontier.

Derby's UCI Cinema was the setting for my first viewing of the Shatner-directed Star Trek V. My knowledge of the film was limited to clips I had caught when we recorded America's Top Ten overnight on Channel 4 - actually they were from the final five minutes of the US Box Office review show that preceeded it and seeing the shuttlecraft crash into the Enterprise landing bay was all I needed to be convinced that I had to see it. 

A few weeks went by and Star Trek V landed in the UK. For some reason the cinema was also promoting The Next Generation with a board of photos from the series that was, at that time, entering its third season in the US.  There are only two images I can remember and they are of the Enterprise-D and Geordi in command red lying on a biobed from "The Naked Now". By this point I was itching to see this new series but pictures were all I was getting to see.  They would have to do until terrestrial TV started to run them. 

Twenty-three and a bit years on, I still think Shatner's lone effort is OK.  For once Kirk and crew aren't the only ship in the quadrant and Starfleet specifically want them to go and sort out the bad guys which all stands up to reason rather than convenience of plot. I still love the fresh, clean-finish sets although why the bridge set for The Undiscovered Country took a backward step and reintroduced buttons and sliders is beyond me.  It made no sense after the feel that they created for The Final Frontier. We know that the reason for the look of STV was down to the opportunity to utilise the TNG sets on the adjoining stage and I can only assume the feel of the bridge would not have been in keeping with the darker tone of Star Trek IV in 1991.

One of my favourite scenes which was great to experience in the cinema was Kirk fronting off against a Klingon Bird of Prey at the conclusion and who could forget the whole shuttlecraft scenario? It's unique to this film and I think without these little bits (and there are more) it would have been terrible.  Even more interesting is the fact that at one point it was considered that the remains of the full scale shuttle mock-up could have been used in TNG or even Insurrection! Perhaps The Final Frontier is a good example where the integral parts are better than the whole.


Sadly Spock having a half-brother and the crew all joining him on a quest for Eden gels no more for me now than it did then; nor was the comedy element as good as The Voyage Home. That film had balanced the comedy/action formula to a tee but by attempting to replicate it and step up the action quota, its successor missed the mark and also managed to confirm the fact that the odd numbered films were the weaker segments. The ending was poor and nothing like the explosive finale that I wanted to see. Polystyrene rocks and a fake God were not keeping me on the edge of my seat.

Actually, it's time for a bit of an admission as well. There was one thing from Star Trek V that I was in awe of - the suede-style bomber jacket that Kirk wears in this film looked cool and cemented a belief that still exists today - that the movie uniforms were the best even if the rank/colour/service bar markings were confusing (until the arrival of Mr Scott's Guide to the Enterprise and later, the Star Trek Encyclopedia). It clearly showed that at this point Starfleet was a military organisation rather than the exploratory body it would resemble by the time of TNG and I suspect that was quite a big draw for an impressionable 10 year old.

Around this time I started to collect little bits of Trek memorabilia which is still scattered around to this day in various boxes, drawers or filed on shelves.  Most of the clipped articles I found are now stuck into one of two scrapbooks I recently unearthed from the loft at the same time I resurrected the Enterprise from The Original Series (see LoT: The Formative Years). One of the first I stuck in was a piece from the cinema magazine  accompanied by a couple of stills and a very basic summary (pictured here - note the flipped Kirk image!).

Next was a Christmas present from a family friend that provided me with two figures from Star Trek: The Next Generation, specifically Lt. (JG) Geordi La Forge and Captain Jean-Luc Picard.  These were released in conjunction with the first season and inexplicably you could only ever seem to find these two in vast quantities.  Both came with tricorders on straps and dustbuster Type 2 phasers that couldn't be taken out of their hands.  Pretty useless when you want to fly the ship in Geordi's case. The packaging perished a long time ago but I managed to salvage a few logos and oddments that ended up stuck in the growing scrapbook a few years later.

Sadly the same can't be said for my Star Trek V calendar which I received that same Christmas . Tragically it seems to have vanished/been binned at some point in the last few years. It featured 12 stills from the film as well as a central foldout promotional poster which adorned my bedroom wall a few years later when super-fan syndrome kicked in.

That same Christmas was quite the Star Trek event as my grandparents bought me the AMT model of the USS Enterprise from Star Trek V. It was a big hulk of model with the added bonus that you could also make the shuttlecraft as either Galileo 5 or Copernicus 3. I stumped for the former and soon Dad had painted both the ship and shuttle to be proudly displayed in my room.  It would survive for eight years until one fateful night involving a school leaving party and a considerable amount of red wine left me a little worse for wear.  While being put to bed I managed to knock my beloved model from its shelf and bring it crashing to the ground.  In all honesty it was never as sturdy as the original TV Enterprise as the warp engines were attached to the secondary hull by a fairly insubstantial curved piece of bodywork that took a pounding thanks to the heaving weight of the saucer section over the years. Sadly this Enterprise's life was over much too soon due to a brush with alcohol. It ended up in about five chunks so apologies to anyone who was hoping to see the model as it's long gone by now!

Moving swiftly along, one thing I would like to slip/shoehorn in here is my continued inability to get to watch Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.  It just never seemed to be on in the UK.  The Wrath of Khan felt like it was on ITV every weekend at one point but it's successor was MIA.  That was until 1990.  The BBC had bought it and advertised that it would be aired one Saturday night at around 7pm.  I could almost taste my excitement at finally seeing it. There was no question I had waited a long time to see this and the trailer (featuring the Bird of Prey escaping from the self-destructing Genesis planet) only helped to increase my anticipation. Then it snowed.

When I say snowed I mean SNOWED.  Not too big a problem until you realise that it caused a powercut.  A powercut that hit on a certain Saturday - from about 8am in the morning through to that night. The kind of powercut that lasted until after the airing of Star Trek III.  From excitement and anticipation I had crumbled to withdrawal and disappointment. Although there had been the obligatory snowman constructed that afternoon I had missed the aptly named The Search for Spock once more; just like the Enterprise, my moment had been stolen.  Was I EVER going to get to see this film?!  It certainly felt like I wouldn't.

As I've mentioned in The Formative Decade, I had no Trek allies while we lived in Derbyshire besides Dad. This was a barren two years at school and not enjoyable in the least.  What did make it worth while was getting home...especially when 26th of November 1990 came around.  The wait had been very long but now, over three years since its arrival on US TV we finally got to experience "Encounter at Farpoint". It even garnered a few pages in the kids BBC magazine Fast Forward (who remembers that?). Dad only managed to get to see the last fifteen minutes but I was more than happy to fill him in on the new crew and the 90 minute pilot episode.  The captain was a bit stern and snappy; the android was very peculiar; Wesley was cheesy and I just didn't like Q at all.  I found "Encounter at Farpoint" a bit stilted and wooden in places and I hoped it would improve. The plot hadn't been all that amazing but there had been some really memorable bits in there. The ship separated, there was the holodeck and some familiar looking Starfleet admiral turned up.  Over the coming weeks I decided to take this new series to heart as it did indeed move forward at a fairly slow pace to begin with.  It would be my Trek as Kirk, Spock and McCoy had been for Dad back in the late 60's and early 70's. At school it was still very uncool to have watched this new Star Trek but it seemed that a couple of my peers had caught it but would never openly admit they had watched the whole thing - such was the level of peer pressure in that environment.

One weekend my parents were having an evening out somewhere and as part of my treat for the evening I was lucky enough to have the first issue of the Marvel Star Trek: The Next Generation comic bought for me.  There were two halves to it - one was the hand-drawn story section and the other was a synopsis of "Datalore".  It must've been very early during the first season when I was given this because I remember looking forward to seeing the episode on TV.  The comic had a free Starfleet insignia patch on a red background with it (seen here; right). Where this comic ended up is unknown now but it was a prized Trek possession for some time. The date on the issue is the 17th November 1990 but I'm certain I had it after "Encounter at Farpoint" had aired in the UK.

So it was that Wednesday nights at 6pm on BBC Two brought me into weekly contact with The Next Generation as they had years earlier with The Original Series. This ritual would continue through my last few years of primary school and into the first year of my life at secondary school but more on that in due course! 

I grew to admire this cast and their adventures.  There was a lot of action, a lot more budget and the ship didn't look as weird as I had first thought a few years earlier. What I remember is how the series evolved, how the characters developed (a prime example being Troi) and how the stories just got better and better with each week.  The introduction of the Borg was amazing and unforgettable in "Q Who". The set was stunning and they were genuinely chilling as an enemy.  For once it really did look like the crew were beaten until Q reappeared.  It's probably one of the episodes I've watched the most and when I caught sight of the VHS release of "The Best of Both Worlds" in our local Woolworth's I knew that there was more from this new threat to come and it couldn't arrive soon enough.  In fact, as I watched the episodes on the TV at home I started to take an interest in what installments were being released on tape to get a taster of what I could expect.  In a way we were lucky as the first three years ran back to back but that would all come to an abrupt end in 1992 with the climax of "The Best of Both Worlds".

So what was so memorable and enduring about this series to a ten/eleven year old? A lot is the answer. It was cutting edge in effects and there was nothing on TV that came close to the level of storytelling that I saw each week. As it matured the cast grew more comfortable in their roles and before we get stuck into the brilliance of Season Three, it's worth saying that the first two years weren't without their moments. I wasn't into remembering episode titles at that time so it was more incidents from the crew's adventures that stuck in my head. Oddly it's not necessarily the best bits that stuck. 


Take for example "The Neutral Zone"; it wasn't the first TNG appearance of the Romulans that stayed with me but the discovery of the three humans in stasis and their attempts to rediscover who they are in the twenty-fourth century. I can still recall the first time I saw Riker, Data and Worf find the body of the astronaut in the Royale hotel bedroom even though it's nowhere near one of the best episodes of the season let alone the series. Troi's fast-growing child also remains a prominent memory from my first meeting with TNG. Picard as Dixon Hill and Data as Sherlock Holmes made the early seasons essential viewing and lest we forget the uncomfortable appearances of Lwaxana Troi or the unexpected death of one Lt. Tasha Yar.

Then again how could I forget seeing the Stargazer loom into view; the duplicate Picard of "Time Squared" attempting to make his escape (again!) and strangely the budget-saving worst-TNG-episode-ever, "Shades of Grey" made a substantial impression. Heck, that was just the first 48 episodes and the next 26 stories would blow these clean out of the water. I couldn't get enough and had me completely hooked by 1991; the show's 25th Anniversary year. What I would also say at this point my love of all things Trek  was confined to a colour TV and any books I could find in the local library. While we lived in Derbyshire I was lucky enough to read the novel edition of Star Trek II which put the film into a whole new perspective - especially the minor character of Peter Preston, Scotty's nephew. It was excellent from start to finish and led me to devour episode adaptations and a couple of classic series novels that were available. Shamefully that's as far as it could go purely because of the availability of material on Star Trek. Besides, the internet and DVD were still a long way off.

While the series played on, we moved again to Lincolnshire. The bullying I had experienced for two years stopped and things seemed to be looking up. I attended a new school which was much more friendly and while there weren't any massive Trek fans in my class at least I didn't feel "wrong" for liking it. I felt I could be myself and wouldn't be chastised for what I  was interested in.

Between leaving there and starting at secondary school I spent the summer being watched over by a mum who had three boys while my parents were at work. I introduced them to Star Trek  as the six weeks flashed by to the point where we watched a videoed copy of Star Trek IV on more than one occasion. It wasn't unknown for us and some of the other kids in the street to recreate the bridge of the Enterprise in the garage and stage our own adventures for whole afternoons. We would be adorned with Lego phasers and handmade rank pips and badges a la TNG. For the first time in a long while I was able to talk about my favourite programme and not be ridiculed for being different.  It came as something of a relief you can appreciate and this move was to help bring about a big turning point in my relationship with Star Trek but there's plenty of time for us to talk about that.

So we'll pause there for now before I get too carried away in nostalgia! Next time, the saga of Trek III concludes (honestly it does!), TNG's third season on BBC 2 begins, The Undiscovered Country is discovered and another side to my collection begins...

Why We Shouldn't Blame JJ

(Sigh.) So the dust is still blowing in the wind as the world comes to terms with the fact that JJ Abrams is to direct Star Wars Episode VII. Of course this left Trekdom up in arms seeing as he's the crowned saviour of the franchise and has been since 2009's reboot. How could he do it? How could the person who gave Star Trek A New Hope(!) defect to the darker side?

The simple answer would be cold, hard cash and the fact that JJ has openly admitted that he is a much bigger Star Wars fan than he is a Star Trek fan. Dummies have been spat out, anger has been vented at this apparent defection but hey; can we really blame him?

Abrams has been responsible for Lost, Cloverfield, Super 8, reviving Trek (and Alcatraz cough, cough) so he would be the obvious choice. He loves his sci-fi/fantasy and 99% of it turns to gold. I can imagine it wasn't the hardest choice in the world and now he has control over the futures of the two biggest franchises in that genre. For decades these two have been at war; their battles spreading to many memes, Fisher vs Shatner on Twitter...but really, who cares? He wants to do this and I'm sure all these internet blowouts are just like water off a duck's back and come on, you've got to be a bit jealous that he gets to play with BOTH franchises?

Now before we go any further I have to declare myself firmly in the Trek camp and initially when I heard the news I was pretty gutted. I have a fairly large Trek collection but there is a place in my home for a Star Wars Lego collection. It did feel like two fingers being waved and I hadn't been this disappointed since the Enterprise finale. However after a couple of days dealing with the rumours and the official announcement that JJ is directing Episode VII I think I can live with it. Even Star Wars fans have to admit that the prequels were substandard and I'm not going to shy away from the fact that the latter end of Trek's film series were less than spectacular. The Clone Wars TV series has been a success and Abrams has something to build on, luckily with Lucas only on board as a creative consultant who has provided (importantly) only treatments of the three sequels to the original trilogy. 

Star Wars has made a fat lot more money in a much shorter period of time than Roddenberry's creation and that's not something to snigger at. I have included the excellent infographic here to demonstrate - of course all figures and facts can be swayed but the numbers speak for themselves. There's a billion dollar difference at the box office in the UK and a THREE billion dollar deficit worldwide for Star Trek. Mark my word, JJ hasn't been dumb here.  He holds the ultimate keys to fictional power now and I for one can't wait to see how he reboots the movie Star Wars universe. We can be pretty certain it'll all fit in and there won't be any resets or sideways universes. Let's just hope this amazing success and fortune doesn't go to his head and we get less Empire Strikes Back and more Phantom Menace. However lest we forget that Lucas did a deal with the cinematic devil or as we like to call it, Disney.

That's something that you might not have remembered - two massive Star Wars stories in a matter of months which means that, because of the first one, JJ Abrams is going to be directing a movie for the House of Mouse. Who could have seen that coming a year ago? Then again without that kind of backing and input would there even be Episodes VII, VIII and IX on the boards plus a plethora of other films and media that has been rumoured to be coming on the back of the announcement. Don't forget as well that Lawrence Kasdan who was prominent in the making of the original films (having written Empire and Jedi) as well as George Lucas will be involved in the new movies. No doubt to keep the train of thought pure with the vision of the series. Notably JJ was pretty much given free reign by Disney rivals Paramount when he stripped Star Trek back to basics a few years ago.

Star Trek began life with a second start in 1966 and has never had a life of smooth running - cancellation, dropping box office takings and an inconsistent prequel series. Books and spin off material has varied from being canon to being totally irrelevant to continuity while it's "rival" has kept its material canon pretty much all the way through since 1977. Question is, will the new director be paying much attention or are we going to get the JJ vision of how this universe has evolved since the closing credits and Ewok songs of The Return of the Jedi? His work with Trek has been outstanding and brought it back from the brink with a stunning film and now a sequel that looks just as, if not better. Star Wars on the other hand hasn't fallen so far and it's popularity is far larger as the stats here belay. Working fandom up into a frenzy for Episode VII won't take a lot but then there's no "disturbing lack of faith" to work on. It's there to be built on and not from the ashes. The Star Trek reboot could have been a disaster but it wasn't so surely Trekkers and Trekkies alike should be more than happy to share their saviour apparent with the "enemy" - after all we'll get to keep him at least as a producer on future installments and with the hype over Star Trek Into Darkness, that could be for some time.

Let's bring this to a rambling conclusion - both franchises are now in very, very safe hands but what we MUST hope is that one doesn't suffer because of the other. Be wise, JJ for you could well rack off at least 10 million people on Facebook if you get this all wrong and both Kirk and Skywalker go down the pan.

Anyway, anyway, anyway. I look forward to seeing the results of Abrams work both this year with the Star Trek sequel and 2015 for the Star Wars re-ignition. I think that's really all we can say for now.  It's not that bad. It does feel like he is in command of everything but I think we can be assured the two will be kept separate however they might have some familiar touches in the next round. That will certainly be something worth looking out for. As a Trek fan I'm sad to see his resource split and to something that he openly admits he likes more, but from a sci-fi/fantasy perspective this can only be just about the best news you could want - and it does mean we can virtually guarantee that we will be seeing the next Star Wars episode in cinemas in just TWO years time.

May the Needs of the Force; or the One, be with You