Trekollections III: Your Life As It Has Been Is Over

"Guess who's coming to dinner..."

The last voyage; the final final frontier was about to be reached by the original crew of the Enterprise as Star Trek VI premiered in 1991. It would be the end of an era for one crew but one more important turning point in my relationship with the series.

As you may recall from Part II we had moved to Lincolnshire earlier in the year which meant adjusting to a new school and new friends. This sixth film more than anything would redefine my relationship with Star Trek. I had the movie tie-in novel, the movie magazine and would hunt out anything I could find  to tell me more about The Undiscovered Country. It was an incredible film and easily vanquished any of the misgivings that The Final Frontier had raised two years previously - after all, it had an even number if nothing else.

As with the fifth film, my first glimpses of The Undiscovered Country were on the late night movie show before America's Top Ten. If I can go all flash-back and blurry for a second, it was the scene where Chang confronts Kirk via the viewscreen raging that his ship will "...blow (them) out of the stars!". 

"Signal our surrender!" orders Kirk as the Klingons right their ship and prepare to fire; "We surrender!"  

It didn't take long to find out what happened next as we went to see the film at Lincoln's Ritz Cinema (now a chain-pub) one Saturday afternoon. This film had everything that The Final Frontier hadn't as well as a good smattering of Shakespeare thrown in. It was more than a fitting conclusion to the voyages of Kirk's crew with the final space confrontation between the Enterprise, Excelsior and the cloaked Bird of Prey an absolute and instant Trek classic. 

I bought the accompanying official film magazine (now AWOL) and the novelisation which included some great additional scenes, some of which would turn up on the extended VHS release the following year. I even managed to use it for a book review in my end of year English exam. I seem to recall I received quite a good mark and the comment of "What a surprise!" from my English teacher - in red pen of course.

As previously, aside from Dad there was still nobody to talk to about Trek as I stopped being looked after during the holidays so I had to look elsewhere for Trek inspiration. Filling holiday time with Trek viewings of the films or episodes I had recorded wasn't too difficult. One thing that it did help with was my writing.

I started to write a lot more after watching Star Trek VI and getting further embroiled in the adventures of the Next Generation crew on TV. I created a whole new range of Star Trek adventures, imagining a new crew taking over the Enterprise-A and at one point even sticking a Gorn security chief and an Andorian waiter among the crew. Of course Star Trek Generations would technically make this entire series "non-canonical" with the introduction of the Enterprise-B but it was great fun to write. I had the ship abandoned and revamped (almost Knight Rider-style), a lot of crew changes and appearances from classic Trek characters including the Talosians for one in what became quite a lengthy series. 


Admittedly for a 12 year old they were much more about action and adventure than character-driven but that was probably to be expected! Star Trek was one of the key drivers that made me want to write, eventually leading to five years as an on-off journalist and sub-editor and three years studying English at university (sadly with no Trek texts to read). The stories I watched each week were inspirational and even though I took elements from what I saw to create my own narrative it still sparked the imagination enough for me to develop new worlds and new civilisations....

I wrote about forty "short" stories that seemed to get longer with each one. Over the years I would experiment with writing Trek stories set on moonbases, smaller ships (like the Sydney-class from "Relics"  and even a Runabout, but they never amassed to the longevity of that original spurt of imagination.

This period marked the time I was watching the third season of TNG on BBC 2 and starting at secondary school. Certain this was a big change in my life - a significantly bigger change than adding collars to the crew uniforms and removing the piping (which took me about half the season to realise). There was homework to contend with, a blazer to wear everyday, moving around lessons every hour and a lot of new teachers and classmates to get to know.

Now it had been a while since I had met anyone outside of my immediate family who was a proper fan of Star Trek but within the first year I discovered that both my English and Technology teachers were fans and Trek would get a few throw away references in lessons if I could get away with it. At some point in 1991 I managed to catch the Shatner and Nimoy hosted 25th Anniversary programme which had included not only material from The Undiscovered Country but also some tasty tidbits from "Tin Man" and also clips from the 100th episode and fourth season cliffhanger "Redemption".

Season Three changed the dynamic and was a massive improvement over the previous two seasons. The writing was tighter, the characters more comfortable and the show had a spring in its step from the off.  Oddly one memory of that year is getting told off for something by my mum  and being banned from watching that week's episode. For reference it was "Booby Trap" and it took about two years before I worked out which installment it was and got to see it off SKY's daily repeats. This was also true in the case of "The High Ground" which was banned on its first airplay due to the Irish reunification reference.

The '89-90 season was one good episode after another and it just seemed to flash by in a matter of weeks while I went through my first year at "big school".  When we reached "Yesterday's Enterprise" I was totally addicted and at that time it became both my and my dad's favourite episode - for me that lasted only a few weeks because of a certain cliffhanger; "The Best of Both Worlds" landed and Trek would never be the same again.  The Borg were pure focused evil, determined to make the universe in their image and only the Enterprise could stop them.  To this very day it is still in my eyes THE best cliffhanger any generation of Star Trek has ever produced bar none and is in my top three favourite episodes of all time. I was bowled over in every sense. The story was incredible; I "got" the Riker sub-story about his future (linked to Michael Piller's own job choices); Picard's capture by the Borg was overwhelmingly dramatic; his transformation into Locutus even more so. Nothing like that had ever been attempted before - the captain was truly in danger and by the end of the first part there really seemed to be no way back, The situation was dire, all was lost and it was left to Acting Captain Riker to make the biggest decision of any generation of Star Trek ever; save Picard or save Earth; "Mr Worf........fire."

While Part II was a superb Michael Piller-penned conclusion it didn't live up to the drama and finger-chewing that had proliferated its predecessor.  At least we now had the fourth season to look forward to and - 

Sadly not.  As Picard gazed out of his ready room window, beginning to come to terms with his recent rescue and return to humanity, the credits rolled and the BBC announcer informed us that TNG would be returning in the near future. That was not what we were expecting. Actually it was both good news and bad news because while we lost Picard and his crew from the small screen we gained a chance to see the complete original series including - for the first time ever on UK TV, "The Cage".

Oddly we were in Cornwall for the day on which "The Cage" aired which seemed ironic that I should be back in the same part of the country only a few miles from where I had seen my first few episodes of the original series. In fact it was probably in a hotel in Truro to be exact. I won't dwell on this too much as it's been done to death but for me it was so different to what came after it and it was hard to believe that this was how it all started! There's a certain familiarity to it but in some respects it's quite far removed from the series that we came to know.  If they thought this was cerebral who wonders what they would have made of stories such as "Frame of Mind" for instance?!

So the next 79 weeks flew by and I was treated to the whole of the original series in airing order. I remember a lot more from this run through than from any previous showings. Maybe it's because of age or maybe it's just because of my passion for the show by this time. I recorded a fair few episodes from this run including my beloved "The Tholian Web", the Gorn-bashing "Arena", the mesmerising "City on the Edge of Forever", crossing universes in "Mirror, Mirror"; in all honesty there weren't many that I didn't enjoy and I could easily watch them all over again (and no doubt will!). What amazed me about them was the quality of the series and just how well these stories had stood up to the test of time. It was truly a classic in every sense. While this was happening on terrestrial TV, up in the sky there was something else going on; SKY had acquired the rights to The Next Generation and they, not the BBC would be showing Season Four.

Who would have seen that coming? Admittedly today we would be shocked if a major US TV show was premiered on a UK terrestrial channel. The challenge was going to be how I would manage to watch them as a it could well be light years before they reached the BBC and buying the videos every two or three weeks they were released would get mighty expensive for a teenager. Luckily for me there was a saviour in the wings...

From my reckoning this puts us around 1992. A significant point in my Trekollections because it was the year I received the five-movie box set for Christmas. Now usually at Christmas we didn't watch TV on the Big Day but we'd had quite a tough few weeks in the buildup and I was allowed to watch "The Motion Picture" while I waited for my turkey fritters and chips to cook. Yep, it was definitely an unusual year! Recalling this snippet also made me remember that several years before, most likely while we were in Cornwall, I had seen "The Motion Picture" but the recording had chopped the last ten or fifteen minutes. While I hadn't missed much of note, the arrival of this box set marked the completion of a lengthy journey.  All five were in widescreen which added a whole new dimension to my viewing; as did the additional scene of Spock and Saavik speaking in Vulcan after Kirk arrives on the Enterprise in "The Wrath of Khan" - but there was one other significant thing about it.

For those of you who have been tracking my story you will know I have something of a challenge with the third film.  Well, early 1993 meant I got to see it thanks to my rather generous grandparents' Christmas present. I wasn't disappointed and I am happy to admit that I love "The Search for Spock" as much as the even numbered installments. It has a lot going for it - the theft and destruction of the Enterprise, Scotty and the Excelsior, the first appearance of the Bird of Prey and of course Spock's rebirth. What's not to like? It did seem as though it had been a long time coming to get through it and at times I was probably keeping my fingers crossed against any power cuts or chewed video tape. Neither happened which brought about an end to my Trek III curse!

My birthday a few weeks before Christmas in 1992 meant that I became the proud owner of my first "proper" Star Trek book; the TNG Technical Manual. What a book.  For the first time I found out that the Enterprise-B was an Excelsior Class ship, exactly how a phaser worked and what setting would cause major geological disturbance (16 if you must know), how to pilot a starship, what shuttles were carried in the three bays; the list is endless and the book was pretty exhaustive on every subject.  The photo here was taken a couple of weeks ago. The corners are a bit worn but that's mainly due to excessive reading over the years.  It's a big thank you to Messrs Sternbach and Okuda for this one because once I'd digested each and every page of this tome I was on the look out for the next opportunity to expand my Trek library.  

For the same birthday I also received the Star Trek Starfleet Technical Manual and at the time I didn't realise how BIG a book this had been when it was produced. As with its later TNG counterpart, it was packed with diagrams and data on just about everything but leaned much more to the schematic side while Sternbach and Okuda included a good deal of explanation with each item and picture. The Starfleet Technical Manual really opened up the Kirk era for me with the deck by deck plans of the Enterprise and the original series uniforms and props. It was easy to get lost in the intricacies that Franz Joseph had covered on every page even down to the listings of all the ships in service for each class that "existed" in the Star Trek universe. 


The Dreadnought still looks impressive today (below left). Both books were impressive pieces to read and only increased my hunger for more.  These days there are very few Trek reference books produced in comparison to the number that were written/available back in the 1990's.  Then, there seemed to be at least two or three every year and all were of excellent quality and essential purchases as we shall see.  I was never a big reader of the novels at this point as I was only interested in things that were canon  - but anything that could tell me about the background of the show, the actors, Roddenberry, effects, the episodes, trivia, artwork or tech specs was purchased and devoured in a matter of days (or more likely hours). 

One of the more curve-ball tomes I bought was the Nitpicker's Guide for Next Generation Trekkers. Some great trivia in there and certainly made rewatching a few episodes interesting the second or third time over. As an admission though, it's not been until recent weeks that I've finally tried reading Trek fiction again and have been more than pleasantly surprised (see my review on The Persistence of Memory if you're wondering!). Star Trek was still giving me that way out. I wasn't the most popular kid in school (and I don't think my admission that I liked the show helped here).

When I was younger, the reason I spent so much time endulged in Star Trek was because I was had a non-existent social life outside of school until I was about 18. Partially this was due to moving around the country and never really having any long term friends or losing touch with those that I did make. The other side of it was that I had the (mis)fortune of over-protective parents. It felt like I was on lockdown outside school and in the evenings. I was unable to interact outside school with anyone I knew. Schoolwork took 100% priority in the evenings until it was done, no matter what and between 1991 and 1998 homework, GCSEs and A-levels took precedent over everything. I became quite competitive about results and didn't like to come second (only now am I able to stop doing this all the time). I had to be the best and would beat myself up mentally about not getting top marks. I suspect this didn't enamour me in the eyes of my peers and no doubt came across as a bit of a boot-licker and an arrogant so-and-so. I looked to Trek in some respects for role models particularly in the more commanding positions - the Kirk's, Picard's and Sisko's - because that's what I thought I should be doing. That was the position in life I believed I was destined for. In hindsight I'm probably more suited for the first or second officer role!

This wasn't intentional however. Over time, because I thought I was better than everyone else, it's a role I grew into and it became the person I was then. I know now I wasn't but it took a long time for things to change; we're talking years, I imagine this will become more evident as we get further into the next steps of my story. While my friends were out getting worldly-wise thanks to more liberal-minded parents I was home and having to make my own entertainment. It wasn't that I didn't want to go out, I wasn't allowed the opportunity which had some less than welcome effects after I left school in 1998. Star Trek became even more of an escape - if I couldn't get away from home physically then there was always another way and I would while away time reading about it, watching it or writing about it. I would spend hours devoted to personal research and became thoroughly obsessed with it 24/7. 

As you can see my interest was growing just as I was and I was going to need a lot more space for storage very, very soon - and that seems like a good place to pause for thought. We're now somewhere around the early 1990's and on the cusp of what was probably the most Trek saturated few years of my life what with the range of episodes, films, books and everything else that would be on the way. 

You can also read Part 1 and Part 2 of my Trekollections here!

Star Trek: The Original Series: Allegiance in Exile

When I popped a tweet out saying that this would be the next book to review, author David R George III replied, noting that it was "a little character piece".

I'd hate to disagree with the author but Allegiance in Exile is certainly not a little character piece. It's a flippin' big one with a great story to match. Oh - and as per usual beware that there MAY BE SPOILERS ahead.

As you would expect it's a threesome that dominates the narrative however while Kirk is there, the usual prominence you would expect from Spock and McCoy is this time taken by Hikaru Sulu and character-of-the-book Ensign Mai Duyen Trinh although not in the conventional sense. You see, it's all a matter of perspective to steal an episode title from The Next Generation. The main bulk of the narrative is explored through these three, focusing on their differing feelings, experiences and personal journeys during one specific mission in the fourth year of the original five year mission. While you might initially think this could get confusing it's managed exceptionally well throughout, dedicating sections of the story to each of the characters while maintaining the mystery surrounding the reason for the Enterprise's investigation. Each piece of the linear narrative is explained from a different perspective before effectively handing over to one of the other two centralised characters. There is no cross-over of action and mangling of plotlines which is great and easy to follow. Even if you do have to put it down (to eat or drink to survive for example), you can quickly locate where you are on return.

The story goes that Kirk and crew find a deserted M-class planet which shows signs of habitation but all signs of life have been eradicated from the surface. Everything that follows unfolds from this simple premise and soon the Enterprise is deep in the action to . One of the important things I find I look for within Trek novels is how accurately the crew are portrayed in relation to their on-screen counterparts. Here I was mesmerised by George's likenesses especially when it came to the relationship between Kirk and McCoy. The counselor role which the good doctor played on many occasions exists within this story and plays a key role later into the book. Their relationship oozes with banter, friendship as well as professionalism between the medic and his commanding officer. McCoy's grumbles are not overplayed but fit within character and the situations we see him in. Impressively David R George III manages to walk the line marking the boundary between professional and personal that was a hallmark of the friendship between captain and medic. I looked forward to reading their interactions whether from Kirk's perspective or from one of the others. Seeing it from Trinh for example allows the reader to understand how the crew see them but also to emphasis the nature of the relationship. In direct comparison this additional viewpoint means that Kirk's standing with Spock is also explored as he even has an aside with Trinh to seek advice rather than the stone cold facts that the first officer would expect - again here McCoy plays a part in helping manage the situation.. While it seems more embedded in the professional, hints are still placed within the narrative to show the friendship between captain and first officer exists, even if it's a simple use of the captain's first name as he steps into the void of danger towards the end of the book.

But let's look at this novel from the three perspectives. In the first instance we have Enterprise captain James T. Kirk. Aside from command of his ship and the mission, we are seeing a man with an uncertain future. He revels in the control of everything aboard the ship however his next career move may be outside of his management. A major section of his life is drawing to a close and Kirk is having to deal with the notion that his days in the captain's chair are numbered. Intermingled with the mission to explore and understand the M-class planet we are treated to reminiscences from past missions and encounters we would be familiar with from the original series. I tend to find myself cringing whenever this comes to pass in a Star Trek novel as it is can be a crow-barred, bell-ringing opportunity for the author to demonstrate his or her knowledge of the base material. With George I found it was smoothly integrated into the narrative, addressing how Kirk believed himself to be viewed by his superiors and also more self - analytical in respect of what he might have done differently since he was began the five year mission, even down to his original choice of first officer and the tragic ending it resulted in shortly after. We're reminded of his "failure" to capture the M-113 salt vampire as well as several incidents with the Klingons which have placed him in or out of favour with the higher echelons of Starfleet Command - the people who are already debating what direction Kirk's career will go. This is a matured Kirk but in keeping with the one we would find in the movies, uncomfortable at the thought of driving a desk rather than "gallivanting across the universe". I like this Kirk and he seems exceptionally realistic throughout this novel. There are several hard conversations he has, most notably with Commodore Wesley and Sulu as well as a few typically Kirk-eccentric moments that you can just hear that 60's incidental music blaring in the background.


Sulu's role here is much more than you would have experienced in those very episodes. His is probably the most complete journey of the three narrators here. Leading the away team to this newly discovered and apparently recently attacked planet marks just the start of his story. A brush with death changes his perspective on life slightly and we see Hikaru in a very different manner as he - and not Kirk - is the one who gets the girl. If only it was that simple. Ensign Trinh is the apple of Hikaru's eye and we learn about her not only as the newly assigned archaeology and anthropology officer (A&A) but through their personal time which evolves following an "eventful" mission on the planet which is dubbed as "Agdam". The way in which Trinh affects Sulu drives a good percentage of Allegiance in Exile and gives it an incredible amount of emotional impact. There is an element to this aspect of the story where you are waiting for a certain resolution to play out but that's not the point with this book. We are even treated to individual conflict within the pages of exile but while this might have some diehard Trekkers reaching for the Simon and Schuster complaints email address because "...it's not true to Roddenberry's vision..." I would urge restraint and step back from the keyboard because it genuinely works here. Placing Kirk and Sulu at loggerheads is essential to allow events to unfold in their natural wayand  helps shape Sulu. Certainly there are sparks here that suggest George was thinking how he could hint at Hikaru's destiny as captain of the Excelsior. If this is the case, it works.

While we know that certain things will have to be in place by its conclusion and there are events which must prevail as we have already seen them in the motion pictures it really doesn't matter here. George has managed to produce a novel where the story is, in all intents, second, possibly even third in importance because we are there to experience the mental conflicts and questions that are being chewed over by the three crew here. Now in comparison to other novels I've read recently I would have grumbled a bit that Spock, Uhura, Chekov and Scotty are somewhat sidelined but that shows the strength of Allegiance in Exile; you don't notice that they're little more than passing characters until you've reached page 369 and finished. George has built up his narrative around two excellent realisations and that's only backed up further by the more than believable and definitely three-dimensional Trinh. For once it was refreshing to read a character who gets some background and is understandable in the way that she acts on what is her first mission aboard the Enterprise and in a senior position of responsibility. She's trying to make impressions and fit in but soon finds herself in the thick of the action in every sense. Nod to George here for providing an unusually strong female lead within the framework of The Original Series.  

One thing I seem to have neglected is the story which wraps around the mass of superbly engrossing character development; it's ok. George has developed a decent plot to place his cast within and there is certainly an element of mystery which is played out. It could almost be set out as a two part episode, nicely split with the Enterprise's departure from Agdam and then with the concluding part commencing at Starbase 25 and Kirk's meeting with Wesley. The second half provides just as many questions as the first but the pacing is absolutely spot on. Everything plays out at a realistic tempo and none of the events feel too rushed nor is there an over-reliance on captain's logs to fill in details and skip time. Sulu is probably the more explored individual in the second half and his evolution is in some ways not foreseen although as a reader you can understand how his relationship with Trinh has become something more than he can imagine. While it's not the most complex adventure, there are still some great twists and turns to follow as the investigation proceeds and at the end I have to say I felt very satisfied; there's a good rounded conclusion which answers all your questions while leaving the characters in the perfect setting to end their five year mission. 

While I'm talking about setting, that's something more than worth some page space within this review. David R George III has created a set of vividly imagined environments here. Whether it's comparing desolation to Cestus III, enveloping the crew in a silent, eerie and hot planetary setting, describing the action of how egress from the shuttlecraft is achieved or even just in how the helm scanner rises from the main control console, the author has it covered. The bridge feels alive when you read the acts set there; the planets visited are real because we get a sense of the life that existed there and is being examined by the Enterprise crew. Accompanying the story with intricate sights and sounds lifts it from a biographical narrative and helps drive us further into the fictional Star Trek world and indicates that while many will use previous events from the TV series to relay their knowledge, George has an acute awareness of the whole rather than individual sections. 

So let's wrap this up in a few lines. You've now gathered that this is a fairly decent read by now I would hope. It's a people book and one which gives us some wonderful character moments that a limited TV budget in 1969 wouldn't have afforded. It's an excellent read and a great "little character piece" to coin a phrase I heard recently (see top) and I look forward to the next novel by this author. Many readers might be tired of an action adventure story which sees the crew encounter X, defeat Y and home in time for The Motion Picture. Here there's a different slant and I feel that focusing specifically on a limited range of MAIN characters to explore rather than attempt to appease every reader and cram in a paragraph for all the crew which doesn't do them justice and effectively dumbs their role to opening hailing frequencies or firing phasers can only be a good thing. It's refreshing to find the aura of the original series - and the original incarnation of the crew - in such good literary hands.

Star Trek: The Original Series: Allegiance in Exile by David R George III is available now from Simon and Schuster priced £6.99 ISBN 9781476700229

The Amazing Telepathic Holodeck: TNG's "Schisms"

"Schisms" is just plain weird. 

Admittedly the teleplay is from the mind of Brannon Braga but don't let that put you off. We have the infamous "Ode to Spot", some of the oddest/secretive aliens ever to grace TNG, great use of a fish-eye lens, the most subdued fade-out into the opening titles and virtually no answers. Oh - and I love it. Forgot to mention that but don't let that put you off reading the rest of this blog! 

The pre-titles sequence is one of the great misdirections of the entire TNG run and cleverly I think this is one of this episode's strengths. It's all about build-up, what we don't see but are enticed to imagine. The first few minutes are Data's classic poetry recital including the aforementioned piece for his trans-gendered cat at which Riker falls asleep repeatedly as the android trundles on regardless. Played for comedy it provides no real insight into the story even though it actually sets up the whole episode through Riker's actions - not that youo would know it at the time. In many other episodes the pretitles give us some kind of hint of what to come in a much more obvious fashion to make viewers want to stay tuned. Another example where this occurs would be the season six cliffhanger, "Descent". Anyway, let's skip the plot summary and get back into the weirdness of "Schisms".

Along with "Conspiracy" from 1988, I class this as as one of the two episodes that could have received a televised sequel (or prequel?!). As with the terrific season one episode, the ending leaves it open for a return that sadly never happened. We're left wondering who these subspace creatures are and what their reasons for abducting the crew could have been - research? Experiments? Testing for an invasion attempt? Looks like we'll never get to find out - although if you are a Trek novelist and writing this, I'm willing to assist with some input....

According to Ron Wilkerson, who was responsible for the original story from which Braga developed the teleplay, "Schisms" came about due to the executive producers wanting an enemy that were a big threat to the crew (I asked him about it on Twitter). Indeed, this is a very similar idea to the creatures hinted at early in season one and seen in the brilliant "Conspiracy" which is left with a signal beamed out into the depths of space. Here we have an eerie, clicking, shrouded race that we learn exceptionally little about. We only see one room of their subspace home and learn absolutely nothing about them. Why is this weird? Well, with TNG we usually got to understand the characters who popped up each week; getting to know a little about their motivations, background...something! Here it's an episode shrouded in mystery backed with a wonderful sci-fi concept that the Enterprise crew are being taken in their sleep and being subject to macabre experiements

While we have the investigation into sleep deprivation there's the "B" story regarding a disturbance forming in one of the cargo bays. Eventually these two tales intermix at the conclusion and that's something else a little different about this episode.  Usually there's a distinct "A" story and on occasion a "B" story or even rarely a "C" thread but they stay separate and conclude individually. Also, as opposed to a lot of the other stories I have/will discussed as part of SKOST there isn't any real "theme" to the story. It's not moralistic, there's only one death of a character we never really get to know but "Schisms" is about paranoia, shadows, restlessness and mystery - and all those unanswered questions that remain, well, unanswered.

It's great seeing the crew seeking some kind of explanation for their sleep deprivation and then realising that they are victims of some weird alien race. Worf has a hair-raising encounter with Mr Mott and a pair of scissors, Riker looks shattered for most of the episode (even falling asleep as we drift into the titles), Geordi's VISOR plays up (again) and even Data is affected when he loses an hour and a half for no apparent reason while in the cargo bay.  Soon it's all drawn together and the eeriness gathers several of those affected to the holodeck; now this has to be one of the best pieces of Trek ever - for potentially all the wrong reasons.

 I named this blog "The Amazing Telepathic Holodeck" and by jingo is it awesome in this respect. Troi assembles Riker, Worf, Geordi and one "civilian of the week" (no doubt for budget reasons) to visualise what they have experienced or at least think they have experienced. The end result is a little off from what is seen in the aliens' home environment but that's easily explained away through personal interpretation and recollection. The really clever bit here is the speed at which the holodeck - a device not exactly renowned for its accuracy or safety all the way through TNG ("The Big Goodbye", "Elementary Dear Data","Emergence" et al) -  becomes amazingly intuitive.  The wooden table that is initially created gets swapped out for an inclined one (which is totally different to the original) but the best switch is when the metal table this is in turn changed for IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT! It's now much more chair-like than table-like (see below).
I'm guessing this is all for pacing but looking back it's amazingly shoddy that the holodeck works out precisely what table the crew want in about three moves and they then spend the remainder of the time making precision tweaks to the restraint, surgical blade and control panel. OK, I'm being pedantic and it's all easily covered but I still find it funny that the holodeck just helps out, makes its own decisions and produces a near-perfect end result in the space of minutes. 

What we get as a conclusion is a bit mixed although I still enjoyed it. Riker chooses to be the lab rat and get sent back into the rift but surely they would realise he's awake?! The whole point being that they're being taken when they are asleep or at the very least are made unaware that they are being secreted off the Enterprise. The aliens' environment is a bit disappointing but the fact that we find nothing definite about their reasons for their experiments keeps the mystery in place. Riker rescues Rager but that's it. We are left to muse what it was all about and whether of not this is something that will rear its head in the future. In both cases, they didn't but we are still left uneasy.

Here, in "Schisms" we are left to imagine what is going on and how the tests have been conducted (such as Riker's amputation and reattachment). We only glimpse a fraction of Ensign Rager's experience which seems to be something to do with her blood. The instance where the crewman returns with his blood converted to a liquid polymer. It is the possibility that more could have been killed and there was very little to stop them until  their actions were noted by several members of the crew that is haunting here. Even when we do see the aliens they are shrouded in the shadows and greyness of their medical chamber, hooded and wrapped from head to foot. Actually, that's another point - the masks, as seen in the superb Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 book aren't the greatest so the shadows are doing them a favour - as for the shuffly walk...what is that all about? There's no hope for them to stop Riker when he legs it with Rager at the climax.

This is probably one of the more uneasy installments of TNG. The first five minutes really put the audience on the wrong foot before we get into the main story. Perhaps considering the nature of the previous season and the bulk of the episodes around it in season six it's also a little out of place. At this point in its evolution TNG was aiming more towards "intelligent" sci-fi and this does stand out because of the absence of a moral or particular character focus. It's almost as if we're having a break from the heavier story-lines that made up a large part of the later seasons.

My opinion - watch it, enjoy it, but it's not likely to make it into your list of top ten episodes, or top twenty. I haven't watched it for years and so I welcomed it quite lovingly for a second/third viewing after such a long gap since it was last on my TV. Great hooded aliens, magnificent uneasiness, paranoia and probably one of the three best attempts at mild horror TNG ever produced alongside "Conspiracy" and "Genesis". Now who's up for writing the sequel?

Let's Take a Reality Trek (Into Darkness)

"You think the rules don't apply to you because you disagree with them" - Admiral Pike

The media machine for Star Trek into Darkness has ramped it up again with the continued evolution of the mobile app for Android and iOS (when the damn thing works that is) and the stunning, first ever motion poster featuring a smouldering London and the rumbling tones of "JH" aka Benedict Cumberbatch (removed as it got annoying).

Great idea and I've seen there is also one in existence for The Wolverine but that's off topic! It's a great new concept and was the first real clue that London was going to have a a starring role in this new production thanks to the inclusion of the Mayor's Gherkin (and it's not as interesting as that initially sounds).

"You have any idea what a pain you are?" - Pike

"I think so, sir." - Kirk

Over the weekend we also got "Teaser Trailer Two" and under the circumstances I think a more apt name for it is the "Kirk Teaser" as it's pretty much 70 seconds of scene setting for the Enterprise captain. If you've missed it, here it is for your enjoyment.

I would at this point have delved into what we learn from the new trailer but we've already got a lot of answers thanks to the 28 minute previews that have been set up worldwide. Now that's how to tease your fans and make them want more! Of course it could also be Abrams realising that it's a rubbish film later on and continuing to build the super-hype so no one will notice underneath all that lens flare. From what we've seen I doubt it's that catastrophic although there is a lot more of an action/adventure theme than I would expect from a Star Trek movie set in the Prime Universe (but more on that in a bit).

"By now all of you will have heard what happened in London..."

We now know for certain that the scenes of Kirk and McCoy running and jumping into the sea are from the early part of Into Darkness and that the Enterprise is hidden under the waves below. We can pretty much conclude that the clips of Admiral Pike verbally dressing-down Kirk are from his meeting with the captain following his blundered mission on that same red planet. Why Kirk decides to go after John Harrison is still undetermined although we get some sinister posturing from Cumberbatch albeit brief - in fact he's virtually non-existent in this trailer bar about three seconds.

"Jim - the beach is THAT way!" - McCoy

What else is new though? There's a new scoutship sequence which I would suggest is set during the quest for Harrison and there are some nice shots of Scotty double-taking against a fish; Uhura kitted up for an away mission and Spock doing that building jump...again. Overall the bulk of the trailer is focused on Kirk going through some kind of transition process - a mission, a failure and the chance to redeem. Perhaps it's not that there is a specific reason for him going after Harrison except that it is a chance to get back his command. Apart from that it's familiar territory with more repeated clips of the Enterprise creating a bow-wave in San Francisco and what I still think is Starfleet Command/Academy bearing the brunt of a saucer impact following the crash.

"Punch it." - Kirk 

While not physically in this trailer, the 28 minute previews have answered one important question that I've been musing over since Day One. We've finally found out that Peter Weller is Admiral Marcus and therefore, one would believe, Carol's dad. So there goes my super-twist that he's the baddie and Harrison is just a minion! But then who's to say that John Harrison will turn out to actually be John Harrison all the way through or that he's Weller's minion?! Over analysing this new burst of dribble-inducement seems pointless but something more (I thought anyway) interesting came to mind that I wanted to talk about in relation to the direction we're heading in with the Abrams reboot universe.. In part it's due to the trailer that this thought was sparked, it's also thanks to that stunning new poster, an unsettling feeling within the Trek online community and some apparent revelations about Abrams feelings towards the franchise. 

"We're gonna do this we gotta do it now!" - Sulu

This week, a new friend of mine, George Silsby, from the Star Trek: Starfinder audio series, reminded me about the graphic novel prequel series that's out to buy at the moment and how it might be more relevant than we think - and could even bring it back into the realms of (dare we say it) CANON. Are we going to see the destruction of this Enterprise and the arrival/recommissioning of Robert April's Enterprise that's mentioned in passing? Countdown to Darkness also notes that April had Alex Marcus as his first officer on that ship. The dots are slowly joining up! My friend from Starfinder is also postulating that Harrison is Garth of Izar. I'm inclined to agree that he's not Harrison but whether it's Garth is another thing. We'll have to put a bet on this!

It could be Harrison is a youthful version of April (reduced aging or from the past?) for instance, as we know there's some kind of aging thing going on in the first 9 minutes previewed a few weeks ago? What about Harrison being a member of April's crew as I'm pushed to think there has to be a connection to the oft-mentioned officer and in the first trailer we ever saw, Harrison was carrying April's Gatling Gun. George also mapped out the concept that with the arrival of Miss Marcus we could be getting  something involving the Genesis device. Now that would be pretty impressive and would offer the chance at life from lifelessness? Is Genesis the cure that Harrison indicates in the nine minute sneak-peak? The secret to rebirth/youth? I also think that with all these plot possibilities that are flying around, JJ will have enough material for the next six or seven films in the reboot universe. TV series later? Doubt it if this film does any good. Next film for 2016 and the 50th anniversary? Very good possibility according to Den of Geek and it would mean that it would be sooner than the four year window we've had since the first film. With Abrams moving to Wars from Trek it would mean a step back to (exec) producer while he focuses on the series that he's admitted to loving a lot more.

Anyway; conjecture, rumour mill, conspiracy theory...move on....

"He's a fugitive and I want to take him out." - Kirk

The consensus over the reboot series is mixed to say the least. Do we see it as canon given that it diverts from the prime universe and how is it classified? Do you enjoy it as an entertaining film or should it just be seen as a complete standalone? I don't believe that there is clean cut answer to it and it's pretty much each to his or her own. However, I'm going to wade in with a few thoughts. I can accept that STID is Star Trek or in the very least that it is BASED on Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. The grip is that while Nero kinked the timeline in 2009's reboot, surely there should be some kind of crossover bar the appearance of Prime Spock. To keep the fans happy it can't be screwed with completely and yes, I understand that this is one person's interpretation bit there are some fundamental principles that need to be maintained otherwise it becomes diluted and a pale imitation of the very thing it is hoping to bring to a new audience. 

"I believe in you" - Admiral Pike

The new films are heavily focused on the action element and character and themes seem to have been sidelined but this indicates something more about today's cinematic experience. However this week Damon Lindelof has come out saying that Into Darkness is "about family" which seems a bit of a cop out frankly given the issues Trek has covered from day one - wasn't this what the first one was aboout too?! Sadly "issues" are not what today's media-savvy audiences are desiring hence it's about tech, 3D, effects and jaw droppers because that's what puts bums on seats if you'll pardon the expression. Now here's the funny thing - if it wasn't for a fist fight and a demand by the network for less cerebral concepts which led to the unprecedented commissioning of the second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", then we wouldn't have Trek and the thought provoking science fiction that came over the course of the subsequent series. So just as Roddenberry did to get that first year commissioned so Abrams has gone back to basics and the fact we have a sequel is proof it worked. The wonder is as we in for more of the same or can we hope that Into Darkness recognises the fan base and points more firmly towards keeping with the Great Bird's universe. Problems is that everything I keep seeing makes me go 'wow' and want to see Into Darkness because it looks action packed and amazing as a film ut not necessarily because it's got Star Trek taped to the title.

"Come on; it's going to be fun!" - Kirk

However a series of clips and soundbites gives no idea what it will be like feature length although we've seen some good feedback off the previews that it LOOKS stunning. (Notice where I'm going here?!) This is where the whole poster grumble came in. It looks brilliant. I love the concept and it's certainly made the trailers interesting seeing the Enterprise skirting the atmosphere, crashing into San Francisco or rising up from the ocean as if reborn from the waves and certainly contrasting to its later plummet Earth-wards. Yet wasn't the whole reason for the transporter because they couldn't work out how to land the ship in the 60's? Is this where we start to think it's not exactly what it should be and that Abrams really has just decided to do his own thing and thoroughly retrofit Trek with the intention of attracting a new audience for the 21st Century? In 2009 we even had the Enterprise built on Earth which clearly goes against canon but we have to remember that the opening five minutes of the first film in 2009 effectively gave JJ free licence to do what he wants. Maybe that's just what we should do! Perhaps we should view it as fans of Batman, The Avengers, Superman or even Doctor Who?

"...Told you we'd fit." - Kirk

"I'm not sure that qualifies." - Spock

Everyone has their favourite way it's been done and reasons why. Over the years they've all seen multiple reboots and re-imaginings (11 times and counting for The Doctor!) but the basics of who is involved and the setting remain although the details surrounding it alter. We can grumble all we want or go along and enjoy it. For the foreseeable future it's the only new Trek were going to get and that has to be a reason to support its continued success. But then JJ comes out with comments suggesting thus is the only Star Trek he wants people to remember. For a generation that might be the case, but Roddenberry's vision was that humanity had put aside it's differences for the greater good, each adventure had some kind of theme or a story which helped explore one of his family of characters etc - so does the plot point of an attack on London, and supposedly by a member of Starfleet really ally itself to that? When we see it's based on Star Trek should we be reading that it's using characters and associations but it's not really the original? A bit like BMW building the Mini if you will. Or Disney doing Star Wars.....?!

"Ready to swim?"

Is JJ really trying to make a new generation aware of only his vision of the franchise and, as LeVar Burton suggested recently, ignore all that's been or will be. This cannot and will never be the ONLY Star Trek that exists and you can't just dismiss everything that came before - you can't ignore over 700 episodes and 10 films! This is the history that JJ is willing to throw away because it's not his vision and now he can with that neat little "Nero" trick. Let's be fair it's allowed some massive poetic licences as we've already recalled and I'm still not totally hot on the Spock and Uhura romance to this day - unsurprisingly we're going to be getting more of that in May. So can we really be happy with changes to a certain style of storytelling where we didn't get product placement from Nokia or music provided by the Beastie Boys? Is there more of this to be seen Into Darkness and is this a sign that we're heading into a new frontier of product placement ala James Bond? Please. No.

"I hate this!" - McCoy

"I know!" - Kirk

As a movie series so far the reboot has been good fun, certainly high-octane visual entertainment of the highest quality, but it will never replace the original series or anything from the Roddenberry/Berman vision. The essence is there but do you come out of the cinema or finish watching the DVD and release that there are more layers to it? I'm not sure it's been designed in that way. Star Trek (2009) may have inspired something of a new audience but JJ needs to remember that if it wasn't for the millions of fans who've supported and followed Star Trek since 1966 (or earlier!) then he wouldn't have a film to make; let alone a sequel. The majority of his audience will be from that long-term fanbase and not from one single two-hour blip four years ago. Let's face it, a lot of fans were (and I include myself here) ravenous for new live-action trek and seeing as it had been four years since the corpse of Enterprise had been removed from the air with THAT damp squib of a final episode, we were going to take whatever we could get - no doubt JJ knew that this would be the case and as long as it had "staples" of the franchise he was onto a winner... I hope George Lucas just keeps hold of those reins a little more tightly which is something I touched upon previously when I considered we might have been a little heavy-handed towards JJ in light of his new role within the Star Wars Mouse House. Interestingly they've just pulled Clone Wars to move the focus onto the next trilogy and I would think that in line with this we can be fairly certain Trek won't be going televisual for some time as even concepts from Michael Dorn (Captain Worf) and Jonathan Frakes have been vetoed in favour of keeping the Enterprise firmly on the cinema screen.

"Tell me this is gonna work."

Now before I start chewing my own arm off with all this postulating let's wrap this all up. The way this franchise is going reminded me of a quote from Deep Space Nine's "Crossover" as spoken by Major Kira to her mirror universe counterpart - ironic that an installment dealing with a different reality would provide a great line that can so easily apply to this new imagining of the classic crew:

"The players are all the same. They just seem to be performing different parts." - Kira

So once the credits roll at the end of this film will we no longer  accept it as Star Trek in its pure form? Will we remember JJ's Trek films as great cinematic action experiences and a footnote in the larger Trek mythos? The box office will only tell part of the tale as will DVD and Blu-ray sales, merchandising revenues and potentially any further big screen outings; the passage of time will record the rest although I suspect that Prime Trek will win out. No doubt it will outlast us all as a certain starship captain once said, "Let's make sure history never forgets the name, Enterprise" - and I would guess that now applies to whatever universe or reality you prefer...