What Did First Contact Do For Us (in the future)?

NB: Updated April 5th 2014 - originally written on the 50th (pre) anniversary of First Contact in 2013

Happy Anniversary of First Contact Day to you all!

Wow, is it only 50 years to go? What a thought. Can't wait; April 5th 2063 here we come!

But what's to celebrate in our Star Trek vision of the 23rd and 24th Centuries? As we drain our last glass of bubbly synthehol and attempt to remember the code to get us back into our quarters, let's have a think about just what we have raised a song to in the last few hours - was it all worth the pomp and ceremony? What exactly did we get from this monumental event and was it all good? As we know, according to Riker in Star Trek First Contact, it's the time everything changes and things get better - so let's put that to the test right now.

1. Warp speed

Bit of a given really. But then it's only Warp One so we're going nowhere (relatively) fast for a  hile. Luckily it does attract a passing ship and thus we encounter the Vulcans for the first time. This leads to a whole heap of other problems but the good thing is that at least we can get there a lot quicker thanks to Cochrane and the Phoenix. 

No longer is Earth alienated in some spiral of the Milky Way and so begins the road to the creation of the United Federation of Planets as well as numerous first contacts with new and exciting lifeforms. Now some of these are good and a few are going to be filled with obstacles, wars and death...but not that many...hopefully. Oh...it's also responsible for ripping the universe to bits which isn't such a good thing. Excellent suggestion to impose that warp five speed limit. That solves everything. What warp drove does lead to is the creation of Starfleet and therefore the Federation. Ironically in the real world it's the creation of Starfleet that eventually brings about the creation of first contact as an event in Star Trek....!

2. Zephram Cochrane

The man behind the engine. Legend, pioneer, alcoholic, from Alpha Centauri (according to The Original Series) and able to age in reverse. Nothing like the Enterprise crew expect him to be like, Cromwell's Cochrane is a reluctant, dishevelled hero that you just can't help but like. While we get to see him briefly in the Enterprise pilot Broken Bow, it's his subsequent chronological appearance that really bends time and space. In The Original Series, Zephram is significantly younger and even managed to brush up well for the visit from Kirk and company. Luckily he was rejuvenated by the Companion which resides with him on Gamma Canaris N and saved his life.

While his body is regenerated, it appears that the Companion has erased any references to his previous encounter with at least two ships called Enterprise. Now, here's a thought for you - is the name of the Federation warp five NX Class ship in itself a time loop - was it called that because of Cochrane's own previous encounter with the crew of that starship?! However, when we meet Zephram in Metamorphosis he seems to have developed Scotty (Relics) syndrome and forgotten all about a previous encounter with the Enterprise-E. Let us not forget the statues and schools that get named in his honour afterwards, although whether he wanted to be a statue is all historical conjecture....

3. The Borg

Thanks for this one, Jean-Luc. Due to your inability to make sure that all the Borg were eliminated before you warped out of orbit back to the 24th Century there were some survivors who managed to get frozen in the Arctic, get thawed, evade the NX-01 and Captain Archer and then send a signal to the Delta Quadrant. A signal which will be received sometime in the 24th Century...and one suspect that's what sparks some interest in Sector 001. The speed in which the cube arrives in The Best of Both Worlds suggests that this is not the same ship the Enterprise-D encountered in system J-25 even though the dimensions are precisely the same.

Enterprise's Regeneration implies that it's all a self-fulfilling prophecy and we were always doomed to meet the Borg whether or not Q chucked the Enterprise-D halfway across the galaxy. Could this have all been avoided? Probably not in the big time/space continuum mess.

4. Music and Alcohol

Luckily First Contact Day reassured us that popular music won't kick the bucket until at least April 6th 2063. As we learn, Cochrane has a particular fondness of Steppenwolf and their Magic Carpet Ride (good choice). Roy Orbison will be available on jukeboxes around the same time although it's Oobey Doobey and not Pretty Woman. Tequila will be available for a few years more however its morning after effects appear to be significantly lessened - ask Troi for further details. Whether the beverage is still around in the 24th Century is debatable since the counselor is apparently unaware of its existence. It has been suggested that rock and roll may survive into the 24th Century (see 6) however the longevity of musical artists such as The Beastie Boys is still open for debate - especially in alternative universes.

5. The Vulcans

...and so years of suspicion, logic and a serious lack of humour begin. Now the intrigue here is what could have happened if first contact had been with another race? Humanity's suspicion of the Vulcans is all based on the conjecture that they have held back our development at least until the 2160's and possibly longer. Would we have become a conquered people if the Andorian or the Klingons had got to us first? How would Starfleet and the Federation evolved if Earth's first meeting with people from another world had been the Tellarites?!

It is well documented within Star Trek: Enterprise that the Vulcans assisted in pulling Earth from the shambles it was but what more could it have been as there's always that hint that First Contact was both a good and bad thing - did the Vulcans really hinder our progression to the stars? Were they in turn being influenced without realising it by the Romulans?! What we find out later is that the Vulcans inadvertently caused first contact back in the 1950's in Carbon Creek but we didn't know about it (of course).

From the perspective of our familiar crews though, the Vulcans have given us a great deal - Archer gained a first officer and Dr McCoy was provided with more than one opportunity to win an argument. While Enterprise sowed the seeds of discontent with the pointed - eared ones it would be wise to remember that meeting with them would bring about advances in conditions and technology that humanity would otherwise have been unable to achieve.

6. First Contact Day 

The occasion to remember the day everything changed. A time for rejoicing and revelry and if you're on the USS Voyager then beware because it's like to have been organised by Neelix and Naomi Wildman. From what we can children get a day off school and it's a prime opportunity for Tom Paris to get his 20th Century jukebox out (no sign of Steppenwolf to really authenticate the occasion though). Interestingly the notion that this is celebrated right in the closing closing episodes of Voyager screws the calendar around in line with stardates as First Contact occurred in April. Therefore we can surmise that we're not working on the Julian Calendar but something much more universal.

7. The Bozeman

Bit of a curve ball here, but without the landing site for the Vulcans the Enterprise-D might have avoided spending a few weeks trapped in the temporal causality loop. I'm not sure that first contact in Scunthorpe would have had quite the same dramatic effect.

We could probably go on for quite a while about how, what and why was affected in the long run by April 5th 2063 but I think these above are probably the main culprits. While Star Wars fans have another month to wait for their special day (May 4th), with Star Trek we can at least say that the day has some significance within all varieties of the franchise and it's something with a bit of substance not just a "comedy" date. In the fictional world everything that we know of the UFP, Starfleet, Kirk, Picard, Sisko, Janeway etc stems from this one event and we can assuredly say that it is truly the franchise's Genesis moment (all puns intended). First Contact is the point at which the future starts to become the universe begins is journey towards the vision of Gene Roddenberry. While not everything about the original day was a resounding success as we've seen here, there's a lot to be impressed with - and it gave us Star Trek First Contact which isn't a bad thing now, is it?!

In the real world the question for us all is when will this happen and who will it be with? If we're honest with ourselves we know it won't be with Vulcans and I very much doubt it'll be at a missile silo in Montana (which actually does exist) or that it'll even be linked to the first warp flight but that's missing the point of this occasion. One of the rare chances to have a bit of Star Trek indulgence with some purpose and show your Starfleet pride especially with just a half-century to go!

After all this though, I would ask this - what does First Contact Day actually mean to you today? Is it a chance to celebrate Star Trek or space exploration or even sci-fi as a whole? Is there anything else from that fictional event that we should also recognise it for? Is there anything else that we got from first contact within the fictional universe or in the real production world of Star Trek?

Anyway - let's request just one more glass from the replicator before bed or maybe join Captain Picard for a slice of cake (cellular peptide we suspect) - Happy First Contact Day to one and all!

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Happy Holidays! It's the Star Trek: The Next Generation Easter Special!

Stardate 47362.1. It's Easter on the USS Enterprise and Deanna Troi is in the seasonal spirit. With a lull in shipboard activities the counselor has taken it upon herself to arrange an egg hunt through the ship for some of the children onboard.

Of course this isn't normal aboard a starship, especially when it's so close to the Romulan border; but there's not been any activity for a while so everything should be alright. Much hilarity ensues as the children search for Easter eggs in Main Engineering, transport room one, Jefferies tubes, Ten Forward and, much to his annoyance and discomfort, the Captain's Ready Room. Some of the children even insist he joins them to find more in the observation lounge but the captain manages to stumble out of it citing more important Starfleet matters to deal with. Data is left very confused by the whole thing and confides in Worf that he is puzzled at how the children can become so excited in the pursuit of small chocolate items that they can easily replicate whenever they want.

Worf explains that while he sees it as an infantile activity it does bear a strong resemblance to a Klingon ceremony where the eggs of the Raga'kel bird are hunted by the young ahead of their 15th birthday as part of their transition to warrior - it is a sacred bird and Kahless himself provided the inspiration for the occasion as this was a significant event in his maturing process. Worf then explains that Kahless was angered that he had killed the bird believing it to be attacking him. It was not the case as he realised and the bird was actually protecting him from a targ. Kahless stayed with the bird, bringing it back to life from the dead and now its eggs are hunted at this time of year to symbolise that sanctity of life. Data inquires what happened to the original bird of the story - did Kahless return home with it - yes, replies Worf; where it was killed and eaten for its regenerative properties by his family. Its eggs in particular went well with the targ meat.

Alexander is off ship however visiting Worf's foster parents on Earth and so has not been able to take part but that doesn't stop Troi from suggesting a way Worf can take part - but he'll need to drop by ship's stores to find out how a little later. Data is still left confused and as such begins hiding several of Geordi's key engineering tools around the ship to replicate the experience for his friend and ultimately missing the point completely. Beverly attempts to calm the situation and explains the concept of Easter to Data, referencing a certain reborn Starfleet Vulcan from a previous Enterprise into the bargain. Kudos to the writers for getting that one in.

Riker is totally bemused by the whole situation but is kept on his toes by some "random neutrino surges" emanating from the border but they might have just been caused by some errant children messing around with the controls in deflector control looking for chocolate. Things get worse when one of the children manages to launch themselves in an escape pod towards the Neutral Zone during the Easter Egg hunt forcing the Romulans to show their hand - they are monitoring activity and threaten to destroy the Enterprise before it can cross into their space. Picard manages to swiftly diffuse the situation and offers the Romulan commander one of the eggs as a gift - a peace offering from the Enterprise at this time of the Earth calendar. Confused - nearly as much as Data - the Romulans accept and retreat back to their side of the Neutral Zone however their next encounter will not be as pleasant; that is assured.

Tensions aside, Troi assures Picard that the hunt is over, at least for this year. Picard suggests that the egg hunt, while good, has forgotten the true meaning of Easter - something that was lost as far back as the 21st Century and perhaps is best remembered. A sobering thought only enlightened by the apparent love that the children have for the captain Riker suggests that he might stage a "Captain Picard Day" in the near future. Just as Picard is about to give the command to get the ship away from the Neutral Zone, the turbolift doors open and Worf appears dressed as the Easter bunny - it appears Troi did convince him to take part after all. "Mr Worf," comments the captain, "you are not a funny bunny."

Cue shot of the Enterprise going to warp and run titles....

Ok - I guess this little tale tells us all we need to know why Star Trek, for over 700 episodes, pretty much avoided the seasonal special (take note Star Wars and Doctor Who). Just because you're on at Christmas doesn't mean everyone needs to start walking around in eight foot of snow or wondering if they'll see Santa. Personally I just can't see it happening as well as being able to keep it all canon and in character. Ok, ok, I'm sure Star Trek fans are probably screaming at their phones, tablets, laptops and monitors now to remind me of the single exception to that Golden Rule. 

By network design the second season episode Catspaw from The Original Series, which had a distinct witchcraft theme to it, was broadcast on 27th October 1967. While not earth-shattering as a story it still holds the distinction to this day of being the only "themed" Star Trek episode ever made (by accident). We get rolling fog, three witches, black cats, dungeons, sorcery of the small-metallic spaceship kind and a couple of aliens to boot. All the makings of the perfect October 31st chiller. But why did we never get anything else? What's stopped Star Trek from ever repeating such an instance since 1967?

Actually, before we look at that, some of you may also have forgotten there was one other seasonal incident in Star Trek's illustrious past. While not an episode with a theme on a set day, it was once again a matter of illusion (as with Catspaw) but exceptionally real to those who are within it. If you haven't worked it out already, I'm talking about the Christmas scene in Picard's faux Nexus future from Star Trek: Generations. While it's the last thing I would have thought Picard would ever imagine, Christmas has an even more unique place in Star Trek history as it gets thrice the screen time even if the it's within Data's holodeck program in Devil's Due as part of the Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol. Oh - and Q2 turns Voyager into a Christmas bauble to hide from Q in Death Wish.

While they may not be seen in The Next Generation, the fourth season episode, Data's Day makes note that the android lieutenant commander is recording his log during the festivities of Divali. The only mention of any Earth non-Christian festival during the entire run of Star Trek - that means any series. That always shocks me because there are so many hours of Star Trek available but yet events that we would be familiar with are not even given a mention. Considering how it's supposed to be a multicultural series why is this the only non-Christian event that gets that lone mention?! The fictional Federation Day even manages more airtime  although the mention is during a poker game on the Enterprise-D (The Outcast).

Image from Memory Alpha

Now this might all be because the human race has put aside such differences by the 23rd Century in order to better humanity as Kirk and later Picard are so keen to point out (see Encounter at Farpoint for Jean-Luc vs Q on this one). Their removal from the equation not only as story vehicles but also as ways in which to theme episodes to specific times of the year in the 20th and 21st Centuries does seem odd though. We would expect some kinds of variations amongst the crew to display their cultures. Visually we do get this perhaps best from Uhura's African style clothing and jewellery in the original series or Chakotay's heritage in Voyager. I suspect a big thing is that by ignoring occasions which are more commercial  there is no need to try and explain how we moved away from consumerism to better ourselves as a species (Star Trek First Contact). , We are even reminded by Roddenberry himself that Star Trek is an exploration of humanity and in particular this is done through the exploration of other cultures and the brilliant stories that the crews are involved in. Surely theming episodes would cheapen the franchise and horrifically damage the ethos and foundations upon which Star Trek was built on in the 1960's. I was surprised to find that the recent Star Trek novel The Weight of Worlds mentions a shipboard celebration of all the cultures and differences of the crew - passing reference allows us to see the divergence but it is accepted and taken more as a part of everyday life rather than something that marks them out against someone else.

So if we're not seeing festivals and Earth-centric celebrations, what about the other cultures we meet along the way? Each of the sequel series The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager, all explore religious cultural concepts post-Roddenberry (very noticable). Series five through seven of The Next Generation allowed viewers to investigate the Klingon religion - before that point we had really only talked about their warrior lifestyle notably in Sins of the Father, Reunion and Redemption. Episodes such as Ethics, Birthright and Rightful Heir meant that their beliefs were put to the test through the character of Worf. He becomes The Next Generation's portal into religion and culture. Each series following also has an individual who provides that insight but yet they are still for the most part devoid of any cultural events or points of significance. However this is until virtually the end of The Next Generation when we do get to experience the Kot'baval festival in the seventh season installment Firstborn. Notice the fact that we're only seeing this kind of episode post-Roddenberry. We know from the writers that delving deeply into cultures was something that got skated over in the earlier years of The Next Generation.

Deep Space Nine uses Major Kira as the primary route into the Bajoran culture and religion - full of factions, warring alien beings, orbs, Kais and Emissaries, this is probably the most deeply dissected religion of any Star Trek series. Starfleet becomes much more it's own culture here and the opposition to this belief system which is intrinsic to the Bajoran-sized way of life. It's seen for the whole seven years in minutiae through levels of the holy orders as well as the main characters and is an essential part to the overall story arc - but once again any mention of Earth's religions are more noticeably absent through the fact that so much time and space is allocated to the Bajoran belief system. Once more there's not a suggestion of aligning anything to do with an Earth-based occasion to what's happening on the station neither by our calendar or through the one our characters are living by in the 24th Century. Thanksgiving got a mention as part of Eddington's retorts to Sisko in Blaze of Glory but while it gets a throwaway line we never get to see what the station does on these occasions - neither did we see it on Kirk's ship when it was talked about during Charlie X.

I'm being slightly unfair though as we got to see events from the Bajoran calendar with two occasions coming strongly to mind. Firstly there's Fascination in season three with the Gratitude Festival and the season six finale The Tears of the Prophets there's the Gratitude Festival again! These guys have a lot to be grateful for apparently as it's the only festival we seem to get to know about (unless I'm mistaken). Once again though it's never compared to any Earth-centric community events even when this would seem like the perfect occasion. But let's move swiftly on to Voyager before the Prophets make their presence known.

Individual culture and religion were not the driving force in the Delta Quadrant that they were on Deep Space Nine and so the absence any festivities was less evident. Probably the imminent threats of the Kazon, the Vidiians, Species 8472, the Hirogen and the Borg were significantly higher on their priorities list than celebrating Christmas for instance or St George's Day. The religious angle was really Chakotay's corner with splatterings of Klingon and Vulcan culture for added flavourings on occasion. The most prominent of the former being the Day of Honor which B'Elanna hoped to celebrate during her time on Voyager. 

When he wasn't making moves on Seven of Nine in later years, there was always some room for a bit of spiritual guidance but again this seemed to be a lifestyle where his beliefs had no festive occasions and was more about personal enlightenment. This wasn't something that really hooked me in Voyager as it seemed a bit drippy in comparison to the more complex and thought out concepts that pervaded Deep Space Nine. What really hammered home the lack of substance was the episode Tattoo which effectively said that his whole spiritual belief system was a creation of an alien race and he spends the second season story tracing parallels between the sky spirits of his people and the creatures he finds hiding in caves. While not religion per-se it is the closest thing we get to exploring an Earthbased belief system but not a festive moment in sight. Even the Vulcans managed a bit of pon-farr every seven years! 

Janeway's ancestor, Shannon O'Donnell would be the candidate to bring true Earth events to the stars with the Millennium Gate in 11:59. This would almost be a "themed" episode  because it was designed to be Star Trek's turn in regards to the New Year and the approaching year 2000. One minor point - it was first aired in May 1999 so just a few months off being event relevant. But that's not all for the lost starship; it's in the final flings of Voyager's final year (Homestead) that First Contact Day gets a mention where Neelix and Naomi Wildman are planning to celebrate the event. While it's another tick it's also a fictional one which means in our reality it might not even count!

So what does all this mean? Star Trek is in no way ignoring its Earth heritage but in another sense it just gives a tip of the hat every so often to keep us grounded while making sure that the unknown and the unexplored are kept at the forefront of the series. Star Trek was not about the obvious; if we wanted to be able to join the dots from A to B and to C we'd be watching another series on another channel. Providing a seasonal installment or linking to a set event in our real world would have taken something away from the imaginative nature of the series. Star Trek has had its fair share of weird moments but stretching to this would have been too much.

Being blatant is not Star Trek's thing and a certain JJ Abrams could do with learning from that - to do a story around terrorism you don't need to be on Earth blowing things up. So will we ever see an event that isn't a birth, marriage or death on a Star Trek series and not just a wonderful passing mention that it's happening? For their sake I hope not. The fact that they are so obviously absent works well to remind us that they are a part of our world today and yet could well be no longer a part of our world in this fictional imagining of our future because we are one planet but then my question from that is whether that's actually the right thing to do? Is that not almost dictatorial and removing something of everyone's individuality if we are not provided with the chance to explore our own beliefs and celebrate occasions that we mark as special? Perhaps accidental alignment, which is what happened with Catspaw and the original series is nice to have as a one off never to be repeated (like McCoy's aside in Journey to Babel). 

Ok so that's a bit of a rant on the missed opportunities of festivals within the cultures of the characters we meet along the way, but let's take it from another angle. Where in Star Trek have there been occasions that episodes could have been placed at seasonal times of the year and thereby emphasising their content. While Generations openly flouted Christmas, Catspaw only represents Halloween because of how it was placed in TV schedules. If it had been shown in March then no one would have batted an eyelid. So, what episodes could have been moved or timed to coincide with annual events? I have a few suggestions which could help out networks in future years...

Father's Day 
The Icarus Factor - lashings of parental conflict and a nice rosy resolution at the end. Other suitable fathers day episodes might include Brothers, New Ground, Deep Space Nine's Doctor Bashir, I Presume or maybe Voyager's Lifeline. 

Easter 
What better than a good resurrection story so how about the Mirror universe tale of the same name or perhaps Ascension for Easter Sunday? Always good to have some kind of story of return on this occasion.  I might even suggest The Next Generation's Transfigurations for its concepts of transcending to another level of existence. 

Christmas 
What could be more suitable to gather round on the 25th December and watch Kahless return (also might be good to use this at Easter). Star Trek: Generations of course would be another one to add to your imaginary network schedule.

Valentine's Day
Fascination, His Way or You Are Cordially Invited from Deep Space Nine would fulfil all your romantic desires on the space station while you might also think about Data's foray into love with In Theory, someone to watch over me 

Mother's Day 
Interface - also a rare Geordi family story and begrudgingly anything with Lwaxana Troi 

Halloween 
Catspaw, Deep Space Nine's The Storyteller with its swiryl cloud creature or for something truly creepy Genesis or Sub Rosa from The Next Generation. Strange New Worlds from Enterprise would fit the bill with creepy caves and thunderous storms. Even Empok Nor might fit the bill for an edge-of-seat experience.

Independence Day 
Sacrifice of Angels with its retaking of the station or the return of USS Voyager to her crew in Basics, Part II would certainly generate some patriotic spirit. Would I be wrong to also offer up the Die Hard-esque Starship Mine for that hero feeling? 

So there are many examples that could have made it into the category with just a bit of clever schedule trickery but alas we'll never get to know just what seeing these linked to a specific date would have made on our though ts around that installment. I found it very difficult to find anything suitable from Enterprise except for the one potential Halloween episode. 

Do I have a final point to all this though? Well yes; besides have a great Easter and thanks to all of you who have sat and read my blog since November, it goes to show that there's something to see within every episode of Star Trek and we don't have to have it wrapped up in some chintzy one-off. Gene's vision has run true through the last 40-odd years and even JJ seems to have retained that thought.  Star Trek has remained exploratory and not sold out for the sake of a cheap laugh. It's a show that hasn't relied on gimmicks and seasonal episodes to examine religion, culture and everything in between or surrounding it. The exploration of humanity is evident perhaps in the way in which the writers have avoided the obvious. I for one am quite glad that we don't have to endure a seasonal special but Catspaw and Picard's Christmas tree do raise a smile. 

For those who want to see a deeper meaning it is there. The absence of these cultural differences and the very need to set an episode for airing on a certain day does more than ensure it gets a few more showings - it demonstrates that trek truly. Is multicultural within its fictional universe and for those watching. It's accessible to all and welcomes all to enjoy it. At points here I have been a little tongue-in-cheek heel and perhaps that's the seasonal spirit but maybe the final thought should be this - don't expect to see Janeway or Picard donning a Santa hat and breaking out the eggnog just yet. If they do, let's hope that it's just another alternative universe we haven't visited yet.

Have a great Easter break and see you all soon.

Bringing Star Trek Into Darkness?

"Your commanders have committed a crime I cannot forgive. None of you are safe…have I got your attention now?"

The more I see of this film the more I get concerned. There are some great soundbytes, amazing visuals, a stellar cast and lots of action and explosions all round. All the great signs of a film which will undoubtedly become one of 2013's biggest blockbusters. Yet more and more I'm inclined to think of it as being a great sci-fi film rather than a fantastic addition to the Star Trek universe(s). 

March 21st 2013 has given us a new poster for the 3D version of STID and a two minute trailer. If the previous minutes of footage we received were Kirk's teaser this is firmly in Harrison territory from the first second. So what's new? At first you'd be forgiven for thinking that this might t be a rehash of all that has come before. Harrison rumbles that our world isn't safe once more, we see a glimpse of 23rd Century London and then the bomb go off. Looks like Harrison isn't one afraid to get his hands dirty and this really could be a one on one, face to face grudge match from the very start. Cue Paramount mountain and Bad Robot logo; we're going in for some more theories.

We've got our first look at Admiral Marcus as senior Starfleet officers meet to discuss the attack on London perpetrated by - one of their own TOP agents - Harrison of course. Ok, so this means he's an officer but not a starship captain. Early version of Section 31 possible here? Was Harrison an undercover agent (on Qo'noS?) Likely to be too much to ask but hey, we can dream for some Prime Universe continuity can't we?! I also sadly ended up humming Bruce Willis' Secret Agent Man whenever he appeared in the rest of the trailer because of this. For that I apologise.

IN OUR DARKEST HOUR...

Harrison chooses this time to attack in his little ship with big guns, providing Kirk with a moment to play the hero and rush to the aid of his Starfleet colleagues in need. Clearly this is all important as to why Kirk chooses to go after Harrison as he's there when carnage commences. I would theorise that the flag folding scene we get here once more is for either someone killed in this incident. Pike or Marcus would be the likely casualties; although the former more so as it would provide more logic to Kirk's desire to go after the fugitive agent. It also works with the dialogue we get between Marcus and the captain:

Kirk: I request permission to go after him.
Marcus: Starfleet is not about vendettas Kirk.
Kirk: Maybe it should be.

There's a lot more of Carol Marcus seen here in a very literal sense and I got that uneasy feeling of whether this is one of those images that will be associated with this film over anything else and repeatedly. A shame if they need to sell it on sex but that's a sign of the times once again. However, I am reminded that the original series wasn't adverse to the odd William Ware Theiss creation! I hope Alice Eve's acting in STID means she's remembered for more than this one shot although the news that Kirk beds two cat-women doesn't help the overall cause. Carol does however goet some more trailer time here, apparently watching Harrison kick Kirk into the ground and also facing Harrison accompanied by Doctor McCoy (above).

WHEN OUR LEADERS HAVE FALLEN...

The Klingon home world of Qo'noS is explored some more with manly posturing from Harrison  (above) and the Enterprise crew going into action with phasers drawn as well as piloting that ship we saw in the previous "Kirk teaser". I am now very convinced that it WILL fit and that it DOES qualify. Nicely this does suggest that the camaraderie that we were used to in the Prime Universe has been retained and there's a cheeky spark between them - McCoy manages to retain his advisor role that we were so familiar with when he was part of the original Big Three.

How much time is going to be spent with the as-yet unseen Klingons is a question I would raise from this two minute tempter as they've been overlooked until this point. Hopefully their role will be significantly more than they got in '09. Is this the place where we get to see Kirk and crew out-manned and outgunned by Harrison and April's gatling gun as Uhura states near the trailer's end? Is the rogue Starfleet agent allied with the classic foe? Is this mission linked back to some sort of mission that April, and first officer Marcus and that era's Enterprise participated in? I'm running mad with the theories again aren't I...calm down....One thing though; this is certainly a darker, grittier and less welcoming(?) home world of the Klingon people than we've experienced in TNG. It might even be less hospitable than the dilithium mines of Rura Penthe.

There's some words of warning from McCoy wondering if Kirk really is going after Harrison (now I'm really leaning on the vengeance for Pike's death theory) and Sulu gets to repeat his "...we gotta do it now" line again from the "Kirk teaser" but if you're looking for Scotty or Chekov here you'll be disappointed. Talking of Sulu in the scene where Kirk is talking to McCoy in the shuttlebay, the craft sitting just behind them is named Takay. Now the homage rumours are that it's for George Takei but more concrete thoughts are that it's for a surfer friend of JJ called Takayama who died last year. Ok, back to Chekov after that mini-interlude - the Russian ensign is completely missing from the Harrison trailer and Scotty can be seen in a blink-and-miss fight when John-boy goes into one-man army mode in the still here - just see if you can spot him in the background. Just goes to show that this film is much more focused towards the big three and unfortunately for the good physician it seems that he's been abruptly replaced by Uhura as you can see from the latest poster displayed here.

"I have no idea what I am supposed to do. I only know what I can do." - James T Kirk

Kirk is very much looking to make Harrison "...answer for what (he) did..." but that can only spell trouble and even more mayhem and destruction. Whether it's all part of the Starfleet agent's plan to get captured on Qo'noS and returned to Earth on the Enterprise remains to be uncovered but at the rate they're pumping out trailers we should be able to stick the whole film together by the end of next month. What leaves you questioning the film though is exactly what Harrison is accusing Kirk of not knowing about?  What has he done? Was capturing Harrison a mistake? I'm going to say a big yes because he gets a proper pummelling and as we know, Harrison is better at everything which means it was a super-pummelling of galactic proportions. What is it with Cumberbatch's voice - it's mega-English and also really echoey. It's very sinister and really gives me a chill when I hear it. This guy could become one of the great villains of Star Trek overnight if the film does him anywhere near as much justice as the trailers have.

THEY HAVE ONE CHANCE...

When the airborne fight sequence between Harrison and Spock takes place is anyone's guess but it would seem to link in to the oft-seen building jump and it's on some kind of mobile platform which will leave effects and fight fans dribbling. It looks like this will also include Uhura as early teaser shots included her at this point in uniform. Again Cumberbatch's rogue agent is certainly laying some serious poundings onto the crew and this time the Vulcan XO is taking the brunt - is there anyone who he isn't going to cause injury to?

What this is all leading up to is a blow by blow big set piece of the iconic Enterprise swan-diving into the atmosphere while losing hull plating before (and I'm assuming it's the same ship but I might be wrong) seeing her plough into the San Francisco bay. We got a nice shot of her earlier in the trailer as well as a warp-shot but the last 15 seconds is all about what could be THE segment of the movie as the starship barrels into the city causing some serious collateral damage. How they're going to bring the ship out of that is beyond my thoughts at the moment and we don't have that long left before we can actually find out how it all comes together! One consideration is that we'll have to make do with a new ship for 2016 or they'll bring back April's decommissioned vessel mentioned in Countdown to Darkness and mentioned on my last STID blog.

...TO SAVE US ALL

The other clever bit about the trailer is the hidden url behind Carol Marcus when Kirk is weighing up the odds. For those of you who want it, here's where it is (and thanks to +Justin Chung for pointing this one out on the G+ Star Trek Community). Very cleverly hidden and the first time I've heard anything like this being done. Where it takes you is to the new 3D poster as featured here but more on that in a second. Those clever folks at Paramount/Bad Robot certainly are  trying a lot of new stuff out on the promo trail for this film - if only the app would TAKE A PICTURE and register it then we'd all be happy - yes, it still isn't working on my S3. Wonder how they'll top this or that moving advert?

 "I will walk over your cold corpses..." - John Harrison

Anyway - the poster. I liked the Starfleet emblem/Harrison teaser poster; the Enterprise in the drink was really different but why oh why are we going for the Bad Boys-esque guns and posing routine here? That's what makes me grumble. Just when you can see STID giving some respect towards the franchise that inspired it we get a very drab and average poster that effectively says "Action Movie in 3D". I've seen a lot of murmurs and general dissatisfaction over the film and even I have said a few things less than favourable but we're all still judging this on a series of trailers. That can't be right. It might be a damn good film and all of fandom is sitting in judgement before it's even premiered. It deserves at the very least a full watch through and then we can make a decision. So far it looks brilliant and this trailer has added more questions, a few answers and a smidgen of grandiose into the proceedings. I'm going to hold off digging the franchise a grave yet. I think we might even be surprised. I enjoyed 2009's offering and while it was very different we must remember that it is an interpretation and no, it probably isn't canon because of the whole universe thing but maybe that just doesn't matter. Let's sit back and be entertained. It's a story about family and I would suggest a story about Kirk coming to some sort of peace with himself. I hope it's an epic journey that Roddenberry would be proud of.

"This could just be the beginning" - James T Kirk

As an aside from this, I finally got round to watching Trek Nation which had been residing on the Sky hard-drive for a couple of months and there's an interesting piece where JJ gets shown footage of Roddenberry, by his son, Eugene Jr, hoping that someone does make a better version of Star Trek than he did and that it focuses on the first meetings of his now-legendary characters from The Original Series. It changed my thoughts on the Abrams universe that maybe it's time to accept that this is Star Trek for a new generation; it's a re-imagining and perhaps deserves just as much a place in the history of the franchise as every other interpretation. Sure there are bound to be a few missteps but it needed a kick and probably we're all too scared to admit that the whole universe needed a rethink. The trailers are there for a reason - they need to excite and intrigue and given the fact we've donated a massive chunk of the internet to it over the last few months I reckon he can probably tick that off as a success. We're all talking about it in Trekdom aren't we?

"I watched you murder innocent men and women. 

I will make you answer for what you did." - James T Kirk

After all, we accept Voyager and Enterprise which Gene was never involved with and that's exactly the same here except that JJ Abrams has gone back and done a bit of fiddling with the timeline. Who are we to decide whether or not Star Trek should be reinvigorated for a new generation? Did we tell Berman, Piller and Taylor how to run Voyager or did we see how it evolved? Did we turn it off after two or four hours? Don't think so and the same is true here. This is only the second of JJ's attempts at bringing Trek back and in a big screen format. He knows what gets bums on seats (said that before!) and is trying to keep the fans happy too. 

Here's another thought for you - for a film and series that's supposed to be about journeying into the stars and exploring the final frontier these two films have been surprisingly Earth-centric - maybe this is one of those reasons why we're not getting that Trek vibe. There's a little on Qo'noS and that red planet but the chunk of the stuff here is all seen on our homeworld. Maybe the third one will go where no man (or no one of course) has gone before and give us something truly new and different. We've had Klingons, Romulans and bad Starfleet officers - maybe Reboot Trek 3 could be JJ's big chance to do something utterly new and unique that makes this standout and extra-memorable? The unknown just hasn't been seen and I've only just really realised that that's the case! Action and adventure is all well and good for the audience but we can get that from any movie can't we? Star Trek was about pushing the boundaries of storytelling and imagination not explosions and ray guns and who shoots first (Roddenberry said something along these lines in a 1986 interview that was included in the 25th Anniversary special). Creating a story set on Earth for the majority won't keep fans attentions. Yes it's good to see Trek taking on stories of "modern day" themes such as terrorism but it was about how they were portrayed through clever writing and alien characters while the Enterprise explored and not slam-obvious in-the-face on Earth - is this a sign of the decent into very 1,2,3 storytelling by numbers rather than something that will provoke and intrigue that we got for a lot of those 700 TV episodes and 10 films?

A difficult job, a lot to ask and a long time to go. For now Abrams needs a decent return at the box office from Star Trek Into Darkness and if that happens I think he might even deserve a "well done" from us all. So, JJ - what's the plans for 2016 if all goes well in May???

Well done if you're reading this...but what's that just below....

 It's a blog Easter Egg! (well, I got inspired by JJ and STID....)

So I got some news from Diamond Select the other day - they're releasing a range based on the Classic Mirror Universe! Great news and if you're reading this I suspect you've found the additional section in my Star Trek Into Darkness blog (OK, it's not that well hidden).

Here's the press release and some images just to whet the appetite. Of course, when you're using the restickered ISS Enterprise you'll have to remember to fly it from right to left because it's Mirror....

Fans of Star Trek and Minimates alike have been anxiously awaiting the release of the USS Enterprise in Minimate Vehicle form, and the stylized starship is only a few short months away from being in stores. Now, Diamond Select Toys and Art Asylum are happy to announce a new Minimates Starship that's exclusively at Entertainment Earth!

From the classic Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," it's the I.S.S. Enterprise! In a mirror universe, Captain Kirk and his crew are bloodthirsty representatives of a cruel civilization. This exclusive version of the Minimate Enterprise includes the distinctive Terran Empire markings and comes with Kirk in his sleeveless gold tunic! The I.S.S. Enterprise's engineering section opens up to reveal a Jefferies Tube, and the bridge opens up to reveal the removable command chair. Includes an adjustable display base!

The Mirror Enterprise reaches Earth in May -- pre-order today!

Got to say Mirror Kirk looks pretty good. Also worth looking out for the other eight figures that are planned to be released in May/June, tying in to Enterprise, films, TNG and DS9 with Archer, a Xindi, Kirk and Khaaaaaaaan, movie Picard and the Borg Queen, Sisko and a Jem'Hadar. In the UK they look to be selling for around £7.99 per pair. For once, I'm sorely tempted....

Images from Star Trek Into Darkness trailer from trekmovie.com

Images of Minimates Mirror Universe toys courtesy of diamondselecttoys 

Star Trek Into Darkness poster from hidden url on trailer!