Star Trek Continues: “Pilgrim of Eternity” (2014) Review:

Star Trek Continues: “Pilgrim of Eternity” (2014) Review:

“Humanity never loved you…! Humanity feared you!”

- Captain Kirk to Apollo 

I love Star Trek: The Original Series. Even though the special effects are somewhat primitive, the stories and the crew are great. That’s why I’m excited about Star Trek Continues. An effort by producer/actor Vic Mignogna (Voice of Edward Elric on Full Metal Alchemist!) to complete the original five-year mission. Mignogna himself plays Captain Kirk, and looks just like a young William Shatner. Also, Grant Imahara of Mythbusters fame plays Sulu. Chris Doohan takes over his father’s role (James Doohan) and plays Scotty. And the first story we have from the series is the expertly told “Pilgrim of Eternity”, which stars Michael Forest returning as Apollo almost 50 years after “Who Mourns For Adonis?” in 1968!

The show starts off with Captain Kirk in the Wild West, but then Scotty says, “Computer, freeze program!” suggesting of course that Scotty helped create another Star Trek staple: The Holodeck. After this, the crew encounters a strange meteorite which houses the last of the Old Greek Gods. Apollo is beamed abroad, but he is old. He asks for asylum.

Despite this, his “god organ” discovered last time they met, that converts worship into power, seems to be reeking havoc on the ship and crew. Scotty is extremely distrustful of Apollo in particular, due to Apollo courting his old flame Caroline years ago. It takes no time at all for Apollo to have people entranced in the rec room, and demanding worship from the crew. He hurls Captain Kirk across the hall, and knocks out Uhura at her computer. Vic twists and contorts dramatically while levitating, and in Captain Kirk style…(above!) he denounces Apollo’s worship!

Eventually, Apollo apologizes and Captain Kirk takes his word as sincere. Apollo elects (With McCoy’s help!) to have surgery where he can have the organ safely removed. He still has his powers, but he’ll no longer need worship. In a final act of self-sacrifice he revives Uhura. Having thus demonstrated that he is beyond the need for worship, Kirk drops him off on a planet with equivalent 14th century technology, where he can help.

Along with this superbly acted story, there is one unique addition to the crew. Lt. McKenna comes abroad as the ship’s psychologist, who is instrumental in ascertaining that Apollo is telling the truth. Also, a funny scene occurs when she walks in the Captain’s quarters and is greeted by a shirtless Captain Kirk. Vic Mignogna also has nearly the exact same physique as the young Shatner…ladies.

Typically, I’m not a fan of fanmade Star Trek…except in books! Because it all looks so cheesy. And I count TAS as canon, so if each season was a year…the five-year mission was complete! But, these guys do a wonderful job! It’s so good, it doesn’t look fanmade. I can’t ignore a new series as good as this! Plus, it means the same guy who plays Captain Kirk also voiced another hero of mine…Ed Elric! So, he’s not only my favorite Alchemist, but also now, my favorite Captain! (With all due respect to Captain Picard.)

I’m really looking forward to the next episode of Star Trek Continues. It really shows what Star Trek: TOS could’ve been, if it had big studio support (In fact, we almost never got a 3rd season of Star Trek.) and more money for effects. And it tells great stories. The message of “Pilgrim of Eternity” is quite clear, and in line with Roddenberry’s vision: Self-sacrifice is better than worship. Spock (Todd Haberkorn) is sort of underplayed in this episode, but true to the show, he exchanges conclusive banter with Kirk and McCoy on the bridge. You can watch Star Trek Continues (and it’s second episode: “Lolani”!) for free online now!

Episodes link: http://www.startrekcontinues.com/episodes/#.UvkI-GJdXfg

Star Trek: Burden of Knowledge (2010) Review

 

From the people who wrote and drew Spock: Reflections comes Star Trek: Burden of Knowledge. It’s in the vein of episodes like The Cloud Minders and Friday’s Child, where they beam down to visit a planet and judge it’s willingness to join The Federation. The presence of Arex at the helm tells us that this is in the animated series, presumably during years 4-5 in the five year mission.

   The people of Mygdalus 3 are a highly medically advanced society, and yet they won’t let the crew see their medical techniques, claiming doctor-patient confidentiality. Eventually they are kidnapped and one of the crew (The essential expendable Lieutenant Thompson.) is injured during an attack when the Virtili people (read: Birdmen.) are angry about late medical supplies.

    The writer, Scott Tipton, does a good job mirroring Captain Kirk’s quirky cadence with thoughtful pauses, authoritative exclamations, and metered boldface lettering. But, there are some scene which don’t feel right. For example, after luring the Virtili guards into their cell, and finding a Vulcan neck-pinch ineffective, Kirk responds with a knock-out punch. Anyone with passing knowledge of Kirk Fu knows a neck-chop delivers the knock-out blow.

    Anyway, the two races work out their differences rather swiftly, and return a perfectly-healed Lieutenant Thompson. Kirk praises their peaceful resolution as a cornerstone of Federation values, but Spock is rightly suspicious. There is a subplot which reminds me of The Return of The Archons. This time though, it’s on a planet where people who act and communicate as one body via a “thoughtwork” seek Federation admission.

 When Kirk finds out they act as one body, he says “That’s why you speak so slowly. You’re…UNUSED to verbal communication.” It seems the writer slipped in a Kirk joke. Anyway, whether or not this necessitated a subplot is unclear; but the basic idea is that since their thoughts all work as one, they are unused to individuality, which is key for Federation admission.

     While these days, a “thoughtwork” makes me think of Facebook and the communalization effect of social media, Kirk has always been a champion of individuality even back in the 60s/70s retro-future as seen in battles with Nomad, Landru, and of course, Khan…though I think more Landru here. Anyway, Kirk rejects their proposal for admission and tells them to return when they are ready. There are no exploding computers. Another thing Tipton gets wrong. If there are evil computers, Kirk must make them explode.

    I suppose the point is that time has passed, and to demonstrate that Kirk will turn Federation applicants down if he suspects anything…but we know this. Kirk returns to Mygdalus 3 and uncovers a horrible secret. The healthy Lieutenant Thompson is a clone! All the healthy Mygdalians are clones! After a smashing battle scene where Kirk crashes a medical lab with 200 Thompsons, Kirk rejects Mygdalus 3 from the Federation and quips that Starfleet could use another 200 Lieutenant Thompsons.
 
I mean, I’m divided on how I feel about this graphic novel. Tipton works well with The Animated Series background, and the artwork is often so good the actors’ faces and voices jumped out at me. The way Fredrica Manfredi draws a subtle Captain’s smirk or opens Kirk’s mouth in a moment of revelation is spot-on. It reminds me, at best, of an Animated Series movie, if one was ever made. Still, little moments feel out of place, and while the Animated Series is the perfect setting for weirder aliens, and silly humor…did we really need an entire subplot? And what happened to that planet? That’s the one wormhole in the entire book, but overall, I’ll give it a B!

Star Trek: The Animated Series Reaction

Star Trek: The Animated Series Reaction:

“How come we always end up like this?”

                               

                 - Kirk to Spock after being captured by the natives in “Bem”.           

                                                    

The animated series of Star Trek ran from ‘73-‘74, and had a great Scooby-Doo-like animation style. The animation in this case is meant to explore possibilities that wouldn’t have been possible in the old show. As such, we revisit some characters and locales like Harry Mudd, The Recreation Planet, and Vulcan, which now has towering spires in the desert, and doesn’t just look like California.
   
Also, I enjoyed some of the alien creatures, though many exist to re-hash old themes in the older show. The point of The Ambergris Element is re-hashed from The Cloud Minders. The point of The Survivor is pretty much the same as The Man Trap. But, the true reason you’ll want to watch this series (Apart from seeing the conclusion to the original 5-year-mission.) is the animation itself, which allows the crew to visit strange new worlds.

    There's plenty of far space episodes, an episode on Vulcan, (“Yesteryear”) a "we're all tiny" episode (“The Terratin Incident”) and an underwater episode. The first episode “Beyond The Farthest Star” is particularly effective in showing a vast alien civilization in outer space with the animation. It was written by sci-fi author Samuel Peeples. Other returning writers include D.C. Fontana, David Gerrold, and even in a first, Walter Koenig (Chekov; who wrote a great episode “The Infinite Vulcan”.) The series itself even adds to canon. It’s here in the fantastic episode “Bem” (The crew deals with an alien who can disassemble his body!) that we first learn Captain Kirk’s middle name is Tiberius.

    Despite the fact that the animation is used to good effect and adds incredibly to the “alien” environments of the series, the medium itself has a few pitfalls. For example, it has re-used shots, all the voice actors sound tired, (But, it is the original actors! Legend has it Shatner spoke his lines into a tape recorder while on vacation.) Scotty provides his best impressions for all the other aliens they meet…he even created Lieutenant Arex, the alien navigation officer. But, it is all noticeably James Doohan.

   What I’m saying is, this series deserves another look. It was, in a sense, the first successful re-boot of the classic Star Trek. Which I might add, was able to re-visit episodes, keep the morality of the show, and add to canon! And the animation is something to look at! (It’s Rotoscope, I think. Anyway, it reminds me of Scooby-Doo.) Look, the notion that somehow the animated series isn’t canon is ridiculous. J.J. Abrahms, this is how you re-boot. It has the original actors, some original writers, preserves the morality tale format, and uses the “effects” to explore new alien possibilities, not re-tread old ground. Without the  animated series, we’d have no Star Trek movies, and without those first movies, no Next Generation!

    If you get a chance, you should watch Star Trek: The Animated Series. You can watch all 22 episodes for free on StarTrek.com, or do what I did and watch it on Netflix. After Into Darkness left a bitter taste in my mouth, it was good to see a re-boot that could be faithful to the original series. And it manages to be funny, and adventurous and add to canon! Give it a watch, and visit some alien worlds that finally don’t look like California!  

                                      ("Yesteryear"; Spock neck-pinches a Lamancha on Vulcan.)

(The series adds Arex and M'ress, alien officers.)

                 ("Beyond The Farthest  Star"; The "force-field belt" never caught on in later Trek series.)

Vulcan Phrases and Sources

Long ago, I tried to put together a Vulcan phrasebook, because I like Spock, and I had (at the time.) little desire to learn Klingon. Though when I do imagine Klingon spoken, I imagine Commander Kruge instead of Worf. Weird, right? Kruge is something of a poet, I guess. He nailed the Klingon! And he's Christopher Lloyd! Anyway, without further ado, here's my little phrasebook, complete with cited sources.

Ben val navun - Grant us success. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

Dif-tor heh smusma - live long and prosper. (formal greeting/farewell. Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Sochya eh dif - Peace and long life.(greeting or reply to the "live long and prosper" greeting/farewell.) (Vulcan Language Guide)

Romhalan - Farewell. (informal) (starbase11.de)

Tsi-veh - one particular person - that one. (Vulcan Language Guide)

Tonk’peh - hello, hi, greetings. (Vulcan Language Guide)

Kol-Ut-Shan (VOY) - Concept of  Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.
  “IDIC” in Federation English; first introduced as “iddick” in TOS; Vulcan religion.)

Kash-nohv -Mind-meld/mindmeld (Vulcan Language Guide)

Lasek! - Thanks! (informal)

Nemaiyo - “Thank you!” - a term of appreciation. (source: Vulcan Language Guide, Starfleet Training Manual, copyright 1977; Vulcan Dictionary, 1992 by Bill Richmond)

Ni'droi'ik nar-tor -“I am sorry.” literally translated means "asking forgiveness.” (korsaya.org)

Ong -“and” e.g. Spockong Kirkong (Spock and Kirk); Spock kreylaong plomikong spacura. (Spock eats Vulcan biscuits and plomik soup.)

Ora - “Honourable what?” Phrase meaning “what is this regarding?” [korsaya.org]

Translated Sayings (VLD& VLG)


  “Ozhika -- palik t'kau, ri shaht.”  “Logic (is the) beginning of wisdom, not (the) end.” (Spock in Star Trek VI: “The Undiscovered Country“)

 “Isha nash-veh Vuhlkansu - pontal na'sochya. English: “I too, am a Vulcan. Bred for peace.” (Spock in "The Savage Curtain" Star Trek: TOS Season 3 Episode 15)

 “Gishen worla ihk-banut.” English: “He's never what I expect.”  “Wakli ak'wikman - ot-lan?”English: “What surprises you, lieutenant?” “Ish-veh ni -- komihn.” English: “He’s so…human.” “Kling akhlami buhfik - Saavik-kam.” English: “Nobody’s perfect, Saavik.”

(Spock and Saavik regarding Captain Kirk, Star Trek II: “The Wrath of Khan”)

 If anyone can spare some time for a Klingon lesson, qapla! I'm up for it! Also, let me know if you find other sources of Vulcan language/culture. Star Trek Into Darkness does NOT count, so anything from there or future J.J. Abrahms properties I'll not be accepting! Star Trek 2009 I thought was okay. Next, I'll let you know some of my favorites from Star Trek: The Animated Series, and highlight some disability issues. I should probably review more disability movies too, but it's been a rough week! Dif-tor heh smusma, until then!