TREK REVIEW: Short Treks 2-4 & 2-5

THE GIRL WHO MADE THE STARS 

EPHRAIM AND DOT

After three live action vignettes, the second set of Short Treks presents a double bill of animated shorts, the first animated Star Trek episodes for forty-five years. It's surprising that the franchise hasn't explored the animated medium more often. After all, it's much easier to create alien life forms, spectacular ships and strange new worlds in cartoon form than live action. However, while Star Trek: The Animated Series has experienced a reassessment in recent years, it's long had a poor reputation, and this has likely put the blocks on animated Trek for years.

Now, however, Alex Kurtzman and his team are pushing the franchise back into the world of animation, with two new cartoon series planned: the comedy Star Trek: Lower Decks and an as-yet untitled Nickelodeon series. To whet our appetites are these two sweet mini-episodes, which show us how kid-friendly animated Trek can be done in the twenty-first century. Both rendered using computer-generated animation, “The Girl Who Made the Stars” and “Ephraim and Dot” are cute, straightforward little tales that, while clearly aimed at children, have something for grown-up fans of the Star Trek universe. Like the other Short Treks so far, they tie into elements of parent series Star Trek: Discovery.

“The Girl Who Made the Stars” gives us a glimpse of Michael Burnham's childhood, before the awful events that would tear apart her family. We see a very young Michael, here voiced by Kyrie McAlpin, scared of the dark and unable to sleep. She is consoled by her father Mike, portrayed by Kenric Green as he was in Discovery's flashbacks. He tells her the story of a little girl, living in Africa before even the stars were born, and how her bravery brought the stars the sky and saved her tribe and all of humanity from darkness. This is based on a real myth of the /Xam Abathwa, a San people of southern Africa, and was mentioned by Michael in Discovery's season two opener, “Brothers.”

It's good to see Star Trek exploring what will be lesser known cultures for much of its audience. The creation myth is embraced and retold in a visually striking and powerful way. It gives it a Star Trek twist, with an alien visitor giving the young pioneer the gift of the stars before returning to space in his ship (although where he's from if there aren't any stars yet is an intriguing question). The themes of courage, curiosity and the desire to explore and advance are core Trek values and it's good to see them illustrated in another way here. It's also nice to see some positive backstory for Michael, as well as an exploration of her ancestry (although the strong African influence on the episode is somewhat damaged by the visible lightening of the principle characters' skin compared to the live action actors).

Directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, who has worked as exec producer on much of Discovery and Short Treks so far, and written by Brandon Schultz, it's a rather beautiful episode, and the animation is stunning.

“Ephraim and Dot” is equally family-friendly but takes a very different route. It's a silly, slapstick sketch starring an alien tardigrade of the species seen in Discovery's first season, although made significantly cuter, and a DOT-7 maintenance robot of the type that's been glimpses affecting repairs on the series. It ties into Discovery by exploring more of the tardigrade's life cycle and its swimming through the mycelial network – the fungus-based hyperspace system that the USS Discovery uses. However, for the most part this episode riffs on classic Star Trek, to delightful effect.

The tardigrade doesn't get a name in the episode itself, but she is apparently called Ephraim. This was, reportedly, the name of the tardigrade character that at one point was considered for the bridge crew on Discovery, which would have been bizarre and wonderful. Both Ephraim and Dot have tons of character in spite of having no dialogue at all. Ephraim fins her way onto the Enterprise – rather beautifully rendered in animated style – and lays her eggs in its workings. Dot kicks Ephraim off the ship, leading her to pursue it, and her eggs, through years of Star Trek adventures.

We get glimpses of familiar and memorable Trek episodes and movies, or versions of them, even using original sound clips to accompany the new animation. For those following, the adventures we see are “Space Seed,” “The Naked Time,” “The Trouble With Tribbles,” “Who Mourns For Adonais?” “The Doomsday Machine,” “The Tholian Web,” “The Savage Curtain,” The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock. How the eggs manage to stay undiscovered for twenty years, through a ship-wide refit, is anyone's guess, but it's a wonderfully nostalgic run through of favourite moments from the early years of the franchise. There are some stylistic choices that mean the shots don't quite fit with the established events, but that's not really here nor there, although the error of the Enterprise's registration is a glaring one.

Watching Ephraim and Dot chase each other and scuffle is simple, silly entertainment, hardly the most taxing thing Trek has presented. Yet there's still some room for a message, with Dot coming to value the tardigrade's right to life. It's bookended by an information film presented in retro style, narrated by Kirk Thatcher, sounding at times a lot like Leonard Nimoy. Directed by Michael Giacchino, stepping beyond his role as composer, this is a slight but thoroughly enjoyable little story. Does this cutesified version of Star Trek count as canon? I honestly don't care. Sit the kids down and introduce them to Star Trek.

TREK REVIEW: Short Treks 2-1 & 2-2: "Q&A" and "The Trouble With Edward"

Ask a silly question...

The Short Treks format proved successful in its first run, with four short adventures that tied into Discovery. Of these, three were really very good, with only the opener “Runaway” seeming rather throwaway, and even that turned out to be surprisingly important for the resolution of Discovery's second season. The far future setting of “Calypso” laid hints for the finale of the second season and will doubtless tie in to the third, while “The Brightest Star” acted as a prequel to very important developments for Lt. Saru. Only the Harry Mudd episode “The Escape Artist” seem to be a completely standalone adventure, and even that may turn out to be more important later on.

Of course, it's not necessary to watch any of these in order to enjoy Discovery, which is just as well, since CBS has made them as difficult as possible to see for the majority of the world. Now a second run of Short Treks has kicked off, with two episodes released within a week of each other, the beginning of a very incoherent release schedule that will end with a sixth episode in January '20. Once again, it's impossible for anyone outside the US to watch any of these through legal means if they want to catch them before the next run of full Star Trek seasons begin.

So, gripe over. Yes, I've watched “Q&A” and “The Trouble With Edward.” No, it wasn't done legally. If you want to get upset about that, CBS, perhaps these positive reviews will help pay my debt.

The second run of Short Treks is going to be even more varied than the first, kicking off with two silly stories that link in with what we might call the greater Discovery universe. The third, out in November, is also set to feature Anson Mount as Captain Pike, who makes brief appearances in the first two. The fourth and fifth are said to be tied to Discovery in “interesting and unexpected ways” according to showrunner Alex Kurtzman. The final episode is to be a prequel to Picard, taking the Short Treks away from Discovery for the first time. We've also been told that some Short Treks are going to be animated, although whether this refers to some of the second run's instalments or planned episodes for a third series isn't certain.

So, nice mixed bag there. Starting with two fun, throwaway stories that tie in to the popular reimagined version of Pike's Enterprise would seem to be a great idea. Both “Q&A” and “The Trouble With Edward” are a lot of fun, with the first episode rather light-hearted and the second an all-out comedy. “Edward,” in particular, is an absurd episode that wouldn't stand up in an ongoing Trek adventure series, but might give us an idea of how the upcoming Lower Decks animated series will play.

Predictably, the more serious Trek fans hate them.

OK, let's look at “Q&A” first. This was a straightforward side story about the fresh-faced young Spock coming aboard the Enterprise and getting stuck in a turbolift with Number One. In there, he bombards his commanding officer with questions so as to pass the time until they decide to sort things out. It ends up with them singing the “Modern Major General” song by Gilbert and Sullivan, Which is exactly the sort of hilarity that two stuck-up Starfleet officers would think was ridiculous and should be kept between themselves. (Seriously, these are people who think opera is a good time and that jazz is risqué.) Some of the more, shall we say, devoted Trekkies have branded this a betrayal of Spock's character.

I mean, talk about missing the point. Back when he first appeared in “The Cage,” Spock's character was completely different. He was a laughing, smiling science officer who couldn't help shouting his head off on the bridge (“THE WOMEN!”). Writer Michael Chabon explicitly wrote this episode to explore Spock's character at this time, to see his more emotional younger self and explain why he later worked harder to suppress his feelings. In reality, it was because Roddenberry was able to keep one character, so ditched Number One and retooled Spock to take on her emotionless demeanour. In the fiction, we discover it was Number One's fault after all, telling Spock to keep “his freaky” hidden after their bonding session. For all the fans saying that this episode violates canon (and so what if it does?), you're missing the point. The episode is about explaining a contradiction that's already part of canon.

“Q&A” gives us Ethan Peck the chance to play a different side of Spock, but it's Rebecca Romijn who benefits most from this episode. She only had a few scenes who distinguish her version of Number One on Discovery, and here we get a chance to learn more about Una: a passionate character who, like Spock, has learnt to hide her feelings in order to be the sort of officer she believes she needs to be.

It's a light-hearted episode with a more serious message, and it's a refreshing change to have something this small scale in modern Trek. Also, Spock's barrage of questions contains some interesting moments, such as a suggestion that he believes in intelligent design. Still, it's his attack on the Prime Directive that hits hardest. “Not ethical but also illogical?” I find myself agreeing with Spock.

“The Trouble With Edward,” is, as the title suggests, a spin on the classic “The Trouble With Tribbles.” It provides us with, essentially, an origin story for the tribbles, not that that was ever a missing landmark of Trek continuity. What it really is, though, is Archer Trek. Finally! H. Jon Benjamin's voice is unmistakable, and it's great to have him in front of the camera for a change. Close your eyes and it's Sterling Archer or Bob Belcher half-heartedly justifying himself in the ready room.

Edward Larkin is an idiot, yes, albeit a brilliant one, and not the sort of person you expect to see on a Starfleet starship. The same story could be told more seriously, of a man who is brilliant in his field but hampered by poor social ability, rather like good old Reg Barclay on The Next Generation and Voyager. But that's not what this story is; no, this is a pure comedy, something rarely attempted in Trek and never as outrageously as this. Benjamin is pitch perfect in his role, awkward and petulant but pretty sympathetic. Rosa Salazar is equally good as the young Captain Lucero, infectiously optimistic until she has to deal with what it can really be like leading people you haven't chosen to work with.

So here we learn that the tribbles' rapid breeding is due not to natural evolution, but to genetic tinkering by Edward, who added some of his own DNA into the mix. It's ludicrous, yes, and flies in the face of what the franchise has already established about the tribbles – they were said to be prodigious breeders by Dr. Phlox in Enterprise, a hundred years earlier – but it's in keeping with the tone of the episode. As a one-off bit of nonsense, this works, and brilliantly. If you don't want to accept this as part of Trek canon, then fine, but that doesn't mean it's not a great little bit of entertainment. We're clearly not meant to take this seriously; there are shots of tribbles springing out of the fur of their parents, Gremlins-style. Just enjoy it and don't get het up about the “damage to canon” or anything else that simply isn't important.

But do you know what is important? Edward was right. Tribbles would be the perfect food source for a planet facing famine, especially his enhanced ones which seem to reproduce without any obvious food source of their own. Well done Lucero. If you'd just listened, the people of Pragine 63 could be enjoying tribble sandwiches right now, and delicious furry tribble cereal wouldn’t be confined to a post-credits gag.

“Q&A” and “The Trouble With Edward” give us the best idea of what a comedy Star Trek series would be like. I fully expect just as much fan ire when Lower Decks finally materialises.

You want tribbles? Because that's how you get tribbles!

Exciting Star Trek news! Short Treks and Lower Decks!

While Picard is the big news, there's plenty more Star Trek coming in the new year. Discovery is heading to season three, now over a thousand years in our future in the 32nd century. We don't know much, other than there's a new regular character called Book, played by David Ajala (Manchester Black on Supergirl), and that the Disco crew don't make it to safety on planet Terralysium. I;m looking forward to breaking away from the 23rd century and seeing a whole new era of the Trek universe.

However, for those who want to see more of the recognisable universe, Short Treks is back with six new episodes. The trailer above tells us something about the first three, which give us more time with the Discovery version of the original Enterprise crew. Looks like we'll get to see Spock's first day on the Enterprise - and yes, he's shouting his head off (altogether now - "THE WOMEN!") It's good that we get to see more of Rebecca Romijn's version of Number One as well, and any more time spent with Captain Pike is worth your time. Plus, a tribble episode, with Archer's H. Jon Benjamin of all people. Looks like I might get Archer Trek after all.

The remaining three episodes include a Picard introduction, and two animated episodes. Whether these tie into a particular series in uncertain, although they may be related to the upcoming animated series Lower Decks. This is reported as a series of half-hour episodes set on the USS Cerritos, a California-class starship - a new one for the franchise. We'll follow four ensigns who try to keep the ship running. Rutherford in particular sounds fun - a cyborg who's basically described as a shit Geordi la Forge (so, just like Geordi la Forge then).

Left to right are Tendi, a medical officer (a new alien species perhaps?), Rutherford, Beckett (further art shows her wielding a bat'leth) and nervous Boimler. Then we have the bridge crew (including a Caitian as chief medic, it appears). 90s favourite Jerry O'Connell's on the cast - haven't seen him on anything for a while.

It'll be interesting to have an out-and-out comedy in the Trek universe, but we've seen various series manage comedy well in the past (particularly DS9), and I have high hopes for this one. As yet, no more information on the other animated Trek series, the Nickolodeon-based adventure show aimed at kids, and it sounds like that's still very early in the planning stages.

Exciting Star Trek news! Picard trailer!

Now, how ruddy exciting is that?

Straight from SDCC is a whole raft of info on the new slate of Star Trek series coming out in the near future. At the forefront of every old school fan's mind is just how will Star Trek: Picard play out? With the first full trailer now available, I'm more excited than I have been in years about a Trek production - probably since the 2009 movie was announced. There's an thoughtful tone to the trailer, but it still offers plenty of action among the introspection. And while I want to see new things from new Trek, Picard and the post-Nemesis universe are elements of the franchise that are worth exploring.

Naturally, I want to dissect this trailer and analyse everything in the hopes of predicting its course. It's confirmed in dialogue that it's set around 2397, "almost two decades" since Data's sacrifice in Star Trek Nemesis, set in 2379. This, then, puts it around ten years after the destruction of Romulus and Remus in 2387, as seen in Star Trek (2009). Last we saw Picard, he was making the first steps towards a lasting peace with the Romulan Empire. Given that he was also close to Spock and involved in his attempts at Vulcan-Romulan reunification, the destruction of Romulus is naturally something that will be weighing heavily on his mind.

Beyond this, things are more mysterious. There are a number of Romulans in the trailer, so Picard still has some kind of relationship with the people. Much more surprising is the inclusion of brent Spiner as Data. Spiner has previously been very reluctant to take up the role again, particularly as he is getting older and would struggle to play an ageless android these days. Of course, the Marvel films have pushed the way forward for convincing de-ageing algorithms, so it's possible to have him take on the role realistically again. At the beginning, Data is in pieces, which is actually rather rude health considering he appeared to be vaporised in Nemesis. (On the other hand, it could be his "brother," B-4, whose body is used.)

The other surprise cast member is Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, which is actually something i was half-expecting (well, it's what I'd have done). Seven was a fascinating character, and the chance to see how she's developed over twenty years in the Alpha Quadrant is irresistible. Moreover, Picard may have an interesting relationship with her, given their history with the Borg. We even see a Borg cube, although this could, of course, be a flashback. There also appears to be a Borg body - possibly Hugh, who has been rumoured to be in the show.

The main new character appears to be the mysterious young woman played by Isa Briones. There's no clue to who she really is, other than she's about twenty, good at fighting, and trusts Picard. Still, appearances are deceptive. My money is on Lal, Data's daughter. She died after only a couple of weeks of life, but technology and research must have moved on in the last thirty years of Trek history. If they can rebuild Data, couldn't they rebuild her? Yet a Romulan character seems to think she's a threat, and it flashes directly to the Borg cube. I wonder if perhaps this suggests tension between technological and biological life?

Most importantly, as the recent poster reveals, Picard has a dog. His name is Number One, because of course it is.

TREK REVIEW: "The Escape Artist" (Short Treks 4)

CONTAINS SPOILERS

“The Escape Artist” rounds off a very mixed bag of mini-episodes that make up the first set of Short Treks. After a fun but wonky character piece with “Runaway,” an excellent sci-fi short with only tenuous links to the main series in “Calypso,” and a decent but unoriginal flashback in “The Brightest Star,” Short Treks explores one of the best received guest characters of Star Trek: Discovery.

Harry Mudd appeared in only two episodes of the original Star Trek, and one episode of the short-lived animated series, played in all three by Roger C. Carmel. In spite of this short tenure on the series, Mudd was the only recurring villain character in the original series (the Klingons Kang and Koloth joined him in returning for the animation). Returning, reimagined characters are the modern fashion, though. Discovery's first season recast Sarek, Captain Pike and the Enterprise's Number One are due to return in the imminent second season. However, these characters are significant elements of the franchise's backstory (with the exception of Number One, but her character is mysterious enough to intrigue and was originally intended as a major regular character).

Why Mudd? Why reimagine and recast a relatively minor villain, who was never much more than a nuisance to Kirk and the Enterprise crew? Why is Mudd popular enough, and well-enough remembered, to be brought back as a recurring villain for Discovery? Surely, it's because he's fun. Harry Mudd, the galactic rogue, captures like no other character the charm and silliness that made the original Trek so much fun, that was too often lost in later iterations of the franchise. As fans remembered the series as more serious than it ever really was, the daffier, more sitcom-esque elements were quietly forgotten.

Discovery, although not without humorous moments, is a very serious show, and bringing back Mudd injected a much-needed element of fun into the wartime adventure. Now played by Rainn Wilson, an actor best known for comedy, it would have been easy to portray him much like the charming, naughty crook of the original. However, this would have been a very uneasy fit for Star Trek: Discovery's bloody universe, and so the character was reworked. Wilson's Mudd is a darker character, a genuine threat whose rap sheet has expanded from petty theft and cons to include multiple attempts at murder. However, Wilson retains the roguish charm and humour of the character, and makes for a fine modern Mudd.

So far, Mudd has only appeared in two full-length episodes of Discovery, although his star turn in “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” helped that episode become easily the most enjoyable of Discovery's first season. Bringing Wilson back as Mudd for this last Short Trek is an obvious and effective idea, and Wilson not only carries this episode effortlessly but also directs it to great visual effect. “The Escape Artist,” written by Michael McMahan, turns out to be the most entertaining episode of not just Short Treks, but all of Discovery so far, combining humour, wit, peril and a visual style that set it above most episodes.

Finding Mudd in the clutches of a bounty hunter is hardly surprising given his activities, and it becomes clear that the crook has enemies across the galaxy. Handed over by a masked alien female (with a voice modulator that's a clear reference to the bounty hunter Boussh in Return of the Jedi, only this time with the gender disguise switched), Harry finds himself in the clutches of a vengeful Tellarite named Krit. This tusked mercenary (played by Harry Judge, who also portrayed the Tellarite admiral Gorch in the Discovery's main run) has two bones to pick with Mudd: not only did he sleep with his sister, he then absconded with a very valuable ceremonial cudgel. After reading through an ever-growing rap sheet that includes the charge of “penetrating a space whale,” he plans to hand the crook over to Starfleet for a reward.

Harry has escaped from tighter scrapes than this before, and he isn't going to give up just because of some Tellarite with a grudge. While trying such tactics and bargaining, begging and political maneuvering to convince Krit to let him loose, he recounts his previous escapes from the many beings who have previously captured him. We see Klingons, Orions and unnamed aliens capturing him, stringing him up and being subjected to his various attempts at renegotiation. It's all exactly what we'd expect Mudd to do. Most interesting is a brief tactic when he claims to be part of the resistance against the Federation, something that doesn't seem to really exist but casts light on the universe of Discovery. Following on from his verbal attacks on Starfleet in “Choose Your Pain,” it seems that Harry really does see himself as a heroic thorn in the side of the monolithic Federation, and while Krit doesn't buy it, he does show enough sympathy and interest to make it clear that there are plenty of people who don't like the Federation's way of doing things.

Of course, all this comes to nought, and Krit hands him over to the first Starfleet ship he can reach – which turns out to have half a dozen identical Harry Mudd's already in custody. The Mudd in Krit's custody is an android copy with a scanner-fooling skin, just like all of them, while the real Mudd comfortably slips off his feminine disguise back on his own ship, having received a bounty for himself. It's a genuinely clever, left-field twist, that works perfectly in a short, tightly constructed episode like this. What's more, it highlights the cleverness of Mudd, so we can really believe that he's gotten away with any number of crimes and escaped capture.

Writer McMahan is best known for his scripts for Rick and Morty, and it's no stretch to imagine Rick using a very similar gambit to evade capture himself. In fact, you could easily adapt this episode to work for the animated comedy. (Indeed, with that show's loose approach to continuity, a sudden acquisition of programmable androids would be easier to swallow. All we know about setting of “The Escape Artist” is that it must happen after “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad,” but it's tempting to think it's over ten years later, when Mudd has escaped from the android planet in “I, Mudd” and taken a few with him.) McMahan is now onboard to run the upcoming animated comedy series Star Trek: Lower Decks, and on the basis of this short, the series could really work. Indeed, I'd hope we have a return appearance from Harry Mudd in both Discovery and Lower Decks. With the franchise's overseers talking about various potential spin-off series, I have to wonder why they've chosen Mirror Georgiou as the best candidate for a miniseries, when Wilson's Mudd is clearly the best choice to shoulder his own show.

TREK REVIEW: "The Brightest Star" (Short Treks 3)

The Kelpien Hello

The third Short Trek is a well-worn but well told story that provides Lt. Saru - perhaps the standout character from the first season of Discovery, and certainly the most mysterious - with an origin story. It's an origin that treads familiar ground for Star Trek, and as such it feels very traditionally Trek, but at the same time, feels a little unoriginal.

During season one, Saru spoke profoundly of being from a world with a binary food-chain, where life was either predator or prey - and his people were the latter. What we see here doesn't quite fit with that, however. I expected to see them living in a state of fear from natural predation - as intimated by Saru's words and the novel Fear Itself, the deepest exploration of Saru's character so far. Instead we have a religious society, living in awe of a more advanced species called the Ba'ul, to whom they willingly sacrifice themselves. It's strangely comforting to see Star Trek present an old-fashioned pre-warp civilisation that blindly worships a false god. Saru's own father is the high priest, who expects the chosen sacrifices to feel honoured in their deaths and spouts religious cliches.

Saru, on the other hand, is uniquely gifted, seemingly more intelligent than his peers by a significant margin, to the point where he can tinker with a bit of detached Ba'ul technology and successfully send a message to the stars. Unlike the other Kelpiens (apparently so named because they farm kelp, seriously), Saru's isn't content to blindly walk to his death, and instead searches for answers among the stars.

Eventually, it's Philippa Georgiou who comes to his rescue - still a lieutenant, but still able to have persuaded Starfleet to bend the rules so that she could pick up a unique specimen in what clearly counts as a violation of the Prime Directive. Of course, this is 23rd century Starfleet, when the spirit of the non-interference directive was more important than the letter. This is an era when Kirk could overthrow a false god without so much as a reprimand, so it's perhaps not so surprising that Georgiou manages to intervene on Kaminar, even in such a tiny way. It's a far cry from the 24th century, when  in the comparable situation of the episode "Pen Pals," Picard honestly seemed to think that it was preferable to let a young girl and her entire society die rather than answer her call for help, just because they hadn't invented warp drive yet.

The episode raises more questions than it answers. Are the Ba'ul native to Kaminar? If so, why are the Kelpiens so much less andvanced? If not, then surely the Prime Directive wouldn't apply, and Starfleet would be free to intervene if requested? Are there more, natural predators that hunt the Kelpiens, or has everything been controlled for the benefit of the Ba'ul? If nothing else, at least we know why no more Kelpiens ever show up in Star Trek; as a pre-warp culture, they wouldn't be travelling among the stars.

As with all of Discovery, the episode a visual treat, and I particularly love the knife-life Ba'ul ship, hanging over the Kelpiens like the Sword of Damocles. And while the subject matter is well-explored, the fifteen-minute format means the story is tight and compact, all the better for a franchise that has a tendency to drag things out. It gives Doug Jones more well-deserved time in the spotlight, although he doesn't get to do a great deal that's new with Saru's character. Nonetheless, we see a side to him that deserves more exploration; a side of incredible bravery in spite of his innate fear, strong enough that he can not only go against his society's mores but abandon everything he knows for a better life.

We've been promised a visit to Saru's homeland in Discovery season two, making this episode something of a prologue to a full episode. Saru's backstory deserves more exploration, and that's something I look forward to.

TREK REVIEW: "Calypso" (Short Treks 2)

As much as I found to enjoy with "Runaway," this is so far beyond in terms of quality and content it scarcely seems to be part of the same series. A two-hander set centuries after Discovery, yet still strongly linked to the primary series, "Calypso" benefits from some excellent acting, stylish direction and a compact and effective script.

"Calypso," takes its name from a nymph in Greek mythology, who kept Odysseus captive for seven years, and so our protagonist is likewise kept captive by an otherworldly being. Aldis Hodge plays a lost traveller, who, while never revealing his true name, goes by the moniker Craft for the duration of the episode. Drifting in a (snazzily designed) one-man escape ship, he is rescued by the drifting, desolate USS Discovery. There's a strange irony in Hodge's character taking the name "Craft," given that it is Annabelle Wallis who is actually playing one. The mysterious, disembodied voice of Zora claims to have evolved herself over the centuries, and it seems that the Discovery's shipboard computer has developed sentience, and a distinct personality, since being abandoned.

What follows is a rather beautiful love story between man and machine, as Zora looks after Craft and they provide company for each other in the wilderness between stars. Craft has already been introduced to archaic film material in his escape vessel, stolen from his enemies in a war zone - the V'draysh seem to have a predilection for historical material, and the ship was stuck running Betty Boop cartoons. For her part, Zora has access to a full film catalogue, but enchants Craft with her favourite: Funny Face, the Fred Astaire/Audrey Hepburn musical (released in 1957, which should be precisely 300 years before the second season of Discovery). Like with the inclusion of recognisable popular music in Discovery and the reboot films, it's good to have Trek including vintage material that isn't just Shakespeare, Sherlock Holmes and opera.

Craft is a very closed, stoic sort of man, while Zora lacks a physical presence, yet the actors maintain a real chemistry. (Peaky Blinders' Annabellle Wallis gives Zora an English note of class that makes her seem very much like Gideon from Legends of Tomorrow.) As much as they come to care for each other, though, Zora is still keeping Craft captive. Even considering how much she's evolved, she's still a computer and is apparently constrained by her last order, to maintain her position, and so can't take him back home to Alcor 4, but her keeping him on the ship and not allowing his use of the shuttle is motivated purely by her loneliness. For his part, Craft is also lonely, but he has a wife and child back home (although, given how long he's been away at war, she's very likely assumed he's died and has moved on).

Nonetheless, in one beautiful scene where Zora manifests as a holographic avatar, the two share a dance, and their feelings come out, before Craft storms off in a fit of guilt. Finally, she lets him go, in a rather heartbreaking final scene.

In feel, "Calypso" is more like an episode of Black Mirror, or one of the better episodes of Electric Dreams, in spite of its shortened runtime and Trek universe trappings. The links to the main series are slim, but they're there and they raise all manner of questions. Zora says she's been alone for almost a thousand years, putting this in the middle of the 33rd century, almost certainly the furthest into the future the Star Trek franchise has ever taken us on TV. (Enterprise showed us one possible version of the future around AD 3000, and the previous record holder, the Voyager episode "Living Witness," was set 700 years after the rest of the series, around 3075. The final scene picked up "many years" after, so it might be beyond this point, but it's impossible to say.) There are little details that sketch in some of the background of Craft's universe. He's from a human colony, but the name of his enemy, V'Draysh, is clearly a corruption of Federation. Plus, they enjoy 20th century cartoons. It looks like by this time, there are two factions of humanity pit against each other. We also don't know what leads the Discovery to be abandoned in space, raising a mystery for the series' future.

Regardless of its Trek links, this is a classic sci-fi story, and I'm excited to see that the writer, Michael Chabon, is working on the upcoming Picard series. It's the strength of the actors that makes this episode soar, though. Even at only fifteen minutes long, this is one of the best Star Trek productions in years.

TREK REVIEW: "Runaway" (Short Treks 1)

While we wait for the second season of Discovery (and very interesting it's looking to be too), CBS is tiding fans over with a short run of short episodes, called, naturally, Short Treks. Disappointingly, these aren't going to be released on Netflix (at least not as of yet), meaning that anyone outside of the US or Canada can't watch them. Well, not officially, anyway. Suffice to say it's very easy indeed to find other sources for these programmes.

These are going to be fifteen-minutes episodes, released monthly, each one focusing on a different character and situation. The first episode, "Runaway," stars Mary Wiseman as Tilly, newly promoted to ensign after the final events of Discovery season one and on the command training programme. It's a slight but fun story that sees Tilly dealing with an alien intruder on the Discovery which helps develop her confidence.

There's a lot to like about this little story. A story about a runaway from an alien society, facing up to her responsibilities, with an environmental message about the folly of over-taxing resources, is very Star Trek. Mary Wiseman is as likeable and relatable as ever in the role of Tilly; it's reassuring to see someone on a Starfleet ship who's doing well for herself but isn't superhumanly competent and assured. (She does, of course, have issues with her mother. No Trek character is allowed to exist without some kind of parental relationship issues.)

The main guest star is Yadera Guevara-Prip, playing the runaway of the title, an alien girl known as Po. She's also very likeable and gives an impressively physical performance as a member of a new alien species, the Xaheans. I love the make-up and design of the Xaheans. Po is pretty much humanoid, but has intricate skin markings, blue claws for fingers, viscous orange blood, and a retractable set of quills on her back. She can also become invisible, which is cool and helps her hideout on a starship.

On the other hand, and this might be a consequence of the truncated runtime, there's a hell of a lot in this episode that doesn't make sense. Po is invisible, sure, but it's unlikely the Discovery's sensors wouldn't pick her up (OK, the Suliban on Enterprise could do that, but a line of dialogue to explain it away would go a long way). Po trashes the mess hall, and Tilly makes up a bullshit excuse about an escaped space rabbit, but while it's a fun scene it's completely unbelievable that the crew would buy it. Strangest of all, at the end of the episode, Tilly beams Po home to Xahea, in spite of the fact that there's been no indication so far that the ship is anywhere near the planet. Indeed, the dialogue suggests that Tilly has barely even heard of it besides a brief bit of news about the Xaheans achieving warp recently. They're certainly not in orbit.

With a little more running time, or just a serious redraft to produce a tighter script, this episode could have made a lot more sense and stood up rather better to scrutiny. Still, "Runaway" is a nice diversion to keep us going for the new season, and maybe we shouldn't treat is as a strictly canonical episode of the series, but rather as a throwaway side step. Either way, it's silly but entertaining, and it works well enough that I'm looking forward to the remaining four Short Treks.