TREK REVIEW: SFA 1-1 - "Kids These Days"

Typical, isn't it? I finally find time to sit down and review Starfleet Academy and what happens? Paramount cancels it. It's a huge shame, because this series, in spite of how some fans feel about it, was a real winner for many more. Still, it's understandable. While it's tempting to blame review bombing and negative press, at the end of the day, it's an extremely expensive show and not enough people were watching. (At least in the States; UK and European streaming figures have been very positive.) SFA has been hovering outside the Nielsen Top Ten, and for a high budget, flagship series, that's not going to cut it. Plus, with the studio being bought yet again, it was an easy first move to cut it.

Still, season two is already in the bag and will be streaming next year, assuming Paramount doesn't do something stupid like they did with Star Trek: Prodigy. In many ways, Starfleet Academy is a continuation of Prodigy. Not literally, of course; it's more of a continuation of Discovery, sitting at the far end of the 32nd century and the frontier of Trek's future history. But Prodigy was Star Trek aimed at younger viewers, focusing on a group of teens of various species as they made their first faltering steps into Starfleet. The Doctor was even there, offering his wisdom and acting as Chief Medical Officer. It's hard not to see SFA as the next step, a more adult series, of course, but still resolutely aimed at young people. 

This is the problem a lot of fans have with it. It simply isn't aimed at them. Now, it's not aimed at me, either - at 42, I'm far too long-in-the-tooth for the target audience. I love the show, but I understand that's a rarity among died-in-the-wool Trekkies. But that's fine. This isn't a show for people who've been watching Star Trek for decades. It's a show for new, young viewers, and while it still needs to be Star Trek it doesn't need to be old school Star Trek. Now, I agree that there's a place for old school Trek and that nothing airing right now quite fulfils that remit (Strange New Worlds comes closest, but that's still an aggressively modern take on early Star Trek). But that's not what Starfleet Academy is trying to be.

Some fans have called it "CW Star Trek," and that's a pretty fair description of the show. Personally, I don't think CW Star Trek would have been a bad thing. If anything, it perhaps should have been more of a CW-style show, and turned out twenty-six episodes on a slimmer budget. That would have made an easier argument for keeping it around, without having to change the content much at all. As for people complaining that it's woke... yeah, it is. That's a good thing. As frustrating as it is to see people making the same complaints that they made about Voyager thirty-odd years ago (as Robert Picardo himself pointed out), being politically correct is, usually, a good thing. Infinite diversity, remember?

"Kids These Days" is a solid opener for the series, with a lot packed into its somewhat extended runtime. It introduces the new cast of characters, setting, and ongoing story arc with style and flare. The cast are uniformly excellent, even if not everyone gets a chance to really show their stuff in this opening instalment. Sandro Rosto is clearly pitched as the star as Caleb Mir, the cocky, genius runaway and criminal who gets to show he's a decent fella at heart. There's a bit of a trend for this kind of character in Trek recently: Jack Crusher, Dal Rel (his closest antecedent, really), even 2009 Jim Kirk (if you can call that recently). Still, with a full season of Academy-learning ahead of him, it's more realistic to imagine that he'll find his path and learn how to balance his cleverness and ingenuity with, well, not being a prick.

The second lead is, of course, Holly Hunter, bringing both Hollywood leading lady and weird little gremlin vibes. Captain Ake is getting a lot of hate and a lot of love from fan circles. Personally, I think she's great. It's always good to see an older woman in a lead role, especially on an action show, and this peculiar, 400-year-old officer, weighed down by the guilt of her poor decision years earlier but still an eccentric, chipper mentor character, really works. 

Robert Picardo is the big draw for existing fans, excelling in his portrayal of an older, tireder, more melancholy Doctor. It's interesting to see how his character here contrasts with his 800-years-younger version in Prodigy, when he is in an ostensibly similar position. Gina Yashere is an inspired choice for Lura Thok, the intimidating Klingon-Jem'Hadar Cadet Master. Some fans are getting upset at a female Jem'Hadar, but I can't get over having a Cockney Jem'Hadar! She's a hoot in every scene she's in. The other main "grown-up" Starfleet character is Admiral Vance, with Oded Fehr giving his usual quietly classy turn. 

Onto the rest of the kids. Karim Diane makes an immediate impression as Jay-Den Kraag (a Klingon called Jayden? Really?) Poised and respectful but full of Klingon energy, he's very much the new Worf. The remarkably deep voice he puts on is not his natural one, but feels exactly right for the character. I was intrigued by his make-up, which includes blue contacts and unusual whorls on his cheeks, and wondered if he, too, would be revealed as a hybrid. Seems like he's a full-blooded Klingon, though, and it's not like that species' appearance has ever been entirely consistent. 

George Hawkins as Darem Reymi mostly just gets to alternate between being charming and dickish, although his species, the Khionians, is intriguing. Bella Shepherd doesn't get to do much either as the ludicrously named Genesis Lythe. She's from another new alien race, the Dar-Sha, but Shepherd mostly just gets to look beautiful and gets little character work here. Still, this is only the first episode, and they do both get their hero moment. There will be plenty more to see from them as the season goes on.

Kerrice Brooks is an immediate hit as SAM, the Series Acclimation Mil hologram from Kasq. Again, there's a lot more to learn about her later in the season, but her character is so instantly clear from both the dialogue and Brooks's performance. The high-powered student who's desperate to both make friends and achieve is a cliche, but the idea of someone programmed to be that student so she can learn about organic beings is a great twist. If there's a complaint to be made about the young characters, it's that they are fundamentally cliched archetypes for this kind of show, but mapping this to the distant future makes that future easily relatable.

Finally, the anti-Starfleet side. Tatiana Maslany is a great actor but doesn't have a great deal of time to show that her. Fortunately, we'll be seeing more of her. Paul Giamatti is just fabulous as Nus Braka, our new Big Bad. Braka is a fully evil, over-the-top villain, and Giamatti plays him appropriately, hamming it up to the max. Half that enormous budget must have been spent replacing the scenery after he was finished chewing it. In spite his loudly villainous character, like the somewhat similar character of Harry Mudd (at least on Discovery), Braka has a point when he criticises Starfleet in general and Ake in particular. It's important that Starfleet, even being positioned as good for the Galaxy, isn't beyond reproach. Ake made a serious error in judgment in having Anisha Mir locked up and separated from her son, but she was just following orders, as they say. The seriousness of a powerful government sending uniformed troops out to arrest aliens and separate them from their children shouldn't take too much extrapolation to the modern day, even for the most cloth-headed viewers.

There are, admittedly, some massive plot holes in "Kids These Days." This is nothing new in Star Trek, but they still rankle when you notice them. Sure, Caleb Mir is a genius, but his escape from Starfleet Custody as a six-year-old srains belief a bit too far. Braka's plan to ensnare the Athena relies on a hell of a lot of luck. Ake could easily have decided just not to investigate the phenomenon when the ship already has a destination to get to. There are some oddities that are par for the course for a series like this: modern slang that will date quickly; actors well into their twenties playing teenagers. It's a little odd having that in Star Trek, but it's exactly what you'd expect from what is, at its heart, a teen drama series. 

Importantly, though, it works as set-up for the series. In the post-Burn galaxy, we get why Starfleet Academy is a big deal and an altogether good thing. The galaxy is still in turmoil and things aren't fixed overnight. People are suffering out there and others are taking advantage of that. This, arguably, includes Starfleet, with Ake essentially blackmailing Caleb to join because she's decided it's the best path for him. But we also see that having structure and support around does help him, and that Starfleet is working to change how it interacts with the galaxy. For all the background about the resurgance of Starfleet, the threat of the Venari Ral pirates and all the other troubles in the galaxy, this is actually quite a small scale story, focusing on Caleb's choosing of his path.

The season as a whole follows up on all of this, albeit not entirely successfully, but as first episodes go, this is a strong opening to a fine, if very different, kind of Star Trek. 

And if you don't like it - that's fine. But I rather loved it.

Character notes: 

Nahla Ake was born in the 2770s, a period of Trek history we know very little about. She's a solid four hundred years older than Caleb and his fellow students. (Except SAM, she's only a few months old.)

The Doctor still loves his opera, so not that much has changed in the last 820 years. He's also added an ageing subroutine to his programme, ostensibly to put organics at ease.

Alien life forms:

A lot of fans have cried out against Lura Thok being having a female Jem'Hadar and a hybrid, in spite of the Jem'Hader being canonically all male and unable to procreate. She merely describes herself as from "the Jem'Hadar lineage of Kah-Baj," which doesn't necessarily mean natural procreation by a Jem'Hadar, although even the existence of a female Jem'Hadar is previously unheard of. More pertinently, the Jem'Hadar are an artificial species and it's been 800 years. They could have undergone any amount of re-engineering in that time. Revelations like this, that go against established lore, open up new questions and storytelling avenues. We get to ask, "How?" and "Why?" That's far more enjoyable than, "Not allowed."

The Khionians have two forms: one which looks human, and another which is more fish-like and allows them to withstand the vacuum of space for a short time.

The Torothans, who arrest Caleb, appeared in ENT: "Desert Crossing." They were the dominant faction on their, then unnamed, planet. Fast forward a thousand years, and they're clearly still in charge there. The planet is now named Toroth, which I guess means they got to decide what it was called.

Braka refers to himself as a "Klingarite," and according to background info, is half-Klingon, half-Tellarite. Even given how much variation there is in Klingon appearance, Braka looks very little like either species. But then, who knows what such a mixture should look like?

Planets visited:

The Little Blooms facility on Bajor cares for orphaned kids of various species. This was where Caleb was supposed to go before he escaped. We see Orions and Suliban there when Vance visits Ake. Bajor is probably a Federation member in this time period. This is the first time the planet actually appears outside of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Starships and stations:

The USS Athena NCC-392023 is an Academy-class starship, and is both a serving vessel and the new campus of Starfleet Academy, able to land and dock in the traditional site in San Francisco.

Nitpicks: 

Why are cadets allowed to open the airlocks, but not wear spacesuits? The other way round would be strange enough, but this way round is lethal!

The "wall of honour" is a nice touch, even as what's really just a list of popular characters for fans to spot. I'm not keen that we see Lt. Nog listed - I just won't accept that he didn't make captain. On the other hand, given that the last row is made up of name of the writers and directors, it's orobably safe to ignore it. 

I love...

... the new 60th anniversary intro animation. At least Paramount are doing something to mark it.

I don't love...

... that cover of "San Francisco" that plays when the Athena arrives on Earth.

Aliens, savages and evil computers

My latest reviews up at Television Heaven include Alien: Earth, the best installment of the Alien franchise since 1986, and the last two serials of Doctor Who season three, The Savages and The War Machines. I should hopefully have more up before the month's out. 

Next on the blog itself I'm planning to review Strange New Worlds season three, and mabe get back onto the Lower Decks and Prodigy reviews when I have time.

TREK REVIEW: Prodigy 2-3 & 2-4

2.3 - Who Saves the Saviours? 

2.4 - Temporal Mechanics 101

A solid couple of episodes which kick off the main storyline for the season, as Starfleet's youngest accidentally pervert the flow of history. The time travel rules are either very complicated or very shaky on this show. These episodes occur in the same place in two different time periods, with Gwyn on the planet Solum 52 years before Dal and co. get there, stumbling across Chakotay and his first officer, Adreek-hu. 

It seems that all this criss-crossing in time has tied history up in knots. While they work together and try to maintain the timeline like Starfleet officers should, Dal and his pals end up altering history so that Chakotay and Adreek-hu are successful in their escape from Solum abord the Protostar. This means that the ship never ends up on Tars Lamora, so that the kids never find it in the first place and reach Starfleet. Indeed, the Diviner never goes to Tars Lamora to track the ship down, never buys the orphans to use as labour, and never creates Gwyn in the first place. Even though the events are in the future, changing them has altered the past.

All very well, except that the whole point of Gwyn going to Solum in the present was to stop the devastation it faces in the future. So how does Dal and his friends' accidental alteration of future events cause such a drastic change to the timeline? Surely, if Gwyn had been successful and prevented the war on Solum, the distruption would have been even worse? And if Dal's deduction that they were always meant to be in the future to help Chakotay launch the Protostar is correct, how did things end up going so wrong at all?

It's probably best not to think too much on it, just like it's best not to think too much on how Gwyn is slowly fading from existence, "in superposition between two quantum realities," and doesn't just wink out of existence straight away. For that matter, why are the rest of the kids still there, and not wherever they would have grown up if it weren't for the Diviner? Lawd knows.

There's a lot to enjoy here, from Dal's natural leadership to Ma'jel's softening on the team and helping them try to fix things. Jankon ditching his attempt at politeness and embracing his Tellarite crabbiness, while proving again what an amazing engineer he is, is another highlight. The time travel shenanigans work dramatically, even if they don't quite make sense. The bird puns are dreadful, but in the best way.

However, some parts work less well. Having the ritual to prove Gwyn's true Vau'Nakat-ness be just another big fight is visually fun, but a bit of a let down, and something of a Trek cliché. Dr. Erin MacDonald is a real science advisor and is apparently a big deal, so having her play a future version of herself (a descendant?) is fun, but I found her a bit annoying. And, well, Chakotay is back. I realise we didn't know what a dickhead Robert Beltran was when they were recording this, but no one really liked Chakotay first time round anyway. So a series revolving around tracking him down doesn't exactly grip me.

Overall, this is a fun adventure with some high stakes, with Gwyn's very existence hanging in the balance and some great performances from Brett Gray and Ella Purnell. Plus, we have the mystery of who is speaking to the crew from the future (my initial assumption that it was an evolved future version of Zero was way off, though).

Links and references:

• "We're hurtling through a time hole!" After paraphrasing Doctor Who last week, now Dal's throwing around Red Dwarf references. Janon turning his mechanical hand into a spider-like helper might be a nod to Kryten's similar gambit in "Terrorform," but probably not.
• Ma'jel refers to the Bell Riots from DS9 "Past Tense" (set this year, fact fans) and Cochrane's first warp test in Star Trek: First Contact when explaining causal loops.
• MacDonald's Temporal Mechanics lesson refers to the USS Enterprise and Bounty's slingshot time trips, and Q's temporal trickery.
• The USS Voyager-A has temporal shielding, probably in case they run into any Krenim while they're messing about near the Delta Quadrant.
• Adreek-hu is an Aurelian, a species that first appeared in Star Trek: The Animated Series. Giving Chakotay an eagle as a first officer is a bit on the nose.

 

Cliché count: "I'm a doctor, not an exorcist!" That's two in four episodes.

Best line: "Over here! Look how distracting I am!"

TREK REVIEW: Star Trek: Section 31

You can wear anything you like, as long as it's black.

After what seems like forever since it was first announced as another new Star Trek series, Section 31 finally arrives as Trek’s first streaming TV movie. Indeed, it’s a first for the franchise in a number of ways: the first production not to focus on Starfleet characters; the first to be set in the “lost era” between the original cast movies and The Next Generation; and the first to be headed by an East Asian and non-Anglosphere lead.

It’s also not very good, which is pretty much the worldwide consensus on the film. Much of this stems from its origins as a series, which was scuppered by COVID and Michelle Yeoh’s status as one of the most in-demand actresses in Hollywood. The reworking into a one-off film (ostensibly, the sequel hook is as clear as it is unlikely to lead to anything) shows what a hack job was needed to make it fit. With more room to breathe, and time to get to know the characters enough to actually give a shit about them, it may have worked a lot better.

Even accepting that, Star Trek: Section 31 is an inherently flawed production. It’s a real pity, as there is stuff to enjoy here, and frankly, the idea of a different sort of Star Trek is always welcome. While there are many, many fans who would be happy with TNG clones forever, the franchise has to move with the times and try new approaches, as the recent burst of new series has shown. For better or worse, Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds and Prodigy have all delivered different takes on Star Trek, and while each has its flaws, they all succeed in different ways as well.

There’s room for all kinds of stories in the Trek universe, but one as cynical as this is a tough fit. I’ve long thought that a ragtag antihero gang, in the vein of Guardians of the Galaxy or Farscape, could work well in Trek, but the critical point of those is that while flawed, the characters were essentially decent when the chips were down and had each others’ backs. Guardians and Farscape are both about criminals and dropouts from different backgrounds who are forced together by a common cause, and end up becoming a found family. What’s more, there’s a sense of optimism to their stories, which is essential to Star Trek and missing from Section 31.

But let’s consider the good parts, for there are plenty. Michelle Yeoh is a real leading lady who deserves her own show, with former-Emperor Philippa Georgiou succeeding in spite of being a fundamentally monstrous character thanks to Yeoh’s charisma. The obligatory gang of aliens from all manner of origins is done well, even if individually they don’t all work. Visually it’s stunning, with some of the most impressive battle and space scenes seen in the franchise. It even manages to be funny, occasionally, although not often enough.

One thing that’s really welcome is the lack of legacy characters in this story. Yeoh is the only actor to return from a previous production, this being her own Discovery spin-off. The only character to return from the old days is Rachel Garrett, who’s obscure enough that only the hardcore fans will mark her inclusion as noteworthy. While we have some familiar aliens, they’re from previously seldom seen races, or tweaked in interest ways. The only major elements being carried forward with little explanation are the Mirror Universe and the Empire, which are such basic sci-fi concepts that they barely need explaining.

Let’s look at the rest of the gang. The only one who, for me, works completely is Sam Richardson’s Quasi, the anxiety-ridden shapeshifter. We can buy the idea of an incredibly powerful being hamstrung by indecision thanks to his sympathetic performance, and he stands out thanks to being the only actually likeable character in the whole film. There’s no shortage of metamorphs in Trek, but making him a chameloid is a nice touch, calling back to one of the most memorable characters of the classic Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country without being a copy in any way.

I also found myself enjoying big cyborg guy Zeph, which surprised me, as his character is uninspired. Robert Kazinsky (born in my hometown only one year before me, fact fans, so no wonder he looked so familiar) plays him dumb-but-fun, which downplays the absurdly overpowered threat played by his mechanised suit. The big dumb mech is cliched sci-fi character but a new one for Trek, and the idea of someone suffering from mecha-dysmorphia, while thrown in as a joke, is worthy of exploration.

The other character I enjoyed was Fuzz, played by the very cute South African Sven Ruygrok, for reasons best known to himself, with an outrageous Irish accent. Fuzz is a whole bunch of fun ideas together: a microscopic alien intelligence with small-man syndrome, piloting an android body around, is a daft, Men In Black-esque idea that really works. Add to that severe emotional regulation problems, and then making the android a Vulcan, and you’ve got a wonderfully bizarre combination. Both Zeph and Fuzz have some of the best lines, which is to say, lines that were actually kind of funny, if only because they were sufficiently ridiculous. Frankly, the entire script could have done with being more stupid; it would have been a lot more fun.

As for the rest: Alok Sahar makes an OK male lead, with Omari Hardwick giving a decent enough performance with little to work with. The Augments are by now as tired a trope as the Mirror Universe, but being from the grimmer side of Trek had to have some kind of involvement here. There’s an added spin with Alok, though, in that he was originally an ordinary human and was augmented later by one of the Eugenics Wars despots. This, and his man-out-of-time nature, could have been explored and provided much needed depth; another thing doubtless lost to condensing this to a single sitting.

Humberly Gonzalez as the Deltan Melle does exactly what a Deltan needs to do: be incredibly hot and distracting. She might have had more to offer than that, but doesn’t get a chance. Finally, we have Kacey Rohl as Lt. Rachel Garrett, the solitary member of Starfleet along for the ride. Garrett seems like the real missed opportunity. A chance to flesh out the least-known captain of the Enterprise, she’s given next to no actual character, existing solely to have an officially moral character to chide the various criminals she has to work with. I can’t help but feel terribly sorry for Rohl, who seems to be a decent actor but has very little to work with here.

There’s potentially a good story to be told with this bunch of characters, but you won’t find it here. The first act has enough madcap action to at least be reasonably entertaining. Once they’re off the Baraam, Georgiou’s elaborate and impressive space station, and on their actual mission, there’s little to enjoy. There’s precious little to mark this out as Star Trek beyond the name and the surface trappings. It’s not that we can’t follow the dangerous and disreputable parts of the Trek galaxy – there’s enough of them, after all, and they’re often favourite characters. At the end of the day, though, something of Star Trek’s spirit always shone through even the grimmest tales of the past. All this can muster as an endorsement for Starfleet is that they don’t commit murder, and the best it has for a moral “there are no benevolent dictators.” Which, while distressingly topical, is a bit hollow coming from someone whose leadership style was “gleefully genocidal maniac.”

This is wrapped up in a script with some of the most witless (and somehow already dated) dialogue ever, with a storyline involving a faceless villain with the most painfully obvious secret identity, which eventually devolves into the surviving characters standing around pointing out their own cliches to each other.

Yeoh pitched a Georgiou spin-off this to Alex Kurtzmann before Discovery was even broadcast, mainly because she reportedly loves playing her. You can see that in her performance on Discovery, even when the character isn’t written well. Throughout Section 31, though, she appears jaded and tired, and I can’t escape the feeling that this isn’t acting. You can’t blame her; Yeoh is absolutely wasted on this.

Spoilery bits and Trekkie observations

Future history:

• The exact setting of this story isn’t clear, but it’s the early part of the 24^th century. Memory Alpha goes off the stardate of 1292.4 and calculates that (somehow) to 2324, or forty years before The Next Generation, which sounds about right.

• The Terran Empire is still in power at this time. By the late 2360s it will have fallen to the Alliance.

• Alok Sahar was born in the 1970s, which would support an old school dating of the Eugenics Wars in the 90s. On the other hand, given that he was genetically altered after the fact, he could be older than he looks (even accounting for stasis), so a 2030s date might still hold.

Alien life forms:

• Various aliens from Discovery’s later seasons are seen on the Baraam, and will no doubt show up in other eras as the costumes are reused.

• Dada Noe, the arms dealer, is apparently a Deltan as well. He’s not as sexy as Melle.

• Quasi’s transformations have a completely different effect to Martia’s, making it appear that he’s made up from a bundle of tendrils.

• Virgil, Georgiou’s major domo, is a Cheron, the two-tone species from the classic TOS episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.” In that episode we were led to believe that Bele and Lokai were the last survivors of their species, but there’s nothing to say no more of them managed to escape the planet before it was devastated.

• The singer on the Baraam appears to be of the same species as Natalia, the semi-crustacean poster girl for Star Trek Beyond’s creature designs.

Cameo surprise:

• So seeing Jamie Lee Curtis as Control was a nice touch, reuniting with her buddy Michelle Yeoh. The old Control was a crazy AI; this one seems to be a cybernetically-enhanced human. Cyborg stuff seems to be the fashion in this era.

• Control sends the gang off to Turkana IV, failed colony and legendary hellhole that will be home to Tasha Yar. I think I could do without a sequel on the planet of the rape gangs, thanks.

TREK REVIEW - Lower Decks 5-3 - 5-4

 

5-3 - "The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel"

A fun episode which sees our leads growing up some more, although this does mean regressing them a bit to begin with. Both Mariner and Boimler act more like their season one/two selves, with Bradward freaking out over Ransom's alleged treatment of his recruits and Beckett absolutely refusing to engage emotionally. 

The "Jariner" storyline is silly, and feels like a reaction to fans complaining that the relationship was never resolved onscreen. A quick line to explain that they broke up a while ago would have done, but instead we get a prolonged farce by both Mariner and Jennifer refusing to talk with each other. Similarly, the idea that Ransom is brutally risking his officers' lives by putting them in danger's way ignores the revelations that he's actually a pretty decent officer, and Boimler's over-the-top response is more like his earlier, more panicked self. 

So, it feels like an earlier season episode, but that's no bad thing. It's a lot of fun, and the idea of a ridiculously elaborate space resort and an Apolcaypse Now-inspired drop-out admiral provide a fun storyline, with the nanite monster adding an actual threat. Plus, if it was an older episode, it wouldn't have T'Lyn, who is an absolute delight here, from her increasingly sardonic humour to her surprising following of Krog, a rock-like beach music player.

Starships and stations: 

• The Cosmic Duchess is described as a cruise ship, but it's the size of a moon, with multiple biomes and an artificial sun, so it's practically a mobile Dyson habitat.
• The USS Endeavour is a tiny wee Intrepid-class from a miniature parallel universe, this episode's link the arc plot.

Alien life forms: 

• We finally get to see some Gallamites, previously only mentioned as the species of Jadzia Dax's old flame Captain Boday. I assumed that, aside from their transparent skulls, Gallamites were pretty much humanoids, but they looks absolutely terrifying.
• Krog is probably named after Korg from the Thor movies, given that he looks so much like him. We've seen the odd member of his species in the background before. It's possible he's meant to be a Brikar, like Rok-Tahk on Prodigy.
• The Kreetassans make their first appearance outside of Enterprise, although why they'd be hanging around a bar when they're so offended by people eating and drinking is anyone's guess.

5-4 - "A Farewell to Farms"

Klingon episodes can be pretty tiresome, but this one works because it, quite rightly, constantly takes the piss out of them. It's always good to catch up with Ma'ah, who's now slumming it on his brother's farm after being kicked out of the fleet thanks to his crew's mutiny. I prefer his brother, Malor, though, an easygoing sort of chap who's quite happy with farmwork and pimping out his shuttle. The Klingons can't all be warriors, after all; not only would that be unbelievable, but you need farmers and the like. Otherwise, where'd all the bloodwine come from?

It's also good to see the corrupt side of Klingon culture, which clearly didn't all go away when Martok took over. Bargh, using his position to punish Ma'ah because he killed his brother, rings true, even if it's very dishonorable (after all, isn't getting killed in battle what it's all about?). Anyway, the Beckett-Ma'ah friendship is a highlight, and this time Boimler is along for the ride, back to his new, super-enthusiastic self.

Meanwhile, the B-plot with Migleemo's people is pretty slight, but it's nice to see him get some background, and the idea of a culture focused on food and recipes makes as much, if not more, sense as one based on fighting and killing. 

Alien life forms: Migleemo's species are named as Klowahkians, from the planet Klowahka, following Areolus in the new Lower Decks tradition of naming avian race's planets after suggestive body parts. This one is more bird-appropriate, though.

Callbacks:

• Enaran food is said to be the best in the quadrant (not sure whether we're talking Alpha or Beta), but the Enara Prime is in the Delta Quadrant (VOY "Remember").
• On the farm, Ma'ah dresses like Picard in his vineyard in TNG "All Good Things."

Trek Stars: Sam Witwer does double-duty as the voices of both Malor and Klowahkian critic Legnog, while Mary Chieffo returns to her Klingon roots as the fun Kelarra (she was L'Rell in the first two seasons of Discovery).

TREK REVIEW: Prodigy 2-1 & 2-2 - "Into the Breach"

Star Trek: Prodigy is back and, while I haven't been able to devote much time to reviews lately, I'm now going to get back onto it and work my way through the second season. Seeing as the entire run was made available on Netflix all at once, it made sense to leave it a while and tackle it in a big chunk. 

The first season of Prodigy was one of the best of modern Trek, and while it was unfairly written off by some fans at the beginning due to being a kids' show, it proved to be perhaps the most true to classic Trek of all the shows that have launched since 2017. Season two was in the bag when Paramount decided to bin the entire thing, cancelling it before release in an obvious Warner Bros-style tax write-off. This was a kick in the teeth to everyone who worked on it, and just the first shot in the foot of Paramount's ever-crashing relationship with its audience. But no matter, because Netflix jumped in an picked it up. Seriously Paramount, when Netflix looks like the one with sound judgment, you've messed up.

So, to kick us off, it's "Into the Breach," our opening two-parter. Spoilers from here on out.

Season one ended with the Federation saved (again) and the runaway kids preparing for Starfleet Academy, except for Gwyn, who went off on a special mission to her home planet Solum to try to save it from the upcoming civil war. We catch up with the main gang in San Francisco, where we learn that they're not actually cadets, but in a sort of prep school programme, getting ready for induction. (Presumably their too young for the Academy itself, plus none of them have had a formal education before.) 

Vice Admiral Janeway takes them aboard the new USS Voyager as her own special training project, although she assigns the Doctor to be their mentor. It's wonderful to hear Robert Picardo back - interestingly after he turned down an appearance on Star Trek:Picard - and he's every bit the clucking hen we remember. Kate Mulgrew is very good as Janeway, and while she doesn't have my favourite voice in the world, she is an old hand at voice work and really brings Janeway to life (somewhat better than some of the other officer actors). 

The kids are as entertaining and likeable as ever, with the core cast giving great performances, as we might expect. It's fun to see their progression over the last few months: Dal is, predictably, frustrated and impatient; Rok-Tahk is absolutely loving the learning; Jankom is trying to learn to be polite (not very culturally aware of the Academy - let the Tellarite be a Tellarite); and Zero, interestingly, is longing for a physical form. Oh, and Murf is Murf, not really making much sense to be honest. He still seems somewhere between pet, mascot and full-fledged team member, as if the writers aren't quite sure what to do with him.

We might wonder why Janeway decides it's a good idea to take a bunch of pre-cadets on a top secret mission, one that they (and apparently most of the crew) aren't supposed to know about. Surely she realised this was asking or trouble? Of course, they have a personal link to the mission, as it's tied up in their own story aboard the Protostar, but since they aren't allowed to know about it, why does that matter? It's satisfying that this season leads on from the previous one so closely (unlike, say, Picard, which basically ignored previous events each season). Voyager is out in the depths of space to find Chakotay, thanks to the swirling wormhole that was left at the end of the last run. I like that time is running on both sides, meaning that timing is everything if they're going to pull this off without disrupting history. Whatever could go wrong?

There's also Nova Squadron to worry about. While they share their name with the daring flight team from TNG's "The First Duty," they're more like those arseholes in Red Squad on DS9 (those cocky idiots who ended up on the Valiant). At least there's only three of them. Ma'jel is obviously a major new character from the amount of focus she gets; thankfully, Michaela Dietz gives a brilliant turn as a young Vulcan, in spite of being forty in real life (she also voices Grom, the Lurian Squad member). Ma'jel doesn't seem that logical, storming in with her Squad buddies and causing trouble instead of trying to find out what our gang is up to. So frankly it's her fault the Infinity is launched prematurely.

Meanwhile, Gwyn goes to Solum and has a terrible time. Ascencia (a fun turn, as always, by Jameela Jamil, who is great at playing villains) has got their first, and has already turned the Vau'Nakat against her. It seems pretty likely that the schism that tears Solum society apart after first contact has its roots here, as we see factions alredy starting to form based on whether or not to trust aliens. It looks like Gwyn and Ascencia's travelling back has caused the whole problem in the first place, although how this squares with the future on the othe side of the wormhole apparently being an alternative future, I don't know. John Noble gives a truly excellent performance as the younger version of the Diviner - named Ilthuran, we discover - who is recognisable but a very different man to his possible future self.

There's an awful lot going on in these episodes, but they make for a gripping and impressive start to the season.

Placement: It's been a few months since the end of season one, and the Romulan evacuation is underway, meaning it's either 2384 or '85. Memory Alpha goes with 2384, and who am I to argue? This would place the future period in which Chakotay is stranded in 2436.

Starships and stations: 

• The new USS Voyager NCC-74656-A is a Lamarr-class ship. According to behind the scenes info, the class is named after the legendary Hedy Lamarr. 
• The original Voyager is said to be a floating museum. We saw it being taken there in the latest season on Lower Decks, set a couple of years earlier, and saw it displayed in the Fleet Museum in the final season of Picard, set about seventeen years later.  
• I love that, while Voyager-A looks all fancy and swish, the Infinity is just a functional. boxy wagon.

Links and observations:

• Ma'jel is named, of course, for Majel Barrett, the first lady of Star Trek.
• Rok-Tahk gives a presentation on the ill-fated tribble experiment from the Short Trek "The Trouble with Edward."
• However, the scientific name she gives, Polygeminus grex, is the classic one from tie-in material, not the one used in that episode.
• The Doctor is still writing holonovels in his spare time.
• The Infinity has a cloaking device, which is still illegal thanks to the treaty with the Romulans, as well as temporal shielding.

Cliché count: "I'm a doctor, not a butler!" Our first McCoyism of the season.

TREK REVIEW - Lower Decks 5-1 - 5-2

Catching up on the old Trek reviews with a quick rundown of the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks. I'm going to miss this show, which, while very much for die-hard fans, has been a real pleasure throughout and maybe the best of the relaunch-era series. The other contender for that is Prodigy, which I will also catch up with reviewing as soon as I can feasibly fit it in.

5-1 - "Dos Cerritos"

The season kicks off with an entertaining story that balances two entirely separate plotlines, one of which is fairly personal and small scale and the other which will have repurcussions for the whole season and the entire universe.

It's clear from the outset that this is going to be the Multiverse season, and while Trek has played with parallel universes plenty, this is its first time really delving into the concept. Everything is doing multiverse adventures now, so it's not surprising that Trek is having a go as well, and that Lower Decks is the series to do it. "Dos Cerritos" has great fun with this, sending the Cerritos through an interdimensional rift to meet its alternative self, commanded by Captain Becky Freeman. Tawny Newsome is clearly having a blast playing her character's aggressive, authoritarian other self, and it shows how much Mariner has grown as a character; in spite of being more like her earlier, more rebellious self, she's far more mature than Captain Freeman. The more assured alt-Boimler is pretty fun, but the most interesting is the heavily-augmented alt-Rutherford, who has forsaken his humanity so that he doesn't have to feel the loss of Tendi. The funniest pairing, though, is the two indistinguishable T'lyn's, who hate each other nonetheless. 

The other plotline follows Tendi as she takes on her role as the Mistress of the Winter Constellations. This strand has plenty of action but also works well as an exploration into Tendi's character. I like her pirate crew and love how we're seeing more and more of Orions who want to do something more fulfilling than violent piracy. Including the Blue Orions from The Animated Series - stupid costumes and mispronunciation of "Oreeon" and all - is another fun instance of Lower Decks taking the odder elements of TAS and celebrating them.

Callbacks: 

• The title sequence has been updated again. The title itself has been given TNG-style whooshy effects, while the big space battle is now ludicrously busy with the hand of Apollo, the Tholian Web and ruddy V'Ger all joining in.
• We get another visit to a Collector ship, this time owned by an alien with a weird metal thing running through his face ("It's prescription!") He's the same species as Palor Toff from TNG "The Most Toys," one of the strangest looking chaps to appear on the series.
• Mariner and T'Lyn play Kal-toh, a favourite of Naomi Wildman on Voyager. Boimler isn't happy Naomi made the "30 Under 30" list, and that she's "Like ten years old." If this is accurate, this places this season in 2382, meaning the entire five seasons take place over about two years.
• Becky Freeman does the same sarcastic Vulcan salute to Mariner as Mariner did to her mum back in season one.

Fun for me: One of Tendi's pirate crew is called Astrid. That's a great name (if you don't know, it's my daugter's name).

Sexy Trek: Not gonna lie, angry alt-Mariner with a riding crop is hot.

5-2 - "Shades of Green"

These first two episodes were released together originally, and appropriately this is basically the second half of a two-part story, at least for Tendi's ongoing storyline. Her adventures on and around Orion are easily the better part of the episode. A space race is a cliche, but a fun one, and it's hard to beat hitching a ride on a comet to get to the finish line. 

The other plot, on new Federation member Targalus 9, is good fun, but not as successful. It's interesting to see how a civilisation might dismantle its plurocratic society so that it can mesh with the Federation, and although everything seems ludicrously oversimplified here, it's fun to see the uber-rich of the planet desperately trying to stay relevant. Boimlers "bointers" are pretty funny and aren't overused, and we get the beginnings of his beard - well, fuzz - as he tries to emulate his alternative reality counterpart.

The C-plot, seeing T'ly trying to get closer to Rutherford and doing the logical yet entirely wrong thing is sweet. While it's wonderful to see Tendi back on the Cerritos where she belongs, it's a shame we don't get more development of this friendship. Still, the various plotlines dovetail nicely at the end, making for a satisfying episode.

Callbacks: 

• The Orions use archaic solar sailing ships for their races, much like the Bajorans once used, as seen on DS9 "Explorers."
• The socks Tendi offers D'Erika look like the space dog from TOS "The Enemy Within," an iconic little alien.

Alien life forms: 

• The Orion Queen has a dragon-like bet called a blazzard, which looks and sounds quite like the stock monsters that turned up on The Animated Series.
• The Targalans have really long ears and tie them up on top their heads. Given that they have orange skin and were super-capitalist, maybe they're related to the Ferengi.

Hmmmm: Surely a planet doesn't have to ditch money overnight to become a Federation member? We've already seen that the Ferengi are maintaining their way of life in spite of petitioning for membership, and we've heard of the Bank of Bolias a few times on DS9.

Star Trek at SDCC

Plenty of announcements at this year's San Diego ComicCon piqued my interest. The Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea, which has been rumoured for a while, hadn't grabbed me, but now that we have Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw leading I am interested. And as for the Marvel announcement of who's playing Doctor Doom... I actually think that could work brilliantly. 

It's Star Trek that really piled on with the announcements and trailers though, so here's my thoughts on the next phase of Trek productions:

Star Trek: Section 31

I was never too interested in this idea when it was announced as a series, but the TV movie approach has some merit. Both the Mirror Universe and Section 31 are elements of the Trek universe that get bolring quickly, so one big nasty movie is probably better than dragging it out.

Based on this trailer... it's not very Star Trek, is it? Still, maybe that's a good thing. This is a very different take for the franchise, but it could work. Michelle Yeoh will carry it, she's never less than watchable. Cautiously looking forward to it.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season 3

Hmmm... that clip does not fill me with confidence. I love SNW and I love the comedy episodes, so I'm up for some more of that, but this just looks like a comedy episode that isn't funny. Got to wonder what mission could need Vulcans that couldn't be more easily completed by bringing in some actual Vulcans. Love Pike's hair though.

Anyway, that's just one episode. Hopefully we'll get a proper season trailer too soon.

Star Trek: Lower Decks - Season 5

This trailer doesn't really tell us anything, but that's fine. It's Lower Decks - if it keeps doing what it's been doing, it's going to be great. I'm actually glad this is ending after five seasons rather than being dragged on past its prime.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

The least surprising announcement of the con: Mary Wiseman is back playing Tilly in this. Also no surprise: Oded Fehr back as Admiral Vance. More of a surprise: the wonderful Tig Notaro back as Jet Reno as a regular.

The big surprise: Robert Picardo back as the Doctor! After her turned down a role on Picard, we've had him for a whole season of Prodigy and now he's back for the 32nd century. I wonder if he's playing the back-up version of the Doctor from VOY: "Living Witness." I've said for a while he should appear in Discovery, it would be about time for him to get back to Federation space.

Untitled Star Trek comedy series

The big surprise of the panel was the announcement that Tawny Newsome Justin Simien are writing a new Trek comedy series. This is going to be a live action show, pitched as a Trek equivalent of The Office or Parks and Rec, and set on a "gleaming resort planet." It's apparently set in the 25th century, which does give us a hundred years of leeway, but if it's early on I wouldn't be surprised if we get some Picard era cameos. I'd be very surprised if Newsome doesn't show up as an older Mariner at some point. Really looking forward to seeing what this will be like.

TREK REVIEW: DIS 5-9 & 5-10

5-9: LAGRANGE POINT 

5-10: LIFE, ITSELF

Aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?

Star Trek: Discovery's final two episodes bite off a bit more than they can chew thanks to the late-in-the-day cancellation of the series, but still give us a more satisfying than we normally get with Discovery. In spite of running to only ten episodes, this last season has been tighter and better paced than the show normally manages, with a more coherent structure. 

"Lagrange Point" sets things up nicely, but is very much a first part rather than a satisfactory episode in its own right. It's a taut little thriller, with Michael and co. infiltrating the Breen dreadnought which is, somehow, effectively under the command of Moll after she insighted the rebellion against Ruhn. There's some good stuff here, with Adira stepping up to the plate on a risky away mission against the objection of her space dad Stamets, and some cool-as-a-cucumber stealth work from Rhys, who's finally developed a character this year. Frankly, I was expecting them to kill him off, since he's never been more than a handsome background character till the last few episodes.

Taking the lead in the Breen mission are Burnham and Book, once again showing that they have all the best chemistry even when they're having to communicate through cod-Iron Man helmet cam effects. I love how Book, thrown in the deep end and having to keep one of the various Breen troops occupided, instantly resorts to flirting, and gets away with it. There's a very clunky scene where, in true Discovery style, everything stops so Michael can have an emotional moment with her ex, but at least it's lampshaded. 

The weakness in this episode is that the Breen aren't really living up to their promise as the new Big Bad. The main draw of the Breen was always their mystery, and inevitably, once we started to learn about them they become less interesting. That's pretty much unavoidable. Sadly, while we do get some intriguing snippets about them, they've turned out to be such a generic warrior race that they just fail to hold interest. Once they start speaking English so Moll can understand them, they just come across as a bunch of ranty soldier boys. The fascinating idea of their having two forms isn't explored at all. We learn both too much and not enough about their culture for them to be interesting, and it's a real shame.

This is exacerbated in the final episode, when Primarch Tahal coming to take Ruhn's dreadnought how he's out of the game. She's exactly the same as he was, but with a crackly female voice instead of a male one, only she really is all mouth and no trousers. It's great to finally have Saru back, with Doug Jones giving a great performance as the steely predator-mode Kelpian who'll stare down the aspiring Breen Queen, but Tahal just isn't threatening enough to warrant turning up as an eleventh hour villain. Plus, every time they refer to the Primarch I just thing of a bargain clothes shop.

Where these episodes really sing is in the mindbending science and beautiful visuals. Having the Progenitor's tech sitting in a capsule hanging in the Lagrange point of two black holes is awe inspiring, especially when we learn that the Progenitors may well have created this whole system themselves, just to hammer home how incredibly advanced they were. And, of course, the capsule's bigger on the inside, being merely the entry point to another dimension (where have I heard that one before?) There's a bit of confusion about all this though, as it's also said that the 24th century scientists were responsible for putting it there, which doesn't really mesh with everything else we learn.

It's inevitable that both Moll and Michael will throw themselves across the threshold into the other dimension as the penultimate cliffhanger, but the world they find is nothing short of spectacular. It's reminiscent of the timeless realm of Interstellar, but with some logic to its construction even if we have trouble following it. The idea of the Progenitors having access to a limitless space containing hundreds of worlds is fantastic, and suitably epic for the final discovery. 

However, it all falls down a bit with the final test, which falls into the perennially annoying, ludicrously simple maths puzzle variety. I realise there were other tests of character beforehand, but this simple brainteaser is what convinces the Progenitors that Burnham has what it takes to take control of god-like technology? It's also disappointing that the terrifying threat it poses is apparently little more than growing a clone army. Surely they could have come up with something more imaginative?

We've known for the whole season that eventually Burnham would find the supreme technology, just as we've known that she would inevitably decide it was too advanced and dangerous and that there were just some things mankind was not meant to know, etc. There's only one way stories like this can go, and this duly went there. All fine, all so predictable. Overall, though, it still worked for me, largely thanks to some genuinely nice moments between Burnham and the last Progenitor. (It is frustrating, though, how Michael is constantly fretting about getting out and saving Book, when the alien keeps reminding her that they are outside of time and therefore can take as long as they like.) 

One thing I absolutely adored was the revelation that the Progenitors didn't create this technology at all, just found it along with all the worlds it contains. It's continuous creation, all the way back to the dawn of time and maybe beyond. This brings to mind Pratchett's undersung classic, Strata, although that wasn't the first to use this idea (and subverts it anyway). In any case, love it.

There's a lot going on in this episode, good and, if not bad, then frustrating. Culber's miraculous spiritual experience post-joining is just remembering a few numbers that the Trill scientist handily left in his head. I enjoyed the final defeat of the Breen, using the spore drive to just dump them out by the edge of the Galaxy, even if the science was a bit ludicrous, even for this series. Still, I hope they don't show up again one day, brimming with godlike mind powers thanks to the Galactic Barrier...

After all the excitement, we get what is basically a series of epilogues as they try to wrap up everything. I'll admit, I punched the air when Kovich revealed he's actually Agent Daniels from Enterprise. Very silly, yet absolutely perfect. David Cronenberg doesn't much look, sound or act like Matt Winston, but he did say he's "lived many lives." Perhaps he regenerated? Saru and T'Rina's wedding was suitbaly lovely, even if we didn't see as many Vulcans or Kelpien as we might expect, but is was good to see some old faces again. Then, at the very end, we get a beautifully acted moment where Burnham and Book finally make up for good. Lovely.

Except that's not the end, because one last, very long epilogue was recorded after they learned of the cancellation. This jsut about works. It's too long, for sure, but this little peak at the 33rd century and the much older Admiral Burnham's life is pretty satisfying, even if she does have the same neo-Luddite retirement dream as every other Starfleet captain. Bringing them back to Sanctuary Four, with Book's alien conservation projects, is a nice touch.

What doesn't quite work is the final fate of the USS Discovery itself. Short Treks' "Calypso" was the highlight of that brief series and left us with all sorts of mysteries to ponder, and notably didn't quite line up with the direction that Discovery eventually went. While a nod in its direction would have been nice, trying to explain it all away ultimately leaves us with more questions than answers. Why does the ship need to be returned to its original state, with the "A" scraped off an everything? Why does Zora, a sentient being we might recall, have to be dumped alone for untold decades as part of this mission? How the hell does anyone know about someone or something named Craft turning up at some point in the future, to do something or other? It just doesn't quite work.

Overall, though, both the epilogue and the final episode as a whole manage to tie up this season, and the whole series, quite satisfyingly. This has probably been the best season in Discovery's run, and it's a shame that it had to get canned just as it got the formula right, but better to go out on a high.

Other bits and pieces:

• Book and Burnham's son is called Leto and is a captain in his own right. He's at least in his thirties, so this section can't be set any earlier than the 3220s.
• As for when "Calypso" is set... it still isn't clear whether Discovery really was hanging around for a thousand years, or just made to look like that by being reverted to its old design. The latter seems more likely, but it could still be a good while before Craft turns up. If she does sit there for a thousand years, it's set no earlier than the 43rd century.
• Culber gets a Bones-ism: "I'm a doctor, not a physicist!"
• Kovich/Daniels has Geordi's VISOR, Sisko's baseball and a bottle of Chateu Picard in his collection, making him look like the galaxy's biggest fanboy and tealeaf.
• Tilly basically outright says she's sticking around for the Starfleet Academy spin-off, and no surprises there.
• The planetary landscape filled with fields of flowers is beautiful... and I reckon it's Lurglestrop from The Smeds and the Smoos (the finest science fiction story of our time).
• The Breen apparently practise polyamory and enjoy oil baths. So now you know.

TREK REVIEW: DIS 5-7 & 5-8

 5-7: ERIGAH
 5-8: LABYRINTHS

Two solid episodes that ramp up the tension now that Michael Burnham's mission - and Star Trek: Discovery itself - are running out of time. I find I haven't a great deal to say about these two; they're extremely competently made episodes with some tight direction, some very nice performances from the regulars and nothing too unsual or experimental. There are some intriguing additions to Trek lore, with a real sense of history being built up. This latest series has felt connected to the wider Trek universe in a more organic way than in previous seasons.

"Erigah" works well due the continual increase in tension. There's some decent action, yes, but it's the gradual ramping up of the state of emergency as the Breen come after L'ak. We know this isn't going to end well, and there's a sense of doomed inevitability about the crew's attempts to stave off the upcoming conflict.

There are two threads to "Erigah" (I wish they'd made up a different word. I wondering who Erica is). Primarily we have the stand-off with the Breen, revolving around Starfleet's holding of Moll and the terminally injured L'ak (and whose fault is that Michael?) Making L'ak the Scion of the Breen Imperium, heir to their throne, is maybe a bit much, but it gelps up the stakes even more. Primarch Ruhn will stop at nothing to have him back so that he can use him to take overall power of the Imperium, with the erigah as the perfect excuse to pursue him.

There's some lovely work by Eve Harlow and Elias Toufexis. They completely sell the unique bond Mol and L'ak share, a love that unites them even across two very different species. Harlow, in particular, excels at the quieter, more anguished moments, far better than her gung-ho bad bitch persona, although it does suggest that this is just a front she puts on to survive in the dangerous world she inhabits.

Also shining in this episode is Callum Rennie as Rayner, who gets some deeper backstory here. We learn that Kellerun was conquered by another Breen Primarch in his lifetime, leaving the planet wasted and his family dead, among many others. It makes sense that Kellerun would be in the Breen's path, just as it makes sense that Rayner's been to the Badlands. They're all part of the same area of space, the DS9 neck of the woods. Rennie gives a very believable performance as someone trying to keep it together when faced with the people who destroyed his world as "collateral damage." From what we've seen of the Breen so far, you can't help but think his hatred of them is understandable; L'ak is the only one we've seen who has any redeeming features.

While it seems pretty brutal that Starfleet hands Moll over the Breen, it's hard to see what else they could have done. Frankly, the Federation were pushing their luck holding her and L'ak at all when the Breen demanded them. Still, Moll gets on fine, at least as far as the next episode.

The other thread deals with the mysterious metal card that they apparently picked up when they got the most recent puzzle piece. Stamets, Tilly, Adira and Book (for some reason) work on this clue to try to find out where the final piece is. This is a lot less engaging than the A-plot, but it has its charms. I love the idea that the Betazoids use what is, essentially, psychometry, imbing objects with telepathic impressions that can impart information. The reveal that the object is a library card is lovely, as is the entire aside with Jet Reno (still the most watchable character in the entire series thanks to Tig Notaro's perfect delivery), who used to peddle books for a shady antiquarian (blatantly this is Pelia from Strange New Worlds). So it's off to the Eternal Gallery and Archive for the final piece of the puzzle.

"Labyrinths" is a much calmer affair, although there's still a building tension as the Breen are never far away. It's fun to visit the Badlands, realised in a truly astounding set of visuals that are fully in keeping with its appearance on DS9 and Voyager, but more intricate and dynamic. The eventual reveal of the Archive, nestled in the eye of the storm like a castle beneath the clouds, is absolutely beautiful. 

It's pretty obvious that the Betazoid book will aslo be telepathic and draw Burnham into a mental exercise. While the script continues to remind us that Burnham is under threat while she's in the mindscape, it still feels very leisurely. Martin-Green plays it all very well, particularly Burnham's mounting frustration that gives way to calm acceptance. The tests surrounding the clues are becoming increasingly esoteric, but it at least means each step feels earnt. 

David Ajala gives a beautiful twin performance, as both Book and the avatar in Burnham's mind that takes his shape. For the latter he affects a subtly more proper accent and careful enunciation, which fits in nicely with the quiet characterisation, not to mention the Time Lord robes he's kitted out in. For the former he gives it his all when confronted with the clipping from a Kwejian world root, one of the last remaining pieces of Book's homeworld. I get a feeling this will tie in with the Progenitor tech's ability to recreate life and ecosystems (if they remake the planet Kwejian in the last episode I will not be at all surprised). Ajala gives a beautiful performance as Book is overcome with emotion. Not for the first time I feel that he's better than the material he's given deserves,

However, the stuff on the Breen ship drags the episode back. It's the only thing that really lets this pair of episodes down. The Breen politicking isn't all that interesting once you're in the middle of it, and the fact that the Breen all look the same and sound very similar makes it next to impossible to follow who's talking. It's even more difficult to tell them apart when they're speaking Breen, but it's at least alien and threatening, unlike the bickering in slightly modulated English.

Moll performs a classic bit of turning-the-henchmen-against-the-main-villain, but it's still hard to credit that she's seemingly managed to put herself in charge of this faction of Breen. Still, it should lead to an interesting final confrontation as we approach the grand finale.

Oh, and Reno should have a spin-off where each episodes shows us a story of one of her historic odd jobs.

Character points:

• Yeah, T'Rina speaks Breen. You can't get anything by her.
• Is Saru even in this show anymore?
• Reno used to run a bar making cocktails called Seven of Limes, and worked as an engineer for the Hysperians, the Ren Faire-styled human colony to which Billups belongs on Lower Decks.
• Pros to having an English actor on the cast: getting to hear someone say "shite" on Star Trek.

Alien life forms:

• Betazed had no colonies in the 24th century.
• The Breen, it appears, engage in scarification to signify marriage.
• Hy'rell, the chirpy librarian lady, appears to be an Efrosian. This species, also known as Atreonids, appeared in the original cast movies; notably, the Federation President in Star Trek VI was Efrosian.

Shippy-ships:

• Ships seen in "Erigah:" USS Locherer, USS Credence, USS LaMar and USS Excalibur-M.
• The Breen dreadnought is ridiculously mahoosive.

Dialogue disasters:

 "Labyrinth... labyrinth... oh, it's a maze!"  Well done, bullet.

TREK REVIEW: DIS 5-6 - "Whistlespeak"

 A nice change of pace this week after the heavy lore and grand revelations in "Mirrors." "Whistlespeak" is a leisurely,old-fashioned episode that, in its own way, calls back to years of Star Trek storytelling with the sort of straightforward Prime Directive story we've seen many times before. There's nothing much here that's new, with the story suffering from the same sorts of issues these stories often have. The aliens are extremely human-like, their society feels sketched in, and they speak in an overly formalised way that can rob scenes of urgency and impact.

Still, overall this is nicely done. While they're lumbered with some stilted dialogue, the guest cast is uniformly solid. June Laporte is the standout as young Ravah, who's likeable enough that it's genuinely unsettling when they willingly going towards their death. It's also a nice touch that Laporte, who is non-binary, gets to use they/them in the episode. The Halem'nites explicitly recognise three genders, so just because they're at an earlier stage of development doesn't mean they don't get to be progressive. I'm sure the anti-woke crowd is spitting blood again.

There are other elements that add to the reality of this world. Cloud seeding with silver iodide is a tried-and-tested method of rain generation, while whistlespeak itself is used for long-distance communication by cultures all over the world. The sonic treatment that causes the elder woman to cough up the dust that's ravaging her lungs is more questionable, but there are similar techniques used in Asia with anecdotal effectiveness. It's a great moment, though, with the Starfleet interlopers shown that an allegedly primitive culture have achieved the same results as their high technology has.

Indeed, in spite of some very impressive tech on display here - I particularly like the contact lens tricorders - there's a nice theme of there always being someone more advanced elsewhere. While the Federation has technology that looks like magic to the Halem'nites - and has done for at least eight hundred years - the Progenitors have tech that massively outstrips them. The Halem'nites worship the creators of the weather towers as gods, but it's not really much different to how Starfleet look at the Progenitors. Again, this is wellworn stuff from classic Prime Directive stories (the good ones, at least), along with the resolution. The Denobulan scientists (a nice bit of detail) who installed the weather towers saved the population from drought, but altered their social development for centuries, leading to a religion obsessed with blood sacrifice (albeit in a terribly sanitised way). Burnham's interference is less a breach of the Prime Directive than partly putting right an earlier breach, much like many of Kirk's actions back in the day.

As for the regulars, it's very much a Tilly episode, with Mary Wiseman providing the heart and humour of the episode. I like that the bigger girl gets to be the "queen of endurance" here. The script takes pains to remind us that Tilly's now a teacher, obviously so we're not surprised when she goes back to the Academy (and to star in her own series, almost certainly). She shares great chemistry with Laporte, as does Martin-Green with Alfredo Narciso as Ravah's father Ovahz.

Back on the ship, outside the main storyline, the focus is on Culber, as he tries to come to terms with his experience as a temporary host for the Trill scientist's consciousness in episode three. This ties in nicely to the spiritual themes of the episode, and the balance between science and faith, Culber being convinced there's a physiological reason for his changed outlook and feelings. Stamets is being extra spesh and can't fathom why his husband might feel different after a) dying and being resurrected and b) hosting a centuries-old alien consciousness. You'd think Hugh would speak to Adira more about it, given that they still are hosting a centuries-old alien consciousness. There's a strange story thread involving Culber's spending time with a holographic recreation of his abuela, which, while not entirely unheard of in Trek terms, veers close to Black Mirror territory when he starts considering recommending it as therapy. I expect he'll be essential to the eventual realisation of how to use the Progenitors' tech once it's finally recovered.

Bits and pieces:

• The eventual discovery of the next puzzle piece was ridiculously throwaway - basically, "Oh yeah, we beamed into that other tower and there it was."
• Although it's generally assumed the Denobulans joined the Federation, there's no indication of whether they were members when the towers were set up on Halem'no or if they are in the 32nd century.
• Why is the control unit for the tower miles away in the woods? And why is it leaking radiation? The Denobulans really didn't think this through, did they?
• Given that they were looking for planets that suffered droughts in the distant past, I wondered if they'd be heading back to the Crepusculan planet Burnham and Georgiou visited back in the first episode of Discovery. That might have been a nice touch, although they'd need some serious disguises.
• Kovich gets ever more mysterious. He owns some 21st century legal paper, for some reason. I'm wondering if it's going to turn out he bought it firsthand in the 2020s and is either a time traveller or hundreds of years old.
• We've got a full list of 24th century scientists involved in the mystery now: Jinaal Bix of Trill; Vellek of Romulus; Hitorishi Kreel of Denobula; Carmen Cho from the Mirror Universe; and Marina Derex of Betazed (named after Marina Sirtis, I assume).
• Culber's Mofongo con pollo looks delicious and I am definitely getting some plantain and having a go at making it.

TREK REVIEW: DIS 5-5 - "Mirrors"

We reach the halfway point of the final season with a strong episode that gets away with being the second bottle episode in a row by keeping things interesting with character moments, lore revelations, new questions and some effective action sequences. Yes, it's a bottle episode but it doesn't feel like it, partly due to cleverly pinching the sets from another series. There will, however, be a couple of big spoilers below the cut.

TREK REVIEW: DIS 5-4 - "Face the Strange"

Time travel episodes are always fun, and "Face the Strange" is no disappointment there. Even though this is very clearly a bottle episode designed to recoup some of the money spent on the big flashy openers (and no doubt even bigger, flashier series end), it uses its limitations well. Given that Trek has done a lot of time travel episodes before, including a number that saw a central character jump back and forth through their timeline, there was inevitably a sense having seen this before. However, the episode embraced that, referencing a number of the time travel episodes from the past, but in a natural way. There's a bunch of references in this episode that make the die-hard fans go "aha!" but just sound like extra colour to the less obsessed viewer, which is exactly how it should work.

In the past, when we've had a character thrown back and forward through time, it's generally just been them alone, struggling to convince the rest of the crew of what's going on: Picard in TNG "All Good Things;" Kes in VOY "Before and After;" and Chakotay in "Shattered." The last of these is perhaps the most similar to this, as there the ship had been thrown into different points in its timeline, while here, Discovery itself is being thrown back and forth, along with its crew. The difference here is that we have two characters working together, able to rely on each other, with Burnham and Rayner unaffected thanks to being mid-transport at the very moment the time bug activated. (I love that: time bug. Such a simple, silly sci-fi idea, and such a simple name. On Voyager they'd have called it a "chronometrically disaffected ambulatory arthropod" or something.)

As much as the central idea of shifting everyone else along the timeline doesn't quite make sense (where do all the crew in the future when they're dead? Where does Airiam come from when it goes back to the past?) it's a fun conceit. It's also a good opportunity to finally have Rayner work closely with Burnham and adjust to her way of doing things; had he carried on being an immovable object much longer, he would have become tiresome. 

The episode is focused on the theme of change, and it works so well as a final season instalment it's surprising it was written before they knew the series was ending. Like "All Good Things," this works well because the series has changed so much since its first series. Having Rayner there, who wasn't present for the earlier episodes, underlines this, as he can act as an external observer to remark on this. In this regard, it works better than Voyager's "Shattered" or the quite similar-in-approach "Relativity" (down to the scene on the ship pre-launch), where, in spite of characters coming and going, the series still felt much the same throughout. 

It's gratifying that the writers remembered that Stamets exists slightly outside of time, calling back to the previous (and somewhat better) season one time loop episode "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad." This allows a third character to take part in the time-jumping proceedings, but in a different way, affected by the jumps but aware of them. (Really, what the hell happened to him while they were all dead?) It was nice to have Hannah Cheeseman back as Airiam one last time, and frankly they should never have killed off a character with such potential. Ultimately, the time jumping was worth it to see today's more measured Captain Burnham face off against her angry, chip-on-her-shoulder mutinous younger self. (A touch of the Captain America fighting himself there; she could do this all day, I bet.)

Other bits to like: breaking the warp bubble, with a (fairly solid) conception of what suddenly falling out of warp would do to time relative to the ship's frame of reference when back in normal space; a fun, gruesome intro that shows us just how much Moll and L'ak aren't to be messed with (and that L'ak seems to be the more timid and weary of the two); the jump forward to a ruined Federation being genuinely eerie and foreboding. The only disappointment there was that it really looked like we were getting a glimpse at what led to the situation from the Short Trek "Calypso," when Discovery has been abandoned and Zora has continued to evolve into a sophisticated but lonely being. While clearly that scene was meant to evoke the mini-episode, it can't be related, showing instead a different future that, presumably, Burnham and crew will avert.

A fun, standalone adventure then, but it'll be good to get moving with the main storyline again after treading water for an hour.

Looks back and forward:

• Pretty clear now that the Breen are set to be the big bad this season, being the main bidders for the Progenitor tech and out to take down the Federation.
• We get the briefest of glimpses at a 32nd or 33rd century Breen ship.
• Kind of nice that we see the Golden Gate Bridge out the ship's window while it's still in drydock, seeing as it was the Breen who destroyed it 120 years later during the Dominion War.
• I thought the lizardy guy who sold Moll and L'ak the time bug looked familiar, but couldn't place the species. Apparently he's an Annari, from the Voyager episodes "Nightingale" and "The Void." It makes sense that this far in the future, species from all over the galaxy can turn up.
• Also from the Delta Quadrant, the time bug is Krenim technology left over from the Temporal Wars. Again, it makes sense that the Krenim, who used time as a weapon, would have been involved in that.
• This might be the first time travel episodes that sees someone jump into the middle of an earlier time travelling trip.
• We got some great Linus and Reno moments in this episode.
• The title's a nice nod to the episode's theme: a line from Bowie's classic "Changes."

TREK REVIEW: DIS 5-3 - "Jinaal"

After a cracking start to the season, the third episode of Discovery is a middling affair that suffers from trying to do too much at once. There are four main plotlines running through this, which is perfectly fine for a serialised story, but as Discovery is trying to manage that middle ground between serial and episodic adventures, none of it really gets the time it needs to thrive. 

The core story, the quest for the galactic puzzle pieces, brings us to Trill, a planet we were bound to go back to if only to resolve Adira and Gray's story. There's some deep Trill lore on offer here, with the zhian'tara ritual performed again - Jadzia Dax manifested all her past hosts using this on DS9, with Ezri using it to manifest her murderous past host Joran in the final season. Those weren't portrayed in the same way, and what we have here is closer to the original, with Jinaal, the first host of the Bix symbiont, taking control of Culber's body, while the rickety old lady its currently inhabiting just waits for permission to die.

Thanks to Wilson Cruz, this is by far the most successful part of the episode. He gives a great performance as Jinaal, tweaking everything about his persona: his vocal delivery, his walk, his overall demeanour all change, without ever being over the top. Jinaal is a lot of fun to be around, thoroughly enjoying the chance to go for a walk in the wilds after centuries of being a quiet voice in a succession of heads. This section of the quest really is contrived: those old scientists expected someone to find the previous clue, decipher it, find the right Trill who by rights was expected to be dead by now, seek out their new host, and then go on a perlious journey, survive a monster encounter and still be around for when said Trill reveals the next piece still, luckily, hiding under a rock. 

Still, it's fun, with Michael and Book making a good team as usual, always more enjoyable to be with when they're out causing trouble and getting into scrapes. It's always strangely reassuring to be back in a quarry standing in for an alien planet, and while the big, bug-like monsters are a little generic, watching the adventurers work out how to deal with them while trying to not get killed is entertaining.

Meanwhile, Adira and Gray have an awkward but mature conversation about their relationship, which basically means they break up. This is the least interesting part of the episode, in spite of Blu del Barrio's attempt to keep things engaging. Even the chemistry they shared with Ian Alexander isn't present anymore. Frankly, now that Gray's got his body back and isn't haunting his ex, he's not a very interesting character. Gray and Adira were once two parts of the same being, which was fascinating and gave the actors something to work. Now they're in a long-distance relationship and it's not working for them or the story.

Back on the ship, some more engaging relationship antics are going on with Saru and T'Rina, who have their first, very mild-mannered argument, when the Kelpien does the man thing and tries to protect his fiance's interests in the political arena. This rather overshadows his first assignment as ambassador, but Doug Jones and Tara Rosling keep the scenes working. T'Rina is proving to be a quietly awesome character; she should end up president of the whole Federation. I suspect we'll see something of the Vulcan purist threat in future (a 32nd century follow-up to the "logic extremists" of the 23rd, I suppose).

Finally, a fun but throwaway run of difficult introductions for the backbenchers and job-doers as new Number One, demoted Commander Rayner does the worst breaking-the-ice in workplace history. There are some entertaining titbits in the crew's 20-word party pieces, but mostly this is here to expand upon the friction between Rayner and Tilly. It works, but feels unnecessary to the story, using up time that might be more valuably spent elsewhere.

That kind of sums up the episode. It all works, just about, but the balance is off, and while it's a perfectly watchable instalment, it's a bit of a disappointment after two such strong opening episodes.

Nods, winks, promises and revelations:

• It turns out that Trill spots form a pattern that is unique to the individual, like human fingerprints or Saurian ridge scales.
• On the subject of Saurians, they are revealed to reproduce parthenogenically, with Linus having already laid several clutches. Perhaps he'll look up his descendants.
• It's said that it's unusual for a Trill symbiont to live 800 years, but not unheard of, with Bix having made it this far but being on its last legs (metaphorically speaking). That almost seems included just to rule out a new version of Dax, who would be 1273 by now (the Dax symbiont was born in 2018, fact fans). We can hope though.
• Starship watch: we glimpse the USS Locherer, named for the late cameraman JP Locherer who got a nod in the credits of "Red Directive." 
• The diplomatic conference includes a Selay, who previously appeared in the first season TNG episode "Lonely Among Us," as well as in a couple of cameos since. This one is quite redesigned since then, and is reddish instead of green.
• There's a second mention of the Breen Republic, so I'd not be at all surprised that those icy bastards turn up this season.
• Next, we're off to Tzenkethi space - could we finally, after all these years, find out what they actually look like?