Hegemony
Hegemony, Part II

Hey, Joe. Hi. So, we are back again in person, recording this extra long episode of Untitled Star Trek Project. I had no excuses, did we? Not to watch 2 episodes back-to-back given that you're with me for a week. That's right, that's right. The fact that we've only watched 3 episodes of Star Trek this week is astonishing. Well, we've done some Andor, we've done some DVD extras, base precincts, dating naked, obviously. Only a 3rd. It's a little bit much to take. But we are here to watch Stranger Worlds. We're watching the series 2 finale and the series 3 opener. It's a 2 parter called hegemony and hedgemony part two. Glad you clear that up because I keep saying it wrong. Hegemony. Hegemony. There's some ways of saying, you can say hi Germany as well, if you like. I probably will. Yeah. So series 2, episode 10 of Strange New Worlds, and on the 10th of August 2023, and series 3, episode one, didn't air until this year. So 17th of July 2025. What occurred? I think probably the writer strike, but also just, you know, like with Star Trek the Next Generation, it didn't just run like non stop for 26 weeks. It would stop in the middle of a season, go back and do some repeats and stuff. And so it was probably just a few months between parts one and 2 of best of both world. It was the summer. I know that because I remember it was an interminably long summer between fire and whatever the conclusion was. Disappointing. And it's funny that we should mention best of both worlds because of course, this is very similar. It is their kind of attempt to do best of both worlds. We've already had a gone episode, which was series one, episode nine, which we've already covered on untitled Star Trek project which culminated in the death of Hammer. Oh, yeah. So good. Was that the end of the gore one? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That might be my favourite episode of Strange New World. It just got everything, isn't it? So this is a little bit different from that. The scale is a little bit bigger and there's, you know, more human beings involved, but it is very similar. The cliffhanger is a big moment of decision on the bridge and part 2 ends with them ordering the enemy to go to sleep, which is how they defeat them. I thought, you know, you and I, we've talked a little bit off mic about comparisons with this and best of both worlds. And I think in some ways, It's utterly the reverse of best of both worlds in that, I really think, uh, best of both worlds has got a better 1st episode, and I think Gemini has got a better 2nd episode, the best of both worlds. I do think they both have a really lame conclusion. The same conclusion at that. And now this version is more visually stunning. You know, it's it's got more excitement to it in the Best of Way of Wells. just data going, go to sleep. and before all go to sleep you know? But it is similarly. Okay, we're in this mortal danger, that threatened the whole of the federation. and then it's just gone. Yeah, you know? But our 2nd episode is fantastic. And just on a production level, what they're doing with Strange New Worlds, it's just out of this world. like it is relentless. And I know we're doing the 1st episode first. My only issue with that is, and I even think you could sense it from me, somewhere around the middle of the 1st episode, I was sort of sinking into my seat going, where's the going? Why aren't they tearing people apart? And then suddenly they were sort of trapped in one room and it's supposed to be a really tense, but there's no gaunts at the door. No one's battering to come in. No one's behaving in a particularly, we're in a tense situation way despite the appearance of viscous amounts of blood all over the walls everywhere. Then somewhere in the last 10 minutes, that 1st episode just kicked into gear, like big time. And from that point on, I think it's probably sprinting to its conclusion. I think the big thing that happens is, of course, the destruction of the Cayuga, which is Marie Battel's ship, and they come upon it. So they arrive after it's been destroyed. And so then you've got the stuff about where are the survivors of the Cayuga, where are the 1000s of colonists? Proper stakes with the crew. Yes, it's people that we really care about. Christine was on board the Cayuga. Just remember because she was being taken to her internship with Roger Corby. So she was travelling with Marie and we see her at the beginning. And so we have Spock worried about Christine. We have the captain worried about Marie. And then Laan, Amabunga, they're all... captured by the corn at the end. So there's sort of personal stakes everywhere. The colonists. I don't give a fuck about those people. It could be the people of Veridian 4 for all I care about. We do see them and I do think that opening with the colony where it is like the backlot and it's a small American town, which is sort of classic Star Trek. you know, if in Star Trek, the Next Generation, you can have the Scottish theme park planet. Here we have the American small town colony, which I just think is absolutely adorable. And it means those visuals rather than being in various space places in like a diner. There's a wonderful scene in the street where they hide it beyond cars. from the gall, so going past. It's just something we can relate to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rather than stock colony set, number 18. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But I also think too, that one of the things that Star Trek Strangely World stars, and I think I come at this is a Doctor Who fan, that Doctor Who is always the thing that you started watching when you were tan, wherever we were up to. And so, you know, the answer to the question, I'd like to watch Doctor Who. Where should I start is always, well, what's on when you're tan you know? And so Doctor Who doesn't remake stories, but it does redo things for each generation of its audience as it goes through. We get classic based under siege in every era. Exactly. And there's a... And I think what Stranger World stars in season three. It kind of redoes arena, only with better storytelling, better production value, and perhaps even a better story in some ways. We do the holodeck goes wrong episode, which is an episode that's additionally about Star Trek as a franchise and it gives all of our regulars a chance to play different parts, which is fun. Not sure they've ever topped our man, Bashir, though, Varmonos. Oh, they do borrow the our man Bashir idea of using everyone's transporter pattern to get the regulars into the holodeck simulation. But that is less of a holodeck goes wrong and more of a let's have fun with bombs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, this is, I mean, you know, this talks about Star Trek as a show and gets to reflect on the quality of Star Trek and where it comes from and stuff. So it's a little bit more, it's got a bit more to it, a bit more going on than previous holodeck goes wrong episodes. And I just sort of think that's a thing that Strange New Worlds does, that what it does is really classic Star Trek things. It sometimes pushes beyond the boundaries with the musical, for instance, or, um, you know, with next year's puppet show or with the documentary. It's a gone episode. I mean, I've never seen a horror like it. No, no. So it does push beyond what Star Trek's done before, but it also redoes the things that Star Trek does because it's still Star Trek and there's a generation of, well, probably not kids for Strange Worlds because it's super violent. Oh, they love that stuff. What are you talking about? Yeah. But, you know, like a new audience comes along and this is the sort of thing that a new audience appreciates and understands, and it offers, I think, a sort of path to go back to the old stuff from a point of view of being familiar with what it's like. The 2 things I notice most, right? When I was comparing this to, God, I have to keep saying best of both worlds. Yeah, we'll see abbreviation of that. B-O-B-W. B-O-B-W. Oh, go, I'll try it. is 2 things. One was in best of both worlds. is like, you know, the greatest threat to the ship. One person may leave, you know? In this, it's the whole fucking crew. you know, there's a few people left on the bridge because they've got to sort out the problem. But otherwise everybody is in a situation of extreme peril. Yeah. And that's a huge step up, you know? Because in, there's just loads of people standing around in rooms going, what are we going to do about that one person? You know, who's in trouble? So the stakes just feel much bigger here. The 2nd thing is, and it's something we've talked about before. It was just the presence of so many amazing women in this show. And I was looking at the bridge at the side of my God, there's more women than men there. Happy days. No wonder this is such a fucking competent ship. There's no Tom Paris, Jakotay, you know, getting in the way. Like, they wouldn't have dreamt in the day to have given Troy or Beverly Crusher. The stuff that they're giving the ladies to do in this two-parter and it's a shame and you and me have talked this week quite a bit about Star Trek. And at one point I just turned around and said, well, they wasted them for 7 years because they could have had, they could have. They chose not to because they did with DS9, you know, give the women big, strong, meaty action parts in, you know, tense episodes. And they just chose not to do it. And the fact that it's just not even a consideration, in part two um, Erica has literally had a fucking hand half eaten off, and she's there at the bloody console, blood dripping out everywhere from where she's been stabbed, and she's the one that saves the day, and it's just amazing. I love seeing just women on top in this show being incredible. I realise now that's the other half bar audience got an apologies. Star Trek fans. Don't like that sort of thing, do they? Well, I think it's well past time that it happened. And even when we think about Deep Space 9, which probably, well Deep Space 9 and Voyager both do a passable job of giving women things to do. But remember, there's only 2 female regulars in Deep Space 9 and only 3 in Voyager. I'll say it again, though. I always say there is such an extensive female bee cast in Dear's mind. There's always women about. Yeah, that's right. But here, like I actually really worried for Erica because I was aware that the Gorn kill off hammer. They play it like that, and they do. She goes, I did good, didn't I? Or something like that. You're like, 0 my god. that's all right. They definitely know what they're doing with the genre. And there she goes. You're not getting rid of me that easily. like that, it was great. And the other thing that this shares with best of both worlds is that it has consequences. And best of both worlds mostly clears those up in family, but obviously they're still there in 1st contact. I need to clear this up with you, though, before we go in, all right? You can tell me about some of the consequences of this, but I've not seen the season ahead, okay? So try and tiptoe around the biggest sporters. I mean, I'm figuring that we're losing Marie this year. I don't know why and I don't know that that's true, but I think we are. And there is ongoing stuff with Marie, like she isn't just completely cured and we never speak of it again. She's wonderful. And she stays on the ship for much of series 3 recovering. You're going to play out that relationship. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And she's lost her ship, obviously. So she's recuperating on board Enterprise. They are Pike's best scenes. Where he goes up to her at the end and says, will you just let me hold you, please? I was, you know me, hard as a rock. And I was holding back tears at that point. In fact, she has in the following episode a great scene with him which is almost the opposite of that, where it's, I'm going through this myself. I don't have time to kind of baby you as well, which I just thought was fantastic and very real, like really real. I thought both of them did a great job. We do need to baby men a lot. that we expected of. So like that was really good. We discovered the consequences for Erica at the end of the next episode and then that plays into the other big gone episode in this season, which is called terrarium towards the end of the season and there's another great kind of remake of a Star Trek staple. So this is important. It does have consequences. And the other thing that we haven't mentioned is, of course, the introduction of Martin Queen as Scotty takes place. Sublime. That accent is so sexy. And no, wait. What's the woman's name with the crazy head? Yeah, Pellia. Fuck me, she's my favourite character now. That crazy accent. she does. She's so eccentric, isn't she? She don't care how weird she is. Pairing them up is all that stuff where she's going to, you know don't promise nothing. And then he comes in, pike. And she goes, so, well, get it done. Don worry. We got it. Scott is like, what are you doing? I mean, if that's a double act going forward in free. They've got... gold. Yeah. you know. You know the classic Trek double X. They weren't really well, don't they? Spock and McCoy, Cork and Odo. Too fucking Neelix. Sometimes, yeah, sometimes. And this looks already the 1st steps out of the gate, that is going to be an absolute classic double act. funny. One last thing I wanted to talk about is that I think both best of both worlds and hegemony. Okay, I sound pain, but I think I'm there. get wrong. is how they present the danger at the start. One comes in before the action hits, and that's hegemony. We're on the planet and suddenly there's a huge shadow in the sky and then we cut to the credits and the other one comes in after the colony's been attacked at the start and we just and I do think that's a better one actually because it's so striking, that visual of the entire colony scooped away from the planet. No one wants to show the bloody... And because I don't think as much money as there is here for Strange New Worlds. They still have to choose very carefully where they use because those scorns cannot be cheap to CGI in with political actors. I think, though, that you want to hold the big confrontation to the climax. And so going around the confrontation at the beginning, because what happens is that Cayuga is attacked, but we don't get to see it. So while the opening credits are on, I guess, the colony gets attacked and invaded. The Cayuga is destroyed. And then when the Enterprise arrives by the time they arrive. takes a while, though. We're on the Enterprise for about 10 or 15 minutes. Then we go down to the planet and the Gaunts are on the street. You see them, but they still don't actually do anything. So it isn't until that last 10 minutes where I actually felt, okay people are in genuine danger. I know people are dead around them and there's, but I thought I need to see characters in some sort of physical danger. And then I think episode two, like the 2nd episode is pretty relentless. I never stopped being in danger in that. Oh, wow, I mean, I suppose we'll be better. watch it. We was talking about that whole thing. The beginning, the middle and the end. And we haven't pressed play yet. No, I thought let's do that. Let's do that Okay, I'm ready. All right. So then in that case, I will count us in. Five, four, three, two, one, and we're off. Here we go. Yeah, love the item. I might just get this out of the way now, actually, before we even go in. I don't want to hurt you, Marie. You mean more and more to me. I was just singing that. I kept hearing it every time she was in danger. I felt as if they were sort of warning us by saying he cares about it. Yeah, yeah, that she'd be in trouble. So we've got a previously we've got a flashback to the um, uh, the series one episode and then after that, as usual, It's just interpersonal. Lots of character work. Well, we established Spock and Christine. We establish, Hammer. Oh, lots of blood. Do we see the blue man getting split apart? we do? Yeah, there it is. He falls to the ground. And the golden puppets. Oh, lots of explosions. That was such a... It's the best. It's the best Stranger New World episode. Look at that man being... Jesus Christ. Notice that we start with the sun. And then we pull out to the colony, the planet, you know, a patel going around the thing, but the sun is what solves the problem remember? Well, the sun's how we start the 2nd episode as well. Yes, but we established the sun at the beginning. This is just glorious, isn't it? Like this small town. It's like a backlot or something and it like flower. It's just terrific. Just made idyllic. made to the plate. Nothing awful happens to these people. Oh, that child has just had the best haircut ever. It's a handsome guy in the background. I refuse to believe that Middle America, even on an alien world, is this happening? wonderful, isn't it? I like the thing they've all got secrets on each other. Oh, look, Christine's with this little girl. She's giving injection. There's your shots. There's the odd space thing. Like, you know, like that might be for charging the cars or something. But it's wonderful. I just think that's a great choice. It's so much better than just having a space colony. Do they do space colony sets in strange new worlds? They don't have stock. Oh, no, they just use a wall, don't they? The wall effects. Yeah, they go down on the planet. Oh, what a shame. I wish I do one before the end, you know, but just show you right it can be done really, really well. But having Christine on board the Cayuga raises the steaks and it continues, you know, it means that she is going. And I think she does tell Spock at some point, you know that I'm still going for 3 months. Actually, um, now I'm watching episode one again, after an episode two, he does look a bit younger, doesn't he? Men do tend to age a bit in 2 years. So they're FaceTiming each other on their iPads at the moment aren't they? How are you holding up? Well, I'm not bursting into that. I don't want to hurt you, Marie. I think they do a great job of establishing this relationship. Look at that. It looks like the TNG things I used to take down with the suitcases. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's all space luggage. Spacelash. It should sort of hover on the ground, you know? Oh, I miss you, he said. Oh, look, she's so gorgeous. too. No, the date and time. Is that so hard to say? wonderful, is it? That's wonderful, Bless. It is a thing with men, isn't it? Well, not with ours. We're quite good with our emotions, but a lot of men. Yeah. See, too, they've lost contact. I can't remember. That present she gave him? Yeah, it must be. Oh dear. Now, wait, the great shadow in the sky comes over the whole spaceship, it looks amazing. Like, I think it is a really striking image. Is it just a special effect? imagine they just... No, you have a look. Have a look. It's coming now. So that's the shuttle with Scotty on board. Oh yes. Yeah, crash landing. Yeah. He's improvising us, we speak. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's all right. So he's about to learn it. You see all the debris for him as well. wonderful. And then he, look, we get his reaction, we get her turning around and that... That's just a massive gone spaceship. Yeah, but what sort of shape is it? I can't tell it's got a big cloud around. It's part of the thing. You can't tell. And then it's just a shadow coming over the... Hegemony, their sort of version of Federation. Is that okay? Is it a made-up word? No, it's a real word. And it means domination through power, essentially. What's it usually describing? They do have the European Hegemony in Star Trek, the next generation. They mention it as one of the power blocks. Oh, now, I must say, I did feel sorry for number one and Ahura, who were just stuck on the bridge... And Mitchell as well. Yeah, but she got a line. I was quite happy about it. She got more lines in this than I saw Linda Park get in several seasons of Enterprise. So I was quite pleased about that. I think Erica so pretty. Yeah, she's great isn't she? Yeah, well, she's wonderful in episode 2 of it. Yeah, she's really good, isn't she? bleeding to death. And now he's handsome, Robert April. Yeah, but what a prick. He goes, no, no, no. Sorry, there's no stakes for the Federation, so let the colony all die. Get out of there. What? Yeah. Yeah, you've got to have someone hampering him so that, yeah. But Picard would have gone, oh, well, okay. With a sad spot with the pikes, like, no. I think what's great too is that these guys are friends, like they call each other by their 1st name, he's cre- well, he's calling him captain, but, um, well, the admiral. Yeah, the admiral. He calls the admiral. Oh, okay. Usually down the way round, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, Chris, but, you know, um, so they're friends, and we saw him in episode one of Strange 2 Worlds. He comes and picks Pike Art. I'd say he's a step up, obviously, from Admiral Ross. but he's a step down from Admiral Nachev, where he's still the best admiral ever. He's still more handsome than the chair. No, but she's terrifying. She is. Oh, shits his knickers. Every time she turns up. Oh, what about that admiral who tells him to shut the fuck up or something in the car? She's only in one. Yeah, that's true. She is pretty great. Oh my god, so they're all waiting. what's happened They're going around the corner now. We know something awful is going to happen because we're getting so many extreme close-ups of everybody. And it happens before the credits. I thought that it happened during the credits, but in fact, they arrive and the Cayuga has already been destroyed and that's what we go to credits. And yeah, see, it makes it so personal for Pike. And, you know, Star Trek the Next Generation starts to get there in series 3 and obviously Strange New Worlds has that, you know Shelby Riker thing going on. But this, you know, has gone even further in that direction to make it more personal for Pike and Spark. The best of us needs the Shelby Riker stuff, because it won't lean enough into the threat of the Borg. Like, it needs stuff to pad out the time. And it does it does tie the 2 together and like in episode 2 where they're working together. like it is a very satisfying character piece within best of both worlds, but like it is sort of filler in the 1st episode. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it works because we actually have been asking that question about Riker as well. Now, did I notice that in the title sequence here that the special effects change between 2 and 3 and between one and two? What the hell is that? And within series three. There's a there's a number of episodes of series 3 that dispense with the titles altogether for various reasons. I think for just one part of the title sequence, yeah, within all of this sort of visual beauty that we're seeing and rocks tumbling around and great poetry in the sky and things, that we should just go past like one stock colony, say, or something really boring from the 90s to make the country. I mean, what's that? That's Starbase one. The great crystal domes of Starbase one. my god. There's a forest in there. There's a forest as well. Do they go into that? I don't think so. Oh, maybe, I don't remember. Use the wall, people. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But maybe they do. A wall can handle a crystal forest. I think they on Starbase one for most of episode two. I didn't sing the music. I really sad. I'll do it for episode two. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank God we're doing two. I would have made you go back and start again. Yeah, the whole source has been torn apart. I've not seen that much devastation since the defiant was ripped apart and changed the face of evil. Very small. It was. It was great though. Yeah. And so we know, we've mentioned, I mean, we know that Christina was on board the Cayuga as well. By all accounts, she is dead right now until we know any better. They're trying not to say that because he, because I think Chris says we know, like, he knows that Batel was calling him from the colony, like FaceTiming him from the colony. And there's a, there is a little running thing about hope here as well. Like he says we should keep hope. Like, that happens a couple of times where they refer to hope. Oh shit. Did you see that line? I'm sorry. The field renders us beaming anyone off the planet or off the ship. Well, of course, we had to get that line. Otherwise, why won't we doing that? But it's important for the plot because, in fact, what they have to do is disable the big gone tower that's preventing communications and transport that becomes our goal and remember what ends up happening is Pellia puts rockets, like they put rockets on the, on the Cayuga source. Oh, yeah, around it. It's just astonishing how, you know, during the stories where we really need the transporter. There's always a space reason as to why we can't do that. But it is consistent with what we had before. Remember last time we had, we, the Gorn couldn't be detected by the ships senses or by the tricorders. I may have been destructed by all the dripping viscera of that episode. So that's definitely a thing you have. It's hanging from the ceiling at one point. so great. So the Gorner communicating with them. It's a message saying, saying, that's it. Yeah. That basically means you're fucked. No, it's this map. And they send them a map. It's just a JPEG. The Parnassus beat. The Parnassus beat. Well, Parnassus beat is the name of the planet. Okay. Oh, actually, no. So hang on. Oh, hey, hey, it does look a bit like that in two. No, it's bigger into. We'll get there, but because 2 years pass between one and two, um uh, I think in best of both worlds, Beverly gets a different wig for 2 and she suddenly has longer hair. Excuse me, Bonnie in the rally. Oh no, there's a bit of that in Doctor Who as well. Um, uh, but, uh, what, just look at the light coming in the wind. I sorry. It's just so just we've watched a lot of 90s trek lately where no light comes in the windows. And look at practical lights on the sand as well. Well, that's appearance on the sand. You get a bit of that in DSN, but you just don't get the light coming in the windows. They never should have moved DS9 away from Bayshore, you know. It would have been fabulous to have the sun coming in all the time. Oh, God, I think Kirk's so hot. That weird caterpillar he's got on his top lip. So remember that when he appears in TOS and he's killed at the beginning of an episode of a TOS episode. Oh, yeah. And he is played by Shatner with a moustache, a fake moustache on. And so they, they had, there's been dialogue about the moustache when he 1st, he's just grown it at the beginning of series. This TV show. We know the fates of all of these people and it ain't good for any of them. Well, in fact, one of the things, no, look, the only person who... Pike is going to end up disabled. Kirk is going to end up dead. Yep. This is Sam Kirk we're talking about. Or, um, Nurse Chapel is going to end up a simpering idiot. number one's going to be written out completely. Yeah, that's right. Oh, I suppose Ahura and she'll be aged up and she'll lose her memory and various other things will happen to her. speak very odd languages. Yeah, we don't know what happens to Arn, and because we don't know what happens to Erica. I thought that maybe we're going to lose Erica. I think generally what's going to, you know, really the 2 that they can, but they're not going to do that. I think the, you know, this is a show that we'll just keep the regular cast generally all the way. Well, this is why then we need our Maurice and things. So actually, people, we could genuinely lose. Yeah. Otherwise, you know, there's no snakes at all, is there? Well, no one's going to die ever. But, you know, not like a good death? No. Why? I don't think killing regular characters is all that cool. Like, what's the point? It's a TV show. You don't watch Battlestar Galactica then. Yeah, yeah, I've noted them regularly over there. I mean, you know, it's a TV show. We know they're gonna win. Like, there's no stakes. It doesn't have to be peril. I'm wondering whether they're going to get out of this. Love Bad Star Galactica. Oh, great death, though. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I think this isn't the sort of show that does that. You know, and the hammer thing was a last minute thing. Hammer was a semi-regular character, but they decided it would be more impactful if they put him in a bit more throughout the season and then kill him off in nine. To be fair, though, we've already learned with Star Trek, you know they're doing the Doctor Who 2010s thing of, you know, Keller regular. No, we like them, bring them back, uh, because that's what happened to that doctor in discovery, you know, and into shacks in lower days. Come on. They got away with that one. That did happen to, no. We don't talk about it. It tried so hard to find out. Do we ever find out? No. Oh, great. It's a rewriting of the timeline. So Erica is so funny in this because Pike goes to her and says, you know, you've been begging me to be in a landing party and she just sort of does this fixed smile and says, yeah, why have I been doing that? And of course, this goes very wrong for her? Anybody, right? You listen to me, you Star Trek fans. That suggests that, you know, all the 90 stuff was better than this. Go and watch that scene in Best of Both Worlds, where they discover the wreckage in part two, right? And we can barely afford 3 ships and a few poems. Just a minute ago. Look, we're sort of going through all of this twisted debris with the shuttle. And then I think we go straight into the like the decks of the ship in a minute. Yeah, that happens later. Incredibly good. I've said to you several times this week. TV is cinema these days. Yeah, yeah. Some days it's better than cinema. And I think occasionally Strange New Worlds is there. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think consistently it is, you know. I did feel, though, I will say, in the middle of this episode where they're in that boarded upset for 20 minutes. I was like, okay, this is where we're saving the money. You suggest I exaggerate on these things. I know. It's for a while for a while. extended dialogue scenes, but that's where they're saving their money. So they can impact with all of this stuff. Yeah, yeah. It looks great. I mean, when the ball, the Gordons do show up, fucking you. There's a puppet that's unbelievably gray. Yeah, yeah, yeah. More puppets, I think, absolutely more puppet aliens. He pops up, right, running the camera and scream. The audience is so funny I love how panicky Pike is and how into it, Erica is. This is so great. She's that one who's always at the front of the roller coaster isn't she? with her arms and legs out. But everyone else is kind of unhappy. Have you seen what they're going for? I would be kind of... You're going to be on a plane soon, all right? If it's doing that, should be unhappy. Cut to Erica smiling. I mean, Kirk looks like he's about to break out his spare chuddies. Straight into the shop. Now, we've done this a lot in this trek going down in a shuttle to a forest and it always looks pony as hell. Did you know that? They usually do it. They usually do it through the front screen. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you see all the trees coming out. I mean, that's a cliche where it goes down out of shot and then pulls straight up like that's, but it looked great. Yeah, I think you're right, you know, that is why I like this so much. It's just modern day 90s track, isn't it? Just done really well. I mean, look at this. The ship flew over that river there and you saw that it's reflection. water. It's just very good. Oh, this is really... So this is the stuff I really love. It's where the character's feelings break through. And we've just gotten to a point where they're so good at writing this stuff and the actors are so good at act. I mean, this would have been interminable this scene on TNG. In fact, what's really good about this, Spock's not betraying any emotions, we've already seen, I think, there's a kind, like, but Una is visibly sad. She's gulping, you know, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and Spock is so young, he just seems so young compared to her you know, like there's a kind of maternal or big sister thing happening here, which I think is beautiful. A flick or of emotional on his face. Yeah, he's playing it like, like a Vulcan. but a Vulcan restraining emotions. But look at how it shot as well. He's looking up at her, as if she's an adult and he's a child. And we're looking at her up at her and looking across all down. Yes. Yes, he is. It's beautifully done. But he's just doing business. Like he's just doing space. We could do a scan. We could do this. There is a 58% chance that she could be alive. Yes. Yeah. And then, but then we discover that Sick Bay's gone. I mean, come on. just admitted all this and now you're showing the ship torn apart on the screen. Oh, and look, both, like, Mitchell and beautiful, beautiful Neota but, oh, and she puts, oh, that's so heartbreaking. That's really good. It's the restrained emotion. Yeah, more than... Yeah, sucker in stuff. No it's really well done. And again, just the personal stakes are so well done. Now this is location, right? I think, well, that looks like it must be the war. Because it's nighttime. So it probably is just shot inside. I thought, and I'm assuming they've explored this sort of La on gaunt stuff quite a bit because I thought there would be more of that in this, more backstory. In fact, next week, she is visibly relaxed because, well, because she feared would happen just happened and she survived. And even that, you know, the tightly, tightly plaited hair, the tightly knotted plaited hair starts to relax, and in fact, it's the 1st scene where she's teaching Spock to dance. Okay. Because she's a dancer as well, just like Gatesy. And there's... Do you know her? Friends with Marina. Um, and she, they do some great dancing scenes in series 3 and she's super chill and relaxed in the next episode. Remember when I'm off piece now. You remember when Jacqueline Pierce relaxed between 2 seasons of Blake 7? I think it's for the same reasons, do you? No, I just think Christina Chong had her 1st orgasm. No, I think she's... No, that's not a thing. That is located. No, I think, I mean, I don't know. They can do fire in the studio, can't they? But it does look like it's, I think it's a controlled space. I think you're right. Yeah, it's just the block. It's the lighting. Like, when they were outside earlier. was so clearly outside. I know, I think it's the same place. Oh, there's a, there's a gone. They're sort of padding along like dogs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're babies, isn't they? Yeah, yeah. And they make a comment about that. Like, why are we being attacked by the guy? Do you think it's possible to domesticate a gone? I think they have it as a pet. No. No? There's a gone wedding in low decks. So I think relations with the gone normal life. How did that end up? All the guests. They just go through a gone wedding at some point. They spread their eggs. Oh, it's wonderful. No. Oh, God. People, you listen to me. Do not get captured by a gore. You're going to end up in a horrible pupil sack and eaten away and turned into sludgy human food. Yeah, yeah. Or you have legs, eggs laid. That's what I love about this. is that they dare to be a bit visceral. Yeah, yeah. And Trek just isn't that usually. I mean, you can see, you can see that the Borg with all of those tubes and things. Do you know what I mean? Try and are trying to do that. They're a little bit inspired by alien. Absolutely not correct. I think the scariest thing you ever see with the Borg is that child in the drawer. The baby. Yeah, that's horrible. But, you know, like you said, there's blood everywhere. And it's, yeah, gloopy and horrible and acidic. you know what I mean? It's nasty. So we get we get a fair bit of gone action here, but they don't see... Oh my god, that was a puppet. There's a puppet straight in front of them. Oh, and they're fighting each other. That's right. eating each other. Yes, you know what I would have liked is, oh, oh, we'll come back to this. I would have liked them to be sort of like, you know, battering at that door and trying to break their way in. and occasionally you see the arms scrubbing about and just a bit of that. and I kept thinking, when's this going to get really sort of panicky? It does. I don't think you want to make it easy for them when the go notice them. You don't want to make it easy for them to defend them. That's true. Yeah, you know, they have to be hiding from the gone otherwise. It just meant I kept waiting for to feel anxious. Well, we get a little bit of gone action at this point in the episode, but then we don't get it 1st bit. She goes, don't sugarcoat it. I love a crazy fair. Just say it how it is. right? Jesus, wonderful, that character. Does she get an episode of her own? No. Well, she should. She should. Her and Scotty. Give him an episode. Send them down on a planet and just apple 2 of a minute. But she is in it quite a lot, and there's a hilarious gag about her absence from an episode, which we'll talk about later. You know, you've been staying in my home now for about a week now sort of not too dissimilar to this room, is it? Sort of viscera dripping about the place. It'd be a cleaner. No, not mine. Blood splash. Actually, there is blood on the wall downstairs. I'll show you later. Slow dose. Anyway, sorry, sorry. We're in the barbershop, aren't we? Is that where we are? Oh, well, that little boy was so happy. Yeah, yeah, with his haircut. Shocking. Yeah. Oh, no, does that mean he was talking about? No, no, no, no. Yes, they all, he went out, he finished. No, you don't know. He left. but we don't know who's been killed. I like to think all the children have been killed on the planet. No, no, that would get a name for myself, you know. So there's only, I think, you know, we don't dwell on it, but there are only a few 100 colonists that are beamed up. Of how many? 5000? Yeah, and the rest have all been... Well, they don't explicitly say it or dwell on it. When they you say beamed up, though. You mean beamed up and put in no sacks. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's not a happy ending by people there. I mean, there's one man, it's a whole face. Yeah, yeah, some of them are killed too. So that, there's the viscera. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like there's blood dripping from the ceiling. And that's... A lot of blood. Do you know, that's not a lot of this, right? I don't think that's an adult, you know? No, I don't know. I don't know what that is. It's only because you're a teacher. I'll do it. All right. So we are about to meet Scotty. So they've detected a signal that Scotty has set to trap the Gorn. They've detected it as a group of people and so they're going to try and find them and then they meet Scotty. And so Scotty, like, I don't know what sort of backstory there was for Scotty, but here they're establishing the idea that he was on a ship called the Stardiver, and he's the only survivor of that. The only... Is he's in season one, isn't he, Scossi? In the 1st episode? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. So you probably didn't have much of a backstory. No, no. It just went around murdering women on that planet. that's right. That's all he did. Oh, here he is. Just like the way he just pops his head out and goes, hello? And I really like him. So he's a bit of a dork. And he's clearly a sort of, like, they really lean into the engineering genius thing and the ability to improvise and staff. He's also... Oddly sexy. I can't, it's not just the accent, which is gorgeous, right? But he's he's not heavy. But he's got a little bit of, he's a little bit babyfaced and stuff, which is kind of huge. It's perfect. you know what? I always thought that Peg did a good Scotty in those movies. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is better. Because this is an actual Scots movie. And you just can't fake an actual Scotsman. And the, the, he gets to speak more Scottish, like, because because Scotty has such a terrible accent. So Jimmy Dewan, master of dialect, Jimmy Dewan, does such a terrible job with Scotty's accent to the point where they make fun of it in series one of Picard. Remember the emergency engineering hologram on Las Arena, had a shitty fake Scottish accent just as a child. many accents. Oh man. I mean, that is clearly a man that has been brought up on haggis Glenn Fiddig and Nips. You know what, nips are? Oh, they're parsnips. Parsnips, yeah. Yeah, nips and tatties. Okay. But he gets to speak properly Scottish, which is really cool, and there was even one word later in the dialogue, but I have no idea what it is. But he needs to be instantly likeable. Join this crew because it's such a likeable crew and they absolutely get it right. So Martin will end up. So his name's Martin Quinn I think. He goes with an army of space lizards coming after me. I can be quite creative. We'll discover that next episode. They're coming. They're coming. We're all gonna die. Do you know, that might have been a way of getting my schedule insulted, you know? Put her guns on my head, so I'm going, okay. I'll do the calendar So now we're in the we're in the diner where we are going to spend quite a bit of time. There is, yeah, okay, maybe not 20 minutes. There's at least 10 minutes here. Now, we are 27 minutes in. We're halfway through the episode. But we haven't actually had a single bit of action yet. No. And it doesn't hit until about... Well, we had if we did fire. We did kilogorn youngling and stuff. But we are still investigating and setting up the situation. And even in best of both worlds, there's the whole sequence where they go to the Borg ship and they all activate and come after them halfway through the episode. So there is a bit of there's a bit of Borg action. Yeah, I always think... No, but I always think those scenes where they wander on the Borg ship and they're unnoticed that that's cheating and kind of boring you know what I mean? Wow, I'm sort of waiting for them to wake up. But they don't, they can't do this, the quick jumps and the scares and things. That shot there where that we start behind the counter and the camera goes up to see them in their booth and below the counter is just handprints and stuff coming in blood. No, they are doing a good visual representation that there is danger. I just want to see some danger. Yeah, yeah. And interestingly, this reminds me so much of the Buffy episode spiral. Do you remember where they're inside that shape? And it's all boarded up. But in that, I don't know if you remember, the monks of whatever they record. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're like battering them all the time. and they're getting visibly claustrophobic inside. But I, like I said, I don't think you can have... I think that they just need to be undetectable by the by the gone rather than fighting them off here because, um, you know, that diminishes them as a threat. So you see the morning shelter in place signs that are up there that must have just been activated throughout the colony when they when the, when the thing happened. So here. Why don't they have security things on these colony planets? Why don't they have shields and things like that? Yeah, I don't know. Of course, a lot of people, 5000 people. Yeah, I know, but like, I don't know, why don't we have shields? Oh, I don't have gourbs coming over my town, tearing me apart. They didn't think the ones are coming. It's funny how we can find excuses, you know, when it's strange new worlds. Oh, it's Star Trek, we have to. Yeah. Frequent, always. Yeah. So he's sort of setting up some of the stuff for the 2nd episode. Yeah, so we were setting up, we set up the stuff about the coronal mass ejection, the thing about the star thing, which is the thing that solves the problem. We set that up and start talking about that here. This was the closest planet I could set down on. Well, that's very unfortunate. Well, it was covered in corn. No, but remember they were attacked by the Gorn who were on their way to this planet. And so he ends up going to the place where they end up and he actually says, you know, like he actually says that. So that does, you know, that makes sense. They encounter the Gorn while they're on their way to Panassa Speed. Yeah, 3 words there. I think it summed up Scotty quite well. I cannibalise. He does that quite a lot, doesn't he? Yeah, no, I think they set the character up really well. I'm really delighted. I don't know who else. Like, will we ever see, um... I was super... Please, this scene was in it with the doctor. Otherwise, he literally does nothing in this episode. And it happens quite a bit and I know he gets his own episodes, but I would like to see a bit more of him. such a great actor. He's really good. I think he's just a lovely voice. I think this scene is great too, because Mbenga loves Christine as a colleague, and Erica is her friend, and like this manages not to get mawkish, but look at them both. Oh, yeah. And of course, Christine and Moveanga had passed together in the war. We've seen that a couple of times. See, I do, I do love this. I love all the character scenes in this. They're just so good at it. But again, I was watching them sort of laughing and smiling and I'm like, no, no, this should be tense. Why isn't this tense? Well, because they think they did that in series one, episode nine you know, they'll never top that. Jesus Christ. So they're doing something different here. The thing with people bursting apart. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just the best. Ah, dear. Oh, look how slowly the camera's going around the table. This is how you do it, Discovery. How are you complain about the camera moving at all? No, no, no. I don't mind it moving as long as it's stately. Yeah, you know, when it sort of zoom in. Remember that enterprise episode where it was zooming around the table. for no reason. because that was a really boring scene. They were trying to... She's got, what's her name? Carol Kane, she's got the best look. I love her crazy hair. I think too, having someone, like she's 5000 years old, that character we discover sometime during the series, we know that she's very old. And so having her be a crazy old lady, which is basically also what she plays in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, is actually pretty great. Clearly her niche. She's very good at it. And she's really, really good in there. She's got a really nice scene voice as well. And weirdly, they barely give her a line in that musical unless she was dubbed. I don't think she was dubbed. think that was her. But she sings some of the best lines in status report. Yeah, she's really good. Why are we singing? But look, they're excited. Look, they're excited about coming up with a plan as well. Like, I think it would be miserable if they were all constantly downcast and they're not doing that. So this has been geeking out. I get that. But that, you know, we've gone from them smiling on the planet to them geeking out here. Where's the danger? Look how pretty Ahura is. Like, she's super into it. So Spock is going to rescue. So that's right. So the plan is to affix rockets to the Cayuga and then drive it into the into the Gorns thing. And of course, down on the planet, Chris and Maria are also trying to destroy that corn beacon thing as well. But because we're heading towards the end of part one. It's all gonna go horribly wrong. Well, they do actually manage to do it, but then the gorn turn up in force. I don't know how they achieved the impossible of even peck, but somehow he looks so hot with those ears. eyebrows and that ridiculous haircut. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think that's impossible. Impeccably. Yeah, he's really good, isn't it? Yeah, yeah. That's a bat joke. I didn't even notice. Oh, did that look? Everyone's a fucking sleep. Everyone asleep. For God's sake, sleep at some point. We are 33 minutes in. And literally no one has been in danger yet. Come on. Well, they were firing at gone in the street. They were walking past like puppies. was hardly any great danger there. So now we're going now we're going to sneak off with Scotty to go to his shuttle, which crashed in the cold open in order to get his gone transponder. Do they know he's going? She gets woken up and the 2 of them decide to go together, which I actually really like. Like she kind of gives him shit for saying, I'm just going to go and rescue you all. And she says, well, I'm going to. She's like the Petty Johnson Gerald, the female in the relationship that ain't taking nervous shit. That's right. And I'm not gonna, you're not doing this gallant thing where you go off and say this. You're not being the man. Here I'm coming with you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And he looked... She smiles at him and raises her eyebrows briefly and stuff. Like, there's real warp and affection and there's Scotty, who's over there. Look at him. Oh, this is a bit awkward. didn't mean to eavesdrop. It's so cute. Do you want to come too? It's like, no, I'm coming. I'm terrified, but he's gonna do it. Now, um, that actor. What's his name? Martin Quinn. He can roll his Rs, like a brother. But in a way that Jimmy couldn't. Well, so terrified becomes, I can't even do it. Yeah, I know, I'm not gonna do it, but I can do it. But, um, it's, it's, like Jimmy's, Jimmy's like someone who has heard a Scottish accent described to him over the farm. rather than... It's not me doing well. either But, um, look at this. It looks great. Hang on. wait. So the ship sort of spins around now. We go round the destroyed saucer and then we get to see inside the deck. Fucking out. Look at all the consoles. Yeah, yeah. And now we're actually, which is just obviously a redressed. Any rocks? Yeah, yeah, yeah. sort of pipes. Oh, there's some sort of mud. Yeah, sprayed around dead people. I don't have mud on a starship. No, the rocks are actually things and there's a reason for them. They're explained in the lower decks episode, why the firecats are full of rocks. I imagine that the gore on fire, sort of great rocks. loads of mud. That's why there's mud everywhere. Yeah. So we did say there are oxygen. How many people survived on the ship? They're just her. Oh, God. Fuck's sake. Really? She's in the opening cred? Yeah, but a handful of people. There might be other people alive, but then they crash the cayoga into the... There's someone waving a hanky. Let's just say, it was on the enterprise when Troy took it down as well. And this is the final time. Oh bless. Yeah. That would be very funny if they told a story about an episode that's on every crash spaceship that keeps surviving. So she's plugging in some things. So this is the point where we start to get some gone. Now, this and when he comes along with wonderful, it sort of flies through on his spaceship, a space suit, sorry, a bit like, I kept saying, it's a bit like a layer in the last Jedi. gracefully going through space towards the ship. Well, or Michael in the 1st episode of Discovery. Do you imagine a few people have hissed? I mean, mentioning that in the last year, I probably hope so. I hope so. That's a great moment. W wonderful. Yeah, so there she is. Looking through the window, is it? I mean, you wouldn't do that in 90s, would you? you couldn't even manage it. No, no, wait. Do you not remember when Aaron went to the airlock and saw that shuttle in Npulk Nore blowing up? It was quite impressive, actually. But I mean, you know, there's dirt on the window and stuff like that and the camera's moving, you know, like all sorts of things that you couldn't do. There's her reflection and we actually pull focus away from the end of right. Oh, this is hilarious. The torch runs out. She's doing SOS with the torch and it only lasts like 2 glass. yeah But look. Don't you just want to sing? Flash. He saved every one of us. And he's brought a suitcase with him. Fuck his arse even looks good in that space, doesn't it? It looks magnificent. I hadn't noticed that I'm riding up behind him. Do you want to go alongside? No, I'm fine back here. Thank you. It's on the whole of the ship. I mean, we just do this as a matter... I know, that's right. Back in the day, it was a whole episode. Do you remember the Enterprise one? Oh, yeah. Seven years of Star Trek the Next Generation and no one wears a spacesuit. It's amazing. Although, it's nice when Amanda and Q pop on sort of some, so that time does happen. It's a terrible special effect, though. I know, but what's he doing? So he's putting things so that they can control their rockets. There you go. He's putting your technical descriptions. She's plugging things in. He's putting things... Yeah, well that's it. why techno babble is not nothing to be afraid of. No, but they don't they don't use things usually. Oh, here he goes again. He's very graceful Oh, I love it. It comes gliding upside down. He's smashing the window. Look. Calling out. It's wonderful. Hello, Spark. I realise things ended on bad terms, but I'm the one survivor please. Remember how hot I am. She's beautiful. Well, is that blood on the wall there? Well, she's got it all over her top, look. Oh, that's, you know, she got smashed against the bulkhead or whatever. Look at this. Yeah. The crash, the crash thing, and then the and then the big gone thing that they've made. They can do people now, right? CGI. Yeah, they're doing so, yeah. Long distance shots of vistas. Yeah, better than they could in Enterprise anyway. They were people. That was more, for God's sake. Oh, I just love how dirty it all is. It gets even better in episode two. It's dirty and mucky as well in episode two. Okay. We're about to almost have some danger in a minute. Yeah. But when it comes, it's amazing. So, again, one of the things that this show relies on, and I don't think it's, look, there's a scene here which is just basically a scene from... Oh, my God. So, here it is. It's great, isn't it? It looks like the puppet from Spaceballs. Yeah, but it's all covered in Sworfiga and stuff. Oh, wonderful. I love it. You can buy those. Oh, I would, I would absolutely go... And just put that in his face and go, And of course, at the same time in this plot, which is the Christina, we're about to get our 1st corn as well. Sorry, this is for those that can't see this, an enormous gaunt tail, has just flicked into view as Christine goes along the corridors. It's a tail that is inside some space armour. Because the goner wearing... They're squeezed into their own little spacesuits with lights. So the face is all lit. Look at her. It looks great. It's all in silhouette here. Yeah, yeah. Oh, he blinks inside the space. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And bears his teeth and stuff. I didn't realise there was anyone still alive. And again, because she's encountered the gone close up. You know, she's properly scared. She's not getting to speak or anything. Do you imagine sort of, you know, I know they eat the ones that are dead. Are they quite genial with each other, look gone? you imagine? No, the youth, the other language, don't they? Yeah, and we will learn more about the Gorn later this season because... So he's CGI now, the one in the shuttle. yeah, yeah. We sort of jump between the two. We don't really get to... close-up that was CGI. That's the puppet. The alien shot. It was the Ripley alien shot from the side, but with Marie. Yeah, from Alien 3. But there's shorthand storytelling because we know as the audience because we've seen Alien 3. We know that she's infected now because the reason that the alien doesn't attack Ripley in Alien 3 is because she's carrying the... A pike's like, no. This is not the motor... What her eye of the tools? not to attack and she's trying to, um, Scott is still looking awkward like that. Yeah. I'll go over here and fiddle with some things while you have this fire. I haven't been with a couple. And I just fiddle about with the wires, please. While they have the fight. He's got great body language, Scott. He's really good. He just does comedy so well. I just want him to look awkward in every scene. I mean, he doesn't too, when she's putting all those huge expectations on him. Why the fuck did you say that? Right. We're 35 minutes in, we are cooking with gas now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So Spock is, we're on the bridge, aren't we, of the Cayuga at this point. Look at all these ladies. There's not a man inside. Oh, no. Just like the console there. because Spock's not there. Yeah, I know it's great, isn't it, in the background? It looks like a snake, doesn't it? rearing up behind him. But they are leaning into the making it look like a xenomorph, you know, from alien, aren't they? Why wouldn't you? Yeah, well that's right. Come on. I mean, think of that terrible mask, fucking TOS. Oh my god. I just love he's in a space suit. Yeah, it's so camp. Yeah. Better than the cocktail dress. Oh, maybe not than the cocktail. And we're all in 0 G. We're doing a fight in 0 now. So everyone's sort of dancing around balletically. We do a trying to pick up the gun before the other person picks up the gun. use your fucking tail. For God's sake, you got a massive tail. Just whip them. And it sort of serrated as well. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It looks great. It's like a bread. Oh, okay. She's got to try and get the phaser, but it's floating over there. Yeah. And meanwhile, the gorn is using its tail. It's trying to strangle Ethan. Right in this script. so excited at this point. Will she reach the phaser? There we go Yeah, it's like outside the window. Like she has to... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actually, you know, I don't think that works, you know. If you kick against space, you just keep going. You don't stop yourself, can you? She's holding onto the railing. Oh okay. All right. Yeah. No, she shot it. Now we're going to stab it in the face. Yes, yes. Yes. Finally, some... So he does stab it and then all the air starts coming out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He's got a sort of cracked visor now. And she stabbed it. He stabbed it in the head as well, like it went into his head. But also he can't breathe. Which is, you know, I hear that as an impairment. But I love how they do this because it's still, you're like, it's not dead and then we see the moment it dies. No, she doesn't need to. Look, it's about to die. There it is. And it's limp. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's really good. But its claws are still just... gently. Yeah, here we go. Why did the corn run away? I don't know. Scott has got a torch in it. No, it's not a ball. He's not participating in this conversation. the way he's sitting. I'll come and sit on your Scotty. I'll keep this straight. Yeah. Murray's so the actress. What's her? She is called Melanie Scroffinol. Melanie Scroffenol? I think you're fabulous. Yeah, she's awesome. Yeah. She's really good. And you know what I really love as well is how Anson Moun. He never, ever steps on his female costars in a way that inadvertently it does happen in 90s trek. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, not with Nanar, obviously, but with some of the female guest characters. Okay. Well, think of Robert Duncan McNeil. They're flying out of the theme. Talking of Robert Duncan McNeil. It's day of honour. Two spacesuits in space dancing around together. And their faces are there that, like, it's clearly them. It looks amazing. Here's to tell you now that day of honour did not look like it. It's just a load of black stars. unfortunately. But it is this exact shot. Well, I think it's allowed, right? They've just escaped. They still, you know, they still like one another. Oh no, that ensign's just waking up in the ship. Yeah, shut him down. Hello? Is anyone here? That would be me. I know. We get a call back to Hammer. Yeah, of course. Yeah, he was a wonderful character as well. I wonder why he left. Oh, I think that he was never going to be a... Oh, they're just like working with him. Do more than one. Come on. No, no, yeah. I think he was just going to be in some and then they put him in more, but the idea was always to kill him off. Well, if you're a great deaf, will you? And it is a great ass. Yeah, yeah. And that's the 2nd gone episode, remember? Because there had been a previous one that season where we don't see the gore, they're just in their ship. But he manages anthem. He manages to be a pike, a great leader, right? But also really sensitive. It's just, it's such a well-gaged performance. He never, he controls the room when he needs to, but he never steps on what everybody needs to do and he lets them all contribute. Yeah, that's right. It's the it's the suggestions and we just go round the bridge and people off suggestions. You remember Bacula in Enterprise. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fucking stepping on everyone. That's being a pompous prick all the time. Like we've learned some lessons. Oh, what's happening? So we are, what's happening? Are we beaming, who are we beaming up? Are we beaming Chris and Marie? No, we're beaming Spy. Oh, okay, we're Beaming Spock and Christine. I keep forgetting her name with the long hair. Who? She just left the room. Pelia. Hell yeah. She walks out of a room as awkwardly as my mom. Did you see her? about her is idiosyncratic. I love her. This too. It's okay, Spock. You don't have to apologise. We'll just do this thing. We'll worry about it later. Can I have one snog, though? No, it's so pressy when they snot together. She has a fiancé. Oh, look, here are the colonists of Veridian 5 being beamed up by... Look at that big. No, we're just beaming up these people into Sick Bay. Look at Scotty. Oh, that too, when he just hugs her. It's so good, isn't it? Do they save all the colonists at the end? They do. They get beamed out, but a lot of them are dead already. We don't need those people. You know, we need the regulars. Yeah, that's true. And Patel. Bit of a sadist, aren't I? I do like a bit of death in Star Trek, though. It's quite fun. I still want it to be fun. shit when people are being melted, you know? Yeah, I want it to be fun rather than gruelling. What do they do with the melted people? You sort of suck them out with a straw, I suppose. Oh, yeah. I'll give it. Look at Pelia. Pellier and Scotty meeting for the 1st time. One of my best students who sadly received some of my worst grades. I'll leave you to it. is this supposed to be? That's so Scotty. A load of coffins and some rope. Oh, they're great to get that. It gets even better. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, dear. A gone destroyer has just arrived, my God. Look, and they're all coming. All of the going are coming. Yes. This is what we wanted. Yep. Yep. Oh, it's that thing too. They have a score, they're gone. Yes. So in fact, the musical theme for the Gorn all the way through this 2 parter is a musical quote from this, the, um, the score for Arena. Do you know how it goes? I can't remember. Yeah, but I definitely recognised it. So we do get that all the way through, which is becomes the Gorm theme, which I think is pretty great. As memorable as the doomsday machine. It's as memorable as the doomsday machine. It's also as memorable as amuck time as well. I can't remember that one. You know, da, da, da, da, da. Yeah. Welcome to the Star Trek music podcast. Unfortunately, we have a decade off. That's right. Oh my god. The camera went straight through the window. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome stuff. Just look how dirty and bruised everybody is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's really good, isn't it? Mattel as well. Oh, shitting, how? Those eggs are really close. How quickly do they eat through somebody? So she says that Christina says a day and a half? Rocks. Sorry. Yep, there you go. Well done. It's so great. Did you see how many rocks were in the corridor then? Who was that? That's the guy. The only guy on the bridge gets to do it. Do love a slow motion stump. There's lots of sparks. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's proper stuff. Oh my god. Everything's exploding. This is proper cliffhanger pirates. Finally, we're in danger. And it's this sort of, I don't know, like, what am I to do? So this is this is... What's the dilemma? Um, do we, we're being ordered to retreat? Oh, do we leave them all today? What do we do? And then he... Well, we know he's not gonna do that. No, but having him in that moment of crisis and just closing on his face and then we're done. To be continued in 2 years. In 2 years. Yeah. Great. Don't think we knew that. That's not what was planned. God, that was great. That last 10 minutes was fucking incredible. I mean, I will say, I do think is a problem that it takes that long. I know you want a big impact when the the gorn finally attack. Like, when it's 90s trek. Yeah, happy for people to just stand around in rooms talking for 40 minutes. Yeah, that's because that's all we do in... There's no hope for dynamic action there. Whereas they can, though. That horror episode they did in series one. It's from like 10 minutes in, and it's claustrophobic and it's grisly and it's action-packed and people are being dragged down corridors. and I know you can't do that every time they go on appear. But I do think, what, nearly 40 minutes of waiting to get to the real danger that our people are in. That is kind of a problem. But when we get there, now it doesn't stop. Now it's 50 minutes plus of nonstop action. It's that thing which I think is always great, like in a Doctor Who cliffhanger or whenever there's a two-parter, when you come back, the trouble with best of both worlds is, then we lose all the attention. Yeah. The only real tension in two is it's that wonderful scene between Guynan and Riker. Yeah, yeah, where she's going, well, I forward. I'm willing to let him go. Yeah. And he's like, well, I'm not. Yeah. But here, it just gets worse and it ramps up and up and there's 3 parallel plots going. So there's Patel and the eggs. There is uh, the, you know, Laan and Erika and Mabenga and and Kirk on the gone shit. And then there's what's going on here where we're trying to get the get the gone signal sent. And in in best of both worlds, they just send a signal, Picard just says, sleep, and they just send a radio message. Whereas here they have to do a list stellar engine. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Although, do you remember my reaction when we were watching it the other day and I went, what? Every Gorman is gone. Oh, fucking hell. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. genre shows are always good. Can't we just leave a couple to deal with at a later date? Well, in fact, we do see, we do see it going later in the season. They could have done a Twilight Zone style ending, which is one go ongoing left. On the platform. But it turns out that they will talk about this next time because we discover stuff about the Gorn. I mean, what's so funny is how scales change over the years. So best of both worlds, you know, the Borg are going to attack Earth and it's 3 cubes. Yeah, fucking hell. And then we sort of get to do something when we can start doing impressive CGI. And so it's, you know, 1500 Dominion ships heading towards Earth at one point or Deep Space 9. And then here now, it's, in fact, they pull back from the scale because there's not that many ships in the 2nd one, but it's just more visually impressive and it feels, it feels dangerous. You know, because you're there, you're in the wreckage. you're in the atmosphere with that terrifying ship. Yeah, you know. It's pretty great. The 2nd episode, which, you know, I'm already talking about that kind of is cinema. Yeah, 0 yeah. we should go and watch it. Okay, then. I will count us in. Yeah, break on the gore. Go on Gore. All right. Five, four, three, two, one, and we're off. Okay, so the ident. All happening? It sort of got a lovely pride flag going behind it there, doesn't it? Yeah, making the combat. Yeah Batchy. It is badgy. Yeah. Okay. We're going to get a great previously on now. Oh, yeah, look at that thing coming through the atmosphere. The smoke and the ash. Yeah, yeah, yeah. around it. It looks so massive. It's so big. And different. I think that is kind of important. It's the fact that you can't quite see what it is as well. And you've already seen just a normal, you know, a shuttle coming through the air too. Yeah. Okay. So, and there's it looks so great. In the... When we see any in space suits in 2, do we? No, I don't know. don't remember. We do see them, though, when, you know, they get out the sacks and loads of them attack. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's great. Yeah, we do get plenty of... Yeah, that's funny. Oh keep an eye out. I'm not sure whether he gets to be in the opening credits yet or not. Okay, well, he will eventually. In between singing the music. I will take the. We'll keep an eye out for it. Yeah, I know, I know you don't want to see Gaun's breaking out of Marie. No, but I was a little disappointed. Oh, look all those rocks fabulous. No, please, I haven't forgotten that. Yeah, here it is. Admiral April's ordering our immediate withdrawal. It was in the actual previously on. And then they say... Now we get the conclusion and you watch. They just misrememember his orders. Oh, death. I suppose that's a continuity person. Yep, that's how we start. A lot faster. See, the pace now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The giant gaunt ship. So good. I can't quite make them out. Yeah, they, I mean, they whirl around, which is pretty great. And so there's never a clear up or down. And then the gone ship there again is just a strange shape. I do not object to the fast camera work during an action sequence. Okay, especially when we're in space. Here we go. Ahura, repeat his last order. She says retreating rendezvous with the fleet, sir. He gave coordinates, but he did say immediately. No. Oh, really? Because I thought he did. He just said, but didn't he say immediately? That's what the subtitle says. Oh, maybe he's maybe Anson got the line wrong. They're working. The subtitle is like, no, we can correct this. No, they might be working from the school. Maybe talk very quickly about Celius hair. Yes. So, Celia Gooding Jr, as I like to think, Celia Rose is jamming her new long hair under a wig, and so she has this giant... You are right. It ends a bit more dramatic. It goes off at the back, doesn't it? What was that film called? Was it Conheads? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. In sort of a side shop. And there are a few of those. There are a few. In fact, even Ethan's hair is a bit longer than the last episode. Next week, next week's episode, episode two, we get Christina coming back from her three-month internship with Roger Corby, who becomes a semi-regular character in series three. That's a sensible move. He's Irish. Ah, and that gives us time to see... Yeah. Which is great. So she has much cute, she's got a much cuter little hairdo. I mean, I live in England. So I generally age 2 years in 3 months at the moment anyway. So I understand, you know, there's constantly Americans probably age. You know what I mean? Faster on the news. yeah. Yeah, sort of 2 years every day. Yeah, that's right. What's that about paracetamol? Okay. Also, I'm ageing as well. Inertial dampness to maximum. what we want. I will say whilst we were talking about Celia's hair there. Just spectacular... is effectual happening. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, this sounds great. That whole corn field, it looked like a massive octopus. Did you see it? The Enos? Oh. Yeah. I will keep shouting rocks every time I see them. smashing into the ship. This cinema. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what the plan is that they're firing torpedoes into this giant ship, but one has a tracker on it. And so they're gonna be able to track the ship. Do that affect normally when we go to warp? That was quite impressive. What's it called, that sort of pull back and... Yeah, but yeah, yeah. No, it's the dolly where you... The jaws are fake, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. the same time. It was the 1st time it was done, I think. Okay, so we're keeping an eye out. Jess's credit. Christina. Oh, what a fabulous cast. Celia Rose Gooding. Yeah. Fabulous, Melissa Nivia. Who's that? That's um, uh, Vegas. Who's Mabs? Mabenga. There's Martin Queen there. Ah, he's like, yes. played it, right? Oh, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. It's so good. Okay, let's see where we're going new. I love you, I think. sort of the Gothic planet there, which was green lightning. Well, that was kind of boring. Standard Voyager Planet. Well, there you go. a bit of voyager there for you. Oh, this is a bit, boy. Would you go and pass some nice sort of asteroid? No, it's a comet, isn't it? Now we're going through, of course. That's too annoying. Yeah, yeah. Don't tell me these are kisses to the past. Oh, what's happening here? No, they wouldn't have done that. We've had that before. And this look rocks and there's a Klingon going off into the distance. Fabulous sort of tower thing. Water planet there. Yeah. Launch the runabouts. It's a shuttle. It's not a runabout. Oh, look at this. Another shot of a different shot of Starbase one. Why have they got those huge landscapes in domes? So you could go on holiday. You now have to go back to Earth and visit your parents, you know. Right, so wasn't a thing at this point, no? No, it hadn't been discovered. Okay, imagine when they found the sex planet. I bet it was Kirk. Any money. It's a little bit more chased than he gets credit for, actually, I think. We meet a lot of his old girlfriends, but he doesn't get laid. Come on, Chris Fisher. You're getting all the action to direct this time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a different director from the previous one. Pablo Picasso. The USS Pablo Picasso. I would have thought he'd be too cancelled to get a... That's quite a great name, isn't it? April. So there is an Admiral Robert April in the original series and he was the previous captain of the Enterprise. So it's April, then Pike, then Kerr. What does work about these scenes? If we're not going to have her torn apart by the corn. Boo, um, is, I think um, Nurse Chappell thinks that is going to happen. No matter what she's doing. She doesn't think it's gonna work. until she finds the solution. She's like, oh, fuck. Well, also, I think, like this, like, she is so charming. His 2 women, you know, 2 competent professional women having this conversation. It's really, really great to watch. And then Spot comes along. And so even though they've had left things on a bad note, we get them working together to save Marie's life and I think it's just great. It's so good. I just love that these saints must annoy the wrong source Star Trek. And competent women. What's happened to the magic of Star Trek? I don't deserve Star Trek. So, and of course, this doesn't work. She can't be put into cryosleep. She reacts badly to the medication and so nothing is working. Imagine that's cordrosine there. I like the fact it's blue and red, just like Beverly. Yeah, yeah. I love, she's got such a fabulous hypospray too. That looks really good. Her body is rejecting the serum. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, don't tell him. He got his own problems. Yeah, no, I know, but we just have to, we have. She's allergic to the serum. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For fuck's sake. as if my day wasn't bad enough. Kirk is allergic to the serum that makes him not have to wear glasses. Yes, than a day. So before it was a day and a half, now it's less than a day. less than a day. Oh my god, imagine that. What would you do with that day? Well, not a lot, really. Yeah, that's right. I think, yeah. It's what makes the end scene, though, between Chris and Marie. So good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they haven't been together, you know, like I think he does turn up in the middle of it. I would want the pressure of having to save the captain's girlfriend from being eaten alive. Yeah. Well, you know, because everyone kind of matters. I mean, you know, but that's a big pressure. You know? Like, you know, he could probably forgive most mistakes, but if she makes a mistake, Mike, he's so good. He's such a nice man. It would be all right. Entire fleet ready to go. Oh my god, this is massive now. So April's on board, like April's now on board. Because we've had enough breathing room. We've, the Gorn have gone, but we can track them whenever we want and now we get to get Bob on the ship. Oh, these admirals. We'll just do with this one thing at a time. Let's not think about the big picture, you know. I do wish there was a bit of that discovery swear words now. Yeah, you know, you're a prick. No, because in fact, what he does. Remember, he says, these are the regulations, this is the official position, you can't do anything, you know, blah, blah, blah 1000000s of lives depend on us. And then he says, being wimps. But then they talk about what he's really going to do. Like we changed the subject. We are praise. Yeah, which is what La'an said in the previous episode. And it's not just like not doing anything about it. It shows weakness and threatens the Federation more, but basically it looked like Bob was always just going to say, yeah, no, but what are you really going to do? But I do love the message. And what, you know, an old 90s trope. We saw it with Kira in one episode is when, you know, the admiral comes along and says, no, you're not going to do this thing. And then, you know, they go off and do it anyway. I do like that. But here they get permission from April, basically. Like back door permission. Wipe the shit out of them. Yeah, it doesn't quite say that. Officially these are your orders. But he's like, push the line back or something like that. I remember now. But we, yeah, and unofficially. Yeah, so here we go. What's happening here? Yeah, what have you got planned? said, why have I listened to that whole speech then? Just tell me what you want me to do. No, because he's asking him. He's giving Chris's hand. Now he's Hella. and Scott. Oh, this is the best. This is the best. Now, 2 years later we are getting an exposition scene to explain what they're up to because this is nearly 2 years enough. And it's a funny scene in itself. We get that in the 90s when it's just been the summer. Yeah. It's like being back in the lecture hall. and that's what's fun too. I mean, she has literally lectured in engineering generations of Starfleet people because she's so old. First rule, Sky. write it down. There's a reason we track our work no matter what the circumstance is. This thing here. Now this scene is so funny. There are some great scenes here, but his pint coming. How long before you get that working? He's about to say, well, I can't get it to work, and she just immediately says, it'll be there by the time you're ready. Like, well, like... Yep, we'll do it. And Scott is looking at her like, what? Yeah, that's right. She finds some ingenious way to get him to focus. Wow, that's no pressure. That's quite good, actually. Well done. Oh my god, we're going in the corn ship. It looks amazing. And again, this eccentric space that you can't even properly grasp what it is. Have we ever seen a ship like that? No. It looks like a... Oh, my God. Now we're in there. So we're in the food sucks now. And again, it's like the threat posed by the Borg is assimilation. Do you know what I mean? You go into a kind of thing. Yes, but this is just Astoria and Nastia and her hand, her hand which has been eaten away. But the most shocking thing, is the man who's upside down, the colonist, whose face has been melted away. That is unusually graphic for Star Trek. Well, yeah. I mean, this is great. Look, I've woken up. And then she pushed away out of the sack. screaming. Yeah, it's like she's been birthed, doesn't it? But then she's really high up and she's hanging off her bloody tendril. It's like a weird forest, isn't it? looks amazing. Yeah, and it's a great use of a physical space and then the wall to give it depth. Yeah, that's right, to give it, you can see that, you know, the distance is all on the wall. It feels like a living organism. And they get, they're covered in sort of swarf eager and shit for the rest of the episode as well. Oh, it's horrible. Mind you, if that's acid, I'd wipe it off, you know. Yeah. So they are being digested. It looks incredible, doesn't it? You can see the silhouettes of people inside. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's really well done What I do find quite funny is, of course she's been putting sacks right next to all of the Enterprise for you, and those are the only people they take out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Fuck the. Oh, look, and of course, Sam vomits everywhere. There we go. cuts to a long shot where you can literally see them vomit. Oh, this is really horrible. Yeah, isn't it? Well, because she's a pilot. And it's her hands. I thought that they were going to kill her. There's bone coming out of it. Like, and they do the wrong thing. They cut away quick. It's enough to... We do see it, though. Shock you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they don't, it's not exploited, which I quite like. Oh, Paul, look at the state of it. Yeah, but he says we can... Yeah, that's the dead guy. It's not even desiccated, it is like... Like the skin's been burned off. Yeah, it's revolting. Yeah, it's really good. Great. good horror Yeah, yeah, yeah. love this stuff. If we can't do it to the crew, we'll do it sort of cool. Yeah, and just make it like it make it bleed. It's usually all off screen, isn't it? These colonists get murdered and we never see anything. It's nice to actually see, look at the waltz on that on Benga's face. Yeah, yeah, like wheels. Compare and contrast to, course, oblivion now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nobody could act because their lips were glued together. And we need to remember that these are very pretty people. We don't want to freck the... Yeah, you still would. Were they all called their faces, Millway? Yeah, yeah. That's the important thing to remember out straight to worlds. It's what if Star Trek, only everyone is hugely attractive. The real danger here is they could have been made ugly. Yeah, yeah. No, that's right. Shock horror. Yeah. But this is great because it is a big character thing for her. So we're getting flashbacks to her, you know, and her brother and all of that sort of thing. That's still just peppered though, isn't it? Yeah, because we don't know what this is about. And we'd had it before in 2 episodes in series one, right? Um, uh, and she in some senses faces this. This is the worst thing that could happen. And, um, and, uh, she lives there. Although you said it's really nice then after this, she's a bit more chill. And so this is a pile of shit. I'm really surprised they don't use the word shit because they do use it. Yeah, so we pull the gun out of the pile of shit. It's covered. Is that shit? No, it's stuffed. Yeah, weapons from a crap pile. Oh, okay. I like, yeah, I'm surprised. Strange New World. Well, except that people's faces are being nice. staff. Actually, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Jesus. They're willing to go B-movie in some respects. They don't swear much in Strangely Worlds. I can't think of many. Yeah, because they do in discovery. Obviously, we say fuck. No, not as what I'm discovered. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We say fucking discovery of Tilly and Stamets both say far. Fuck you, John Luke. I was so shocked. I fell off the sofa. Would you remember the thing? I know. Scott, he's got comedy glasses. And he's got his overbite thing because he's thinking, so he's got a sort of overbite, you know, like he's doing a comedy phase. Is this where she comes in? Ah, boheed. What's that? don't even know what that is. The corn. Yeah. Shit, shake. What are you doing? No, we're all gonna die. So it's Pelia running in, putting him under pressure. and that makes it work. And then she starts laughing. Just in time for Bridge, is it ready? Actually, it's just been finished, sir. She's such a cow. Oh, she's great. She goes, it was fun. With too much time on your hands. You fall apart. and that is Scottish, right? He does work best under pressure. Do you remember? Doomsday machine? Yeah, gentlemen, if you're ready. It's got to be a serious situation. And this is funny too, because he's an outsider. You know, he is actually an outsider and she's saying that he puts up walls as defence and look. He says you're not even by superior officer. He walks off and she's a bit stricken. She feels sorry for him. like she cares about body language there. Where his face was down, his arms were beyond that. She feels bad about it. You think he felt a bit ashamed? It's really good. There's there's some cone head, cone head Celia there. Massive hair. Oh, God, shuffle there, that's one. She must have looked at her, rushes and gone. Oh, God. Couldn't we just turn around? No, what? Like, what line? I don't know. A magic hair growing device of course. Something. I mean, that doesn't look at the back of her head. I know, I know. Just don't lift one of those bloody aliens from the cage. Yes. Her head is so huge. They must have really... There is a lot of hair to get... Which lacquer, did they use? Well, wait till you see... I'll show you a picture later of what she looks like an episode. I want number one to get more to do. Yeah, she was, she was running the ship last, last episode. Shit, there's one instance where she has the worst hair. There's one episode of series 3 where I'm kind of going, what have they done with you? It was a couple of times I did that to Dax, you know. I gave her a massive button head. There's some really weird ones. unfortunate. But, you know, I liked it when she was dancing away to Gilbert and Sullivan. subspace reactively. She's great. Yeah. sort of tiptoeing around with Laan listening. Remember it was him, Ethan and her were basically the 3 people from the Enterprise in series 2 of destruction. They were the ones where it was like, can we just make a show with them, please? I mean, I would rather... Yeah. Because there's so many great women on this show. It's not that the women aren't getting much snow because the men are taking all the time. It's just that there's so many women that you should have to take your turns, you know? I have to get your focus. Star Trek. I love this scene, though. because we're going between 3 plots right? We're going between what's happening on the ship, we're going with Christine and Spock, trying to help Marie in Sick Bay, and then we've got, you know, that group who are on the gone ship. And it just keeps going. I can trace this back. You know, I can, the 1st time I remember an ABC where it ramps and ramps and ramps. and do you remember when we did Shadows and Cymbals? and it was Kira on the blockade, Cisco on the planet looking for the thing. and them trying to blow up the sun. And obviously that's latter. Yeah, it's not when they can fight, it'll be an action. But now, boy, I mean, it just runs. And we're doing this really classic, this classic thing where we're discussing something. We're doing a space thing and now we stop for a 2nd to talk about our feelings, but we do it very quickly. And then we get back to it. I do think, oh, we'll keep bringing these people up because it's good to mock them. I think that's some, you know, those Star Trek fans. That's their issue, is they just want the space stuff and they don't want the feelings. But it, like, this is, this is nice. That's where the drama comes from. There's no drama in a Jeffrey's tube. But what matters is that these guys all love each other and you've got the spot, Christine relationship, you've got Pike and and Marie as well informing this particular plot too. I just feel for Ethan Peck all the time. He's got the Renee effect. I mean, just wanting to reach out to him, except I can see his face. Yeah. Well, I think too, like because he's young here. Like, he's definitely young Spock, in a way that he isn't in TOS. Like, it's a different type of, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, This relationship is in no way as sophisticated in TOS. No, they just weren't capable, were they? actually a lot worse. Yeah, yeah. He throws dinner at her quite a lot. Yeah, yeah. So we're going back and we're using some stuff from last season. What is it all about? I didn't have a clue. Zona's blood. She's Illyrian. Is that what Gonan is? No. That's Elorian. So, Illyrian, they get mentioned in Enterprise series 3, and it's an Illyrian ship that they steal the warp core from. Okay. And Illyrians use genetic engineering to make changes to themselves so that they can adapt to different environments. And for that reason, she's not eligible to be in Starfleet. And so because she lies on her application. She gets arrested at the end of series one. So the Cliffhanger series one is her getting arrested. And then the 2nd episode of series 2 is a courtroom drama where she defends herself and Marie is the prosecutor because of course she is. Oh, it's really good. Did I remember that rightly? I think Marie is the prosecutor. I mean, I have made them look a bit ugly actually here. It's pretty little pretty. It's a bit, yeah, but I'm sure I don't know, someone covered in bones. have a shower first, I think. Probably at least. I mean, it really looks like it's burnt their skin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. it, isn't it? I mean, if Leon had woken up any later. Yeah. Yeah. someone may not have been pretty. That's right. Well, I think there's probably a lot of colony. This was where we had a few unfortunate side shots of Ahura. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You see, you want to who are in it because she is the best one. What she needs right now is extreme close-ups of just her face. Yeah. Just no shots of her hair. Yeah. So again, this is being explained to us, but he knows it already. Coronal mass objections. That's what they called it in that, I guess not an episode. Yeah. Well it's a real thing. Um, so, but they were talking about it in the, in the last episode like they were talking about it. I remember the last episode. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And Scotty was talking about the, basically what they do at the end as well, wasn't it, the device? That's right. And so essentially setting up this. They were thinking ahead. That's right. Something that best of what we're doing in best of both worlds. How do we end this? They go to sleep. That's fine. But, I mean, that kind of works because you've established that the Borgara are a kind of like you social species. They're just one big hive. It is anticlimactic. But here, this isn't, it's just lame that they've all gone. Well, it's the same that they make them all go to sleep and they make them all return to their home world. And so it is essentially the same resolution, but they do it with a much more risky inspector. Yeah, no, it's just send a fucking message. to go from the whole of the Federation and Earth is under danger. Oh, they've gone. We've fixed it. It's like, okay. Yeah. Well, good for you. We will see that we will see the one. So anyway, she has special blood that's adaptive or whatever. And in fact, it kind of matters that she's got some gone stuff in her and some Illyrian stuff in her. And I think there might be another thing as well. But all of that is going to be important later. Can I suggest, please, that everybody goes and Googles Jacqueline Hill from Doctor Who and just have a look at the pictures because Una has a very similar kind of vibe. That beautiful sort of big hair and very striking eyes. So this is not what they go with. So they've decided that they've come up with something that has a 14% chance of succeeding. We've had worse ops, but that's not what they end up going with. They change their mind at the last minute and do something else entirely different. So remember, they try and stop the eggs from hatching altogether. Oh, dare shit. What's the matter with her? Oh, she's tired. Yeah, she's been up a long time. I'm not sure that I like this. I think that she should just be relieved. Yeah, other people... What if she made a cock hop at the last minute, yeah. You know, press the button to eject the sun. She's half asleep. Yeah. Okay. So we've we've tracking the enemy destroyer and we're in this binary star system. That's the other thing too. The last time we said, that time we saw the gore on the 1st time we saw them in series one. Do you remember the episode where they don't come out of their ships and stuff? And that's where we discover they communicate with each other via life. Oh, what a brilliant episode. And there's some big, isn't there a big black hole that they're sort of skirting the edge of or something? I can't remember. I have seen it once. But it's that thing where it's space stuff. Like they do space stuff like binary stars and gravity welds and all of that sort of stuff, you know, like, um, and black holes and things, where it's not just the backdrop, but it's part of the environment. You know, we're here between 2 binary sons and that's where the gorn come from. And I'm sorry, the shot of a pike silhouettes. Looking at the 2 sons. that is so gorgeous I mean, back in the day we had Abraham Lincoln. flying towards. Look at that. No, it's amazing. And then the 2 sons, they're sort of twisting in the middle together. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I think what's great too. Oh, something Marie's not doing well. She's going to be eaten. Yeah, yeah. So you're saying that she doesn't get eaten eventually. No, they do, they have solved it. they dissolve. I just wondered if a few particles survived and... Oh, yeah, she gets born DNA. Oh, yeah, it becomes a thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Oh, so they come back and then they use that as a. Well, in fact, no, yeah, it becomes a thing. It's complicated that it takes all season, but we'll get there at some point. Oh, wait, we'll see it in 2050. In fact, Pike and Mabenga go on a trip to an abandoned federation medical facility in order to get stuff to treat her with in episode three, I think, of the season. So it's still going on. So they are doing. proper consequences. Well, and sort of plot consonancy in 3 in a way that we haven't done too much. But in a way that doesn't, like, if you, like, it needs a line of dialogue to explain, you know. And still, I mean, the Marie Pike stuff is basically character continuity, isn't it? You know, so. Yes. Oh, where did that one go? I just think it was a moment of genius and it's discovery, isn't it, that decides that that window is not big enough, the little screen is not big enough, and it needs to... 100s of gaunt ships coming out of the sun. Excluding a giant, weird ass looking destroyer. heading straight to the Federation. That is great. Because even in the shadows and symbols, There was only like 5 Dominion ships coming after them. It was that giant crowd of things. Just anything. That involves blowing up a sum. It's just very exciting. Well, and and Scotty gets to talk about how you actually really can't do anything very specific to a son. You kind of have to kind of just hope that it turns out the right way. We bent the rules for scientific rules in Star Trek before. So here we've got this, now we have this thing, you know, we either rescue our people or we alert Starfleet, what do we do? Those lions, I love. We're the only hope the Federation's got right now. Here's Marie. Oh, stupid spacesuits. Look at that. Oh, the quarantine suits. They look stupid. They should be they should be red in next year. They're slightly red. Yeah, so these are the... At least they have pretty faces on lit up. Yeah. Well that's what we want. all we need. But it's so that she doesn't spray all over them when the... Oh, no, it's really good. I mean, I was so getting so excited. That stomach is pulsing. The eggs are literally... Yeah, yeah. What was our stomach? No, no, it's wrong. It's a very large space to be around. That's her arm grown. Can we cut back to it, Chris? Christine, you're very pretty, but... Oh, it is a stuff. stomach, yeah. Yeah, it is too. Fuck it, look at that. Are those eggs? Yeah. I'm about to hatch. They're coming out. It's her back. She's like face down at her back. Oh, alien, you've got nothing on strange new worlds, alright, when it comes to Gorns bursting out of people. Oh, look at the ceiling there. Yeah, yeah, the whole thing fell down. coming down. They've cleared away the rocks now. There's a little Hoover that comes in. We haven't had dots. Why do we have dots in this? They have dots on discovery. They're just going for their own thing, I guess. They are great. Are they saying that's a discovery thing? robots going about things. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's horrible. I think it's because it's not Star Trek enough. you know, like a classic if a regional trag doesn't have dots. We cover with a light pike of stages. They should have just got too much personality. going about the place. They're constantly achieving sentience and refusing. Like the scutters. Rentor, you know, we're really... There's only one exacon that counts, all right. and that's peanut hamper. Yeah, so here it's he's getting it. He's getting it. Now we're kind of deciding, we know this because the camera is pulling in very slowly on him. She's smiling, right? We've got a solution, folks. Now, these guys... This is 1st time on the bridge. It was, wasn't it? Do you see his face? Yeah, he's sort of like, oh. I'm on the bridge. He's going to be out. one day. Yeah, why he, you remember, in TOS, he sort of always takes over when they're on the planet. He's the 3rd guy. Yeah. It's Spock. But it always comes back to Scotty going, you know, we're not going down. Well, wait till we hear from them. Yeah, so like it's kind of excited doing the techno-babble as well. He likes it. It's very improbable. She goes, it's not impossible, is it? So we're doing it here. And this is the bit where we explode. Right? Watch. This is the bit where we explode. Modifying the deflect shields, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Watch him smiling, modify everything. We're gonna... I'm waiting. No, it will explode. There it is. Enterprise destroyed. No, he just says, we'll just turn it off before we blow up. seems like a solution to me. The relationship between them, though, the established relationship that we didn't know about. so clever. Yeah, it's good. It's just instant shorthand. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Is she upside down now? No, it was her. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I guess, yeah, it's just breasts and things. We don't, you know, Those breathing eggs. I can't believe it. I missed all this. was I watching? I don't remember any of this. Um, so I think so this is the point where we decide not to go with this. We're not gonna let them get out. So, see, look, oh, it's sort of transparent. You can see the thing. growing inside. Yeah, yeah, yeah, there it is. about to burst out and then he says no, actually, let's not do that. Yeah, that's not. Let's let it die. No, they don't go with that. No way. Yes, we know that and then the faith or we do something else. So would it have gone wrong then? Well, they, they, it was an 86% chance of survival of her dying. A 14% chance of survival. I mean, better than nothing if they did nothing. Yeah, so what? So now what they do is they decide to leave them there. And then her body just reabsorbs them. Gross but offensive. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So that's what ends up doing. I mean, it makes it makes sense. But there is something like it ends up reading a little bit like she has cancer, you know, and the, it's not episode two. I think it is episode 3 where she has a go at him at the end of it and says I can't baby you through this. Oh, God. And it's also you're not. Um, you know, you don't get to say what the treatment is. That's my call completely. And it's really good. It's really good. And he's abashed, but it just reads like a real interaction. It's very good. Speaking of somebody who has seen men struggle to cope with a woman with cancer. It's very real. Oh yeah, no, I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Um, yeah, so here we are back in this other plot. That's right. I think the go ones are coming in a minute. And they do save some money, so we get gone on masse. Yeah, which is all I wanted. Yeah, huge gone. I think I would have been disappointed if we didn't get it. Oh yeah, I agree. I think if you're promising a score and we need to see that. But I like this too. You know, you're not back there. You're not back there, Laan. And she goes, yeah, but it's not really great here. Well, yeah, no, true. There are all gone here. It's not about you, Lau. all in this situation together. I know you've got some history, but her hand has been eating off okay? That's right. But like when our whole family's eaten or, you know, being... I just, I can't imagine... I could take them to a more extreme moment or a single person than that hand eaten off and her bleeding all that.. Like that's about as visceral as it can get, right? And again, at the end of next week's episode we see that she's still traumatised by it. Like, it's a very light episode. It introduces her little brother. It's all cute. You know, it's the annual Spock sex comedy episode, but it does end with, and meanwhile, Erica is losing her shit because of what happened to her last, you know, 3 months ago. And I look forward to seeing how you attempt to top this at the end of series 3. It's quite different. I think it needs to be. Yeah, it introduces this threat. Look at them. amazing. Hundreds of sticky gold. Yeah, yeah, yeah. all over the ceiling and walls. Coming at them. Guns firing. That's great. Yeah, awesome. Absolutely I do love the fact that in Kurtzman Trait, you know, we just sometimes do just devolve into describing what's going on. And that's because nothing ever happens in 90s. So we have to talk about their sort of ideas. Oh, look, what's coming up behind her? There's one coming up behind. Look behind you. It's a doggy. It's like a panto. He's behind you. Kill it quick. There's a puppet. Huge puppet. With great... And Sam is really going for it. Like, because he lost his shit last time and that's it. one beyond the rock. Oh shit. Shit in hell. Oh, I want to pause it on that. Yeah, looks amazing, doesn't it? Oh, and then blows its head off. At least somebody blew up. in this. Oh, look at that shot. Enterprise going between the 2 signers. I know. Wonderful. That was the best action sequence. It was amazing, wasn't it? Yeah. I mean, what was it, like a 90 seconds, but... Stylish 90 seconds. Yes, looked really good. Lots going on. And he picks her up, yeah. Yeah, which is extra peril for the climax. Yeah. And it's a big, like, that was a, that was a man in a suit, of course, that, that one picky him up. The animatronics are so good. Oh, yeah, yeah. You can barely notice the difference. It's amazing. Yeah. You know, oh, look, we're doing a sort of voyage home now, going towards the sun effects. Yeah. Were you hoping to see some sort of white bodied heads coming towards the camera? Oh, that's only when you travel in time. Okay, yeah. No, that's true. So now we're in one of the little gone brown ships and of course Joseph is going to fly it because she's been stabbed and had her hand dissolved. Oh, see, I don't want to see a lot of blood in Star Trek, but I just thought it was very effectively used. Yeah, and you're not seeing it pour out of Erica? Like you're seeing it appear on the thing. But it's like that pizza sauce that was all over the console in lower decks. Do you remember? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, there's a lot of it on the console. This looks amazing, doesn't it? The controls are really wild. You know, like it just looks incredible. And I think she needed her moment because she's had a few character moments here, but she hasn't done a great thing. No, there's never been an Erica episode at this point. The closest is the Lotus Eaters one, uh, where she has a pretty significant B plot, but otherwise they've never done an Erica episode. But Gorn flying their ships looks so funny. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So like, you know, they're savage murderers, but they're very adept at the wheel. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Look at him. He's really going. And he's smiling. I'm going to get you fuckers. But yeah, she's like bleeding out over the controls and trying to stay with her. And they very cleverly designed the console. So there's a black space and a white space. Yeah, so you can just filling it up, watch it moving. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nasty. Oh, here we go. They are very close to that sun now. Why is no one sweating? They are. They are. They are. Look how shiny. Look how shiny everyone is. get the bottle out. Come on, look how shiny. Look how shiny pike is. He's really shiny. Look at all those tiny ships. I'm getting sort of Star Trek beyond vibes from the tiny ships. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. As good as as well. Yeah, yeah. Oh, this looks better. Oh, and I love all of these holograms in the air. Yeah, yeah, they do a lot of this. So now, now... Oh, they're doing the same thing as Ezri. They're doing that sort of frame rate thing, aren't they? Yeah, yeah, slow down a bit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Because of the gravity of the suns or whatever, you know, like, I mean, there's just so much going on now, but like, but it's like... Look at that massive clown of little gone ships coming for them. Cut to one, cut to one, cut to one. There's such momentum. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, these 2 plots are joining up. now, aren't they? The courts flying the chips look great, don't they? That looks so cool. This is a very niche reference. I'm getting Lee John vibes. Oh, yeah. Oh, you know, at a ship's wheel. Very niche reference. Check it out. Check it out. And. They're gone. They're gone. Yeah, they're all gone. Yeah. Turn it off before we blow up. That was the plan. And we turn it off and there we go. right. I mean, that's quite, yeah, often that's quite handy turning something off before it. I love that. We'll just turn it off before we blow. I think that's good on technical advice whenever. Yeah. And we got the colonists. You know, somehow that breach still looks sexy, even though it's... Oh the bridge looks amazing. It's in disarray right now, and there's an overflow infirmary for all 100s of colonists. Now we just have to beam these guys. Will you beam us out? She needs medical attention. She's getting a shit worst way. And this is where we get that great moment. I did good or something. Yeah, yeah, just like, oh, they're going to kill us. And the strings start coming in. Oh, shit to now. We haven't murdered anyone yet. Have we saved Marie? Is she saved? No. There was so much happening that I just couldn't go for a while those 2 plots and the, we actually don't see, they, the last that we saw of that plot was um them saying we're going to try something else. And then when we cut back, we find out what it was. So we don't get to see that happening because we just concentrate on these plots. He goes, we won't be seeing the gaunt for a while. Well, maybe episode 5 or six. No, I think it's 7 or something, but it is later in the season is just one of them. I mean, it is a genius thing that they zoned in on the gore. was a great choice, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah. Enterprise snuck in 1st and they were that mirror universe. And that mirror universe gone is the model for the gone that they have here. It doesn't look like the gone in arena. A bit bad now, though. A bit more detailed. Oh, yeah, yeah, much better. That's the cartoon. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, no, everyone looks so concerned. Hi, America. I have a flyer ship. And she's gonna die. And she's sort of shutting her eyes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then they're beamed out. Yes. And now we discover what they've done. Right? And is it Chris out there to try and find out? No. Anyway, they they discover it. And do we find? We don't even know what it is here. No, they're looking at each other like she could be dead. No, no, no. No, no, no. I don't think so. I was in her hand. So it's like fighting off an infection. Yes exactly. Yeah. The Gorn versus the Gorn. Will they kill each other off? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, no, they just dissolve. And so it's all the infection caused by the foreign, you know the foreign material in her body. I wouldn't feel very good about myself at this point. That's what the cancer kind of metaphor is, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Like an like something alien kind of, you know, in your system. Ask why, bold storylines. is pretty good. Yeah, here we go. Oh, this is this. is the best character moment. It's so gorgeous. He just, there's no time for fucking banter. He just wants to hold her. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Has he been resistant then? Because there's a couple of lines, you know, where he said, I miss you and she said, I'll mark the day. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Has he been more tentative in this relationship? Sometimes. Yeah. I mean, the very 1st time we see them, they're in bed together. I remember, yeah, in episode one, that's her. That lovely snowy location, wasn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, he's like, please let me in. Yeah. I know. No, he prays. He's about to pray. He says, all right, dad, I'm going to do it. And that says so much, doesn't it? All right, dad. And then he's praying. And we've never seen that in Star Trek. We've never seen a character do, like he's about to say in our father. Like he's doing a Christian prayer. You know, it's nearly the only reference to Christianity. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good. Yeah, it's good isn't it? Sorry, I pissed off the rest, mate. No, but it's interesting. I think that is interesting. I like the post-religion socialist utopia of Star Trek. That's one of the things I like, but I like this. Oh, I like the sort of scathing criticism of the Bajoran religion as well. and how contradictory it all is. But, you know, like, it's important to Kira. And so it's important to us, you know, and we respect our kids that come with me as well. So interesting. Boo. But so anyone didn't pop out of my boy. Yes, thank you. Couldn't they have had like one colonist come up as well? And that person? No, has it? No, no. Oh, God sakes. No, we've got to solve it. I have a happy ending. We did have the blue man. We got a happy ending, didn't we? What did he ever do wrong? Nothing. He just wasn't a regular. That's it. You do understand that regulars are different from everyone else. Not Chad Soutax. didn't talk to her about the salary. Bam, you're dead. Yeah, or Tasha, but, you know, yeah, she wanted that. She thought she was going to have a great career ahead. Yeah. and thought that Star Trek was going to be terrible, which was a fair bad. She's had a great career with Star Trek cruises. She does, yeah. Running away from Armistice. every single convention. Please, everyone, check out the picture. Denise Crosby running away from the armous cosplay. Best thing ever. He's still laughing. So good. And then we've dissolved to the binary star. Gorgeous. Yep. Enterprise is heading off triumphantly after having solved the problem. Which is why we're here, after all. talked about Denise Crosby across that entire scene, unbelievably, thanks to me. But and some mound. I just like how he delivers that moment. It's really good. It's beautiful. That is a cracking episode. Yeah, yeah, yeah. If I have to sacrifice the 1st slightly quiet 30 minutes of part one. The reward is a brilliant part too. and that's rare That is pretty rare. I think the hit rate for part 2s is probably about 15%, you know? Particularly across the season. Not a mid-season 2 parter. They're often not very good either, but the part one at the end of a season and part 2 at the beginning, part 2 is never as good. Weirdly enough, you know, the one I compared this to, you know, the DS91 where they're also trying to blow up a sun. They didn't do it, did they? They did a part one and then technically they did another part one at the start of 7 and then the part one. Yeah, that's right. They gave it 2 episodes worth of buildup. Because usually, yeah, it's like, oh, how the fuck do we get out? Yeah, that's right. That's right. But this is very carefully planned and laid across the entire remaining season. I mean, I would have been guns blazing for the rest of the season after this, sip I'd have watched it originally. Episode 2 has started and there are dogs. Our dogs. But I think they might be space doc ones. They just, oh, yeah. In Starbase one. A bit sniffing. He doesn't like them. I'm putting in that reason. That's probably good head cannon. Well, I think that was magnificent. It was really great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it was quite nice because we've done like the individual horror one. We've done the Christina Chong Fairytale Princess one, which is you know, what Strange New Worlds does a lot, sort of offbeat episodes. We done the music all, which I thought were very well. We did that Pirate one? Comedy pirate one. So they have all been sort of like one off TNG, but better episodes. So it was really nice to watch something substantial where they're pulling together a lot of mostly character, but some plot things and where they're certain things out for the future. And they do it really well. Yeah. For me, it's the spectacle. There's a few great moments of comedy with Scotty and Pelia. For God's sakes, I get her name in my head. She's met the fucking doctor for God's sake. Pelio and Scotty. There's some lovely character moments peppered about, but it's just from the last 10 minutes to the whole of the 2nd episode. It is just a feast for the eyes. And there's now wrong with that. Absolutely not. All right, it's the end of the episode and it's time for us to work out where we're going next. Yes, I would like to take us to the original series, please because it's been about 3 pages on the untied Star Trek website. About 15 episodes ago. It's, I think it's 12 episodes ago that we did the empath and I think probably PTSD has prevented us from going back. I mean, I keep taking us to the 90s. You keep taking us to Canada. Yeah, yeah. It's like we're avoiding the 60s. And there's good stuff. There is. And also terrible stuff. It's interesting what we're going to get. Now, I do have a stipulation. is I want to do a particular season. There's only 3 seasons. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Unlike who is, I'll get one. I want series one. Okay. Because we've done very little of Siri as well. All right. generally very good. So, you ready? Yep. let's go Oh, we're doing it. We're doing it. You're not touching it again. We're doing it. Say what it is. Say what it is. Season one, episode 18 Arena. Oh, come on, you couldn't have... Have you designed this? Have you added an algorithm to this? Picorina. I can, but I haven't. No, we're doing that. You know, doing it again. Yeah. There's so little gone, but we're going from gone to gone. slightly less gory. So a bit sunnier, perhaps. Yes. Oh, I think William Shunner gets his top off by the end of the episode. I can't remember. But I'm going to challenge you. I think that you should also watch Terrarium. the hell is that? That is the episode in series 3 of Strange New Worlds where we redo Arena, but with Ortegas, and a single gone on a planet. And it's also a test being engineered by the Metrons, who we also see. I will do it on one condition. And that is, it's slightly unfair to compare something that was made in the 60s. I know, I know. to something that was made in 2024. Yeah. So I certainly won't be going down that route of saying, well, this is a better production and all of this. I'll take them both on their own terms of when they were made and see what they do differently. I still think, I have to say that terrarium is better, even if you grade on a curve, even if you hold, you know, the time period differently, because I think that, um, it tells a better story. I haven't seen Arena for years. I haven't either. I could be wrong. I may well be surprised and there's a reason why everyone... One is pretty wonderful. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. before he's gone, oh. Yeah, before his... I'm out. Yeah. But okay, I'll do both. Yeah, that'll be an interesting chat, I think. But Arena, I mean, it's a celebrated classic. We don't do those all the time, do we? No, absolutely, we don't. Let's do it Brilliant. You've been listening to Untitled Star Trek Project with Joe Ford and Nathan Bottomley. We're online at Untitled Star Trek Project.com where you can find subscription links and links to our social media accounts. Our podcast artwork is by Kayla Ciceran, and the theme was composed by Cameron Lam. This episode was recorded on the 27th of September 2025 and released on the 3rd of October. We'll see you next time for Star Trek, the original series, Arena. Okay, we're testing. Yes, hello, gone. Yeah, cool. My God, Nathan, they're in my arm. It's the we're in all over again. Are you going to get three? Yeah, that's true. Yeah, you hadn't seen Alien three. I wondered where it was first, though, wouldn't it? Cartly X. there anything before that? No. People kind of suspect that maybe, because, I mean, you know Ridley Scott was a BBC designer, he's English. Oh, so he could well have watched it. I mean, I mean, you know, like it is just alien has a lifecycle similar to insects. Do you know what I mean? Like it's a sort of thing that you could just come up coincidentally with gross. Yeah, it's much grosser. Yeah, all right. I think we're recording and transcribing. Look. It's not doing very good job. The thing on Spotify does amazing. Actually, Apple is the most accurate that I've seen. Apple does pretty good. Yeah, just a few names where you'll misspell them, but it just doesn't know. I mean, with a 1000 episodes or, you know, 300 episodes, which is what I have in Flights Entirety, there's no way, or even 166 episodes that we've currently got. No, I just like to see that up. Yeah, aspirational. It is? Do you think we should? Yeah, ready. Yeah, okay. Okay. Hey, Joe. Hi.