Hey, Joy.
Hi.
So, we are watching a new series of Star Trek.
We're watching our very, very 1st episode tonight of Starfleet
Academy.
It's called Kids These Days.
It's the 1st episode of the 1st season.
That's a cheesier title than it actually sounds because I do think
it has a double meeting, like all good TV episode time.
These days.
I mean, I'm getting old, you know.
I started saying that.
So it was 1st broadcast on the 15th of January 2026.
So that's, what, 2 less than 2 weeks ago.
It was directed by Alex Kurtzman and written by Gaia Violo, who is
credited as the creator of the show.
Director by Kosman.
Yeah, directed by Kurtzman. this episode and the next episode.
I don't know.
This is the 1st time I've noticed him being credited as a
director.
Well, to put his stamp on this thing right at the start.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think so.
And you will notice I'm going to get you to keep an eye out in the
opening credits, but Tawny Newsom is credited as a producer, and
of course she played Mariner in Lower Decks.
Ah, okay.
Oh, so all the people from the other shows are getting involved.
Well, I mean, Robert Picardo is definitely getting involved in
this.
So what did you think?
I thought it was good.
I don't think it was great, but I thought it was good.
I was more convinced by this pilot than I was by the pilots of
Discovery and Picard, but I was less convinced by this pilot than
the pilots of, oh God, I can't remember what the show's names
now.
Help me out.
Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks.
And prodigy, perhaps?
And I was less convinced by there's some prodigy.
I actually think prodigy had an edgier 1st couple of episodes than
this.
I did think it started out really, really well, and I was totally
on board in the 1st 20 minutes, and then by the end of this 1st
episode, I was like, oh, been there, done that.
This is Kurtzman Trek 101.
We're all pushing buttons in shiny sets while some space problem
occurs and getting in touch with our feelings while we do so.
However, it is the 1st episode and we are easing our way into Star
Trek.
It is called Star Trek and it should feel like Star Trek and it
does feel like Star Trek.
However, I would like it to be a bit more.
You know me, I like characters with rough edges, and by the end of
this, I mean, I was ready for everyone to have a big group hug.
I mean, that's it felt like we were going a bit of high school
musical by the end of this.
So you will be pleased to know because as we record this, episodes
2 and 3 have both aired.
In fact, episode 2 dropped at the same time as episode one.
And the low-level conflict among the kids is certainly something
that continues and they do have rivalries with other groups as
well.
And we get a couple of new kids joining us in episode two.
So although they do work together to solve a space problem, which
was, I think, almost certainly where we were always inevitably
heading in this 1st in this 1st episode.
Wait, didn't do it with discovery, you know?
The 1st episode of Discovery didn't wind up being that.
No, no, that's true.
That's true.
It goes in a very different direction.
It's not necessarily inevitable.
No.
This is a show I think that's somewhat lighter than discovery.
Discovery can be pretty overwrought at times, as we've said
before.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And this is sort of, this is teenage staff.
This is absolutely what I love.
I love shows set in school, so I always have, and this is
basically that.
We learn that Sam is 17 years old.
So these are kids.
They're all played by actors in their kind of early 20s.
And so I'm a sucker for that sort of thing.
I'm a sucker for shows with teachers in them as well.
And so this was very much the sort of thing that I like.
And it's not at all what I expected.
The tone of it's very different.
It, it does seem odd.
You know, it's very different from Star Trek in a in a way.
It's a show set in the Star Trek universe, but it's the sort of
thing that we haven't really properly seen before, I think.
No, they're doing DS9 again, aren't they?
There's a stationary setting, but they're going, but we've still
got a ship, all right?
So it's we want to go out into space, we will.
Yeah, yeah.
And so far, episodes 2 and 3, we don't go out into space.
We are just in San Francisco.
Oh, good.
I'm pleased about that.
I'm pleased because, yeah, but you said that, you know, setting a
school and all that.
No, this 1st one wasn't at all.
We only got to the school in the last 2 minutes.
Yeah, except that said, of course, lands in the middle of San
Francisco and so that's where most of the things take place.
So we are still on board the Athena for lots of things.
There's gyms and there's outdoor areas and there's other places
where they're being taught.
But that big atrium set is a huge feature of all of the episodes.
Is that the promenade set?
Is that what you're talking about?
The enormous American space mall.
Yes, exactly.
It's not the space mall of the 1990s.
And you could see all the sort of the different levels of it.
And I was seeing sort of elevator, you know, escalators going up
to the gap and all of this.
That's what I'm saying.
It actually reminded me of that set in Star Trek Discovery Series
4.
Remember we did the 2 episodes on either side of the midseason
break and the one where they're voting to decide whether to be
hostile towards the TenC.
Yeah, and it had that...
And it's a big space that you can create in the computer without
having too big a set, although that is a massive set and an
impressive looking set, I think.
Well, I know it's shiny, yeah, but, you know, me, I'm not a
promenade.
Shiny surface, I'm sorry.
It might be more basic.
But I think it's got more character.
It is interesting though.
We did talk when we did The Way of the Warrior a few weeks ago.
Yeah, how interesting the standing sets are and the same here.
Wow, because and this is going to be the same, isn't it?
Yeah Not just the bridge. the conference room, you know, like
boring work of those sets.
No, places where you can actually have some fun and meet some
interesting people.
Yeah.
And this is all on board a federation starship.
You know, the atrium, that set is a place on the starship, even
though it looks like for most of the show.
It's going to be stationary and just earthbound.
I hope so because, you know, we really don't do enough of this, do
we?
But given that Earth is the centre of the Federation, we never
really can afford to go there very much.
We maybe do it twice in DS9 once in DNG.
And I always wanted that.
I always wanted that.
It's not that water reclamation plant, though, is it?
Tell me we don't go there.
Okay, good.
There are some sort of fairly modern buildings and stuff which
clearly Sabin is some of the buildings in Starfleet Academy.
So they are sort of things on location.
I think too, the look of earth is very strange as well here
because this isn't the gleaming cities of earth that we learn
about in Muse.
There has something has happened to the earth.
And we know from discovery that the earth, um, kind of leaves the
federation.
Uh, and Starfleet Academy.
We actually see it set up in that, you know, that big area that's
the sort of federation base, which is out in space where there's
that giant space station, all those spaceships and stuff, and
that's where Starfleet Academy is set up.
And during the course of discovery, Earth rejoins the Federation.
And so now we're returning to an earth, but a thing has happened
to the federation in the meantime.
And the thing that strikes me about this is just like Discovery
and Picard, this is Star Trek in a post-Trump world where...
If you think about the world that we're passing on to kids these
days, I'd rather not, actually.
No.
And so it's a world that is hovering on the brink of climate
catastrophe, a world of depressed wages and massive wealth
inequality.
It's a world war at the moment.
Yeah, there's there's no chance that they'll be able to buy
housing.
You know, like we're leaving them in a world that they didn't
create and we're requiring them to function and thrive in that
world.
Hopefully fix it.
Yeah, but they didn't break it.
And what's interesting about this is that they're really aware of
that with these kids?
The kids are all from all sorts of different backgrounds, and I
presume we'll find out more about them later, but we do find out
Caleb's background, and Caleb is a victim of family separation
which, again, is a signature move of the Trump administration, even
in its 1st term, imprisoning people separating children from their
families, losing children's families.
That scene, right?
That scene where she makes that call and separates the mother.
I was like, oh, this isn't a federation.
Oh, I know.
And I was like, oh, this is interesting.
Like, let's explore this a bit.
Something bad has happened and she's aware of it.
And she, um, that's Captain RK, Nala, RK, Holly Hunter's character
um, is super aware of it.
And because she's old and because she reads as a kind of old
hippie, I mean, she's signed Pamela, isn't she?
From Strange, you were.
Very chill.
She's upset in all those Star Trek.
Come on, if you're 500 years old, you're going to be a bit chill.
Yeah, and she is the oldest person ever to play a Starfleet
captain.
She's 67.
Is she not?
Yeah.
I mean, I would have put her in her thoughts. 6 or 7?
67 She looks amazing.
Oh my god.
They can do wonderful things with makeup these days.
The idea, though, of her having existed in the pre-burned
Federation, that's so clever.
You're the person that we need to give these kids a post-burn
federation.
And then basically saying to the kids, we're building a future and
then doing this in the academy.
That's genius.
I think that's such a great move.
And there's that speech and we'll talk about it at the end where
she talks about how she would have approached motherhood now that
she knows what she knows.
And she says that would have been less about manipulation and
advice and much more about listening.
And I just thought that is that's amazing.
You know, the world that we live in.
The world that has been created for the children to grow up in is
a world that has been shaped by the boomer generation, the people
who became hippies and then went and ruined everything for
everyone else.
And so having her read as an old hippie who has understood the
responsibility, the the predicament that that children have been
left in.
I just think is tremendous.
And so we'll talk later about the song, which is controversial, but
I think that elegiac kind of hippie anthem sung with so much sort
of sadness and awareness that none of that work down.
It's Rufus Wainwright, and it's arranged by Jeff Russell, who
composed the music.
Like, I can see why that's there.
This is something that is very, very definitely Star Trek for
right now, Star Trek for 2026.
Yeah, it's literally saying, kids, oh, no, it looks bad, but
you'll have to fix it.
Maybe in the future it'll be better, which is what Star Trek is
always there, all right?
Yeah, yeah.
Although it does amuse me greatly, but obviously the burn, this
dreadful catastrophe that tore through the alpha quadrant, you
know, changing things forever.
Not really.
We dealt with it in that season, and we have dealt with the
consequences, but now we actually saw we want a mini reset.
We want to go back to San Francisco.
We want the Federation.
We want all the staples that we had of Star Trek before we want
the same races.
Not a lot as actually visually changed about Star Trek because
that served its function there and now we still want to tell Star
Trek stories in a recognisable way.
But there is stuff about rebuilding the Federation, and episode 2
s main theme is about an important part of reintegrating and
rebuilding the Federation, and even having references to Nirvar.
You know, these strange things that happened while the discovery
was jumping forward into the future, the reunification of Romulus
and and Vulcan.
Oh, no, I'm not saying there's not interesting consequences.
I'm just saying it was sort of pitched to us, the burn, as this
you know, universe shattering event.
Nothing will ever be the same again.
We're kind of going that way It will be the same again.
We've just got to build it.
That's right.
And so we're now in a situation where some catastrophe has
happened.
We've lost sight of the principles that underlie the Federation
and now we're trying and striving to get them back.
It's kind of, of course, they will.
They'll get them.
But it is also a little bit kind of the premise of Gene
Roddenbury's Andromeda, you might remember that that was the idea
of that.
I didn't watch that.
Was that any good?
No, it's got Kevin Sorbo in it, it's garbage.
But, but, um, but that was the premise.
So it was something that Gene Roddenbury himself had sort of an
idea of.
And that, I think, is really good, that the Federation is
something that's precarious and something that has to be fought
for.
Offers me hope, Nathan, because it means it might not just be
loads of people going, we love each other.
There might be some edgy things going on on the earth, you know
dodgy deals, people taking advantage of the situation, all that
sort of stuff that I like. moral gray area.
I'm sure I really like.
I hope so.
I think it will do what Deep Space 9 does.
You can already see it doing that.
The main character here is separated. a child from his mother in
the very 1st episode and we saw that happen and we know that the
Federation has done bad things and been in a bad place.
We know that the galaxy became isolated and scared and suspicious
and we will see that next episode.
We'll see more of that, and that does seem to be something that's
going to be a theme going forward.
I liked how the lead character, Mia, is it?
Caleb May.
Yeah.
I liked how, you know, when he sort of walked through that beam
and suddenly he had a haircut and he was in his freshly pressed
uniform, right?
I was like, my God, it's just what Avery Brooks went through an
emissary.
He came in looking a bit rough and ready with his beard and
everything and they went, no, we need to make you look safe.
He cut his hair, made him look absolutely pristine.
Although it's so hot, Mia, who cares?
Well, he's a beautiful man. isn't he?
I mean, you know me.
It's the characters 1st for me in Star Trek.
It's not the tender bad boys. not the space problems.
It certainly ain't going out there and finding communications with
other species.
I really care about that stuff.
Maybe I'm watching the wrong show.
Anyway, it's the characters.
They're great characters.
I'm really interested.
And I sort of sent you a message saying it was a split down the
middle.
I thought all the adult characters in this world.
I thought Holly Hunter was superb.
Robert Picardo is naturally sublime.
It's not as much as I hoped he was, but when he's there, he's very
funny.
I mean, the way they mirrored his 1st lines from Voyager, where he
goes, tricorder.
Medical tricorder.
I was like, awesome.
Well done.
Well done, Star for the Academy.
The MVP for me is what's the woman's name?
half Jemadar, half Klingon.
No, the actress.
What's her name?
Gina Gina Yasher, I think.
Gina, Bravo, to you.
Get on your knees.
Go on.
Press ups, go.
Here, you, Klingon, bit your bag on him.
I mean, she was a left.
That's everything that came out of her mouth.
Whereas the kids, I mean, it's so mere heavy that you can't leave
this episode with a sense of who that character is.
You go into all of his backstory.
The others whilst likeable.
I was like, I got a sense of who they were, as in, there was the
bully that wanted some attention.
There was the Klingon who was quite sensitive.
There was the hologram who's socially awkward.
But beyond those sort of basics.
I was like, I, but you know, we're going to learn about those
characters as we go.
But, but like the adults were all really vivid, I thought, at the
end of this, and the kids were sketched in enough.
I'm really liking the kids, I think.
And, you know, like I obviously think Caleb is great.
Like, I think he's really terrific.
I do like J Dan, the Klingon medical student.
I think he's very sweet and super interesting.
And I do like Genesis as well.
In fact, I like all of them.
I do like the kids.
It's just they've done everything, haven't they?
to possibly annoy all the right people, you know.
But sensitive Klingon who apologises.
The 1st thing he does is apologise.
I saw someone going, Klingons don't apologise.
They kill people.
I mean these maniacs online, man. getting upset about people
sitting in chairs, reading books.
You know, you can't have half a Gemada, you don't have Gemini
women, you know?
She's not a Gemini woman, like her father was Jem'adar.
She's like funny.
She goes, it's all made up.
Of course she can.
And we're in the future.
Maybe they all started fucking in the interim.
That's right Do they know what fiction means in science fiction?
It isn't real, folks.
It was the most baffling thing where people were saying, how can
we have a Klingon medical student and I'm kind of going, you don't
think they're going to bring that up in the 1st episode?
You don't think it's literally going to be the 1st thing that
someone says when they learn.
He's a Klingon medical student.
Like, you know, these people can't understand television and they
don't. isn't it?
Oh, they think it's all real. in a window into the future.
Yeah.
But, you know, like, it's promising enough, I thought.
And like certainly all the usual that special effects were superb
you know, the sets were pretty amazing.
The music was great.
I just did.
I said, didn't I?
I came into the 1st 20 minutes thinking, oh, this is very edgy.
And the 2nd half I was like, oh, this is very familiar.
Okay.
How did it get so safe so quickly?
But I think there's promise in what you say about there being a
stationary setting where it is going to be more about the
characters because that's DS9 and I love that approach.
So, yeah.
I think we should go in.
What do you reckon?
Oh, yeah, we've still got to watch it.
Sorry, we've discussed the whole thing already.
Oh, well, it's new.
It's a new one.
That's why we're here.
That's right.
I think I said the same thing about Strange New Wells, you know
about how it started off. feeling really fresh and by the end of
it, we were down on some planet as usual, giving speeches.
But it was a great speech, though, I seem to remember. incredible.
All right, I will call it in then in that case.
Okay, right.
All of you, Star Trek favs, you know, the furious ones, I'll be
here.
It's your mouthpiece for others.
No, I won't.
All right.
I will count it in.
Five, four, three, two, one, and we're off.
So this is the new track, 60 Ident, which will be proceeding every
episode of Star Trek that comes out this year.
Oh, oh, the Defoyant.
Oh, Voyager.
Voyager.
Yes.
Discovery, Discovery, Enterprise again.
What's that?
The Athena.
What's that?
That's the Athena.
Oh, the Athena.
Yeah, see, look, it was the least memorable of all of them. have
only seen it in one episode, to be fair.
By the time you say it here, you haven't actually seen it at all
yeah.
I think my trouble with all those ships, right, is they all sort
of look like one of a piece.
Well, yes, they're all Star Trek ships.
I'm disappointed.
The one on DS9?
You see that station and you know it's GS9 straight away.
So this is basically Bill Shatner doing his opening monologue
space the final frontier, and she even does say space the final
frontier, and this is her giving the backstory.
Now she doesn't do it every episode.
Like, uh, gym or um, or Captain Picard or or Captain Pike.
But it's pretty good.
I think it's a pretty good backstory and it does set the stakes.
I think something bad has happened in the past.
Uh, and we're trying to reclaim something.
67.
Wow.
God, I only can only hope to look that good at age.
I think she looks.
I think she looks, you know, I don't think she looks in a 40, so I
do think she looks like an older woman.
Do you think?
much younger than that.
Maybe she's got a youthful energy about it.
That's definitely the case, I think.
So this little kid who plays baby Caleb.
Yeah.
Did you notice this was a little Easter egg here?
You know, the words that they're using?
Yeah.
Well, the last word is squeal, and that's from a DS9 episode, a
magnificent Frankie, where he was doing a dodgy deal with syrup of
squeal.
Plunderful.
Awesome.
They remember everything from that Kurtzman track.
Oh, look at the lighting.
Yeah, just that physical thing, like the, you know, we get that
shot of hers scratching his head and we will see it later in
flashback, which just emphasises the physicality of his memories
of her relationship.
He remembers being held by her.
He remembers everything that she says and they're saying.
I like scrap. given it's like a single scene.
This sort of has to anchor his entire journey, doesn't it?
But it also has to anchor the whole show that bad things happen to
these children because the Federation had gone because it had
retreated into fear and isolation and started to do bad things.
Nus Bracker.
That's such a Star Trek name, in it.
It's funny, actually, I was surprised.
They are put an apostrophe in there somewhere.
But I'm surprised that we did have a movie style Star Trek villain
for this episode, and I wonder whether it's some Jesse James from
the Serene Squall, or we could call it the Serene Squeal, I
guess.
Oh, well, that gave them the idea of having a pirate.
And of course, Amanda Plummer was a pretty great Star Trek movie
style villain in Picard series 3.
I was just getting Harry Mudd.
You know, the more dangerous Harry Mudd from Discovery that was
going around murdering people.
Yeah.
Oh, she goes there, doesn't she?
And eventually we're going to go to Earth.
And that's really important in this because eventually he gets to
it.
Yeah.
You're right, but there's, there's, she's so tactile with him.
So you just get a sense of the closeness of their relationship.
Wow, look at that.
That looks so amazing.
These outposts Picaru.
These things that float in the air.
So the thing in the 32nd century is the starships are all pieces
that kind of, you know, that aren't connected to us.
Yeah, yeah.
It's like a load of magnet, just drawing up.
And then we have things just in the air.
So here's Paul Giamardi.
He's a huge get. you know, and he says that he is a Klinger right
a bit later on.
Yeah, what's that?
Is that Teller right Klingon?
I think so.
Look at her.
There's no way she's 67.
I sorry. going on about this.
Holy Hunter, man, you look amazing.
She does look amazing.
She is pretty great.
She's giving Pellio, though. isn't she?
Like, she's really giving sort of...
She's got the same sort of, like, sort of croak-ish voice. you do
when you're 67.
Yeah, yeah, you get an older woman to play her and then make her
super old in the fiction.
It's wonderful stuff.
You know what they're doing?
They're doing the Sarah Jane Adventures.
They're doing a kids show and they're putting an older woman in
charge of it.
In fact, our wolf's getting vibes of the Sarah Jane Avengers, only
in the fact that I figure that her and, um, oh God, the lead, I've
forgotten her name already.
I figure they're going to have a very mother-son style
relationship as this continues.
Oh, you can tell by Luke and Sarah.
I think she's just wonderful.
She's so great.
So you remember she's in the piano.
Like, this is why I was at work today, and I was saying, I'm
watching the new Star Trek, and it's Holly Hunter, and people are
going, Holly Hunters doing Star Trek.
Why is she doing Star Trek?
And that's a pretty big get.
Like, that is a pretty impressive bit of casting.
And she's wonderful.
She's so good.
Well, no, but it was just like, um, oh, God, man, everyone's
name's gone out of my head.
Can you play Giorjo?
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, Cousin Michelle.
Huge.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Maybe that was the tipping point where everyone went, oh, well
she's doing it.
Maybe I'll have a go.
But this scene...
Oh, look at her.
She's so sad.
She really doesn't trust the Federation, does she?
And she's right, not too.
Look, she's right.
And that scene with the kid being like people hauling a mother off
and leaving the child behind as we speak, a kid who was taken from
the streets of Minneapolis is in prison, a five-year-old in Texas
right now.
Is that real?
Yeah.
So like this is a thing.
Well, I watched the news.
Yeah.
God, how do you look at this stuff?
But that's, oh, I love him in this scene.
This is so good, this scene.
Don't you think Well, yeah, and she's but she's very tender with
him here, isn't she?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because she already knows that she's been forced to do something
really wrong.
And later on, she'll say that she has spent every day of the last
15 years trying to find him again because of what she did here and
she knows that she could have end run around it.
She didn't have to do it, but she chose to.
I did wonder, well, when we cut to the future and she was like
this was a decision.
This was what made her finally leave because she said, I thought
oh, is that really a strong enough figure?
But like, I'm thinking, well, maybe...
Maybe she done a lot of this sort of thing, you know, had to make
a lot of these stars.
And this was just the tipping point.
I think this is a six-year-old that she's separated from his
mother and he's escaped and he's gone and it was her fault.
Like, that's the thing is that that's huge.
That's a whole world for a single person and that's what she had
to do.
And like now we have a government in America that doesn't give a
shit about doing that sort of thing and actually relishes it.
And her reaction is how people should react to that.
She separated a mother and a little kid, this baby.
And, you know, like, it's just icing on the cake that they're both
brown.
Do you know what I mean?
Like in this political context, like what else could happen?
It's a white woman doing it to brown kids. to make the poine.
Absolutely.
But this, where he's Caleb, Caleb is hugging him, hugging her, and
that's when she, that's when he steals her communicator.
He sends her out of the room to get the teddy bear.
She doesn't have the communicator on the front of her jacket.
Oh, full dodger.
Right, I'm out of here now.
At the agent six.
Of course.
Do you watch those kids, alright?
sneaky.
But she's not dumb as well, the moment that Scratch says, please
take me to Caleb.
She goes, holy shit.
I just worked out.
What was going on?
No, no, no.
She goes.
Yes, get out of there, kids.
Get away from the evil federation.
It's so good, isn't it?
It's great.
And he's gone.
In this sandstorm, in this giant sandstorm.
And Nathan, the light in that room was so great.
I mean, it was tearing through the walls. a light.
It's really good, isn't it?
It's just terrific.
Just this set.
You fellas sure that not-ish trek was better than that.
Well, I just say it doesn't matter how it looks.
Oh, look at this pull back now. wonderful.
Wonderful.
Now.
And then she, oh, 15 years later, right?
Yeah.
So this scene here just exists in order to give us some sense of
what Caleb's been going through for the last 15 years.
You squint there, you could go.
It's been a long time.
Yeah.
We're going to Beijing.
No, it looks a lot sexier than it did.
Yeah.
Now, I wasn't getting a sense of Beijor.
Do you know why?
I couldn't see none of those lovely monasteries and towers and
streams and it was just a park.
They filmed it.
It did look a lot like the Bajor that we went to in Discovery
though, that we've been to twice.
We've been to Beijor twice in Discovery and it looked very much
like that.
You know me.
I'll miss the map paintings.
They do one establishing shock.
I love this floating thing and all these holograms are great too.
Even this set, do you know what I mean?
Like, it's a throwaway thing.
It just beautifully shot.
So good.
Wow.
Yeah, I mean, do you know, he still looks sexy, you know, even
when he's in a right, I'll state with his hair like this.
Yeah, I like it. hair actually.
I'm sorry to lose some kids.
It's really funny because... in his 20s.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. in his early 20s. as a kid.
They're doing the buffy thing, aren't they?
We're not trusting 17 year olds to play 17 year olds.
It's 15 years later, so he is 21.
Oh, he bit his ear.
Oh, but that's why he's wearing a mask later.
Remember, when Nala comes in to take him away.
He's wearing that mask.
But you see what I mean?
Like, this is like early discovery, this prison shit.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know, guards being attacked, parents and kids being torn
apart.
It feels like it's going to be really dark.
I was like, oh, please.
Yeah, it's not going to be that dark.
It's actually going to be really rather gentle and low stage. to
be quite relaxing to watch.
It was stay low, steaks.
It's Star Trek.
There'll be steaks by the end of the season.
No, that'll be a big thing, but look how beautiful he is.
It's holly crab.
Take a shirt off.
No, well, look.
Harry, he does a great scrap as well.
He gets so physical.
He throws them against the wall.
Look at this.
So the... the rocks.
So one of my favourite things about it is the voiceover is an
English man and he goes unstable flight path and you just go, oh
that's exactly, it's like a tube announcement. so great.
It's a bit like the computer voice in Iron Man, isn't it?
Okay, yeah, yeah.
Is that Jude Law in that, maybe?
Did you see that ship?
It literally bounced off about 4 mountains.
That's great.
So good.
That's going to hurt your back, you know. all over his face.
Yeah, God.
Mind you.
When he's clean cut later, he looks sexy.
I think he does.
And he looks, I think he looks, he looks very cute.
Now we want no accusations of improprieties.
In his 20s, okay.
Calm down, everyone. older men, you know, that like pretty people
exactly right.
Exactly.
Nothing wrong with that?
everyone's very attractive in the show.
That's exactly.
We don't want to see a load of ugly people on the telly.
I remember strange worlds is what if Star Trek only everyone's
incredibly handsome and attractive, you know?
Well, no.
I mean, it's not the other thing.
People are going mad about, my God, there's larger people in Star
Trek.
Finally, I feel represented.
I've got a shot on telling.
This is great though, isn't it?
Like he's desperate.
He's smart.
He's, you know, unscrupulous, all of that stuff, and finally, his
luck has run out.
And this incredible shot, which you would never have seen in a
previous Star Trek.
We've seen ships pulled into other ships by a tractor beam, but
look at that show.
It's close encounter, sort of funny, isn't it?
Beautiful.
It is, yeah.
And we go.
So this is not the opening credits, by the way.
I was going to say it.
I was getting sort of vibes of lost.
It was only about 2 seconds long.
No, we get a proper opening title sequence in episode two.
What is it?
Is it all sort of going around the academy?
the Promenade.
It's essentially the atrium and so we see, we see academy, the
academy being built and we see the cherry blossom tree growing at
the same time.
And so we...
I think, you know, Nathan, sorry to interrupt you.
I think this is going to be the Star Trek Kurtzman show that is a
bit more obsessed with DS9 than the others, you know.
We're on Bayshore.
We've got a Gemadar in it.
I hear there's going to be a DSI love letter coming up soon.
So she's negotiating with the children about ice cream.
And then beautiful Admiral Vance turns up and goes, well, you've
left the Federation, but that was some top quality diplomatic
work.
Oh, there's a Bajoran.
Oh, okay.
They do have the Bajoran nosis.
Oh, here's Von.
He's so handsome.
Yeah, that was some serious department.
God, he's poured into that uniform, isn't he?
No, look, he was beautiful.
Oh stunning.
Just stunning.
So he's in the mummy.
And there's like an instant chemistry between these two.
And he's in episode two as well.
He'll be back.
Yeah, which is great.
Well, I mean, this is what they do write in series one.
Oh, look at her eating 2 eyes.
She doesn't give a shit.
Which is just wonderful. love her so much.
She just doesn't care.
She's great.
If everyone else has one scope, I'll have two.
Everyone else has two. four.
She's an ageing hippie and she just doesn't care. think she's
wonderful.
Do you know how many people are, no, who've named their dogs
Nala?
Is there a Disney character called Nala?
Yeah, it's the, it's Lion King.
It's the Lion King.
It's the it's the girl, the lioness, the young lioness in the Lion
King.
Good strong name, isn't it?
Yeah.
And this, where she says, where she, we saw the previous scene or
2 scenes earlier where she separated the child and here she says, I
could have got round it.
I could have got round it.
And that's it.
We love her because this has preyed upon her heart for 15 years
you know.
I love these sort of very hippish linen clothes she's wearing as
well.
Man, she's the sexiest 67 year old I've ever seen.
She wanders around.
You'll hate this, but she does wander around Starfleet Academy in
bare feet quite a lot.
And they said, what's wrong with that?
I just thought that you had a... those very clean, shiny floors.
You do see a lot of her face.
No, I don't mind knife feet, but generally in Star Trek, we see
webbed toes and things like that, you know, it's very unpleasant.
Oh, she goes, no.
I don't want to be involved with your new federation, all right?
I'm quite happy on Bajor teaching the kids.
And then what gets her back is he says, I found Caleb.
Yeah, which is wonderful.
And so, I mean, this is a little bit like the scene where Archer
goes to visit Hoshi on earth to try and persuade her to join his
expedition.
But obviously it's a bit more weight.
It's all right.
She gets an atrium name gone about.
She got the nature named after her in this show.
So someone remembers her.
Is it called the Hoshi Sata?
called the stratum, yeah.
Ah, okay.
So again, another beautiful, beautiful computer.
Look, they've got CGI dry ice everywhere.
That's right.
And look at her in a sexy black...
My god.
This is why she means business now.
Oh, look, he's fucking out.
Holy crap.
It's ridiculous.
Look at the cephallic veins. massive.
That's why all those Star Trek fans are crossed, you know, they're
all overweight.
Looking at him going, oh, whatever.
Yeah, he's beautiful.
Holy crap.
And he does he does wear sleeveless things at other times in the
rest of the show.
They do.
We do get to see those arms quite a bit.
I just can't believe how cinematic this lighting is.
It's beautiful.
The one thing I'm disappointed by is it 16 by 9 instead of 2 by
one.
So it's discovery is much more wide screen than this.
What does that mean?
It's Discovery is more wide screen than this and so is Strangely
Worlds.
This is a square image.
It's the same kind.
I don't know, actually.
I don't know.
I think it's a bit of shame.
I can't say I noticed, but then you know me, I'm not the most
technical people.
No, it was just I was doing screenshots, obviously, for the
website, and it occurred to me that that was happening.
These are a bit squarer than the other one.
That's right.
That's it.
Okay, hop it, pal.
She goes, come on.
Turn away.
I'll close my eyes and you get out of there. how massive he is.
That's the other thing. so much bigger than her.
She's 5 foot 4 or something like that.
She's, no, wait till you see her next to the Klingon.
He's enormous.
He makes him look small.
Yeah, okay.
Behemoth.
It's wonderful that he was a little tiny boy when she met him 15
years ago and now she's looking up at him and we're looking down
her over his shoulder and look at what she's saying.
This was a catastrophic decision.
I did a bad thing.
I've been looking for you every day.
And look, look, she's really vulnerable.
She just bites her lip as if she's waiting for him to judge her.
You know, like it's really, it's such a good performance. so much
happening in his face there as well.
He's angry and he's listening and he's quite touched by what she's
saying.
It's really something and look at her relief at that. like she's
properly good.
Look at them popping the smoke into it.
There's no need for them to do it at all.
So much atmosphere.
Yeah.
Well, can you just imagine one of those tedious set flat pack sets
from 90s trek and we're in a room.
Now you're talking. in a 10th of the size of this one.
They're missing, you know, the old straight on camera angles of
the Enterprise D bridge, aren't they?
Those fans.
This is great.
When she he assumes that she won't remember the last word that his
mother said to her, but of course she does.
It's seared in her memory and it's don't trust them and she gets
it right.
Like, she's passing all of these tests that he's setting...
The mystery as well.
The big mystery is obviously the mother is out now and we don't
know where she is.
So I'm assuming, obviously, at some point, she's going to turn up
and we're going to get an answer to that, but that's going to be
an ongoing...
A disappointing answer is my guess, but I have no idea.
Yeah, you should.
Actually they are.
Usually they are.
But never mind.
But there's so much compassion, you know, in, like this, just this
scene is so good.
So good.
But he, because he's sort of been forced into this role of
somebody that's sort of been on the rum, life of possible crime
and all this for the last 15 years, yeah.
They could be that he plays the whole thing really aggressively
and he doesn't at all.
And I really like that.
They is a really thoughtful performance.
And so what we see here is her learning everyone's name, she's
she's going through these, you know, the bios of all of the people
that she is going to address on the bridge of the Athena.
So she's making sure she knows who everyone is.
So we're learning something about her leadership style as well.
It's the 1st time we see the Gemadal lady, isn't it?
Yeah, yeah, that's the 1st one she's looking at because of course
she's the she's the 2 I see.
This.
I mean, I am as bad though, because I remember when I saw the 1st
photograph of that character and I went, oh, really?
That was why my 1st reaction was like, oh, they're doing some
weird hybrid.
Gemadar woman. what's going on?
I mean, it took me 2 seconds with the character in this to go, oh
I love you.
Doesn't that just look amazing, that ship?
It's again, it looks a bit like discovery with the ring around the
outside.
It looks like a frisbee.
It does look like a frisbee.
They all look like Frisbee's show.
They're all flying sauces Well, I thought I looked like a Frisbee
oh, look, you must be so happy, all these reflective services.
All these reflective surfaces.
Look at the computer generator.
There's butterflies. wonderful.
There's dots everywhere, there's glass conference rooms.
It's a beautiful, huge sand.
And it's not all the gleaming white that enterprise is.
There's lots of rich red and orange and stuff.
I mean, the pullback's amazing.
It so feels like an American mall.
It's so big though.
Look at the floor.
It reminds me of, there we go.
There's the gap.
I can see it on the top there.
Starbucks.
It reminds me very much of the malls, the hyper malls that I saw
when I was out in Columbia.
That's what it looks like.
And so here she is.
Uh, Lura Thock.
See, she's so polite to Holly Hunter.
And then he gives he gives a bit of grief and she's like, get on
your knees.
I think the amazing thing too is like Michael Westmore, we make
fun of Michael Westmore all the time.
There's some computer generated fish in that pond.
We make fun of Michael Westmore all the time, but he was
incredible.
Do you know what I mean?
He did an incredible job with what he could do.
But look at how much better, the gem Hadar makeup is now than it
was in the 90s.
I mean, for the time, it was incredible.
And the fact they came back.
Consistently overall that time.
Well, it's sort of because she's half Gemma doll.
I mean, she didn't want to look like one of the DS Night Gemma. for
how many seasons?
No, doesn't she?
This is going to.
Yeah, but all the teeth are a bit subtly on all the bones on her
face.
Jesus Christ.
She doesn't want to look that, okay?
Look at are we on to reacting to this?
Over here now.
Drop your gear on this idiot's back.
So great.
Look.
She basically chews up and spits out every line.
She outfit, though.
Look at Jason Townfit. incredible.
You know what it is about him?
his eyes.
He's got incredible eyes.
He's so beautiful.
And he's softly spoken.
He's so shy and so gentle.
He's the most emo looking Klingon.
You could possibly find, isn't he?
But just the, you know, the braids, like the dreads and the, and
the, and the eyebrow piercing and all of that.
He's so beautiful I'll stand-up cadet me. she goes, honestly
you're useless.
I can't even do 10 push-ups.
I do like the big the tree in the background.
Yeah, yeah.
Well, that's that's beautiful. hugely important in the opening
credits.
Ah, you say, yeah, you go.
Zoom around.
We're doing a sort of beauty and the beast style camera work here
as we can go around this fan.
So good, isn't it?
beautiful.
Oh my god, it looks so like amazing.
I'm in New York right now.
Well, it's a university campus, isn't it?
What's this?
Well, there was one of those on discovery, remember?
I think it's a gay story this time, but Linus wasn't the character
Linus?
He goes, undeclared.
Oh, boy.
Oh, boy, has it got hot in here all of a sudden.
Look at him.
He was like, what have you done?
You've Americanised me.
But look at Kareem there too, looking just hard as anything.
Oh boy.
He's the doctor. is Robert Picardo.
Yes, this is what we want.
So the Aurelian lung maggots are from Voyager as well, I think.
So he mentions a really in lungmatic maggots. can't even talk.
Lung maggots.
They are from Voyager.
And then this line, not the bowel movements line.
The medical triangle line.
Possibly objective Robert Picardo being used in this.
They've cherry picked all the best voyage characters for these
shows.
7, Janeway and the doctor.
Of course they have.
I just want a bit, come on now.
Get the DSI and actors in.
What is wrong with you people?
All right.
Now, I'm sorry.
All right.
Now, you're this set.
I mean, it just looks like all the others to me.
A big brown red, shiny room.
It looks like a 50s diner or like, do you know what I mean?
Like, the, the, the, the strange new world set to me.
No, it doesn't look anything like the Stranger World set.
That's all very.
Well, it's got a huge.
It's red and it's shiny.
She doesn't get as big a window as Captain Pike, which I was a
little bit disappointed by.
But it and it is very 60s because that's we also remember we're
talking 60s, we're talking the hippie era, all of that.
But to me, it looks like a jukebox in an American diner from the
50s or 60s.
All that chrome, all of that red.
That thing in the ceiling, I think, looks stunningly beautiful.
And there's details at the back of the room that are very
different.
I mean, we'll presumably get to know this space a bit better, but
it is, I think, it's stunning looking.
Look, she's got a, she's got a thing to lean on.
I mean, it's a beautiful set.
It's a beautiful set, but like, if you told me this was Strange
New Wales in a long shot, I'd believe you.
Look at the, look what's behind her.
And look at that beautiful seat.
That's gorgeous.
She sort of raised on that sort of dais there with the transporter
thing above her head.
Well, it's not like she used to get out in a hurry.
No, it's not a transport. because we don't need a transporter
anymore.
Remember, we've got personal side to site transporters in 32nd
century.
They can just go and go from place to place.
All right, give me the, it's similar enough, though, to the
other...
If the details are different.
And that's what I mean.
Like, I just feel like a show should have an instant visual
identity.
And I wasn't getting that here.
Maybe I'll get that in the academy when we're there.
But I mean, that's the academy.
Like most of the academy stuff takes place on board the Athena
this set, the big atrium set, all that red, all of that gleaming
thing, like all these big screens, that's basically where we're
setting this.
Look, there's a Kelpian in the background.
One of Saru's people was just there behind.
Like, I'll make...
I'm doing a lot of these embarrassments, but I'll make the crowd.
Like when you went from TNG to DS9, right?
Visually, it was completely different, wasn't it?
And you knew immediately what show you were watching.
That's that's all I mean.
I think this, I think this does look surprisingly different to
discovery, for instance.
And, you know, that those very gleaming 32nd century, you know, the
place where Admiral Vans hung out and stuff.
This is a lot earthier and a lot more, you know, just a lot more
colourful, I think.
This, this speech is great.
And like again, she was looking at the wall.
Look at the wall.
Nurse Chuckle.
Natasha Yase is there.
Oh, no, Troy.
Did you say that?
Admiral Harry Kim.
Admiral Harry Kim, can I just say?
Oh, come on.
Muff, I must have been to lying.
Christopher Pike and Spark there, the Athena named for the goddess
of wisdom.
It's a beautiful looking ship.
They look like wings, don't they?
Like, they look like wings and they're unlike communicator. nicer
shot, yeah.
It's beautiful.
Oh, look.
It's all those sort of, what they call it, the space stations
around.
There's loads of them look.
Yeah.
I think back in the day, we could only afford one model.
Now we can fill the screen with them.
But I think this is a great speech and it's well delivered and
she's talking to him.
Like, we keep cutting back to his reaction because he is
emblematic of what all of these kids have gone through.
All of these kids have gone through terrible things and been
brought into a world that's so uncertain and so difficult and
she's aware of it and she's speaking to him and we're seeing him
react.
Notice the doctor's talking about. love the...
Did you love the the the river songline that the doctor had about
ageing himself?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Just to make people feel comfortable.
Oh, look, she's got her fate up on the trailer.
So someone did send a photo of Vash doing that. in Star Trek the
Next Generation.
The, the, even the line about vaccinations, how they're being
vaccinated is a political line now in Trump too, where we're no
longer mandating vaccinations and vaccinations are now a
controversial political issue because of dumb people.
And so, you know, like even that line about vaccinations is making
a point.
I mean, it's clearly the future this, you know, we've got smart
people on this show in charge.
So another important member of the cast is the digital dean of
students who's giving these voice over announcements.
Did you notice who that was?
No, who is it?
It's Stephen Colbert.
Oh help me out.
Oh, he used to, like the Stephen Colbert show, he was late night
talk show host in America, political though.
You know, he was started on Letterman, I think.
He's very funny and very clever.
I actually really like this couple.
So we're being introduced to 2 of the kids.
We've got Sam, who's the 1st holographic, or we prefer photonic
which I think again, is the younger generation with all their new
terminology that you, their new woke terminology.
But, of course, I'll give her a pass because she's learning how to
be a person, all right?
But I was like, what is she doing in this performance?
At the start.
She settles down.
And but I think that she is something that's really interesting is
when she goes later to talk to the doctor, he says it's not that
you're photonic or that you're a new life form.
It's that you're 17.
And I think that she's kind of like the neurodivergent character
in a way.
And in a sense, data is sort of that, isn't he?
And maybe Spock is sort of that, but this is a little bit more
explicitly that.
Oh, this was, oh, this was shitty, this bit with the school bully
gumming, the British school bully as well.
May I add?
I do love how they say, you know, what are you doing?
You're picking on the Klingon on the 1st day.
I actually quite like the scene because because of just...
He's going to kick the shit.
Yeah, yeah.
But of course, he's not.
We know that he's not.
No, he's probably going to fuck him, actually.
So, what I really like, this is one of the moments, I think, where
Caleb starts to feel like he belongs here, because he stands up to
this bully, and because he's kind of really rooted it, like he's
got that thing I'm about to be the 1st person in Starfleet to make
a Kyonian cry, which I thought is a pretty good line.
I've received from a pulse.
So they're reporting his clue to me.
Stress hormone bouncy house.
Do you know what?
What's the actor's name who plays Mia again?
He is called Sandro Roster.
Man, he couldn't look more pretty than when he was threatening him
there, could he?
I mean, some people were born blessed, were they?
I think Kareem is beautiful, like with those...
Yeah, but he's got all that bloody makeup.
People over his face.
Klingon.
Like they managed to give him, you know, poor old Michael spent
you know, 11 seasons with that fucking meatloaf on his head.
Whereas we found a way of doing Klingon makeup that makes him
still hot.
He just looks so hot.
And that I watch birds.
Like, and he's so vulnerable.
Like he's lovely.
That thing.
And like, and Caleb's a little bit embarrassed about him opening
up.
And then he says this thing in that incredible deep voice.
Oh, what the fuck are we going to do?
Are we going to do the standard Klingons that we've done for the
last couple of decades?
It's so boring.
Do something new with them?
Have a sensitive young gay Klingon who wants to be a doctor
because that's interesting and that's worth exploring.
Even the look on his face as he leaves and then the isolation.
Look at that shot where he's minuscule in that corridor just by
himself.
Like, like, it's so well judged.
I think episode two... as well.
Yeah.
All of his dialogue is specifically focussing in on non-Klingon, he
says a lot.
You don't have to apologise.
Yeah, he did say, you don't expect to hear.
Oh, a Ferengi.
Yeah, but he did say a warrior doesn't have to face a warrior, you
know, is someone who doesn't let his friends face danger alone.
Like in those times, here we go.
The Star Trek opera.
Murder, portrayal.
Come and see it.
I have seen a clip, you know, of him singing with somebody.
It was wonderful in episode two. hilarious.
It's terrific.
It's like the background music.
It's wonderful staff.
Is he in every episode, Robert Picard?
I don't think he's in three, but he was in two.
Yeah.
Boo.
I mean, he just lifts everything, doesn't he?
He's great.
I'll tell you what it is about the girl.
Not the hologram, the other girl.
What's her name?
A genitis.
It is a very subtle character and she's surrounded by big
characters.
I think maybe that's why she gets lost in the back a bit.
You know, what hope has she got up against that half Gemma Dark
Klingon woman?
I think she does...
I think she's really great when she takes control during the
crisis at the end.
I think she's really good.
She and the bully Darham have a great interaction in episode three
which I just thought was hugely impressive.
I think she's going to be really good.
I like her a lot.
Have you noticed how Robert Picardo's been squeezed into his
outfit as well?
Bless him.
He has sort of got.
No, don't get me wrong.
He's still hilarious and can deliver every line, like the best
joke you've ever heard.
But he's got this weird sort of wince on his face these days.
Have you noticed?
It's constantly looking a bit a bit perplexed.
He's 72.
Oh, go on, Bob.
I mean, look at all these older actors.
Come on.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And why wouldn't?
Oh, an exacomp.
Yes.
There's an exacon.
What's he up to?
He just flew into the scene and then flew up again.
The XoCop will appear again in episode two.
So there is clearly an exocomp cadet in Starfleet Academy.
Did you see the enormous head of Alien in the background?
He would get Dow and Murph.
Dal and Murph and Gwyn Dala.
Oh, yes.
Yeah, yeah.
Come on, man.
Well, you mention all the best characters, you know, in your 1st
series, don't you?
I'm so glad Murph got a mention.
What's the best?
just go across the screen at some point Yeah, yeah.
I mean, the joy of this is, is they're doing, back in the day, in
the promenade, they filled it full of people in prosthetics
because that's all they could do.
Now they can fill this space with all kinds of CGI bobbins going
about.
It's wonderful. like a considerably bigger set than the
promenade.
The promenade makes great use of the space available, but that's
huge, that's fair.
Well, they kind of had to make it curve.
Yes, there's more around the corner. exactly right.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Whereas now it's just the entire space.
Yeah.
Oh, every time I see that word squeal.
But that, her touching his hair, that's what he remembers.
That's what he remembers.
You know, Nathan, I was going to be the king of squeal, you know.
I love it.
I love it because they don't just, they do obviously pull out all
the really memorable parts of night.
Yeah, they also remember the outrageous O'Connor and syrup of
squeal.
Exactly.
Of course I do.
See, this is nice too, isn't it?
Like, this is us.
Like, obviously he's going to call her because he has been looking
for her for 15 years and now he's got access to a starship and but
we...
I'm going to earth and we were going to see it together.
Oh, I know. beautiful.
And again, you get to see how pretty and how vulnerable, you know
we saw him beating the shit out of people in his 1st scene and now
we see how pretty and vulnerable he is.
Mom, I'm afraid.
Like I'm afraid for you.
And then, see, I think she lands in this scene.
I think Genesis lands in this scene.
We will learn more about her.
Her father's a Starfleet admiral and she has never settled on a
planet.
She's just gone from Starbase to Starbase.
They called her Genesis to Linka to Star Trek 2, the Rafa car. why
she's called Genesis.
Did she get called Jen?
I don't know.
I don't think so.
Yeah, like there was nothing wrong with either the
characterisation or the performance.
It was just a, I don't know.
I mean, you know, they've got limited time to introduce quite a
few characters.
Yeah, yeah, there's time.
Although, we don't have the time we used to have, do we?
Like how many episodes is series one?
Ten.
Yeah, we just don't have the time with these people like we used
to.
They have to get to the point quick.
This is 75 minutes long, this episode, and episode 2 is 60
minutes.
So we do have longer episodes.
What's like, you know, predicting ahead, what can we hope to see
these characters for, maybe hopefully 50 episodes.
Yeah, maybe we're lucky.
Yeah, it's certainly been, it's already definitely doing a 2nd
series.
Okay.
At least 20.
Yeah.
But yes, I hope it continues.
I think it's, you know, despite the review bombing and stuff like
that and all the sort of angry fuckwits online.
But they know it's review, though, man.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
They know it's review bombing.
It did very well, apparently.
Well, critically, with the people that are important, the critical
reviews from the critiques were really positive.
I think the numbers have been brought.
I know.
She's got a, like, that's one thing.
How dare.
A captain, look this relaxed on the bridge.
Which is tiny as well.
She's in this massive chair.
She, and we hear that she's got a massive collection of books.
That's just about the 1st thing we learn and and Lura is impressed
by that.
Here we go.
Here's the shot that drove everyone mad.
We've got 2 larger people and an old woman and they're all women
and one's half Gemitar and half Klingon.
My god, what's happened to Star Trek is gone woke?
It's beyond parody, according to Elon Musk.
Stephen Miller. man there with a bit of scruff.
Oh, and the lovely black man next to him.
Oh, my God.
There's a cute, there's a cute boy too.
I think there's a younger man on the bridge too, who's very
pretty.
I like to think there's a directory, Nathan, of people, and Holly
Hunter was there going.
Hot, hot, hot, hot, I'll have him.
Right, we'll have them.
Yeah.
Jesus.
Look at her.
She's terrified.
She could be marching security.
No, she was going to give, she's um, she's too, I see.
Oh, did you notice it was the old-fashioned torpedo noise?
It reminds me, I'm getting Star Trek beyond vibes from that thing
too.
And so programmable matter is a thing that gets introduced in
Discovery Series 3 and here it plays an important role because
we're establishing that we're in the 32nd century.
So these are bombs of programmatic.
Oh, God, programmable matter.
We recently watched Way of the Warrior, right?
where we did a similar sort of a thing.
You remember we were following along with the torpedoes, but there
they had to cut to physical effects of spaceships blowing up.
Now we can linger whilst explosions happen.
But those weren't explosions.
Those were tendrils of programmable matter that actually end up
spreading over the surface.
The dots, I know.
The dogs are going up the stairs.
Get out of my way, cadets.
I think in episode two, the dungeon walks past some dots and goes
hey, Brian, hey, Dorothy and stuff like she's calling my name.
I don't even remember.
I think they should be like the scutters in Red Dwarf, you know, a
bit sassy.
Can there be a dot revolution or something?
He's a really beautiful short track called E-Frame and Dot, which
is about a dot, which is really adorable. terribly good.
Yeah, yeah very sweet.
Well, what's this?
Spaceship coming together like a jigsaw puzzle. like it's in 3
years.
It looks a bit like the Klingon symbol, doesn't it?
It does.
Did you know?
Yeah.
Or, yeah, it looks amazing.
I mean, again, these ships that just look like nothing.
Bridge people got to be a bit like the discovery bridge people.
They get the old line, but they're not really focussed on. maybe
they'll get some focus later on.
Yeah, I think, you know, when we go into space, we'll see them, but
we don't generally see them.
Look at these enormous tendrils.
And they come out of the ship.
Great, isn't it?
Oh, fucking hell.
Oh, this shot was amazing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Everybody flying into the wings. incredible.
It's just like my chins were ripping out.
It reminded me of the, you know, the Klingon, who goes flying
through the corridors in Star Trek 6.
All the explosions going out.
But, you know, obviously, a bunch of people here.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, gosh.
Oh no.
Holly Hunter's hair is in disarray.
We were in trouble.
Yep, we are in trouble.
That guy's a bit older, isn't he?
That guy's that handsome scruff guy.
Yeah.
So no one's been killed, which is good because there's a lot of
children on board.
It goes.
What does he say?
He has a really catty line now.
If we can avoid another direct hit.
That would be really helpful.
Super helpful.
You bitch.
Well, he hasn't changed.
Here's your dot with the fire extinguisher.
Yeah, fabulous.
He just holds out its hands and it puts out the fire.
That's adorable Oh, and I did like this as well that nobody can
yeah, it's been such a sonic boom. nobody can actually hear
anything properly.
Yeah, it's great.
So this is awesome. don't have to do any dialogue.
We could do lots of lovely pictures for a little while.
But this is where the game comes together, isn't it?
Sparks coming down?
Well, yes, exactly.
Oh, boy.
Oh, no.
Paul, what's her name again?
I must get her name, right?
Lura.
Lura Thok.
Lura.
Lurathork.
Yeah.
She's covered in, well, it looks like a, it looks like rocks.
I think this is lovely.
That kid, the one who swallowed her companch, like in that earlier
scene, is now panicking, going red alert, red alert, red alert, and
beautiful, beautiful Caleb calms her down, like is really gentle
and kind with her.
It's great.
You don't have to say that. you know, that's what the noise is all
about. right.
But it's very sweet.
Like, he's super understanding.
It's really nice.
Oh, I'd say twitching.
Oh, I thought for your car.
Oh, no, but he's not going to do that, is he?
No, he's nice.
I'm a bitch Oh blimey.
Oh, oh, she's got...
I mean, is it a rock that's stuck in her side?
I would say one of those rocks. yeah.
Yeah.
They're still packing them in there in the far future.
They're cannon.
It's explained what they are in an episode of Lower Decks.
There's even a name for them I can't remember.
What did they say?
You know, well, we decided, if you've got to go out from an
exploding console, then it may as well be messy.
That's it.
It's all shards of things.
It's always a shard.
I don't know if you noticed because you can see the detail very
clearly.
There was a load of rock debris all over that corridor.
Oh, and look, Sam uses her photonic powers to light the thing up.
There she gets to contribute.
Beautiful.
Look at that.
And I like the fact that the strongest character here is the one
that is her, you know.
Yeah.
Oh, look.
That's so adorable.
His smile is beautiful.
Caleb smile is just adorable.
In the publicity photo, you know, where they're all lying on the
grass, the shot from above.
They're all lying on the grass.
You ever wanted to sit down with people more?
His smile is so broad and so beautiful that I didn't recognise him
at first.
I mean, that picture, I was like, oh, no, it looks like 90210
please.
But I love that.
That's fine.
Happy for it to be 902 I know.
Yeah, but I'm not 12 anymore.
No, but I can I still love watching kids stuff.
This is exciting.
You know, we loved prodigy, let's face it.
Oh, here he is.
Bracca.
Yeah.
So again, now we're back.
We don't have these that much in discovery. not any discovery in
Strangely Worlds. but the holograms in the future that just they
don't have any interference patterns at all.
So he's communicating with them.
He's still on board his ship. he hasn't beamed here.
This is just him speaking to them as a hologram and we just have
him here.
And I think that's great.
I really like that a lot.
And he's written with some humour.
You know, and he does feel dangerous.
I was just like, we have done this.
We have done this.
Yeah.
And I don't know if we should be feeling this familiar in episode
one.
But I think it I think it grounds us in a sort of recognisable
Star Trek thing, I think.
It was when everyone was just pushing buttons.
I'm talking 10 about...
It's like they're putting isolinear chips in the thing there.
Yeah, for sure.
You almost quite a nice jacket he's wearing, actually, Bracker
isn't he?
Yeah, looks nice.
He looks great.
He does look like he's got borrowed some finger rings from the
person from the serene squall.
He just caught the eye of that woman at the car and went...
Hello.
Look at RK's reaction where she's just going, oh, no, please.
May, will you stop looking edible, please?
It's very distracting.
No, it's incredible, isn't it?
Do you know what?
The poor British kid.
He hasn't got a hope, is he?
so dull in comparison.
We do see him shirtless in episode 3 and he's fine.
He's going to need to be showing us.
He's got a quiet plain face if I want.
We've got a bit of a round face and so he gives you the impression
that he's...
We don't get a lot of sun, see?
So, like, that's why we're all so pale.
Oh I did love this.
Now, in the middle of all of this sort of Star Trek, I appreciate
the decades, but then she puts a stop to it.
No, no, no, not that, but no, I loved Oh, for God's sakes, rock.
What's the name?
No, that's...
Fuck.
Thank you.
I will get there.
I promise.
I've been praying for a couple of episodes.
When fuck...
Thank you.
One of us done the homework, when she talks to the Klingon and
basically says you're going to have to do this and you're going to
have to be brave, that I thought was a great character to be.
And I'm hoping they have a nice relationship.
I hope so too.
We also get the, you know, I'm buying my life back, you know, I'm
dead now. and I'm buying my life back.
The very thing that the gem had our say in Deep Space 9 before
going into battle.
Remember, we are dead.
We go into battle now to win our lives back.
We saw it.
And she quotes that line.
You know, don't you know?
Oh, no, there is a couple of aliens.
I thought it was very sort of human centric bridge crew, actually.
Now we've panned around a bit.
Someone with an enormous head is in the background there.
Somebody green.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, and so we did get, so Atley is that red woman with the kind of
weird face and hail is the big head person.
Dicking around.
There's loads of very soft swearing. shit quite a lot, actually.
Yeah, that's still...
It's not fucked, though, is it?
Which we've got in Picard.
And in discovery as well before they apologised for it.
He literally got a right down.
She was lying down in her chair there, but she blew on the
hologram and it disappeared, which I thought was pretty great.
She's great.
I love it when an older woman stands up to a man being pregnant.
She was not giving him an inch.
Yeah, she wasn't intimidated at all.
She's fabulous. 500 years old.
You can scare me.
Yeah, exactly.
That's what it's wonderful about her.
And that's why she has to be played with a woman.
Look at after a load of Muppets, and you think you can scare me.
Come on.
Oh, look, look at that.
Is that an Andorian with a red wig?
Oh, I don't know.
You see it, where they're from?
I know a Orion, right?
And a riot.
Sorry, yeah.
Oh, God, how racist.
I'm wondering whether the Orion makeup is being done is sometimes
being done in post.
I reckon there's a little Orion kid in that scene on Bajor where
having the fight with about the ice cream and I'm pretty sure that
they're not going to make a kid up green.
They'll just turn them green in post, which can be done.
It's probably far cheaper or cheaper.
Takes far less time as well.
A flick of a switch.
Oh boy, man.
Look, now she's back hugging her knees in the chair again.
I mean, all those people, they're fanning themselves right now
going, oh, my God.
Respect the chair, respect the chair.
I really love how she says you get 5 seconds.
You know, it's worth listening to.
Like, she doesn't, there's like her, just she listens to the kid.
Do you know what I mean?
and is prepared.
Like, I just think she's really terrific.
Oh, here we go.
On three.
Give me something to buy.
She's buying a bloody fan.
All the blood.
Oh, that's a lot of blood, actually.
Spitting out.
And it's why?
Yeah, Blue, she said, in when the actor said, in interview.
Oh, so funny.
Like, I think they're colouring her gums as well.
They're blue.
Like, how are her gums blue?
You know, like, I think they're colouring them in post as well.
I can only imagine, right, when that actress 1st saw, but this is
what you're going to look like.
I think she would have thought that's fucking awesome.
Yeah, she probably did.
That's it.
It's a lot Pritchard and I thought what was going to be.
It's also like, she's probably going.
She's probably going, well, why does Bella just have to put
eyebrows on?
And I have to wear this giant thing on.
It's not that time they made column dress up as a Klingon.
It's like, Michael, how do you go through this every week?
He apparently bitched and wins so much.
They were like, oh, get him out of it quick.
Oh, I mean, beautiful mealer. easy.
All he's got to do is put on a bit of foundation.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And this, all of these, like all of these security measures and
stuff, you know, that they're being they're in a situation where
they're not equipped.
They can't use the suits, you know, because and they can't, you
know, use the transporters and all of this sort of stuff.
Um, and they're having to overcome that because there's all these
safety protocols because it's a university.
You know, they're in a class.
I said, I'm a colonian bitch.
I said, I was like, okay, okay.
Please.
But later on, mate, that line comes back.
And she, I think Bella, I think I'm Genesis says to him, you're a
Kyonian bitch as well, which I think is pretty great.
You know what the trouble is, right?
I think now there are enough Star Trek shows. all of those shows
are trying to cater for different audiences now, right?
Prodigy, lower decks, Discovery, Picard.
This is, it's going for sort of late, maybe late teens.
Audience?
Yeah, but I think it's going for an adult audience. don't
understand. don't you I could see why somebody might feel a bit
aged out of this.
Yeah, yeah.
But like, that's my point is you don't have to watch all of it.
All right?
Maybe this just isn't for you, but that doesn't mean it's bad.
It just means it ain't for you.
I love this where she, he tells her to turn around and she just
assumes he's being a dickhead.
Do you know what I mean?
And then she, like, and that, she says, I like it, and there's a
smile and there's a genuine little moment of connection there.
And their relationship isn't perfect from here on in.
They have a big fight in episode three.
But I liked that little moment of connection.
No, what we looks like.
Dressed up in all that gray makeup.
This has got to be the niche reference I ever given on time.
He looks like Caris, the 8th doctor companion.
The chameleon lizard.
You go and look at those big finished covers.
He's the spit of Comrade Westbass in that makeup.
I think just the black.
The black whites of his eyes look incredibly striking.
I can't see a discernable difference between this and Minefield
you know, when Scott Backyard...
Anthony Montgomery walking over the ceiling.
Astounding.
And look at these shiny, shiny surfaces.
So many reflective surfaces.
You have got such a weird kink for shiny surfaces. because they
look expensive. fill your house full of mirrors.
They look expensive.
That's why I like them.
That's why they didn't have them in the 90s Holly Hunters leaning
into the con man with the scruff.
Show me.
What's on that console there?
You free tonight?
Oh, there, there we go.
Look, everyone's pushing buttons.
Yeah, yeah, we're doing our space now.
No, she's helping because she's got her skills, you know, she's a
science nerd, all of that stuff's really great.
He's very familiar.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But what it is, it's cadets doing it.
You know, we haven't really seen that before, but it is solving a
space problem.
Valiant approach, you know, where they die at the end.
I knew you would bring up the Valley.
I knew you would bring out the valley.
Oh boy, I love it.
What's going on here?
Oh, he's still walking on the hole, yeah, but he's like, come on
Caris, what's his name?
His name is Darham.
Darham.
Okay.
Yeah, which is not too much of a space name, right?
Darren Raymond.
What, Darren?
Darham.
Darum.
D-A-R-E-M. Oh, okay.
Yeah.
Has it got an apostrophe in it?
No.
No, no one has an apostrophe.
Oh, where we... and Joseph St Benga.
We've got 2 apostrophes among the main cast of Strangely Wrong.
Well, they could have done.
They could have put a Beaumar in the main crew.
His coat hanger would come in very handy at particular moments.
I love that where she goes, isn't anyone listening to me?
This is an emergency, and he comes in and says, please state the
nature of the medical emergency.
She goes, I'm trying to save someone's life.
He goes, yeah, you should have started with that, right?
That's right.
But, like, and they're helping.
Like, I love it.
The kids are, you know, this is how it works.
The kids are solving the space problem with the help of the adults
you know, it's great.
It's just so well charged.
I just, you know, I can't highlight Robert Picardo's timing enough
though.
He's so good.
He's the master at delivering a line.
This is great too.
He's too frozen to read it.
Get the telephone number out. focus on it.
Pull your shit together, Darham. your cayoning bitch. you know
what?
that was Caleb's, is it?
You remember I was making comparisons with the Sarah Jane
adventures earlier.
The end of the 1st episode of that as Luke Smith reeling out a
load of numbers, which saves the day.
Yeah.
Yes.
They've been paying attention to Russell T. Davis, you know.
He's been going after a Star Trek crossover, isn't he?
been chable with Goldberg.
Yep.
Ah, look.
Oh, and that I say as well.
Thank you so much because whilst the camera does tend to sort of
slide across the sets.
We stopped droning everything.
The discovery drones are out.
We're doing lovely.
Look, I mean, look at it.
The camera work.
It's so fluid, but...
That's beautiful.
Less frenetic.
Because the set is so fucking big, you can sell her running a long
distance.
Do you know what I mean?
Like through the ship because we've got this massive set. just
running down fucking corridors.
It's like it's interesting looking, you know, backgrounds against
which Bella can go for a while.
You know what I'm saying?
I don't need anti-sickness tablets towards this one. which is very
refreshing.
I mean, that camera is stationary.
It's stationary.
No, it's not.
It's all moving slightly.
None of the cameras are stationary.
Well, I'll take slightly over for titianous.
I think you're just acclimating. think you're getting used to it.
I'm just old.
I'm just old If I'm going to blew to death, I require significant
in my final moments.
It's so great.
She's so good.
Don't ever stop being a bitch, fuck.
Her reaction was she goes, I hear you.
She's so crazy.
I said, fuck.
Did I get it wrong?
Yep, you did.
You did.
Oh, finally.
There we go.
Oh no.
The English boy.
No, no, no. being caught by a tractor beam. and then he's going to
beam back.
Here's the fire.
Maybe somebody should have died in this 1st one, maybe. don't
think you want that.
That's a buffy. kind of.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, that's not what we're going for.
Buffy's great, isn't it?
Buffy is great.
But, yeah, like that's beautiful.
No, we need them.
Oh, no, I suppose the ending there where we're hearing the song
and they're all gazing longingly at San Francisco.
It wouldn't be quite the same if one of them was missing.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
No we don't want that.
This is gentle, low steak Star Trek.
She is in pain there.
Yeah, yeah.
Ooh, he's autorizing the wound with a scalpel. reaction is really
great.
Connect Master, are you alive?
He's so sweet, that boy.
I mean, I think she gets up pretty quickly.
Yeah, yeah, that's what she gave him the pain she was in.
It really gets the blood pumping, doesn't it?
Look at look at his beautiful smile.
Again, Jade and beautiful smile.
I'm like, she...
She punched him across the room.
But it was an encouraging good on you, son, punch, and it sends
him across the room.
Oh, she's great.
Tell me she's in every episode.
Yes, she's in every episode.
Oh, she's 5 minutes.
I massively important.
And so this is what's that?
What's that?
That were alien on the right, so I don't know what he was.
Oh, yeah, that's that's um, what's his face?
Hail.
He's got a name.
She knew his name.
She was reading his file earlier.
And that pretty young...
Rakha, you are beaten, mate.
Get out of here.
Yeah, but they beat him through the power of the classroom because
this is just a training simulation that they use to try and look
it in. embarrassing for him to be defeated by a load of moppets.
Oh, yeah.
Well, no, the people.
Yeah, well, that's right.
That's right.
Although he does, I'm glad that we get him.
He gets the chance to confront Caleb, which is pretty great.
Hi, little fish.
He goes, my, my, my, how you've grown.
Yeah, he's so tall, isn't he?
He's so huge and that you weren't wrong.
Again, he remembers every detail.
Hate, you keep me warm.
Make sure, man.
Wow.
Yeah.
I mean, he's loving this role, isn't he, this actor?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's Paul Jimality.
He's huge.
He is a big gad, I think, and he will be back later in the season
I guess.
Yeah, so that's it.
So that we're sort of reinstating the mystery of the missing
mother.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, he knows where she is and something has happened.
I love that.
She is a vicious fire.
Yeah, it's pretty good.
In fact, the best thing about it is, hey, you know, Caleb has to
press the button to make the programmable matter go away and the
way that he presses it is by grabbing Paul Giamardi's head and
just slam it into the console.
And that's how he initiates the, you know, you've got the execute
protocol button, uh, and he just presses it with, with, um, Brock's
head, which is pretty great.
I mean, Kurtzman Trek really does adhere to the TV language of
violence. i.e. I mean, he's thrown across the frames.
And then he just gets up and keeps fighting.
I don't think this would be happening in my life.
There you go.
Yeah.
Nice kid.
Blow the ship to hell.
Yeah, that's I'm actually a little bit shocked by that.
I have to say, why are we blowing the ship up?
Ah, well, you teach him a lesson.
You won't do it again.
That's what that's what Rourke says.
Teachable moment.
We should be teaching the kids, though, right?
Well, I don't know, maybe it's the, you know, the Federation is
not quite the Federation of the 24th century. you know.
Maybe that...
Even I must say, and this is, you know, forgive me.
But during this fight scene, no, I'm not going to say it.
Well, something was visible.
I thought I'm going to say.
Oh, really?
It was very distracting.
Slope motion my way through it later. was flinging about the
place.
There is dialogue about it in episode three.
What about how impressive he is.
Yeah.
Oh great.
Wow.
There we go.
Slow motion shots of everyone emerging.
Yeah.
So, again, I don't want to be the one wearing that massive hedge
you know, on the left there.
No, no.
Yeah.
But again, so this song, as I said before, is a little bit, because
it's a hippie kind of thing, it's San Francisco. it's a beautiful
version of it.
Francisco.
My mum loved this song.
Yeah, it's a beautiful song.
And that, like, I think that that beautiful shot with Genesis and
Sam is really very sweet.
The shots about...
Oh, maybe 15 seconds was probably enough, and it goes on and on
and we get more reaction shots, and I was like, yeah, right, I get
the point.
Yeah, yeah.
Because it takes a while for it to all land, doesn't it?
Because we've got it to land and we sort of, it's our big
triumphal moment though, and we get to see everyone.
I get it.
I was just like, yeah.
I was initially touched and then I was like, right, can we move on
to the next scene now?
And the diet and the lyrics make sense?
that you meet some gentle people there and there's Nala. you know
that beautiful shot of her.
Um, And back to the Athenia.
Oh, Don earth looked beautiful when Star Trek. look at it.
But it looks, it does look a bit brown.
Like, it's like the sky is not blue in any of these shots.
And, like, I wonder what that is.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, there is something about.
We're not there yet, I think.
And this, even the word generation, there's a whole new generation
there's a whole generation with a new explanation.
Do you know what I mean?
This is a new generation of Star Trek.
The, the, the lyrics or work, I think, because, you know, uh
Nala's an ageing hippie, um, and this is going to be, uh, uh, this
is going to be a show, I'm afraid, about, um, patience and, um, and
empathy, uh, because it's set in a, in a, in a school.
Oh, but I don't object to that.
I just object to these languorous reaction shots I'm getting.
We did have a lot of action just now.
I think it's okay.
I'm happy.
I'm okay with it And there we go.
That's it.
It's done.
Oh, no, look, look how sexy he looks at night look.
It's like something out of Star Wars.
It's like Corusol, for God's sake.
It's beautiful.
So this, we did get dialogue saying that Nala's quarters on board
the Athena had been modified to her specifications.
And so this is again, you know, it's slightly Japanese in the sort
of style, isn't it?
Don't you think?
Like it's very warm.
The lantern on the scene.
Yeah, yeah. like warm and orange and sort of hippie-ish because
we're mostly on earth.
The windows give out onto foliage and stuff.
It's not just like the, you know, like the captain's quarters.
It is a beautiful set.
Um, and man, look at him. practice that Instagram pal. hasn't he?
I bet if I look on his Instagram, there's a lot of power going
on.
Actually, check their Instagram.
We'll call it research.
Yeah.
But look at that beautiful tiled couch that they're both sitting
on, which has the Starfleet image on it, but they're like, you
know, like beautiful green tiles.
It's a beautiful set.
Oh, wow, I didn't actually notice that the 1st time I watched it
with all the combatches on it.
It's beautiful, isn't it?
The Starfleet symbol, but they look like real, like real ceramic
tiles.
This thing too.
I mentioned this speech before we went in.
She had a son and he died in the burn.
He was a cadet and he died and then she talks about how to bring
children up.
You know, and it's not just about bringing up her own children
because he's gone.
Um, but it's bringing up these children as well, that, that...
This could be a really moving relationship.
And if they get...
I mean, it looks like they've got to get it right as well.
There's one hilarious moment in a later episode where he says
dismissed and then starts walking off and she goes, you don't get
to dismiss yourself.
Like, they, they, they argue.
Do you know what I mean?
They're not always on the same side.
This is what I think they were going for with Janeway and Harry
Kim.
Just didn't materialise at all, did it?
Imagine if it happened.
They could have done.
They could have done this.
Yeah.
This is really vulnerable too.
You do a lot of that stuff to protect your child, you know.
And he doesn't know.
Well, does he know because his mother's gone, but she did.
You do a lot to protect your child, including, you know, teaming
up with Paul Jumati, who murders someone.
Like all of the dialogue is so considered.
Like, and the episode is doing something, so clear.
I just think it's well written and well judged.
Yeah.
Oh, look at that long shot, the room.
Look at a fire, man. beautiful.
And then the reflection of the city.
Fucking hell.
What was I watching at this?
I remember any of this.
So beautiful.
Did I turn it off before the end?
I can't remember.
Oh, look how beautiful he is.
Oh, I think she's very beautiful as well.
She's so cool.
I like it.
I aged her down 20 years, right?
20 years.
Oh, she got stained glass windows?
Oh.
Lovely.
Do you know what, Nathan?
I could live there Yeah, it's a beautiful, beautiful.
I love how they cross arms together at the same time.
They're the same. for now.
But like they both screw it out.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But they both cross arms together at the same moment.
It's great.
It's just like they are the same.
And the smile that they give each other, like it's really nice.
It's really warm.
Look at the size of difference, baby.
Oh, it's wonderful, isn't it?
It's so good.
It's massive and she's torn.
Tiny minuscule.
Oh, boy.
Okay.
Do you know what?
That 2nd half was less egregious watching it that time.
It's really great.
Yeah, yeah.
I just, like, I will reiterate, like, you just said it there.
The whole the nature of that 1st couple of scenes where they're
starving.
So they make a deal with someone dodgy, someone gets killed.
It's it's that darker look at both the universe and the federal
that I really, really love.
And so I thought I was going to get a lot of that.
And then it did materialise into a very typical... very positive
Kurtzman track theme, which is what. we're always going to go for
in Star Trek now.
You know.
And like, even on deep safe.
No, they're kids.
They might make some mistakes along the way, of course they will.
But I mean, even on DC Snow, they all basically love one another.
I mean, you know, like it is still, you know, tricky, but they get
it.
They're dysfunctional.
And these guys are still saying rude things about each other and
you know, like you will still have Caleb and Darham fighting next
episode and you'll just don't want a Sarah Jane Adventures group
hug at the end of every single one.
I can't bear that.
There's a fair thing where you felt like, like, washing all those
reaction shots at the end of this.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, and that again was like, here we are.
This is our new thing.
It's a little bit like those scenes of the Enterprise in Star Trek
the motionless picture where it's just like, here we are.
Here's the beautiful visuals.
We're doing something exciting and new, and we've got... very, very
long.
Oh, we didn't even have a song.
Oh, no, the music was quite beautiful. in the motion picture.
Yeah.
No, so a positive 1st episode.
I'm more intrigued, though, to get to the academy and actually
because I don't think it's going to be this.
No, it's not every week.
So in a way, it's sort of like deceptive.
Yeah.
But then it's Discovery's opener wasn't what discovery was either
was it?
It sort of took a year to get there.
Yeah, yeah.
And I think establishing the background, what we need to do here
is in some way establish the background of the world that these
kids have grown up in the world that they inherit.
And that's super important.
This isn't a Starfleet Academy show set in the year, you know, 2400
where everything's great and things are sort of going well and
stuff.
Well, even there, even in Star Trek, Picard, we had, there had
been a terrorist atrocity near Earth and the federation was
withdrawing and behaving in a way that causes Admiral Picard to
resign.
Like, this is a vision of Star Trek.
Federation of Picard was much more insidious than this.
They felt like you couldn't trust anybody.
Yeah, yeah.
I think this is that sort of, it's more than the kind of that
liberal utopian vision of 90s track, which gradually goes away
because the show gets taken over by people who aren't interested
in that.
This is interested in those ideals, but it's interested in them
against a background where, like, not adhering to those ideas is a
real possibility, and discovery has that.
Picard has that, and this has that, I think.
I hope they explore that quite a bit because I think, you know, the
positive utopian ideal.
Yeah, it's all as a delightful message, but it doesn't always make
interesting television.
Whereas shades of grey, you know, and and striving to get there.
That is interesting.
I think that that's what we'll be doing here.
But I'm excited.
Like, and I'm glad that there's at least, you know, another 19
episodes after this to look forward to.
Now we're finally, you know, setting something on earth, like
permanently.
Yeah?
Could we finally do the attack on Earth and actually see it for
real?
I mean, you've got the effects budget.
Let's do it.
Yeah, I mean, I don't know.
Like, I don't know where it will end up going.
But this is kind of a little bit more low stakes.
It's not all space problems.
It's not all diplomatic problems.
It is, you know, the 3rd episode is largely about Starfleet
Academy and the neighbouring war college pranking one another.
Like, it is very gentle at times.
And I think there will be higher stakes, things and more peril and
stuff and will be going off in the sheeper bit.
But this isn't...
We like gentlemen, don't we?
We love lower decks.
Yeah, you know, I mean, there was steaks sometimes in that, but
very often, you know, it was just larking about on planets.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, it's nice.
And I think that there's enough of lower decks DNA in this as well
because one of the things about Starfleet Academy is that it's
kind of ridiculous, you know, that we are still set in the world
of Star Trek in a way that is kind of strange and silly and fun
and they don't forget that.
You know, my idea that being ridiculous isn't Star Trek's failure
mode.
It's something that it should lean into and it does do that a bit
too.
Although, you know, not as stupid as what we watched last week
though, eh?
That was very stupid indeed.
Yeah, well, that was bad rather than ridiculous.
But as well, I think, I'll say again, one of the main things I
took away from this was those adult characters, they're so vivid
in this.
Yeah, you've got the doctor, you've got Thok.
You've got Holly Hunter there.
Um, you know, they are such great personalities.
I think what I need to see is the kids written up going forward.
And they're going to be the focus.
So of course that's going to happen and the adults will probably
just be some background colour all coming in to help them out in
their scrapes and japes as we go along.
I think it would be fun.
I'm looking forward to it All right, it's the end of the episode
and it's time for us to work out where we're going next.
This was another excellent choice from me.
And so you have the reins of the randomiser this time, Joe, where
are you taking us?
Yes.
Well, you know, I I take advantage of one of the new tubs that are
on the randomiser, because we haven't used it.
Yeah have we?
There's 2 new tabs just to let everybody know.
There's a 90s trek tab and a 21st century trek tab.
So we're going to go to a world of non-reflective surfaces, my
favourite period of Star Trek.
Except enterprise.
Oh, no, it clues enterprise, doesn't it?
Well, you can d-select enterprise ones.
No, no, no.
Come on, man. to the tab.
All right, come on, okay.
Yes.
Okay.
I've...
Oh, look at that.
All 4 popped up.
Oh, wonderful. honestly.
I like the film when you do these little innovations, you know?
Oh, yeah, fun.
Can you can you please now so we can select the seasons, please?
That would great.
Only season 6s, you know.
I think that's a little bit too fine grain.
As a little behind the scenes, Nathan and I sort of went through
the episodes we did last week and we realised that certain seasons
hadn't been covered at all.
DS97 and Voyager.
Six.
It was like a 3rd of the episodes have been done.
So, you know, I wonder if it's the randomisers a little discerning
about certain periods.
Let's find out.
Okay.
Your random Star Trek Enterprise episode, so we won't be doing
this is season four, episode seven, The Forge.
Have we done that?
No, it's season four, episode seven.
Is it the market thing, the marketplace, the Orion marketplace?
I can't remember.
I don't remember either.
I'm sure that I've seen it.
Is it part of the Vulcan arc?
No, I don't think so.
Oh, I'm not doing it anyway.
Yeah, we're not doing it.
I'll just press the button again.
Oh boy. glad we're not doing this.
We've already covered it in untitled Star Trek Project, episode
48.
Nathan's bizarrely celebrated season 2, episode five, at night in
Sick Bay.
Awesome.
Two enterprise ones in a row.
That's pretty exciting.
Another one.
Your random Star Trek Enterprise episode is season four, episode
18 in a mirror darkly.
What's going?
Are you sure that you've got the other one selected?
Another one we've done.
Your random Star Trek Voyager episode is the killing game. season
four, episode 18.
We've done 20% of Star Trek.
This will happen more and more.
Oh, God, we ain't doing this one.
There's no way.
Your random Star Trek Voyager episode is season one, episode 4
time and again.
That's the one where they go to the Gap Planet with that goofy kid
you remember?
Yeah, yeah, to the to the sewage reclamation plan.
Everyone's dressed up in gap colours.
And that's how they discern that that is an alien race.
Yes.
They're all just humanoid in multicoloured costumes.
They're all just like a terrible.
In a mirror darkly again.
What's happening here?
I don't know.
Sorry.
Oh, now this might be fun to do.
And I am taking the piss now, but I'm pressing this so much.
But let's not do this because we did the one after it.
It's hunters, you know. the other part of prey.
Yeah.
But I think we should probably go to, oh, yes, this is the one.
This is the one.
I'll say it and your eyes will light up and go, yes, that's the
one.
All right.
And next generation is low on our list.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, good.
Is it okay?
Yeah.
You're right on Star Trek.
The next generation episode is season four, episode 13.
Devils June.
Oh, yes.
Oh yes, please.
Absolutely top tier Star Trek. so much fun.
Oh, Trudra.
So good.
It's so good.
Captain Picard, please.
This whole planet will be destroyed.
Forgive me, I've got a nail appointment.
Oh, so camp.
She's so great.
We may have a fight about this one.
I remember this being dismal.
It's really good It's properly good.
Well, it took a while to get there, but I've been hanging for
this.
Devil's Jew.
We've all got those ones that we're desperate to cover.
Bring on Altra.
You've been listening to entitled 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 Cisrin, and the theme was composed
by Cameron Lamb.
This episode was recorded on the 27th of January 2026 and released
on the 30th of January.
We'll see you next time for Star Trek the Next Generation, Devils
Dew.
Now, it's your role.
Ah, yes, yes, yes, yes.
I'm not just getting it out.
There's someone credited as little Sullivan.
That's enterprise, isn't it?
Yeah.
Oh, I know what it is.
Those 2 kids.
So those 2 kids with the ice cream, one of them's an Orion and one
of them's a super.
You can't have Super Bonds in the Alpha Quadrant.
My heart gives Sula Barnes ice cream.
It was well established.
They were all very intolerant.
That's so great.
That's so good.
I only just realised, I'd seen the, like, you know, copy the
credits from memory alpha.
But, but yeah, Solon Morales, and it was, I did think it was a
little Latino kid who was, I don't know whether it was a boy or
girl.
But the 2 little kids, the 2 little curly-head kids, and I said
that one of them was green, presumably in post-production, and the
other one must be Sullivan, in post-production.
I want to look at that again.
The victrio is just baffling.
No, because that felt so like...
Star Trek... and the bubble.
Everything explosion.
Yeah, yeah, people running.
It's got everything.
It's done everything.
The objection here is it has women in it.
It has black people in it.
No, no, that's it.
And it has, you know, gentlemen in it.
That's the objection, you know?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think that's definitely it.
Remember that good old days of Star Trek Enterprise, you know
where we didn't read Shakespeare and we played foosball, whatever
it was.
No, you've got water polo.
But, like, even worse.
Yeah, how manly is that?
Fuck off, aren't you?
Just don't get it.
Now, now, because I've, when it saw a few more clips, that
fabulous actress who plays stock.
She really don't care baiting them, does she?
She just doesn't say that.
She's terrific.
She goes, oh my god, she goes, I'm a Gemital woman.
I'm not addicted to white.
I was like, oh, please go on, stir the pot.
It's a bit like what happened with Jodie.
Do you remember before she aired?
and she was reading out the tweets?
She's RIP, Dr. Rouge.
She goes, we ain't even seen me yet.
You know, it's the same sort of baiting.
Like, you shouldn't.
I mean, I don't even think you can have a dialogue with these
people.
I mean, you're not going to give it a charge. are they?
Look, I mean, we've talked about 90s strike, right?
and then it gradually gets more and more right wing, yeah?
that that in Voyager, the aliens are mostly threats and we mostly
get out of confrontations with them through force, right?
And then in enterprise, you know, which is a ship crewed by
mediocre white man.
You know, like it just gradually, like it moves away from what, you
know, the height of that sort of trek, you know, liberalism is
Star Trek, the next generation.
And you've got Deep Space 9 maybe critiquing that from the left
you know.
So those shows are pretty left wing.
Um, but less so.
Do you remember the end goes on?
the Dominion War.
Do you remember the there was a real criticism about it?
Like, you know, all the bangs and whistles that happened, the big
space battle, but the war actually ends when Odo beams down and
links with the figure.
It's a really intimate moment.
And then when they come out of that 2 seconds later, but in
changing time, it's been 5 years or whatever, they've been talking
a while.
And she goes, right, tell them all to stand down.
And that was the end of the one.
Of course it was.
It was an intimate moment.
Of course, it wasn't someone being shot or something like that.
Like these people watch Star Wars.
You know, Luke wins in Return of the Jedi by throwing his
lightsaber away.
You know, he just says, I won't fight you, you know, and he drops
his lightsaber.
And it's that action.
You know, like, it's just these people are bad at watching media
or maybe they're not because, like, no, they're bad at watching
Star Trek.
It's not just telly, right?
Star Trek has always been all colours, all creeds, all
sexualities.
Everyone's welcome.
Like, when did that get forgotten?
Well, it wasn't at all sexualities in the 90s or 60s.
That was that was G's approach.
He wanted gay characters in TV, but they didn't happen, right?
The basis of Star Trek is everyone's welcome.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
But, you know, how have these people forgotten that?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, no, no, everyone's welcome as long as it's been fronted by
white man.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But now, you know, like that's it.
It's a diversity that they hate. and but it is also, I think, those
federation ideals, which are really, really fronted in Kurtzman
track. and it's one of the things that I love about it.
It's why I like it more than 90s track, apart from the fact it
just looks a 1000000 times better.
What's the objection to not diversity?
I don't understand.
I know.
What is it?
But that's the problem.
They're all actors.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I know.
Some are brown, and some are white, and some are green.
And it's more interesting.
Like it's better. interesting, I think, and it's telling more
interesting stories and being just generally more interesting.
I mean, you know, anyway, it's a it's tedious.
I will never understand racism.
I will never understand it.
And I think that's to my credit.
I just don't get it.
I don't get it.
I mean, look at him.
He's beautiful.
Stunning.
Yeah. everyone's very attractive.
You could fill it full of English people like the English kid, you
know, and we'll have a much less pretty show to watch.
Well, just wait till episode 3 when he takes his shirt off.
He's fine.
Okay.
Oh, muscles don't really do too much for me.
Oh, like a nice pretty face, you know?
Those giant arms.
Holy crap.