Ouroboros, Part I
Ouroboros, Part II

Hey, Joe. Hi. So, we're back with Star Trek Prodigy after a long break. It turns out we've done quite a few of the tent pole episodes of Star Trek Prodigy, not the beginning, but we've done the end of series one, the beginning of series 2. And this is the end of series 2 and the end of the entire series. It's Aura Boras, part one, and Ura Boras, part two, which is episodes 19 and 20 of season two, which dropped on Netflix on the 1st of July 2024 along with the entirety of the rest of the season. Big day. So, Joe, tell me what you thought of it. Wow, why was it cancelled? Hmm? No, I'm asking you. Why was it cancelled? Okay? Because it was undeniably a superior show. I mean, she's right. Right? Like, Kate Mogoy is right. I was sitting there watching this finale going, Joe Ford 45 years old is having trouble keeping up with this. 6 years old. Oh, we have a fucking clue what's going on. I mean, I messaged you and my one line review was that was a really sophisticated bit of science fiction for moppets. I mean, Jesus Christ, you have got to keep your wits about you. Oh, it was great. I really enjoyed it. Like, um, maybe more plot heavy than I expect Kurtzman Trek to be. I usually expect there to be, you know, time for a group hug and you know, high school musical moment every now and again. But actually, episode one is just all go, the stakes are getting higher as we go. You know, people are doing hand to hand fighting and we're creating wormholes and there's everyone's doing their bit in the big space problem. And then at the end, a new threat comes in, my God, some great aliens from another dimensional, whatever, are coming through the wormhole, and it's all happening. But much like what you leave behind, once all the bangs and whistles are done, then there's time to say goodbye to sort of all the characters. Or let's say goodbye, actually, and more, let's get out there. Um, and I do have one issue with that 2nd episode, but that's more to do with the fact that the show's cancelled and less to do with the fact that it was a satisfying ending. But it's fastest. I mean, that's why there's no group hugs. You've only got 24 minutes in this 1st episode to, but explain to everybody that hasn't been watching this entire season, what the fuck is going on, and bravos to them, because they started talking about it, and I'll go, oh, what, eh, eh, what, and the idea after idea, sort of culminating in this heist plan, and I'm going, oh God almighty, how am I going to wrap my head around this? And then somebody, we'll see who it is when we watch it, goes, so what you're saying is that what we're doing is, and there's just summarised it all in a line. And I was like, oh, thank God this is for kids. Thank you. Jesus Christ. So it is very, very complicated and there's a massive time paradox which we saw. We didn't quite see kickoff, but which kicks off in episode 3 of this season, where instead of going to Taza Lamora, the proto star is launched with Chakotay and Drake on board. So it never goes to Tas Lamora and it just threatens the timeline. The whole show. Yeah, it threatens the whole premise of the show because the premise of the show is that they find the proto star on Tars Lamora. And so that time paradox is there. It's embodied in Gwyn, who is kind of half here and half not there. She constantly sort of phases out. She has to wear an armband to keep her in this sort of quantum reality or whatever. And so that's a thing. And so all of that's there in the background and it's just beautifully resolved here. And so we do have that long conversation. It's not technobabble in the sense of there's tech in brackets in the script and it doesn't matter what Michael Okuda comes up with to put in there. It's all stuff that kind of makes sense in the sort of context of the show. But then the episode is 2 characters have to climb a thing, another character has to beat up Jameela Jamil. They have to come up with an idea of how to create a wormhole. It's all very straightforward and very action-y and that's so exciting and so terrific. Yeah. If it was not, it would just be the second bubble. That's it. Well, that's right. But because they can do incredible action on this because it's animated. They can do whatever they want and the action is stunning. The settings are unbelievable. There's great peril, there's great jeopardy. There's gags, there's like fun moments. There's a wonderful bit where Murph puts his 2 hands and stretches himself out like silly putty and goes, boy, and throws the man across the room. was great. So good. And we both love the bit between... Oh, God, what? You're going to have to help me with the names again. Dow and the Tellarite. A park, Alan Park. Oh, fucking hell. Yeah, when he was about to start climbing the thing. I mean, the lines there are hilarious. Yeah. So all of that stuff's really fun and straightforward. The loomer established in the middle of this season and that's where we meet Wesley. those weird sort of jellyfish things that are coming through. yeah So they're essentially the reapers from Father's Day in Doctor Who. So they're here to clean up the timeline because there's a time paradox because the proto star never came back. And I think Wesley, in a way, he's still playing his traveller character, but he's playing it very in a very Doctor Who... Oh, he was fabulous. I mean, this Wesley I can get behind. He's really good. And in the middle scenes, he actually goes to a place where the travellers a retreat to, and it's basically the TARDIS, but also Gary Seven's office from assignment Earth. There was a wonderful beat, you know, where all sort of happening and everyone's sort of figuring out their beer. and you just see Wesley leaning very casually against the wall. and I'm like, man, 0 man, there's a place for Wesley as a regular in Star Trek again isn't there? But not as irritating moppet he was back in TNG. Yeah, yeah. I'm glad Prodigy got him actually. Because I know they were all all for the Kurtzman shows were after Wesley, weren't they? And I know he appeared in Picard. And of course he did because that's where all the actors that he worked with before were. But I'm glad he got the most to do in this. Because he's really integral to this story. Yeah, yeah, he really is. And so all of that stuff just works really well. So the cliffhanger with the loom coming through the wormhole is amazing, but they resolve it sort of fairly straightforwardly at the beginning of the episode. And as you said, there's enough time. It's the same trick that they pull with lower decks that they pull with discovery where you have a substantial amount of time to get to know where the characters are going next. And I thought the ending worked incredibly well not just as a potential launching point for series 3, but as a place to leave these guys where they're off into space to have adventures. And that's exactly what we want on something that looks like the proto star, but is called the USS prodigy. And so we can imagine that show, even though we never get to see. I just could have done without the utopia Planacia. thing. One, because they just can't. It's a kids show and they just can't deal with that in a way that perhaps you would do on discovery or something like that. 2 is because it's like, 0 my god, this enormous threat to the Federation. We can't go out into space anymore. You know, it's the worst possible news. Anyway kids, there's your ship. Oh, you go and have fun. And totally, it's very strange. I was like, what? It's a very kids show resolution, I think, which is adorable. Like, I do think that that works very well. You leave the Federation to deal with all of that nonsense and you get out of space. But you remember that that's the backstory for Star Trek Picard. And so we saw that short trek that we did, children of Mars leading into Picard, that that's the backstory of Picard, the Romulan, the Romulan rescue, all of that stuff will be dealt with. So that gets introduced. And I think what it does is that it brings prodigy into the fold. So instead of being this marginal thing that doesn't have much to do with the rest of Star Trek, except maybe Voyager, it becomes this inherent integral part of Kurtzman Trek, because the big event, the big historical event of Kurtzman Trek happens to them and that changes the show. And, of course, we've since seen the show roped into Starfleet Academy by having the Bricar student, the Male Bricar student in the academy, who we get to see. And of course, Sam mentioning Dal and Gwynn and Murph to the doctor as well in that 1st episode. Oh, the MVP of Star Trek project. Yeah, that's right. So I love the fact that that that now means that when the kids are a bit older, they they own that part of Star Trek history, I think. There was a lovely moment between Dow and Wesley, uh, where he thinks he's talking about, oh, this is why we had to be together for now, for this, and Wesley Costa, you idiot, you know, for the future, for all those adventures, Tsakami goes, and it's amazing and it's terrifying. And just in that one exchange. There. There's the rest of those seasons of prodigy that really, we're never going to say, unfortunately, because the Netflix banner or whatever, Kate Mongrew said, that's just it's fallen now. What I thought was really quite impressive was the unearned celebration of the show towards the end of the 2nd episode where it started flashing through all the adventures they'd had. We've only had 2 seasons with these kids. Like we've only had like what, 30 episodes and 30, 40? Okay, 40 half an hour episodes. It ain't a lot of telly, right? It's 20 hours a telly. And yet I was really moved. It was showing all the moments of how they connected and how they made friends and become a community and then worked together and then face problems and it wasn't like something like what you leave behind, which has got 179 hours behind it. And I've spent, you know, and I'm in floods of fucking tears as they were all saying goodbye to each other. But I was moved by it. And I was like, okay, they definitely have got something here because I'm feeling emotions for these people. And I barely watched any of this once, you know? Yeah, I was quite impressed. I have now watched it all the way through. So I had a few saved up as well because I couldn't really bear for it to end. And so I did watch the last few episodes leading up to this. So I've now seen it all, but some of it I haven't seen for a long time. And seeing how far they'd come because one thing that it does pack into those 40 episodes is just a massive number of huge changes to the premise that things change and move on, they learn, they develop, I don't think you would have noticed, but there's a bit where 0 has a physical body. Um, he's the green guy in the flashback that you won't have recognised that was 0 for a few episodes. We get Magel, the new Vulcan character. Dal changes as a person and develops and grows. You know, like, and going back to see them. There's even that little scene at the beginning where, um, the, the comb badge gets, um, picked up when they 1st appear on the Bridge of the protostar, where you hear, um, where you hear rock growling and and Dow calling him Fella, because he's never spoken to her yet and doesn't know that she's a little girl and just all of the changes, all of the things that they've been through together. So I did find that really moving because just a lot had happened to them. That's sort of incremental changes, but there are fundamental changes as well. Like, my view of the show when we did the one of the early ones was that this was going to be about those moppets on the protostar just exploring a new region, the space. That's what it feels like in the 1st couple of episodes, or that we're heading towards, that they're going to, you know, hologram Jane Way is going to teach them. I had no inkling that we were going to get back to earth by the end of that 1st season. And then by the end of the 2nd season, we're going to be twisting timelines around and setting up the entire fucking series from the end. Like, do you know what I mean? So fundamentally the premise. of the show changes in a way that Star Trek shows, maybe discovery aside, even DS 9. It's still sit on the station. It's still the same regulars. They change the political landscape, but that's a different show in season two. It's got all those Voyager regulars coming in and stuff, you know it's, it is, they basically rewrite the whole thing. And it's not because that 1st year didn't work. It's because, well, we've done that. Now let's do this. Yeah, so where would they have gone with three? Who knows? So the 1st year actually changes substantially midway through where they discover that they have the living construct on board the protostar, which will destroy the federation if it comes into contact with it, and so they can no longer fulfil their mission of joining the federation and now they're tasked to protect it. And that's the point at which real Janeway, where Admiral Janeway gets introduced as a character, and all of those additional characters like Asencia, like, um, Thisus, like Noom, you know like all of those additional characters, uh, get introduced at that point. And then we lose Janeway, you know, at the end of series one. We lose Hologram Janeway at the end of series one, then we get her back in the middle of series 2. And like all of these changes, all of these things happen. They remember Deadlock, Nathan. They remember deadlock and go, my God, if you have double the shame weight, it's even better, you know, right? So we have to end game. Yeah, yeah. It's literally the endgame thing where one of the Janeways sacrifices herself to destroy this. Kate Bobra isn't enough, you know? It's never enough. It's not enough. Yeah, I mean, I suppose my sort of backhanded. This is backhanded towards some next generation, unfortunately for you, is that there is actually less hours of prodigy than there was in TNG season one. And yet somehow within that time, they managed to develop more than TNG managed in 7 seasons. Bravo prodigy. And a bunch of movies as well, in fact. But you know, they're doing different things. They are absolutely doing different things. But I mean, I do, I like a show that shifts about. I like a show that is unpredictable, you know? Yeah. Yeah. No, it's really good. And it still has time for little single individual episodes, little adventures that are more or less self-contained. We did one, didn't we? We did one which was totally, I mean, it felt like a kiddie show one of the sort of individual ones that we did. Yeah, but it does feel like whatever they're doing. I mean, I thought the opening 2 were extraordinary. Like, I mean, that was amazing. You know, I did enjoy the opening 2 of Academy, but like I said to you, I was a bit disappointed that it wound up becoming your average Star Trek by the end of it. There was no sense of that in those opening 2 prodigies. I mean, it was, we were in new territory there and I was like bloody hell. What's this? You know, for the moppy. It's amazing, is it? Well, what do you think? Should we go in? Well, I mean, I'm glad we've done a lot of the talking now because it's so fast, we won't be able to talk about everything that's on the screen. It'll be done in 50 minutes. Boom, go. No, that's true. That's true. All right. Okay. I will count it in. Five, four, three, two, one, and we're off. So we get the, um, the eye dent, and you can see Tas Lamora, like in the background of the eye. Oh, it's the sexiest. It looks like that fabulous nebula from Next Generation, doesn't it? you know? being sophisticated. It's funny, isn't it? Because the proto star is in the opening titles and it's usually important and stuff, but it's actually sort of largely absent from the beginning of series too, because they blow it up at the end of series one. Now, you know, I couldn't always tell you, Nathan, what all the various theme tunes are from Coast and Trek, even though I think they're all pretty great. But if you started going, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da da, da, da, da, da, I'll do it, no, straight away, it was prodigy. It's a great theme. It's such a great set of titles too, isn't it? Well, it's just pretty, isn't it? I could just look at the images here. Beautiful. It's rare. I want to drag myself away from your face, but look at those images. I mean, they're very pretty. I mean, it's the Voyager titles, isn't it? But all of the elements that they fly past are parts of the main characters. You know, they're just going through Pog's hand there and we're about to see hologram Janeway. Oh, well, there's some, there's Gwyn. Which I think is great. You know, it is about those characters. of lovely sort of primary colours as well, isn't it? It sort of pops. Like a kid show should, you know? Yeah. But like I just think the look of it is like nothing that we've ever seen in Star Trek and it's stunningly... Lower decks has as pretty as it can be. It has that sort of 90s trek aesthetic to it, doesn't it? Whereas this, I said to you, this feels more to me like Star Wars Star Wars, at his best. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And I think that that's what it's trying to do, isn't it? But I think we said that before. It's the answer to things like the clone wars or Rebels. did nobody watch it then? Is that why it came off? I don't know. I don't know. So we go straight in. We don't get an extraordinary aerial shot of that. whatever that is. It's amazing, isn't it? So, um, so Asencia has taken over. We've just had a sort of two-particle ascension, and she's been able to build all of these ships with some technology that, I don't know, she got from Wesley or something, which enabled her to grow them in these bubbles that where time moved really quick, and so that's how come she's got all of these ships and stuff. It doesn't matter because it's Shamila Chamil being camp and brilliant. in the role as well, you know? You remember her backstory. Her and Gwendala's father, the diviner, went back in time in order to prevent 1st contact with a federation, which had destroyed their planet. And what's got a simple storyline in this, have they? It never, no, it's always back in time. And so you remember that she meets her father at the beginning of series 2, a younger version of her father who. We watched that at the time yet. Yeah, we did. And that's the character that we're left with. In fact, at the end of this, her father isn't the great diviner there he is in shot on board the on board Voyager. He is a good guy. And so we get to fix her father. She gets to have a proper relationship with her father where before it was a problem, the relationship. I'll be trying to pretend to me that Chakotay has got to look that good after Voyager, where you already saw where he was heading okay? He starts dyeing his hair again, which is a little hedgehog sitting on Rocktox's back. I don't know that is. So that's bribble. There was an episode called a triple called Quest, and they land on a planet where there's large, genetically engineered tribble. Oh, it's a triple... Yeah, yeah, no, it's half tribble, half brick car. So it has some of her DNA in it, which is why it's got her colouring. And so it's a little cute fluffy monster because Murph is clearly a graduated into a cold-blooded killer at this point. I mean, although an adorable cold-blooded killer. I did love how everyone got something to do in this episode right? Our everybody's sort of individual strengths are used and everyone gets a sort of line. But then I remembered how much I loved all these characters right? And I know we've just had how many episodes this season. Was it 20 episodes this season? So we've had individual episodes and everyone's had their moment. But I'm just like, God, I want to spend more time with 0 than this. I want to spend more time. But that's that's good, right? It's good that I'm not getting enough rather than I'm getting too much. So there's that one moment where Wesley says we've got to get this done before the loom come through and destroys us all and Janeway's line is, let's try and avoid that, Mr. Mr. Crusher. That's really great. It was just great to hear Kate Mulberry say, crusher. I was like, yeah, thank you. So good. So that. So that, that, that communicator, the old-fashioned communicator that Dal picks up and has in his hand and that he puts on his uniform for this episode. That's the robberos because that that never gets created. He picks it up there. He picked it up in episode one. He he took it with him, and now in episode 39, he puts it on again at the end of at the end of this episode. No, at the beginning of the next episode, he will put it back on the seat where he picks it up. We're doing time Zara again and again and again and this, aren't we? But it's also the entire show because what they discover is because they're going, well, we've got to correct the error. This should never have happened. We need to work out how to get the product, the protostar back onto Tars Lamora. But it turns out they realise that they were the ones who did this all along. Yeah. Jesus, we haven't actually set up the TV show yet. We better do it now. Yeah, yeah, but it's not we've got to get it right. We know it's going to end up when wrong. because we're here. This was what always happened. This was not always happened. This is how it was. It didn't go wrong. This was it. The simple fact that we are here in this episode means we got it right. And, and, you know, they've, they don't know where it comes from when they 1st made it. There's that big mystery. Where does the proto-star come from? And the answer is they put it there. Yeah. and and that's brilliant. So they create themselves. It's not just luck. It's bravery. Yeah, it's their bravery and ingenuity that ends up being the reason that they end up on board the protostar. It's wonderful. I just think it's. That's like a circular bit of plotting. This then works as a 2 series show, doesn't it? Yeah. With them at the end, you know, there's your gift. You've actually set up the show. You've managed to make it, so the show we've had exists. Now, here's the ship. Off you go. It's really great. Yeah, it's wonderful. I just think it's great. Loudly, yeah. That looks very intimidating, doesn't it? They're scary. There's a, there's a big, there's a big episode where they have to fight one of those and it looks... It was made out of sort of clay slaps. Lego. So that, like, so one of those is going through one of those wormholes to get to earth. And when those wormholes close, they'll actually break those ships in half because the ships are halfway through. Did you notice how pleasingly stately that Voyager sort of ducked and dived there? It was like we were back on Voyager there for a second. Very nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like Jake Ware going. is our only hope to get us through this you know? Of course. No one's getting out of here on my watch. This is great where she just goes through it and just sort of torpedoes. Just for ducking and diving from the alms and things. Not too quickly, no. Well, you know, we now see the detail. Look, now these are these robots. What are they called? The scorpions and that. Oh, I don't know. But they were in episode one, weren't they? We haven't seen them for long time. That is the strongest Star Wars visual signature I'm getting. Because he looks like grievous, doesn't he? That sort of... Yeah, yeah. Oh, Dreadnaught? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. The thing about this too. So we're explaining this is us explaining the entire premise of the show. Do you know what I mean? This is them finally coming to the conclusion that the wormhole they have to create was always the wormhole they created. And, you know, he or she's explaining the backstory to them. Uh, and I guess Wesley doesn't know it or something. I like the fact that they sort of cut through all the technobabble but I just showing a visual of all the wormholes coming together and then there's one big hole in the middle. And I was like, okay, I understand what you're doing. Exactly. And also it's just visually stunning. Those scenes on the holodeck with those 3 dimensional displays and stuff look great. And so does these. All of it. all of it looks fabulous There's just an epic sense for the visuals, isn't there? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it just looks incredible. I just think Star Trek has never looked quite... He stretches his massive long arms and... I think that's why they give him the arms in the middle of the... The bit where he throws the man like an elastic band is very funny. Oh, now Janeway's being very mean to Shikotay here. Yeah, the hell is wrong with you? He goes, you've been on me all day. Yeah. And so Chakotay spends 10 years aboard the proto star with Hologram Janeway. In one, I think, is their kind of do over of resolution. And so they're clearly banging. This is a huge feature now. Chakotay. I'm finally over the monkey. Okay. I'm ready to come. But what I like too is we know that her program's too big because she goes down with a proto star, doesn't she? Like, she goes down with a protostar at the end of series one in a really moving scene. She gets to give a great speech at the end, and now we find a way out of it. So she gets to be on board the USS prodigy at the end, mentoring the kids as they head off as well. Yeah, but she just has to make the decision in episode 2 and just sort of reset. Yeah. And she just does it like that. Like, she just literally, you know, this is what I got to do. And obviously they have found the loophole so she can exist, but obviously she has to be there at the start without any information about any of the mopping. the show don't work. Like, there's so many ways this couldn't have works, you know? They get it. They do get it right. They managed to dot every eye across every T. Well done. And so, and so we have Magel too. who's the Vulcan that joins them. We did meet her at the beginning of the series too. Yeah. She's Migel. She's got an apostrophe. She's smidge apostrophe L. And of course, we have Talin, who is the Vulcan who joins the lower decks crew during the course of its run as well. I just love hugging this totally alien crew in prodigy. You know, everyone looks so distinctive. It really does make enterprise look like a back alley, doesn't it? It does see that? boring. Even Wesley looks a bit dishevelled. Yeah. And again, temporal mechanics 101 is a running gag. There's an episode. The season starts with, um, um, Dale has to read temporal mechanics 101 and he doesn't understand it and he doesn't want to do it and then it ends with him ready to ace temporal mechanics 201 or because he's already been through all of this person. Oh, here we go. That visual there. Yeah, the wormholes coming together. And a massive, that all makes sense. Yeah, one... Did you know what was the best kiss to the pass, I thought, in this? I don't know if you noticed, but Wesley's wearing that orange jump off from series one of the next generation. Do you remember that dreadful orange jumper he used to wear? Jacket? It is that it's that one. I love this line where rock picks it picks him up because, yes, you can put me down. Yeah, oh, yeah. Look at this. I mean, we're doing it. I mean, when you want scale, have someone climb something and have electricity coming all around them. Yeah, looks amazing. It doesn't. Oh, we've missed the line, haven't we? When he says, come on, let's do it. Oh, so we're explaining what the thing is, and we discovered that we have to come up here where there's a console to input the coordinates. And Pog just says, well, that doesn't sound very convenient or something like that. Okay thanks. You're right. I've got to climb up. Don't tell me that. He goes, why? the truth. He goes, it's the truth. It's suicide. Sorry, mate. Yeah, I love pop. So that's right. Now, now, that happens now where he says, no, now you have to climb up there because remember, okay. Yeah. So the other thing that happens to remember is that one of the... Oh, so this too. So there's been a thing over the last few episodes about Gwyn and Dow, and Gwyn gets given an away mission that she's in charge of and he's kind of been crushing on her from the beginning of the season. But what it ends up being is just this admiration for her. And there's a lovely moment where Chakotay is talking, I think about Voyager arriving or possibly the proto star and saying, isn't she beautiful, but Dal's looking at Gwyn through the binoculars and he says, yes, she is. And so that ending, which I just think is stunningly good. Like, I just think that ending is so good, so perfect, and we'll talk about it when we get there. Dow's ending, like the end of his arc. Just like her saying the mission comes 1st because it's what they've learned in the 2 years, you know? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, she had a mission that was disastrous. It didn't go well and she was beating herself up about it. Yeah, so he's establishing... This is an amazing hand-to-hand fight that you get between the 2 women. I mean, you know me. I love 2 women going at each other. That's why I love Buff so much. Yeah, yeah. But now they've got the ability to put in all of those settings and backgrounds behind them. It looks incredible. It's amazing. It looks so good. And, you know, that's the thing that's creating the wormholes and we saw it in the opening shot where we had the drone shot flying over it. Yeah, this this thing. We was very complimentary about the big sphere, the archer fights on in Enterprise at the end of season three, but now please just compare and contrast. How far would come in 20 years? Yeah, yeah. Looks, looks amazing. Yeah, there you go. We've got a loose connection. There's lightning everywhere. There's things whipping about the place I think solem just looks great as a planet when we saw Gwyn on solem in episodes one and 2 of this season. It just looked great. I... bloody dreadlock... It doesn't look great. With a huge scorpion tail. Oh, here he goes. now. Is it him though? bounces off. very funny. Yeah, it is. And there's that moment at the end. There's a really touching moment and they give it to Pog. Like the emotional moment they actually give to Pog, where both of them fall down. Like Dreadnock and Murph fall down into a thing and you think, oh shit, are they gone? And then Dreadnock's head appears. And then it's Murphy's got the head. Oh, that was a great trip. That was the line. He went, it's going to bounce your particles for the next century. He goes, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that. He goes, why? You didn't tell me that. Oh, man, come on. He's like, silly fatty boy, guys. Here it goes. And should I know what? I just love, you see, I love the intrid mechanisms of clocks and things. Look at how this is designed with all the moving parts going around. That's wonderful, isn't it? It's taking place whilst the stuff is going around them. At times they're on parts of the equipment that's moving. Yeah, it looks brass, doesn't it? Like it looks like a big brass mechanism. stunning. How long does it take to design something like this? Is it really easy these days? I mean, I, but no, because you need to have taste and you need to be an artist, you know, like you have to be able to produce beautiful images and design stunningly beautiful things. Oh, no. Oh no, Murph, not Murphy's the best one. straight into the what looks like the reactor call. But don't you think giving Pog the reaction shot where Pog looks down, he's quite distressed and then Dreadnock's head. That's funny. And the eyes are still left off, just for a second. so you think you're still alive? But then you get pog. You get a little pot reaction for punk who's relieved and kind of a moment of affection for Murph as well. The Austin Powers line. Why won't you die? Should you die? God's sakes, I've got this massive fucking spear. Will you just die already? And of course, the spear thing, which was a bigger feature in series one, and like earlier on, because she loses the spear to Asencia in episode 2 or 3 or something, like shit 2, I think. She loses this, the, the heirloom, it's called, because she's the prodigy, in a way, isn't she, of the title, because she's the daughter of the great diviner? And she has this thing which turns itself into a spear and a shield and, you know, is an expression of her person. It's an individual thing that the Valnikart have, but she's not had it. And so she reclaims that. That's what this fight is over as much as just stopping Asensia from, you know, destroying the universe or whatever. It is doing that, DS9 thing, though, of giving the bad guys inadverted comments, just a lot of personality, making them really vivid. She's a huge character. She's been in it since midway through series one. I mean, her line there was a massive concept. She goes, the multiverse holds a bitter truth. My world solum is dead and it always will be. Like, yeah, as a child, you know, in every, every possible reality her world is dead. That's a massive high concept. She went back to change it, but even if she changes it, the one that she came from died, it was destroyed. Which makes her a tragic character, right? as well as a villain. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which makes her much more interesting. And she kind of takes the place of Ilteron of the great diviner as the main villain. I should have used that more like that, you know. Yeah, they should. if they could afford it. It was very strictly. Yes, we close the wormholes and we break all of those spaceships because they were making their way through them. They're scary spaceships. They look so scared. Look at this. I mean, I've never seen a sexier wormhole forming, have you? I know. Nazi and Steve. Wow, even then, really. Jesus, I mean. You know, if I had to go on a date with a wormhole, it might be this one, you know. But then here, too, like, all of the people, including, that's when all their light eyes were glowing. So I'm not quite sure, but they were giving, you know, she was they were lending her their power, including younger Sencia, who is here as a young woman. So before they were giving a sense of power, the senses come back in time. Now they've decided to sense you're there. That's a sense you're there, that young woman there, in between those other 2 is younger sense. Oh, bloody, yeah. Just like we had young Ilthron. Fuck sake. Why has no one got a normal backstory in this? Is no one just the person? Lots of time loops. But remember. If you're on an Ascensia came back in time at the theatre, we've got... I know, it's like, oh, got it. But, I mean, that is part of the thing is, essentially, we have to climb, we have to discover how to create the wormhole, we have to climb up the thing and create the wormhole, and then Gwendala has to fight a sense here, and that's really it. Do you know what I mean? It's super simple. Plot wise. But there's... You add it all together. A lot of coming on, isn't there? Yeah, yeah. It's super, like, it's just great action. I mean, I think... It sort of comes to the conclusion. I don't really need to know I'll just watch what happens. I'd assume it all ends up okay, you know? But I think that that's how the intended audience are gonna watch it as well. You know, like kids are smart and you haven't watched it all the way through. Um, so you're playing on hard mode, but, you know, like any kid who devoured this over a few days. That's why I'm great when it 1st dropped on that. I'm grateful this is for kids. So, you know, they are given me that chance as well, to just watch this as I've seen. great bit of action. Yeah, that was that scene I mentioned there where Dal is looking at Asencia through the, through the, um, binoculars. Although, should be honest with Nathan. I think this is more complicated than some of the more adult Coatsman shows. Yeah, for sure. There's more twists and turns happening here within this season than your average sort of discovery season. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, Discovery might be the only one that comes close. I, you know, generally know where I am in a discovery episode whereas here I was going, my God, I've missed a lot, you know? Well, the whole time thing is so kind of integral to this in a way that it didn't seem like it was going to be going in. What a lovely visual that was. You know, you got Jway from Voyager, Wesley from NextGen, and then our project, all the tricks coming together, look. Oh, it ended. And the loom coming through. Yeah, because we had that, we ended on the shark. We ended on the shot of something coming through the wormhole and Wesley identifying it as the loom. And we had encountered the loom. In fact, a couple of episodes ago, Asencia had a loom, one of the loom in prison with our heroes, and they had to escape it and stuff, and the mid-season breakers, them all being attacked by the loom. So Wesley, we've seen the loom in action, and we've seen it destroy members of Voyager, it attacks Voyager. destroys the crew members and no one remembers them, like it erases them from existence, and that's what it's doing here. It's here to wipe out this, you know, damaged timeline before they can finish. It's an incredible voice cast, isn't it? Like, God knows how they felt the 1st time it was cancelled. And then the 2nd time it was cancelled, right? I mean, it was given the only reason we got season 2 was because it was given that lifeline by Netflix, right? Yeah, that's right. Yeah, I mean, you just don't assemble that sort of talent and then just throw it away, do you? Unless, I mean, I can only... David Diggs, for God's sake. like David Diggs is in this. Oh my God, no, I think Chamu Chamu was my favourite, you know. It's pretty great. Yeah. Or Jason Mansukas as well. And just getting Mul Groupax. Like, she's not a small name. She's gone on and done stuff. No. And 2 out of 3 Roberts as well. I mean, I started this particular episode doing a quote from Kate Mull crew. I mean, that righteous fury she has in that interview. good on her. She's not just going to sit back and go, do you know what? Yeah, fair enough. This decision that they made. No, we were putting out something that was fucking good for kids. Really good Like, think about, I think the animated series is pitched at kids, and it's so dumb. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's really pitched at stupid kids and like, it's rarely smart or interesting at all, the animated series. And then decades later, we've got TV literate children, we've got people who have watched a lot more telly. We're better at making telly and telling stories through the medium of television. And this is so much more interesting and so much more sophisticated and and there's heart to it and it's about the federation, all the values and all of those things that I love. You know, like I just think this is a really, really special thing. And what I think is really sad is that there's nowhere that you can now watch this on streaming. Yeah, that is... Well, I mean, you can buy the DVDs, can't you? But you were going to have to want to go and get them, you know whereas no one's going to happen upon them now. And that's really sad. I think my biggest fear when I heard about prodigy, that they were making a show for younger kids, was that I was going to get, you know, spoon fed messages of the federation animated steering style but with better special effects. What you actually get is something that is far more substantial than even your average adult trek show these days. that's really impressive. I think the worst thing you can do is talk down to children and it irritates me when shows do it. This is punching up the children in such an impressive way. Well, I suppose we better go and watch the 2nd episode, don't you think? I think we should. All right, I'll count it in. Five, four, three, two, one, and we're off. I'd end again. Here we go. Yeah. Roughly rainbow colours. Oh, so pretty. It is pretty Star Trek. It's back. So great. Yeah, you know, those people that object, you know, they miss the gray, don't they? They miss the gun metal gray of everything from 90s trek, you know much like their sort of morality. I mean, I think that the Voyager looks like Voyager, you know, like it's still the same sort of thing. It's not it's not like the proto start with it. It's kind of massive spaces. Do you remember when you went into that new regional space, the void and everything was just black and gray? everywhere. Wow, a new region of space is as boring as the usual. It's even more boring. The original ranger. We're just weird. We are gobsmacked when Nighty Strep gives us something sort of... I remember when we watched Skin of Evil, and we were like, my God. I mean, at least it's weird, you know? Yeah, that's true. That is true. That, I mean, we've talked about that. That was a thing that they abandoned in favour of raising the floor in favour of trying not to look stupid. Now we've learned to not look stupid. And look weird and look amazing and weird. They go for like just like incomprehensible things sometimes. yeah don't they? It's incredible. It looks so great. There's a there's a flashback to solemn, um, at one point in one of these episodes where it might be early on where, um, you see the sort of painted version of solemn, which they've used before for flashbacks into solemn's past, where solemn's past is like an oil painting or something, rather than the hard-edged things, and I think that just looks stunning. that was in the 1st episode. They had flash... Yeah, in the 1st episode. It looked amazing. Incredible. But we've seen them do that before. like flashbacks to solemn in the past or in that sort of that oil painting style. They're just not bound, are they? They're just not bound by any kind of physical presence. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so that's essential being carried off and that's her and she realises she's doomed the entire world, you know, like, and Wesley allows this to happen, remember? Like, it's those riffs that make our wormhole possible. So, so essentia enables us to write history again. We still don't realise it, do we? We have that great, what's all the, the, actually, it don't really matter. We just got to send it through. It's going to be all right. Like, we're here. That's halfway through this episode, isn't it? In a minute. Almost immediately. really early. Like, it doesn't take very long to resolve this. It's probably resolved, I think, 10 minutes in would be my guess. With 3 minutes in. There's not a lot happens. There's no set. I really even need the giant reaper jellyfish things because the stakes are. We never would have had prodigy. That's big enough for me. I suppose for the kitty winks, you need something a bit less conceptual and a bit more physical. I reckon, though, because they were such a great terrifying monster, like a really, really good mid-season monster that's unique to prodigy. Well, look at the visuals that you get as we're going through the wormhole surrounded by all those the loom, like that looks incredible. That's nothing you've ever seen before. I mean, gosh, the proto-star breach is beautiful. I mean, there was a few moments here where I was like, okay they're just making sure that we remember every single plot point. So this makes sense. Everyone's coming in with a different part of the plot for the last season. Well, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh my god, she hasn't said a line like that since, you know, she left. Remodulate the phases to the to the looms variant, you know. Yeah, that's right. Set the weapons to maximum. She probably got the script and went, oh, I'm back, baby. Yeah. I'm doing Star Trek. Look at these bloody monsters. They're great. Look at this. It looks so like Star Wars. Disney Star Wars, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Down on some sort of mediaeval looking town, great pulse rifle. It looks incredible, doesn't it? These horrible great jellyfish is coming from screaming from the sky. Oh amazing. Yeah. So good. I mean, these shots look incredible, don't they? Like, they're never really any threat, but there's so many of them and you've got the 2 ships going through. It's just stunning. These people complained about the don't like the Kurtzman trek. That it's all gone woe to some stuff. What spoke about this is fabulous jellyfish is attacking. Come on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, go back and watch and count off far point, you boring fucks. That's got jellyfish isn't in a well, but they're very boring. sort of touch tentacles and then fly off. Yeah, yeah. Look at them. Let's look at that show, I'm getting it going up. Look at these incredible. 2 planet of the dead vibes, you know with a great swarm coming. Yeah, yeah. Whereas in such a number, you haven't got a fucking hope. Yeah, it looks great. It looks so good. Oh, it was very odd that the doctor was here, but he didn't get any funny lines. He's just doing all the technobabble. He's getting the funny lines now in Academy. And here's the thing that you mentioned before where Dal says, this is the future. I saw him, Wesley says, no, no. And this is such a Doctor Who line. Don't you think it's a Doctor Who line? The reason the universe needs you all together. And it's, what is it? Things yet to come. Uh, and wondrous and terrible things. Don't you think? That's a Doctor Who way of looking at the world. And that's... I'm getting relief from myself, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a bit of that. Oh God, Voyager, if only you commanded visuals like this in the 90s. Look at those jellyfishes on the whole. So this is Gillian. What the fuck is this whale? I had no clue what this was all about. Is it a hot bale, Julian? Yep. It's named after the character from Star Trek 4. So it's called Gillian. So there's cetacean ops on board, um, lower decks, remember, but it's it's um, dolphins. but this has a big tank with a comeback whale in it. Of course it does. That talks to them, like can understand them and stuff like that. And again, just gives us these incredible weird visuals, you know. So that's her getting her role in kind of saving things. That's a sort of thing. Remarkable thing. They're going through the wormhole and there's shadows... Yeah, yeah, amazing. Yeah. You know that thing, having the whale in the middle of the ship. That's the sort of thing that really winds up, the anti-curves won't be great. No, that's not how technology works, you know, like in the future technology works with dilithium and rules and regulations. No, mate. It's fiction. We can have fun. What it does, but what it does is it makes Star Trek 4 more important. We knew that the human race is saved because there are humpback whales for that probe to talk to, but, you know, a century or so later, we have humpback whales helping us in Starfleet on our ships. I mean, I think there's enough prodigy here for it to feel uniquely prodigy, but there is a lot of past trek here as well. Yeah, yeah. In a way that, in a way that those 90 Shreks very rarely did right? They pushed forward with their own identity. Whereas Kurt Smith is all about, all about looking back all the time, I think. Academy, I think, isn't doing that. But, um, and it's not a huge discovery, not so much, yeah, that's true. But, you know, like, um, it's a different time. There's, you know, so many 100s of hours of Star Trek here. I think this was really beautiful because it's a do-over, isn't it? For the end of series one, where Hologram Janeway goes down with a protostar... I mean, that was a, that was just the kids having to let go of her. Yeah, yeah, which was really sad. was so touching. Yeah, yeah. I just love mirth as a person. Exactly, sitting on Rocktox's arm. So there's the robberos communicator, and we will see rock pick it up and activate it in the flashback sequence, and that's when we 1st see Hologram Janeway. So it's that that activates her. And so that's the circle complete. And we go down and we look at it again because that's uroboros that's they create themselves. I think it's really clever. It's terrifically good. Here we go. Down the wormhole. There we go. Yep. And it goes... It's always getting stock down wormholes, isn't it? It's a bit of a problem. Look how young. Isn't it ridiculous, Dell? So this is it where we're doing all of the flashbacks to the last 2 seasons. And it has no right to be as moving as it is. It's terrific. It really shows you how far they've come. And all the adventures that they've had. It's wonderful. Just terrific staff. Yeah, a whole band, Janeway and Dow. You can't hear it. but the music was just stunning in this scene. There's a violin coming in. It was absolutely beautiful. It's not often the music and trek gives me chills, but yeah, yeah the music here is really good. Together, your potential is infinite. Now go boldly. And that's hologram Jane Janeway's final speech to them before she dies. That took that. Oh, look at Chakotay looking all hot and beardy there. Did you see? When you say zero. He's green. That was zero. Just for a few episodes. Oh, look, they're all having fun in the mess hole. Oh, I remember that bit where she cupped Rocktox's face. Yeah. Oh, it's beautiful shots from last Flight of the Protestar. It's reminding, there's again, though. If... Oh my god, how hot did Jakoto look there? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You seeing that crop top? going on? Yeah. Yeah. And then like little moments through each episode, I think, very very quickly. And then look, flash, flash, flash, flash, flash, flash. I mean, you could pause that any moment and say wonderful clips. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I like this too, because then we go back and we actually see them come on board the protostar for the 1st time. But we don't see them. We just have the empty corridors and the sounds of dialogue from the early episodes. But all of that see them come on board. Those flashbacks, they weren't just manipulative in the way the TV is. They were reminding us, again, these are the stakes if we get this wrong. We lose all of this that we've gained. Yeah. That's what they created by sending the sending it down. So this is them coming on board, and there's Rock, who, like, Dal doesn't even know it's a little girl, and she touches... Great 1st episodes, you know. Yeah, yeah. It really do feel like we was boldly going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think we did boldly go, didn't we? It's a new type of trick. Yeah, it's just terrific. And so here we are. Where are we? We're halfway through the episode, just over halfway through the episode, uh, and now we have 10 minutes to kind of just, um, you know, wind things up and send them off. The stuff's the eye light, which is the new direction. Oh, yeah, yeah. When Wesley goes home to Beverly Crusher. That was such a lovely moment. Yeah, yeah. Because they do talk about it. We do see, we do see Beverly, and she says that she never sees Wesley, and we do have Janeway telling him that he should go and visit his mother sometime when they 1st meet. Um, I'm still wearing that same jumper. Look. That's right. And this speech here, this is her last, this is her last captain's log. And she says, an old friend once said, we do not feel the passage of time, but the presence of time within us. We grow from what we leave behind as we reach for what lies ahead. And that's a quote from a deleted scene in Star Trek Nemesis Picard and Data, talking after the wedding at the beginning of Star Trek Nemesis. It includes the line, what we leave behind. And the writer said, that's a deleted scene. It's not canon, I want that speech to be canon. It's so beautiful. And so he gave it to Janeway. I like her saying that the kids still have something to teach her. That's so great. Yeah. Well, like even this with Noom, who is sort of disdainful of pog. That's Pog being the dickhead that he always is a new being sweet you know, and this, yeah. Oh, hi, mum, Wesley, I'm behind you. So good. Oh, you know, Gates, you look absolutely beautiful as animation. No, she's even got the big eyes, like all the other Gary. Yes. But she has the hair from Picard series 3 and look at what happens. I want you to meet someone and that's Jack from Picard series 3 age five. Oh, yeah. And so it absolutely not. So it's today, absolutely. brings it in. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, there we go. I joke for the doctor. Thank you. I joke for the doctor, that's right. Even when you think your story is finished, it's not finished. No, that's actually linking to Academy, you know, your story never ends. Well, and that's one of the reasons why we don't do them in the academy. We don't leave them in the academy because we've got another show that's doing the academy. Voyages Off now. Oh, look at Janeway's lovely house. I know, it's beautiful, isn't it? Doesn't she get, she gets roped in again, doesn't she? No, I was just happy to retire. Okay? Yeah, yeah, yeah. For God's sake. Oh, look, it's that, it's that water filtration plant. they've animated it Did you see? Oh, man, their attention to detail never fails to impress spirit isn't it? Temporal mechanics 201. Yeah. But so that. Happy 1st contact day. So, you know, like I just thought, oh, okay, that's a thing, and I'd forgotten that that, it was 1st contact day on which Children of Mars took place. So that's about to happen. And they're going to see the same news broadcast that the kids saw in that. I could teach temporal mechanics 201, you know. All those time travel episodes. I've got so much evidence now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Well, that's what they say. They say you guys don't know it already. Dal already knows Temporal Mechanics 201, where he was absolutely flummoxed by 101 at the beginning of the series. Oh, now I'm happy to take one step at a time with my feet on the ground. So he's really low because he was running, wasn't he? At the start of the series. Would you remember like he was like loud and selfish and he wanted to be the captain and the captain had the big chair? That moment where he says, it's yours. It's so good. Again, though, I couldn't see it coming. I hate to bring these people into it. I can just hear those fucking, you know, anti-woven shitters. Yeah. What's happening? Yeah. Respect the show is beautiful. respect the bloody chair. Yeah, and say that. That's the exact same news story that the girls saw on in Children of Mars. And there's a new fleet. And we now know that the new fleet is being built there because of what happened in the finale of episode of series one. Yeah, I suppose it's dealt with elsewhere, isn't it? We don't really need to deal with it. No we don't need to see it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Oh, look at her idyllic life, Jane. Leave her alone, please. that's right beautiful, isn't it? wonder if she's got a monkey on that planet. She almost... No, this is earth, surely. She's retired to her. Kota. I live with a monkey now. The jokes they make in that convention. I was there as sexy as I've ever looked and you were obsessed with this monkey. Oh dear. Kate goes, what was wrong with me? Jerry Taylor, probably. Sorry. And so Admiral Jellicoe is, of course, in this season, he's the intransigent admiral all throughout the season, which is kind of awesome. haven't they, you know? Yeah, haven't they? And it's him, you know, like it's... Every time I see him, I just see those memes. Have you seen him going about with Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah poor old marina dressed in a McDonald's outfit and things like that. I prefer dress uniform. Oh, Marina. He's great. Oh, he was great. He really shook things up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Very strange sort of a place to sit down. Look at them all. Yeah, I don't know where they are. I think they're Starfleet Academy because it looks like Janeway was like she's going to be running things from there. Um, but like all of this stuff, which is the thing that Picard um talks, talks about, is all, like it's actually seems that it's a bit more serious and a bit more isolationist or maybe they're, they exaggerated or make it bigger so that it's clearer for the kids to understand. But they say we're not doing any, right? Yeah, yeah. They're threatening not prodigy. They're threatening Star Trek. And which is why Picard quits, remember? Picard resigns because of this, because we're not doing the Romulan evacuation or anything anymore. I'm not going to go there again, but you know, all those promises for new avenues of storytelling in Picard. Where do we end up the Borg threatening the Federation, of course 3 years in a row. Jesus. I thought my God, we're really doing something new here. Of course we're not. Prodigy was bolder. I would say. They do have the Borg. We do see the Borg in a couple of times. No, they're doing their own thing over here. Yeah, they may turn up a little bit, but look at that beautiful shot there. Yeah. So it's a USS prodigy, adorably, instead of the protest. Oh my god, I could see the class. all over the house. Yes, all over the ship. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, true, isn't it? And so, you're right, this is absolutely implausible and a total kids show solution to the problem. We can't go out and explore space anymore. Our entire status is threatened, but you take that ship out, all right? You take that chip. Here you are. We're putting you in the care of Hologram Janeway, who's still alive, and we're going to start the show again doing what it looked like it was going to do. No, no, I, and I do like how they all seeking the different shows but maybe if I'd have known, I would have taken that out and just done this, because it works just as well with them saving the day having their character moments and then getting the ship without any of that utopia pleasure stuff. Yeah. So I think that's there. I do think that's there in order to make it a part of Kurtzman track. And I think it's there in case we're setting up series three. Yeah, that we have a premise. That's right. And since we're not setting up series three, I think it works terrifically well, because I want to imagine them all flying off in the USS prodigy and having terrible and exciting adventures uh... Even said, just in case we're paying attention. It goes, so this is what Wesley was talking about, our future. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I'm so assuming we were going to have the doctor in series 3 then because he's here on the ship, isn't he? No, I meant they they all they get off. And so it's just going to be, it's just going to be Janeway and the crew from the 1st episode plus Majale. She's starting to look a bit like red from that prison show she was on. Janeway there, isn't she? Well, I mean, look how they've animated poor Robert Picardo there. He looks very odd. I know. I think I think both Roberts are kind of odd in this. So this moment, which I just think is perfect. It is absolutely perfect because the show looks like it's setting up Dale as the main character. And for a while he is. He's the captain of the proto star for a while, but what he's learned is not to be arrogant and he loves and admires Gwyn. And I just found this ending super moving and surprising. I didn't expect it. No, you're not going to like me saying this. I'm so sorry. But it surprises me pleasingly in a way that discovery never would. It was always going to put... She had to be burned on that chair, wouldn't it? Whereas I would have loved it if Burnham went to Saru. Do you know what? You were a fabulous captain. You do it, yeah. But this is great. Look at Murph, punches the air. Yes. Off we go. But but it's the shot. Like we recreate the shot from the end of Discovery Series 3 with Michael sitting in the chair. Finally, with that beautiful Sanequa smile. you know, that moment of triumph at the end of the series. Oh, look at the triple, create that with her. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. I'm coming too. Let's reach the stars. Oh, my God. Let's go. Jayway at the front. Great ending. Zoom out of the ship. Can we recreate the last shot of the Voyager title sequence? You look. this is the last shot of the voyager title sequence There it goes. Off into the distance. beautiful. So good. Oh, I feel as if they were all for terrifying and exciting adventures, you know. I can't. Yeah. You were gonna say, I can't wait. I know. We can't do that. We do. In my head, I feel as if they had at least 6 more seasons of 20 episodes of 8, you know? We left time travel for a couple of seasons. you know, we've done that now, you know. no that's right. We spent a whole season in a fabulous alternative universe, you know, where there were some alternative versions of Murph, you know, evil Nazi Murph. It was amazing. No, I don't want evil Nazi. Well, that just made our Murph even better, you know. But it's only he taught him the way to the Federation. It was fine, you know. Of course, the ball turned up at some point to be a great Fred Federation. Yeah. Oh, it was wonderful. I, I, you know, can we get Una to write a book? I don't know. Like we need we need more of these adventures, I think. But I do think as, like, um, 2 seasons to show that this concept of a Star Trek for children could work extremely well. Like some shows. I'm going to suggest that maybe Discovery didn't end on its best season by the evidence of what I saw the other day. Some shows maybe go on a little bit too long, whereas some shows end at their high and you're left going. Oh, I just, please, could we not have had a bit more of that, you know? I think I'd rather a show goes out on a high. I know we would have liked to have had more, but it was a great ending. It was a great ending. Perfect. Yeah, really good. Well, I mean, same with lower decks. Lower decks has a great ending as well. I would have loved to have seen that continue. I was not sick of it. It was great, and it went out on an absolute high with a really good final episode. To quote Patrick Stewart and sometimes Almond Shimmerman, the line must be drawn here. This is the most visually stunning Star Trek show we have ever had. Bar nun. I think I think they took the fact that it was computer generated and ran with it and gave us the most extraordinary special effects and backdrops and weird aliens and truly like taking us where no Star Trek show has gone before. I was just half the time watching the pictures there and just going, my God, this is just a feast on my eyes. Just watching it, even without the dialogue, without the music and all of that adds extra worth to it, of course. But just visually. I think it's as ambitious, I think, as Star Trek's ever been. Yeah, for sure. All right, it's the end of the episode. It's time for us to work out where we're going to next. This was my choice, and so you have control of the Randomiser Joe What series and maybe what season are we doing? Oh, I'm definitely doing a series in the season. I won't be not doing that for some time now. Could I select, if I choose different series, could I, like subject season one of all theories? No. Oh, shame, that would be great. I mean, I could implement that maybe, but all I've done so far. I'm always asking for more, aren't I? I'm never satisfied. Maybe I'll come. No, no, I just want to let everybody know about another little side hustle that Nathan Scott called Startling Barbara Bain. The Space 1999 podcast, you know? Another visually stunning for the time, a very expensive television series. At least until Fred Freiburger got his hands on it in the 2nd season. That's right. So now whereabouts are you in your sort of voyage through that? We are just a couple of episodes away from the beginning of series 2 with really halfway there. so it's all about to go to shit. This is the perfect time then for us to do an original series series 3, episode, to sort of give you a little hint of what your future is with uh startling Barbara Bane, all right? Everything he touches turns to shit. So the backstory is, of course, that after series 2 of original Trek, Freddie Freiberger came and took over and started series 3 with, of course, Spock's brain and then later on, Hetty from that success. He was given space 1999 to ruin. So they give him an upper show. I know. Unbelievable. Absolutely. He must have had some photographs of somebody, right? must have done, yeah. Surely. Jerry Anson or something like that, yeah. Okay, well, look, so we're going to do the original series series three. I feel like we haven't done TOS for a little while. Yeah, yeah. We tend to always have fun with it, whether it's good or bad. Which it is. It's both. Yes, yes. It doesn't manage to be both. Oh, good grief, wall. Look at that. One we've done already. One that you thought was so boring. The empath. It is the empath. Yes, so bad. So terrible. Episode 12. Okay, shocking. next one here. Is there in truth, no beauty? Okay. Season three, episode five. There is an episode of Star Trek Prodigy called Is There in Beauty No Truth. And the guest star here is Diana Meldar, and the alien in it is a Medusin, which is what 0 is. I think. I'm pretty sure that that's what we're talking about. So this is a source of much law. and probably worth a look. Unfortunately, I have already pressed the button again. I'm so sorry. I mean, you know, you did all sound very enticing, but it almost sounded a bit too good, actually. That might be good. But I'm honest. Diana Moldar is going to raise the quality quite a bit. beautiful back in the 60s, wasn't she? I mean, I think she's still fairly beautiful, isn't it? in the 80s. Now, look, I don't think we're going to do the next one I've chosen because it's another serious finale. It's a Savage Curtain. Season 3 episode. No. that the last one? No, the last one's turnabout intruder. Remember? It's the one that aired during my lifetime. It's the only episode... The Savage Curtain, then. I don't know. Don't know. It's about a curtain. Savage. Hang on a minute. let me just look it up. If the premise sounds good. Then we'll do it. But if it sounds terrible, then we won't. Okay, let me read it out. Let me read it out. So yeah. An entity claiming to be a Brad Lincoln invites skirk and spot to the planet's surface where an advanced life form vies to study the methodologies of both good and evil. It just sounds dreadful. And of course, we did send our logo back in time to the 1960s. So it is based on the logo for untitled Star Trek Project, which also features Abraham Lincoln. Now, I don't know if you remember this feature... The most memorable monster TOS ever gave us, which is an enormous smoking, stinking turd. I mean, with ice. It just looks like, you know, you ever picked up excrement from your dog when you were in the park. That is what this creature looks like with our face. And it smokes. I remember this, this being truly, truly terrible. I mean, I can't wait. It sounds terrific. Okay, Abraham Linton flying through space. I mean, I alluded to it all the time, don't I? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. All right, let's do it. We've been listening to untitled Star Trek Project with Joe Ford and Nathan Bottomley, where online at untitled Star Trek Project com where you can find subscription links and links to our social media accounts. Our podcast artwork is by Kayla Ciceran, and the theme was composed by Cameron Lahn. This episode was recorded on the 17th of March 2026 and released on the 20th of March. We'll see you next time for Star Trek, the original series, The Savage Curtain. Even Jama gives it one.5 stalls. Well, but he gives he gives away to Eden 0 stars, which it doesn't deserve. I don't think it deserves at all. I'm not sure I'd give 0 styles to anything. Not even manhunt. I give it half a star. So it gives Spock's brain half a star, but I think Spock's brain is vastly more boring and worthless than the way to eat, which is at least about something, you know, even though it is about how horrible and stupid children are. Um, but, you know, that, I think, is terrifying, like that ending is so good. It's all, do you know what? The sockage code is all set on, you know, the dreadful planet surface as well. That's sad with the cyclorama bacon. And it's, it's a sort of um, Kirk and Spock and McCoy with Abraham Lincoln, and Surak against... They literally just throwing loads of elements in and hoping that something entertaining is going to come out of it, but it's just terrible. Why, why the curtain? Why is it a curtain? And why does it sound? Oh, sure. Well, it's sort of like, will you, will you descend to your baser instincts and and, you know, kill the opposition? So they kill Abraham Lincoln as well in this? I do. That's great. Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the episode? Oh man, hang on. I've just got to show you the monster. It is something else. I don't know if pictures will do it justice because when it's moving, I was just like, what the fuck is that? What were they thinking? Oh, that's awesome. It does surprise. Yeah. It's like a massive... It's like a big crab. It is a big boo. That's amazing. That's amazing. The precursor for armus, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is kind of armous, isn't it? In the show. I thought you know you can see it, eh? He sort of smokes as well. So it's like a hot poo, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's called, oh, look at Doc Ohho reviews. Yes, yes. Was I kind? I doubt it. Uh, you've never watched it before this marathon, blah, blah, blah one. 5 out of five. So you actually give it less. You give it less because he's doing it out of four, isn't he? These are the evil people that they're fighting. Look how camp they look. Oh my god. It's Genghis Khan and it's like a Klingon and it's like a woman and it's like a space guy. Oh, it's just great. I mean terrible but wonderful. Oh my god. I mean, look at these for fuck's sakes. What the hell? It's going to be so boring. Like it's going to be boring, isn't it? It's going to be boring. Well, let's find out. Let's find out I mean, we'll have fun with it, right? No matter what. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh my god. Oh, that's right. I remember the Pooh sort of does this. He sort of bows his head like this all the time. You will fire it for me. Oh my god. Oh, bless. Arena, only shit. How did we ever recover? I know. Why are they still making this stupid show after all of her? I mean, we did say we like it when it's, you know, weird and Abraham Lincoln versus a smoking turd is pretty weird. Yeah, that's true. But, I mean, essentially, again, that's what Space 1999 series 2 is, it's like a series of just sort of massively ill-advised monsters and... realise. They actually look like some of them look pretty great. And then the trees, the trees of Luten. The irony of being very...