Ephraim and Dot

[00:22]

Hey, Joe. Hi.

So, this is an unusual one this week.

We are watching an episode of Short Treks.

This is Short Trek season two, episode four. which 1st went out on the 12th of December 2019, and it's called E-Frame and Dot.

And it's a strange one, I think.

Oh, I thought it was magnificent.

I think this might be the best best Star Trek.

I've watched this year, if I'm honest.

I mean, I watched it 3 times in a row. as a love letter to the original series as a piece of experimentation presenting Star Trek as a fucking Warner Brothers cartoon. as a way of confidently shifting tones.

It's 8 minutes long.

And it starts off as a documentary and then it becomes a mystery as he discovers the enterprise and then it becomes a, oh my god, I'm being dragged off the ship, action adventure.

[01:26]

Then when the enterprise blows up.

It becomes a tragedy and then it becomes a domestic drama.

It's 8 minutes long.

And it does all those things so well.

I think it's astounding.

This is the 1st animated Star Trek. since the counterclock incident.

So this predates prodigy and predates lower decks, and there are 2 animated short tracks where they're clearly experimenting with what they can do with animation and whether they can create an animated Star Trek series.

And what they get right is that it behaves like animation.

So it has animation style physics, you have e-frame lengthening when she kind of moves.

What's it called?

You know, when the legs are in the air when you're running, I was like, oh, and it even goes...

So they are.

You said Warner Brothers and they do behave like Warner Brothers cartoon characters and they're mismatched.

[02:27]

They're kind of like opposites, they're adversaries initially.

But then they become friends and they help one another, and then they're a family at the end.

I think the whole thing is so lovely and so well judged.

And, as you said, it's a love letter to original Star Trek.

The 1st Star Trek reference is to the man trap with the salt vampire.

So the very, very 1st episode of original Trek, and then it ends, of course, with the destruction of the original Enterprise in search for Spock.

And the love that it shows for what we've said before, the weird unloved corners of the franchise.

Abraham Lincoln came flying out the screen on his chair.

Yep, absolutely.

And then the folian web was in there as well.

Apollo's green hand grabbing the enterprise and then going and trying to get each frame.

Zulu was there with his rapier as well. you see him?

Yeah.

I mean, you say it obeys the rules of cartoons.

Obviously, there's no dialogue in this.

The only dialogue we hear is the in dialogue from the episodes is riffing.

[03:30]

So it's telling that entire story through pictures, but what pictures?

I mean, it's visually beautiful, this thing.

And I think money has gone into this because the, the artwork is, it's not only stunning, but it has really impressive movement to it. and it has a scale to it.

It's artistic.

It isn't just a cartoon.

They've really put a lot of effort into how this looks.

I mean, what did you say?

The last animated, before this was literally an episode of the animated series.

Which we've done.

I mean, the big difference between this and that is they put some effort into this. some money.

But the music as well.

I mean, the music is stunning me, beautiful in this.

And the music is basically the dialogue in this, right?

It's terrific.

When the Enterprise 1st appears and it's that enterprise for the 1st time in so long.

And just the love that you can hear coming through in the soundtrack, the moments where E-Frame and Dot are fighting riff on the music from a mock time, like there's all of this...

[04:36]

I heard it.

I think I even heard...

So good.

It's so great.

I need to tell you a little bit of background about who's involved.

So this is directed by Michael Giacchino, who did the music for Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond, the beautiful theme for those.

He also wrote the theme for Star Trek prodigy.

So he's a composer, but he directs this episode.

There are 2 credited voice actors, the narrator.

So the guy who's narrating the nature documentary is Kirk Thatcher, who played punk with boombox in Star Trek for the Voyage Home.

And again, in Star Trek Picard, season two.

Oh, I said, Scroom, Doom.

Yep, that one.

If anyone's confused. is that guy?

That guy.

And the Enterprise computer voice is played here and in one other short trek by Jeanette Goldstein, who plays Vazquez in Aliens, Janelle in Terminator 2, and is on the bridge of the Enterprise B at the beginning of generations.

[05:50]

Were these short trips, did these come out before Discovery?

So there's 2 seasons of them, and I think one season comes out after season one and one comes out after season two, I think.

Because the impression I get from this and the others that we've watched is them making expensive adverts saying we're back with a bang and look what we can do.

That's the impression I get from this.

It's like, you know, we never could have done this back in the day.

Look at how good this is.

But it is experimental.

There's a few short tricks that I like, you know, little vignettes that then play into the main story of the season coming up.

There's, you know, Saru.

We see Saru's Planet, and we see him leave the planet in a way that plays into the season later.

The princess character that Tilly meets in the 1st episode later appears in the season finale.

And of course, there's the Trouble with Edward, which is a sort of standalone comedy sketch.

There's little moments with the Enterprise crew, there's Una and Spock meeting for the 1st time.

And so they do little bits and pieces, they seem to be left over scenes that haven't made it into an episode, that sort of thing.

[06:57]

But these 2 cartoon things are really just experimental.

It's them trying to see what they can do And I think, like, it is possible to see short tracks on Paramount Plus, and it is out on Blu-ray, I think there's maybe 10 of them.

I think that they're really worth a look.

I think so too.

We've done 2 of them so far, but this 3rd one's great too.

I mean, I'm sorry, I remember some of these short treks we've watched, I've been way better than some of the fucking episodes we've watched.

I mean, talk about, I talk about a burst of incredible Star Trek.

I mean I came out of this going.

Do you know what?

I want a 90 minute movie like this.

Like in the water, above a style of Star Trek.

Never mind what they're producing now.

Do that for me.

Oh it was just great.

I mean, I love these characters far more than half their discovery cast, you know?

Well, and also the nerve.

I could just see those original Star Trek pads going, but they didn't have dots. back in TOS.

[08:01]

What's going on?

And I was just going rubbing my hands going, yeah, they did.

You just couldn't see them.

They were doing all the work off screen. you know?

Well, and I think that's what Discovery decided because, you know, Discovery set some years before original Star Trek and they have dots on board the ship and so they've decided that there were dots.

They were all alarmed.

It couldn't be all these sort of cute Latinos in red shirts doing all the sweeping up.

No, someone had to do it.

Yeah, that's right.

Exactly.

Alright.

I think we should go in. do you think?

Well, I don't know how we're going to it's so fast.

We've spoken for longer than the episode goes.

It was basically like, oh, please bear in mind it's me.

It was basically like having an 8 minute orgasm watching this, all right?

Which just got better as it went.

I was exhausted at the end, frankly.

So fun.

Yeah, just terrific.

Oh, let's watch it.

Come on, let's do it.

Yeah.

All right. let's go in.

I will count us in.

Five, four, three, two, one and we're off.

[09:06]

Okay, so we get the uh, Discovery style, uh, you know, little credit card thing, the Is she done an animation, though?

Yeah, yeah, turns into animation and has eyes, which blink and then head off.

A from a dot, the movie.

Come on, we want it.

It'll be a bit like Wally, you know?

So this is great too.

Like, one of the things, like, one of the things that discovery brings to the table is the mycelial network, there was our salt vampire very quickly.

And here is our tardigrade.

Now, this is the same sort of thing that absolutely chewed up Ensign Landry, or whatever her name was, Lieutenant Landry.

Oh, God.

Best thing you ever did.

Yeah, yeah, awesome.

Look at this fabulous sort of scratchy documentary R as well.

But the way the way Ephraim's animated is so beautiful.

It's so cute.

It's so like a dog.

Look, it snips the air.

[10:06]

No wonder you love this.

Did you notice as well?

The quick x-ray, so we could see the little eggs in his belly, so we don't write straight away, he's pregnant.

And then we see the Enterprise for the 1st time with the incredible music, and it's been so long since we've seen that enterprise, and then he gets caught up.

Wowsers, and suddenly we're in colour.

Yeah, yeah, sharp animation now, and you watch how this, I got to say camera just zooms about now.

It's so impressive.

Because Ephraim can move through the mycelial network at warp speed and seems to travel through time, you know, this whole chase lasts all of the run, all of the five-year mission or whatever.

Here we go.

And now he's saying, look, trying to get in the hole, but can't quite make it.

Now he's died.

Oh, look, he's going around the circle.

Just that's a shot we wanted from one little ship, wouldn't it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, exactly.

It just zaps him.

So cute.

[11:07]

He's like, oh, please, I love that episode.

I need to get in there quick.

Yeah, it is heaps.

That corridor is a bit like one little ship, isn't it?

Oh, look, I love the dots so much.

Actually, it's a bit smaller, isn't it, unusual?

Yeah, yeah.

And look, now they're all covered in the, like, um, the uh, primary coloured uniforms, you know, like they're covered in uniforms.

Just before we get sucked into the ship.

He's sort of clawing at the end.

It's absolutely puppy behaviour.

But also, like the way that they run, you know, the way that it takes the corner, it overshoots the corner and then rushes back in like Sylvester McCoy in time in the Rani.

Like, it's absolutely going through paint, cloves, everything is having a terrible time from the enterprise.

Oh, look at that.

That's, that's, that's the bit where the dot, I was up his little electro so that he kicks the air to try and get away from.

Yeah, it's so funny.

It's so cute And then he got sucked into a pipe.

[12:13]

Where is he now?

Engineering?

Well, I think are we in the warp core?

Yeah, well, I don't know.

I think the warmth, is that what allows them to sort of, you know, the eggs to come out of the eggs.

So that's why it lays its eggs, but that looks like the corridor that you look out along.

Do you know what I mean?

that you look out at.

Um, uh, yeah, that you that you look out at from the engineering set.

It's it settles down.

It's lovely and warmer.

Just like a dog, look, flat out on the floor in the warmest spot.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly.

Oh, I don't want these lovely colourful eggs popped out.

I love as well how it just it just leaps forward in time and expects you to keep up.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, it's really good.

It is really great.

We're so unused to Nali's track for them to giving us any credit of intelligence, but exactly.

It all has to be as well. expects you to travel and all.

Oh, when it comes to triples.

Yeah, we have dribbles.

[13:15]

No further, says Sulu.

Oh, that's for the naked time, is it?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

We need shirt off and the thing.

Like, but we're looking at him through a window. lovely.

And now...

He's trying to hide in the liquid.

Oh no, he's been ejected into space away from his head.

Again.

Oh, and then the talk says, live long and prosper.

Oh, no, this was so sad that the Enterprise warps off.

We've taken the eggs with him.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And so now it's a chase for the eggs.

Oh, there's the hand look.

So that hand is obviously Apollo's hand from who mourns for ad and eyes.

And obviously we've seen all of these other references.

So we've seen Space Seed.

We're in the Tholian web.

Like all of that stuff is just the most visually interesting and strange.

Look at this, of the web, as it kind of comes around and you see it in 3D, and then it pulls away from it.

[14:17]

So impressive.

Oh, there's Abraham Lincoln massive on the screen.

No, you see him punching the air?

Come back.

For a 2nd we see the reliant attacking.

So they're reliant from Star Trek 2, Roth of Khan. you know, there's that dog fight, you know, that whole thing.

And now, obviously, we're in the situation from Star Trek 3 where the Enterprise is being destroyed by the Klingons. love the way he kicks at the air.

He's so desperate to get back to his kids.

Oh, I keep saying he is a she.

Sorry.

Well, I don't know.

He frames a boy's name and it is a tardigrade.

Who knows?

I don't know.

Yeah, well, yeah, I don't know what to call them.

Oh there we go.

Now we're going in for a whole breach in the source section.

Yeah.

But...

Yes.

And it's a great business when they 1st made up too.

It's so adorable.

I just love the relationship between them.

It's like, won't you get off my shit, please?

[15:17]

For God's sake.

And then he realises once he's finally got rid of her.

Oh god, there is children.

Oh, and then, of course, the twist at the end where he protects them in his in his chest.

In his little inside thing.

It's so cute.

It's so good.

It's so great.

And it's a kind of Star Treky thing, isn't it?

Do you know what I mean?

It is a Star Treky thing.

These 2 weird, like there's a robot and a weird alien and they're on the margins of things.

You know, the whole of Star Trek's happening around them, while this little thing happens, and they learn to.

It's so like a Disney movie together as well, isn't it?

Do you know what I mean?

Like homeward bound or something like that, you know?

Two things that shouldn't be able to work together that find the way.

It's so lovely.

But it's also, yeah, yeah.

I mean, it is so it's so adorable.

Oh, there we go.

No, what makes me sad is when the enterprise blows up.

Now I know that dog was in there.

No, but it's okay.

He escapes with the babies.

[16:20]

I know, but he didn't think he was going to for a second.

Did you not see that dramatic close-up on his face?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, and now look, he's floating through space.

Absolutely mortified.

My children.

I mean, most Star Trek episodes would kill for us to have this kind of emotional connection with the characters.

Oh down goes the ship.

Oh, no.

And I just loved how suddenly the music kind of stopped.

Everything goes quiet, the animation goes slow.

It gauges the mood perfectly.

Yeah, yeah, but also just that confrontation where they made, like, you know, the dot just flies past.

Dude, I floats past.

And then Ephraim grabs it in order to attack it for what it's done and it goes, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

And then we see the babies.

I mean it's so adorable.

Oh, look, now the little pape is flowing around his head. was sitting on his eye.

He reminds me about that little runabout we had the other week.

[17:21]

Yeah, but look how adorable.

There's lots of them.

The adipose, you're out.

The Tardy Braves are in.

Off to new adventures.

Oh, they're like laughing little tiny turtles sort of jumping up and down.

Oh, does I have to end?

No, please. come back.

What happened next?

and have great adventures.

Yes, they did.

I hope so.

They did. absolutely.

That was their hate.

It's not the, oh, no, that's not the, I'd agree that enslaved the discoveries.

That would be a very mini style.

This happens much later than that, of course.

The music is by Michael Giacchino, by the way.

It just said, we just have the click credits, so he did the music for this too.

I'll say one thing.

Watching this without the music, which we have just done.

There's a whole layer of that missing because the music really guides you through this in terms of pace, in terms of emotion, I thought it was a beautiful, beautiful score.

[18:26]

Just what a lovely thing.

Yeah, just wonderful, isn't it?

That's one of the things, you know, one of the things that I've loved about Kurtzman Trek.

Like the sheer scope of Berman Trek, the 100s of episodes, the world building, everything that it created, everything that it left behind.

Like it's, it's huge and important.

But what this one did was just a bunch of weird things.

Do you know what I mean?

It's so much weirder and so much stranger.

There's a real kind of embarrassment about original track that's present, I think, in Star Trek, The Next Generation.

Whereas this absolutely embraces original...

Stops to go away a bit when Ron Moore gets involved.

That's true.

You are right.

I mean, there's an embarrassment to not look at the stuff that people didn't like about TOS, which you're right.

Kurtzman Trek just goes, bring it on, baby.

Come on.

We wanted Abraham Lincoln in a chair, make him as big as possible.

He seems to be bigger than the Enterprise in that shot.

It hit the screen. as relevant as anything else. all right?

[19:29]

That's it.

Oh, because we didn't mention the doomsday machine as well, of course.

We were just in it.

Yeah, well, that's when the music hit..

Boy, I mean, now, listen, I don't want to be too rude.

I'm going to be rude in both directions. okay?

You just mentioned, you know, 100s of episodes of Berman track, yeah?

Somehow, astonishingly, Ephram a dot managed to have in 8 minutes more innovation and experimentation than in that entire 700 episode run.

But then it is, but I'm now going to look in the other direction and say, oh, I haven't watched the latest series of Strange New Worlds, but what I'm seeing is an awful lot of gimmicks coming out of that show at the moment and not a lot of consistent storytelling, which perhaps they did earlier on in the run.

Now, I think this is the perfect way to do gimmicks, the short treks as like short, punchy, what the hell can we do?

lets have a go.

And then, of course, where did they take this?

Then they did an animated show.

They were like, this has potential.

[20:30]

Let's do it.

Yeah.

Oh, they should have done more.

That seems one.5 ain't enough.

No, absolutely not.

All right, it's the end of the episode and it's time for us to work out where we're going next.

So this was your choice, and so it's my turn.

We've had 2 goes at Kurtzman Trek. over the last 2 episodes.

So let's go back to the 90s and I am going to take a leaf out of your book.

It's all of the 90s shows. shows.

Oh, it was so tense there, I think, and you were just going to choose enterprise. as you usually do. until I get an enterprise.

But we're leaving an IP Space 9.

Deep Space 9.

I don't care around for what the percentages are.

They're pretty good.

I'm pretty good, all right. see how we go.

[21:32]

Your random Star Trek Voyager episode is season five, episode eight, nothing human.

Oh, so tedious.

Oh my word.

Yeah, yeah.

It's that one where Balana Torres gets some weird sort of plastic alien, stuck to her chest, and it's about a blood transfer, it's very boring.

Oh okay.

It's the kind of episode that Star Trek Strange New World should do instead of having an imaginative and concept episode every week.

Instead of getting fucked off their faces.

They should be, yeah, having plastic aliens strapped to their tits.

More medical procedures is what we were.

Okay.

I'll try another one.

Ah, your random Star Trek, the Next Generation episode is season seven.

Of course, of course it is.

Attached.

Attached.

Oh, boy, that's the Picard and Beverly Crusher one, isn't it?

Yeah, where they're joined together. down on the planet. and what's her name in numb 39 steps.

[22:35]

And they sort of want to explore this, but they still can't fucking commit.

Even though there's only 18 episodes left after this. they're going to show you in the finale that they were married.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, still can't do it.

No, they can't bring themselves to do it.

It's a bit nothing, I think.

It is.

Roll again.

Come on.

Well, I think we could do better than that.

Okay.

Here we go.

Your random Star Trek Enterprise episode is season four, episode 12, Babel one, which is obviously a kind of weird prequel to Journey to Babel, which is a classic TOS episode with Sarik in it.

I think it's the 1st episode with Sarik in it.

I have actually watched it recently because I can't remember why it must have been for background or something or because I was curious, and it is very boring. and so I am going to...

Another Star Trek Enterprise episode.

[23:37]

Ending in the word one, again, your random Star Trek Enterprise episode is season one, episode 16, shuttle pod one.

No, very boring.

No, no, no.

Kai Bosh, that is Trip and what's his name?

Malcolm Reid down on the planet trying to fuck as many women as possible.

It's sex comedy of the worst kind.

Yeah, awful.

Can't be having that.

Okay, whatever this one is.

Okay.

This is actually a good one.

It's your random Star Trek, The Next Generation episode is season four, episode nine, final mission.

Oh my god, how strange.

We're crushing on a desert planet in a shuttlecraft.

Yeah, I do think this is very good.

It's a bit oddly paced, but I think I've often talked, don't I, about Will Wheaton and Patrick Stewart together?

And why do you feel the chemistry between them in this one?

Yeah, I think that would be nice because it's an important one.

Yeah, yeah.

I actually think it's visually quite good as well, this one, because they genuinely go out a desert.

[24:42]

They genuinely go outside and they don't just go outside. go somewhere really good.

So they make a real attempt to create something visually interesting.

What's happening with everybody else on that one?

don't remember at all.

No, I don't think there's a B plot.

Oh, is it just them?

Everyone else has the week off.

Maybe.

Oh, that never happens.

There's probably a party at the start.

Goodbye, Wesley.

Yeah, yeah.

Enjoy your time at the academy.

Almost certainly.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That sounds possible.

Well, are you prepared to have your heart broken?

My father and son, or not quite father and son, separating.

A bit.

But we know they'll both be back.

We know they'll both be back.

So it'll be fine.

Eventually, Wesley will be a hippie and then whatever he's doing in Kurtzman Trek popping about the universe with the traveller.

Yeah, being Doctor Who, essentially, I think.

We've been listening to entitled Star Trek Project with Joe Ford and Nathan Bottomley.

[25:44]

We're online at untitledstar trekproject.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 Lamb.

This episode was recorded on the 18th of August 2026 and released on the 21st of August.

We'll see you next time for Star Trek the Next Generation, final mission.

Always now saying that Short Trek is perhaps the pinnacle of Star Trek.

Wow, we went to not dying with a red thing.

That's it.

All right.

So we're now going to do 7 more episodes for title of Star Trek Project, and then we're winding it up.

That's right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nothing else will be as good.

Good.

Well, yeah, but when we have to watch stuff like threshold.

[26:45]

We made that way through threshold.

It was fine.

Oh, yeah, we've done a percentage of the worst.

Still some to come though, all right.

But gosh, joyous. absolutely joyous.

Like I said, I watched it 3 times on the bounce because I just wanted to get all the references and I just wanted to have just a bit more time with these 2 lovely characters. adorable.

All right.

So I'm going to push back on that.

I know it's so good.

I'm going to push back on the gimmicks thing because that's the thing that annoys me, right?

And I said, like, everyone, everyone who thinks that uh, 26 episode seasons are better than 10 episode seasons should be forced to watch the bonding because...

Not because it's a dreadful episode because it's not, but because it's utterly unmemorable.

And, um, they're the ones that they're not making.

They're making the ones that we remember is basically what they're doing.

And they're doing the high concept ones.

[27:45]

And I think, you know, if it's not a gimmick, it's we're taking an ambassador to Pacifica, you know, and I just sort of think we've seen that a 100 times.