0:09

Kevin: Hello and welcome back to Subspace Radio.

0:12

It's me, Kevin. Rob: And me, Rob. Kevin: And we are here with a surprise episode of Star Trek.

0:18

This is the first time in history, if I am not forgetting something,

0:22

Rob, that the powers that be at Star Trek Incorporated have shocked us by

0:29

dropping in the middle of the night, a new episode Star Trek with no fanfare.

0:34

And even better, the next episode is coming out on schedule the following week.

0:40

So in two weeks, we're getting three episodes of Star Trek, Rob.

0:43

It is a bounty of riches.

0:45

I don't deserve this much Star Trek is all saying.

0:49

Rob: Yes you do, 'cause you are not a toxic fan who likes to fill the internet

0:54

with prejudice and hate and oh, it used to be better in the old days.

0:58

You are the type of fan who deserves this.

1:00

Kevin: I hope you are not telegraphing some of the to Strange New Worlds

1:05

season two, episode seven, Those Old Scientists, because I have

1:09

to say this is so well done.

1:13

I have no notes. I have nothing but praise for this crossover that shouldn't have

1:19

worked, but worked so, so well.

1:21

Rob: There is so much joy. There is nothing but joy in this entire episode from start to finish.

1:28

It is perfection. It is absolute perfection and joy.

1:33

I think this episode was dropped, people saying, it's connection to San Diego

1:37

Comic-Con 'cause they had a panel on the

1:40

Kevin: They, They aired it for the audience and they were like, if we show it

1:44

to some nerds, it's gonna get out there, so we might as well put it on there.

1:48

And that's a perfectly good reason to air it early.

1:52

But they didn't just air it early, they aired it as a bonus episode.

1:56

Rob: Yeah, so we had yeah, like you said, three episodes in a week.

2:00

We had Thursday, Sunday, Thursday. And we are doing our our Star Trek crossover conga dance.

2:06

Kevin: Yes, we are. Rob: I didn't think any crossover episode tribute to the whole show could match

2:12

Trials and Tribble-ations but I had to hold my beer because in walk Those Old

2:17

Scientists to definitively say it is the definitive episode of showing what this

2:23

show is all about and celebrating it. Kevin: I had a fairly unique experience of watching this episode because

2:28

I, like yourself, like many or of the Star Trek fans listening to us

2:35

right now, I had been aware that this was coming for a year since it was

2:40

announced at Star Trek Day last year.

2:42

So we knew this was coming. We had seen the teases, we had seen the photos.

2:47

I was just like, please don't screw it up.

2:49

That was my level of excitement was sitting down to find out

2:52

if they screwed it up or not. Rob: Ha ha ha

2:54

Kevin: But I got to watch it with my partner Jess, who swears by the

3:00

lifestyle of not watching the trailers.

3:02

So she was going in completely clean.

3:05

She had no idea this was coming.

3:08

And she, herself is a big fan of Lower Decks.

3:12

She loves comedy, so comedy Star Trek is perfect Star Trek for her.

3:17

So when it went from the Previously On into a shot of the Cerritos and

3:23

Brad Boimler's log entry, she lit up.

3:27

Her eyes opened and she looked at me like, did you know this was coming?

3:31

And I nodded back, yes, I knew this was coming.

3:33

Rob: Just to let people know how much Jess follows that to the letter, Jess does

3:39

not follow me on social media because how much I share trailers and stuff like that.

3:44

Years ago, I shared a Doctor Who trailer and she literally put the comment I can't

3:49

follow you anymore and so I do not keep in contact with your loved one, because she

3:54

said I can't follow Rob on social media.

3:57

He compromises my philosophy. Kevin: That's right, yes.

3:59

I will continue to be a dead drop service between you.

4:02

If you have any messages for Jess after the recording, you let me know.

4:05

I'll pass them along. The other person I got to watch this episode with was my mother

4:10

who does not care for Lower Decks.

4:13

Rob: Ah! Kevin: Lower Decks is bridge too far.

4:15

She finds it noisy. She finds it obnoxious.

4:19

Rob: Look, she's not wrong. Kevin: She is not wrong.

4:22

So she watched the first episode, said, I gave it chance, it's not for me.

4:26

So when this episode began, she immediately kind of went, oh,

4:30

and she went and got her phone. And we said, mom, come back.

4:33

Come back. This is Strange New Worlds.

4:36

Trust me, you're gonna wanna stick around. And she had a great time.

4:39

And that is one of the many magic tricks this episode did, is you could be a fan of

4:45

either one of these shows and love this, not knowing anything about the other show.

4:52

Rob: I will just say this, to have Spock use the word, it's exhausting.

4:58

It was in relation to hanging out with Mariner and Boimler,

5:01

is freaking exhausting. I have so much more for Mariner's mom now for putting up with that

5:07

crap day in, day out on the Cerritos.

5:10

Kevin: Yeah. Just amazing that these characters now embodied by the voice actors were

5:16

only hired for their vocal talents.

5:19

The fact that they kept up the heightened characterization of those characters,

5:24

even though their bodies were not capable of things that could not, that

5:27

could only be done in animation, now, nevertheless, the energy was there.

5:31

I never stopped believing that they were Brad Boimler and Beckett Mariner.

5:36

Rob: Look, you say that, but he did the Boimler pace walk as he ran away from Una.

5:42

He did the Boimler run and he also did the Boimler Power Walk when he's

5:46

Kevin: Yes, he did. Rob: And I'm there going, Jack Quaid, Jack Quaid can do no wrong.

5:51

He is incredible voiceover actor, incredible straight actor as well,

5:55

and his physical comedy timing.

5:57

Is there, is there anything that man can't do?

5:59

Kevin: Just the, yeah. When Una showed up and he just, yelped and power walked probably was the

6:05

biggest laugh for me in the episode. Rob: There's just, oh I can't even define one.

6:10

Just from opening with animation style, and there's been so many reviews going,

6:14

oh, they opened boldly on animation. I'm going, of course they're gonna open in animation.

6:18

So the animation was great. The opening titles, rendered.

6:23

Yeah. Rendered to look Kevin: Animated, but not simplified.

6:28

Like it is to me, it is just as beautiful as the Strange New World

6:32

titles normally are, but in a new way.

6:36

The um the space bug hanging onto the nacelle was a laugh, and then as it flew

6:43

over the fire planet and space bug caught fire on nacelle made me laugh again.

6:49

Rob: And then as the end of the opening credits, as the Enterprise

6:53

flies off in the horizon, the shape of the space koala makes its appearance.

6:59

'cause of course it does. Kevin: I both love and hate that joke, that Space Koala is so stupid.

7:06

I want to hate it, but every time they go back to that it gets slightly funnier.

7:12

Rob: Look, and it was a great representation and it was done as

7:14

well in Trials and Tribble-ations. And of course it was directed by Jonathan Frakes, as if there was anybody

7:20

else who could direct this episode.

7:22

What Trials and Tribble-ations did really well, and this does really well

7:26

in many ways, it's not a competition of better or worse, but that case of

7:30

people within the Star Trek universe are fans of the previous generations

7:35

because there's so much of gap. We have Sisko nerding out about James T.

7:39

Kirk. And in this we have boler just.

7:42

Adoring talking about his nerdy obsession with Pike and Spock and all that stuff.

7:47

Of course Mariner is obsessed with Uhura.

7:52

And then we get to, the, they're talking so cool on the Enterprise

7:56

going, oh, these guys, about them.

7:58

But they start nerding out about Archer and the Enterprise crew.

8:01

Kevin: We sound just like them. Rob: Enterprise has been, in many ways the black sheep of the franchise.

8:08

And we let's, let's not mention the war, let's not mention the Enterprise

8:11

crew, but to have name shout outs for the crew and a plot device wholly

8:18

focused on a part of the original Enterprise ship was a wonderful move

8:24

and a wonderful tribute to whole show. So it's not only ties into NextGen and the original series, and this

8:31

we go all the way back as well.

8:33

Kevin: And that was yet another example of something they're doing so well, even

8:37

better this season in Strange New Worlds, is that they seeded that previously.

8:41

Like you pointed out the other week, that the Enterprise NX-01 was up on the

8:46

wall for us to see, to remind us of it two episodes before they would actually

8:51

reference it and use it in the story. And I feel like they keep doing that, is they figure out what they're gonna

8:57

do later in the season and then they jump back couple of episodes and say,

9:01

what can we plant there as a seed to remind us of that, so that our audience

9:06

is cued up to recognize it and be extra delighted by it because they were

9:12

reminded that thing existed two weeks ago.

9:15

Rob: And it pulled a beautiful masterclass in being a joyous

9:20

celebration, funny, ridiculous nature.

9:23

As you said, it was far better than it deserved to be, but then it pulls

9:27

out some, just pulls the rug out from under you with, Pike having absolute

9:32

exasperated frustration with them.

9:35

I'm gonna drop you off at the space Space Station 12 and they'll deal with you.

9:39

And then it just slips into this home truth about him and his dad and

9:44

his upcoming birthday and it just, and to have the great work of Tawny

9:50

and Jack being able to shift from ridiculousness, and have a gag in where

9:55

she mimes the chair that Pike's gonna be to just taking on this information.

10:02

Go, oh, you know about the, and the… Kevin: I counted three those gut punch scenes in this episode.

10:09

One was, one was that question from Boimler saying don't you think

10:14

there are people on this ship that would love one more day with you?

10:17

Rob: Yeah. Kevin: There was La'an and her extra rule for time traveling of no

10:23

attachments from personal experience.

10:26

Beautiful. And there was of course, the scene with Chapel in the turbo

10:31

Rob: Oh my God. I mean, we know it.

10:34

Of course we know it. There's no happy Kevin: Of course we know it.

10:37

Rob: course, know but she Kevin: But it's, gonna be extra sad now.

10:43

It's sad. Even before it's sad.

10:45

How can they have any kind relationship now?

10:49

He, how many times did Boimler rattle off the highlights reel of Spock's history,

10:55

and there was no mention at all of a pretty young nurse on the Enterprise.

11:00

Rob: Not even mention of a gorgeously dressed, wonderful outfitted T'Pring.

11:04

Ah, this man's going alone. Oh.

11:08

Kevin: He's going alone and is going stone Rob: And he is going stone faced.

11:12

I don't, yeah, I always, what I love about Nimoy's performance

11:16

is he's, there's a logic to him, but it's never cool, robotic.

11:21

There's always there's just something behind Nimoy.

11:25

Even like from, even from the classic series, when I watch back, I watch it

11:29

back and I go, Just the, what he can get out of holding back is it just

11:36

elevates him to one of the greatest actors who ever has done the show.

11:40

And especially in the movies, which was my first contact,

11:42

he was never robotic for me.

11:45

He was never unemotional.

11:47

His emotions were there. They were just controlled.

11:50

So he did beautiful stuff in Star Trek II and IV, and even V and VI.

11:56

You're just going, no one can tell me that he is being robotic, but.

12:01

Kevin: And Ethan Peck is doing a great job of that as well.

12:06

Just the fact that when he did smile and the score comes in with

12:11

the creepy horror movie chord over it, it was, it worked so well, just

12:17

how wrong it was seeing him smile.

12:19

Rob: For me, I see it as it's all from Boimler's point view.

12:22

That is just this horrifying Shining type moment.

12:26

But everyone works so well together.

12:28

So you've got, Quaid obviously has a bit more time on set because Tawny

12:32

doesn't come in until a bit later the episode, but great bonds with or

12:38

with Ortegas and Chapel for Boimler.

12:41

Boimler with Spock was Kevin: I dunno if I'd call it bonds.

12:44

They were teasing the out of him.

12:47

Rob: Well, you know, I love a good tease.

12:49

Maybe that's something saying something about me. Maybe that causes a stronger bond, but him just going Crap.

12:55

Oh crap. And his work with Peck was great and Ethan Peck was great, and Peck is

12:59

such a great comic actor as well.

13:01

Goes, should that be exploding? Kevin: No seek cover.

13:04

Rob: seek cover. Kevin: Yeah. We heard every version of Boimler's scream or yelp or shrill

13:12

exclamation in this episode. Was

13:15

Rob: Did, you like it? You've gotta love reference to Beverly Crusher as he is

13:18

being sucked into the portal. Remember me!

13:23

Kevin: Yep. So good. Rob: And little drop stuff in with the Orions as well, which didn't need to

13:27

be done, but they've dropping stuff in for Tendi as well and seeing the

13:31

Orions in live action for the first time in Strange New Worlds, I believe.

13:37

'cause obviously they've been playing the Orions on Lower Decks

13:39

as just big hulking masses of Kevin: Yeah.

13:42

That's how you could tell they were nerdy scientist Orions because

13:46

they weren't football players. Rob: Yeah, exactly.

13:48

I was there going he's not big, he's not a jock.

13:50

He's gotta be a scientist deep down. And he seems begrudgingly doing the piratey thing.

13:55

Kevin: What a guest star role to be that Orion captain.

13:59

Like you are such a minor part of episode where everyone's gonna be talking

14:03

about it and paying attention to every other part of this episode, and yet

14:06

he did so well with that character. The thing where he says, it's just so hard talk to you with

14:11

all your weapons pointed at us. I was, I just loved the texture and the subtlety with that, with which that

14:18

character was played when it could have been a mustache twirling villain role.

14:23

Like the episode would've worked just fine with a bigger, less subtle

14:27

performance, but brought the subtlety and I really appreciated that.

14:30

Rob: And love the, how stories grow and how facts shift from who's telling it.

14:37

So at the end, when Boimler goes back and says to Tendi, the Orions did discover and

14:41

he goes, yeah, and my mom discovered it. My grandma discovered it.

14:44

What, go, yeah, was there. She discovered the whole thing.

14:46

Goes well, she was on the crew, but yeah.

14:48

Okay. No, that's That's okay. Okay. Okay. That's right.

14:51

Kevin: That's right. Rob: The tantalizing moment at the end, when you hear the voice

14:55

of Rutherford and Tendi going, should we come through as well?

14:58

I'm going, no, no.

15:01

Kevin: Someday. Someday, Rob: Someday. I'm not sure the actor playing Rutherford could, because, Quaid

15:07

and and Tawny Newsome look so much like their characters, despite the

15:11

fact that Boimler is stretched. Jack Quaid is a huge, tall, bean pole of man.

15:17

Kevin: Yeah. He's Rob: Yeah, I don't know if Boimler's that tall.

15:21

Probably with the Boimler animated hair it matches, but yeah.

15:26

Kevin: Noël Wells could pull it but I think you're right that Rutherford's actor

15:31

looks the least like his onscreen persona.

15:34

Rob: Yes. Which is a shame. Oh, I forgot to mention just the image and everyone's talked

15:38

about this in reviews, okay. The moment of Jack Quaid looking at Christopher Pike's saddle.

15:45

This scene is directed by Jonathan Frakes and Jack Quaid is Boimler, hoisting his

15:52

leg over the saddle and saying "Riker".

15:55

Kevin: Just Riker. We are led to believe that was improvised, and he did it

16:01

just for the man in the room. Rob: And then we finished episode of course with, which

16:07

I was shocked when it happened. I was surprised. But part of me going, of course they're doing this.

16:11

How could they not end the moment with the Strange New Worlds cast, being animated.

16:16

Pike's hair wasn't as high as I thought it

16:18

Kevin: No, that's the thing. That's thing.

16:21

His hair is more cartoonish in real life.

16:25

This is an episode that bears rewatching. There is just so much going on.

16:29

It's hard catch it all on first viewing.

16:31

Rob: I have already re-watched it two times. Kevin: So the big challenge or mystery in this episode is how are

16:37

we going to reactivate that portal?

16:40

They end up harvesting heronium from under the floor of engineering where

16:45

there is a part of the original Enterprise NX-01, a beautiful idea and

16:51

addition to Star Trek tradition that each ship would be made with, a part

16:55

from the previous one to hold the name. I love that idea.

16:58

But it led us to thinking about other hard to activate alien artifacts history.

17:05

And that's what gonna talk about here. I have something from the original series.

17:09

Do have anything before that? Rob: I do.

17:12

I have an episode from Discovery season one.

17:17

Kevin: Excellent. Hit me up. Rob: I am focusing on season one, episode seven, Magic to Make the Sanest

17:24

Man Go Mad, with the return episode of Harry Mudd in our time loop episode.

17:31

Now, it isn't clearly defined whether it's alien or manmade, but there

17:36

is the McGuffin of this that keeps everything together is the time crystals.

17:42

Kevin: Yeah, before they gave Pike a glimpse of his ill-fated

17:47

future, we had time crystals at the command of Harry Mudd.

17:50

Rob: Yes, we're well and truly in the middle of the Klingon War.

17:54

And we have Lorca in charge of the Discovery played by the great Jason Isaac.

18:00

And two episodes previous, he had been thrown into prison and had

18:04

been introduced to Harry Mudd. That's where he also met Ash, who becomes his security officer.

18:10

And this is the old trope, like Strange New Worlds has done multiple times,

18:14

ticking off, whether it be body swap episodes or time travel episodes

18:18

or crossover episodes, Star Trek Discovery did the time loop episode.

18:23

And for me who is not big fan of season one of Discovery at all, this was one

18:29

that stood out for me that I really loved this episode when I saw it.

18:33

And it still holds up. Rewatching it last night.

18:36

I went, yeah the, I really enjoyed this.

18:38

The characters aren't annoying in this.

18:41

Burnham is not as annoying as normal.

18:44

Stamets really stands up as incredible in this episode.

18:47

Ash is quite delightful. Tilly is used sparingly.

18:51

Lorca isn't as full on nasty as he normally is.

18:56

Saru is good. And the genius that is Rainn Wilson is such a good Harry Mudd.

19:03

So yes, basically the episode is they're stuck a 30 minute time loop.

19:07

Mudd is trying to find out the secrets of how to take over the ship and

19:10

control the spore drive so he can sell the Discovery to the Klingons, so they

19:15

have the power of spore drive, and that would, the Klingons would win the war.

19:18

However, he only has this 30 minute time crystal jump, so

19:22

he redoes it all the time. He's the only one knows that he's in a loop.

19:25

But also Stamets does as well.

19:28

And so he's desperately trying to connect with Burnham and give her all this

19:32

information so that they can gradually develop their knowledge of the situation,

19:37

and become victorious in the end. So it's quite dark.

19:40

There's a lot of moments where Mudd is just killing crew members left,

19:44

right and center, there's a darkly comedic section where you see all

19:48

the times that Mudd has killed Lorca.

19:50

Kevin: The death montage. Rob: death montage, which is which is still quite funny.

19:55

But then as in true Star Trek fashion, which I really love, it

19:58

ends with no one being killed.

20:00

And it ends in quite a hilariously, having Mudd declawed.

20:05

So the time crystals are what we relate to, and control this on a wrist device,

20:09

and they, their properties and powers are openly vague, but it creates that

20:15

gimmick that we need to slip in and out of 32 minute time loop whatever it is.

20:19

Kevin: It's almost a video game of an episode, this.

20:22

Like that experience of I need perfect run.

20:25

And infinite lives. I'm gonna start over as many times as it takes, but one of these

20:31

days I will find the perfect, don't-touch-the-sides path through this

20:35

gauntlet and have the perfect ending.

20:37

It is, it very much replicates the feel of mastering a video

20:41

game that I love about that. It's lovers of Groundhog Day that is such a successful and

20:46

well loved movie for a reason. The formula works.

20:49

Rob: Yeah. Kevin: The thing at the heart of this episode, the impossible thing that

20:53

makes this go, is that time crystal.

20:56

And I remember at the time thinking time crystal, that sounds like

21:00

something that's gonna be problem. If that exists in this universe, what other things possible?

21:06

It's like that is a game breaking weapon that really should not be

21:10

allowed to exist, but we'll allow it to exist for the conceit of this

21:15

one comedy episode, and we'll go back to pretending it never existed.

21:19

But it does come back. It comes back and shows Pike his future and the return of the time

21:25

crystals in the Klingon monastery.

21:27

I remember that really bothering me because it was like, oh, we're not

21:30

going to forget the time crystals. We're pretending that's something the Klingons have had all this

21:36

time and they've just been too religious to use it as weapon.

21:40

Seems unbelievable to me. Rob: Yeah, it was very much a case of what, watching it again, going, this could

21:46

be something that we never see again. That's okay. Let's just put out there.

21:49

It's too much of the ramifications of it, just like within the

21:53

Harry Potter world of the time turner, you're there going really?

21:58

No, this could cause some really serious messed up stuff.

22:02

Yes. My, my dread of going back to watch an episode of Discovery was tamed

22:08

slightly because this is actually very good Star Trek episode and all those

22:12

other elements they tried to overdrive in Discovery are quite turned down.

22:19

Kevin: I remember that being the experience when I first watched

22:21

this episode is that's more like it.

22:24

Finally, an episode that stands alone and feels like an episode and feels

22:28

like a complete story, beginning, middle, and end that is satisfying.

22:32

Rather than leaving us dangling yet again until the next week.

22:36

Rob: And it is that case of at the end, it's the entire crew

22:40

of Discovery against Mudd. It's not just Burnham doing all the work.

22:44

It's Stamets, burnham, Ash, Lorca, even Saru.

22:47

The entire crew have sorted this out and they won together

22:52

and I'm there going, that's, to Yeah, that's Star Trek.

22:55

And to quote Burnham at the end, that made me want punch myself in the face,

22:58

that's Starfleet right there, Burnham. It does get a little bit over the top when, you know, tell me a secret that

23:05

you've never told anyone, and that secret is I've never loved anyone, or

23:08

no one's ever loved me or, and you there going oh, violin a bit more, Burnham.

23:14

But it's genuinely a great episode and it's, for me, it's the episode I, the only

23:20

episode I really loved about Discovery.

23:23

And little hint of Georgiou as well in there as well, which I always

23:26

think they, they took away original Georgiou played by the wonderful, now

23:31

Oscar winning, Michelle Yeoh too soon. Kevin: I miss Lorca as well.

23:34

Like this was what Lorca could be as a admittedly hard-ass, but proactive,

23:39

productive member of a Starfleet crew.

23:42

Bring back good Lorca. Rob: Good Lorca who was killed in the mirror verse or…?

23:47

Kevin: As far as we know, he's still out there.

23:49

And with just one season of Discovery left, please bring back Jason Isaacs.

23:54

I could understand why it would be like maybe a bridge too far, like straining

24:00

credulity, but when has Discovery been afraid to strain credulity?

24:04

Rob: Exactly, and to prepare ourselves for season five, I am two episodes

24:08

in to season four of Discovery.

24:11

Kevin: Oh, it's just getting good, isn't it, Rob? It's just getting good.

24:14

Rob: Kevin, now I could see what you're doing there and you're a cheeky monkey.

24:18

Kevin: It's not all bad. That's I'll say Discovery season four.

24:21

Rob: So tell us, where are you going for your alien artifact?

24:25

Kevin: This is the original series, season three, episode three, The

24:28

Paradise Syndrome which fans will remember as the time Captain Kirk lost

24:34

his memory and joined an Indian tribe. Rob: Okay.

24:40

Go on. Kevin: To their credit, for the time, they call them American Indians, but

24:45

they don't call them Native Americans. We were not that enlightened,

24:48

Rob: Haven't got to that point Kevin: point the sixties. No.

24:51

But a lot of speaking of straining credulity, a lot of unbelievable

24:55

things happen at start this episode.

24:58

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beamed down to a planet that looks

25:02

like beautiful national park. They immediately remark on the pine trees, the smell of honeysuckle and

25:08

just how improbable it is that a planet here on the other side of galaxy would

25:14

evolve so precisely to match Earth.

25:18

This is something that happens more than once in the original series,

25:21

the conspicuously Earth-like planet.

25:24

I think they, they go outta their way to remark on just how unlikely it is.

25:30

Rob: It's like MASH how the hills and bushlands of Korea

25:33

look remarkably like California. Kevin: So they walk around the pine tree and immediately come face

25:38

to face with this stone obelisk that they didn't know was there.

25:44

This is coincidence number two, that they beam down to this surprisingly

25:48

Earthlike planet and surprisingly of the entire planet, they happened

25:52

to beam down next to this stone obelisk that they cannot explain.

25:56

It is high tech device that the natives at the planet who are, we learn, American

26:02

Indians to all appearances, could not have built such a high tech device.

26:08

They look around, but they don't have long to spend here because the

26:12

reason they're here is to avert the destruction this planet by an asteroid.

26:17

They have five minutes to look around and they've gotta beam up

26:21

and warp out in order to intercept the asteroid at the point where they

26:25

can still divert it far enough to not smash the planet smithereens.

26:30

But in those five minutes, tragedy strikes.

26:32

Kirk says, oh, before we leave, I wanna get one more look at that obelisk.

26:36

He walks out on his own, stands on the surface of the obelisk and flips open his

26:41

communicator, says Kirk to Enterprise, and the hatch beneath his feet opens.

26:46

He goes tumbling down a hole. Hatch closes.

26:49

Kirk like clambers up onto a surface that he is not looking at.

26:53

It turns out to be full of buttons that he has pressed by accident, and a

26:57

ray of light hits him in the forehead.

27:01

He collapses to the floor, end cold open.

27:04

As a result of this, it turns out Kirk has had his memory wiped.

27:08

Rob: Aaah. Kevin: This is another case of amnesia that we could have talked about in our

27:12

episode about amnesia not too long ago.

27:14

Spock and McCoy have lost their captain, but they don't have time to look for him.

27:18

They get up on the ship and warp out. That half of the episode continues with, it's another case of Spock and

27:25

McCoy having to lead the Enterprise together without Kirk around.

27:30

And they have a similar kind of debates about whether Spock

27:33

knows what he's doing or not. Meanwhile on the planet for the months, the three months that they're away.

27:40

This is like an interesting kind of timeline in Star Trek episode,

27:45

that episodes rarely lasted that much in in-universe time, but the

27:49

asteroid needed to be deflected so far away that they had to warp away.

27:54

And then as they are trying to divert the asteroid, they burn out the Enterprise's

27:58

warp engines, and they have to limp back on impulse power, which is why it

28:03

takes them three months to get back. During that time, Kirk who can't remember who he is or what he is

28:09

doing on that planet is discovered by the natives who in, true white

28:15

savior style, embrace him as a God and award him the hand in marriage

28:22

of the high priestess of the tribe.

28:25

The interesting element of this episode is just how happy Kirk is when

28:29

relieved of the pressures of captaincy in a low tech agrarian society.

28:35

They highlight this at the start of the episode with McCoy talking about how

28:39

this kind of planet could lead to what they used to call Tahiti syndrome, which

28:43

is when you didn't wanna come back from your holiday uh, the bushes and trees and

28:48

the bodies of water captured your heart.

28:51

But yeah the alien artifact that we're meant to be talking about here is that

28:55

obelisk, and ultimately, it is revealed that obelisk is a asteroid diverter.

29:00

And when the Enterprise fails to divert that asteroid in time it is up to

29:05

Kirk in form of Kirok, the God of this American Indian tribe, he is expected

29:12

by the tribe to find his way into that obelisk in order to activate it

29:16

and make the blue lightning come out as they say, to divert the asteroid.

29:21

But of course, Kirk has no idea how to do that.

29:24

And ultimately, he is stoned by his own tribe, along with his, very

29:30

shockingly, his pregnant wife on the steps they are both stoned and

29:35

Spock and McCoy beam down just in the nick of time to save Kirk's life.

29:39

But Kirk's wife to be dies along with the unborn baby at the end of this episode.

29:46

Rob: What?! Kevin: Yeah, it is completely shocking.

29:50

She like, for no plot reason whatsoever, she reveals that

29:54

she is pregnant with his child.

29:57

The only thing that serves is to further deepen the tragedy

30:01

when she is killed at the end. Like you could, I don't think you could do that uh, on TV these days and

30:07

not deal with it more than they did. But yeah, very tragic.

30:11

Rob: And especially the episodic nature of the show.

30:13

Like they can't carry on with that within…

30:16

Wow. That is, yeah. The double whammy of not only am I your, wife to be, we're pregnant as well.

30:21

Oh. And now I'm gonna die. Kevin: That's right.

30:24

Rob: Deal with that for five minutes. Kevin: So how do we get back inside the obelisk is the tricky thing.

30:29

Spock is able to decipher, in the three months that they come back, Spock is able

30:33

to decipher his recordings of the markings on the surface of the obelisk and is able

30:39

find out that they are musical notes.

30:42

So as far as he knows, if there is way into the obelisk, it probably

30:45

has to do with music or a sequence of sounds or something like that.

30:50

Once they uh, restore Kirk's memories with a mind meld he tries to remember

30:55

what he did in the moments before falling down inside the obelisk, and it was

31:00

literally to flip open his communicator.

31:03

Have it go deet-dee-dee and then say Kirk to Enterprise.

31:06

And that is the magical passcode or the magical sequence of sounds that opens

31:11

the obelisk, completely coincidentally.

31:13

That is the third complete coincidence in this very unbelievable

31:17

episode of the original series. But I always remember that I just, I love that idea that this alien artifact

31:25

that is completely impenetrable to modern science, that it could be opened

31:30

just by Captain Kirk flipping open his communicator and saying, Kirk to

31:33

Enterprise, this thing he does casually every other episode of this series.

31:38

It was delightful there that like the key was right in front

31:40

of us all along in, in that way.

31:43

Rob: There you go. And then the next episode, they never talk of any of that ever again.

31:47

Wow. Kevin: I think it's difficult as a Star Trek writer to come up with

31:51

a hard to activate alien artifact, where the mystery is satisfying.

31:57

That the way it ends up being able to be activated is hard enough that it, you

32:01

believe that they had a hard time figuring it out, but not so arbitrary as to be

32:07

completely unsatisfying or unbelievable that they do eventually figure it out.

32:11

So this week, the heronium, the substance that is like completely out of supply in

32:16

this quadrant of the galaxy and is very difficult to synthesize, but just happens

32:21

to have been a part of the hull of the original Enterprise, NX-01, it's another

32:25

example I think of them just deftly making just hard enough to be satisfying.

32:30

Rob: And you also don't wanna have an artifact that's too powerful that it

32:34

becomes a problem, like with the time crystals in Discovery, you're there

32:38

going, what are the ramifications of this?

32:41

Like within Deep Space Nine, one of the possible ones I gonna focus

32:45

on with Deep Space Nine was all the orbs, all the prophets' orbs.

32:49

You've got a of prophecy and change.

32:51

You've got an orb of time. You've got an orb of this and that.

32:54

Or The artifact that's broken by Sisko and the pah wraiths come out of that.

32:59

It's that case of finding an artifact that has a problem, an issue that you need

33:03

to solve, and can be moved on as opposed to the larger ramifications, which could

33:08

affect the whole franchise universe.

33:11

Kevin: It was always very unclear to me, those orbs, how you activate them.

33:15

Like they, they are these extremely powerful devices, but their saving grace

33:20

is apparently the way you activate them is you pray them in a worthy enough way.

33:26

Rob: You open a box. You open a box, Kevin.

33:29

Kevin: Do they work every time someone opens the box.

33:31

Has anyone accidentally dropped a, an orb box and it's opened

33:34

on floor and they're like, oh Rob: Oh Kevin: We've gotta fix time.

33:37

Rob: Oh, I've ended up on the Enterprise. Oh God.

33:41

Kevin: Those obelisks that diverted the asteroid in this episode of the

33:45

original series, they do uh, do a bit of interesting world building where

33:49

Spock says one of the other things was able to decipher from the writing

33:53

on it is that it was placed there by a super race known as The Preservers.

33:59

And I remember in my early days as Star Trek fan, even before Next Gen

34:04

had come out, that this idea of The Preservers, that there was this race

34:07

that went about galaxy seeding planets with apparently pine trees and Native

34:14

Americans and that they would leave a asteroid diverter in order to protect

34:18

them, spreading humanoid life throughout the galaxy is a very rich idea.

34:24

There is a, there is an episode of The Next Generation that has like multiple

34:27

races racing for the secret of this shared code that is in their genomes.

34:33

And you need the genomes of all the different races to,

34:36

to assemble the message. And it is ultimately a message from The Preservers you all get

34:42

along, you're actually related. But yeah it's a nice bit of world building that, that alien artifact way back in

34:48

season three of the original series.

34:50

Rob: Well, there you It's nice to have those little especially

34:53

those almost omnipotent beings, being referred to again.

34:57

'cause like we've talked about in previous episodes, these big aliens

35:01

are huge entities that we have no real comprehension of without our limited

35:05

understanding of knowledge and language. They're touched on just as an idea and a concept for an episode, but to have that

35:11

no, they are, there is a legacy there.

35:13

It's nice to have that addressed. It's a nice little Easter egg for us long-term fans.

35:18

Kevin: Well, There you go. That was our bonus episode for our bonus episode of Star Trek.

35:24

So much Star Trek coming, Rob, we have another one in of days.

35:28

Rob: And from the joy and hope and silliness, it seems like just from

35:32

the title, this might be going into a bit more darker territory

35:35

with the, the Cloaks of War. Kevin: Yeah, I am, I am tipping Romulan cloaking device, something, something.

35:42

All I, that's all I can gather. Rob: We shall see.

35:45

We are less than a week away from seeing a new episode.

35:48

And then just around corner is the musical episode as well.

35:52

Kevin: Well, bye for now, Rob.