Using Voyager as an example, I feel that Harry Kim would have become a sober, brave and empathetic captain, whereas Tom would have employed all the reckless cowboyness of Kirk without the leadership qualities. What do you think?

I never liked Barclay episodes that much and realm of fear probably isn't many peoples fav but I love the moment Baclay says to Picard, I would never have called you in here unless I was absolutely certain, and Picard immediately trusts him, orders them to tear apart the transporter. It's a small moment but such an important one

You know what I’m talking about. The fourth episode of the second season of Next Generation, and generally considered to be one of the show’s weaker entries. That said, it’s worth pointing out that it sucks in large part because you have the established characters going out of their way to shill for this new guy. The writers very clearly wanted to sell viewers on the notion that Okona was this loveably roguish Han Solo type, but their efforts largely fell flat (and Billy Campbell, God bless him, just doesn’t add much to the proceedings).

Again, I can’t find anything that would directly support this supposition, but it really feels like a classic backdoor pilot — that is, an episode of a TV series primarily written to introduce a new character before they get their own series. This wouldn’t be the first time that a spin-off had been considered for a loveably roguish Star Trek show. As most of you probably know, a Harry Mudd series was mooted in the late Sixties. Assuming this was the case, though, they failed to make a compelling case for Okona. By the time the episode was over, the idea of a show centered around the character seemed, well… outrageous.

I was watching ST:IV last night, and l noticed a weird coincidence. In the beginning of the movie, when Kirk is addressing his crew in front of the Bounty, they are standing in line in front of the ship in the order that their actors have so far died: DeForest Kelley (1999), James Doohan (2005), Nichelle Nichols (2022), Walter Koenig (2026), followed by George Takei (20??), with Shatner (20??) as the dinh of his ka-tet standing out front. It's obviously a coincidence, but it's a pretty weird one, in my opinion. If George is next, that's a full on prophecy truer than the bible itself (which is honestly a pretty low bar).

Out of all the main cast of TOS, Walter Koenig and William Shatner are the only two who never appeared in another live action series. Trials and Tribble-ations was edited into previous footage.

Bones was in Encounter at Farpoint. Spock in Unification. Scotty in Relics. Even Sulu and Rand were in VOY's Flashbacks. There's still time for Shatner to appear on a live action show, even if briefly. Sad that Walter never got the chance.

Edit to add : Nichelle Nichols didn't either. I wonder if TPTB considered asking her.

It turns out that Chekov was in the restroom all along.

That’s the excuse given by fans--and jokingly perpetuated by Walter Koenig himself--for why we never saw Chekov in “Space Seed” yet Khan Noonien Singh recognized him 15 years later in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (TWOK). It’s odd to think that the character’s legacy--and by extension the actor’s--is reduced to a joke about a continuity error, but that’s in keeping with how the character was often written.

Ensign Chekov was a junior officer introduced in the second season (1967-68) of Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS). He was added at the height of the Beatles and Monkees craze so he could appeal to teen viewers. The actor was even forced to wear a Beatle wig during his earliest appearances, a look that did not appear to be in keeping with Starfleet regulations.

However, there was more to the character. He was Russian, a nationality chosen to acknowledge Soviet contributions to the advancement of space exploration. Adding a Russian to the bridge crew of Starfleet’s flagship also furthered Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a peaceful future in which mankind had transcended national and political enmity. The writers had fun with both Chekov’s youth and nationality. Chekov claimed that Russians had invented every great stride in human history--even Scotch (”The Trouble With Tribbles”). Chekov was given romances (”The Apple,” “The Way to Eden”), and, among the three junior bridge officers--Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov--he was the only one given a first and middle name: Pavel Andreievich.

Yet for all his prominence in the original series, Chekov was cut for budgetary reasons from Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS), a short-lived 1973-74 revival. Koenig did write an episode of TAS, “The Infinite Vulcan,” but I suspect he never wanted to be left behind again--hence the continuity error in TWOK.

Koenig said in interviews that he was asked to read the TWOK script and check for errors. He recognized a major one right way. The script called for Chekov, now serving as first officer aboard the USS Reliant, and his captain to encounter the nefarious Khan, an augmented superman left behind by Captain Kirk on a wild and remote planet 15 years earlier in the TOS episode “Space Seed.” Khan famously recognizes Chekov, calls him by name, and says, “I never forget a face.” Koenig knew immediately that Chekov wasn’t in that episode because the character hadn’t been invented yet nor had he been cast in the role.

Yet he kept quiet, he later explained, because the prominent role given to Chekov would have gone to someone else. (It’s interesting to speculate who that someone might have been. Sulu wasn’t in “Space Seed” either, so the logical choices would have been Scotty or Uhura.)

The discrepancy led to fans speculating about how Khan could recognize Chekov. Some suggested that he must have been aboard the Enterprise and we just didn’t see him. As a newly commissioned ensign, he would have been assigned to duties elsewhere than on the bridge. Or perhaps he flew one of the shuttles that transported Khan and his augmented humans to the surface of Ceti Alpha V. All of this seems plausible, but the one that has stuck in fandom’s mind is the silly explanation that Khan needed to use the restroom but couldn’t because a certain junior officer was taking too long. Well, we never did see doors for restrooms in TOS, but there must have been one somewhere on the ship.

But if Chekov was often dismissed as a joke by fans--not only because of the restroom quip but also because of his thick accent (”nuclear wessels”)--there was more to Walter Koenig as an actor. Obituaries have extolled some of his other acting credits, such as the play The Boys of Autumn, in which Koenig and fellow Star Trek veteran Mark Lenard played an older Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, respectively. And there were his 12 episodes as amoral Psi Cop Alfred Bester on Babylon 5, a role that allowed Koenig to play a much more nuanced character than Chekov had ever been.

Yet Chekov was an important member of the Enterprise crew. As a young, impulsive, and eager-to-please officer, he was a stand-in for fans who imagined themselves as part of the same crew. He was awkward and silly, as young adults often are, yet competent at his job. One does not get to be a bridge officer by being foolish. Not only did he serve as navigator, but he often occupied the science station when Spock was elsewhere.

He was well-liked by his shipmates, and he became friends with Sulu. Some of the show’s best scenes involve Chekov and Sulu at their stations, talking freely while their bosses are elsewhere. In “The Deadly Years,” Chekov complains to Sulu about being poked and prodded in Sickbay. And “Turnabout Intruder,” though widely considered one of the worst TOS episodes, features one of my favorite scenes between the two. Aware that something is terribly wrong with their captain, they tacitly conspire to mutiny. When Kirk, who has swapped minds with a deranged former lover, gives an order, they drop their arms to their sides and refuse to comply. They risk court martial--a choice that stands in stark contrast with how easily the Strange New Worlds crew went along with an order to commit genocide in a recent episode.

Koenig created a character who was much beloved by fans and a more significant part of Star Trek lore than many realize. Although he never canonically reached the rank of admiral, as he often dreamed, he showed us that it was possible for a young person to serve with such a prestigious crew. He was a more realistic version of such a character than Wesley Crusher would be two decades later because Chekov wasn’t portrayed as a teen sidekick or an exceptionally gifted teenager. He was just an officer who happened to be young. And although the character was often written with broad humor, Koenig played him with nuance and seriousness, and that made all the difference.

Thank you, Walter Koenig, and rest in peace.

Check out this post on Substack: https://greggildersleeve.substack.com/p/the-invisible-ensign-reflections

Just picked this up at a local bookstore, and I am super excited!!!

I did not have enough to get the Sisko one. And, they didn’t have Regeneration which was what I went looking for.

I have always sort of avoided the books because I’m I bit of a completionist. There are just soooooo many lol. With over 700 hours of continuous Star Trek movies and TV it’s not like I was short on content ;).

I have always gotten the tech manuals but those don’t count according to my GF.

Anyway, after I finish this one, are there any other books I should read?

I love pretty much every offering of this franchise in a vacuum. But I really like stories that contribute to, but not rewrite, the larger universe.

Any recommendations welcome in

Just received an e-mail from Master Replica their figures planned for Q1 of 2027 are cancelled due to liscencing change. Had anyone else heard anything?

I wonder what this bodes for Nacelle, especially if Paramount is doing what they did with the Ninja Turtles liscence.

Remembering the late great Walter Koenig last night with a couple of movies and while watching VI, it occurred to me that our boy's back to navigation after having served as a first officer elsewhere and that feels like quite the step back, especially considering his consolemate is off commanding the Federation's pride and joy (and presumably flagship). Was the loss of Reliant really that much of a stumbling block to his career progression?

5 lairs revealed so far and I gotta say I love those lands!

I was just rewatching the Conspiracy episode of TNG and noticed something strange about the joke that Geordie tells Data. The punch line of the joke is "try doing that in hyperspace". I think that is the only time I've heard anyone in ST use the term "hyperspace".

Typically ships travel great distances using warp drive. They don't enter hyperspace like in Star Wars or some other space franchises. In ST they often use the term "subspace" for stuff like communication. So why did they use hyperspace for the joke?

Season 1: Episode 9

I’m doing a rewatch of lower decks, and I genuinely enjoy the hell out of this show. It’s funny and clearly made with love. But I forgot how absolutely, absurdly, amazing this episode is.

As soon as Mariner “starts the movie” on the Holodeck, there’s film grain! I don’t think I noticed it the first time! It’s consistent throughout the episode.

The bridge is all dark, instead of normally lit up. There’s lens flares everywhere! They circled the ship as they approached on the shuttle with deep theme music playing, all while giving us glorious shots of the Cerritos. Mariner as the bad guy is quoting novels.

Everything about it is this beautiful fun love letter to the Star Trek movies.

It’s hands down the best episode of season one. I can’t believe I only remembered this episode as “when Boimler finds out Captain Freeman is Mariners mom”.

I know modern trek has made some people frustrated, myself included sometimes. But lower decks really is the best.

Every new Star Trek since 1993 has focused on some way on a ship. Do you think that they could do another station-based series, or would it feel too derivative of Deep Space Nine? And why would this be an issue for station-based series but not starsip-based series?

Loved this movie, except that we lost the Enterprise-D. My favorite line from the movie is when the saucer section is going down, Commander Data says, “Ohhhh shit!” ROFL!

In this scene, why didn't the other Vulcans sense the presence that Spock sensed?

At the end, she says "Live long and prosper" in English but the rest is all in Vulcan. I wonder if she was commenting on the fact that Spock was half human. Or even taunting him ironically because he failed.

There shouldn't be a caption when she says that, because she says it in English.

Yesterday I was watching TOS Galileo 7, and surfing reddit in the commercials. One post caught my eye with the salutation “Greetings and Felicitations”. I asked OP if it was intentionally a callback to TOS and they said no. someone had suggested it to them when they were previously using Greetings and Salutations a few months back. I suspect one or more of you were in on that. Very funny I thought. If it had ended there, I would not be posting. About 15 minutes later, the Squire of Gothos starts playing on my TV. Im getting goosebumps just thinking about that.

coincidence, most assuredly, but feels like manifest destiny.

When we’re first introduced to the MIDAS Array in Star Trek: Voyager S6E24, “Life Line”, Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay explain that Starfleet is using a cyclic pulsar to amplify signals from the array. However, the pulsar only peaks every 32 days, meaning Voyager receives a transmission once a month and has around 17 hours to respond.

There’s then some back-and-forth between the Doctor and Janeway as he tries to convince her to send his programme back to the Alpha Quadrant to treat Dr. Zimmerman. Janeway argues that there’s limited space in the data stream, so if they send the Doctor’s programme, there won’t be room for anything else.

But if the limiting factor to the communication window is the pulsar’s cycle, rather than the available power etc, why can’t they simply transmit successive streams of data for the full 17 hours? Surely that would give them enough capacity to send the Doctor’s programme alongside everyone’s messages home?

There were some that I scraped off etsy or eBay but they sucked. If one of you kindly nerds would take a picture of a gold pressed latinum Bar prop; I would really appreciate it. Using it for a credit card skin.

Here is a picture of Elim and Bashir as tax.

https://imgur.com/a/OeajTkA

My rank

Season 4

Season 5

Season 3

Season 2

Season 6

Season 7

Season 1

If Star Trek were to be rebooted again, what would you want to see. A TNG reboot instead of TOS? Brand-new characters? What would you do to make it different from the series that preceded it?

I get that none TNG "makes sense" but most episodes have an internal logic. I generally love the show. This one just does not make sense to me.

How does this agrarian society that seems to have zero technology suddenly have the ability to create a probe at all? The whole life that he "lives" there is super low tech. Any tech that he brings is super basic. They are dying of not having technology.

And yet, somehow, as a dying act, they created a probe that tracks down Picard, is able to penetrate the Enterprise's shields, immobilizes Picard, makes him live a whole life in 25 minutes, and leaves his flute in the probe.

All so that he can remember and document a society that had no technology and died.

Even in the world of TNG and all its fabulosity, this is has no internal logic. What is the argument as to how they were able to do this?

I know there is so much more to this episode, but I can't get past the irony that the probe is created by a world that died because it had no technology (except the technology to make this magnificent probe?). If they could do that, could they not have created technology to solve some of the problems that killed their civilization that they are now asking him to remember for them?

What am I missing?