Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
CLL #45 - Starfleet Academy
25 Plays24 days ago
Chris and Jonathan are back after a four-month hiatus—and they’re jumping right in. Chris shares a candid health update, the hosts catch up, and Jonathan fills us in on the Feast of Fandoms content he’s been cranking out during CLL’s break. Then it’s off to hyperspace with reactions to the Darth Maul: Shadow Lord trailer and the Mandalorian & Grogu Super Bowl spot. The main event? A deep-dive breakdown of the first six episodes of Starfleet Academy.
0:00:00 Introduction/Catch-Up
0:09:15 Darth Maul: Shadow Lord Trailer
0:20:45 Mandalorian and Grogu Super Bowl Ad
0:30:15 Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
1:21:45 Wrap-Up and Outro
Use my special link (https://zen.ai/QiFszFD-Mts8PuWhMGdOmA ) to save 30% off your first month of any Zencastr paid plan.
EVERY ORDER 20% Off Mad Rabbit Tattoo Care!!
Contact the Show:
Twitter - @CLL_Pod
TikTok - @CLLPod
Facebook - www.facebook.com/LogsAndLightsabersPod
Instagram - @cllpodcast
Email: logslightsaberspod@gmail.com
Apple Podcasts Link - Rate and Review!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/captains-logs-and-lightsabers/id1560069195
Spotify Link - Rate Us!
https://open.spotify.com/show/0h44WzqUlc726aafvwwlD4
Follow us on all social media platforms so you never miss any of our content! Stay updated on the latest news, sneak peeks, and exclusive content—join our community today!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565333760273
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feastoffandoms
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
Free audio post-production. By alphonic.com Captain's log. On Solo. I'm Captain Millennium Falcon. This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise.
00:00:27
Speaker
One message from Starfleet coming in on secure channel.
00:00:37
Speaker
You're listening to Captain's Logs and Lightsabers. Hey, welcome to episode 45 of Captain's Logs and
Co-hosts' Personal Updates
00:00:46
Speaker
Lightsabers. We are the podcast with Feast of Fandoms that discusses both Star Trek and Star Wars in the same show. My name is Jonathan. I am one of the hosts. I'm always joined by my co-host, Chris Stow. So let's see what Chris has been up to lately. How's it going, man?
00:01:04
Speaker
Oh, doing it much better than I did in the last few months. That's what kind of explains where we've been. <unk>ve basically been, I'll i'll take the rap. My physical health has been kind of rough since November. So what happened was, is in November, I ended up getting sick. My blood pressure automatically somehow spiked to, was it 196 over 142? And it landed me in the hospital.
00:01:29
Speaker
And I started on a whole bunch of, or started on a new blood pressure medication. And it just took some time, but starting to do a lot better. My blood pressure is back to normal. I just needed to slow things down a little bit.
00:01:41
Speaker
It's just things have gotten a little bad. So now I ah should be back to baseline and and and I'm really been itching to do this. So I'm glad to be back. Good, good. So you took some time for self-care. and you You got your health and under control. Would you say it's been a long road getting from there to here?
00:02:01
Speaker
Oh, yeah, definitely. But it it wasn't a surprising road. So I thought, you know, so because in the last couple of years, you know, I've always known my mom's always had heart, blood pressure issues, things like that. And in the last few years, my twin brother has had problems. And then my younger brother,
00:02:19
Speaker
started having problems. And then i guess it was just finally my time to fall into play with, with the the blood pressure and heart stuff. That's genetic on my mom's side of the family, you know, but trying to get used to the new medications, been a little bit rough because the first medication they put me on was called Norvasc. I think it was, and it has ah ah a tendency to cause like pulling of fluids in your body, retaining fluid.
00:02:47
Speaker
So I was walking around. I was actually at Steel City Con when's when a lot of this first happened. And for those of you who don't know, Steel City Con is our local Comic Con here in the Pittsburgh area. It's in Monroeville, PA, every April, August and December. So in December, I was walking around. i was like, this is great. joe Steel City Con's back. But I had to keep taking breaks.
00:03:09
Speaker
I'd be up for a little bit and then I would want to sit for maybe five minutes, but I'd be sitting for 45 minutes. because it' just felt I felt too heavy. So my doctor switched me to something called bistolic, and it's it's's not doing that anymore. But because it's lowering my blood pressure to normal, when it's it's been so extremely high, I'm having a hard time adjusting, and it's causing me to feel lightheaded and dizzy and fatigued at different times.
00:03:33
Speaker
Yeah, your body's so used to running itself with a high blood pressure. It's like, yeah imagine it's kind of like a car getting a fresh oil change, you know? it's Yeah. Yeah, so the the doctor's not concerned. He just says it's going to take some time.
00:03:48
Speaker
That's all. So, you know, that's about it. Other than that, everything else has been pretty good. Work's going good. Clients have been, you know, keeping me busy. So, you know, but how have you been doing?
00:03:59
Speaker
You know, it's it's been pretty good. I mean, i have I've had no health stuff, which thankfully. And I'm glad to hear that you are, you know, getting back to...
00:04:10
Speaker
normal, getting back to yourself, starting to feel more like yourself again. So
Podcast's Break & New Projects
00:04:15
Speaker
yeah, we took the time off, but it was absolutely necessary for, for you to, to, to get better and, and yeah be able to continue recording this and and some of the other projects that you have. So, yeah yeah. And I took, I took a break from everything after my, after I got that, those results and I was in the emergency room, I'm like, I got it. I have to stop everything, but work.
00:04:40
Speaker
That's not, you know, I just, I felt like i think at one point, cause was even, you know, I had family members asking me to help them do things around their places and stuff. And I think I just got so overwhelmed a bit off more than I could chew.
00:04:51
Speaker
And I think that's what contributed to a lot of it. you know, so that, that downtime, I needed that. So I'm glad that we're doing this again. And I'm glad that um I'll be hopefully getting my YouTube channel started back up here again soon too. It's been about three months since I did a video there. So, yeah, you know, we'll see.
00:05:09
Speaker
but i mean, yeah. so we're, we're back. We're recording again. I've been, you know, while you, you know, while we haven't recorded this, I've been creating other content for Feast of Fandoms. I've,
00:05:24
Speaker
you know I still do the week the the Star Trek episode of the week breakdowns every
Star Wars: Maul Shadow Lord Trailer
00:05:28
Speaker
every once in a while. it's It's been a few weeks since I've had one of those, but hu I started a new series where it's you know it's me on video. It's probably it's like one of the first things that I've done for Feast of Phantoms where I'm actually on video and not just you know a narrator or or an audio-only podcast and in this respect, but I'm breaking down are considered romantic. So it's like, it's, it's fantasy books, but there's, there's romance element between, you know, between the characters. So I don't really, you know, I, enjoy reading, so I'm willing to, you know, give different genres a chance. And I've always been curious by, you know, books, you know, like I'll go to I'll go shop at target or Walmart and I'll, you know look at the book section and then I'll see these, you know, like I'll, I've often seen,
00:06:23
Speaker
what kind of started this, I saw a series called A Court of Thorns and Roses, and the just the the cover being like this bright red and this yellow lettering, it just always kind of stuck out to me. I'm like, okay, let me find out more about this series.
00:06:37
Speaker
It was enough for me to give the first book a chance, and I decided, well, hey, you know, I am i know I'm not the target audience for this type of book, so let me read it. Let me see what I think, and and I'm going to you know, turn it into a show idea for Feast of Phantoms because, you know, we're we're starting to branch out and get outside of just, you know, the the big pop culture properties of of Star Wars and Star Trek and video games. You know, we're trying to branch out and and do more. We we call ourselves Feast of Phantoms for a reason. You know, it's not just, you know, TV, movies, books and games, you know, i have TVs, movies and games. It's, you know, it's books, it's board games. it's It's, there's so much more that we can do. so
00:07:19
Speaker
Yeah, so I launched this little series. It's called Courts and Confusion. it's It's fun. the the The first episode was released back at the end of January. And the the second one, as long as I can get the book finished and get my notes together in time, when the second one should come out the end of February. So, yeah, so I've been keeping myself busy with that and just trying to keep, you know, being creative while we took a little break on this show.
00:07:48
Speaker
Yes. I think that's wonderful. You kept you kept things going and you you had fun doing it. I did watch when your first episode. It was really, really good. And your reviews of the Star Trek episodes are phenomenal.
00:08:00
Speaker
So please keep up ah doing the good work on those, definitely. Yeah. And it's fun to take some episodes that don't really get a whole lot of attention. I mean, you know, I do the classics. You know, i do, you know, for every Dharmic, though, that, you know, there's a A night in sickbay, right? You know, there's all kinds of different Trek episodes that that deserve, you know, a close know a closer look and and being re of it revisited from time to time. so Oh, absolutely. And with over, well, what, 800, 900 episodes of Star Trek, a lot to pull from.
00:08:33
Speaker
So there will be there will be no shortage of content for you. you No, no, no. Content, there there is, content abounds. It's just, yeah you know, can i can I keep up the momentum and keep up the writing, you know, the the breakdowns and in yes in a way that's still compelling. so Absolutely.
00:08:54
Speaker
Absolutely. Good. So while while the show's been on hiatus, we've, you know, we've had quite a few... new things announced we we got well we got a trailer for the uh the the upcoming animated series that premieres april 6th on disney plus called mall shadow lord and chris and i just recently re-watched the trailer so thought we'd talk about it and then give our thoughts and and see you know we've
00:09:28
Speaker
historically we've all we've been fans of the animated star wars projects and and what this one is shaping up to be ah you know another stellar entry in in star wars animation so so what do you think overall what what did you think of the the trailer for for mall shadow lord what are your what are your initial impressions chris Oh, definitely. It definitely was. It looks like it's being well produced. you You were talking offline about the animation style and how it's still going with Clone Wars. It seems to be adding even more depth to it. I mean, the the animation was just incredible. Just all the lightsaber work and that the I don't know if they're on I think they're on some sort of new planet.
00:10:06
Speaker
ah All those city kind of planets look like Coruscant to me, and I always get them confused. But yes. The background looked great, you know, and I'm hoping to learn a little bit more about what, see what Darth Maul's been up to since he escaped that Venator Star Destroyer in the last episode of the Clone Wars. We already know where his fate leads. We know that where he's going to be part of Crimson Dawn in Solo, and we know that he dies in Star Wars Rebels. So it's just going be interesting to see him filling in that last big gap.
00:10:34
Speaker
you know And I'm hoping that there will be some sort of matches that he has with Palpatine, because ah there was one mention of that. i guess he was fighting an Inquisitor during the in one part, and he said something about the Emperor wanting and wanting you dead.
00:10:48
Speaker
So I'm sure there'll be some sort of clash or something there. But of course we know that he survives whatever happens because we see him later on in timeline. Obviously. Yeah.
Speculation on Star Wars Characters
00:10:58
Speaker
But still it'll be, I'd love to see the two together at least one more time battling it out.
00:11:03
Speaker
We did get a scene, I think. on cold war I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry. No, no, no, you're good. No. Yeah. I, I, I agree with you. I would be great to see another, like, second duel between Maul and Palpatine.
00:11:16
Speaker
Right. Because there was an episode of the Clone Wars, if I remember correctly, where Palpatine was torturing him or yeah trying to kill him, but he got he managed to get away. Yes. I believe that was in... I believe that was in Season 5 of the Clone Wars, right? Okay.
00:11:33
Speaker
yeah That sounds about right. Yeah. Yeah. Because season six were season six were kind of the those were the the quote unquote lost episodes. It wasn't a complete season. And then some of the episodes weren't even you know fully animated there. You know, some of them are some of them that are part of season six are just like basically animated concept drawings.
00:11:55
Speaker
That's fascinating. I didn't know that part. I knew they were the lost episodes. I just thought it was a season they didn't air, you know, so that's pretty interesting. Okay. Okay. But yeah, I think learning a little bit more about what Darth Maul's been up to, ah how he ends up getting involved with, with Crimson Dawn. That'll be a nice tie in. I'm looking forward to seeing, cause this is the, within a year of the founding of the empire. So we, so they,
00:12:21
Speaker
The Bad Batch obviously is going on at this point. First of all, wondering if there'll be any crossover connection somehow. But I'm also, I'm looking forward to seeing how, that I'm wondering if they're going to do any more work with the clones.
00:12:33
Speaker
That's one thing I really love from the Bad Batch is watching the clones get phased out yeah and for this first generation. I call i call them proto-stormtroopers. That's just because they don't look exactly like we know them yet.
00:12:46
Speaker
You know, so I'm looking forward to seeing, you know, if there's maybe some interaction with the clones versus the stormtroopers. They didn't really do a whole lot of that in the Bad Batch. And it'd be interesting to see if something actually happened, you know.
00:12:59
Speaker
And we also noticed that sometimes that you can see some of the clones were even starting to question why they followed Order 66. Right. Right. right You know, see if there's anything more with that. They never showed a final resolution on whatever truly happened to the clones. I'd hate to think that they're just going to let it go and say, oh, they just they just happen to just randomly scatter throughout the galaxy. And, you know, i hope there's something, you know, concrete that finally happened with to the co clones. And, of course, I'm sure if it it would they if there is something, it was bad.
00:13:28
Speaker
Yeah, I wonder how they're going to... Oh, the timelines are going to match up because Shadow Lord takes place a year after the, the you know, Revenge of the Sith. So the Empire's in it, already completed its first year.
00:13:43
Speaker
Bad Batch pretty much begins right at the time of Order 66 because the very first episode we see, we see Kanan, Kanan's master, you know, being killed.
00:13:55
Speaker
Yes. So... And I know they had, you know, so that, you know, so that show kicks off right at the the start of Order 66. Yeah, and I don't know if there is going to be any crossover. I wonder if, you know, how, how how you know, it's it's a large galaxy, right? And, you know, the Bad Batch was kind of in the mid to outer rim, right?
00:14:19
Speaker
For most of their adventures. I am not sure where this this city is because, but you know, it we know it's not Coruscant and... and Screen Rant tells me that the planet's name is Janix, which is brand new. It's not a planet that's ever existed in, even in Legends.
00:14:37
Speaker
But yeah, it is it is not Coruscant. The city was built inside a giant crater. Yes, yes, you're right. Yeah, one of the reviews mentioned that. and know It's in a big crater. Yes. Okay. Yeah.
00:14:53
Speaker
Yeah, I wonder how much of this is going to focus on the what's going on directly with the Empire, because, you know, are we going to... what you know So the episode starts a year after the formation of the Empire, but where does it end? you know How much of a time period are we dealing with in this series? yeah Are we going to see Maul become the leader of Crimson Dawn, which essentially means that he's going to have to take out you know, some other criminal organizations like, you know, he's going to have to take out the Hutts or, you know, get them under control. He's going to have to, you know, dress things with the Pikes and then with ah Black Sun, of course, you know, the Voleen to kind of, you know, be the main criminal organization that, you know, that that runs everything by the time we get to the events of Solo.
00:15:47
Speaker
Right. Absolutely. Yeah. I can imagine that by the end of the series, however long they're planning on it being, wellll definite they'll definitely have a smooth tie into the whole part of of Solo, which will be which will be nice because I haven't heard much about, no one really talks about Solo anymore. It's been you know a number of years. I don't see it mentioned in a lot of places anymore. So it'd be nice to have like a callback or connection to that movie and be like, hey, it's still here. Yeah. Yeah.
00:16:13
Speaker
yeah Yeah, and I wonder if we're going to get any kind of like an animated version of Kira from Solo at all, you know? That's actually a really great observation. Yeah, that would be I can see that happening, definitely.
00:16:26
Speaker
i guess it really depends on, again, what what the time frame of the series is. Because, you know, we we see we see the Twi'lek, you know, the red-skinned Twi'lek with Jedi assuming...
00:16:41
Speaker
was a Jedi Padawan that somehow escaped order 66 in the trailer. yeah I mean, the first time that, and I know, I don't know what the, if there's any connection, because i don't think the character, i don't know, does the character have a name or not, but the last, you know, the, the, the, there's a very prolific red skinned Twi'lek who has, know,
00:17:11
Speaker
some Sith skills. You know, she went by Darth Talon. So I wonder if this is supposed to be Darth Talon or if just they they just happen to be a coincidence that there's a red-skinned Twi'lek Jedi or, you know, or character with Force abilities, right? well Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, wouldn't be so wouldn't be surprising if if maybe that was her, you know, that they they brought her in and you get to we finally get to see her on screen. That would be really amazing.
00:17:40
Speaker
yeah but You're not sure if you would fit. Yeah, i don't know how that I don't know how that timeline's going to work. yeah know The other Darth Talon, that was and was when was... I'm trying to think which series Darth Talon was introduced in, actually. now oh Oh, she was in one of the other series.
00:18:00
Speaker
ah She was in... and Not in another... Not in and a canon series. just in She was in a book series. Okay. Okay, so Darth Talon was introduced post...
00:18:11
Speaker
fall of the empire post return to the Jedi. So, okay. So this, this character exists prior, you know, we were meeting this character prior to when, if they're the same character, when Darth Talon first emerges. Okay.
00:18:28
Speaker
Okay. okay So yeah, I'm not sure you know if this Twi'lek Jedi, former Padawan, whatever she is, is going to be Darth Talon and how they're going to, if that is the the intent, of that how they're going to introduce this character because you know from from when Darth Talon first appeared in Legends, it's you know several years earlier. it's It's during the start of you know the Empire, not the not after the fall of the Empire.
00:18:56
Speaker
I gotcha. like Okay. Okay. Yeah, because obviously you're the the expert on Star Wars. I don't know anything about the novels or the comics or anything, so you'll at least get to see... You'll notice a little changes or whatever they... you know any Anything that they change or make similar, you'll be able to pick up.
00:19:17
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, for the most part. i I don't really remember reading books that included Darth Talon, so I may not have...
00:19:27
Speaker
I may
Mandalorian & Grogu Movie
00:19:28
Speaker
not have read that series of books. Well, Wikipedia is your friend. Right? free move Yeah. Yeah, I guess we'll find out.
00:19:40
Speaker
Yep, absolutely. Absolutely. Now, you were saying about time after the Empire. I think that's a good time to segue to the next mo project that's going to be coming out for Star Wars this year, which would be the Mandalorian and Grogu movie.
00:19:55
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, we're going to get that towards the end of May, the last third of May. So i know we'll get Maul Shadow Lord for April, and that'll take us all the way to May the 4th. And then we'll have about a three-week gap or two-and-a-half-week gap, and we'll be seeing The Mandalorian and Grogu in theaters.
00:20:13
Speaker
Yes, cannot wait. this Finally, we're going to have Star Wars back in the theater. You know, it's been fun seeing it on Disney+, plus but to actually get back on a big screen to see it again, it's going to be exciting. Yeah, I'm excited for the movie.
00:20:25
Speaker
Hesitant, though, like, I don't know if I want the movie to feel like it's just an episode of The Mandalorian, but on a big screen. I don't know. yeah I don't know enough about the story. and and And I know that's intentional. I know, you know, we have not had a story trailer. We've had, you know, we had a teaser trailer. And then we had the...
00:20:49
Speaker
parody ad during the Super Bowl, right? That really wasn't a trailer. It didn't show us anything as far as footage from the movie itself. it's I know it's got the fandom very, very mixed on on what they thought of of that little TV spot.
00:21:07
Speaker
boom Yeah. i it it yeah was only How long did it was it? Like a minute and a half? Something like that. So there wasn't really much you know what story that was really seen.
00:21:18
Speaker
Wait, no the no, the ad was only like 37 seconds. Oh, really? Okay, I must have watched. There was another trailer that I watched then that was on YouTube. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, what what aired during the Super Bowl was a 37-second parody commercial of the Budweiser Clydesdale horses.
00:21:42
Speaker
Is that the one with the Tauntauns? Yes. Yes. Okay. I saw a piece of it. I didn't see the whole thing. So when when it aired, I was out at dinner with my wife and we were in a bar restaurant.
00:21:55
Speaker
And so I was trying to watch it, but I couldn't hear anything and stuff. So I probably missed most of it. Right, right. Yeah. So, yeah. So what you saw, you know, you only saw a little bit of it. So the commercial, it again it's again, it's meant to be a parody of the the but the Budweiser Clydesdale commercials. Right.
00:22:16
Speaker
And they even got Sam Elliott to narrate the commercial, just like Sam Elliott narrated the the original Budweiser Clydesdale commercial. Right.
00:22:27
Speaker
Oh, nice. That's great. yeah Yeah, so like it again, this this let's not call it a trailer because it wasn't a trailer. It was a parody ad.
00:22:38
Speaker
well it It has the fandom very divided about what they thought of it because it doesn't give us any footage of the movie. The it you know the movie comes out in...
00:22:50
Speaker
just over three months from now and we haven't seen any kind of story trailer yet we've you know we had the teaser trailer we had this parody ad yeah i don't know i liked it i i ah i knew what it was i knew it wasn't you know as soon as it started i knew it was ah you know ah a mock-up of of the budweiser clydesdale horses and i was like okay this is pretty brilliant oh did Am I a little disappointed that we didn't get new footage or get anything of substance about the movie? Yeah, but you know what?
00:23:24
Speaker
I enjoyed it for what it was. i enjoyed it for just being a silly parody. yeah yeah And obviously it was just to generate buzz for the movie to get people interested.
00:23:36
Speaker
Oh, yeah. And it was done in a fun way. You know it's the Super Bowl. You have a special commercial for it. It'll end up being a specialized footnote in Star Wars history. You know, even if people like whether they liked it or not, it'll always be something unique.
00:23:48
Speaker
for the movie you know what the way that the the news cycle moves you know with with in general let alone with pop culture stuff it'll be it'll probably be forgotten by by the time we get a full trailer you know absolutely absolutely i think we're i think we'll probably get full-on trailer sometime around the beginning of probably the beginning of march if i had to guess That sounds, yeah. so And we'll finally get a little bit of what the story's about because we watching the pre the the trailer again, it it really didn't make any sense. It was just random scenes of different action situations that are going to be going on.
00:24:26
Speaker
you know yeah Was that Babu Frick at the end? with ah ah or was that it' just another character of that race? I think it's just another character of the Anselm race. yeah I don't think it's actually Babu Frick. But who knows? we could be wrong I could be wrong. I mean, Babu Frick does should be alive. I mean, because everything in Mando and Grogu, Mandalorian, the series, and the Mando and Grogu has you know takes place prior to the sequel trilogy. So...
00:24:55
Speaker
It very well could be Babu Frick. Yeah. Well, at least we know the Empire is still involved somehow. i mean, we know that obviously it's the Imperial remnant, you know, because since this is what, five, six years after Return of the Jedi. So at least we'll get at least some sort of, you know, story with them involved, which it would be a lot of fun. Now, I wanted to also point out, I do believe this is true. screen On ah Friday, Screen Rant posted like ah on, I believe was Facebook, a whole bunch of pictures about the toy line that's actually coming out for the Mandalorian and Grogu. Yes.
00:25:28
Speaker
Yes. So I saved it' all the pictures. We have the action figures. We're going to Zebra Relios. And that figure looks really badass. He's nice and big. He's strong. Got Grogu. Let's see here. The Mandalorian himself.
00:25:41
Speaker
They have an ATRT with an Imperial driver. Let's see here. ah's What is it? Guard droid and mercenary. What does that say? Stap?
00:25:53
Speaker
S-T-A-P. Not sure what that... It looks like a speed... like a Kind of a speeder kind of thing. Yeah, it's almost like a little hovercraft type thing. That's a good way of describing it, yeah.
00:26:04
Speaker
I want to say that those were used... I want to say that those were used ah even in in the Clone Wars. I want to say that similar... transport devices were used by by yeah by the ah Trade Federation droids. You know what? You're right, because they actually had something similar to that in Episode 1. Yes.
00:26:24
Speaker
yeah And the droid was firing at Jar Jar. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yes, it was on that type of device. Yep. Yes. All right. And then I think you just answered the question about the Anzelans because there's a toy with a ship says Grogu and Anzelans. So I guess that is not probably Frick.
00:26:41
Speaker
Okay. right and Let's see. but There we go. Yeah. me see here. Then there's another one of like that, that speeder we were just talking. Oh, that's just a different picture of it. That's all. So as of now, that's everything that's going to be released. I don't know if they're going to do anything else or or not, but, ah I was hoping there'd be a toy line because it's always fun when one of these movies comes out to look forward to the toys. you know I'm just praying they're not going to be peg warmers and in the clearance bin with by by fall. you know right Right.
00:27:12
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, it would be nice if you know we got some good promotional toys and stuff available around the same time as the movie, you know, yes that would be nice. I mean, I know they can't, I know that there are some things that, you know, that are in the movie that they'll want to do toys for you know, would give away too much of the story or give away, you know, the introduction of a character.
00:27:37
Speaker
know, so obviously, you know, we're not going to get, you know, we're going to get at least a second or third wave of toys. Yes. Yes. Yeah. i mean I mean, that was always the fun, at least for me growing up, when there would be a toy line coming out for a movie that we really, really couldn't wait for, you know? It's just nowadays, these this generation doesn't really want toys.
00:27:56
Speaker
You know, they're more into, like, the electronics and stuff. You know, so it's more of our us middle-agers now that just want to collect everything. You know, so, but I'm glad that, so it's good. They'll have something. It'll be fun to go and buy some of the stuff and what, do whatever with it.
00:28:11
Speaker
You know, whether we display it or we put it in totes and store in the basement, one or the other, it'll be good to have them. So anything else that you want to say about the movie coming out?
00:28:23
Speaker
No,
Starfleet Academy Discussion
00:28:24
Speaker
no, let's, let's get to May and then we'll, we'll talk about it, you know, after we both have a chance to see it and, and, you know Hopefully we'll get a trailer. I'm sure we'll get a trailer of some kind in between then, and hopefully we can come together to talk about it at least one more time before the movie comes out. so Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:28:44
Speaker
Cool. All right. So why don't you why don't we say we get into the new Star Trek series? Don't get technical with me. Magic. It is the beginning Will's Temple Maris, not the end.
00:28:57
Speaker
A Jedi uses their force for knowledge and defense. Yeah, it it has been quite a while since we've recorded. So there have already been six episodes of Star Trek Starfleet Academy that have aired on Paramount Plus, and we're going to talk about them for the last part of the show. And yeah I know, Chris, you have, as always, you have taken some lovely notes and you're going to you know guide us through the episodes later.
00:29:28
Speaker
As you always do. So take it away. All right. So we'll start with the pilot. So I really enjoyed watching how Starfleet Academy came back together.
00:29:40
Speaker
The fact that what one thing I'm really enjoying about this show so far, I didn't think I'd like it so much in the 32nd century because I'm not a big fan of Discovery in that era. But Alex Kershman said that he put it in into 32nd Century because it's basically a clean area to start fresh and talk about contemporary issues from today in that setting, especially since this is a group of people who had been traumatized for a couple of generations because of what happened with the burn.
00:30:07
Speaker
So it it gives a nice setup for this first group of kids trying to learn what it means to be Starfleet officers again or you know for the first time. So i go ahead.
00:30:19
Speaker
Oh, no, I was just agreeing with you. Sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. It's okay. I thought you were going say something. All right. So the first episode was one of my favorites. Again, I loved seeing Robert Picardo coming back as the Doctor. i mean, that was kind of like, you know, for him, it was like riding a bike again. You could tell it was very easy for him to fit in that role again. yeah And he has so much fun as the Doctor. Yeah.
00:30:43
Speaker
He's, he's, he's one actor who doesn't care that that was his, like his defining role. Yeah. Yeah. Now he can have a little bit of fun with it. And because he's hundreds of years older, he can actually, and helllthough he even said that one of the episodes, I think was the one with the debate where he was like, I'm 800 years old. I can say what I want. I'm not chicken shit now or something to that effect. I guess what he said.
00:31:09
Speaker
So the whole the whole Caleb story arc, I don't even know if that will that was really necessary to start it out it' so dark. I think they could have just had him being like some kid on Earth who was just you know trying to find his way in life, and then they could have brought him into the Academy. And the reason why I'm saying that is because...
00:31:29
Speaker
They started it out strong with him being this that that the child of ah a criminal. His mom was partly involved in the death of a Starfleet officer, whether she did it or was just that she was there. So she he got separated from his mom when she was sent away to the some rehab prison or whatever. And he escaped from, what's the the captain's, Nala Akei?
00:31:51
Speaker
Yeah. that's right yeah So he escaped from her and was able to stay on the run for 15 years and you know basically became a career criminal in order to stay alive. And he had a chance to go to Starfleet Academy because she was asked to...
00:32:07
Speaker
become chancellor of the brand new Starfleet Academy. She's really one of the only few who actually really could truly do it because, well, think about it. She was, she was, a she's what half Lanthanite. So she's in her 400, 400 some years old. So she knows what Starfleet was like before all of this stuff happened. So it was important for her to be the one, one of the ones who helped to rebuild and so bring a new, new class of cadets in.
00:32:30
Speaker
You know, but the whole thing, Caleb's story, just after he came to the Academy, she recruited him so they could help find his mother. And i told you this offline that I thought that him going from Mr. Badass, who wasn't going to listen to anybody to, you know what, a Jem'Hadar lady screamed at me one time and put a heavy backpack on me. Now I'm going to be, I'm completely, you know, rehabilitated. you know, I've, I've worked with, you with juveniles and, know,
00:33:00
Speaker
A lot of kids with a lot of behavioral issues and conduct issues for for two decades now. I'm telling you, that would not happen matter no matter what. I know for straight time and story, they probably needed to get it moving. But I mean, he went instant for being mouthy and and disrespectful and and apathetic to, oh, now all of a sudden I'm listening.
00:33:21
Speaker
yeah so it was It was just weird, you know, and and and I thought that it was going to be a story that was really going to be going on all season. Now, yeah it's supposed to be there's still little pieces of it brought up. But after episode two, he just kind of seemed to be really reformed.
00:33:36
Speaker
You know, he just seems to be buy the book and, you know, he knows his stuff and he's great at fixing things. And, you know, so. I'm hoping that we get a little more resolution of that by the end of the season. Now that they brought Paul Giamatti back in episode six, after since and he'd been gone since the pilot, I'm hoping you'll see a little bit more of that.
00:33:55
Speaker
As of now, it's just not paying off, in my opinion. I don't know what you think. Yeah, I mean, I think that... I mean, I get why you know they they you he was gone for so long, because you know you had to have...
00:34:12
Speaker
yeah you kind of had three episodes to introduce us a little bit more to our our cadets and you know, and we get a little bit more of their personalities before, you know, the the primary mission, you know, that, that they're on will come to fruition. You know, it's, I get you know, he wasn't on screen for what, four episodes essentially. Yeah. Yeah.
00:34:39
Speaker
But at the same time, you know why if you are telling a consistent, almost a serialized story, why can't you have a couple – like a little teaser, a little you know just like a little ah glimpse of of what he's doing, right?
00:34:55
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. i That would have been kind of cool you know to to pepper in little – just little segments with him, what he's up to, what his plans are, because yeah, I think I really like Paul Giamatti and I, yeah just the way that he is able to portray a villain that is so, he's so skeevy, right? He's so disgusting, but yet you can't,
00:35:28
Speaker
you you feel compelled to just listen to him because just his delivery, his, his you know, his demeanor is, is just so, It's so perfect to be this conniving villain that he is.
00:35:42
Speaker
Oh, yeah. You can tell he's relishing delivering the lines. you know He's enjoying every second of it. you know He's almost clobbering with how much he enjoys it. One thing that wow one thing i I wish that they wouldn't do in the show, and they've done it a lot with what what is, I guess, called New Trek nowadays, is the the modern vernacular.
00:36:03
Speaker
ah just It's cringy to think that in the 32nd century, they're still talking like 21st century humans. I know they're doing it to kind of keep you know the audience fresh and to kind of relate and and things like that. But we also got to remember here, he's what? Half Tellarite, half Klingon.
00:36:20
Speaker
And he's using 21st century human slang. It just doesn't make sense. You know what I mean? It's just weird. It's very weird. It's bad enough hearing the character saying that kind of stuff.
00:36:31
Speaker
You know, but i've an alien, you know, saying stuff a thousand years out of date, that makes no sense. You know, but I'm hoping to see a little bit more of him. And now in episode six, Paul Giamatti's character was a lot more grounded. He was goofy at first, but he seemed a lot more serious as the episode went on.
00:36:50
Speaker
I can't remember exactly everything that happened in the in the last episode. But I know that was really probably in the most serious episode of the season so far when they went aboard that ship. And yeah, that felt like Star Trek. It reminded me of this. There was a second season episode near the end called next generation called peak performance.
00:37:10
Speaker
where Riker took a number of the Enterprise, they have war did war games. That's what it reminded me of, but just with ah an interesting new threat. Now, I didn't know this, but what they call them in the episode, the Furies, I think they said, the name of these aliens?
00:37:25
Speaker
Yes. There was a book series in the nineteen ninety s that had At the time, there were only four Star Trek series, and each Star Trek series had had this book talking about this race, and I believe it was called the furor they were called the Furies. I don't know if this is supposed to be that race or if this is something similar.
00:37:43
Speaker
you know I don't know. Right. But they are pretty freaky. They had that like time dilation effect and stuff. So it I think it i'd like I want to learn more about this this group of people.
00:37:54
Speaker
They're just interesting in a way. Mm-hmm. Yeah, because this is, I mean, we've never seen these this alien species before, right? That's right. That's right. So what are they capable of? Right, right.
00:38:06
Speaker
Exactly. Now, I also want to know what's going on with the Venari Raw. They didn't really say much about this crime group. You know, just that they were the baddies in the first episode, and...
00:38:18
Speaker
you don't want to get me started on them destroying that ship. the The Athena destroying the Nori Raul ship. And then thinking it was a teachable moment. but They get them beamed back to the ship. Okay, destroy it now. that's That's not very, that would not have happened in past Star Trek.
00:38:39
Speaker
know they would have If anything, they would either capture the crew and imprison them or they would have towed the ship somewhere. you know Not just randomly kill life and then brag about it as a learning experience for the class. don't know. It was just weird.
00:38:52
Speaker
you know But the first episode, i I think, was a lot of fun. and Wasn't it fun to go back to Bajor and see that after all these years? Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
00:39:03
Speaker
i i do really like some, I like moments in the show. I don't know if I'm so totally sold the show as a whole yet, but yeah, but most of everything in, in, in the, in the Cisco episode, episode five was really good.
00:39:23
Speaker
i I mean, I totally geeked out whenever, and i why i'm blanking on the I'm blanking on the Trill's name, but whenever she pulled her hair back to reveal the spotting.
00:39:37
Speaker
Oh, Illa. I think his name was Illa Dax. Yeah, Illa Dax. Right. But as soon as the hair came back and I saw the the Trill markings, I was like, ah, ah, there's the Dax symbiote. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it was really interesting because I wonder how much, I don't know if they'll ever bring this up or not, but how much Trill DNA does there need to be from the host to actually carry a symbiote without any issues?
00:40:04
Speaker
I mean, we... i didn't they I mean, they kind of established that in Discovery, didn't they? that
00:40:14
Speaker
that You know what? I'm not sure, because I haven't watched all Discovery, so I don't know. Oh, right. Yeah, you probably did. Yeah, so they're there the Triller are in... in this yeah and in i want to Season four, maybe. Yeah, I want to say it was season four of Discovery. There's so there's a very significant plot line involving Trill. so Okay.
00:40:40
Speaker
Yes. So I can't remember all the details, but ah you know essentially, yes. it What happened what you know with with everything with Illa, it should...
00:40:52
Speaker
Yeah, it should match up to what we what the the rules they've established for the Trill in Discovery in this time frame are. Okay, I'll look that up then and then just kind of tie it all together. Because I was kind of like, how is a Cardassian with just some sumptrilled DNA able to carry this symbiote? But okay, so there's an explanation. It's good to know. But don know but yeah, that Deep Space Nine episode was very... I think it was... I consider it a 50-50 episode. I love the stuff with Sisko. Seeing Sirach Lawson again as Jake Sisko was so great.
00:41:27
Speaker
You know, really great actor. He can tell he loved his role even back then um and that he really appreciates it now. Also, Serac Luffin is a really great guy. Actually, as we're recording right now, I'm looking at the wall across from me and I have all my photo ops with all ah multiple Star Trek actors. And I'm looking at the one right now with him.
00:41:47
Speaker
Nice. Looking and noticing how he's a foot taller than I am, too. He was. He was. He was. He was a blast and really warm when I met him. So very nice. It was nice to see him back. The rest of the episode, though, with.
00:42:03
Speaker
And this is ironic because Sam is actually my favorite of the characters, of the cadets right now, because she's just kind of learning her way through life and seems to be enjoying it. She reminds me of the aliens from Third Rock from the Sun, where, you know, they came, you know, did you ever watch that back in the day? You know, I did not. Actually, I'm familiar with the show, but i it was not a show that I watched.
00:42:26
Speaker
Right. Well, real quick, the premise of it, of Therak from the Sun, was these four aliens come down to Earth, and they are living as a family, and they're trying to learn about what it's like to be human.
00:42:37
Speaker
And they have to experience things through stuff. Like in some of the earliest episodes, one of them was drinking gas, trying to see what kind of effect it would have on the human body and stuff like that. He went paralyzed and told everybody they should call 116 instead of 911. It was crazy.
00:42:56
Speaker
Please go watch the show because John Lithgow is amazing in this. is it out Oh, yeah. um that's what yeah I just never got a chance to revisit the show. it just it it yeah I can't remember what I was into at the time because that was on probably in my...
00:43:13
Speaker
Like very early teens or no, no, no, no. That started in the late nineties, didn't it? Yeah. It started in 96, I believe, and ended 01 maybe.
00:43:25
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. So I would have been 13 at the time. Okay. Yeah. So it probably ended right as you started college would be my guess right around that time. Yeah. You know, but that's what Sam reminds me of. Like when she was, I thought it was kind of dumb that they had her like eating dirt or whatever, but I guess it starts, it was, it would have been funny if it was in third rock, but on this show felt a little cringy, but I liked the fact that she's learning, trying to learn her environment a little bit.
00:43:54
Speaker
I didn't care for the, a story about me and all the little kitty writing and all. through I didn't like that. I thought that was a little over the top and it you know what it reminded me of?
00:44:04
Speaker
was, I don't know if you've ever read star trek the Star Trek Memories books that William Shatner wrote. No. But when they, he, and the second book is called Star Trek Movie Memories. He was talking about how when Star Trek VI was originally planned, they were not going to do what they ended up making.
00:44:24
Speaker
they were They had a script ready to go called Star Trek The Academy Years. And it was supposed to be about, like I guess, Kirk and Spock meeting at Starfleet Academy or whatever. And Basically, Gene Roddenberry was dead set against anything set at the Academy because he was afraid it was going to turn Star Trek into some sort of, quote, police Academy type series.
00:44:45
Speaker
And you know how, you know, Roddenberry was very intellectual and really believed that the audience was smart, that people watching the TV weren't all stupid. So he, that's, it just kind of, that the episode kind of like with the little kiddie stuff and everything just kind of reminded me of,
00:45:04
Speaker
what Gene Roddenberry apparently said about the Academy years. And it made me wonder what would he say about this show? So this still has his name on it. You know, would he, I'm not going to, I'm not going to sit and say, I know what Gene Roddenberry would have said. i never met a man, you know, but based on what I've heard, it makes me wonder about some of this goofiness, you know? Yeah. I mean, yeah.
00:45:29
Speaker
I guess I'm not as harsh on it as you are because it, you know, it's, it's just, it's the particular storytelling device that they decided to use. You know, it was, the episode was being told through Sam's perspective. So, and, and, you know, yeah like you said, she's only been active for what a few months. Right. yeah mean, she is like a child.
00:45:57
Speaker
Yes. And it's it's good that you say that because I i wanted to bring up, guessing that she's kind of not only the, you know, like the the new one is trying to learn her surroundings, but I'm wondering if they're trying to make her to be kind of like the neurodivergent kind of character that people can relate to.
00:46:14
Speaker
You know, just kind of wonder. Yeah. I mean, i would say that's probably a pretty good prediction that that she is meant to be a stand-in for, you know, somebody on the spectrum or somebody who ADHD plus autism spectrum. Yeah.
00:46:34
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I'm just wondering if maybe I'm overthinking it, but I'm wondering if maybe people who are somewhat neurodivergent, if they see her acting goofy and crazy and all those kind of things, that could be some sort of a stigma on people with neurodivergence.
00:46:49
Speaker
It's just something that was that was go was going through in my mind. Same with the the one girl character who apparently swallowed her comm batch in the first episode. We have her set doing that, and then then when ah the ship's being attacked and they go to Red Alert, she's running around going, Red Alert, Red Alert, Red Alert, Red Alert. you know I mean, i don't if' if they're going to promote...
00:47:11
Speaker
if this is what they're doing and they're trying to promote neurodivergency and show the those people represented, I just, ah I want them to be careful that they're not going to go into stereotype mode.
00:47:24
Speaker
Sure. They're going become more of joke rather than, you know, whatever. and And part of the reason why I'm saying this too is because with me having OCD, I'm considered neurodivergent as well.
00:47:34
Speaker
And I don't want people, ah you know, being portrayed through so stereotype rather than, you know, effective members of society and being in Starfleet and being able to function, you know?
00:47:47
Speaker
So that's all. That's just my little soapbox moment on it. Yeah. And I think it remains to be seen. yeah So, you know, while we're kind of hinting around it, who, who is this show designed for? Is it, it's designed Cause you know, at times it feels like, you know, a teen soap opera, you know, something like what and that would have aired on the WB or now the CW. Right. yeah Which kind of sort of, you know, is, is, is the show being promoted to that demographic?
00:48:25
Speaker
Right. I would definitely say yes. I think a lot of the writers, know, If I heard correctly, a lot of them had done shows like Dawson's Creek or what was it? One Tree Hill or whatever, or 90210 back in the day. So I think some of them have that experience, if I if i remember correctly. So you're going to definitely see a lot of that.
00:48:45
Speaker
Question and i'm I'm wondering is, and I'm actually planning on talking about this on my YouTube channel. I want to say, are they ever going to get the new demographic they're seeking?
00:48:56
Speaker
You know, I see a lot on online where people are saying, oh, well, they need the younger generation, the older generation is dying out and they need fresh blood and you need to relate to them. That's true.
00:49:08
Speaker
But you want to keep Star Trek what it is. You don't want to dilute it and make it goofy and juvenile. and Because what are you saying about your audience? Do you think your audience is nothing but a bunch of dumb kids that go out and party?
00:49:21
Speaker
Is that what you think of Gen Z? And that's... Just from my feeling, we you and I have been, we're sci-fi nerds. let's Let's not deny it. you know were a very We're very niche.
00:49:35
Speaker
You know, i you we just, certain people like this kind of form of entertainment. I don't think no you could have all the Gen Z pop rock or whatever you want in this show. It doesn't mean you're going to guarantee that these characters are going to, or or I'm sorry, that these, that these people are going to watch the show just because it's science fiction and because it's Star Trek, you know, they might not be like, Oh, this is cool. Let's go. Let's let's go try it out. Maybe it'll be the next, you know, Melrose place.
00:50:05
Speaker
yeah i I think it's just they're they're looking for a broad ah broader audience of younger people, but I don't think they're going to find it. I just and remember when we were in school growing up, were you ever like, it was like sci-fi, like the big popular thing.
00:50:19
Speaker
oh no. Or was it just like a select Yes. Right. Yeah. Yeah. You, when I was growing up, you know, if you weren't into sci-fi and fantasy, you didn't talk about it. No. Yeah.
00:50:34
Speaker
Exactly, yeah. there were it was i mean I never hid being a Star Trek fan, but I got made fun of for it. let's look you know and and Definitely. Jokes. you know I just don't see... Even though...
00:50:47
Speaker
Being kind of a nerd has kind of become cool now, thanks to the Big Bang Theory and the Marvel movies. i just don't think they're going to get what they're truly looking for. Maybe some, but not a whole lot. I don't think someone's going to say, you know what? ah you know They'll say, I love a good movie ah or romance story on Hallmark Channel or on One Tree Hill or 90210, but I don't care about a what's a Klingon.
00:51:11
Speaker
You know, I'm going to care. yeah That's not going to draw them in. You know, they're going to be more like, oh that i don't want to watch that. i If I'm going to watch, in a you know, kids hooking up and stuff, I can go watch something else on Apple TV or HBO Max. that That's relatable.
00:51:28
Speaker
I just don't see people coming in just sampling this and be like, this is Star Trek. Hell yes. is Great. you know? Yeah. Yeah. Cause it's not as edgy as like, you you bring up HBO show, yeah HBO max, you know, it's not as edgy as like, say euphoria is right. You know, that's, yes that has Gen Z characters, but you know, it's a lot more graphic with sex and there's a lot of drug use in the show, you know, and you know, it's not attracting that audience because, you know, drug use would certainly be ah a direct,
00:52:03
Speaker
contradiction to the values of Star Trek or, you know, of Starfleet for sure. oh So you're not going to have, you're not going to attract that audience who's looking for something edgy and gritty and real, you know, it's, it's,
00:52:17
Speaker
But you're trying to at least attract people who are into that type of show, I guess. Right. It's just a matter of what if you have the choice between watching a show that takes place in present time here on Earth with all humans or watch Starfleet Academy where you don't know. You have to kind of know some of the history and what these people are and things like that.
00:52:37
Speaker
It's just I think it for a lot of younger people, it's not going to be appealing. And that's what even though that's what they're hoping for. i guess I guess it remains to be seen you know once once we get more data on on who's watching the show. Yes.
00:52:51
Speaker
Exactly. If we get it. If we even get it, you know. if like Yeah. I mean, we're six episodes in and, you know, there's this kind of conflict everywhere. Like there are people that love it, that them to hate it. It's like, it's almost draining, you know. That's why,
Star Trek's Future Tech & Characters
00:53:06
Speaker
like when I watched the show, i originally I wanted to look at it from like a reviewer's point of view and be very critique-y and nitpick. And I said to myself when the first episode hit, I said, I'm not doing it.
00:53:18
Speaker
I'm just going to watch it and see if I like it You know, I think, I think it would be more enjoyable if it was just kind of like a generic sci-fi show at the, academy and and like like a space Academy or whatever. It feels, it feels, it doesn't feel like Star Trek, but it's not, it's a show that can still be watched and enjoyed. You know what i mean? Yeah.
00:53:37
Speaker
Yeah. That's just, that's just where I'm at with. Right. yes It's, it's, you know, it's just kind of,
00:53:48
Speaker
it's kind of hard because, you know, they're in this era of Star Trek that has no point of reference, right? That this is all brand new territory. And, yes you know, we're, guess, I guess Star Trek discovery, you know, introduced us to a lot more of the whys behind the technology behind why, you know, behind the ships looking the way that they do with the, you know, with the,
00:54:18
Speaker
You know, they're the the ah they're able to, you know, the the technology that ships are built with has advanced. You know, they've got a lot of what, nano, you know, the like the the ships are, they definitely have a different, they have a look different look, a different aesthetic. And I cannot think back to why, what, you know, what is it about the shipbuilding in the 32nd century that, you know,
00:54:42
Speaker
is why they look the way they do. And I, I'm just, I'm drawing a blank and, and I know you haven't watched all the Star Trek discovery because otherwise you would probably have the answer.
00:54:53
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I gotcha. I gotcha. I mean, yeah, you're talking about like stuff like the ah the detached warp nacelles, correct? Yes. Things like that. Yeah.
00:55:03
Speaker
Oh, I'm sure they have some sort of sort of explanation somewhere. Probably in season three would be my guess because that's when the show shifted that far. So my guess is something early in season three. I watched some of season three when it first came out, but only about five episodes or four. So I didn't really get to see the ship get refit.
00:55:22
Speaker
i know I do know it got refit, but yeah I didn't want the rationale for stuff. I'm going to have to go back and watch it just for something to do. you know intense You know, it's just like I've told everybody, ah everybody knows on this show, for me, it's just a big...
00:55:38
Speaker
turnoff for me for discovery was the to advance tech and it just didn't fit it felt like a square peg going into a round hole and for being a fan as long as i have it's just the way my brain's geared i can't differentiate that it doesn't make sense to me so that's all it has nothing to do with like a lot of people are saying about the actors or lgbt characters right i don't care about that stuff I just want a consistent Star Trek universe to the best of the ability. And that's just always pulled me out. So that's the only, that's the only issue. That's it.
00:56:09
Speaker
Well, I mean, you know, since when Discovery moved into the future, you know, having that blank canvas essentially did, yeah, it helped tremendously. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I think they should have done that with Discovery to begin with. I think it should have been in like the 25th or 26th century, and they had would have had a clean slate and wouldn't have had to pull back on old characters and all that stuff. but Anyway, we're we're kind of going off into ah another area. Yeah.
00:56:35
Speaker
But that's what I'm talking about this. it's That's what's fun about it. Yeah. so But let me try to think here. Some of the other thoughts. That Captain Aki, I like Holly Hunter, but let me ask you a question because I don't remember her in any other thing.
00:56:49
Speaker
The way she talks, is that some sort of like speech impediment or I can't – sometimes it's hard to understand her because she's missing her mouth. i I don't know because i don't know if it's something to do with her being half Lanthanite because, you know, in ah in Strange New Worlds, Pellia has a very unique cadence to her voice too.
00:57:14
Speaker
Okay. Okay. I always just assumed that was Carol Kane just being Carol Kane. I mean, it might be. I mean, it very well might be, but then you know beat but her voice is...
00:57:29
Speaker
you know, it, yeah, it could just be Carol Kane being Carol Kane, or it could be just a, just how Lanthanites talk because i don't know. yeah I have no idea. I don't know. i know Holly Hunter doesn't normally sound like that at least, you know, from, from what I can remember of the roles I've seen her in. I mean, I, I don't recall her sounding like she has a ah speech impediment in, in the Incredibles movies.
00:58:00
Speaker
Okay. Because she's the voice of Mrs. Incredible in those two. And I don't recall her voice sounding any, any you know, anything. I don't recall it sounding unusual. I mean, she has that, you know, she has that Southern drawl about her voice. Yeah. But other than that, yeah, i don't I don't know if this is just something to do with her a laonite half know,
00:58:28
Speaker
one you know I don't know. Yeah. No, I gotcha. Yeah. i mean i can also say only ever I mean, we've only had her and Pellia as Lanthanite characters, right? Yes.
00:58:40
Speaker
Yeah, right. Exactly. Yeah. So maybe it is. Maybe it is something in their characters that's never really been mentioned before, but it's just something they agreed on. who knows? Yeah. You know, I'm not a big fan of her rolling around with her feet up in the air and on people's furniture. It's crooked in the cactus chair either. But I mean, I'm not going to complain complain about that.
00:59:02
Speaker
right at At this time, I'm not going to overly nitpick. Episode 2, the one where the Betazoids came back and they were trying to get the Betazoids into the Federation. I really liked that episode. That one was pretty decent.
00:59:14
Speaker
We saw that the Betazoids actually kind of regressed and kind of went behind a a wall or whatever, psionic wall, just to protect themselves from the rest of the galaxy.
00:59:26
Speaker
It was nice to see the Betazoids come back in, but I don't think the writers of the episode truly know what Betazoids are. i think they felt I think they knew who Counselor Troi was and that she was empathic, but yeah they forgot that they were telepathic.
00:59:40
Speaker
you know and that they weren't able to take they could read people's minds and communicate with each other, and you know talk to each other mentally, that kind of stuff. I think that got a little missed in the episode. Now, somebody said about Betazoids all having black eyes. i i I don't remember that. and All the years I've watched Trek, I never noticed that or was told I don't remember it. So i didn't make it I didn't make a big deal about it, but a lot of fans did. What was really weird, though, was the sign language with her father.
01:00:09
Speaker
You know, there's their telepaths that they could be able to should be able to talk to each other without needing sign language. And then when they used sign language, they were using American sign language.
01:00:23
Speaker
That's the wild part. Yeah. greenless white's using american side language I don't think they thought it out. I think they were like, well, let's represent deaf people by putting a deaf character in this episode, you know, and they they missed the logic piece because they forgot that they're telepathic and they're drunk just empathic.
01:00:42
Speaker
Right. You know, I also really like the Caleb's the the one is, I guess, is basically become his girlfriend now. Can I'll be flat out honest with you? I didn't know. i i i didn't do any research on the cast before the show premiered.
01:00:56
Speaker
So I didn't know who they cast. You know, that that girl that became the girlfriend. I thought that was Dylan Mulvaney at first. oh okay I thought there was a strong similarity and I waited till the end credits of the episode and to see who the cast and all that were.
01:01:12
Speaker
And it was whatever her name is. I can't, I can't remember it, but honestly, the face looks so much like Dylan Mulvaney to me. I thought, I thought that was for sure who they cast.
01:01:22
Speaker
And it it was surprise. ah Right. And it's, it's not, it's no. Yeah. I forget her name. What's the character's name?
01:01:33
Speaker
she I don't remember the name of the character. I'm having a hard time learning their names, some of these characters. She's the Statoid daughter of that ambassador. She joined the War College and her brother joined the Academy.
01:01:47
Speaker
and I don't remember the a address the name of the actress. I looked it up. But just that was my first thought. Like, wow. Okay. ah Was that, a you know, something that you were able to keep on like under wraps?
01:01:59
Speaker
but No. but I know that's because probably completely random and not a part of the episode, but that is one of the things I first thought. Yeah.
01:02:10
Speaker
Because of the similarity in the face. you know But I like that character. I do like the Betazoid girl. I'm glad we get to see more of her. And we've gotten to see her and Caleb actually develop it to a very, very intense sex scene at the beginning of episode six. Yeah, that was kind of unexpected, wasn't it? Yeah, very much so. You know, but hey, whatever. it is what it is.
01:02:34
Speaker
But yeah, I thought that now episode three, and I told you this before we started recording, that was the one where they were pranking the war college, if I remember correctly. Yes. I get the the whole point behind the episode because they're young teenagers, early 20s, you know, and that's what they do in college and prank and stuff like that. I don't know if it was necessarily the right time for that episode, though.
01:02:58
Speaker
I just think it was just, it was too,
01:03:02
Speaker
I don't want to say the word juvenile because it's meant to be for a younger audience, but yeah just I would have rather learned more about what they were doing in their classes, you know, things like that behind the scenes there. The only thing I really liked about the episode was the game, like Calica or whatever. People online are comparing it to Quidditch from Harry Potter. I don't i don't know. That part, i I just thought that part was pretty neat and the letter jackets were cool and stuff.
01:03:28
Speaker
But the just the the silliness of the episode, I just didn't go for that that much. It wasn't one of my favorites. You know, what did you think of that one? ah I don't know. It kind of
01:03:46
Speaker
it kind of had that feel of like, oh, like a revenge of the nerds where, you know, you hit the two fraternities against each other or, you know, like, yeah, like just a lot of those college movies where, you know, where you had two kind of groups end up facing off against each other. I i get what they were going for yeah the episode and, and, you know, it was what it was meant to evoke, but yeah, I'm not sure if that was necessarily something that, you should have,
01:04:19
Speaker
had the, the, the space that it did or you know, yeah, I, Maybe later in the season when we got to know the characters a little bit more, you know, I think it was just too early to turn them into goofballs.
01:04:34
Speaker
Right. Yeah. I think if you were, i think that's a problem with a lot of streaming series is you know you you, the episodes tend to mean the seasons tend to be shorter. They tend to be less than half the length of a traditional television show. Like, you know, what we're used to with Trek. So you had to do little one-off episodes.
01:04:59
Speaker
But, you know, when you have only 10 episodes in a season and that, you know, the first season is meant to introduce all your primary characters, you know, keep the plot moving forward. yeah it's it just, it just seems like they put episodes like that, you know, that, that,
01:05:21
Speaker
that would fit better in a longer season. Yes. Agreed. Agreed. Yeah. It's not that the episode is necessarily out of, and it was definitely something to be done in the show at some point. It's not, it's not that early that that's, yeah. and But yeah, that episode kind of bored me. I kind of drifted off a lot in that one. See, go get you too. Okay.
01:05:46
Speaker
Going to episode four, the one with the Klingons, It was interesting getting to see, well, first of all, it was neat to see them back on, I don't know if you know, but Krios Prime was actually in The Next Generation. It was a Klingon colony. And it was the end of season four.
01:06:02
Speaker
I forget what was it called. The Mind's Eye, I think it was called, where Geordi got abducted by the Romulans and programmed to go and kill. Yeah. And then Krios actually got mentioned again a year later in season five. It was the one where Famke Jansen was in it.
01:06:18
Speaker
I'm blanking on the name of the episode. Perfect mate, I think it was called. The perfect mate. and she had a pick yeah I think that they they were they were the the that the aliens that were the good guys that week.
01:06:32
Speaker
If I remember correctly, that was the same planet. so That was a nice callback. little surprised that there was a polygamous Klingon family that I wasn't expecting that, you know, two dads and a mom and then a brother.
01:06:45
Speaker
So yeah, it's ah it's just, you're not used to hearing that. thats So it was a little, it was different. I guess everybody's families are different. So yeah, I mean, it didn't take me out the episode. was just, it was interesting to hear it. It's one of those moments where you're like, did he just say that fathers, you know, that kind of stuff.
01:07:04
Speaker
But the thing that one thing I didn't understand was, so the Klingons, so the burn either destroyed Kronos or made it uninhabitable, one or the other. So the Klingons are basically a dying species. They have no home world.
01:07:19
Speaker
Okay. But they have a whole empire. Where are their colonies at? You know, that part didn't make sense. Unless we, unless there was a story somewhere that never got told, maybe the empire finally fell, you know, in all these years in between discovery and whatever, you know, so who knows? So maybe there's a story that's going to be told at some point about that, but that, that didn't make sense.
01:07:44
Speaker
Right. yeah I mean, yeah, yeah it's ah the the thing about an empire is, you know, in in historically they don't last forever. Yeah. so Yeah. It's, it's possible that the destruction of Kronos kind of was the catalyst for the end of the empire and we haven't seen it yet on screen.
01:08:06
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. So who knows? Maybe that, maybe they're planting a seed and we don't realize it yet. Yeah. Another story. But other than that, beyond that though, that part didn't make sense.
01:08:16
Speaker
Let's see what else about the episode. So, well, like learning more about Jaden. I mean, he, I, i was afraid I didn't know what to think of him because he's much more of a pacifist kind of Klingon. So I didn't know how they were going to write him. But he still you can still see he still has his own sense of duty and honor and sure and obligation.
01:08:35
Speaker
I like the whole story about the father missing, shooting the bird on purpose. It was like his way of saying, i'm going to let you go to do what you want to do. then they abandoned him. on the planet.
01:08:47
Speaker
And the fact that Laura Thock actually was the one who kind of described that and told Jade and what was going on, I thought that was very interesting because she would understand she's half Klingon. So, you know, what was your thought on that episode?
01:09:01
Speaker
ah i I apparently dozed off during that episode too because your your recap this is...
01:09:13
Speaker
it really was all I remember. You know, it's starting to make sense after you, your recap, but I, again, I don't really, i don't remember that episode. Yeah. I guess I need to go back and and rewatch these because what i yeah, I'm just not absorbing the the information that you are.
01:09:35
Speaker
but That's okay. that's what you know it's I don't know what it is. This is the first time I've ever watched a Star Trek series where I'm having a hard time remembering the names of the crew, the cast, the characters, some of the story plots, details. I don't know what it is.
01:09:48
Speaker
it's I don't know if it's just... different so different or or right what but i'm having the same exact problem so i'm trying to i'm trying to learn it as i go it's just taking a little bit time to click it maybe i'm just getting old well i don't know but it's not it's not sinking in but i understand where you're coming from okay let's see so that was episode four that was with the klingons and that was with the whole debate debate team thing episode five was yeah we talked about that one and then episode six
01:10:21
Speaker
i I liked the episode. It was probably my favorite of the whole season so far. I think that's finally where the show it kind of got a little more serious, you know, and put the cadets crisis and put them to the test of what they were going to meet, and teaching them what they're going to end up really having to go through it, you know, as Starfleet officers.
01:10:42
Speaker
I love the fact that they did the war games thing on board the but board the other ship, trying to think what else was really going on. kind of a little bit of a loss right now. I can't remember everything that happened in the episode. I know that Paul Giamatti's character came back and he, and think, so what what did he do with the crew?
01:11:02
Speaker
like I think he lied to them or about something and yes thought he betrayed them, if I remember correctly. Yes, correct. Yeah. I have to rewatch that one. I just, I know that it was, it was really good. I mean, and then you had the commanding officer who actually sacrificed himself for his ship or for his crew, for the, for the team.
01:11:24
Speaker
But yeah, for some reason i'm having a hard time remembering all the details. I mean, we had the Furies. We had yeah Furies. We talked about that. Yeah. Yeah. i And I just, and I, we, you know we just watched it the other day. Yeah.
01:11:41
Speaker
yeah can You can tell I'm just not just not absorbing the show at all. oh Yeah, it's okay. It happens. It happens. It's just one of those shows we have to watch a couple times to kind of get it.
01:11:54
Speaker
So but ah what I've been doing is I've been watching the episode and then I've been watching the different reviews of it. Okay. To try to help me out to see things that maybe I'm missing stuff like that, you know?
01:12:07
Speaker
But yeah, I think this was the first episode where I think the show finally took its premise seriously that, you know, Starfleet can be a very dangerous place. You know, it's always unexpected. You never know what's going to happen, you know?
01:12:20
Speaker
So we'll see if that carries on into the next few episodes, but, uh, I hope that we start to get a little bit more development of some of the characters like Genesis life. We don't know anything about her besides She's the, ah what the daughter of a Starfleet Admiral or whatever, who wants to be a captain someday. It's like, she's like the generic character. you know How many times have we had series that have had characters with parents were Starfleet officers? Look at Tom Paris and there was conflict, you know? So just want to, I'm hoping we learn a little bit more about them. i
01:12:52
Speaker
What do you think of Laura Thock? I like that character, actually. i yeah i I like hello Yeah, I just like her attitude. I like how she is, you know, she basically, you know, she doesn't take crap from anybody.
01:13:10
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I agree with you. And there's also, she's not just like, you know, grouchy kind of character, like you would think of a clone or Gemini. There's actually some humor to her and a little bit of heart.
Character Roles & Series Continuation
01:13:22
Speaker
Yeah. especially yeah you know Especially when she was telling Jaden about why she thinks her his dad... purposely missed the shot of the the eagle or the bird of prey, know, to let him be to be free and pursue his own dreams. You know, that was was a great explanation coming from her. and Nobody else would have been able to explain it better than she did. Mm-hmm.
01:13:44
Speaker
You know, so, yeah. So she's she's been a bit of ah the fun character. We already talked about the Doctor, and Tig Notaro's still Tig Notaro. So there's no world change with her, you know. yeah So we have a few more episodes to go. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all works out, and then just kind of hear what happens. I'm sure Season 2 will be out probably by this time next year. ah Okay, so we, I mean, they did they film two seasons? Is that...
01:14:11
Speaker
Yeah. As far as I know, they they're they're finishing season two right now. Okay. Okay. With the changes at Paramount and the merger with Skydance, I don't know if that the series is going to survive beyond that.
01:14:25
Speaker
Right. Right. You said you can you can't... You don't remember the name of Caleb's girlfriend, right? No. I think it begins with a D. If I remember correctly, D. i don't know what...
01:14:41
Speaker
She's the Betazoid girl, yeah. Yeah. I'm not sure. Let me see if I can find it here. Is that driving you crazy that we can't remember the name? Yeah.
01:14:56
Speaker
as I'm trying to visualize the character looks familiar, like I should know the actress, but...
01:15:07
Speaker
Let's see if I can find a cast. Okay. Okay. Oh, okay. Her name is Zoe Steiner. Her character's name is Tarima. Tarima Sadal.
01:15:17
Speaker
Okay. Okay. ah Now, okay. Now I see it. like do Can you see some of the similarity that I that i saw? yeah Yeah, I see it now. Yeah, for sure.
01:15:30
Speaker
I really did. I thought it was um it was a matter of a stunt casting that they were managed to keep really quiet. And I was like, okay, going to wait. I said, that is definitely Dylan Mulvaney. I'm watching until the end credits to make sure. and And then the name, this Zoe came up, and I'm like, huh? Yeah, yeah they just have a similar yeah facial structure.
01:15:50
Speaker
Yes, very much so. so Yeah, I think...
Series' Impact & Future Plans
01:15:56
Speaker
i think I do need to go back and and rewatch some of the episodes when I am in the right space to just sit down and watch without getting, without distractions, without yeah other stuff going on. And that's, that's such a big problem for me is I,
01:16:13
Speaker
I tend to not focus all the time, you know, a hundred percent on, on yeah the shows that I'm watching. Oh, that makes sense. I agreed. And I, that's actually not that I remember, I'm remembering correctly.
01:16:24
Speaker
That's what happened on when I watched episode six, I started falling asleep, not because of the episode itself. But like, remember I told you my blood pressure medications making me tired. So, and I ended up falling asleep toward the end of the episode. So I missed some of the stuff. That's why not as clear on it as I i wish I was.
01:16:43
Speaker
but So I got you. I agree. Sitting back and watching them again and just not having any other worries to deal with. It'd be great. Well, I mean, there's time. We still have what four more episodes left in this season. I think absolutely episode season. So yeah. Yeah.
01:17:01
Speaker
Yeah. we'll We'll see where the rest of the show takes us and and we'll see if you know We'll see if um if the yeah the the last four episodes really you know drive the the plot into full gear and and see it. you know I mean, I hope the show nails the landing. I certainly do, but I'm just not entirely certain that...
01:17:23
Speaker
it's going to be, you know, a new iconic Trek series. Yeah. Agreed. I'm wondering if it's going to be the series that makes or breaks modern Star Trek. That's because, you know, it could it could wait and see, you know, right.
01:17:38
Speaker
I have seen stories online that hasn't been in the top 10 of streaming. So that's, that's concerning. yeah Yeah, because I don't think that Paramount Plus has that much original content.
01:17:52
Speaker
Yes. ah huh So all we can do is just wait and see. Yeah, I guess so. Well, for now, I guess that's going to do it, right? Yeah. Yeah.
01:18:03
Speaker
So yeah I'm not sure when we'll get back together. I'd like to hope that we're going to you know, be back on a monthly recording schedule here. So by the time that we record again, I think that Starfleet Academy should have finished its first season. So, you know, maybe we'll get back together and and discuss how the season ended. And also, you know, by that time, we will be just, maybe we'll have a Mando trailer to talk about, you know, Mando and Grogu trailer to to talk about the next time we get together as well. So. Absolutely.
Conclusion
01:18:41
Speaker
Yeah. But until then, this has been Captain's Logs and Lightsabers, episode 45. I'm Jonathan, my co-host, Chris. Until next time, may the Force be with you.
01:18:54
Speaker
And live long and prosper. Good night.
01:19:32
Speaker
Free audio post-production. by alphonic dot com