Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Star Trek Short Treks - Calypso
36 Plays4 years ago
After all the things have been said and done, here are a few more words on Star Trek Discovery's second Short Trek installment, Calypso. I'm joined by Sean from Trek on the Tube! http://www.youtube.com/trekonthetube watch a more immediate reaction on the Tex-Trek Channel: https://youtu.be/7VAOFqn78Pw and of course as always, let us know what you think.
Recommended
Transcript
Intro to Starfleet Boy Podcast
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Starfleet Boy, where we have a casual and informal discussion about our beloved series, Star Trek.
00:00:34
Speaker
And we're live. Well, we're not live, but we're back on another exciting episode of Starfleet Boy, where we have a casual and informal conversation about Star Trek.
Discussing 'Calypso' with Sean from Trek on the Tube
00:00:44
Speaker
Today, I'm joined once again by Sean from Trek on the Tube. Sean, hello. Hello. Hello again. This is going to be a very quick episode. It was shit moving on. What's that? It was shit moving on.
00:01:05
Speaker
Wait, I exaggerate Alright well I wonder what shit smell is the exact is the less exaggerated shit, right? It was shit smell It smelled like shit. It wasn't actually shit. It just smelled like it This is like the closest thing to shit without being it oh
00:01:30
Speaker
Okay, so we'll get right into
Exploring the Future of Star Trek Discovery
00:01:32
Speaker
the episode. So obviously today we're talking about Star Trek Discovery short tracks Calypso It shouldn't be obvious if you loved it, then it was not obvious This is the second installment in short tracks and it basically
00:01:53
Speaker
is set a thousand years after Star Trek Discovery takes place, presumably, and the Discovery's been kind of on her own for a while, waiting for her crew to get back, and so over time she becomes
00:02:13
Speaker
sentient and and Starts to improving her systems here and there while she waits for the crew I guess just doing general maintenance things like that interesting concept on a starship and it's it's longevity But maybe maybe one more realistic for the TNG era Do you think the Enterprise E if it was waiting for a thousand years would just like stay there?
00:02:42
Speaker
Is that something that I don't know.
Sentient AI and Autonomy
00:02:44
Speaker
I'm all I'm all I'm all right with the ship like kind of the AI developing on its own because like they did that in TNG. The ship develops its own friggin life. No, it's there's nothing that's definitely not a complaint about this episode. It's not it's not too outlandish. It's just interesting that the ship would like respect its order so much because they didn't do that. That doesn't go shit. Did it does what he wants to do. And then claims it was for like the good of the ship.
00:03:12
Speaker
but he he you know disrespects direct orders this was uh... directors all the time
00:03:17
Speaker
I think what's interesting about Data is that he's the closest thing to a human, right? Humans do follow orders. We're very good at following orders. In fact, most of us prefer to be given a task to do rather than to come up with what that task is going to be, right? And if we do love to come up with those tasks, then we're leaders. Great. Yay, console. Run for the council or whatever.
00:03:44
Speaker
What would vote for Starfleet boy for the Trek Council? My vice president is
Politics and Balanced Leadership
00:03:53
Speaker
Sean. Oh really? I've been appointed vice president. I need to be balanced. I need to be balanced. I'd need to have a good strong vice president to counteract some of my crazy ideas. I feel honored to be described as you know strong good and strong. Well in
00:04:10
Speaker
I don't know anything about your politics and we're supposed to be talking about short treks but what I will say is that I do have a suggestion for government which is I think mandatory because of all this like uh sort of for now mandatory or like something that should be accustomed if not mandatory is that if you're a republican you should have a democrat vice president if you're a democrat you should have a republican there's a name for that isn't there
00:04:34
Speaker
What is it? Equality? No, no, no, there's a name for that where like the two opposing parties have like a strong hold and influence in the like the current government.
00:04:53
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's what it is. But I think that in theory, you think it balances things out. In practice, what it does is I think everyone tries to stop what the other does and so no one gets anything done.
00:05:09
Speaker
but it will just feel like they're trying. It'll just feel like our government cares about peace. Is that where you are now? You want to feel like the government cares. You don't care if the government cares at all. You just want to feel it.
Craft's Emotional Bond with AI
00:05:27
Speaker
Well, it might end up that if they fake it, they'll make it, right? If they pretend to care long enough. If I pretend to sleep for like a minute, I'll fall asleep. That's for sure.
00:05:39
Speaker
Wow, this is what happens when politics comes into play. Okay, so and we are talking about the least politically. Sean is saying no, in other words, to my invitation for him to be my vice president. No, wrong. I would love any position of power. I'm down. Oh, good grief.
00:06:02
Speaker
I would if you were the if you were the if you were the king if you were the king so I'll be your queen just just to have the power just just I think I would prefer it if you were the king and then I were the we get to do it the other way around it doesn't really matter
00:06:25
Speaker
So as this discussion is what happened in the computer's mind for a thousand years and then all of a sudden this adrift shuttlecraft or space pod or something like that happens to pass right by the discovery and so the discovery now being sentient is curious it grabs a hold of it it brings it into its docking bay and it transports apparently this very handsome refugee or man
00:06:54
Speaker
into the sickbay and then cures, you know, heals him and then brings him back into consciousness and when he wakes up, he's like, holy shit, where the fuck am I? He didn't say it like that, although it would have been really awesome. And then the computer and he start to like talk to each other and at first he thinks, by the way, his name is Crash, right? Isn't it? Craft.
00:07:22
Speaker
Crash is so much cooler. No, he's crafty, right? That's a soldier. Well, that's a soldier nickname. He's crafty Cuz he's like a soldier But he has a real name which we never know right? No, he never he never shares his real name and that like that's that's the big difference between this this AI and his wife and
00:07:47
Speaker
But his wife knows his real name, whereas this AI doesn't. That's a thing. It's his justification for having an affair with a non-corporeal entity. Anyway... But I would definitely have an affair with the Enterprise A, maybe the Enterprise D for sure. Not the discovery though. I'm sorry. Where has this discussion gone?
00:08:12
Speaker
Well, because that's really what the show's about. No, I'm just kidding. Anyways, so Kraft ends up being trapped on the ship because it's determined pretty early on in their interactions that the Discovery's not going to go anywhere. She's been ordered to maintain position and wait for the crew to get back, the whole crew apparently.
00:08:35
Speaker
had to abandon discovery or something happened that caused discovery to empty out and then she was ordered to maintain position. So it's kind of a cool concept or idea. It is kind of strange that not a single ship has like crossed paths with the USS Discovery in a thousand years.
00:08:55
Speaker
Because I mean, if like a Romulan or a Klingon or God knows where the ship is, if a Borg had found it, like I'm pretty sure something would have happened to the ship. Someone would have liked. What if she's phased out? Anyways, I mean, this dude's in an escape pod and he finds the ship pretty easy. So there ain't no phase in here. What if they're in a phase nebula? Anyways, there's so many. There's there are lots of ways that we can explain it, but let's try to focus on just getting through the summary.
00:09:26
Speaker
What's the rest of the stuff that happens in the episode? You saw it recently too, right? I saw it recently. I can't. Hello. Oh wait. There's so many important things for leaving out. Okay. So it's, so she can't go anywhere. They develop a rage relationship. That's it. That's what happened.
00:09:40
Speaker
wait wait wait wait so but the we're setting the stage right the landscape the plot this in 15 minutes they do a lot of stage
Reflections on AI-Human Interaction
00:09:48
Speaker
setting right so um the shuttlecraft apparently it's risky to take it out because it's it's too far away it's out it's just barely in range for the shuttlecraft but
00:10:00
Speaker
So she doesn't want to risk his life. So she won't let him have access to it. And so for a period of time, he's just kind of sitting there like kind of accepting his fate in a way healing. I imagine he's in pretty bad shape. And then once he feels, you know, kind of like
00:10:19
Speaker
Resigned to his fate he starts to become friends with the computer and the computer is showing him a holographic image of her favorite movie Funny face, which is actually a movie. I hadn't thought about in years. I saw it when I was a little little kid But but anyways she you know bored for a thousand years comes up with
00:10:43
Speaker
her favorite movie being funny face and shows it to him and then he is kind of impressed by the way the that it's presented or whatever and then he kind of falls into this fantasy with her and like then he didn't you know he like as a gift he decides to dress up like
00:11:02
Speaker
Fred Astaire's character in the movie and dance with the hologram and convinces, I mean, with the huge ship's computer and convinces her to materialize in a form and they have a little dance and then they have a little kiss and then it gets crazy because he remembers his wife and it's all awkward and the ship's computer... They actually kissed her then? Yeah, I thought they kissed. I don't remember.
00:11:29
Speaker
I'm pretty sure they kiss. Excluding the kiss, right? In your mind, does what the character craft do, is that considered flirting? Or is it just kind of he's made friends with this AI? Or would you actually consider that he was flirting with it? I think it's...
00:11:48
Speaker
I think it's the first kind of relationship for me because I've never been in love with an artificial intelligence, although I'm very open to it. But I don't know, I really didn't understand
00:12:04
Speaker
like i couldn't relate to the character very much so i had a hard time like understanding his uh perspective i like for a while there i thought that like he wanted to dress up and dance because she said it was her favorite movie but then that that i mean that could as much be a thing that you do because you're flirting it as well as something that you do like for your friend right
AI Relationships: Emotional Climax
00:12:25
Speaker
You've developed a friendship with this AI. I think he doesn't think of the AI as anything more than... Until maybe that moment. Until that moment, yeah, than a computer program. Like, I do think that, like, in the moment he got swept away and then just all... And that's why he just, he went...
00:12:44
Speaker
Right. And considering that this is a thousand, considering this takes place a thousand years after discovery, it's like way into the future. Like there's, there's a couple of hints about what the world is like in this future, but apparently it, there may not even be a Federation anymore. It might be something completely different. Who knows? I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I would like the Federation to continue, but there could have been a cataclysm and the discovery is just sitting out there undiscovered. Haha. You know, who knows? Who knows? It's like so far into the future, but, um,
00:13:14
Speaker
But we've already seen an episode further along in the future than that. Right. But I'm sure that Kraft has, you know, it's very commonplace on TNG that they're having sex in the holodeck. So I'm sure Kraft has had a sexual experience with like holographic characters. But this is different because- How dare you? He has a wife. Who knows?
00:13:36
Speaker
People seem to be swingers in the future. Is it cheating if you go out with, I don't know, Chris Evans in a hologram? I don't know, it's a very cool, you asked, I think, something similar to that. I think a lot of people would have different answers, because I'm pretty convinced my wife would say yes.
00:13:56
Speaker
See what I mean? But then you might ask someone else and they might say no. It's true. It's a very fascinating thing. Anyways. Is it okay to have like things with a holographic representation of your partner, your spouse, when they're not around?
00:14:14
Speaker
Well like, okay, so like most activities- Or is that kind of weird? So humans just, humans are one of the few species that have sex recreationally, right? So I think that like, you know, this is a, this is like a, this is the problem. Like some of us think this is bestial and some of us think this is like, you know, like advanced in some way. So I don't know, depending on how you think of sex, like,
00:14:41
Speaker
Working working with a holographic lover might just be practice, you know Like you're just practicing to be the best lover you can be for your spouse, you know That's what's great about the future though There are so many planets which I mean everyone has a different mentality Everyone has a different way of seeing things and I suppose that you can I suppose join a community join a planet that sees things and thinks things the way you do so then you didn't have to have this awkward debate or anything with anyone else you can just go to the planet that suits you the most and
00:15:10
Speaker
What if you like all planets, though? That's when you become a member of the United Federation planets and and a Starfleet officer and explore. Look at Riker. Look at how many opportunities Riker has had to like to explore strange new worlds and new civilizations. So Kraft is a man of the future, like a thousand years after, you know, like hundreds of years, not thousand, but like hundreds of years after TNG. And so he's definitely, if not
00:15:37
Speaker
Who knows what his people are like, but he's a descendant of humans, so he must be a little bit like these guys, right? But he's a far future human for sure. Anyway, so he has this experience, and then the computer gets embarrassed and decides enough is enough. I've kept him here too long. If he wants to risk getting home in the shuttle, he can. And it's kind of bittersweet, because they actually became friends. It was very Beauty and the Beast-like, actually, or Stockholm Syndrome.
00:16:06
Speaker
like when you're when you fall in love with your your your prison in prisoner if discovery has shown us anything there's 90% like chances he'll get like kidnapped by a Klingon by leaving in a shuttle on the way space is definitely more dangerous in star trek discovery than it is in an earlier track you can't take no shuttle without a Klingon just beaming you into a prison ship right
00:16:28
Speaker
Yeah, she's essentially letting him go into into death. He may not make it home Lurel 121.0 will still be around like a cybernetic cyborg kind of Lurel just beaming people to the prison
00:16:43
Speaker
So their goodbye is bittersweet. And she asked him one more time, you know, you know, if we were lovers on your planet, would you tell me your name? And then and then he says to her, it's kind of this is the part that kind of got me about the episode. I'm a sappy romantic. And you were my lover. Yeah, but it's great. He goes, if you if you were my lover, you would give me my name. And then she goes, OK, then
Greek Mythology and Departure
00:17:08
Speaker
I already have. And it's a kind of awesome funny face thing there.
00:17:12
Speaker
I didn't react to it that way upon my first viewing of it. I definitely nit-picked as is my nature to do on some of the incongruities and things like that. But when I watched it a second time, I kind of calmed down a little bit and liked it a little bit better. I do it the other way around.
00:17:29
Speaker
I have a tendency to turn my brain off when I'm watching new Star Trek or anything when I'm like just watching a show or an episode I try to like just I'm gonna take in the story as it was intended you try to this is gonna sound fucking corny I try to feel the story more than I try to analyze it I try to like well isn't that the point of great I suppose stories I suppose and so and then like in my next watches that's when I nitpick and I try to you know this is wrong
00:17:55
Speaker
I'll try it your way next time.
00:18:02
Speaker
It is very hard to do because your mind is constantly like, what? What did they say? That's, that's, I think my main problem with runaway was that, um, I tried to watch it and just appreciate it as it was, but there were so many inconsistencies and plot holes that it just, it, I couldn't, it took me away from that and it forced me to nitpick. This story was executed in a way that, um, none of the major plot holes, um, really bothered me. So I suppose they're not major.
00:18:34
Speaker
What are some of the main plot holes that you... Well, to me, I find it unrealistic that this guy wouldn't have taken the shuttle anyway.
00:18:44
Speaker
Because he's been at war for 10 years. He hasn't seen his wife. He's been faithful. He hasn't had sex with any holograms. So he hasn't been with his wife for 10 years. He hasn't seen his child for 10 years. And it just kind of feels like this guy's managed to escape this battle in an escape pod and he's crafty and everything. So he's a guy that wants to get home. And this ship says, now you can't, it's too dangerous in a shuttle. And he just kind of gives up there and says, okay, fine.
00:19:10
Speaker
But then that didn't distract me too much from the episode. I was able to watch it and think, you know, you kind of explain it like he's taking the time to heal, maybe.
00:19:21
Speaker
The thing I didn't get, we should first, I should have said in my summary that the title Calypso is a reference to, I had kind of melded it with some other things like Hercules, but it's Odysseus, it's basically the same story where a spacefarer, in this case a seafarer in the myth,
00:19:45
Speaker
Lands on an island and and this character Calypso keeps him there longer than he should be But then he eventually escapes and goes back course There's a lot more gray in in this one in this short trick because from what I understand in the Greek mythology Calypso actually Imprisons the people that arrive on an island
00:20:06
Speaker
Right, but that's the kind of the Odysseus isn't it kind of like Odysseus forever tries to or for seven years tries to leave and is not in love with Calypso whereas this this was kind of grayish because she doesn't really imprisoned craft and Craft also has that kind of moment where he's like wait, this isn't right. I shouldn't be falling for her. So it is kind of
00:20:29
Speaker
I do think the episode could have benefited from scenes where, uh, I think it would have been like, since it's a sentient computer and its main function is to protect human life. I would think that like, uh, he's not a prisoner in this, in the sense of like, there's a nefarious purpose, but she's imprisoning him in the sense of like, you can't leave because it's not safe. My job is to protect you. Do you know what I mean? Like, and so that, that's something that would have been interesting if like, I don't, I don't recall it. I think they didn't.
00:20:59
Speaker
go down that route because we have too many stories of AIs you know the whole conundrum where I want to protect humanity but the best way to protect humanity is like either like enslave you or like put you in these prison cells you know what I mean? The best way to protect the human is to have him never go outside and say you're locked up in your room and you know what I think that they want to go down that route.
00:21:24
Speaker
i also think there's like not really an established sense of time like he could only he could have been on the ship for like two months yeah that is a lack of recall i i would have liked them to actually because they they skip but they don't write anything on the screen or anything i would have liked to know how long you stayed there
00:21:40
Speaker
i'm going to tell you i've been healing weeks i've been healing from this concussion accident and uh... and it it's like i just imagine like it i'm just kinda transposing my personal experience onto it for a second but like for me i feel like craft he's been through some crazy shit like he almost died in his his uh... his thing so minimum i'm gonna say he's there for two months minimum but it does seem not like it there that he would stay there because okay
Star Trek Discovery vs. The Expanse
00:22:07
Speaker
There's this whole thing where you would expect him to try to get back to his family as soon as possible. But there's also, he's come out of 10 years of like warfare. Or at least, maybe he hasn't been warring for 10 years maybe, but the war's been going on for 10 years. He's been away from his family for 10 years from what I understand. And so maybe just, there's this peace and quiet, right?
00:22:28
Speaker
on this ship. It's restful. I love how he puts his hammock up in the transporter room. I like the way that he doesn't use the bed because we've seen this so many times, both in entertainment and in real life, soldiers, they're just not used to the beds anymore. And so they sleep on the ground or wherever. Or something like that, yeah. So he pulls his hammock out because he was sleeping in a hammock. Hammocks are still a thing in a thousand years.
00:22:58
Speaker
Oh. Also, it seems like Discovery's technology actually, like, for once didn't bother me because I felt like, oh, well, it's a thousand years later. It could be anything, right? Well, that's the thing. It was like, OK, so it could be advanced, but then it could be like old and out of place. It doesn't really matter because the ship is not supposed to be there anyway. It's ambiguous, like, yeah, like as to what what's there. Is it cheap that they keep on using the Discovery set for the short tricks or is it fine that they do that?
00:23:29
Speaker
I just think that like it doesn't, it wouldn't matter any, none of that would matter if the stories were just a little bit. Yeah. If it was a little polished.
00:23:39
Speaker
Paul, yeah, just a little bit more. Like I do think that it's great though to see this kind of wilder experiment. Like if I, if you want to look at Star Trek as like, you know, let's just assume, yeah, well an evolving format too. Like, I think these like experimental treks, like, and seeing how fans react to them is like a great way to kind of understand what
00:24:00
Speaker
The stories should be like, you know, and so I think this is still discovery still learning I think about the audience in in many senses like it's just like Like if you if we if we do that objective thing that we were doing before with the with the meteorite example, right?
00:24:16
Speaker
If you're looking at it as objectively as possible, I think one can say that the best way to run a show is to just put something out and then make it evolve into the best of what it could be, right? And sometimes you get lightning in a bottle, like the Expanse, where from the start, it's amazing. But the Expanse didn't have the pressure of being something that existed before. The Expanse is tolling you, they could do whatever they want, and the audience would be more forgiving of it. But if it was called Star Trek The Expanse,
00:24:46
Speaker
Which I would love. I think it would have been met with controversy, right? So I think Star Trek Discovery is trying to figure out how to be the best show it can be. And so I don't necessarily think that's an excuse for bad stories.
Impact of Streaming Services on Star Trek
00:25:02
Speaker
Be careful because The Expanse has a very low viewership count, audience count compared to Discovery.
00:25:13
Speaker
but it's so good i know i know but i mean if you go by the numbers
00:25:20
Speaker
then your opinion would be wrong because I would put the expense above Star Trek Discovery as it stands, which is kind of unfair because we're talking four seasons versus one. But... You have to kind of compare how The Expanse started and I think it is a tough show to get into in that first season. It got cancelled. It's a show that got cancelled. I mean it got cancelled too, yeah. And Star Trek Discovery didn't get cancelled, it actually launched like six spin-offs.
00:25:47
Speaker
I know it's true. But there's different kinds of successes, right? So what I love about the example of the Expanse is like Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, I'm sure you know who that is. I'm sure many people know who that is. Save the Expanse because there is a line I think that kind of has been
00:26:08
Speaker
Something that Star Trek has been really good at doing in my opinion in the past is that there's a line between art and commercialism, right? Like you need the money to sustain the the show but but TV shows should also be very like something something meaningful to the audience. You need to give in to like let's say like the commercial attributes of your show but you also need to stay true to your vision and to
00:26:34
Speaker
Right, exactly. The expense doesn't have the handicap, if you will, of like Star Trek being around for 50 years has a very well-established like message or meaning, right? Like what Star Trek means is very, you know, when you distill it down to its most basic, it's like Star Trek is supposed to be
00:26:57
Speaker
vision of humanity at its best what we could be right and so that's always gonna be at the heart of Star Trek the Expanse didn't have that handicap the Expanse could be whatever it wants to be about so But but I guess what I mean to say is that like the fact that like the Expanse
00:27:13
Speaker
even in itself, I think, evolves in those three seasons and turns into a totally crazy new show. I think every show is a slave to its audience to some extent. And that's what we're seeing with Star Trek Discovery. I think by season three, everyone involved is either going to love it or hate it. And then that's it. Its fate will be decided, right? I said four, yeah. I said four seasons for the experience, but it is only three currently.
00:27:43
Speaker
Yeah, fourth is coming. Jeff Bezos saved the show, which is crazy, like a billionaire person, like... Is it irresponsible? Do you think he should be spending his billions on a show like The Expanse? I would. Okay, it is a logical move. If I were Jeff Bezos, I would buy the Star Trek property is what I would have done.
00:28:05
Speaker
No, it is a logical move because Amazon Prime is becoming one of the major players in the video and demand service. So everyone wants to get one of those shows. Everyone wants a fantasy show because HBO has Game of Thrones, but Amazon is coming out with Middle Earth.
00:28:24
Speaker
And now that CBS has Star Trek Discovery, it is good to have that science fiction. Because you want that science fiction as well. You want fantasy, you want science fiction, you want all of the stars. They have The Grand Tour, which is huge. Amazon Prime, so... I mean, I think it is a bold move to grab something that has so small, like, it's got not that much viewership, but then it was on sci-fi.
00:28:53
Speaker
Which is a channel that produces like the shocknado movies. So like, I mean, do they count? I mean, we're in an interesting time because, um, when I, when I grew up and when TNG existed, like there was no streaming service, like there was no way for a network to like lock down its content in this way. You know what I mean? Like you had to use, you had to use, you had to air it on
Streaming Star Trek in Canada: Legal and Ethical Issues
00:29:16
Speaker
television. Like it was just going to be free, freely available. And so like, um,
00:29:22
Speaker
I think that like ultimately like they have like what Star Trek is doing for CBS uh CBS is trying to you know obviously be in this game and and I subscribe to the CBS thing and I watch two shows only I watch Star Trek Discovery when it's on or whenever there's Star Trek Discovery content and Murphy Brown and I you know so so it's like I think that like you know
00:29:47
Speaker
It's growing its content in a way where it's like, I like it. I like not having to watch Murphy Brown on a specific time or date. I like being able to just watch it whenever I can or whenever I want to. And even though I watch Star Trek right when it comes out, I like the idea that I can go back and watch this other content. So who's gonna win in the battle? It's gonna be Starfleet Boy Corp, which is gonna buy Amazon Prime.
00:30:16
Speaker
Netflix, Apple music. No, I'm just kidding. I wish I could be starfully boring. I just, I just approve. I disapprove of the fact that we have so many different, you know, video on demand services nowadays. I liked the idea of having like when Netflix came out, I liked the idea. It was like, this is where your movies and TV series are going to be.
00:30:35
Speaker
is where you're gonna watch it online. You can pay every month, and this is where it is. And then everyone wanted to jump on that wagon, and so everyone now has a video on the months of us, but then it's the same thing as having TV channels now. You have to pay for every subscription. That's just dumb.
00:30:50
Speaker
Do you guys pay for that star? What is it on in Canada star star channel or star space space dot CA space? That's right space dot CA. It's a website that you watch it on or do you watch it on like TV TV space dot CA is the channel
00:31:09
Speaker
The space channel. It's the space channel. And so they have reruns of all Star Trek and etc. They have, I think they have Bevel and Five and that kind of stuff. And there's also the space.ca website where if you do have the space channel in your kind of TV package, then you can put in your identification from your internet provider and then you can log on to the space.ca website
00:31:37
Speaker
Which is where they have all of the Aftertrick streaming and then they have the... You can watch it as many times. You can watch it as many times as you want. But I don't like the... Okay, I illegally download after I've watched it legally on TV.
00:31:57
Speaker
If that makes sense. So I do watch it on TV. I do get the ads. I do live through all of that. I sit through all of that. But then I did. Then I download the episode. I don't know if we want to know about your illegal activities on Starfleet board, but I will say, but I will say that I will say, I just don't believe you're illegal. I don't think you're illegal. I think I understand what you're saying. You got to, but just don't say it that if you're not illegal, don't say you're illegal.
00:32:27
Speaker
Stop saying stop saying it Nevertheless, you can watch it on space and I have done this I watch after trick and I watch I've watched a few episodes on space See the the website. It's just that the quality isn't amazing and there's like laggy load times and stuff It's not the best of websites Nevertheless, you can also watch it on Crave TV, which is a video on demand service that exists in Canada but then you'd have to subscribe to Crave TV, which is yet another service that you have to subscribe to and
00:32:58
Speaker
So one thing, I know that the Blu-ray for Star Trek Discovery came out, and I'm seeing a lot of activity on Twitter, people saying, well, actually, I'm enjoying it a lot more on Blu-ray than I did. I think the thing about Star Trek Discovery... My copy is coming.
00:33:14
Speaker
Oh, cool. So you're very legal. I am very legal. I've bought it. I have bought it. I pre-ordered it months ago. The moment it was, it was possible to pre-order. Very good. And I would like to personally thank Amazon.ca because not only did they enable me to purchase this legally and pre-order it legally, but they have also adapted and I've never seen this, they've also adjusted their price
00:33:40
Speaker
They've reduced the price from $42 to like $27 because they noticed that... And they gave you a credit. Yeah, they gave me a credit because they noticed that... No, they didn't even give me a credit. They only took $27 out of my account rather than $41 because they realized that other people were selling it cheaper and so they adjusted their price and I think that's a very... Oh, that's why Amazon is amazing. That is a very amazing thing to do. So I would like to personally thank the Amazon.ca.
00:34:07
Speaker
So this episode was unofficially illegally sponsored by amazon.com for both reducing the price of such a discovery and making the expense.
00:34:23
Speaker
So, what else did you like or not like? Everyone can go to your video. I neither like nor dislike to think that's the thing. I have nothing specific to talk about because there's nothing I really enjoy. You're indifferent to it.
00:34:43
Speaker
Do you think, is it supposed to, is it meant to tie into season 2? I'm getting conflicting information about that. Absolutely, no. This is its own bubble. Well to me, a lot of people are saying this is going to tie into what's going to happen to the U.S.S. Discovery and whatever, I don't think so. I think they just did this story on the U.S.S. Discovery because they had the set.
00:35:02
Speaker
And they thought, let's just make it a thousand years in the future so that it can be unrelated. It can be its own thing. And I'm taking this as its own thing. The thing is, like Tilly, apart from the fact we now know she's promoted to an Ensign, nothing that she did in this short trick will be addressed in Season 2.
Episode Reception and Narrative Impact
00:35:20
Speaker
You can be sure of that. Which is stupid, because she should be court-martialed. But, um...
00:35:27
Speaker
These are their own little things, right? They're supposed to... But the idea of this is not... You're not supposed to... How should I say this? If you don't watch the short tricks, you shouldn't be missing out on the story of Star Trek Discovery. It should just enhance your viewing experience if you do watch them.
00:35:45
Speaker
Immediately after this aired, I went on a live chat, um, on text. Yeah. Yeah. And it was really fun. Uh, and something that, uh, I, I, I actually am a personal fan. Like I really love, I don't know what that means, personal fan, but I really love Michael Chavone's work. I'm his personal fan.
00:36:06
Speaker
Like the only, his only, I'm very personal with my fanship, Michael's trip. But I discovered him many years ago, not through his writings, but through the film, Wonder Boys. And then I went on and read his work and I like him. And I think it's, I think it's a great story, Wonder Boys.
00:36:25
Speaker
When I, when I first heard he was involved with Star Trek, of course I was excited, but I really didn't like, I did have that concern, even though I love him and his work, I did have the concern of like, well, you know, he's not necessarily a science fiction writer, but apparently he has written some science fiction and I just didn't know about it. So I'll have to like, I have to like, uh, clue myself up on that. But, um, but I was, I was thinking that
00:36:50
Speaker
So I like this one better than Runaway. And I definitely thought the writing was cleverer in this episode. But I actually do feel the same way that you do, whereas it really does nothing to advance my appreciation of Star Trek Discovery or my understanding of it.
Future of Short Treks and Writing Quality
00:37:09
Speaker
And it doesn't really fit in with my expectations of what these events, these kinds of events within Star Trek would be like.
00:37:19
Speaker
I know I do get a lot of trash talk on my channel where people say that I have a tendency of bitching about Discovery and what have you. I do want to say that the complaints that I have about this short trick episode specifically, it's not exclusive to Discovery. I have the same kind of complaints for all sorts of episodes in TNG and Voyager. Sometimes there are just episodes that are kind of meh. They exist.
00:37:43
Speaker
And so they exist, but they're not, they're neither good nor bad. They're just uninteresting. It just so happens that they're part of the season. And this is the kind of complaint that I have for any Star Trek series, any iteration of Star Trek, and any other show actually. So this isn't Discovery specific. I'm not bashing on Discovery.
00:38:03
Speaker
I'm sure that this- But you are. I'm sure that this format can bring something truly great. I really am. I think that this kind of short trick format is amazing and I think that they should really carry on with it. And I'm really looking forward to the Harry Mudd one.
00:38:21
Speaker
Um, I, I do want to show one of my, one of the images that they have on IMDB from this episode, because I do want to say that like, I do kind of like, and I enjoyed the visual. It's been 40 minutes. We've been talking about this.
00:38:37
Speaker
I know we're going to stop. I promise. This is it.
Closing Remarks and Future Hopes
00:38:40
Speaker
We're going to be done. It's just so much fun to hang out with you though. So anyways, I know we all, we have things to do. For those who haven't, for those who didn't recognize him, Elders Hodge recently portrayed, uh, MCRN in Straight Outta Compton, the movie about NWA. Wow.
00:39:03
Speaker
I love that movie and I had no idea. And I think his performance in Calypso does not reflect his talent because he's a very talented actor and he does an amazing job in Straight Outta Compton.
00:39:19
Speaker
I like well well that's the thing I wanted to say is that like to me the star the winner of this short trek was was Aldous hot okay well then he's the only one like yeah like the Zora was I just remembered her name now because I went on IMDB
00:39:35
Speaker
But Zora, the computer AI, was flat and kind of expected. Like everything she did, I expected her to do. There was nothing unexpected. I wish that the episode, I think we talked about this on our discussion. And I think this is like something that still I feel is that I wish it was a horror, straight up horror episode. Like scary. Like it's as scary as fuck. I could have done that. I could have done that. Just an R rated him alone on a ship, you know, freaking out.
00:40:02
Speaker
Yeah, it could have been like just freaky and the ship is demented at this point. I think that would have been great, especially since I think, uh, you know, they could have actually pushed this a little earlier and released it around Halloween. It would have been awesome just to be timely as well and do a little bit of that kind of audience service.
00:40:20
Speaker
That performance-wise, though I do say that this wasn't his most amazing performance, I will say that it probably is very hard to act and perform when you're like the only character. And you're supposed to be interacting with like an AI, which is probably like an off-camera voice, and it must be a very awkward kind of job.
00:40:45
Speaker
There's a cool possibility set up here for a reoccurring character. So presuming they do these short treks in between every season, it'd be neat if we got a follow up. Like he came back to the Discovery for some reason. That would be really cool. I didn't think of that. That would be awesome. Like if they were to do four short treks per season, then every time one of them would be on craft. And so, yeah, that would be interesting.
00:41:11
Speaker
Yeah, so I would appreciate that. And, you know, even if it's completely like completely like away from the US discovery to show it was planning or something. Something else. Yeah, I would like that. I would like that. I would like to see Elvis Hodge return and interact with people.
00:41:28
Speaker
Yes. All right. And that's it. Okay. That's all I got. It's time. Do you have anything else in your? No, not really. It was, it just, it didn't impress me. Um, but I don't actively dislike it. Like I, I do the first one, but I am happy to see this format exist. I think I'd like to give this episode a four. Um, yeah.
00:41:55
Speaker
Um, uh, whoa, this is two times in a row. Is it? I think so. Yeah, I think, I think a four, I think a four is good. A four four is fair, right? This is amazing. And there you have it. Our, our short tracks. We, we actually did keep it under an hour. So it was shorter than our last discussion, but we also talked about the Picard show. If I'm not mistaken, the episode is 18 minutes and we talk for freaking 45 minutes about it. I don't know how I feel about that.
00:42:22
Speaker
Well, the frickin', I don't know, it's just what happens. We go into the spit, we go into Starfleet boy time. It's a whole different reality. Anyways, Sean, it was a pleasure. Thank you so much for doing this. I really appreciate it. Like, I just want to talk about Star Trek all the time and you are a awesome companion on that journey. Thank you. Thank you, audience, if you made it this far.
00:42:46
Speaker
Do you have anything to plug because this one will go up right away nothing to plug your tracks is like two weeks ago
00:42:55
Speaker
I have... I have my... Future audiences won't know. I have my baby to attend to. A thousand years from now. Yes, you do. Yes, and I'm being a bad uncle by keeping you from that. But a thousand years from now, people will watch this and they won't know when we recorded it, though it'll be relatively the same time as the short treks came out. So live long and prosper. See you guys. And see you guys. Bye.
00:43:24
Speaker
you
00:44:02
Speaker
Thank you.