Irish Gav reviews “Telepathy War”

Apparently that’s Spock in the background.

Cast your minds back to 1997.  Batman & Robin was number one at the cinema, Tiger released the Game.com and Dharma & Greg premiered on TV.  Never mind, quick bring your minds back!  We’ll just skip to Telepathy War was a storyline that ran through the Marvel Star Trek books.

So this story started with a group of Starfleet Cadets, Omega Squad (containing Nog) going to Talos IV (The Cage again, AAl take a drink) and finding Pike battling the Jem Hadar and their secret plan to wipe out all Alpha Quadrant telepaths.  Once back no-one will believe them and they’re arrested for visiting the forbidden planet, defended by Spock and sentenced to death.  All good so far?  Well that’s because this all takes place BEFORE Telepathy War.  For some reason Part One starts with them escaping from captivity and going to Deep Space Nine followed by… well… all the main Star Trek crews at that time.*

Well not technically Voyager.  The crossover issue consists of slipping a page into a completely unrelated story of Kes sensing minds in the Alpha Quadrant crying out and then being suddenly silenced.  So in summary, the fact that I just read the whole of Telepathy War so I could get through the Voyager comics was a bit redundant.  Kind of like the writer now I imagine.

On the whole it wasn’t a too bad crossover there were a few parts that don’t ring true.  For example both the Academy President and an Admiral father of one of the cadets demanding they have the death penalty and no-one thinks this is suspicious?!  Also Kira acts out of character and blatantly defies Sisko when it comes to Dominion battle tactics to name but two.  Still, at least Troi starts feeling things that aren’t just pain.  The best parts of the series were the individual comics of the shows (sans Voyager) but the Telepathy War #1 special that tied it all up didn’t really help and I couldn’t wait for it to end by this point.

One weird thing about the comics is they have a page as soon as you turn the cover to recap previous events but then the first page of the actual story does the exact same thing as well.  But that’s comics for you, one extreme to the other.

44 – “The Ambergris Element,” “The Slaver Weapon,” “Eye of the Beholder” and “The Jihad”

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Reviewing “The Ambergris Element,” “The Slaver Weapon,” “Eye of the Beholder” and “The Jihad” with special guest Vishal Bharadwaj.

Dickbats!

We (and our various guests) have been very amused by the constant presence of purple pterodactyl things (dubbed “dickbats” by Brian Lynch) throughout The Animated Series. This led to the top three images, which then led to occasional guest and PAH logo designer Vishal Bharadwaj creating the hilarious TAS-themed Internet meme-style pics that followed. Enjoy!

Bonus dancing footage

Because we found it so amusing, Bob very graciously provided us with that ridiculous footage of the couple dancing in the transporter room, both in video (YouTube) and animated GIF form. Enjoy!

43 – “Once Upon a Planet,” “Mudd’s Passion,” “The Terratin Incident” and “The Time Trap”

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Reviewing “Once Upon a Planet,” “Mudd’s Passion,” “The Terratin Incident” and “The Time Trap” with special guest Mark “Bob” Boszko.

42 – “More Troubles, More Tribbles,” “The Survivor,” “The Infinite Vulcan” and “The Magicks of Megas-Tu”

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Reviewing “More Troubles, More Tribbles,” “The Survivor,” “The Infinite Vulcan” and “The Magicks of Megas-Tu” with special guest Brian Lynch.

Federation

I remembered this being the best Trek book I’ve ever read, and I was a bit concerned that I was remembering wrong. Thankfully, I was not.

Before I go any further with this review, I should mention that this book was written prior to the release of Star Trek: First Contact or the prequel series, Enterprise. As such, it now contradicts established canon pretty profoundly. Which is really too bad, because frankly, the picture painted in Federation is so much more vivid and interesting than either of those things.

Federation covers a lot of ground — its alternating segments are divided between the ill-defined-in-Trek World War III era (just prior to the Post Atomic Horror™), the original Enterprise just after the events of “Journey to Babel” and the Enterprise-D just after the events of “Sarek.” It weaves together a narrative that encompasses the founding of the Federation, the possible whereabouts of the immortal Flint from “Requiem for Methuselah” and the bringing together of the two Enterprise crews we know best. Sort of.

I’m not going to lie to you — there’s a lot of fan service in this book. But if you can follow it (and I did on my first read, even before I was familiar with several of the TOS threads it was picking up on), it’s a pretty amazing thing. The Reeves-Stevenses really know their way around Trek history, and no character feels underused or misunderstood here. Kirk and Picard never meet face to face (spoilers, I guess) but they are linked together by powerful narrative and thematic connections.

Federation was written as a love letter to the franchise on its thirtieth anniversary, conceived as a sort of grand “opera,” in the authors’ words. For fans of the original series and Next Generation, you could definitely do a lot worse. And honestly, I’m not sure you could actually do any better.

41 – “Beyond the Farthest Star,” “Yesteryear,” “One of Our Planets is Missing” and “The Lorelei Signal”

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Reviewing “Beyond the Farthest Star,” “Yesteryear,” “One of Our Planets is Missing” and “The Lorelei Signal.”

Matt’s top 10 TOS episodes

And here’s my list of favorite episodes of Original Series Star Trek. I DID make a numbered list because at the time of this writing, I felt that would be easier. We’ll see if that turns out to be true… These are in no particular order except for the ones towards the end, assuming I remember.

10 )  I, Mudd

I actually really like the character of Harry Mudd. While Picard and Sisko would be vexed by omnipotent space gods, Kirk’s greatest nemesis was a sleazy space pimp on the run from his wife. I, Mudd is funny, clever and contains the kind of bizarre weirdness that I don’t see much of on Star Trek. Granted, bizarre weirdness maybe doesn’t have much of a place on Star Trek (at least until Janeway turns into a lizard.) but it’s still something I enjoy seeing.  And Kirk leaving Harry on a planet to be yelled at by his horrible wife shows a vindictive side to Kirk which I find hilarious.

9 ) A Piece of the Action

Trek did a  lot of shitty “Just-like-Earth” planets during its three seasons but this was definitely one of the best.  The justification for a planet made up of gangsters actually made… well, I guess sense is the best word for it. It was certainly a better justification than that parallel development horseshit. Shatner is clearly having a good time in this one and Spock is dryly hilarious.  Also I enjoy Kirk trying to figure out how to drive.

8 ) The Enterprise Incident

I’ll flat out admit it, I love seeing Kirk and Spock switch roles for this one. By season three, we were seeing more and more of Kirk and less and less of anyone else, so an episode based on Spock seducing the mysterious and awesome Female Romulan Commander was a nice change.  The episode itself is actually quite excellent too.

7 ) Amok Time

Another great Spock episode. The beginning of Season 2 was the perfect place to start going into more detail about Spock, his world and his history. He is clearly the character on Trek that we know the least about just by virtue of his not being human. This episode had a huge hand in building what was to come in the Star Trek universe and the shots of it that were redone for the series’ rerelease are completely breathtaking. Some of the most gorgeous shots in the series. My only complaint is the return of the legendary Kirk vs Spock music to every single piece of shit fight the cast would get themselves into as the series marched on.

6 ) The Devil in the Dark

This one’s an old favorite and one of the first original Treks I can remember watching when I was a kid. It’s an interesting take on the classic ‘monster picking people off’ scenario. I talked a lot about Trek-as-horror during the first season and this is an excellent example. Especially the reveal at the end that the Horta is not just benevolent but also intelligent. It’s certainly a concept that’s been done before but I love how it was done here.

5 ) The City on the Edge of Forever

This one features on the lists of top Star Trek episodes everywhere and it should. It’s a great fish out of water story for Kirk and Spock. You genuinely believe that Kirk has fallen for the doomed Edith Keeler and her death at the end is completely heart-breaking as Kirk gives up everything to save his ship, his crew and his future. And unlike Kirk’s many other “great loves” throughout the series, you really felt that Edith Keeler mattered.

4 ) Journey to Babel

I’ve said before that I’m not particularly interested in politics unless they’re science fiction. It was true in DS9 and it’s just as true here. And the space politics are just the icing on the cake! We also get to meet Spock’s family and work through his elaborate daddy issues. And if THAT wasn’t enough, we get Kirk acting like a complete and utter fucking bad ass as maintains command of the Enterprise with a knife in his back. Completely awesome.
3 ) The Corbomite Maneuver

This one was an early shot of exactly what Star Trek can do. A tense little submarine battle between the Enterprise and the menacing Balok puppet. I loved it. We talk a lot about padding as the series wears on and Corbomite Maneuver is the exact opposite. The long dramatic silences just make the action more exciting.
2 ) The Trouble with Tribbles

My favorite when I was a kid. I must have rented this episode from my video store a hundred times. It’s certainly the episode I’ve seen the most and I still never get sick of it. Trouble with Tribbles is genuinely funny and also well crafted. The plot keeps moving. Fun fact: In elementary, I built my own Tribble out of fake fur and stuffing. And by built, I mean sewed. I was extremely popular at my school, thanks for asking.

1 ) The Doomsday Machine

The best thing about making the Post Atomic Horror is that I got to see a lot of episodes of Star Trek that I had never watched before. My greatest regret was that I never got to see the Doomsday Machine before because this episode is fucking awesome. The Enterprise vs a giant Death Funnel should not be as exciting as this. Another tense submarine episode like the Corbomite Maneuver but with the added drama of Commodore Dekker’s descent into madness over the loss of his ship and his awesome final sacrifice. Easily my favorite of the series.

AAl’s top 10 TOS episodes

Since we’ve recently wrapped up the entire run of the original series, it feels like we should be telling you what our favorite episodes were. I didn’t feel like just making a numbered list, so I tried to group my choices into categories.

It is my hope that, with Trek now available on Netflix streaming, you can use my list (and Matt’s) as a guide. Because while there is no question that Star Trek is completely deserving of its status as a classic TV series, the simple fact is that a lot of it is crap. If you’d rather just focus on the highlights, I recommend the following:

The Corbomite Maneuver, Balance of Terror, The Doomsday Machine

One of the things this series did best was channel the intensity of the Cold War into a science fiction setting. These three episodes are all essentially tense submarine stories transposed to a starship. The tension of Kirk staring down (in order) an unknown and highly advanced alien, an established enemy that can turn invisible and a monstrously destructive alien artifact is masterfully handled in every case. That this show’s best moments usually came in “bottle episodes,” where everyone stayed on the familiar (and thus cost-effective) sets aboard the Enterprise, reacting to something out there, really says something about the strength of these characters. Before Shatner pushed Kirk into camp territory in season 3, he was kind of a badass. Hopefully the next Abrams flick channels more of this Kirk and less of “Turnabout Intruder” Kirk. (Sorry, Gav.)

Journey to Babel, Amok Time, The Enterprise Incident

I’m hardly making a controversial statement when I say that Spock is the most compelling character in the original series. These episodes showcase some of the best of what Spock has to offer: “Journey to Babel” introduces us to his parents, bringing his conflicted human/Vulcan nature to the forefront. “Amok Time” gives us a look at his homeworld, their customs and a distinct physiological difference between Vulcans and humans. And “The Enterprise Incident” might also fit into the previous category (it’s a pretty intense “stare down the enemy” story), but it has the added bonus of allowing Spock to seduce the female adversary for a change.

City on the Edge of Forever, Mirror Mirror, The Trouble with Tribbles

These are all widely acknowledged classics — even people who don’t watch much Star Trek probably know something from each of these, at least via pop culture osmosis. I’m pleased to report that all three of them completely deserve their reputation. “City on the Edge” puts Kirk in a situation where he has to make a heartbreaking sacrifice for the greater good. “Mirror, Mirror” is the “evil universe” episode where Spock has a beard (thus leading to a half-century of “my evil twin has a goattee” jokes.) And “Tribbles” is the only time the show completely nailed a light-hearted comedic episode.

The Changeling

Star Trek did a lot of “old earth relics become twisted and return with a bloodlust” stories (most notably in The Motion Picture), but this was the first and best instance. I don’t know why TMP felt the need to improve on something that was essentially perfect already.

The Cage
The original pilot — apart from Spock (who’s not exactly in character yet), there are no familiar faces. This is a fascinating glimpse at what the show might have been. Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike is fantastic, and the Forbidden Planet-style setting and story is more sophistocated (and more expensive) than what would come later. I joked on PAH that I was sick of this story (after seeing it recycled in “The Menagerie”), but I still believe that this is one of the greatest Trek stories ever told.

The Tholian Web

Easily my favorite episode of the entire series, and it’s no coincidence that Kirk’s hardly in it at all. There’s just so much going on here — a new alien threat, a weird spatial anomaly (before TNG and the rest would make this a cliché) and the apparent death of Kirk. Great character moments, incredible action… in short, everything that made this show great.