Out of Contreks

When it comes to Star Trek, how dark is too dark? Does knowing the twist about one of Discovery's characters make them more enjoyable to watch? Do replicators revolutionize the concept of doing the dishes? We discuss these questions, and more, in our second ever episode about Star Trek: Discovery.

We hope you had (or are in the process of having) a very happy holiday! This week, we suffered a computer crash while recording, so a bit of the episode has gone missing, but most of it remains for your edification. "Birthright, Part 2" (and our discussion thereof) is all about Worf: his rudeness, his efficacy as an allegory for cultural revolution, and his sexy bod in that tactical turtleneck.

Our scheduling is back on track, at least for now, so here's that Voyager episode we promised you! We talk medical ethics, faulty hypotheticals and get into a discussion of just what the Cardassian/Bajoran conflict is supposed to be an allegory for. It's a classic Voyager episode: We don't agree with the conclusion, but we appreciate the thought it took to get them there!

We return to DS9 and try to figure out what this late period episode is about. Relating to neurodivergent people? The triumph of the human spirit over computers? Eugenics? Oh yeah, and how does a transporter handle velocity when beaming in a moving object?

Not a very good episode of Star Trek, but one that opens up a variety of questions about the Star Trek universe, including the following: "Do offices go back to looking like they did in the late '90s in the future?" "When did the Starfleet fighting style change from 'actual fighting' to 'pretend karate chops'?" "What were the other cast members doing the week that Scott Bakula, Connor Trinneer and Jolene Blalock shot this?" "What is the Temporal Cold War, and why can't we ever watch an episode about that instead?"

We talk about nuclear proliferation and the unified Torres theory of the Delta Quadrant in another Voyager episode. We also neglect to mention that this episode takes place one episode previously than the last episode we talked about. Isn't that weird? The random number generator works in mysterious ways!

Brady's computer crashed while he was editing this one, so the audio might be a bit wonky at times. Still, we think the conversation about this episode, one of the best we've yet watched for the show, is worth it. We talk about Q, mortality, bureaucracy, and how a guest star choice almost made this episode much, MUCH worse.

Is Lower Decks the best Star Trek put to screen since Voyager? Ryan and Brady think so. Join us for our overview of the first season of the latest CBS All-Access Trek offering.

 

*As with the Picard special, the Lower Decks special was recorded one day before air and consequentially received a somewhat looser edit. We still think it's a fun hang, though!

OK, look. I (Ryan) was editing this episode and realized that we spent the cold open talking about whether Brady looks like Spock, a conversation that no listener would have context for. Thus, the image for this episode: At left, Brady when he was 16 (I have cropped out his mullet). At right, everybody's favorite Vulcan. Now you can decide for yourself if my wife was correct. 

 

Or, you can skip ahead and listen to the rest of the episode, about a pretty goofy, weirdly capitalist episode of TOS.

 

I did not ask Brady if I could use this picture, so it might change later and you'll be left wondering whether any of this was worth it. The internet, like life itself, is an ephemeral being.

This is one of the best episodes we've talked about yet. It has one of the best names, one of the most fun plots, and one of the best one-shot guest stars either of us have seen. It's a rollicking good time; why not join us?