The Star Trek Universe panel at New York Comic Con came to a close today with the debut of the newest trailer for Star Trek: Picard‘s third and final season, introducing us to the upcoming year’s villain — and surprising fans with an unexpected character return.
Tony Award-winning actor Amanda Plummer will serve as Season 3’s big threat, joining the show in a recurring role as Vadic, who serves as “the mysterious alien captain of the Shrike, a warship that has set its sights on Jean-Luc Picard and his old crewmates from his days on the Enterprise.”
Amanda Plummer (center) as Vadic. (Paramount+)
In addition, casting for the two daughters of Geordi La Forge was announced: LeVar Burton’s real-life daughter Mica Burton will play Ensign Alandra La Forge, who serves in Starfleet with her father; Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut will portray Ensign Sidney La Forge, helmsman of the USS Titan.
(Along with “Brett,” both “Alandra” and “Sidney” were named as La Forge’s children in the “All Good Things…” alternate future!)
Mica Burton and Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut.Ashlei Sharpe Chestnut as Ensign Sidney La Forge. (Paramount+)
Also revealed was returning Next Gen star Brent Spiner’s role, revealed during today’s panel that he’ll be playing some version of Lore, the twin android brother of departed Lieutenant Commander Data. It’s all “very complicated,” said Spiner during the NYCC panel.
Brent Spiner returns as a character “named Lore.” (Paramount+)
Two other big surprises beamed down during the new Picard trailer today, to cap off everything else: the reveal of the USS Enterprise-F starship design, making the leap from Star Trek Online to live-action for the first time, and the return of actor Daniel Davis as the nefarious and brilliant self-aware hologram, Professor James Moriarty!
Daniel Davis returns as hologram Professor James Moriarty. (Paramount+)
While the dangerous hologram has been referenced a few time since his last appearance in “Ship in a Bottle” — and of course, Moriarty was a great influence on Badgey from Star Trek: Lower Decks — this is the first time Davis has actually portrayed that character since the episode aired in January 1993.
There have been many hints that more legacy Star Trek characters will be returning for the final Star Trek: Picard run — but it’s probably fair to say this was not the face many expected to see today.
The USS Enterprise-F, which comes from STAR TREK ONLINE. (Paramount+)
There’s still plenty more to learn about when it comes to Star Trek: Picard Season 3 — so as we get closer to the February debut, we’ll bring you all the announcements as they come.
Star Trek: Picard is currently in post-production on its third and final season, set to debut in February 2023 on Paramount+ the United States, and on CTV Sci Fi Channel and Crave in Canada. Outside of North America, the series is available on Amazon’s Prime Video service in most international locations.
Today at the big Star Trek Universe panel held during New York Comic Con, the first extended look at the returning Star Trek: Prodigy season beamed down — offering fans their first real look at the adventures to come, and a few surprises!
Along with this look at the next run of episodes — which includes characters dressed in Starfleet-inspired clothing, underwater adventures, an encounter between the Prototstar crew and a blue-shirted Starfleet officer, and a visit to a Borg cube — Paramount+ today announced that one-time Enterprise-D captain Edward Jellico is returning!
Promoted since his appearance in the “Chain of Command” two-part episode, actor Ronny Cox voice four-pip Admiral Jellico in a recurring capacity throughout the next ten Star Trek: Prodigy episodes, seemingly a superior officer to our three-pip Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).
A fan-favorite “nemesis” to Commander Riker and the Enterprise-D crew, Jellico served as interim captain while Captain Jean-Luc Picard ventured undercover into Cardassian territory in “Chain of Command,” as Federation and Cardassian forces tiptoed up to the brink of war after bogus weaponry intelligence lured Picard into a trap.
While Jellico has appeared in Star Trek novels since that two-part episode (most prominently in the New Frontier series), this will be the first time Jellico has been seen on-screen since “Chain of Command, Part II.”
Here are a few other images from the upcoming Star Trek: Prodigy adventures!
Star Trek: Prodigy will return on Thursday, October 27 to Paramount+ in the United States and on October 28 in Latin America, Australia, Italy and the U.K; the series is said to air “later in the year” in South Korea, Germany, France, Austria, and Switzerland.
Today at New York Comic Con, Star Trek: Discovery lifted the lid on their secretive plans for the show’s upcoming fifth season with a new teaser trailer, casting announcements, and more!
Anthony Rapp (Stamets) and Wilson Cruz (Culber) and executive producers Michelle Paradise and Alex Kurtzman came to NYCC to discuss Season 5 — in production now in Toronto, where series lead Sonequa Martin-Green (Burnham) briefly appeared on video to introduce the teaser.
Along with the first look into the new season, which includes familiar recurring faces like President Rillak (Chelah Horsdal), President T’Rina (Tara Rosling), and Admiral Vance (Oded Fehr), three new cast members were announced:
Callum Keith Rennie (Battlestar Galactica and The Umbrella Academy) will be joining the regular cast as Captain Rayner, described as “a gruff, smart Starfleet Captain who holds a clear line between commander and crew – he leads, they follow. Rayner’s all about the mission, whatever it may be, and he doesn’t do niceties along the way; his feeling is, you get the job done and apologize later. He has a storied track record of wartime success, but in times of peace he struggles. Collaboration is not his strong suit. That said, if it serves the greater good he’s willing to learn … but it won’t be easy.”
Callum Keith Rennie as new regular character, Captain Rayner. (Paramount+)
Along with Rennie, actor Eve Harlow (The 100 and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) will portray Moll, “a former courier turned outlaw, who is highly intelligent and dangerous, with an impressive strategic mind and a sharp wit. She goes into every situation with a clear plan and stays focused and clear-headed on her goal, even when things go awry. She’s not intimidated by Captain Burnham or the crew of the USS Discovery, and will face down anyone who stands in her way in order to get what she wants.”
Finally, Elias Toufexis (Shadowhunters) beams aboard as L’ak, who is “a former courier turned outlaw, who is tough, impulsive and fiercely protective of his beloved partner, Moll. So long as he knows she’s safe, he doesn’t care about collateral damage or its consequences – a perspective that makes him very dangerous at times and will put him on the opposite side of Captain Burnham and the crew of the USS Discovery when they come into conflict.”
Elias Toufexis as L’ak, and Eve Harlow as Moll. (Paramount+)
A third preview image from the season was released on Star Trek Day,where we first learned the premise for Discovery‘s fifth season:
Captain Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) goes on another adventure in DISCOVERY Season 5. (Paramount+)
In STAR TREK: DISCOVERY Season 5, Captain Burnham and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery uncover a mystery that sends them on an epic adventure across the galaxy to find an ancient power whose very existence has been deliberately hidden for centuries.
But there are others on the hunt as well… dangerous foes who are desperate to claim the prize for themselves and will stop at nothing to get it.
Along with the new arrivals, Star Trek: Discovery’s Season 5 cast members include Sonequa Martin-Green (Captain Michael Burnham), Doug Jones (Saru), Anthony Rapp (Paul Stamets), Mary Wiseman (Sylvia Tilly), Wilson Cruz (Dr. Hugh Culber), David Ajala (Cleveland “Book” Booker) and Blu del Barrio (Adira).
Star Trek: Discovery’s fifth season will return sometime in 2023 on Paramount+ in the United States, and on CTV Sci Fi Channel and Crave in Canada.
Outside of North America, the series is available on Paramount+ in Australia, Latin America, the UK, and South Korea, with expansions to Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria expected “later this year.”
STAR TREK: PICARD Season 2’s special Steelbook packaging joins its Season 1 predecessor.
Across its three-disc collection are all ten episodes of Picard Season 2, a number of deleted scenes, a fun gag reel, and over 90 minutes of behind-the-scenes featurettes which explore various areas of production.
A divisive season of Trek to be sure, with opinions ranging from love to loathing, the season began with a three-episode trip across realities (and across time) as Next Generation foe Q (John de Lancie) tossed Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), and the rest of the cast into a world where the Federation never formed — forcing the La Sirena gang to head back to modern-day Los Angeles to correct history.
After the major setting change got the season going (a sci-fi turn shepherded by new co-showrunner Terry Matalas), the Earthbound tale then morphed into a psychological examination of Jean-Luc Picard’s family history.
Jean-Luc Picard hides beneath his family’s chateau — in 2024. (Paramount)
In a twist from incumbent co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman, we learned that in fact Yvette Picard sadly committed suicide after battling mental illness — a repressed memory found at the end Picard’s journey along Q’s path.
Returning Picard, Seven, and Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) to the 25th century thanks to a last-breath finger-snap from Q, Star Trek: Picardsaid farewell to much of its cast — with Cris Rios (Santiago Cabrera) left behind in 2024, Kore Soong (Isa Briones) joining the Travelers, Agnes Jurati (Alison Pill) forming a new “voluntary” Borg collective, and Elnor (Evan Evagora) returning to his Starfleet Academy training.
Seven of Nine finds herself serving as president of the Confederation of Earth. (Paramount)
The Steelbook edition continues to be our favorite way to bring Star Trek television home, as the metal packaging features the stark black-and-white Season 2 key art (featuring Patrick Stewart haunted by John de Lancie) and the Blu-ray discs are well-protected by the Steelbook’s disc spindles.
The standard Blu-ray and DVDreleases sport rather disappointing cover artwork, featuring individual photos of the cast — minus Brent Spiner, for some reason — Photoshopped onto a glowing blue background; the Blu-ray set stacks the three discs across just two spindles inside the plastic casing.
(Not a great way to keep those discs from getting scratched!)
La Sirena flees a group of Confederation starships on the race to alter history. (Paramount)
Even with high-bandwidth home internet connections, the video quality of Blu-ray discs are always going to be a nice improvement from the streaming presentation on Paramount+, and Picard Season 2 is no exception.
From the violent space anomaly which kicks off events in “The Star Gazer,” to the race towards Earth’s sun in “Assimilation,” to the dark battle scenes beneath Chateau Picard, the show looks its best here — without any blocking or smearing from streaming compression — and helps make the location filming in sunny Los Angeles look even better, especially compared to the dark future where the Confederation of Earth is in charge.
The score from composer Jeff Russo sounds wonderful on Blu-ray as well, presented in 5.1 DTS-HD audio; unfortunately there are no audio commentary tracks included with any of Season 2’s episodes.
Dr. Ramirez and Cris Rios find a connection in modern-day Los Angeles. (Paramount)
Picard‘s Season 2 Blu-ray set contains six main behind-the-scenes features, covering everything from the complicated makeup effects used to turn Annie Wersching into the new Borg Queen, to the design of the Sagan-class USS Stargazer, to the various props and set decoration seen throughout the year’s adventure.
Picard Passages (24:58) — The primary overview the year, featuring cast interviews and writer-producer discussions around the Picard backstory, time-travel, Q, and Borg Queen elements which make up Season 2’s storytelling.
Picard Props (12:05) — As you might imagine, this feature focuses on prop master Jeff Lombardi’s work for Season 2, touching on the various weapons and costume pieces built for the dark Confederation future, along with the tech of Adam Soong and Tallinn found in 2024.
Lombardi offers a great look at some concept art and production-made pieces from Season 2, including the design thoughts behind the sharp Confederation combadge, Romulan tricorder, and Guinan’s El-Aurian bottle.
Rebuilding the Borg Queen (11:10) — Lead creature designer Neville Page (along with other artists in the Picard team) describes the challenge of bringing back the intimidating Borg Queen with the makeup and prosthetic technology now available to Trek creatives, along with actor Annie Wersching’s experience becoming the cybernetic villain.
Concept art for the USS Stargazer’s bridge set. (Paramount)
The USS Stargazer (18:28) — The feature explores the genesis of the new Stargazer starship, all the way from early Zoom design calls between Terry Matalas, Doug Drexler, John Eaves, Dave Blass, and Star Trek Online‘s Thomas Marrone — all the way through the interior sets on the production stages with input from Mike Okuda, and the designers of the various LCARS user interfaces seen on the ship.
There’s a fantastic amount of insight in this feature, from concept designs and blueprints to the wildly-complicated set construction efforts used to bring the Stargazer bridge to life.
The Chateau (15:23) — Production designer Dave Blass and prop master Jeff Lombardi guide viewers through the design and contents of the Chateau Picard set (a new build for Season 2), used in both the 2401 and 2024 time periods. Neville Page also lays out the design philosophy behind ‘Borgslayer’ Picard’s alien skull collection, in a deep exploration of those artifact.
The Trial is Over (12:03) — John de Lancie, Patrick Stewart, Alex Kurtzman and Akiva Goldsman discuss Q’s return, and the character’s impact on Jean-Luc Picard in both past and present encounters. There’s also a great look at de Lancie’s final day on set with Patrick Stewart, as the actor recounts how his Next Generation journey began all the way back during preparation for “Encounter at Farpoint.”
Q takes a moment to explore one more facet of humanity in a cut scene from “Fly Me to the Moon.” (Paramount)
There are four selections of Season 2 deleted scenes as part of this season’s package, totaling just over 9 minutes in length.
“Assimilation” (203) — An excised moment from Elnor’s death scene; a calm moment between Dr. Ramirez and her son at the clinic before Rios arrives; Seven and Raffi scanning Los Angeles for signs of The Watcher.
“Fly Me to the Moon” (205) — Q pestering a Los Angeles waitress about her thoughts on life’s purpose; Tallinn (Orla Brady) stunning a group of partygoers so Jurati can steal their identity bracelets; Adam Soong (Brent Spiner) monologues about genetic perfection as the gang crashes the Europa Mission party and Jurati speaks to the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching).
“Monsters” (207) — Tallinn experiences more of young Picard’s memories while inside his mind; a short moment from Raffi and Seven chasing down ‘Queen Agnes’ in Los Angeles.
“Farewell” (210) — Seven takes charge while the La Sirena gang considers their place in history, much to Raffi’s delight; Seven reports that she, Raffi, and Rios will not be able to help at the Europa Mission launch facility.
The bonus features are rounded out by a four-minute gag reel, letting the sometimes-all-to-serious characters fall away as the fun Star Trek: Picard cast get to have a few laughs while trying to film on noisy Los Angeles city streets — or just having trouble remembering the right Trek talk as they work to deliver complicated line readings.
Michelle Hurd and Jeri Ryan crack up while filming a car chase sequence in “Watcher.” (Paramount)
Overall, this is a great deal of behind-the-scenes material for the 10-episode season — though whether you choose to invest in a purchase for your collection is going to need to depend on your thoughts on Season 2 as a whole.
For the completist, it’s a no-brainer; for folks not too hot on the Season 2 story, it’s still something we’d recommend to keep the Star Trek physical media wheels turning for future releases — though for sure, this season was not everyone’s cup of Earl Grey tea.
Star Trek: Picard is currently in post-production on its third and final season, set to debut in February 2023 on Paramount+ the United States, and on CTV Sci Fi Channel and Crave in Canada. Outside of North America, the series is available on Amazon’s Prime Video service in most international locations.
“A Mathematically Perfect Redemption” is the most experimental episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks to date, going even further than last season’s “wej Duj” in de-emphasizing the Cerritos crew to focus on exploring Lower Deckers of all stripes. But where “wej Duj” focused on heroic Lower Deckers on other ships, this episode focuses on one particular Lower Decker that we’ve had the unfortunate privilege to meet before — Peanut Hamper.
Yes, this week is literally an all-Peanut Hamper episode, following the narcissistic ensign’s adventures after the Exocomp abandoned the Cerritos to their fate at the hands of the Pakleds in “No Small Parts,” left behind after the Titan saved the day in the Season 1 finale.
Engineering her escape from the Pakled debris field and crash landing on the planet Areolus, Peanut Hamper (Kether Donohue) finds herself among a pre-warp civilization of avian people, where she tries to fit in and plan her future.
I enjoyed “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption” a lot, because I enjoy experimental episodes of Star Trek. After nearly 900 episodes, I think it’s okay — and even encouraged — for Star Trek to take risks and try something different, and this episode certainly does that. But I think it is likely to be a bit divisive among fans: I think you’re either going to love this one, or you’re going to hate it. And given what a departure it is from the normal flow and tenor of an episode of Lower Decks, you can’t necessarily fault either reaction.
But for me, I really enjoyed this side trip away from the Cerritos. Peanut Hamper really is an irredeemable narcissist, and Kether Donohue turns in a delicious performance that reflects the many different shades of the Exocomp’s self-serving personality. Donohue, and the script from writer Ann Kim, were also good enough to make me genuinely believe that Peanut Hamper had turned over a new leaf… until it was revealed that she had not.
Areolus and the bird-like people who populate it, the Areore, are faintly ridiculous, but most importantly for an episode like this, they’re also a lot of fun. For example, it’s funny that all the animals on the planet have wings. And the culture and tradition of the Areore are amusing in the sense that there are a lot of bird jokes in this episode.
But most importantly, they end up being a little more interesting than they appear on the surface — and when it is revealed that the Areore used to have starships but chose to abandon technology for a simpler life, they do become a genuinely interesting culture.
“A Mathematically Perfect Redemption” also keeps up the recent streak of Lower Decks revisiting its own characters and concepts and deepening them further. There’s Peanut Hamper of course, but but the reappearance of J.G. Hertzler’s Drookmani captain and Jeffrey Combs’s egomaniacal AGIMUS computer are also welcome returns.
And where the episode ends — with Peanut Hamper confined to the Self-Aware Meglamoanical Computer Storage facility at the Daystrom Institute — portends the possibility of future appearances, and more Jeffrey Combs.
And combined with last week’s “Hear All, Trust Nothing,” I can only state in awe that the animation for this show continues to impress so much. From the gorgeous opening title sequence of the Pakled debris field to the starship battle at the end of the episode, the Lower Decks animators are turning in absolutely spectacular and gorgeous work.
TREK TROPE TRIBUTES
The episode opens with a classic Previously on Star Trek: Lower Decks… in a clear homage to the Berman era of Star Trek and to the dearly departed Majel Barrett Roddenberry.
CANON CONNECTIONS
We see Peanut Hamper use her mini-replicator built into her nose a number of times, which allows her to replicate different appendages to complete tasks, including various tools and a hypospray.
Rawda tells Peanut Hamper that his ancestors could “travel great distances by making the stars fold upon themselves,” which Peanut Hamper quickly points out is describing warp travel. We rarely hear on Star Trek the physics of warp travel explained.
Peanut Hamper pulls out the famous Spock line from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in explaining that “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” as she volunteers to try and sabotage the Drookmani ship.
For the first time, the series skips the traditional opening title sequence – instead presenting the credits over a solemn montage of Peanut Hamper floating through the debris field.
It’s cool to get some alternative views of the ending of “No Small Parts,” from Peanut Hamper’s perspective, including the Titan locking its tractor beam onto the Cerritos.
Peanut Hamper’s inanimate companion Sophia is clearly an homage to Wilson from the Tom Hanks movie Cast Away. But where Hanks’ character mourns Wilson’s loss, Peanut Hamper immediately jettisons Sophia when it’s in her interests — perhaps a clue of things to come!
The Areore present an interesting Prime Directive case about which that the episode only scratches: a race whose ancestors had warp technology, but chose to abandon, such that the current descendants are unaware of the existence of aliens or advanced technology. It feels like they are not breaking the Prime Directive on a technicality!
Overall, “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption” was a fun and experimental episode of Lower Decks that featured some great performances and some very funny moments. Peanut Hamper is an out and out villain, and so just to choose to focus an episode directly on one of the show’s villains was a bold choice.
I expect this won’t be as well loved as the near-perfect “wej Duj,” and that there may even be some people who don’t like this episode at all, but Lower Decks likes to take a big swing each season, and “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption” is the biggest swing of all.
Keep swinging, Lower Decks!
Star Trek: Lower Decks returns with “Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus” on Thursday, October 13 on Paramount+ in the United States, Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics, as well as on CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada and on Prime Video in many other regions.
In addition, stick around to hear Thad’s theory for what the future of the next Star Trek movie might be (after the latest Star Trek 4 setback), and a listener theory about what Brent Spiner’s role might be in the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard.
WeeklyTrek is available to subscribe and download each week on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify— and we’ll be sharing the details of each new episode right here on TrekCore each week if you’re simply just looking to listen in from the web.
Do you have a wish or theory you’d like to share on the show? Tweet to Alex at @WeeklyTrek, or email us with your thoughts about wishes, theories, or anything else about the latest in Star Trek news!
Star Trek: Lower Decks is back for the seventh episode of the new season this week, and today we’ve got new images from “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption” for your review!
This week, there’s just there is just one preview image from this week’s new episode — indicating that Paramount+ seems to be keeping the plot tightly under wraps. Series lead Tawny Newsome (Mariner) has teased that the episode is “bananas” and focuses on a “fringe character,” so you’ll have to make do with that until Thursday arrvies!
The USS Cerritos bridge crew. (Paramount+)
A MATHEMATICALLY PERFECT REDEMPTION — A wayward Starfleet ensign struggles to find a path to redemption.
Written by Ann Kim. Directed by Jason Zurek.
Star Trek: Lower Decks returns with “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption” on Thursday, October 6 on Paramount+ in the United States, Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics, as well as on CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada and on Prime Video in many other regions.
Germany brick-build set company BlueBrixx made their way into the Star Trek universe in late 2020, and their second wave of products caught fans interest this summer with giant construction kits for the Deep Space 9 space station, a full-sized Starfleet phaser rifle, and more.
These kits, both small and large, have been making their way to fans worldwide (as the company is only licensed to sell their Trek wares in Germany) over the last few months, and today we take a good look at the first-wave Galileo shuttlecraft and second-wave runabout Rio Grande builds, with a review from TrekCore reader @IronCaniac.
All review photos courtesy of IronCaniac.
Ever since I was a kid and saw the first LEGO space themed set, I hoped that there eventually would be a Star Trek theme. Alas, despite LEGO adding licensed sets from many pop culture franchises like Marvel, Disney, and Jurassic World over the years, there was never a Star Trek set. That all finally changed when began selling officially licensed Star Trek sets – and as I’m partial to minifig scale vehicles, the first set I chose to get was their 493-piece Class F shuttlecraft.
It’s been a few years since I’ve built a brick set, but I was able to finish this shuttle in just under three hours. Even though these weren’t LEGOs, the build experience was completely indistinguishable from building with LEGO bricks. The pieces fit together just like LEGOs do, likely because LEGO’s patents have expired and now other companies can make brick pieces exactly to LEGO’s specs.
What impresses me the most is just how closely the brick model resembles the onscreen Galileo shuttle from the Original Series. It’s a good thing that shuttle was so blocky in appearance, but it’s also a testament to BlueBrixx’s attention to detail in what they chose to re-create in brick form. The pieces fit together very tightly, making this model very sturdy… except for its nacelles.
The nacelles are the only weak point in the model. As in, literally, they’re a weak point — the front third of the nacelles have a tendency to disconnect if you accidentally put downward pressure on the model’s bow; this is because the shuttle model actually rests its full weight on the nacelles.
Without anything to support the shuttle’s front half, the nacelles’ front sections bear a lot of strain at the segments that contact the surface. This minor shortcoming doesn’t detract from the model at all, though, because the nacelles hold together surprisingly well, all things considered — as long as you’re careful about where you’re putting pressure. You could also solve the problem by placing something like an extra brick or a small display stand underneath the forward bow to support it.
Being in minifig scale, the model naturally has an interior that can accommodate them. There are no minifigs included with the set, but as with the onscreen shuttle, there are seats for up to 8 figures – plus some standing room behind the helm too. Interestingly, the Memory Alpha entry for the Class F shuttle is officially listed as having a crew complement of only 7, so perhaps the extra seat is intended to be for one of the pilots when then they need a break!
The interior is every bit as detailed as the exterior and accurately replicates what was seen onscreen to the extent that is possible in small plastic bricks. There is also an aft compartment that I don’t believe was ever seen onscreen (and is not accessible from the main compartment unless you remove the door).
That could present an opportunity for creativity: customizing the space using other bricks, which I look forward to trying at some point.
The USS Rio Grande was one of the three original Danube-class runabouts assigned to Deep Space 9. It was the only runabout of the original trio to survive the full run of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series. Over the course of the series, the Rio Grande discovered the Bajoran wormhole, crossed over into the Mirror Universe, and even singlehandedly destroyed a Jem’Hadar attack ship.
A vessel with such an illustrious career deserves a tremendous tribute, and BlueBrixx fittingly has made sure that its 3090-piece Rio Grande model lives up to the distinguished runabout.
As with the Galileo shuttle, the most striking initial impression is just how closely this brick-built model resembles the onscreen Rio Grande, both in its exterior and interior. BlueBrixx has recreated just about everything that was depicted onscreen, even the rear sleeping and dining compartment — complete with a replicator! – that wasn’t even seen in Deep Space Nine, but in TNG’s “Timescape.”
Most impressively, the designers have also included things that were never seen onscreen, such as the specialized mission modules in the midsection and engine components in the pylons.
The build experience on this one is best described as similar to running a marathon; proper planning and pacing is a must. The runabout may look sleek and compact when finished, but this massive set is a beast, and more than likely will take you at least a few days to complete.
I wouldn’t consider it a set for beginners, and it’s definitely not a set for kids. The build is still a very rewarding experience, especially when you finally snap on the top cover and start to hear the DS9 theme play in your mind. (Well, maybe that’s just me!)
As the BlueBrixx product page shows, the set includes a rollbar that was seen on some runabouts, most notably in “The Jem’Hadar.” I’ve opted not to include this rollbar on my model, because the Rio Grande was only equipped with this module in just one out of its 40 appearances.
One of the great things for me about brick sets is that you can inject your own creativity as you build. For example, I wasn’t crazy about building the toilet that BlueBrixx included in the instructions, so I used some spare LEGO bricks and custom minifig accessories to create an armory in its place. I think the armory turned out pretty well, and the LEGO bricks fit seamlessly in case anyone was wondering about compatibility.
Now that I’ve built multiple BlueBrixx Star Trek sets, it’s becoming increasingly evident to me is that these kits are clearly a labor of love, developed by devoted Star Trek fans. I’ve noticed many places where the designers could’ve opted for a simpler build but went with a more complex, intricate setup to match more closely the appearance of the onscreen ship as much as possible.
For someone who’s waited a long time for Star Trek themed LEGO sets, it’s such a joy to see Star Trek building brick sets being made by people who really care about paying homage to the franchise and doing their best to recreate some of its icons. I look forward to many more BlueBrixx sets, especially more small craft in minifig scale!
In addition to the new products BlueBrixx announced earlier this summer which are now making their way to collectors’ homes, the company also unveiled a host of new Star Trek builds at the recent Destination Star Trek Germany convention last weekend.
While their convention video is of course presented in their native German language, the new starships and other brick-build designs speak for themselves — expanding the BlueBrixx catalog from the earliest days of warp spaceflight to the far reaches of the Delta Quadrant.
BlueBrixx -- Wave 3 'Star Trek' Builds
1 of 18
USS Voyager (2443 pcs)
USS Voyager (2443 pcs) - image of prototype build
USS Defiant (2856 pcs)
Delta Flyer (1714 pcs)
Delta Flyer (1714 pcs)
Delta Flyer (1714 pcs)
Enterprise NX-01 (492 pcs)
Enterprise-E (489 pcs)
Cardassian Galor-class (144pc)
Cloaked Klingon D7 (580 pcs)
Klingon Bird of Prey (565 pcs)
Klingon Vor'cha (183pc)
Klingon Disruptor Rifle (1286 pcs)
Classic Romulan Bird of Prey (238 pcs)
The Phoenix (120 pcs)
USS Stargazer (220 pcs)
USS Excelsior (131 pcs)
All of BlueBrixx’s available Star Trek build sets are for sale through their website, which ships internationally from their Germany distribution center. (If you’re interested in any of their newly-previewed products, you can sign up to be notified when each becomes available on that page.)
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Have you bought any of BlueBrixx’s builds from their first or second wave of Star Trek releases? Do any of the new Wave 3 builds grab your attention? Let us know in the comments below!
We missed you, Deep Space 9! After years of fans pleading, beginning, and cajoling Paramount for more Star Trek content that directly ties into the station-based spin-off, Star Trek: Lower Decks serves up a whole Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode in the aptly titled “Hear All, Trust Nothing.” This episode isn’t just some winking nod of a tease to DS9, it’s a full on DS9 episode — and it’s great!
The Cerritos is assigned to travel to starbase Deep Space 9 and open post-war trade negotiations with the Karemma. After negotiations overseen by Captain Freeman (Dawnn Lewis) and Colonel Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) get off to a rocky start, the Karemma seemingly kidnap Quark (Armin Shimerman).
Meanwhile, Tendi (Noel Wells) and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) encounter another Orion in Starfleet named Mesk (Adam Pally), while Mariner (Tawny Newsome) is introduced to Jennifer Sh’reyan’s (Lauren Lapkus) friends — and they don’t automatically get along.
There’s a huge amount packed into “Hear All, Trust Nothing,” not least the wonderful and welcome return of Nana Visitor as Kira and Armin Shimerman as Quark. It is so nice to hear both actors play their iconic roles again in animated form, and to revisit Deep Space 9 after all this time.
The animators did an incredible job this week re-creating the unique look and feel of the station, so that all the familiar locations — Ops, Kira’s office, the Promenade, the Wardroom, Quark’s, the holding cells — felt exactly right.
But despite being “the Deep Space Nine episode,” this is still very much a Lower Decks-centric tale: at no point does it feel like the Cerritos crew are being shuffled aside in favor of the DS9 characters, and there is robust and rich character development for both Mariner and Tendi along the way. “Hear All, Trust Nothing” capably services three plotlines, and it has two huge legacy characters.
And that’s no small feat — episode writer Grace Parra Janney does an excellent job balancing the competing priorities of the episode without shortchanging how cool it is to be back on the Cardassian space station.
After all, the DS9 A-plot is a classic Quark misadventure: Quark has a new scheme that is making him a lot of money, and by the end of the episode his scheme has been exposed and he’s lost most of that latinum. It’s a time-honored classic, and it’s so nice to see it back briefly in Lower Decks — plus, it’s so much fun to discover that Shaxs and Kira have a history from their shared time in the Bajoran Resistance. It’s a nice touch.
And while the Tendi B-story has almost no connection to the Deep Space 9 station, it has a lot of thematic connections to Deep Space Nine the show. One of the main themes of that series was that to become your best self, you need to embrace who you are — both the good and the bad.
Tendi learns that lesson here too, ultimately embracing her family history and personal upbringing as an Orion pirate to save the day and rescue Quark from the Karemma — as does Mariner, who learns that Jennifer is only interested in her true personality, not her faux politeness shown when trying to blend in with Jennifer’s friends.
It’s some nice growth for our Orion ensign, who has not gotten as much attention as some of the other characters this season. Seeing her interactions with the showy and ultimately deflated Mesk were a lot of fun, because while he talks a good game about being an Orion pirate — but doesn’t know how to actually BE an Orion pirate — Tendi keeps it to herself and knows all the tricks.
I hope that the integration of this part of her personal history is explored in more detail in the show, and that the one-time Mistress of the Winter Constellation reaches a comfortable place of reconciliation between her Orion nature and her desire to grow and be a better person.
TREK TROPE TRIBUTES
As discussed above, the A-plot of this episode is a classic Quark episode, complete with a get-rich scheme… which ends with our favorite Ferengi losing it all.
My favorite joke in the whole of Lower Decks so far is the way they spoofed the Deep Space Nine opening titles in the episode, with the Cerritos slowly orbiting the station. I love it when they break the fourth wall and comment on a trope like that — that some consider the DS9 main title sequence to be slow and boring. Just so, so well done.
CANON CONNECTIONS
It’s been over five in-universe years since our last visit to starbase Deep Space 9, as “Hear All, Trust Nothing” (set in 2381) takes place half a decade after the events of “What You Leave Behind” (set in 2375).
Colonel Kira remains in command, and there is no indication of either Captain Sisko’s return — or that Bajorhas joined the Federation.
Quark’s bar now has it’s own hexagon-themed logo design, sported on merchandise and in the form of a large neon sign at the bar’s entrance — this will later be seen at the franchise location on planet Freecloud in 2399.
Morn, of course, remains at his usual seat in Quark’s bar.
The Karemma were mercantile members of the Dominion; members of that species previously appeared in “The Search, Part I” and “Starship Down.”
Mariner tries to get out of Jennifer’s friend’s “salon” by claiming that she needs to give the Lower Deckers a tour of DS9 — or else “they’ll get lost and show up in a Mirror Universe with Smiley.” a reference to the alternate-universe counterpart of Miles O’Brien.
The dart board belonging to Miles O’Brien and Julian Bashir is still hanging in Quark’s bar, and Colonel Kira still has Captain Sisko’s baseball on her office desk.
Mesk is drinking a Modela aperitif when he first approaches Tendi, the layered drink Quark prepared for Jadzia Dax in “Dramatis Personae.” Kira and Shaxs each drink one later in the episode as well, as it’s a specialty of the “Quark 2000” replicator.
Rutherford sits with his legs dangling off the upper level of the Promenade, just like Jake and Nog used to do. It looks like there’s less of a prohibition against loitering on the Promenade since Odo left.
We get a couple of references to the Dominion War in this episode, a reminder that in universe it wasn’t all that long ago.
Tendi’s family are members of the Orion Syndicate, the famous criminal organization that has showed up in a number of episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
There are so many great little details in the animated Deep Space 9 station sets, that show the animators were paying attention to the DS9 sets — ranging from the big things like the wheel doors and how they rotate, to the very small, like the triangular stickers that were all over the DS9 set, including on the walls between the holding cells.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS
A surprisingly great Daboplayer, Boimler leaves Quark’s with an armful of gift-shop merchandise thanks to his Quark’s Bucks winnings — including a blue raktajino mug, a Ferengi doll (modeled after the Star Trek Experience “Alien Beans” Ferengi), and more.
The Cerritos was originally meant to be supporting the USS Vancouver – introduced in “Cupid’s Errant Arrow” — before Starfleet asked the Cerritos to lead negotiations with the Karemma and reassigned the Vancouver.
Admiral Buenamigo has a model of the Alamo on his office shelves — Miles and Julian would be proud.
Shaxs describes Deep Space 9 — formerly called Terok Nor — as a “tacky Cardassian fascist eyesore.”
Quark’s has become a franchise by 2381, now expanded out to 21 locations (including one at Starbase 25) — some called “Quark’s Express,” a take on compressed versions of restaurants in US airports. Mariner is less than impressed that her friends are excited about a franchise restaurant, calling them “a bunch of tourists.”
It is unknown whether the Promenade still has the Klingon restaurant, but it does have a “Bat’leths R Us” store.
When Kira enters her office and pauses in front of the window to watch the wormhole open, you wonder if she’s thinking about her lost friend, the Emissary of the Prophets.
Fred Tatiscore pulls double duty in this episode, voicing not just Shaxs but also Karemma trade minister Korzak.
Apparently, there’s no right way to dance the “Kobayashi Maroon.”
If you’re a Deep Space Nine fan, and you enjoyed “Hear All, Trust Nothing,” make sure you say so online. DS9 fans have been feeling a bit neglected by the powers that be — with so much from the OTHER legacy shows popping up in the modern era — and we just got a whole episode featuring two legacy DS9 characters set on the station itself.
“Hear All, Trust Nothing” is exactly what you want from a legacy character featured episode of Star Trek: a great story for our Lower Decks characters, but a great time with some old friends too. I hope we see the station again soon — it’s been too long!
Star Trek: Lower Decks returns with “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption” on Thursday, October 6 on Paramount+ in the United States, Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics, as well as on CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada and on Prime Video in many other regions.
A month after director Matt Shakman moved on from the project, the ill-fated fourth Kelvin Timeline Star Trek film has once again taken a major stumble as Paramount Pictures has removed it from its release schedule.
Most recently scheduled for a December 2023 theatrical release, the latest iteration of the Kelvin Timeline’s fourth outing was announced back in February — to the surprise of the cast — and yesterday, it was scrubbed from Paramount’s future release schedules, as reported by Deadlineand Variety.
While Trek continues its small-screen renaissance on Paramount+, it seems that the wait for another theatrical adventure will continue for the foreseeable future.
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