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STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Season Finale Review — “A Quality of Mercy”

July 7, 2022

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Season Finale Review — “A Quality of Mercy”

“A Quality of Mercy” was a fantastic bookend to the debut season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and a haunting mirror of the season premiere reminding us that it’s called “destiny” for a reason — sometimes, you just can’t escape your fate.

We open as Enterprise works a resupply mission to the Romulan Neutral Zone, accompanied by the USS Cayuga under Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano), last seen leaving Pike’s wintery cabin back in the premiere. It’s nice to see her back, even if she doesn’t seem to have a story-related purpose in the opening moments beyond reminding us of her existence.

The more important moment comes when Captain Pike (Anson Mount) finds that the son of Outpost 4’s station commander Hansen Al-Salah (Ali Hassan) is none other than one of the cadets he’ll see die in his future Delta radiation disaster — a cold slap that rocks Pike’s usually-calm on-duty demeanor.

Determined find a way to save the kid from the coming disaster, Pike begins to draft a letter to young Maat Al-Salah (Chris River) to warn him about what’s to come…. and that’s when an older, world-weary Admiral Pike appears to the captain, claiming to be a version of himself from the future where his letter has caused a ripple effect which saved Christopher Pike — but brought a disastrous impact to the Federation at large.

After proving he is, in fact an older version of our Enterprise captain, Admiral Pike explains that he’s come back in time to prevent a disastrous turn of history — one that is, apparently, the fault of our Pike surviving the training accident. The Klingon monks of Boreth (last seen in “Through the Valley of Shadows”) have once again granted access to a time crystal, allowing Admiral Pike the chance to come back and warn our captain about what’ll happen if he tries to get out of his dark destiny — by thrusting him into his own “healthy” future to see how things go wrong in other, unexpected ways.

Pike finds himself quantum-leaping into his 2266-era self, landing right in the middle of an all-too-familiar wedding ceremony which is thankfully interrupted by a red alert siren — but to any Original Series fan who recognizes his surroundings, this isn’t just another call to battlestations: we’re about to find out what happens when Captain Kirk isn’t around to lead Starfleet’s first Romulan encounter… as Captain Pike steps into “Balance of Terror.”

The idea that Strange New Worlds might try to “remake” Original Series episodes in a way that erases or minimizes the classic Trek series has been debated in fan circles since the show was first announced, but what “A Quality of Mercy” brought us — showing us what happens when this crew gets put through the paces, without impacting any of the work the 1960’s cast and creatives put into “Balance of Terror” — is probably the best way the concept could have been handled.

It’s also great to see a similar approach is applied to the visuals, staging, camera moves, and the performances, from the addition of gold rank braids on everyone’s Starfleet uniforms, to the familiar sight of now-Lieutenant Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) in a classic-style uniform (and wearing Nichelle Nichols’ green hoop earrings), to Spock (Ethan Peck) having a more stoic persona (and a much tidier haircut) — and that push-in to Spock’s eyebrow-raising surprise at the sight of Romulan ears is a great return to the exact same moment in “Balance of Terror.”

The key difference here is Pike’s presence: instead of bringing Captain Kirk’s determined, decisive leadership to this incredibly-tense scenario, Pike’s peacetime persona (combined with his arrival to this unfamiliar era) leaves him unsure in the critical moment. He knows this is the inflexion point of the timeline, but how? It’s a little contrived — surely the actual Pike of 2266 would not be so unsure of himself, but I think it gives the whole thing such a stark difference.

It’s even apparent when the two plots go over the same ground, such as when the Enterprise returns to the recently-attacked Outpost Four. Pike’s apprehension around the mysterious aggressors is obvious, even as the Romulan Bird of Prey emerges from its cloak to destroy the station. It’s just as chilling as the original story, but this is also the point where the plots diverge, as Enterprise is joined by a sudden ally — Captain James T. Kirk (Paul Wesley) of the USS Farragut.

It’s a surprise twist to this episode, and a good one (though unfortunately spoiled by the opening credits). We’ve known for months that Wesley was coming aboard as Captain Kirk for Strange New Worlds Season 2, but giving us this ‘sneak preview’ of his performance — albeit one from seven years into an alternate future — was a wonderful surprise.

And honestly? His Kirk is good! It feels like Jim Kirk! It’s also very fun seeing Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte) describe his brother in the classic tropes: studious charming and risk-taking. “He doesn’t like to lose” is such an obvious allusion to what we know of Jim from The Wrath of Khan that you can’t help but smile. There have certainly been some points where all the winking and nudging that Strange New Worlds has done this season started to become a bit annoying, but here it really works. (After all, Jim Kirk is the origin of so many Trek tropes that he’s earned it.)

Kirk comes aboard, we get to run through even another classic “Balance of Terror” moment, the “end run” around a nearby comet — but this version lacks the decisiveness of the original scenario, thanks to Pike’s role as Enterprise captain. His determination to bring the Romulans to the negotiation table is a perfect comparison with Kirk’s plan in both the original and alternate timeline. It fits with the Pike we’ve come to know so well: he is more contemplative than Kirk, and more willing to press for dialogue — but he’s also one to sometimes agonize over decisions rather than jump to make a snap call in the moment.

This is made immediately apparent when, after maneuvering around the comet, the Romulans are predictably nowhere to be found. Instead of reacting instinctively — as Kirk does in “Balance of Terror” — Pike holds which gives the Bird of Prey its opening to cripple the Farragut. Enterprise takes a bad hit too, severely damaging her weapon systems. It is interesting to see here the direct difference between Pike and Kirk in this moment, as it appears Pike simply doesn’t have the same kind of tactical instincts of Jim Kirk.

They’re just two very different types of starship captains, and here they pay the price for their differences — with the lives of Starfleet officers. Kirk isn’t happy, and his confrontation with Pike is positively brilliant; for the first time, we see Kirk lambasting an ineffective superior officer from the other side of the coin — and he’s right. If Pike hadn’t hesitated, the Romulans might not have attacked. Wesley plays it excellently, and he shines as Jim Kirk without resorting to a Shatner impression.

With both Enterprise and the Bird of Prey crippled, Pike makes the Pike gesture: he opens a channel to the Romulans, offering a chance for a two-hour ceasefire. The Romulan Commander (Matthew MacFadzean) takes some persuasion, but he eventually agrees in a gambit to repair his ship during the pause. Even as both crews set to work repairing their damaged engines and weapons, Pike can’t help but feel that something worse is to come, even when Kirk suggests a reinforcement ruse. Pike agrees, but his focus is still on peace — the speech he gives to the Romulan Commander about the possibility of friendship is hits almost all the same beats as the stellar speech in the first episode.

He has no chance, though; the devious Romulan Subcommander (Mathieu Bourassa) — named Decius in “Balance of Terror” — called for backup through his own influential connections we heard about in that classic episode, which arrive in the form of a massive fleet lead by none other than the Romulan Praetor (Carolyn Scott) herself. She’s not interested in talking, and actually considers the parlay itself to be a sign of weakness — one that means the Federation is ripe for invasion.

Whatever cards Pike plays, from Kirk’s surprise ‘Starfleet reinforcements’ — in fact, robotic mining ships from the Neutral Zone outposts — to the reveal that Starfleet knows about the Romulan cloaking device, the Praetor isn’t stopping. He can’t charm them into peace the same way he charmed the people of Kiley 279. The Romulans were determined to start a war, and succeeded, and there was nothing Pike could do about it.

Even with Kirk using the drone ships to protect the Enterprise, Pike cannot avoid disaster: the Romulans have smelt blood and have now declared war on the Federation. The worst is to come, though, as the Romulan fleet’s parting shots caused significant damage to the Enterprise — as well as its Vulcan first officer, leaving Spock incredibly injured. Pike finds him in sickbay under the eye of a devastated Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush), with Spock’s body burned and broken, and his mind damaged beyond repair — Pike has saved himself, but Spock has paid the price.

Admiral Pike returns, teasing a bit more of what is to follow this disastrous experience: the war with the Romulans will last for decades, and Spock — who will, in “real” history, leave a centuries-long legacy from reunifying the Vulcan and Romulan civilizations, not to mention help to save Earth from both V’Ger’s arrival and Whale Probe destruction and negotiating peace with the Klingon Empire — won’t be around to help. (“He’s got places to be,” says Admiral Pike. Don’t we know it!)

Pike does get one last gift from his trip into the future, though: a chance to sit down with Jim Kirk and get to know the man who will eventually take the reins of the Enterprise. We never knew exactly why Kirk was assigned to take over the Enterprise after Captain Pike left the ship (beyond his Starfleet aptitude), so this may be the first step of Pike lining up his successor.

He’s decided to commit to his own fate, but at the same time leave his starship in the capable hands of someone he knows can guide the Enterprise and her crew into the future.

Returning to his own time in 2259, Christopher Pike has finally accepted with his destiny: while he may suffer when the time comes, the consequences of avoiding that outcome are too big to ignore — and he chooses to enjoy the time he’s got with the crew he loves, including Spock, who can sense that his captain has done something for which the Vulcan owes him a great debt. (One which he will repay through the events of “The Menagerie,” no doubt.)

All is well aboard the Enterprise, but the season won’t end there: Captain Batel returns with an urgent assignment to arrest Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn). It seems news of the Enterprise first officer’s Illyrian heritage, revealed back in “Ghosts of Illyria,” has made its way to Starfleet Command, and they are not happy about it.

He tries to stop the security officers from taking Number One away, but Una asks her captain to stand down — but knowing Christopher Pike, this fight is just getting started. It’s a twist that I really don’t think we needed here, and one that rips Pike right out of his personal moment of peace just to set up what’s coming when the show returns next year.

If they were really determined to end with this, the cliffhanger would have worked much better if they’d moved it to a mid-credits or post-credits position in the edit: let Captain Pike have his “happy ending,” let us viewers catch our breath, then give us the setup tease for Season 2.

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

Admiral Pike wears a modernized version of the Wrath of Khan-era “Monster Maroon” Starfleet uniform, blended somewhat with the Strange New Worlds duty uniform. The alternate-future design seen here features embossed leather paneling, a slightly-different closing clasp, and a variety of “pip and squeak” rank badges. (Robert Fletcher would be proud.)
Though mentioned in “Balance of Terror” and in “Conspiracy,” this is the first time we’ve actually seen the Federation-side Neutral Zone outposts.
Captain Batel’s ship, the USS Cayuga, is another Constitution-esque ship similar to the crashed USS Peregrine seen last week.
The couple being married in the cargo bay — here credited as simply “Groom” (Ian Rayburn) and “Bride” (Megha Sandhu) — are clearly meant to be Robert Tomlinson and Angela Martine who Captain Kirk nearly married in “Balance of Terror.” The couple seems to be cursed in all timelines, it seems: Tomlinson died in “Balance of Terror,” Martine was killed in “A Quality of Mercy,” and they both died at Krall’s hand in Star Trek Beyond.

The Enterprise’s lighting, sound effects and visuals have been significantly altered to bring the ship close to its “Balance of Terror” appearance; the bridge lighting has been lowered, and certain computer noises have also had their volume increased. The exterior of the ships remains untouched, however — in Captain Pike’s alternate future, the warp nacelles still lacking the round caps at the rear they would gain after “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”
Most of the dialogue spoken before Captain Pike hails the Romulans is taken directly from “Balance of Terror,” with some lines here handed off to Dr. M’Benga, and Lt. Stiles‘ push to attack handed off to Lt. Ortegas. (Thankfully, Stiles’ anti-Vulcan bigotry didn’t carry over.)
Christopher Pike is now the only Federation officer (that we know of) to understand the truth behind the Romulan species: they’re a divergent race who originated from planet Vulcan. Not revealed to the rest of the galaxy until “Balance of Terror” in 2266, it will be interesting to see if this knowledge comes to use in future Strange New Worlds stories.

Captain Kirk’s starship, the USS Farragut, is finally seen for the first time; with its underslung warp nacelles, it appears to be a smaller predecessor to the Miranda-class design first seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Her internals (redress of the Enterprise bridge) are also slightly different, with blues and bronze highlights instead of the blacks and reds of the Enterprise.
In this alternate future, Spock has taken the first officer role after Una’s “deception” and exile; La’an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) has let her hair down and now serves as Number One to Captain Kirk aboard the Farragut, and there’s no sign of either Lt. Sulu or Dr. McCoy aboard the Enterprise.

Nurse Chapel and the rest of the Enterprise medical staff wear pale blue jumpsuits in the Romulan encounter future, an era-appropriate color change which leaves the white “present day” medical outfits in the pre-Original Series past.
Like in “Balance of Terror,” we don’t learn the name of the Bird of Prey’s Romulan commander — but in a nod to their Next Generation-and-beyond look, these TOS-era Romulans now sport brow ridges and more refined uniforms and helmets.
Unlike Commodore Oh’s fleet at the end of Star Trek: Picard’s first season, this Romulan armada contains a large variety of different vessel shapes and sizes.
The song which plays over Pike’s return to duty is “Makin’ Memories” by Melissa Carper.

While working in a Jeffries tube to repair the ship’s weapon systems, Spock is assisted by an unseen engineer with a rather distinct accent and demeanor. Sure, the credit just calls the red-shirted mystery man “Engineer,” but I know an Aberdeen pub crawler when I hear one!
In their final discussion, Captain Kirk tells Pike about his father George, who served as first officer of USS Kelvin before heading to Iowa where Jim grew up (before moving to Tarsus IV). This is the first time the “prime universe” story of George Kirk has been told since we learned about the Kelvin in the 2009 Star Trek film — confirming his tenure aboard that ship occurred in both universes — but unlike in the Kelvin Timeline, “our” Kirk family (and the Federation at large) never encountered a dangerous Romulan from the future, the Kelvin was not destroyed, and George Kirk was not killed in action, allowing him to raise his sons Jim and Sam.

“A Quality of Mercy” is a very good ending to a very decent season of Star Trek. It gives us a definitive answer to whether Pike can escape his fate, while also providing a difficult foil to Pike’s own worldview. He can’t talk his way out of a war with the Romulans; it is, in fact, his presence as captain of the Enterprise that presages war in the first place. He is not the right man for that moment — but he’s the right man in the center seat for this moment.

Considering how this season began — with Pike preventing war through words, and actions of trust — seeing him being placed inside his own personal Kobayashi Maru test is great. It’s not perfect; I felt like some of the middle of the episode dragged slightly, and the weird conference call section between Pike, Kirk, the Romulan Commander, and the Praetor was incredibly clunky — but I can put those aside to celebrate the good story this episode brought us.

There is, of course, the big million-credit question: can Paul Wesley do justice to James T. Kirk? The answer to this viewer is a resounding yes. He’s got the stance, the piercing stare, the slight smile, and the delicate cadence.

Years of seeing other people play Kirk in fan films or in parodies with over-the-top William Shatner impressions make it difficult to see it take a while for me to feel out Wesley’s subtle performance — unlike Chris Pine, who very correctly plays his Kirk as a very different person in the Kelvin Timeline films, Wesley (like Ethan Peck before him) is challenged to bring that classic Kirk to life by channeling Shatner’s 1966 portrayal.

It is still the same Jim Kirk though; charming, erudite, but passionate — and I’m looking forward to seeing where this new-yet-old version of Jim Kirk goes in Strange New Worlds Season 2.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds‘ debut season has been interesting, after a great start and even after some odd (but not silly) choices made along the way. It’s never been dull, never redundant, and it always gives its viewers something to talk about. It has, however, been safe — very, very safe.

Despite how some may have reacted to its choices, Star Trek: Discovery took big risks from the jump, from its radical redesign of the Klingon species, its ‘visual reboot’ towards costume, set, and prop design, or centering its focus around a disgraced Starfleet officer.

The series just isn’t taking risks. Season One has been tropey to a point of constant lampshading, both in terms of plots and characters — but it’s done it well, using the strong performances of this cast to carry the weaker moments in ways other shows might have fallen flat.

I’m not saying that “no risk” equals “bad show,” but this is Star Trek — risk is our business! That’s what this franchise is about, and why we’re still aboard her! Here’s hoping that Season Two takes a few more leaps without a safety net when Strange New Worlds returns next year.Star Trek: Strange New Worlds will return in 2023 for an already-filmed Season 2, currently in post-production. The last five episodes of Season 1 will continue to roll out to the UK and Ireland on Paramount+ this summer; additional international distribution has not yet been announced.

All 6 Original STAR TREK Films Beam Down on 4K Blu-ray in September, Plus TMP Director’s Edition & Special Longer Version

Ken Reilly

July 6, 2022

106

All 6 Original STAR TREK Films Beam Down on 4K Blu-ray in September, Plus TMP Director’s Edition & Special Longer Version

It’s been nearly a year since the first four Star Trek films arrived on 4K Blu-ray, when the theatrical edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture joined Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home on the ultra high-def format and in newly-remastered presentations.

The final voyages of the USS Enterprise-A are now about to be completed, as Paramount Home Entertainment announced today that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country will finally arrive this September to round out the six-film 4K UHD Blu-ray collection — along with Robert Wise’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition in both a standard and limited-edition 4K release.

Along with standalone 4K releases of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home — previously part of last September’s four-film collection — all six Original Series films are now going to be available in a new 15-disc collection arriving September 6.

New additions from the 2021 release include Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition (3 discs), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (2 discs), and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (2 discs).

Full contents for the 15-disc collection which you can preorder today:

· NEW! Star Trek: The Motion Picture —The Director’s Edition (4K + Blu-Ray)
· NEW! Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition Bonus Content (BR)
· Star Trek: The Motion Picture Theatrical Cut (4K + BR)
· Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Theatrical & Directors Cut (4K + BR)
· Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (4K + BR)
· Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (4K + BR)
· NEW! Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (4K + BR)
· NEW! Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Theatrical & Directors Cut (4K + BR)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) will be presented in 4K UHD with HDR-10 and Dolby Vision, boldly remastered from the original film elements; a Blu-ray disc containing the remastered presentation will also be included. (A standalone Blu-ray is also available.)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) will be presented in 4K UHD with HDR-10 and Dolby Vision, boldly remastered from the original film elements; a Blu-ray disc containing the remastered presentation will also be included. (A standalone Blu-ray is also available.)

Before his time aboard station Deep Space 9, Rene Auberjonois starred as the devious Colonel West in the director's cut of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country."#StarTrek #ReneAuberjonois pic.twitter.com/eSJMYs8TfO

— TrekCore.com 🖖 (@TrekCore) December 8, 2019

Notably, this edition of Star Trek VI will include Nicholas Meyer’s director’s cut of the film, which includes sequences cut from the theatrical edition — including the appearance of Rene Auberjonois as devious Starfleet strategist Colonel West, and some edits to the Spock/Valeris mind-meld sequence near the end of the film.

Those scenes have previously been available only on VHS, DVD, and in certain streaming-service presentations of the movie; this will be the first time the Star Trek VI director’s cut will be available in high definition on home media.

After beaming down to Paramount+ back in April, the long-awaited 4K remaster of Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition is finally arriving on disc September 6, in a two-disc set packed full of new behind-the-scenes bonus content (as well as bonus features from previous releases).

While a two-disc standard Blu-ray release is also available, the two-disc 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray edition will feature The Director’s Edition in Dolby Vision and HDR-10, as well as with a Dolby Atmos sound mix for those of you with supporting home theater systems.

Here are the full contents:

DISC ONE

· NEW! Audio Commentary with David C. Fein, Mike Matessino, and Daren R. Dochterman
· Audio Commentary by Robert Wise, Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra, Jerry Goldsmith, and Stephen Collins (from 2001 DVD release)
· Text Commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda (from 2001 DVD release)

DISC TWO

· NEW! The Human Adventure —An all-new 8-part documentary detailing how the Director’s Edition came to life

– Preparing the Future: How the remastering began
– A Wise Choice: The storied history of Robert Wise
– Refitting the Enterprise: How the Enterprise design shaped future federation starships
– Sounding Off: Exploring new dimensions of sound in Dolby Atmos
– V’ger: The conception and restoration of an iconic alien antagonist
– Return to Tomorrow: Reaching an already high bar with new CGI effects
– A Grand Theme: Behind the iconic, influential music score that shaped the franchise’s -future
– The Grand Vision: The legacy and evolving reputation of this classic movie

· NEW! Deleted Scenes
· NEW! Effects Tests
· NEW! Costume Tests
· NEW! Computer Display Graphics
· Additional legacy bonus content

While the new commentary from the trio of driving forces behind the Director’s Edition is a lovely inclusion, the one thing this does seem to be missing is the 2007 audio commentary track Fein, Matessino, and Dochterman recorded for the DVD edition of the film which we’ve saved in the TrekCore archives here for posterity — so if you want that for your legacy DVD copy of The Director’s Edition, you’re welcome!

The fully-remastered and enhanced Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition will also released in a massive three-disc special limited set this September, as The Complete Adventure will contain not only the Director’s Edition and theatrical cut of the film in 4K UHD, but it will also include 1983 “Special Longer Version” as an exclusive feature.

Producer David C. Fein also confirmed the “Special Longer Version” 4K edition will include one shot of previously-unfinished VFX, which we’ve learned will be a fix for the infamous exposed-rafters shot from Kirk’s spacewalk departure.

There is one previously unfinished vfx shot, yes.

— David C. Fein (@DavidCFein) July 6, 2022

The “Special Longer Version” (also known as the “ABC cut”) included nearly 12 minutes of additional footage not seen in the theatrical edition which originally aired on ABC in the United States in 1983 and had a decent life on home media up until the mid-1990s. This will be the first official release of this cut of The Motion Picture since its last VHS edition in 1991.

Beyond two additional cuts of the film (which will not be on the standalone 4K release of The Director’s Edition), the additional on-disc bonus content will be identical to the standalone TMP:DE set.

Full contents:

· NEW! Star Trek: The Motion Picture —The Director’s Edition (4K)
· NEW! Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition Bonus Content (Blu-ray)
· NEW! Star Trek: The Motion Picture Theatrical Edition + Special Longer Version (4K)

Along with the on-disc content, The Complete Adventure also includes replica Motion Picture promotional material, stickers, poster art, and more in its oversized packaging. The limited edition The Complete Adventure set also arrives September 6 and is available for preorder today.

As for the four Star Trek: The Next Generation films, while not announced for 2022, we highly expect them to follow on 4K Blu-ray in 2023 to coincide with the return of the TNG cast in the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard; the remastered edition of Star Trek: First Contact is already available on Paramount+.

In the meantime, let us know what versions of the classic Star Trek films you’re going to be adding to your own collection as we wait for September to get here!

STAR TREK: PRODIGY Lands on Nickelodeon Beginning July 8

TrekCore Staff

July 4, 2022

STAR TREK: PRODIGY Lands on Nickelodeon Beginning July 8

For those of you in the United States who haven’t yet joined the Star Trek Universe on Paramount+, the kid-friendly Star Trek: Prodigy animated series is finally coming to the Nickelodeon cable network — the original planned home for the USS Protostar crew — later this week.

Announced on Friday (we’ve been away for the holiday weekend, so apologies for the delay!), Star Trek: Prodigy will air the hour-long “Lost and Found” premiere episode on July 8 at 8PM ET (and again at 8PM PT), with the 8 subsequent episodes each week through Friday, August 5.

Here’s the official word on the matter:

STAR TREK: PRODIGY BEAMS TO NICKELODEON FRIDAY, JULY 8

Original Animated Series Featuring the Newest Crew to Join the Iconic Star Trek Franchise Comes to Nickelodeon This Summer

Ordinary kids embark on extraordinary situations in the original animated series Star Trek: Prodigy, making its weekly debut on Nickelodeon beginning Friday, July 8 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT). In the one-hour premiere, “Lost & Found,” Dal must gather an unlikely crew for their newfound ship if they are going to escape Tars Lamora, but The Diviner and his daughter Gwyn have other plans. Episodes will continue to debut Fridays on Nickelodeon through August 5.

“Generations of fans around the globe love Star Trek, and we’re so excited to introduce our young audience to the franchise when Star Trek: Prodigy airs on Nickelodeon this Summer,” said Claudia Spinelli, Senior Vice President, Big Kids Animation, Nickelodeon. “The Nick DNA is woven into the heartwarming friendships, high-stakes action, and beautiful animation, making this series a perfect fit in our content library.”

Star Trek: Prodigy follows a group of lawless teens as they discover a derelict Starfleet ship and use it to search for adventure, meaning and salvation. The teens know nothing about the ship they have commandeered – a first in the history of the Star Trek franchise – but over the course of their adventures together they will each be introduced to Starfleet and the ideals it represents.

The network also release the following teaser video to celebrate Star Trek: Prodigy’s arrival to Nickeloeon.

Star Trek: Prodigy will return for ten more Season 1 episodes later in 2022; the series has already been renewed for Season 2, expected in 2023.

New STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Season Finale Photos — “A Quality of Mercy”

TrekCore Staff

July 4, 2022

New STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Season Finale Photos — “A Quality of Mercy”

Believe it or not, this week marks the end of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ first season — and today we’ve got a new collection of photos from the year-ending “A Quality of Mercy” for your review!

We highly recommend stopping here and watching Thursday’s episode with as little knowledge as possible — going in blind to “A Quality of Mercy” will be the best experience!

In the final Enterprise adventure of 2022, Captain Pike considers his path forward after encountering someone who brings his dark fate front and center — leading the officer to wonder if he can save himself from the future.

Here are seventeen new photos from this week’s episode, which features the return of Captain Batel (Melanie Scrofano) who was last seen in the season premiere, and Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) wearing a new uniform and lieutenant’s stripes on her wrists.

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS — Episode 110: 'The Quality of Mercy'

1 of 17

And in case you haven’t seen it, here’s a preview clip from “A Quality of Mercy” which debuted in last week’s episode of The Ready Room, along with the official Paramount+ trailer for the upcoming episode.

A QUALITY OF MERCY — In the Season One finale, just as Captain Pike thinks he’s figured out how to escape his fate, he’s visited by his future self, who shows him the consequences of his actions.

Written by Henry Alonso Myers & Akiva Goldsman. Directed by Chris Fisher.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds caps its first season with “A Quality of Mercy” on Thursday, July 7 on Paramount+ in the United States, Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics, as well as on CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada.

The episode will follow on Paramount+ in the UK and Ireland later this summer; additional international distribution has not yet been announced.

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Review — “All Those Who Wander”

John Concagh

June 30, 2022

169

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Review — “All Those Who Wander”

“All Those Who Wander” is a bug hunt — and this, to me, was not a good thing. I’m still not sure what exactly the game plan with this week’s outing was, beyond “Hey, remember Aliens?” I just don’t understand the need to do that kind of storytelling in a Star Trek format, especially in the context of Strange New Worlds.

The episode starts in a vaguely sensible place, with Cadets Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) and Chia (Jessica Danecker) attending a farewell party as their Academy rotation aboard the Enterprise is coming to an end. Uhura still finds herself to be unsure about place in the world — and in Starfleet — which has always been the strongest thread this season; even it’s only briefly touched upon in this episode, it’s nice to see it picked up properly for the finish.

There’s no chance to dwell on it, as Starfleet has tasked Enterprise with a priority mission: the USS Peregrine (NCC-1549) has gone dark in their vicinity, crashing on the planet Valeo Beta V, a know communication dead zone. Despite Enterprise’s main mission — the time sensitive delivery of power cells to Deep Space Station K-7, the Peregine must be salvaged and her crew rescued.

So it’s time to go on a road trip, as Captain Pike (Anson Mount) calls it — while Number One (Rebecca Romijn) and the Enterprise travels onward to K-7, the captain leads a two-shuttle landing party to investigate, bringing Spock (Ethan Peck), La’an (Christina Chong), M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun), Chapel (Jess Bush), Hemmer (Bruce Horak), Sam Kirk (Dan Jeannotte), the newly-minted Lieutenant Duke (Ted Kellogg), and Cadet Chia along for the ride.

What they find on Valeo Beta V isn’t pretty: Peregrine is perched at the edge of a deep ravine, with her warp drive out and ships’ batteries inoperative. 20 members of her crew, including her captain, lie dead outside in the surrounding snowy tundra — showing signs of death as a mix of exposure and some sort of savage physical attack.

Worse, it turns out that the cause of the disaster came from three passengers who made their way onto the vessel — one of whom was carrying Gorn eggs within him. The Gorn are back! In evil, unthinking, animalistic, unapproachable form! Oh, joy. Thankfully, though, it appears that the crew’s frozen graves managed to draw the Gorn hatchlings outside, with the elements killed them.

The crew (stupidly) split up, with Hemmer heading to engineering to restore power while the rest of the team search for the two life sign readings. La’an, Pike, and Uhura encounter a strange alien guarding a human child, both identified by La’an as survivors of a Gorn breeding colony.

The alien — cutely named Buckley (Carlos Albornoz) by young Oriana (Emma Ho) — says the monsters are gone, but La’an doesn’t buy it. Her conviction is vindicated when an unwell Buckley, after some heavy wheezing and oozing of blood, collapses to the ground as four (!) Gorn hatchlings burst from his body, killing poor Cadet Chia in the process.

I do not like Gorn chestbursting, simple as that. I was barely okay with the idea of Gorn breeding colonies as a concept, but I gave it it’s due because it was interesting, but chestbursting? It’s visceral, yes, but it’s not really Star Trek, right? (I’m deliberately ignoring “Conspiracy” because it was awful there, too.)

Surely we have better things to do than write the young of a spacefaring civilization as horrifying lizard people, who burst out from aliens and rip people apart. Apparently not, considering how we’ve heard the Strange New Worlds showrunners continue to refer to the alien race as ‘the perfect monsters.’

Apparently not. Instead, we get the rather simplistic — though well-acted and filmed — horror of Gorn hatchlings menacing the crew, and dragging off poor Lieutenant Duke into the darkness to devour him while spitting venom at Hemmer and Uhura.

There are some sweet moments, like La’an reminding the terrified Oriana that’s there’s more to living than just surviving (the same advice she heard from Captain Pike in the season premiere) and Hemmer giving Uhura more sage wisdom about and her fears of connection, but it all sits within the deeply-disappointing Aliens-inspired story which would feel much more at home in the world of, say, Starship Troopers.

That’s not to say they don’t get the tropes right — Sam Kirk’s anger at Spock, calling him a
“pointy-eared computer” is a perfect classic-era jab as you can get, but it just all sits atop this very unnatural setting. Even as they plot to trap and kill off the remaining three Gorn aboard the ship, it all still feels wrong. Gorn aren’t animals — we saw them pilot several starships with tactics and communication only five episodes ago, and yet they’re being talked about as such, without any attempts to contemplate or understand them.

Yes, they might be scary and different, but having a species who we know are actually intelligent, with legitimate grievances (yet to be discovered by our characters) as being just monsters, crawling around on their arms and legs and trying to rip everyone to shreds… it just feels like such a weak use of the race.

I will say that I did quite enjoy Spock’s battle with his emotions here, both when they are suppressed and when he finally frees them to try and bait the Gorn out with anger — yelling and screaming at them with all his unleashed fury. Peck does it well, and his instinctive lunge for Sam Kirk was frightening (but I’m not quite sure why Spock had to unleash his emotions in the middle of this bug hunt).

The character work is great! Everyone is acting their hearts out, thanks to good writing and great directing, but the Gorn are just part of the environment now. Even their attack in “Memento Mori” was calculated, impersonal, vicious — but still clearly that of an intelligent species. Here? They’re just brutal animals, tearing each other apart just the other side of a doorway, or jumped from bulkhead to bulkhead as they chase La’an down to the cargo bay to pound ceaselessly on the container she’s hiding in.

It seems so tonally dissonant to me that Strange New Worlds –- a show that has been largely about bridging gaps between different people and different worlds, which opened with an episode about how conflict was not always the inevitable end to everything –- is just perfectly comfortable with committing to the Gorn as being closer to a Demogorgon from Stranger Things than a interstellar society.

With the Gorn defeated, all seems well — until Hemmer reveals that he’s been infected with a final dose of Gorn eggs, making it too late to save the engineer who has already prepared himself to die to keep his Enterprise crewmates safe.

Beyond the rather concerningly short incubation period of these Gorn, I am bewildered and annoying at the decision to — quite literally — ice Hemmer at this point. While the Aenar was apparently always planned to be a single-season role according to the shows’ creative team, it’s just a weird choice. Bruce Horak played an exceptional character who deserved a lot more screen time than he got, and a much better ending than dramatic cliff-dive out of a cargo bay after appearing in barely half the season.

There’s just something about this that also feels cheap. The drama is on point and all our heroes are affected deeply by his sacrifice, but it still doesn’t feel right. To bring in a very good actor and an important piece of disability representation, and then let him go out like this? If this season had been 22 episodes long, I think I could have forgiven this happening in the penultimate episode. We’d have had time to explore all the facets of Hemmer, either as the primary character in a plot or as part of the ensemble cast — but in Strange New Worlds’ tight ten-episode run it seems like such a waste of potential.

Hemmer’s funeral is sad, and cut off a little as Spock leaves to confront his still-uncontrolled anger, bashing up a corridor wall and nearly injuring Nurse Chapel before she calms him down — and assures him that his emotions are no weakness. Jess Bush is very good at handling these emotional scenes, and hopefully we’ll get more of them next season.

The final unexpected touch was the departure of La’an, who takes a leave absence to search for Oriana’s family outside of Federation space — if she couldn’t ever get her own family back, La’an at least has a chance to help another victim of Gorn terrors.

Sounds like a Season 2 setup to me!

CAMP NONSENSE OF THE WEEK

This week’s award goes to Captain Pike, who cheekily referred to the rescue mission as a road trip — hopefully, most of his other road trips don’t involve parasitical eat-you-from-the-inside alien infestations.

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

In a new interview with Bruce Horak published at The Hollywood Reporter today, the actor confirmed that while his time as Hemmer has ended, he’s not done with the Star Trek world — a good thing for a fine member of this cast.
The Peregrine is described as a Sombra-class starship, built using Constitution-class parts to serve as a kind of fast explorer vessel. The resemblance between the two designs is quote close close, though with a few distinct differences (including darker red nacelle caps and a shorter secondary hull).
Peregine’s internal color scheme — a redress of the Enterprise sets using blues and greys instead of the hero vessel’s bright oranges and blacks — may be an homage to the original color scheme of the Enterprise bridge set in “The Cage.”

Also like “The Cage,” the landing party’s mission jackets feature attached hoods to protect wearers from the environment, along with protective goggles reminiscent of those worn by Number One and Dr. Boyce in that original production.
The Enterprise’s main destination this week was Deep Space Station K-7, the primary setting of “The Trouble With Tribbles.” The nearness of K-7 to planet Valero Beta V implies that it — and potentially Gorn-occupied space as well — may be quite near the borders of the Klingon Empire.
Emma Ho — who plays young survivor Oriana — is the sister of Ian Ho, who portrayed the young First Servant of Majalus in “Lift Us Where Suffering Cannot Reach” just a few weeks ago. (The pair also appeared together as brother and sister in the “Strange Dogs” prologues in the final season of The Expanse.)
Can Captain Pike please make me breakfast? If La’an can have that kind of reaction to an egg quiche, sign me up!

The character work is great, especially with Spock’s emotional walls breaking down and La’an finally fighting her worst enemy, but overall, I just can’t come to like “All Those Who Wander” — it just seems wrong, somehow. What was the point, beyond some gory scenes, a mildly interesting bait-and-switch montage, and the chance to knock off a character for good by infesting Hemmer with deadly Gorn eggs and then have him jump into a ravine?

Think about the greatest monster episode of the Original Series – The Devil in The Dark – and how the story follows a similar path. Horrifying monsters killing all the encounter, impossible to find, growing more dangerous with every minute…and yet right at the end, we find out that the monster is just a terrified mother, trying to protect her children from destruction by clueless miners, who drop all of their violent bellicosity the moment they find out they’ve been destroying a sentient being’s children.

This is not to say that Star Trek can’t play around with the horror genre… but where’s that twist? Where’s the moment of fear from the Gorn, the possibility of mercy, the moment of mutual growth? Maybe it wasn’t deemed necessary. Maybe it is impossible to come to terms with a species that embeds it’s young in other beings like that. But the writers could have written it to be like that. Instead, they went with this – and I’m disappointed.

The episode will follow on Paramount+ in the UK and Ireland later this summer; additional international distribution has not yet been announced.

New STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Photos — “All Those Who Wander”

TrekCore Staff

June 27, 2022

New STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Photos — “All Those Who Wander”

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ first season is nearly at its end if you can believe it — and today we’ve got a new collection of photos from “All Those Who Wander” for your review!

In the penultimate Season 1 episode, the Enterprise crew arrives at an icy planet where the fellow Starfleet vessel USS Peregrine has crashed to the surface — but as the landing party investigates the downed starship, thing turn quickly as the offers find themselves being hunted by a dangerous creature.

Here are 42 new photos from this week’s episode:

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS — Episode 109: 'All Those Who Wander'

1 of 42

And in case you haven’t seen it, here’s a preview clip from “All Those Who Wander” which debuted in last week’s episode of The Ready Room, along with the official Paramount+ trailer for the upcoming episode.

ALL THOSE WHO WANDER — The U.S.S. Enterprise crew comes face-to-face with their demons – and scary monsters too – when their landing party is stranded on a barren planet with a ravenous enemy.

Written by Davy Perez. Directed by Christopher J. Byrne.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returns with “All Those Who Wander” on Thursday, June 30 on Paramount+ in the United States, Australia, Latin America, and the Nordics, as well as on CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada.

The episode will follow on Paramount+ in the UK and Ireland later this summer; additional international distribution has not yet been announced.

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Review — “The Elysian Kingdom”

John Concagh

June 23, 2022

STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS Review — “The Elysian Kingdom”

“The Elysian Kingdom” is textbook costume campiness from start to finish, and offers a rather neat ending to this season’s M’Benga family story — but beyond a lot of amusing silliness, there’s not much too it.

Our story begins with the Enterprise surveying a nebula, while the good Dr. Joseph M’Benga (Babs Olusanmokun) reads his daughter Rukiya (Sage Arrindell) her favorite book, a fantasy story from which we’ve heard brief excerpts twice this season: “The Kingdom of Elysian.” Kiya loves the tale, but complains actively about the plot in typical kid fashion. The doctor promises her that when she grows up, she can rewrite the ending to be whatever she wants — but that possibility of her reaching adulthood seems to be slipping from his grasp a bit more every day due to her incurable illness.

After a gentle push from Una (Rebecca Romijn) to take a break from his exhausting research, M’Benga heads to his quarters — but this just happens to be when the bridge crew finds that the nebula is giving the ship trouble, and after an attempt to leave the area, Lt. Ortegas (Melissa Navia) is slammed to the deck, badly hurt in the process.

When M’Benga wearily arrives to the bridge after reporting for medical action, though, he finds the command center adorned with regal banners, and everyone present — including Captain Pike (Anson Mount) and Ortegas herself — transformed into medieval characters, complete with period costumes and mannerisms.

It’s camp! Very camp! Especially as we watch M’Benga stumble around, trying to figure out what’s happened to the Enterprise and his shipmates — including his own new role as “King Ridley” — and putting up with the bickering between royal rivals, the prideful yet cowardly “Sir Rauth” (Pike) and the brave but aggressive “Sir Adya” (Ortegas).

He heads to sickbay, where M’Benga finds Nurse Chapel (Jess Bush) as woodland healer “Lady Audrey” — but even a working tricorder doesn’t reveal any clues to what’s going on, besides high dopamine levels among the Enterprise crew… and the hyperactive and bombastic support of La’an (Christina Chong) as “Princess Thalia.”

Thalia (and her little doggy, Runa) shares her excitement over M’Benga’s possession of something called the Mercury Stone, a powerful relic which can free the Kingdom from the control of evil Queen Neve — M’Benga doesn’t know what she’s talking about, but he plays along to keep the “story” moving along until he can figure out more about what’s going on.

Just when it seems like the doctor is all alone in this crazy situation, he finds Hemmer (Bruce Horak) — dropped into the role of “Caster the Wizard,” but as self-aware as M’Benga — being dragged away by Queen Neve’s Crimson Guard, commanded by navigator Lt. Mitchell (Rong Fu).

Mounting a rescue mission to free the Aenar, the team comes across Spock (Ethan Peck) as the second wizard of this tale, “Pollux,” who leads them through the woods to the dark queen’s realm. M’Benga and his group finally make it to “Queen Neve,” and her throne — where Cadet Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) brilliantly chews the scenery, taking them all captive with the help of Pollux’s sudden yet inevitable betrayal.

M’Benga, Hemmer, and his merry band find themselves locked away in Queen Neve’s dungeon (the ship’s transporter room, with added steel bars!) where the engineer reveals that some kind of alien consciousness has taken over the crew’s minds — something Hemmer was only able to rebuff thanks to the natural telepathic abilities of the Aenar mind.

Thanks to the power of science — and a laser scalpel — the group manages to make their escape, though they’re quickly intercepted by Pollux (Spock) and the Crimson Guard, where Adya (Ortegas) has some swashbuckling fun, only to be nearly defeated… but that’s when Una saves the day, dropping into the fight as the dark archer “Z’ymira the Huntress.”

Finally making it to Main Engineering, Hemmer and M’Benga find that the Jonisian Nebula outside the Enterprise is the source of the storybook fantasy; the gas cloud is in fact sentient, previously-theoretical spontaneous consciousness known as a “Boltzman brain.” This rather remarkable discovery is passed over very quickly while the pair try to figure out why it has transformed the Enterprise from thoughts out of the doctor’s head, only to realize that it’s not M’Benga who sourced the Elysian fantasy, but Rukiya — the young girl has re-written the ending of her favorite story, just as she had wished in the opening moments of the episode.

The girl isn’t anywhere to be found, though, not even her usual home inside sickbay’s transporter buffer; M’Benga remembers that his daughter always wanted to see his quarters, so they head that way quickly — only to once again be stopped by Queen Neve’s forces, after learning that Rukiya is the actual Mercury Stone she’s been seeking.

All seems lost — including Rukiya — until Hemmer intervenes with his magical “Science!” powers, banishing the evil queen and her guards to the “Event Horizon” — more accurately, Cargo Bay 12, thanks to some clever work with the transporter. M’Benga finds his little princess in his quarters, where he learns Rukiya has been watching the entire adventure thanks to her new “friend,” the sentient nebula.

Thanks to Hemmer’s telepathy, M’Benga manages to speak with the nebula directly, explaining his concern for the Enterprise crew (and for his daughter). He learns in return that the nebula found Rukiya to be similar to itself, a lonely being in search of companionship; the medieval fantasy was a gift to allow the kid to experience childhood in a way her transporter-stasis life wouldn’t allow.

It’s bittersweet, especially because M’Benga knows the entity is right, in a way — but it also a massive waste of an important plot point. M’Benga has deprived his daughter of a childhood, and you would think that making his reasoning clear to an entity that does not know disease or pain should be a challenge, right? But no, it’s just tagged on here briefly. We instead have to deal with the doctor’s impossible choice: save his child from her illness, and leave the crew as fantasy characters, or return everything to normal — including Rukiya’s terminal disease.

There is, however, a third option: Rukiya can join the nebula as a second consciousness, living on in the void of space together. It’s heartbreaking, but both M’Benga and his daughter agree on it, even if he cannot join her. He must let her go, which he does as she disappears in a multicolored ball of light — only to reappear as an adult, to thank him and tell him he did the right thing.

Years have passed for her and “Deborah,” the name she’s given to the nebula (named for M’Benga’s late wife), and they’ve had countless adventures together in the few seconds she was away from the Enterprise. They’re happy! And he should be too. Once again – sweet and simple. Then again, the contrivance of having M’Benga be told to his face that he made the right choice is heart-warming to watch, but obvious and a little cheap. He is left alone, smiling, as the crew return to normal, remembering nothing of the last five hours of high fantasy nonsense.

CAMP NONSENSE OF THE WEEK

This week’s award goes to Anson Mount as the cowardly Lord Rauth, who is utterly absurd and camp for the whole episode. Plus, that hairstyle? Pure nonsense!

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

While briefly mentioned in “Children of the Comet,” the usefulness of the Aenar telepathic ability was previously put on display in the Enterprise Season 4 Romulan trilogy.
Queen Neve’s “Crimson Guard” are a rather obvious allusion to Star Trek redshirts.
“The Kingdom of Elysian,” the storybook on which this week’s adventure is based, is written by none other than Benny Russell — the alter-ego of one Benjamin Sisko whom the Deep Space Nine captain inhabited in “Far Beyond the Stars.” (It’s rather fitting that this story of fantasy worlds — used to mask painful realities — is written by such a person.)

The dreamer once again becomes the dream. (Paramount+)

The Boltzmann brain is a real thought experiment from the late 19th century.
Once again, despite Melissa Navia’s swashbuckling focus this episode, Strange New Worlds is just not giving us a deep dive into Erica Ortegas. (This is becoming a pattern!)
In an amusing touch, Lord Rauth’s map of the fantasy realm is shaped like the Enterprise.
Princess Talia’s furry friend is Christina Chong’s own dog, Runa Ewok… but the real question I’m forced to ask is, did that dog already exist aboard the Enterprise? If it’s not a crewman’s pet, was the dog blinked into existence — and then out again — by that sentient nebula?!

Christina Chong and her dog Runa Ewok. (Photo: **Christina Chong on Instagram**)

Babs Olusanmokun is absolutely stellar throughout the hour, and I’m very thankful that both he and Bruce Horak got to take the limelight this week as the key players — but the thing about “The Elysian Kingdom” is that it’s, well, safe. That’s not always a bad thing, but many of the first-season episodes (beyond the ending to “Lift Us Up Where Suffering Cannot Reach” a few weeks ago) have been playing things a bit it too safe for my tastes.

And this is a show that knows it can take bigger swings. This episode has allusions to riskier character or plot choices — with its passing hints towards Adya and Z’ymera’s very close relationship — but there’s nothing particularly challenging or uncomfortable here. Even the reveal of Dr. M’Benga’s first name, the particularly-anticlimactic “Joseph” smacks of hesitancy, when “Jabilo” — the aptly-chosen first name used for years in Star Trek novels — was right there for the taking.

I think it’s clear that everyone — and I mean everyone, from costumers to writers to actors in roles both big and small — had an insane amount of fun on this episode. Everyone is hamming it up, especially Gooding, and I have to commend that, but it’s just… that. It seems a lot closer to a Christmas Panto show than anything else; writing from London, though, I admit that’s a reference which may be lost on our American readers.

Episodes like “The Elysian Kingdom” give us much of the aesthetic and ambience of the Original Series, but without the ethical substance. I understand and accept that classic Trek wasn’t always like that, but Strange New Worlds seems incredibly unwilling to engage with it in detail. Some of the Original Series does this, too — “Catspaw” is good example — but other episodes well-known for the high levels of nonsense, such as “Return of the Archons” or “I, Mudd,” usually had some sort of point about social trends, none of which is found here.

There’s a lot more to classic Star Trek than just silly costumes and clunky noises — a desire to tell plots that make you think and ask questions of our society. There is some cursory engagement with questions around terminal illness and engagement here, but it is slim. With Strange New Worlds aiming to recapture that classic Trek vibe, there must also be room to say something more about the world, right?

The episode will follow on Paramount+ in the UK and Ireland later this summer; additional international distribution has not yet been announced.

EXO-6 Assimilates Seven of Nine to Its STAR TREK: VOYAGER Collective

TrekCore Staff

June 22, 2022

EXO-6 Assimilates Seven of Nine to Its STAR TREK: VOYAGER Collective

Following quickly behind Captain Janeway, the Doctor, and Lt. Commander Tuvok, everyone’s favorite former Borg drone just beamed into the rapidly-growing EXO-6 Star Trek 1:6-scale character collection.

Announced for preorder on June 21, Seven of Nine is the company’s newest addition to their line of Star Trek: Voyager figures. In development now — all product images below are of the EXO-6 prototype design — the Seven figure is going to have a longer production and fulfillment timeframe compared to earlier releases due to new body engineering.

As EXO-6 describes it in their product announcement:

“She’s been in development longer than any other character and we knew we had to get her right. But after a long wait, a little teasing, and a lot of anticipation, we are very happy to finally have Star Trek: Voyager’s Seven of Nine ready for pre-order.

Seven has a newly developed body that will set the standard for female EXO-6 figures going forward. She has gone through several expensive tests and different sculpts, trying to get the body as close as possible to the ideal form.

Due to the more complex production methods used for this body the time from pre-order to delivery won’t be at the same warp speed as previous EXO-6 releases. She will need about six months to arrive in the Alpha Quadrant – but it will be worth the wait!”

Clad in her later-season magenta costume — complete with color-coordinated tricorder and phaser holsters mounted on a waist-mounted belt — the final Seven of Nine figure will include a Voyager-era compression phaser rifle, Type II hand phaser, a Starfleet science tricorder, data padd, and five pairs of hands featuring the character’s unique Borg specifications… right down to a set of extended assimilation tubules.

This new Seven of Nine figure will measure in at approximately 11″ tall, and will come with its own display bases like all of EXO-6’s other 1:6-scale figure — you can preorder it now at the EXO-6 website, where the figure retails at a $220 price point ($20 immediate deposit required).

Keep checking back to TrekCore for the latest in Star Trek collectable news!

STAR TREK EXPLORER Issue #3 Arrives This Month; Read an Exclusive Excerpt from a Special Kate Mulgrew Interview

TrekCore Staff

June 22, 2022

STAR TREK EXPLORER Issue #3 Arrives This Month; Read an Exclusive Excerpt from a Special Kate Mulgrew Interview

Issue #3 of Star Trek Explorer, the official magazine for the Star Trek Universe, beams down to subscribers next week — and we’ve got an exclusive look at a new feature interview with Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Prodigy star Kate Mulgrew from the new release!

Between her return in Prodigy, adding her voice to the long-running Star Trek Online game, and her legendary leadership of the starship Voyager, franchise favorite Kate Mulgrew gets her own spotlight feature in the latest issue of Star Trek Explorer.

Kate Mulgrew as Captain Janeway then… and Hologram Janeway today.

Here’s an exclusive excerpt from the lengthy interview with Explorer writer Ian Spelling:

Janeway is back… in more ways than one! Not only is Kate Mulgrew reprising her iconic Star Trek: Voyager role in animated sensation Star Trek: Prodigy, but in massively multiplayer online RPG Star Trek Online as well. So how does it feel for the actress to be portraying a holographic Captain Janeway, an animated Admiral Janeway, and a menacing Mirror Janeway all at once…?

“Let me tell you something,” Mulgrew marvels. “From the moment I stepped onto that bridge 25 years ago, I knew that anything was possible. It has been! That’s truly the legacy of Star Trek. Once you undertake a role like this, the captain of a starship, you’re asking for a wild, wonderful, and phenomenal experiences to befall you. And so, they have. It was not a terrific surprise that I was called to voice the character that I created. It was simply a great pleasure. I thought it would have been so disappointing had they given it to somebody else to imitate me, but they didn’t. That’s the wisdom of [Executive Producer] Alex Kurtzman. Smart guy.”

That said, it wasn’t a no-brainer.

“No, it wasn’t actually,” she notes. “I gave it some real consideration over quite a long period of time. But I was so enamored of Alex Kurtzman’s approach and of his intelligence that I didn’t consider too long. The reality is, nobody else could voice it but me, in order to make it an honest success. I think people will respond to the face that it is Mulgrew’s voice in the embodiment of Janeway, but I’m thrilled that he asked me, and I’m thrilled to be doing it. It’s really been quite a happy and satisfying experience.”

Mulgrew begins to describe how Janeway came back to her “almost immediately,” but then course corrects to stress that the character “never left me.” As a result, when she sat in front of a microphone to record her dialogue for Prodigy, Janeway spilled out of her as if it were the 1990s and she was looping dialogue for an episode of Voyager.

“It’s so deeply imprinted,” Mulgrew says of Janeway. “She resides within. She never leaves, and she’s never far. When the scripts were given to me, the booth was closed. Particularly being within the circumstances of the pandemic, I felt a real need, almost a calling, to just get her back, and to let her go. That’s what happened. It was wonderful. Lovely.”

Star Trek Explorer #3 features a wide range of Trek content, including an interview with Q actor John de Lancie focusing on his return in Star Trek: Picard, a trip behind the scenes of Star Trek: Prodigy with the show’s creative leaders, and two new short stories: a Captain Proton adventure from Voyager writer Lisa Klink, and new Khan Singh short story from the master of Khan fiction, author Greg Cox.

The newsstand and subscriber-exclusive covers of STAR TREK EXPLORER #3.

You can read the full interview with Star Trek: Prodigy’s Kate Mulgrew, along with all of that other good stuff from the Star Trek Universe when Star Trek Explorer #3 goes on sale June 28 — head over to Titan Magazines’ site to subscribe, or to pick up back issues of the previous Star Trek Explorer releases if you missed them!

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