In addition, stick around to listen to Patrick’s theory about what to expect for the Lower Decks season finale — and how Alex thinks Prodigy will play out, now that we know Captain Chakotay and some other Starfleet officers will also have roles in the show!
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!
After months of shooting in Toronto — including some standard post-season reshoot filming for pickup shots and other additional photography — the cast and crew of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds can finally head home for the year.
Series lead Anson Mount (Captain Pike) made the announcement today on social media, thanking the fans and handing off the show to the Strange New Worlds post-production team who now have the monumental task of finalizing the episodes for a sometime-in-2022 release.
Co-star Celia Rose Gooding (Nyota Uhura) also a photo from her personal last-day-of-filming moment late last month, clad in her red Starfleet uniform.
As Mount laughingly notes, there’s no set release date for when we’ll see this new series arrive on Paramount+ or various international platforms, but as we learn more about the future of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, you’ll read about it right here.
After two months of speculation — fueled by the actor himself at August’s Las Vegas Star Trek convention — CBS has finally announced that yes, Captain Janeway’s right-hand man is back!
Robert Beltran is returning to the Star Trek universe this year as Captain Chakotay in the upcoming animated series Star Trek: Prodigy, following his Voyager co-star Kate Mulgrew’s participation as a holographic version of Captain Kathryn Janeway.
Kate Mulrew and Robert Beltran on the set of ‘Star Trek: Voyager.’
Today’s announcement at New York Comic Con opens a big door for the series, as Chakotay’s return — as a Starfleet captain, no less! — means that there’s likely to be more Alpha Quadrant content in the Prodigy storyline than has been assumed to date, since the main young alien cast is warping about the Delta Quadrant in their found USS Protostar starship.
Joining Beltran in his still-secret Prodigy story is three other members of the show’s recurring cast — in roles that sound like they may be part of Captain Chakotay’s crew.
Daveed Diggs will voice Commander Tysess, an Andorian — Diggs is a Grammy and Tony-award winning member of the original Broadway cast of Hamilton, and currently stars on the TNT television adaptation of Snowpiercer.
Jameela Jamil will voice Ensign Asencia, a Trill — Jamil is best know in the United States for her portrayal of Tahani Al-Jamil in NBC’s The Good Place, and is also one of the leads in the upcoming Disney+ Marvel Studios series She-Hulk.
Jason Alexander will voice Doctor Noum, a Tellarite — The actor still best known for his role as George Costanza on Seinfeld returns to Star Trek, after appearing as Kurrosin the 1999 Voyager episode “Think Tank,” and hosting the 1999 UPN special Ultimate Trek: Star Trek’s Greatest Moments.
Daveed Diggs has his own minor Star Trek connection, as he appeared in a 2014 fan film:
Star Trek: Prodigy also stars Brett Gray as Dal, Ella Purnell as Gwyn, Rylee Alazraqui, Dee Bradley Baker as Murf, Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog, Angus Imrie as Zero, Jimmi Simpson as Drednok, John Noble as The Diviner, and Kate Mulgrew as Hologram Janeway.
* * * *
The USS Protostar’s emergency training hologram, based upon Captain Janeway.
In addition to the casting news, the series premiere of Star Trek: Prodigy, titled “Lost & Found,” also screened for in-person attendees at the show’s NYCC panel, and the official logline for the one-hour episode has now been released — along with an extended clip of Mulgrew as ‘Hologram Janeway.’
LOST & FOUND — A group of lawless teens, exiled on a mining colony outside Federation space, discover a derelict Starfleet ship. 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.
Written by Kevin & Dan Hageman. Directed by Ben Hibon.
We’ve seen “Lost & Found” as well, and you can watch for our review of the Star Trek: Prodigy premiere later this month. We’ll also have interviews with the series’ creators, Dan & Kevin Hageman, along with several of the animated show’s cast, as we approach the October 28 premiere date.
Star Trek: Prodigy premieres October 28 on Paramount+ in the United States (and CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada), with a one-hour opening episode to kick of the show’s first season; it will also be available on Paramount+ in Latin America, the Nordics and Australia.
Additional international premiere dates have not yet been announced.
We’re counting down the days until Star Trek: Discovery returns on November 18, but to hold you over through the next six weeks, a brand new trailer just beamed down out of New York Comic Con!
Discovery’s cast and showrunner Michelle Paradise began their panel at today’s New York Comic Con event today with a look ahead to the upcoming fourth season of the show, where the galaxy is being threatened by a rogue gravitational anomaly capable of destroying ships, planets, and anything else that gets into its way.
Along with the new trailer, the Discovery gang also unveiled the year’s new key art, focusing on the newly-minted Captain Michael Burnham finally taking the USS Discovery’s captain’s chair as her own.
* * * *
That fast-edited trailer holds a lot of imagery from the upcoming season, so here are some of the more notable things we’ve been able to glean about Discovery Season 4!
STAR TREK: DISCOVERY — Season 4 Trailer Breakdown
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The gravitational anomaly.
Discovery approaches the anomaly.
Discovery enters the anomaly.
Discovery loses gravity because of the anomaly.
A scan of the anomaly from Starfleet Headquarters.
Captain Burnham speaks with a group of officers - possibly cadets?
Starfleet and Federation leaders discuss the situation.
The Human/Cardassian Federation president, played by Chelah Horsdal.
Human, Osnullus, and Orion representatives.
Burnham in a black space suit and high-collared leather jacket.
New burgundy Starfleet dress uniforms.
Saru on Kaminar.
Burnham visits Saru on Kaminar.
Captain Saru back on Discovery.
Discovery near an 'opening' Federation HQ station.
Joann Ososekun fights in a boxing ring.
Book screams in the spore-drive chamber.
Book on his home planet of Kwejian.
Burnham comforts an emotional Book.
Adira and Grey aboard Discovery.
Tilly and Adira on an away mission.
An Orion and Tellarite fire phasers aside Adira and Tilly.
Jett Reno in her new gold uniform.
Someone goes for a dangerous spacewalk.
Gabrielle Burnham (Sonja Sohn) and the Qowat Milat on Book's ship.
Sword-wielding attackers fight the Qowat Milat.
The dark soldiers attack Starfleet.
A Starfleet officer fights a Qowat Milat.
An injured Starfleet officer.
In addition to all of that, we also get our first look at a newly-redesigned longtime Star Trek alien: for the first time in live-action since 2002’s “Acquisition,” the Ferengi return in the form of a 32nd century Starfleet captain.
While the pointed segments of this Ferengi’s ears may be a new addition to the species, they actually do date back to Andy Probert’s original 1987-era concept drawings for the large-eared race from the early days of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Andy Probert’s original concept design for the Ferengi.
(The revised look is certain to bring about a lot of discussion among fans, as this is certainly the most modified alien design since the revamped Discovery-era Klingons debuted in 2017.)
We’ll bring you all the news from the Star Trek: Discovery New York Comic Con panel after the weekend’s events conclude — but in the meantime, let us know what you think of the poster, the trailer, and everything you’ve seen so far!
Star Trek: Discovery returns for its fourth season November 18 on Paramount+ in the United States and on CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada, followed by a November 19 return to Netflix in all other international territories.
The Pakled conflict that began in last season’s finale reaches a crescendo with this week’s “wej Duj”… and with great credit to the Star Trek: Lower Decks writing team, viewers have no idea it’s even happening until nearly the end of the episode.
“wej Duj,” or “Three Ships,” from writer Kathryn Lyn begins as a traditional “off-duty” episode, where the Cerritos crew gets a break from regular responsibilities during a long voyage — but before long, the story shifts surprisingly to the lower decks of a Klingon Bird of Prey, and then over to the same bottom-rank levels of a Vulcan cruiser.
Even then, we’re tricked into thinking it’s narrative about how our ensigns’ counterparts in the Klingon Defense Force and Vulcan High Command experience life on duty, in a low-stakes set of parallel stories… until the Che’ta rendezvous with a Pakled vessel, and the real reason behind this “side story” comes into focus.
Ma’ah hesitantly agrees with Captain Dorg’s complaints. (Paramount+)
Way back in the second episode of the season, Captain Riker mentioned that Starfleet Intelligence believed the Pakleds were receiving help from an outside source, and in “wej Duj” we learn that rogue Klingon captain Dorg (Colton Dunn) is that source — supplying the dimwitted aliens with not just information and weaponry, but the deadly Veruvian explosives they’re using to target Earth.
(Knowing the Klingon influence behind the Pakled’s actions explains why the Titan away team saw them using Klingon disruptors, too!)
The Boimler and Mariner alien equivalents — Ma’ah (John Curry) of the Klingon Defense Force and T’Lyn (Gabrielle Ruiz) of the Vulcan High Command — are both very interesting, and I hope that we see more of them in the future. While Ma’ah seems to have earned his way to the Che’ta captain’s chair, we may very well see T’Lyn again after her “hot-headed” outbursts got her booted to Starfleet service.
T’Lyn isn’t very well regarded by her crewmates. (Paramount+)
Life aboard both the Klingon and Vulcan ships are rendered really well, with all the cultural peculiarities that we’ve come to expect from both races — from the harsh Klingon promotional tactic of killing a senior officer to move up in rank, and “punitive spiritualism” after one of T’Lyn’s emotional outbursts.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds may be getting buzz about “returning to episodic Star Trek,” but Lower Decks has been serving up stories for almost two seasons now, while deftly including a low-focus, season-long arc along the way!
The final act’s exciting space battle is thrilling — whether you’ve seen the rest of the season’s episodes or not — because you’re interested in the lower deckers on the Che’ta and Sh’Vahl, but also because the episode also significantly moves forward a key storyline from the season.
Boimler’s always trying to find a way to stand out. (Paramount+)
It’s also great fun to see the Cerritos crew explore their off-duty time, leading to the hilarious image of the ship’s officers sprinting through the corridors of the ship in their leisure wear in the episode’s climax. I’m finding it difficult to come up with new ways of writing “this is great,” every week, but Lower Decks is genuinely a delight.
TREK TROPE TRIBUTES
Many of the Cerritos crew have Next Generation-style hobbies — whether it’s art, classical music, or relaxing in one of many holodeck adventures. Many fanciful outfits can be seen on the off-duty crew, like Napoleon and Peter Pan costumes, smoking jackets, ice-skating attire, or anbo-jyutsu suits.
Boimler enters not one, but two in-progress holodeck sessions without asking, or needing permission. Apparently Starfleet hasn’t fixed that yet!
Dorg joins the great pantheon of Klingon officers who take decide to take the fate of the Klingon Empire into their own hands, a tradition dating back to Captain Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
Sure, just walk right on in. (Paramount+)
CANON CONNECTIONS
Boimler proposes a Stratagematournament to pass the time during the Cerritos crew’s day off, the first time that goofy holographic game has been referenced since “Peak Performance.”
There’s a lot of Klingon culture on display in this episode, including teeth sharpening, murdering a senior officer to move up in rank, eating dinner at a communal table, and the captain keeping a pet targ on board.
Veruvian bomb detonations release metreon particles, a common Star Trek science element that has been referenced in multiple episodes.
The design of the Klingon bridge matches the set seen in early Next Generation episodes like “A Matter of Honor,” the mess hall is designed like the set seen multiple times in Deep Space Nine, and the transporter room is based upon the set used in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Another fine set recreation. (Paramount+)
Ma’ah references the famous Battle of Klach D’kel Brakt — Kor fought in a simulation of this battle in one of Quark’s holosuites in the opening moments of “Blood Oath.”
Dr. T’Ana’s rock-climbing sequence replicates Captain Kirk’s ascent up El Capitan in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier — though she and Tendi smartly wear safety gear in their holographic climb. Boimler represents both Kirk and Spock when visiting the holodeck, wearing Kirk’s “Go climb a rock.” shirt and Spock’s rocket boots.
Freeman and Mariner work out their grievances while playing a game of Velocity in the holodeck, a target-practice game first seen played by Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine in “Hope and Fear.”
A game of Velocity and RITOS workout clothes. (Paramount+)
“Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the end,” says T’Lyn, quoting one of Spock’s lines to Valeris in Star Trek VI.
While the 22nd century Vulcan High Command was dissolved after the events of “United” in 2154, it was back in business by 2257 (“Brother”) and continues to operate into the 2380s. Though separate from Starfleet, officers in the Vulcan service can apparently be transferred to Starfleet vessels without issue.
Vulcan padd designs haven’t changed much in 230 years. (Paramount+)
Klingons and Shakespeare, two great flavors: Dorg echoes General Chang by quoting “Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!” from Julius Caesar.
Like Beverly Crusher and cadet Dorian Collins, Jack Ransom is a “lunar schooner” — a human born on Earth’s moon. Ransom is from Tycho City, like Dorian Collins; the domed town was originally mentioned in Star Trek: First Contact.
Not counting episodes named after individuals (“Darmok,” “Su’Kal,” etc.), “wej Duj” is the fifth episode title to contain only alien words, after “Elogium,” “Empok Nor,” “Tsunkatse,” and “Kir’Shara.” It is the first episode to have an on-screen title rendered in non-human text.
“wej Duj” is the second Season 2 episode which opens without a teaser.
The Klingon Bird of Prey’s name, Che’Ta, translates to “battle.”
Billups has a new soup recipe he wants Rutherford to try, referencing back to the time he called a soup-eating Billups “a stone-cold badass” last season.
Interestingly, the holodeck where Mariner and Freeman play Velocity appears to be designed after the Voyager-style set, even though the Cerritos‘ holodecks have matched the Enterprise-D yellow-grid design in all previous appearances.
The first alien-script ‘Star Trek’ title card. (Paramount+)
The Sh’Vahl is a 24th century update to the Vulcan “ring-ship” starships seen in Star Trek: Enterprise, dwarfing the Cerritos; the larger ship comes to the rescue in a moment mimicking the Enterprise-E’s rescue of the USS Defiant in Star Trek: First Contact.
The captain of the Sh’Vhal is one of the few Vulcans with facial hair we’ve seen in the prime Star Trek universe.
Whenever the episode returned to scenes aboard the Che’ta, the Christ Westlake’s score was quite reminiscent of Jerry Goldsmith’s famous Klingon theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
The Tamarian language is taught at Starfleet Academy; “Carno in the forest, with Mithra” is a Tamarian phrase implying weight gain.
Rutherford’s almost done with his DS9 model – just one pylon to go. (Paramount+)
While relaxing in his bunk, Rutherford is holding a completed Deep Space 9 model, which was a gift from Tendi at the end of “An Embarrassment of Dooplers.”
Mariner and Freeman are playing the Starfleet version of the board game Clue, where the map resembles a Galaxy-class starship; Mariner’s guess at the murder weapon is theTR-116 teleportation rifle from “Field of Fire,” which she calls “the sniper rifle that can shoot through walls.”
The Pakled “clumpship” is called Pakled, and their Red Alert status is simply a repeated call: “Red alarm!”
One day, they’ll rank up. (Paramount+)
“wej Duj” is another highly creative and hilarious episode of Lower Decks, one which hopefully sets us up for a big season finale next week. This season has been a true delight so far, with only one or two “just okay” episodes along the the way, which is a pretty good track record for a series still in its early days.
I am going to be sad next week when this show is done for the year!
Star Trek: Lower Decks concludes with its season finale next week, as Season 2 wraps on October 14 on Paramount+ in the United States and CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada, followed by Amazon Prime Video (in select international regions) on October 15.
As we first reported back in March, the History Channel has teamed up with Nacelle Entertainment (the company behind the Toys That Made Us docuseries, among others) to produce an multi-part series looking back at the Star Trek franchise after 55 years — and today we’ve got a first trailer for the show!
Unveiled on the eve of New York Comic Con, The Center Seat — 55 Years of Star Trek will be airing on the History Channel “this fall” (specific date to be announced), and will feature new and legacy interviews with stars, writers, and producers from all eras of the Star Trek franchise.
Here’s the formal announcement about the series from The Nacelle Company:
The series will be released this Fall just in time for Star Trek’s 55th anniversary, each episode focuses on a different chapter in the groundbreaking program’s history, ranging from its inception at Lucille Ball’s legendary production company Desilu, to its later iterations Deep Space Nine and Voyager. Interviews with cast, crew, and experts reveal never-before-seen backstage stories and offer fresh insights.
No stone is left unturned, including lesser-known aspects of the franchise like The Animated Series and Phase II. Star Trek is the most iconic television science-fiction saga of all time and remains more popular than ever. The Center Seat details how it began, where it’s been, and how it’s boldly going where no television series has ever gone before!
The series includes candid, never-before seen interviews with Star Trek legends such as Nichelle Nichols, Brent Spiner, Kirstie Alley, Walter Koenig, Kate Mulgrew, Denise Crosby, Wil Wheaton, John De Lancie, Nicholas Meyer, Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga, Nana Visitor, Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, Diana Muldaur, Nicole de Boer, Roxann Dawson, Robert Beltran, Tim Russ, John Billingsley, John Dykstra, D.C. Fontana, Rick Berman and F. Murray Abraham.
The Center Seat is directed by Brian Volk-Weiss (Behind The Attraction, The Movies That Made Us, The Toys That Made Us). Ian Roumain serves as showrunner and executive producer, with Gates McFadden, Cisco Henson, Ben Frost and Mark Altman serving as executive producers for the series.
We’ll be sure to keep an eye on this series for more news on availability both on the History Channel, as well as potential streaming and international distribution plans, as further information is announced.
This weekend marks the start of Star Trek: Prodigy’s big push towards the show’s October 28th premiere, as the cast and executive producers of the upcoming animated series make their way to New York Comic Con on Saturday for a world-premiere episode screening and panel for the convention crowd.
The Israeli-born composer first shared how she came to Star Trek through its music, as a young girl the English-language program was indecipherable to her.
“My I was a kid in the 90s, and I think it was TNG playing in the background at my family’s house — and I did not understand any of it. There were people with pointed ears and everyone was wearing different uniforms… I did not really get any of it. And it was in English, so I didn’t understand most of it!
Later, I kind of came to ‘Star Trek’ because of the music, to be honest, like Jerry Goldsmith’s theme, and then I heard the Alexander Courage theme, and I thought it was so, so incredible. So what really drew me was the music, and it’s kind of like a circle back for me, to be working on this amazing franchise — especially one that features Janeway, because ‘Voyager’ is my favorite ‘Trek.'”
She also shared how her time scoring the Short Trek “Q & A” came to pass, the story which showed Ensign Spock’s first day aboard the USS Enterprise.
“The [‘Short Trek’] was the call of my dreams! I started working with Michael Giacchino, who we all know as an incredibly amazing composer. We did ‘American Pickle’ together, and during that time he connected me with Alex Kurtzman, and they offered me that short, and I got so, so, so excited. It was the legendary characters, you know? Spock! I just love Spock, so much.
It was also such a big responsibility too, you know, his first day on the Enterprise. I’m trusted with this? It was an unbelievable moment for me. Luckily it happened very quickly, so I didn’t have time to process — and I’m very grateful for that!
So I wrote the score; we did a couple of passes with feedback, and there were some really great ideas that the producers gave me. We recorded it at Warner Brothers, and I think we had 40 or 45 musicians — which was really cool — and then we mixed it.
The whole thing was pretty quick, maybe three or four weeks… and then it aired!”
Speaking more directly about her work on Star Trek: Prodigy, Melumad — who will be the first female ‘primary’ composer for a Star Trek production — explained how the Budapest-based orchestra behind the animated series’ music is recording the score all in one place, rather than as individual artists (a challenge Discovery has been facing due to pandemic restrictions).
“For the first episode we had 64 musicians, and we stayed around those numbers. Sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller…. depending on the episode and budget.
We started recording once things kind of settled [regarding] COVID procedures; we’re recording in Europe, and the players are together in the actual studio. I’m very glad we’re not doing it [individually] because recording every player separately in their home studio is a mess to edit all those recordings, and they’re not in the same space so there’s way more mixing [required], in terms of getting everyone into that same [sound] space with the mix.
It’s also very time-consuming for the musicians, because they have to operate their own [software]… it’s just a lot, technically. So we got very lucky. [I’m remote, and they’re] in Budapest, and they’re amazing, amazing players. I’m in awe of how they read everything the first time they see it.
We do a first take, obviously there’s little mistakes, you know, but usually it’s good! And then, second take, wow! Third take, we’re fixing some stuff, maybe changing a few dynamics or articulations, but after 10 or 12 minutes or so, the cue is magnificent.”
She also talked about how the character and story drive the musical intent behind each composition.
“It’s very character based… we’re [going with] motifs for these characters, so musically I’m kind of tying it together. [Musically, characters and story] go together, because if you have a moment that is more about Jankom, or a moment that is more about Zero…. it will be story based, for me, music is always story based.
You want to address what’s happening on screen, especially with animation music is such an integral part of moving forward, adding pace and drama and pace and shape to every scene. But it’s also about the characters, and you have to tie it in a certain way that works for that character in the scenario they’re at, whether its danger, or a comedy moment, or hope, or fear — you can play around with those themes to fit that particular emotion.
The thing with animation, especially on this show, it moves very fast. Where you were 20 seconds ago is not where you’re at now! It moves very quickly, and it’s great. It provides you so much opportunity for [different] colors, and the characters are so different — they all come from different places.
I get to really play with the orchestra, and some synth stuff… it’s very fun to make each of them distinct.
[…]
There’s one episode where I’m using a duduk… but you want to do those things only when they’re justified, you know, when you have a specific character, or a strange planet, or whatever fits. I do like using vocals, so there is quite a lot of that in the score, in several styles… for ‘Q & A,’ there’s a choir in the background at the end, and that’s me [singing]!
There’s occasionally a guitar, which is not exactly what you would expect; a little bit of jazzy stuff, too, but of course there is also a large variety of synths which can all be very different.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRCOzlnpLrJ/
Finally, Melumad was asked if music from the legacy Star Trek shows might be included in the episodic score for Prodigy, especially considering the inclusion of a version of Star Trek: Voyager’s Captain Janeway among the series’ cast.
“I am quoting, occasionally, the original fanfare from Alexander Courage; that’s pretty much it. But, I mean, this is about licensing rights and I wish I could quote more, where it fits, but unfortunately we’re not allowed to do that.
There’s no ‘Voyager’ music [with Janeway]; there’s some stuff that resembles it, or something that sounds of a memory to it, but it’s definitely not [from] ‘Voyager,’ no. But we’re doing something else, something new — not just in ‘Star Trek,’ but in other cinematic universes, you don’t want to overuse things.
You would want to do it really delicately, and when it’s the most impactful, you know? If you get that theme all the time, it’s just not exciting anymore. If it was earned by the characters, that’s when you’d want to use the theme, to get the most emotional impact for the viewer.
You’d want to be very particular on your choice when to use the theme.”
You can check out the entire hour-long interview with Nami Melumad — where she discusses her education and early musical experience, other professional projects, service in the IDF, the challenges of scoring for film and television, and more — at The Scotch Trekker’s YouTube channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5Yn_W4mZjg
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In addition, Rylee Alazraqui — who plays the massive Brikar girl Rok-Tahk on Prodigy — appeared on the Catalina Stars: Young and Famous podcast, where she spoke a little bit about her Star Trek: Prodigy experience so far, and how she brings the large alien character to life.
“When I’m voicing Rok-Tahk, I’m kind of just myself. Her character is a very friendly person; she loves animals, and she’s really kind. She’s also really sensitive, and when I’m acting [as] her, being myself is just really easy. How I came up with the character [voice] for her, I was just myself and they liked it!
I started recording the show when I was eight or nine years old, and my voice was definitely very high-pitched in the show [when] we recorded the first episodes…. My voice hasn’t really changed since when I was eight, well, a little bit; it’s gotten deeper I guess. [Laughs]
But I kind of listen, and I watched the trailer recently. I kind of memorized how her voice was, and I just make my voice as high as when I originally did the character.”
“I remember that the other people who went in [to audition] were in for like 15 minutes, and then I came out within like 5 minutes… I know that my mom and I were both thinking I probably didn’t get [the job], but then I got a callback and it just went from there!
I was really excited. I didn’t know what ‘Star Trek’ was at the time, so I had to kind of research about it and watch a little bit of it.”
Finally, as the show has been entirely recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic, Alazraqui shared that to date she has only met one of her Star Trek: Prodigy castmates in real life.
“I’ve met [the other actors] on Zoom for Comic Con, but that’s the only time! I met The Diviner [John Noble] just yesterday actually, while I was filming something; so that was really fun. He’s actually very, very nice in real life!
The other cast I have not met, but I really like working with the writers and the director, they’re really nice. But in October, I’ll be going to New York for an in-person Comic Con!”
Star Trek: Prodigy premieres October 28 on Paramount+ in the United States (and CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada), with a one-hour opening episode to kick of the show’s first season; it will premiere on Paramount+ in Australia on October 29.
Additional international premiere dates have not yet been announced.
Star Trek: Picard is the first show in the franchise to have a non-Federation starship at the center of its adventures, and today we’re taking a look at Eaglemoss’ debut model in its Picard lineup, Cris Rios’ La Sirena!
This Kaplan F-17 Speed Freighter, designed by artist Mark Yang, debuted in “The End is the Beginning” and was a somewhat controversial design among Star Trek ship fans, with its garish red-and-white coloring and outboard impulse engine pods.
La Sirena grounded after a rough landing, and flying at high warp speeds.
Earlier concept designs of La Sirena included versions of the ship featuring a tighter configuration or different coloring, but eventually the final design seen on screen won out — a fire-engine red hull with slashes of white across its many protrusions.
Yang designed the pods to move the impulse engines away from the rear of the ship’s main hull, to allow the ship to have easier cargo-loading capabilities; there’s a large double-door hangar at the bottom of the ship’s aft section, where an engine would basically be “in the way” had it been in a traditional placement.
If you’re curious to know the backstory of the ship and how Cris Rios came to own La Sirena, the recent Rogue Elements novel has you covered!)
La Sirena concept designs by artist Mark Yang.
Eaglemoss’ standard version of the La Sirena model measures in at about 7.5″ long — a larger 10.5″ XL edition is also available — with the freighter’s dynamic shape and coloring well presented in the metal-plastic form.
The top side of the model, featuring its bright coloring, is produced from the company’s standard die-cast metal forming, while the all-black (but significantly detailed) underside is rendered in solid black with just a few thin red or white stripes to break up the darkness.
The ship’s engines are touched with a nice pop of bright blue, both at the ringed intake manifolds on the front of the ship, as well as 14 different points on La Sirena’s aft section; it’s an unexpected color that stands out well, much better than if it was just more red or white, certainly.
The ship’s nose art, which to date has really only been seen well as a FanSets collectors pin, is hinted at on the model, but the pair of tiny decals hardly illustrate the mermaid for whom the ship was named after. If they had been traditional “sticker” decals, the detail may have been more evident, but in their current form it’s more of a blue-green smudge on the ship’s hull.
It’s also a curious decision to release both standard and XL-sized La Sirena models to market at virtually the same time; each size of the ship became available to collectors in the same few-week period earlier this year, but the size difference between the two isn’t really enough for us to recommend one over the other — it’ll all depend on what people want to spend, and how much space they have available.
In all, however, the La Sirena model is a nice representation of the Star Trek: Picard hero starship — here’s hoping the upcoming second season of the show will give us a better look at its on-screen counterpart!
The Official Starships Collection — La Sirena
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La Sirena
If you want to add Star Trek: Picard’s unique La Sirena model to your personal Alpha Quadrant armada, you can pick it up today from the Hero Collector web shop for $54.95 in the United States, and fans in the UK will find it retailing for £39.99.
We’ll be back soon with our next exclusive preview of what’s on the way to Hero Collector’s Official Starships Collection fleet, so keep your sensors locked on TrekCore for all the details!
This week brings us the penultimate episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks’ second season, and we’ve got a new set of images from the honorable “wej Duj” today!
That’s right: while other episodes have included words from the guttural Klingon language, this story is the first Star Trek adventure to be entirely in tlhIngan Hol — a phrase which translates to “Three Ships” in Federation Standard.
During this week’s new episode, Ensign Boimler (Jack Quaid) tries getting chummy with Commander Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) to help build a connection with the senior officer as part of his self-promotion strategy. While he’s trying to get noticed, the rest of the Cerritos crew gets to explore their passions during some extra off-duty hours between missions.
Here are six new images from this week’s episode, featuring Boimler in Captain Kirk’s camping outfit (and Spock’s rocket boots) from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, and Captain Freeman wearing a “RITOS” shirt emulating the “DISCO” shirts worn on Star Trek: Discovery.
Star Trek: Lower Decks -- 'wej Duj' ('Three Ships')
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The ensigns share a breakfast meal. (Paramount+)
Tendi and Boimler go rock-climbing. (Paramount+)
Boimler falls into a tree. (Paramount+)
Mariner and Freeman use phasers on a holodeck. (Paramount+)
Mariner and Freeman play a game. (Paramount+)
Rutherford and Shaxs take a pottery class. (Paramount+)
Though there isn’t anything Klingon-related in the synopsis, teaser, or preview images from this week’s episode, we did spot this Klingon in the Lower Decks Season 2 mid-season trailer which may be a scene from this week’s episode.
Finally, here’s the trailer for the episode, released yesterday on social media:
— Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) October 3, 2021
wej Duj (THREE SHIPS) — Boimler tries to find a bridge buddy while the U.S.S. Cerritos crew has down time during a long warp trip.
Written by Kathryn Lyn. Directed by Bob Suarez.
Star Trek: Lower Decks returns on October 7 with “wej Duj” (“Three Ships”) on Paramount+ in the United States and CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada, followed by Amazon Prime Video (in select international regions) on October 8.
When I sat down to watch the first Star Trek: Prodigy trailers with my family, my children’s eyes were glued to the screen — and as they watched that ‘motley crew’ of young aliens discover and commandeer the USS Protostar, my eyes were watching them.
There was something magical about their reactions to seeing a Star Trek show made just for them, even with less than two minutes of footage. As a longtime fan, were things I noticed that didn’t register with them at all: the classic Trek sound effects, that mysterious third engine on the Protostar, and even what looked like a Kazon. But what did get their attention was the epic scale of this new adventure, and a cast of characters they’re already excited to learn more about.
(They even asked me if there are any books about the Protostar crew to read, which certainly must be a good omen for the Prodigy creative team!)
While Prodigy is ostensibly a kids show, it certainly seems to be designed for everyone to watch it together, as show’s creators Dan and Kevin Hageman have been quick to note that it truly will be for a show for all ages, and for all stages of the Star Trek fancom.
As a parent of three children in the prime target ages for this show — at 11, 9, and 7 — that’s such an exciting prospect to me. I’m a lifelong Trekkie and I wear my love for Trek on my sleeve, but until now Star Trek has always just been “Mom’s thing” at my house, despite my attempts to hook them on the franchise so far.
I’ve showed them episodes they’ve enjoyed, like “Rascals” and “Take Me Out to the Holosuite,” and even translated “The Trouble with Tribbles” into a campfire story (which absolutely killed!), but nothing so far has sent them spiraling into Trek fandom like my experiencing watching Kirk and Spock when I was their age.
Like many fans of my generation, I first found Star Trek through syndicated reruns as a kid, flipping through the channels or reading about it in that week’s TV Guide… but that’s just not how kids of the 2020s discover new television.
These days, basically every episode of every show ever made is available on demand, making it nearly impossible to randomly stumble across Trek like I did — and most streaming services have a “kids mode” which wall off shows not specifically categorized for children, including the legacy Star Trek shows.
Now that Prodigy is on the way, they’ll actually have a Star Trek show that can cut through the noise of today’s nearly-overwhelming media landscape and land right at their feet.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUbKG8nLBi3/
I would absolutely love for my kids to share in the joy in Star Trek that I’ve found over the years, because as a parent, this universe embodies the ethos and values that I want to see them take to heart as they grow up. I want them to experience the thrill of scientific discovery and exploration, to seek out new experiences and new perspectives, to find the beauty of different ways of thinking, and to embrace the the IDIC concept wholeheartedly, while having the courage to stand up for themselves — and for others — to protect it.
Star Trek: Prodigy can be their entry point into this glorious world that I hold so dear, and even the first brief glimpses of the sweeping, cinematic animation style has already pulled them in. The wide variety of characters will, I hope, find someone that they can each relate to, and I’m really looking forward to seeing who each gravitates towards.
We’ll get to see this universe through the eyes of these outsiders, and I’m definitely looking forward to hearing my kids’ thoughts and opinions as they learn about the Federation along side them. Kids are smart, and Star Trek is smart — I know that it will stimulate their minds the same way it always has mine. (I can already imagine a lively discussion about the ethics of the Prime Directive in our future!)
And there is no one I’d trust more to be caretaker to my children — to pardon the pun — on their first venture into the Star Trek world than Kathryn Janeway, so how fitting is it that she’ll be shepherding the Protostar’s young crew on their wild ride through the Delta Quadrant and beyond? I know my kids will take to her right away, the same way I did as a teenager when I first saw her back on Star Trek: Voyager.
We know that the show will have action, adventure, and some “pew pew” moments, but Star Trek is so much more than that — and I can’t wait to see how this creative team delivers on that premise. My hope is that the Trek-ness of Prodigy sneaks up on every newcomer, and leaves them hungry for more… so it’s a good thing they’ll have like 800 more episodes to feed that appetite!
Writer and producer Aaron Waltke has called Prodigy “a tale of hope, wonder, and redemption,” which is exactly what all of our children need and deserve right now, after their childhoods have been turned upside down by… well… everything. My kids are ripe to soak up those themes, and I am so thrilled that Star Trek is giving such a gift to them — and that we’ll get to experience it together.
Watch for her weekly Star Trek: Prodigy reviews here at TrekCore when the series debuts!
Star Trek: Prodigy premieres October 28 on Paramount+ in the United States (and CTV Sci Fi Channel in Canada), with a one-hour opening episode to kick of the show’s first season; it will premiere on Paramount+ in Australia on October 29.
Additional international premiere dates have not yet been announced.
Star Trek: Lower DecksSeason 1 Blu-ray
Star Trek: Lower DecksSeason 2 Blu-ray
