#the secret star trek episode

[cookieroll]

Captain, I’m afraid we may have beamed down to the wrong side of Barbie Land.

[spockvarietyhour]

Hoshi knows exactly what's she doing and she's milking T'Pol on this for all she's worth

[spirk-trek]

so i just watched the first episode of the animated series

that was fun as hell. scotty went flying at one point and it was the funniest shit ive ever seen. they replaced my boy chekov with some random alien. jim fully elbowed mr kyle out of the way to use the transporter console. also kyle has a moustache now???

10/10 media experience

oh yay!!!! i love tas, you're in for so many good times!!!

can't wait for you to watch yesteryear adshbgfhjg. i really like bem and the albatross too. oh, and you get to meet the special pink tribbles!!

tas is like double the whimsy of tos :') they have so much fun with the planets and aliens since they don't have to build them out of foam and paper mâché anymore lmfao

[allegriana]

Paramount, I'm desperately clutching your leg and begging for a bonus musical episode set entirely on the Klingon ship.

[warlordfelwinter]

i want all the boring voyager episodes that were never filmed where they meet nice friendly aliens who don't have any ulterior motives and nothing terrible happens

[bagheerita]

"Inquisition" fails the DS9/SGA test that "Whispers" passed with flying colors.

[firstofficerkittycat]

i need carolyn palamas to call me bacteria rifht now

[thegeminisage]

i wasn't gonna trek blog on here bc i didn't want anyone to be able to figure out which fic i was complaining about last month but i just finished requiem for methuselah and my jaw is on the ground. was that a good episode? ehhh. but the final scene???? i quite literally stood up out of my chair. i went back and replayed it 7 times. i paced around my house for nearly 15 minutes going "what the FUCK was that" aloud. catnaps aside i haven't slept in 40 hours and i think it truly. TRULY broke me

[jonberry555]

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Under the Cloak of War REVIEW

My Review of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2. Episode 8: "Under the Cloak of War." "Captain Pike and his crew welcome a Klingon defector aboard the Enterprise, but his presence triggers the revelation of some shocking secrets."

[charlesemersonwinchesteriii]

me accidentally watching The Die Is Cast for the first time on the day of the Succession finale 🤝 me accidentally rewatching The Wire on Father's Day

[labrats-and-clonetroopers]

Nothing gives me more delight than canonical crossovers. An actual alien failing to land a role on Star Trek: Enterprise because his performance didn't feel "alien" enough to Jonathan Frakes and John Billingsley is pure gold and I will never stop obsessing over that episode.

[jamdoughnutmagician]

Of course we know that Eddie is the big fantasy nerd, with his love of D&D, he was probably an avid reader of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and almost definitely made Wayne sit through numerous re-watches of The Wizard of Oz as a kid.

But when he gets together with Steve he realises that Steve 'the hair' Harrington isn't quite the meat-head jock that he remembers him to be in high school.

Eddie was flicking through the channels looking for something for them to watch when Steve comes in holding a bowl of popcorn in his hands as he scoots up close to Eddie.

"Hey, go back a minute, I think I saw something good." Steve says, tapping Eddie on the arm.

Eddie flicks back the channel and it lands on a re-run episode of the original series of Star Trek.

"Man, I used to be obsessed with this show as a kid." Steve says, throwing back a handful of popcorn. "Never missed an episode."

"Wait, you wanna watch Star Trek?" Eddie asked, raising his eyebrows at Steve's admission. His boyfriend was a secret geek.

"Yeah it's a good show. I think I even dressed up as Captain Kirk for Halloween one year. " scratch that Steve Harrington was a full on nerd.

"Sure, we can watch this." Eddie smirks, settling back against Steve.

"Hey, Eddie, did you ever watch that show about the alien in the time-travelling police box?"

It appears that the nerd-levels ran deep with Steve.

Eddie shakes his head at his boyfriend.

"Always watched that one too, actually, I still do." Steve smiles. "My grandma knitted me the long multicoloured scarf for Christmas when I was younger."

"Stevie, why didn't you tell me you were such a science fiction nerd?"

"You never asked."

Eddie might have been the fantasy lover between the two of them, but when it came down to it, Steve was most definitely the sci-fi geek.

[spockvarietyhour]

[tell-me-your-vision]

Remember- y’all remember that other time Spock lost control? Because the whole crew got taken over by that thing that basically made them lose all their inhibitions?

And Spock’s reaction to this was to have a breakdown and start crying because he can’t even tell his mom he loves her and meanwhile he’s having all these FEELINGS about Kirk?

still cannot believe Star Trek canonically made an episode where the plot was ‘Spock goes into heat and is going to die unless he has sex but then he rolls around on the ground with Kirk and pins him down and chokes him and after that he’s fine". 

Also this episode establishes that touching and sharing thoughts is so intimate that it is used to seal an arranged marriage pact…in the same episode where in an earlier scene Kirk just casually grabs Spock’s hand and Spock seems cool with it. 

Oh. And ALSO. After Spock has explained to Kirk that he is in heat and needs to have sex or die he’s all “Captain, there is a thing that happens to Vulcans at this time. Almost an insanity, which you would no doubt find distasteful.“ And Kirk’s response is to kind of raise an eyebrow and say “Will I?” in a way that suggests very much the opposite.

I just. This show was something else huh. No wonder it manifested modern fandom and fanfiction culture. 

[trillscienceofficer]

from Sci-Fi Universe magazine, October 1996

COLOR TELEVISION: DEEP SPACE NINE's colorblind perspective deserves credit for not being simply black and white entertainment

by Eric Wallace

Here's a story that may or may not be apocryphal: In 1967, Nichelle Nichols decided to leave Star Trek at the conclusion of the fledging show's first season. Soon after making this decision, Nichols met Dr. Martin Luther King while attending an NAACP fund-raiser. Upon learning of ner decision, Dr. King proclaimed, "You cannot leave. You're opening a door that simply must not be allowed to close." Dr. King went on to explain how Nichols' portrayal of Uhura demonstrated to Americans each week that blacks could live, work and prosper in racially-mixed situations. Consequently, Nichols changed her mind, and the rest is history.

Fast forward to 1996, twenty-eight years after Dr. King's assassination. I'd love to say that Nichols' decision resulted in a multitude of positive black roles on television. But I would be lying. Television reflects the society from which it springs and the fact is that blacks continue to be under-represented in positive, let alone leading, roles on American television.

Thank God for Deep Space Nine. Here is a show that not only features blacks in prominent supporting roles—Jake, Cassidy [sic] Yates, Worf—but has a black male star—Captain Benjamin Sisko. This is cause enough for celebration among black television viewers searching for positive portrayals of their own. But DS9's importance to the black community goes further.

From Good Times' JJ to Martin Lawrence on Martin, it is no secret that "the clown" is the most common image for blacks on television. "The gangsta" and "dope addict" run a close second. Limiting the entire black populace to these three images is not only offensive, but just plain false. This is not to say that black people aren't funny or that we aren't burdened by troublesome individuals. We are. But we're also much more: we are novelists, millionaires and world leaders like Alice Walker, Quincy Jones and Nelson Mandela. So where are these images in American programming? Not in most networks' prime-time line-ups. Perusing the latest copy of TV Guide will confirm this.

Instead of offering up more destructive stereotypes, DS9 boasts strong black characters who behave like genuine, complex, unique individuals. Charismatic, sympathetic and intelligent, these black characters function in ways that mere stereotypes never could by both expanding the sometimes constricted perception of non-black viewers towards racial minorities (thus facilitating communication and a better understanding between racial groups) and helping to inspire the previously-stated traits among their own viewers, thereby providing minority youths, specifically those living in impoverished or hostile environments, with positive role models. In regards to this last element, Sisko, a dynamic leader and caring parent, personifies this ideal.

The relationship between Sisko and his son, Jake, is one of the most satisfying aspects of DS9. Loving, emotionally mature, and far from perfect, their relationship reflects the tragedies and joys which constitute family life.

The pinnacle of the Sisko/Jake relationship (so far) is, without a doubt, The Visitor, a tour de force episode brimming with passion and melancholy. Watching this episode left me proud of the intensity of the love shown between this black father and son, and in tears at the eloquence with which the show handled the poignant and universal themes of disillusionment, obsession, aging, loyalty, love and loss.

Aside from The Visitor, DS9 regularly boasts touching moments of natural interaction between black father and son, all of which make the show a privilege to watch. Just some of these moments include Sisko's overt show of affection for his son, Jake's wisdom in helping his father deal with romantic troubles and the manner in which father and son nave helped each other cope with the death of Sisko's wife.

Some readers may not understand why am I making such a big deal about DS9. After all, science fiction has featured blacks in prominent roles for years. Let me be blunt. There is a word for programs which strategically place one minority character in their ensemble. It's called tokenism. Yes, tokenism fulfills the "visibility" quotient for black characters. However, it fails at the larger task of presenting black characters who possess emotional depth and resonance. Black characters without such traits are cyphers, hollow representations which belittle the true intellectual and emotional capabilities of blacks.

Program creators and viewers who point to token blacks as examples of racial progress inadvertently court cultural hypocrisy. Because token black characters are the norm to which non-black viewers are exposed, they are harmful and destructive road-blocks on the march towards racial equality.

DS9, in contrast, allows its black characters to deal with issues usually reserved for white characters in white-dominated prestige dramas like ER. These issues include: the sacrifice of putting duty before love (For The Cause), the pressures of command (To The Death), the joys of parenthood (Explorers) and even conquering the Earth (Our Man Bashir). White characters that clearly dominate the television landscape have been allowed to cope with these issues for years. For black viewers, seeing themselves portrayed as real flesh-and-blood characters who cope with and ultimately solve life's great challenges is a rarely enjoyed breath of fresh air.

In addition to presenting well-rounded black characters, DS9 presents blacks interacting and succeeding in a multi-racial world. Most black shows, especially black sitcoms, feature an all-black line-up. The characters find success and stature, but only among other blacks. The insidious implication which arises, intentionally or not, is that blacks can succeed among their peers, but not in the real world where it counts, DS9 shatters this antiquated notion by presenting black characters who successfully interact with people of all races, colors and creeds.

Considering its positive impact, it is all the more tragic that DS9, one of the best shows on television, is currently one of the least watched. For those in the 'cultural majority' who have yet to latch on to the DS9 phenomena, I invite you to sample what this well-made, thought-provoking science fiction program has to offer. To black viewers who crave quality television, I urge you to give this remarkable program a try. You might be surprised at what you find: a little piece of yourself.

ERIC WALLACE is a former Army brat and a freelance screenwriter living in Los Angeles. Since his escape from the rural South, he has become a much friendlier person.

[startrekprodigyfan]

Here’s an unpopular Star Trek take.

I’m tired of every alien species’s home planets being destroyed.

We had the Klingon moon Praxis explode weakening the Klingons.

We had the Romulan Star go supernova and destroy Romulus.

We had Vulcan being destroyed in one of the alternate timelines.

We had Cardassia destroyed due to the Dominion War.

The Klingon one was meant as an allegory for the then very relevant dismantling of the Iron Curtain and end of the Soviet Union. That’s fine…

But then they did it again. And again. And again. Every new alien threat gets their world destroyed. I think Romulans are far more interesting before the evacuation has to take place. I do not see how destroying Romulus gives us better insight into the Romulans or allows us to tell better stories. It’s just taking away an entire Alien’s race before we ever really truly got to know them. Again, with the Klingons we had like 30 years of conflict and we knew a lot about their culture. But Romulans were intentionally secretive. We only got bits and pieces and small glimpses of them before it was all destroyed.

I hate this trend. I see no value in it. It’s just taking away world building (literally) and it’s overused and over done now. It also makes prior episodes of Star Trek worse now. So much for “reunification” with Spock and the Romulans. Let’s wipe out the enter Vulcan home planet to make Spock get angry and then never really address it again.

Sorry, but this is one of those things that pisses me off.