Vic
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Star Trek: Renegades has one week to go in its Kickstarter fundraising drive and today news comes from the project that another familiar face will be joining the proposed film.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s J.G. Hertzler (Chancellor Martok) is the latest Star Trek actor to join Star Trek: Renegades.
Hertzler joins Director Tim Russ, Walter Koenig, Gary Graham, Garrett Wang, Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, Manu Intiraymi and Richard Herd.
In Star Trek: Renegades, Hertzler will play Borrada, the “main antagonist” in the film.
But before Star Trek: Renegades can begin production, $200,000 must be raised. The project has already been pledged $176,000 and needs to raise the remaining amount by next Monday.
Russ spoke with Subspace Communique about Star Trek: Renegades, telling them that if the $200,000 is raised, the film will begin production, “late Spring or early Summer of 2013.”
According to Russ, the storyline for the movie “takes place a number of years beyond Voyager‘s return home.” Producer Sky Conway promises that Star Trek: Renegades will be “action oriented, [and] filled with suspense and espionage; all [this] while exploring new worlds, encountering both familiar and new alien species, and boldly going where no Trek has gone before.”
Russ will be playing Tuvok, who “will basically be the same character as was portrayed in Voyager, but his choices and actions within the storyline will be based on the unusual challenges he faces.”
To contribute to the Star Trek: Renegades Kickstarter, head to the link located here.
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IDW Publishing’s Star Trek #15 comic debuts on Wednesday, but readers can see a preview of the issue now.
In Star Trek #15, Kirk and crew visit the Mirror Universe.
In the preview below, Scotty tries to explain the two timelines to Dr. McCoy. Meanwhile, in the Mirror Universe, the Klingon homeworld receives some very unwelcome visitors.
Written by Mike Johnson and overseen by Roberto Orci, with art by Stephen Molnar and a cover by Tim Bradstreet, the thirty-two page issue will sell for $3.99.
Click on the images for full-sized pages. More preview pages can be found at the referring site.
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In an interview promoting Rise of the Guardians, Chris Pine, who voices Jack Frost, touched briefly on Star Trek Into Darkness.
Pine talked about what Kirk would do in Star Trek Into Darkness, and he also praised Benedict Cumberbatch.
It was tricky for Pine to speak at all about Star Trek into Darkness, given the veil of secrecy draped over the sequel. “[Cumberbatch] is awesome,” said Pine. “He is; I’m trying to figure out what I can tell you. I guess the thing that struck me is that he did this really wonderful version of Frankenstein on stage, where he incorporated a lot of control over his physicality and how he moved. He does a lot of interesting things in this film that… What can I say? The art of saying something and saying nothing. It’s like a bottom’s-up performance. He fully created a character. The most puzzling actor of all time.”
Pine explained how it felt to play Kirk this time around, and what the character faces in the movie. “It was a different experience this time,” he said about portraying the iconic Captain. “All I can say is Kirk goes on a big journey this time and learns a great deal about himself.”
Rise of the Guardians opens this week. Star Trek into Darkness will appear on movie screens next May.
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Despite an unnerving Bajoran prophecy, Sisko undertakes a joint scientific venture with Cardassian scientists to place a communications relay on the far side of the wormhole.
Plot Summary: Sisko and his crew are excitedly making preparations to work with two Cardassian scientists to set up a subspace relay which will allow communication through the wormhole from the Gamma Quadrant. Even Kira is cautiously optimistic until Vedek Yarka arrives, warning that Trakor’s Third Prophecy has foreseen these events and predicted disaster if the Emissary allows three “vipers” to return to their nest in the sky to peer through the Temple gates, casting open the entrance to the Temple forever. Because the Prophets are not only religious figures, but aliens who exist outside linear time, Kira fears that their warning may be based in truth. Believing that the relay is important both scientifically and to cultivate the new peace between Cardassia and Bajor, Sisko refuses to abandon the project despite the arrival of another Cardassian whom Kira assumes may be the third “viper” of the prophecy. An initial relay test results in a crisis, causing the wormhole to burst open and diverting a comet. Dax fears that if the comet enters the wormhole, its silithium core could collapse the entrance permanently, bringing about the disaster foretold in the prophecy. O’Brien and the scientist Gilora – who mistakenly takes his confrontational behavior for flirting – modify the Defiant’s phasers to vaporize the comet, but the phasers misfire and split the comet into three pieces. Gilora admits that the late Cardassian arrival is an Obsidian Order operative whom she believes sabotaged the phasers to end the peaceful collaboration between Bajor and the Cardassians. Taking a shuttle, Sisko and Kira capture the comet fragments in a subspace field, but not before some of the dangerous silithuim leaks out. To Dax’s surprise, the silithium creates a subspace filament which completes the relay to the Gamma Quadrant, allowing signals to pass through. Kira realizes that the prophecy did indeed come true, but they misinterpreted the symbolism of the “vipers” – not Cardassians, but comet fragments – which have opened the wormhole to subspace signals. Sisko is forced to confront the idea that other Bajoran prophecies about the Emissary may have implications for his own life and role in the region.
Analysis: “Destiny” is one of those DS9 episodes that was good in the first place and has only gotten better now that the various arcs developing in the storyline have all played out. I love that, unlike on previous Star Trek shows where religion is generally shown to be backward and wrong-headed, the spirituality of the Bajoran people is portrayed not only as a binding force for the culture in its darkest hours, but as entirely compatible with science and technology. And I also love Sisko’s slow acceptance of his status as Emissary, the understanding that he may be called to give his life to something bigger than his family or even the Federation. Kira’s role in this is pivotal, though she’s also the character I have the hardest time with in this episode, since the writers have been all over the place trying to pin down her spiritual beliefs and her relationship with the powerful religious leaders on Bajor. She’s seemed to grow more orthodox since we were introduced to her, particularly when debating theology with Bareil, yet she’s unfamiliar with the prophecies cited by Yarka; she’s perfectly aware that religious leaders are are capable of corruption and selfishness as anyone else, as Kai Winn keeps proving, yet although Yarka has been defrocked for putting his politics ahead of spiritual matters, she keeps listening to him even after Sisko warns her that he has no time for her potential conflict of interest. Here for the first time we see Kira insisting that there is no conflict, that her religion offers a historical perspective on events that Sisko wants to view only through his scientific understanding. Both their views are incomplete, for the Bajorans let their own prejudices shape the way they read the prophecy while the Starfleet officers have no way of knowing that there is a real viper among their new Cardassian allies. “Destiny” manages to offer a warning about fundamentalist spiritual views while at the same time maintaining the belief that, to paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke, religion is just science we don’t understand yet.
If I’m a bit annoyed about the timidity from Kira based on spiritual convictions we’ve never before seen her hold – she didn’t go running to the prophecies for answers when trying to figure out whether Bareil or Winn would be better for Bajor – I’m delighted to see Sisko struggling with issues that Kirk or Picard would have politely dismissed as superstitious nonsense. “Where you see a sword of stars, I see a comet; where you see vipers, I see three scientists; and where you see the Emissary, I see a Starfleet officer,” he protests to Kira after he has to ask her to leave the bridge of the Defiant with him so he can tell her that it’s no place for her religious beliefs. Odo recognizes that while ostensibly Sisko’s agenda is to promote science in the name of peace, he’s equally motivated to distance himself from the title of Emissary, and that desire shapes his decisions just as much as his Starfleet duty; when Kira inadvertently suggests the same thing, Sisko is unduly harsh, not wanting to acknowledge that his first officer is also a faithful servant of the Prophets and, worse, that her respect for him may be in part because of his relationship with them, not only because of his work as her commander. Sisko knows better than anyone that the wormhole aliens involve themselves directly with the people of Bajor, even if he hasn’t begun to guess that he owes his very existence to a Prophet who made certain that he would be born at the right place and time to save Bajor. Sisko knows too that the Prophets sometimes speak to humanoids and provide accurate if cryptic information about the future. His resistance to Trakor’s Third Prophecy has less to do with the prediction itself – since, as Kira learns, it can be interpreted a number of different ways – than with the fact that it forces his hand as Emissary, making him acknowledge that he can’t escape that position.
The pacing is very good, with some apparent new piece of the prophecy coming true every few minutes, so it’s quite satisfying in the end to learn that this likely isn’t coincidence but the fulfillment of an actual message from the Prophets to an ancient Bajoran. But theoogically speaking, how confusing must it be to have gods who are so selective, who apparently did not warn about the Occupation but left this cryptic message about what looks like a good thing for Bajor (though contact with the Gamma Quadrant in general will prove to be problematic for its people and Prophets alike)? The wormhole aliens seem as disinterested in the Cardassians as they are in Kai Winn, who judiciously keeps her nose out of Yarka’s interpretation of this prophecy since she wants her peace treaty to be a success. I have the same reaction that Sisko does when one of the Cardassian scientists slips up and calls the station Terok Nor – that’s potentially more distressing than a prophecy, but I can’t really root against the Cardassian women even if they’re biased against men in the sciences, a precarious career anyway, since we learn that the military oversees the science departments and the women expect to lose their jobs when the relay does not initially work as planned. “Destiny” has no B storyline, nor does it need one, unless we count those few minutes of awkward humor when O’Brien realizes that Gilora thinks he’s hitting on her – an incident crucial to the main story, and how delightful for O’Brien to get a moment of someone thinking he’s sexy. The banter underscores the theme of tolerance for alternate interpretations of events and makes yet another case for understanding among people with different customs without any lecturing. The moment at the end when O’Brien tells Gilora that he’s impressed with her bravery for revealing the Obsidian Order operative is a quiet breakthrough; next to Kira, he’s always been by far the most suspicious and fearful of Cardassians, and now he has a Cardassian admirer.
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A new lithograph featuring the The Next Generation crew is now available for U.S. fans courtesy of Bye Bye Robot.
The lithograph is in honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of The Next Generation.
Created by artist Tracie Ching, TNG 25th Anniversary “depicts the Enterprise NCC-1701-D bridge crew and has been rendered in black and white, as well as in stark, inventively utilized red, gold and blue, representing the branches of Starfleet.”
“We’re extremely excited to be working with Tracie Ching, said Bye Bye Robot co-founder Charity Wood. “Her work has been established across many film genres and brings a modern, bold style to the Star Trek universe.”
The 18″ x 24″ lithograph will cost $25.00 and can be ordered here.
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In February, three new Star Trek comics will debut.
The comics are: Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness #2, Star Trek #18, and Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hive.
In Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness #2, “new characters and fresh conflicts threat[en] Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew.”
Written by Mike Johnson and overseen by Roberto Orci, with art and cover by David Messina, Star Trek: Countdown to Darkness #2 will be thirty-two pages in length and cost $3.99. A variant cover will be available.
Next up is Star Trek #18. In Star Trek #18, Uhura’s past and first encounter with Spock is explained.
Star Trek #18 is written by Mike Johnson and Ryan Parrott, overseen by Orci, with art by Claudia Balboni and cover by Tim Bradstreet, is thirty-two pages in length. The issue will sell for $3.99 and a variant cover will be available.
The last Trek comic to release in February will be Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hive. This issue gathers together all of the Hive stories into one one-hundred-and-four page issue.
In Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hive, in a distant future, the Borg and its King, Locutus, have assimilated most of the galaxy. In Hive, Captain Picard and his Enterprise crew must go into the past to make things right.
Written by Brannon Braga, Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett, with art and cover by Joe Corroney, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Hive will sell for $17.99.
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Details about Star Trek Into Darkness have been kept under wraps, including Benedict Cumberbatch‘s role in the movie, but actors like Chris Pine are able to compliment their fellow actors’ work in the movie.
Pine had praise for Cumberbatch, in a “key scene” from the movie. “There’s one scene in it that’s like, you know … in all kinds of heavy science fiction there’s got to be the exposition scene where it’s like, what the hell’s going on? It’s a really, really, really hard scene.”
The scene wasn’t hard for Pine, but for Cumberbatch, explained Pine. “…watching him handle that and to make something that I think, on paper, could have been a death trap for an actor and to see how he [deals with it]…
“…he has great command of his instrument or whatever the hell you want to call it. He’s formidable as an actor and as a character in the story. He’s formidable. He’s a great actor.”
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According to TrekMovie, in addition to a preview of the first nine minutes of Star Trek into Darkness next month, now comes word that a proper trailer will also be released.
The trailer will be released on December 14 and like the nine minutes, will be seen ahead of The Hobbit.
While the nine minute preview will be seen ahead of the IMAX The Hobbit, the trailer will be seen in theaters in front of a non-IMAX version of The Hobbit. This was confirmed via Twitter by Damon Lindelof. “No. You don’t have to see it in IMAX to get a look-see,” he said.
By the next weekend, it is expected to be available ahead of other movies, such a Paramount’s Jack Reacher, which opens December 21.
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The latest original series posters created by Juan Ortiz are now available for pre-order.
Four new posters feature artwork from the following episodes: The Man Trap, This Side of Paradise, What Are Little Girls Made Of?, and The Immunity Syndrome.
Ortiz spoke about creating the posters, and explained what went through his mind while working on the art. “I tried to picture what Kirk’s view was while he was having the salt sucked out of him,” he said, referring to The Man Trap poster.
In the This Side of Paradise poster, Spock’s hand was elongated. “The hand symbolically represents Spock,” said Ortiz, “having rejected love, reaching out from paradise for life aboard the Enterprise and his pursuit of logic.”
The prints are offered as a set and will sell for $34.95. US and Canadian fans can order the set here, while UK fans can order the sets at Amazon.co.uk, ForbiddenPlanet.co.uk and Oneposter.co.uk.
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“Black Friday” is next week, and the original series’ George Takei is in a new commercial for retailer Old Navy’s Black Friday sale.
“The fun is near!” claims the ad for Old Navy’s “Cheermageddon.” “The most epically friendly sale ever just got even more epic.”
“Watch George Takei go from Old Navy Mission Control Scientist to Cheermageddon Superstar in, ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Deal.’”
The Old Navy sale will take place next Friday and Saturday. The new ad featuring Takei will air on television for the first time on November 18 during the American Music Awards.
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Star Trek‘s Chris Pine‘s latest project, the computer-animated Rise of the Guardians, will be released next week.
Pine will be voicing Jack Frost, a loner and a “classic rebel without a cause,” who has “incredible weather powers that he controls with the help of his magical staff.”
“…[Rise of the Guardians is] a wonderful story written by Bill Joyce and directed by Peter Ramsey,” said Pine. “It’s about all the childhood heroes that you’ve heard about since you were growing up: Santa Claus, Tooth Ferry, the Easter Bunny, Sandman and Jack Frost all joining together to protect the children of the world from the evil boogeyman named ‘Pitch’ voiced by Jude Law. It’s a simple wonderful story about the power of belief in the imagination and how important it is for these guardians to protect those values in kids.”
Voicing a character is different than traditional acting, but Pine found the process enjoyable. “It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “You know the only weapon in your arsenal was your voice. You can’t really use the nuance of your face, and you’re not really working off other actors. So really, it’s kind of a solitary gig where you have to figure out how to use your voice as like a musical instrument. So I enjoy this kind of long process.”
If the Rise of the Guardians is received well by the movie-going audience, a sequel may follow. “I certainly hope so,” said Pine. “If people respond to it.”
Pine went on to explain why people will like Rise of the Guardians. “I think there [are] a lot of wonderful elements in the picture. I think the animation first and foremost is top notch and very unique. The kind of visual eye and even the color scheme was very much born in the mind of Guillermo Del Toro and from Roger Deakins who helped photograph it. The story is simple and I think really wonderfully told. I think they did a tremendous job in this film and I hope people enjoy it.”
To see the Pine interview, head to the link located here.
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Beginning next month, a sneak peek of the beginning of Star Trek Into Darkness will be released.
The sneak peek will take place in approximately five hundred IMAX 3D theaters and the footage shown will be exclusively in IMAX 3D.
On December 14, fans will be able to see the first nine minutes of Star Trek Into Darkness. This will mark “the first time exclusive footage has played in IMAX 3D and only the third time a first-look will be released in IMAX.”
“Our longtime partners J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk and the Bad Robot team have really hit it out of the park – the footage is absolutely incredible,” said Greg Foster, Chairman and President, IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “Their use of the IMAX Camera and canvas is sure to impress current and future Star Trek fans alike, and we’re thrilled to once again work with our friends at Paramount Pictures to offer this extended ‘first look’ at this highly anticipated summer blockbuster.”
The footage will be seen in front of the IMAX presentation of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Star Trek Into Darkness hits movie screens next May 13.
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Star Trek‘s Chris Hemsworth (George Kirk) will be starring in the crime thriller Candy Store.
Directed and written by Stephen Gaghan, Candy Store is the story of a “deep-cover operative who loses everything, ultimately disappearing into Brooklyn where he must start again. He ends up as a “beat up cop [who] … discover the global organization he was dedicated to fighting is operating in his new backyard.”
Hemsworth will be seen next week in the remake of Red Dawn, where he plays Jed Eckert, the leader of an armed resistance against occupation forces.
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Star Trek: Online‘s Season 7: New Romulus has been released today.
In Season 7: New Romulus, “Federation and Klingon Captains [are] working alongside Romulan leader D’Tan in search for a new home world for Romulan refugees to begin the process of rebuilding a capital city.”
“This is the first time Star Trek fans will have a chance to participate in the story of rebuilding the Romulan Empire” said Star Trek: Online Executive Producer Daniel Stahl. “Star Trek Online players will experience first-hand the plight of the Romulus survivors as they uncover mysteries surrounding their new home world. In Season 7: New Romulus, players will take an active role in shaping the conflict to come as they fight for the reputation necessary to improve relations and gain support of the Romulan Empire.”
To see the release notes for Season 7: New Romulus which explain the new features, head to the link located here.
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Another Star Trek-themed item of apparel is available for holiday shoppers, courtesy of ThinkGeek.
Male fans can show their Star Trek love by sporting a Star Trek tie.
Available in three colors (gold, blue and red), the officially-licensed ties, made of double-knit nylon, are an exact color match to the 1969 original series uniforms. The ties are sixty-one inches in length.
Each tie features a small delta shield at the bottom of the tie, and each shield matches the Starfleet division (command, engineering or science).
The Star Trek tie will sell for $19.99, and can be ordered here.
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Star Trek‘s Eric Bana (Nero) is in negotiations to star in a paranormal police thriller.
The paranormal police thriller is Beware the Night.
In Beware the Night, to be directed by Scott Derrickson, a New York police officer investigates real life demon possessions, werewolves and exorcisms.
Mark Wahlberg was previously under consideration for the police officer role.
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Star Trek: Enterprise‘s Anthony Montgomery is reaching out to his Trek fanbase in hopes of getting funding for an independent film, Chariot.
Chariot is the story of seven strangers who wake up on a plane in flight and have no idea how they got there or where they’re going. “What they learn about their fate – and that of the world below – will force each of them to confront their respective greatest fears.”
The film had been ready to start shooting December first, but they unexpectedly lost their investor. “I’m writing because I’m part of a film production and we need some help,” said Montgomery. “Fast.
“In short, I am the star/producer of a compelling and entertaining independent feature film called Chariot, and we were set to start shooting in Dallas on December 1st. We had an investor who was on board to fund the whole project (small budget), but regrettably had to pull out of the deal. He left us with a great script, terrific director, talented cast, secured filming location, cameras, equipment, crew and production facilities, including post-production, but… with no way to fund it.”
A crowd funding page, located here, has been set up in hopes of reaching the $18,000 necessary to make the film. $8,000 has already been raised, with two weeks left to raise the additional $10,000.
“We need funds so we can pay and feed the cast and crew,” said Montgomery. “That’s it! Contributors still believe in the project, so everyone else is donating their time, equipment or expertise. They just want to ‘be a part of it.’ We hope you will, too! We’re already 27% funded and with your help we can make this vision a reality! And there are great incentives for helping us realize our goal; just check out the site.
“Thank you, everyone! Let’s go make a movie!!”
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Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Marina Sirtis will be taking part in a feature film adaptation of the sci-fi short film Godmachine.
In Godmachine, an android “channels the frequency of the Big Bang, bringing herself to life and threatening the balance of power between man and machine forever.”
Sirtis will play Irina, a madam and guardian of an android brothel.
Another Star Trek alumnus will be appearing in Godmachine, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s J.G. Hertzler. He will portray a militia leader.
Godmachine will debut next autumn. Their webpage can be found here.
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For fans of both Star Trek: The Next Generation and TNT’s Falling Skies, there is the possibility of seeing Jonathan Frakes in a third season episode of the latter.
Falling Skies is the story of human survival and resistance after an alien attack leaves most of the world incapacitated.
Frakes is rumored to be either directing or appearing in one of the last three episodes of the forthcoming third season of Flying Skies.
“Flying into #FallingSkies w the amazing #noah wyle,” Frakes tweeted to his followers on Twitter.
Frakes isn’t the only TNG actor associated with Flying Skies. Wil Wheaton was the host of 2nd Watch, a fifteen-minute web show featuring discussions of the weekly Falling Skies episodes. 2nd Watch included cast and crew member interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, fan questions and trivia.
TrekToday will provide more details on Frakes’ involvement with Falling Skies when they become available.
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Recently, J.J. Abrams‘ name came up on a list of potential directors for the new Star Wars sequel, but Abrams has removed himself from that list.
The names included Abrams, Jon Favreau (Iron Man) and Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed).
“Look, Star Wars is one of my favorite movies of all time,” said Abrams. “I frankly feel that – I almost feel that, in a weird way, the opportunity for whomever it is to direct that movie, it comes with the burden of being that kind of iconic movie and series.
“I was never a big Star Trek fan growing up, so for me, working on Star Trek didn’t have any of that, you know, almost fatal sacrilege, and so, I am looking forward more then anyone to the next iterations of Star Wars, but I believe I will be going as a paying moviegoer!”
Favreau, however, is interested in directing a Star Wars sequel. “I think both J.J. and I come from a generation of people who formed our whole creative persona around what we experienced as kids from watching those films, and I have had the good fortune of working with George [Lucas] and around George, and whether it is doing a voice on Clone Wars, or being at the Skywalker Ranch mixing Iron Man – so I have been very happy and lucky to just experience the culture that Lucas has created, both in my own life growing up as a kid and professional – whether it was interviewing him at film festivals on stage, he is just a really wonderful, talented gifted guy who has changed the business so much, so I am just giddy, first and foremost as a fan, to see what happens with it.
“I think there [are] a lot of question marks of how they are going to do it, and who they are going to do it with, and what the story is going to be about; but to say that I am not excited about it is definitely an understatement. We’ll see.”
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When Kira is trapped in a growing crystal formation and her death seems imminent, Odo confesses his love for her.
Plot Summary: As Kira travels with Odo back to Deep Space Nine after reviewing security at a Bajoran colony where Odo feels Kira didn’t let him speak enough for himself on social matters, their ship receives a distress call warning of a Maquis raider. Kira sets out in pursuit and chases the ship to an inhospitable planet where the pilot hides in unstable caverns. Meanwhile, Nog offers Sisko latinum to request a Starfleet apprenticeship after the completion of his Ferengi Attainment Ceremony; Sisko is understandably doubtful and puts Dax in charge of supervising Nog for an inventory task which Nog surprises them by completing perfectly. While chasing the Maquis pilot, Kira becomes trapped in a growing crystalline formation that threatens to suffocate her. While he seeks a means to free her, Odo tries to keep her entertained, telling her stories of an increasingly personal nature, such as how he got his name. Nog asks Sisko for a letter of recommendation to Starfleet Academy, but Sisko resists, doubting the Ferengi’s motives until Nog admits that he doesn’t want to become like his father, a brilliant engineer who wasted his life in pursuit of profit. When it becomes obvious to Odo that his plan to shatter the crystal will fail and Kira will die, he refuses an order to return to the runabout, confessing that he loves her. Kira replies that she loves him, too, which makes Odo – who is already suspicious about the nature of the crystal as well as Kira’s story about how she escaped from the Maquis pilot – realize that the crisis seems designed specifically to test him. When he pulls a weapon and demands to know who she really is, Kira morphs into the female shapeshifter whom Odo encountered on the Founders’ home planet. She tells Odo that she guessed his attachment to the “solids” was really an attachment to Kira and asks him to return to his own people, but he refuses to lower his weapon, and when she tells him that no changeling has ever harmed another, he warns that there is always a first time. Rather than risk violence, she tells him where he can find the real Kira. Once they are reunited, Kira asks how Odo realized the imposter was not her. He replies that a slip of the tongue gave her away.
Analysis: It’s no secret that I was an Odo/Kira fan pretty much from “Past Prologue” onward and I thought it was obvious at least by “Necessary Evil” that Rene Auberjonois was too, even if it took the show’s writers a bit longer to catch up. Nonetheless, when I first saw the previews for “Heart of Stone,” I was petrified. It seemed too soon for any sort of intimacy between Odo and Kira, considering that he’d only recently found his people after a lifetime of searching and she’d only just lost Bareil, and it was obvious even in the trailer that the writers had resorted to the classic fan fiction cliche of having one person trapped, the other making increasingly intimate, desperate confessions (see Beverly Crusher, “Jean-Luc, before I die, I have something to tell you…”). So I first viewed “Heart of Stone” with a mixture of hope and trepidation and came away disappointed and annoyed. I should have guessed that it would be the sort of cop-out romance we always get on Star Trek, given that Picard and Crusher ended up as ships passing in the night and Riker and Troi didn’t get it together for ten years; major character romances generally end up being dreams, possessions, alien tricks, alternate universe pairings, nonsense like that. Initially, I would have preferred no Kira/Odo romance to a stupid cliched Kira/Odo romance, so the fact that the writers chickened out in “Heart of Stone” actually didn’t bother me, though that also made the main plot of the episode feel like a giant waste of time. Now, looking back from beyond the end of what I still think is the best romantic pairing in television science fiction, it’s easier to find things to like about the storyline, and whereas I was skeptical initially of the idea of Nog at the Academy given that not long ago he was still asking women to cut his food for him, the Starfleet storyline ended up being so terrific that my initial doubts are now irrelevant.
I’m terrible at calculating stardates, but even given my wonky math, the events of “Heart of Stone” on stardate 48521.5 must take place within three weeks after Bareil’s death, since he was injured on stardate 48498.4. It doesn’t surprise me that Kira would throw herself into work to get over him, but it does surprise me that she’s so cheerful returning from New Bajor, irritated that Odo seems quiet and sullen rather than the other way around. So it takes longer than it should to notice that she’s out of character on the planet, particularly since her behavior when she first gets stuck in the rock – at which point she isn’t Kira at all, but the female shapeshifter – seems rather more Kira-like than Kira herself at various earlier moments in the third season. Even so, it takes Odo much longer than I’d expect to get suspicious that the woman he’s with isn’t the real Kira, whom I just can’t imagine getting snively when she realizes she may die in the crystalline formation – panicked, maybe, if her claustrophobia is anything like Garak’s, or furious, which is more her style, but not weepy. If she didn’t shed a tear in front of Odo when the love of her life died a month ago, I’d think such an astute observer of humanoid behavior would wonder what’s going on now. Plus she’s terrified and trembly rather than snappish and shouting suggestions about how to shatter the crystal; she could have been demanding that Odo turn himself into an icepick or something useful. That said, I don’t find it completely implausible that Kira might tell Odo she loved him if she thought she was about to die. She may not be in love with him in a romantic sense, but he’s her dearest friend, he knows secrets about her that no one else ever will, and his happiness is important enough to her that if she thought she could persuade him to save himself for her sake, I could believe she’d tell a lie to serve that end.
Odo and Kira’s relationship interests me precisely because it’s complicated and messy, developing in fits and starts, then taking steps backward as they get reminders of how different they are. Odo has already realized that he’ll compromise his principles for her even though his principles and sense of justice are the core of his personality, and Kira has already demonstrated that she’ll choose Odo’s integrity and companionship over any number of humanoids, even fellow Bajorans who’ve lived through the Occupation. The female shapeshifter picks up on this – she claims it’s a suspicion, but I’d think she scoured his thoughts when she linked with Odo – though I wonder how she knew that Kira and Odo would be traveling together, something I would think might concern Odo when he gets back to Deep Space Nine. Her plan to lure Odo home with her will only succeed if Odo believes that Kira has died, and it’s never clear how she intends to morph back into herself without giving away the game. Does she know that Bareil is dead, so this is the perfect moment to pretend to be a vulnerable Kira? Or does she just get lucky that Odo doesn’t ask any personal questions while he’s pouring his heart out, telling Kira the story of his name (an abbreviation of the Cardassian word for “nothing”), admitting that having friends on the station has changed his entire view of himself? When he finally confesses his love – something he’s never said aloud, though we all saw it in “The Collaborator” and Lwaxana Troi sensed it in “Fascination” – he reacts afterward in an entirely humanoid manner, sitting down, breathing heavily; there’s nothing alien about him, his emotions are more transparent than Data’s or Spock’s. Yet at this point the situation seems so contrived that it’s hard to feel sorry for him as a person with real pain; it’s the show’s writers who are manipulating Odo, far more so than the female shapeshifter who can’t put words in his mouth. His explanation to the real Kira at the end, at least, is heartbreakingly understated.
The Nog storyline doesn’t mesh with Odo’s very well except in the sense of wanting something none of his people has ever had before, but it’s still enjoyable watching Nog impress Dax, seeing him and Jake still having some communication difficulties after nearly tearing their friendship apart over a disastrous double date, witnessing his happiness working with his father, realizing that he really does respect Sisko and he’s sick of trying to be the Ferengi his Uncle Quark wants him to be. Given that we’ve been told he’s a terrible student, I’m not sure how he’ll pass the Starfleet entrance exam, but I’m sure he can get some help from O’Brien when O’Brien isn’t busy planning baby showers for pregnant male ensigns about to spawn or teaching Odo the ancient sea chanty “Louie Louie” (one of the best throwaway lines on Star Trek). Visually and thematically, “Heart of Stone” reminds me of classic Trek – the dark cave set with cheesy rock effects, the unknown alien entity which they promptly try to shoot with results that backfire, the endless mechanical difficulties, the hurt/comfort scenario…okay, that last is more classic fic than classic Trek but I grew up on both. And let’s face it, in this episode where Odo, the alien outsider, makes observations about how humanoids have a hard time giving up things they love, then proceeds to demonstrate that that’s more true of him than anyone…it’s just the sort of thing Spock would say and do in the Trek movies. How satisfying now to listen to the female shapeshifter tell Odo that Kira will never love him – “How could she? You are a changeling” – and know how wrong she is.
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Footage of the “Beam Me Up One Last Time Scotty” convention has been found by James Doohan‘s widow Wende, and in the video, which can now be seen online, Neil Armstrong speaks about his Star Trek wish.
The reclusive Armstrong wasn’t big on public appearances, but he came to the convention in 2004 to honor his “fellow engineer” Scotty who had just received his star on the Walk of Fame.
Armstrong was the keynote speaker during the convention, and gave a speech which was well-received by the audience which included Doohan.
“So, I’m hoping for my next command, to be given a Federation starship,” said Armstrong. “And, when I get that command, I would like to have a crew like Captain James T. Kirk had. Spock and Chekov and Uhura and Dr. McCoy and Sulu and the others we all remember.
“Now I have a confession to make. I am an engineer. And if I get that command, I want a chief engineering officer like Montgomery Scott. Because I know Scotty will get the job done and do it right. Even if I often hear him say, ‘But Captain, I dinna have enough time!’
“So from one old engineer to another, thanks, Scotty.”
According to Star Trek: Renegades Producer Sky Conway, Armstrong wanted to play an admiral in Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, but he was “out of the country” at the time of filming and “couldn’t fit it into his busy schedule.
“On behalf of the cast and crew of the upcoming production, Star Trek: Renegades, we dedicate the film to Neil Armstrong, a true space pioneer and real life hero, whose numerous contributions to humanity extended far beyond that one small step.”
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A typical Star Trek: The Next Generation convention cast photo op turned out to be anything but typical when a Trek fan unexpectedly popped the question to his girlfriend.
During the Austin Wizard World Convention, which took place at the end of October, Wil Wheaton was present and described what happened. “I had the flu,” he said, “and almost missed this photo session…I sat there and smiled for everyone as best I could.”
“The way this sort of photo session works is pretty standard,” Wheaton explained. “People come in, stand next to Patrick, say a few words, and then we all pose for the picture. Each person is there for less than half a minute (which I think really sucks because of how much they pay for the opportunity, but is pretty much the only way we can manage the hundreds of people who usually sign up for these things.)
“About thirty minutes or so into this particular session, these two people came in. The girl went to stand between Patrick and Frakes, and the guy directed her to stand in the front, instead. All of us tried to figure out what was going on (usually it’s small kids who come to the front, usually sitting on Brent’s lap or Gates’ lap), and the guy said, ‘I really love Star Trek, but I love [her name] even more.’ He got down on one knee, and proposed to her.
“Marina started to cry, I felt like I was going to cry, and we all applauded and celebrated when she said “yes.” Apparently, they’d met Marina earlier in the day, and Marina had given him shit for not marrying her, so Marina was embarrassed about that.”
Fortunately for the would-be groom, his girlfriend said yes to his proposal.
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More t-shirts featuring the original series art of Juan Ortiz have been released, joining the eight shirts previously announced.
The shirts formerly announced include: Dagger of the Mind, The City on the Edge of Forever, The Ultimate Computer, The Way to Eden, Charlie X, The Balance of Terror, And the Children Shall Lead and Wink of an Eye.
The new shirts include ones based on the following episodes: The Alternative Factor, Catspaw, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield and the popular The Trouble With Tribbles.
Each shirt, made of 100% cotton sells for $25.00 and comes in sizes ranging from S-XXXL. The Trouble With Tribbles shirt comes in two colors, black and white; The Alternative Factor shirt comes in gray and purple.
On the Welovefine website, Ortiz described his thought process for creating each shirt. For The Trouble With Tribbles, he said, “Despite (the fact) that dozens of Tribbles are poisoned, this is an off-beat, light-hearted, maybe even comedic episode. So I thought about some of the movie comedies that I like from the 60s, like It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, where everyone is just having a ball.”
The shirts can be purchased here. New shirts will be released each month up through early 2014.
Takei Tumblrs For Sandy
in Trek News
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George Takei has joined Tumblr in aid of raising funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy.
It all started when Takei’s nephew asked the actor why he didn’t have a Tumblr account, given his “love of goofy pictures.”
Takei thought about it and decided that in addition to creating a dedicated place to share his “goofy pictures,” he wanted to do a good deed for others. “Friends, I’ve begun a Tumblr account! I’ve paired up with Tumblr and Humans of NY to raise funds for victims of Hurricane Sandy,” he said.
“Check out my Tumblr at the link below, and click on my image to offer your help. I’ve even provided some special Takei swag for certain levels of donors. Many thanks.”
The Tumblr site, located here, includes a link to the HONY (Humans of New York) & Tumblr Hurricane Sandy Fundraiser.
The HONY & Tumblr Indiegogo site explains their mission: “Tumblr and Humans of New York are teaming up to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. For ten days beginning November 11th, we will be documenting and sharing the stories of those affected by the storm. We hope to show all sides of the story, featuring not only the victims of the storm but also the first responders and volunteers who are helping them recover. Hurricane Sandy revealed the power of nature, as well as the power of humanity. We aim to document both. By doing so, we hope to encourage YOU to contribute the relief efforts.”
The HONY & Tumblr Indiegogo fundraising link is located here.
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