Archive for February 21, 2013

Episode 14: Court Martial

Star Trek Court Martial

Kirk is falsely accused by a former friend, prosecuted by a former girlfriend, ridiculed by his fellow officers, and defended by a Luddite lawyer. Just another day at the office.

An interesting episode, this show is a classic mashup of sci-fi and a traditional courtroom drama. With the interesting character of Sam Cogley entering the Star Trek universe as Captain Kirk’s defending attorney, we find Kirk fighting for his professional career under the stress of losing one of his own crewmen. We also get to meet one of Kirk’s ex-flames (who apparently pushes Andy’s buttons).

With a classic Trek fight scene at the end, and perhaps the lamest prop in Trek history (the “white sound device”/microphone), this show gave us some great fodder for our discussion, which we hope you’ll enjoy half as much as we did.

Can you isolate a heart beat? Have you ever jettisoned your pod prematurely? Could you sabotage a starship with garden hoses? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or send us an email at StarTrekQuest@gmail.com.

Listen to this episode now:

 

Or you can download the MP3 file here.

Court Martial Review

Episode 13: The Galileo Seven

Star Trek Galileo Seven

Captain Kirk orders most of his senior staff to fly a tiny shuttle straight into the heart of a quasar-like green cloud. What could possibly go wrong?

Scoring on the far low end of the TrekQuesters’ logic score, this episode nevertheless offers one of the original series most (unintentionally) hilarious moments: a giant spear cracking through a styrofoam space rock and glancing off the head of “dead” crewman. Why is a giant spear being chucked at a dead crewman? Because the giant fur-wearing humanoids who live on the planet make giant folsom-pointed spears. And when giant humanoids with giant spears live on planets in the middle of quasar-like clouds, they tend to be grumpy. And these particular humanoids are probably even grumpier than would be normally expected, seeing that their planet is seemingly otherwise devoid of life — which would tend to make the giant humanoids pretty hungry. Did I mention this show isn’t very logical?

It’s actually kinda funny that the episode that’s most focused on Spock’s dedication to logic surrounds a plot with so many illogical holes. Completely separated from Kirk for the first time, we see that Spock’s insistence on pure logic can really irritate his human colleagues. One of the other officers comes darn close to outright mutiny, and you’re left wondering how Kirk would react once he learned the full details of what happened during the Galileo’s little outing.

Can you recharge a spaceship with a gun? How long would you have waited for Yoeman Mears? Are you afraid of space giants? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or send us an email at StarTrekQuest@gmail.com.

Listen to this episode now:

 

Or you can download the MP3 file here.

Conscience of the King Review

Episode 12: Conscience of the King

Star Trek Conscience of the King

A bloody knife, an iron mask, and a man with half a face make for an interesting start to this most literary of episodes. Actors acting about being actors always makes for an interesting plot, and this show does not disappoint.

Although profoundly illogical in many ways, The Conscience of the King remains a great example of why we love original Star Trek. At it’s best, ST:TOS is both great science fiction and good story telling in general. With belief firmly suspended, we see one man obsessed with revenge, another cursed by his past sins, and a daughter driven to madness to protect her father from harm. This episode doesn’t just quote Shakespeare, it brings some of his most tragic concepts emotionally to life. Add in some groovy 60s lounge music and a classically twisted Kirk romance, and you’ve got one of our favorite episodes so far.

Can you tell Hamlet from Macbeth? Have you ever drank poisoned milk? Do you know what Double Red Alert means? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or send us an email at StarTrekQuest@gmail.com.

Listen to this episode now:

 

Or you can download the MP3 file here.

Conscience of the King Review