Top Five Star Trek Episodes

I happen to be one of the lucky folks who can watch MeTV, and they play the original Star Trek series on Saturday nights. They recently restarted the series from the beginning, and I've been happily ensconced in the first season of my favorite television show ever. I thought I would grace you with my own list of top five Trek episodes; ST:TOS only. I might do an all-Trek top ten list at some later date.

#5 Where no Man has Gone Before (Season 1, 2nd pilot). I love this episode because it has a strong and interesting villain; Gary Mitchell. Gary Lockwood (who would later co-star in 2001: A Space Odyssey) does a terrific job, but it's the slow and subtle betrayal of a friend of many years that really makes this for me. And at the end, when he's in full-blown psychic god mode; "Pray to you? Not to both of you?" "PRAY THAT YOU DIE EASILY!" Terrific.

#4 The Doomsday Machine (Season 2, written by Norman Spinrad). The performance by William Windom as Commodore Decker (apocryphally said to be the father of Captain Decker in ST:TMP) is just fantastic. When Kirk asks him what happened to the crew of the Constellation, and Decker tells him that he beamed them all down to the third planet in the system under attack by the planet killer, and Kirk says, "There is no third planet!" "DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT!? There was! But not any more!" A really great performance, and the music really adds to the tension in this one. Bonus points for Decker playing with the tapes while sitting in the captain's chair of the Enterprise, just like Captain Queeg with his ball-bearings in The Caine Mutiny.

#3 Who Mourns for Adonais? (Season 2). For me, the last ten minutes of this episode catapult it from a good episode to an "oh my Gods this is amazing" episode. Michael Forrest as Apollo just captures the grief and pathos of the alien god who waited for 3000 years for humans to find him, expecting them to worship him again, only to be rejected. It's incredible to watch.

#2 Balance of Terror (Season 1). A submarine vs. destroyer film in the Trek universe. There's so much more going on here than just one ship hunting another; the play between Stiles and Spock with its undertones of racial prejudice, the (self-aware) parallels between Kirk and the Romulan commander, the unexpected ending where Tomlinson (who we see about to be married at the beginning of the episode) was killed... Just hits all the right notes.

#1 Spock's Brain. (Just kidding.) Space Seed (Season 1). Ricardo Montalban as Khan Noonien Singh. What more do I need to say? It's a brilliant performance, and he created a character that remains event today as the iconic Star Trek villain.

No tribbles? No Mirror, Mirror? No City on the Edge of Forever? No... they're terrific episodes, no doubt about it. But if I limit myself to five, I've got to make cuts, and those just didn't make it. For me, anyway. Of course, everyone has their own thoughts on such things-- what would you put in your top five?

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ST:TNG in Theaters Tonight

Fathom Events is running a special showing of what are arguably the best two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation in select theaters tonight. From their description:

The Best of Both Worlds – the two-part storyline comprising the third season finale and the fourth season premiere of the beloved series Star Trek: The Next Generation®- will, for the first time ever, be seamlessly tied together as one continuous and uninterrupted story digitally restored with new CGI effects… on the big screen! Audiences will also see special clips from “Regeneration: Engaging the Borg”, a behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Best of Both Worlds.

Sounds like a hoot, and fortunately my local theater is showing it tonight. I'm very curious to see what those "new CGI effects" are. These are also my two favorite episodes, so I'm really looking forward to this tonight!

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Speculation on Star Trek Into Darkness

Over at Ain't It Cool News, Mr. Beaks gives us a teaser of the teaser of the new Star Trek film, and the L.A. Times proclaims that the villain's identity is still a mystery. I don't think so, not at all.

Bear in mind that the identity of the villain was slipped inadvertently some months ago; Gary Mitchell. Karl Urban (who plays McCoy in the new films) stated (speaking of Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays the villain) “he’s a great addition, and I think his Gary Mitchell is going to be exemplary.” The Internet then exploded with speculation that Urban's remark was a deliberate misdirection, planted by the ever-secretive J.J. Abrams to throw fans off the trail.

For those who aren't familiar with classic Trek canon, Gary Mitchell was the navigator of the Enterprise in the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before". An old friend of Kirk's from their Starfleet Academy days, he gains psionic powers of telekinesis and telepathy that appear to grow in strength at a geometric rate. Eventually Kirk is forced to kill his old friend to save himself and the ship.

Now, compare that with the official synopsis of Star Trek Into Darkness:

After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction.

That certainly sounds like a good description of a Gary Mitchell with godlike psionic powers to me.

My thought is thus; Gary Mitchell, rather than having gotten his powers accidentally by contact with some deep-space phenomenon, is the result of some sort of experiment conducted by Starfleet (perhaps even Section 31). As his powers grow, they lose control over him, to the point where he destroys most of the fleet, ravages cities, and Kirk et al must deal with him once and for all.

All just speculation, of course, but it does fit, I think. We'll know in May!

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Next Gen and Me

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the launch of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987. I was a junior in college at the time, at a height of my gaming and fandom endeavors that I wouldn't regain for a long, long time. And now, here was a reincarnation of my beloved Star Trek. I couldn't wait, and collected scraps of information from various television previews (Entertainment Tonight, etc.) on VHS so I could study them. Later on it would become apparent that ST:TNG was a second shot at the series Roddenberry wanted to do in the 1970's, which ended up being turned into Star Trek The Motion Picture.

My girlfriend at the time even went so far to make me a uniform, right after the premier of the pilot episode, that I was able to wear in time for a science fiction convention in November. I didn't win a prize, but I was one of only two people at that particular convention to have a Next Gen uniform, so I was pretty pleased with myself about that.

At the time, I was dazzled by Encounter at Farpoint, although in retrospect I see its flaws and the awkwardness of the whole show in that first season. There were some definite highlights (mostly when they harkened back to the original series, such as episodes like The Neutral Zone and Heart of Glory, and darker episodes such as Conspiracy) and some definite lows (The Naked Now, Justice, and When the Bough Breaks), but on the whole I was hooked and would remain so for its entire run.

Looking back, I think some of my attraction to the first couple of seasons was nostalgia, and I was definitely willing to put up with inferior quality just for the sake of having new Star Trek at all. But some of my current dissatisfaction with the early episodes is tinged by my comparisons with the later episodes. I see something like Too Short a Season or Angel One, both of which had a lot of great potential, and wonder what they might have been had they been done in the fifth season.

The cast definitely grew into their roles, with the exception of Patrick Stewart, who was pretty much on-target from the first. I can't say I was particularly saddened to see Wesley Crusher go, but those episodes where he was treated like a regular member of the crew, rather than some bobble-headed wunderkind, were definitely better treatments of the character. I did prefer Dr. Pulaski to Dr. Crusher, specifically because she was a more abrasive character, and would have given us a unique lens through which to view Klingon culture, as a counterpoint to the various Worf episodes. Q and the Borg were of course terrific villains, as were the later-introduced Cardassians, but the Ferengi, who were originally intended to be the "big bads" of the show, were quickly abandoned as such and only really found traction in the next series, Deep Space 9.

As the series went on, it entered a golden age. The third, fourth, and fifth seasons were excellent (although of course not without their klunkers such as Season 5's The Game), and of course had the series first and best cliffhanger episodes; Best of Both Worlds parts I and II. What makes them so effective is that they work on a variety of levels, dealing more with the characters than the Borg in many cases (the subtext of Riker's concerns about aging and his career advancement were among the character's highlights throughout the entire series).

While it did tend to wind down in the last two seasons, even they had absolutely terrific episodes (True Q, Ship in a Bottle, Gambit Parts I and II, Lower Decks, etc.) and the series finale was a fitting capstone to the whole. On the whole, I probably prefer this series to the original, although Deep Space 9 is still my favorite overall.

For whatever reason, they never really hit their stride in films, never matching the power of a Wrath of Khan or even the joyful romp of The Voyage Home. They did manage to accomplish something I never thought possible, though; they managed to make a Trek movie (Nemesis) that was worse than Star Trek V.

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46 Years Ago Today

Today marks the forty-sixth anniversary of the debut of the original Star Trek. I've written before of how Trek influenced my formative years; it was my gateway into fandom, and thence to gaming. Whether it was television, movies, books, games, conventions, fan clubs, or action figures, Star Trek was an inextricable part of my life and remains so to this day.

So thank you, Great Bird of the Galaxy, for giving me literally countless hours of enjoyment over the years.

And as a special bonus, here is a link to download the Trek fan-film in which I was a guest star (back when I had even some hair); Tales of the Seventh Fleet, "A Touch of Home". It's certainly cringe-worthy, but it was a lot of fun to do. Extra special super bonus; Steven Buonocore, president of Stronghold Games plays one of my Orion henchmen!

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Star Trek: The Motion Picture vs. The Next Generation

Persis Khambatta ("Ilia") in a screen
test for Star Trek: Phase II

Have you ever noticed how similar Star Trek The Motion Picture is to Star Trek The Next Generation? Consider...

Decker / Riker: A hotshot first officer, young, impatient, sometimes at odds with the captain. Used to have a relationship with Ilia / Troi.

Ilia / Troi: An alien who used to have a relationship with the first officer. Possessed of special powers dealing with emotions (sexual in nature for Ilia, empathic in the case of Troi).

Spock / Data: Highly logical, dealing with emotions with which he is either uncomfortable or inexperienced, and giving us the view of humanity from the outsider's point of view.

Kirk / Picard: Very experienced captain who has the complete confidence of his crew.

Music: Perhaps the most direct comparison; the theme music is the same for both.

There's actually a reason for these similarities. Back in the mid to late 1970's, Paramount was considering doing a new television series called Star Trek Phase II. At the last minute, after the enormous success of Star Wars, the would-be series was transformed into Star Trek The Motion Picture. They built sets, made costumes, wrote scripts, casted actors, and wrote a series bible. When ST:TNG came around, they recycled many of these elements again for the new show.

More on that would-be series in just a bit...

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Service Guarantees Citizenship

Some corners of the Internet are all abuzz with the following picture, featuring some new costumes from the new Star Trek movie:

I don't see these as any sort of ubiquitous new uniform style (the way that the somewhat militaristic "monster maroons" replaced the spandex jumpsuits of The Motion Picture), but they could be a dress uniform or something.

But is it me, or do these just scream "Starship Troopers"? Especially the high-peaked hats and epaulettes.

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I Blame the High Cost of Miniatures on Instability in the Mid-East

Back in the mid-1970's, the price of oil was so high because of the various OPEC embargoes that SPI actually had to stop including a tiny die with their games because plastic was too expensive. They included a little piece of paper in the game explaining why there was no die, and offering to send one to the gamer if they really wanted it, for the cost of postage. Eventually prices went down and dice started appearing in SPI games again.

I recall that story because there are two games in which I'm very interested, and for which I just saw some pricing details. Sweet Reason!

The first is A Call to Arms: Starfleet by Mongoose Publishing. It's a game set in the Starfleet Battles universe, and features some great looking classic Trek ship miniatures. The fleet boxes go for around $100 and sport 16 starships. That's $6.25 per ship. The squadron boxes are even more ruinous; $40 for 5 ships, or $8 each. And if you want to purchase ships individually, they run an incredible $15 each! Just to put that into perspective, you can buy a 1:2500 model kit of the Enterprise for less than that.

The second is the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game from Fantasy Flight Games. Now, I know that FFG is usually on the expensive side, because their components are top-notch, but their $40 core set comes with a measly 3 ships (or more than $13 each), and additional ships can be had for $15 each. And a set of 6 dice will set you back another $10.

Maybe I'm just spoiled by the miniatures I do buy; only metal, and usually in smaller scales like 15mm or 1:350/microarmor. But wowzers, those ship miniatures seem awfully expensive!

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How the Enterprise Almost Landed in Las Vegas

When I read this story, I was absolutely flabbergasted. I fancy myself a hard-core Star Trek fan, but had absolutely no idea that there were plans to build a life-sized USS Enterprise and put it in downtown Las Vegas as a tourist attraction. Let alone how close they came to actually going through with it.

Apparently they had the plans, the permits from the city, the funding from backers, and the license from Paramount. All they needed was the blessing from the studio CEO, Stanley Jaffe. And he said "no", afraid that if the $150 million attraction was a flop, it would remain prominently in the public mind for years, rather than the few months a movie flop would. I've got to say, that has to go down in history as one of the poorest decisions in history, when one thinks about how successful the franchise has been since 1992. They would have made their money back a hundredfold.

This goes way beyond the Star Trek Experience that eventually was produced (and to this day I am kicking myself for not visiting it while I could). I mean, the actual USS Enterprise! Life sized! The mind boggles.

Read the whole story. It's inspiring in its audacity, fascinating in its details, and tragic in its conclusion.


Hat tip to Aint it Cool News.

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Happy First Contact Day!

Star Trek lore tells us that on this date in the year 2063, space pioneer Zephram Cochrane, inventor of warp drive, will make first contact with a Vulcan scout ship, leading to the eventual formation of the United Federation of Planets. Well done, Dr. Cochrane.

Of course, in the Mirror Universe, he killed the vulcan crew and looted their ship, which eventually led to the enslavement of the planet Vulcan by the Empire. Well done too, Mirror Dr. Cochrane.

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On Canon

When I published the latest of my "Mapping Beyond the Flanaess" maps, a very strange phenomenon occurred. A few people, rather than discussing the maps themselves (aside from an occasional perfunctory "they look nice, but...") proceeded to rip into them not for their own substance, but because they are based, in large part, on the map that appeared in Dragon Annual #1 back in 1996.

I confess I was somewhat taken aback by this, since it didn't seem particularly fair to take me to task for something that was done by Skip Williams and Dave Sutherland 16 years ago. But apparently old hatreds simmer for long periods, and will find any excuse to come to the surface. My maps were just a convenient excuse to vent their spleens once more.

It does bring up an interesting question as to how, exactly, we handle issues of canon that we don't especially like.

While for most people, the question itself sounds almost nonsensical ("who cares about canon?"), it should be remembered that for some fans of specific game settings, the question of whether something is or is not canonical is crucial. After all, stray too far from the published material, and eventually you're not playing in Greyhawk at all. (The question then becomes, "when does that happen?")

I was one of the first people (perhaps even the first, but who can remember back that far?) back in the AOL days to use the term "canon" in the context of Greyhawk; I myself had heard it in similar context regarding things relating to Star Trek, and found it an apt term. Discussions as to how canon can be fit together, or made to work, are as much staples of Greyhawk fandom as is the introduction of new material ("fanon", as the neologism has it). The main fan-based website for Greyhawk is not called Canonfire for nothing.

There are three approaches one can take with canon:

• Everything that is published as canonical material should be used, and trumps anything that fans come up with (even material used in one's home game). If new canonical material is published which conflicts with homemade material, the latter is discarded in favor of the former.
• Start with a base of canonical material, but with the understanding that canon can be discarded as the game master desires.
• Start with only the very basic material (usually one of the boxed sets or folio, when talking about Greyhawk) and develop your own material from there, ignoring most of the remaining material unless its inclusion is personally compelling. Even the basic material is fair ground for modification.

I should state emphatically that none of these options is right (unless you're writing for Wizards of the Coast, in which case the first option is your only option), nor is any of them wrong. Most, but not all, game masters and players find themselves following the second option, which is more of a spectrum than a point. One can have a great respect for most canon, and still find onesself willing to discard one or two elements that one really doesn't like in favor of a homebrewed solution.

That, of course, is what I did with my Castle of the Mad Archmage. I'm not a fan of the Greyhawk Ruins module, and therefore wrote my own megadungeon to replace it. That's a personal artistic choice, but on the whole I tend to fall into the camp of "use all the canon I can"; probably a 3 on the scale above. There are a few specific items I've replaced (my map of the City of Greyhawk, for example), but mostly those have been done because I don't find the canonical sources as true to their Gygaxian origins as they might have been, and I find my substitutions moreso.

Quite a few people have the same attitude towards the map from DA#1. They don't like the physical layout, or the choices of which cultures are next to one another, or whatever. That's fine, and there's no more wrong with that than their is with my discarding Greyhawk Ruins for my Castle of the Mad Archmage. However, what becomes problematical is how such things are addressed. I feel that complaining loudly and often about what bothers me only goes so far. Without taking matters into one's own hands and actually doing something to address the concerns, complaining turns into whining.

Accept on the face of it that the canonical source isn't going to change. Short of your winning the lottery, buying the rights to it, and re-writing things to suit your fancy, chances are that the offending map, or module, or deity, or whatever aren't going away. In such a case, you have three choices:

• Suck up and deal with it.
• Create your own material to replace the offending material (create a new map or module, etc.).
• Come up with an in-universe explanation for the anomaly and provide a solution that provides a better explanation without breaking canon. Sometimes called "canon reconciliation". Especially used when two pieces of canon seemingly contradict one another.

That last is something one sees a lot in the Star Trek and Sherlock Holmes fan communities. To take but one example; for years before Enterprise finally gave a canonical explanation, Star Trek fans attempted to explain the discrepancy in appearance of Klingons in ST:TOS and later incarnations. Were there different castes of Klingons? Half-breeds? Mass surgery? Dozens of explanations, some plausible, some tortured, were offered. But the best were the ones that explained the anomaly completely within the bounds of canon.

So, too, can such an attitude be taken towards canonical elements of the World of Greyhawk that one dislikes. To take one example that was brought up by my publication of my maps; the notion that Zindia and Nippon (or as I call it, Woguo) are too close together. In the real world, they are separated by China. Surely if they were closer together, Zindia would have an influence on Woguo, and thus Woguo would have a culture nothing like historical Japan.

To my mind, the solution is not to continually complain that the problem exists, but rather to come up with an interesting and plausible explanation that still falls within the bounds of canon. That's why in my maps and related material, I posited that there was an extensive Suhfang (the Chinese analogue) population in more direct proximity to Woguo; this population was later conquered and became the Woguo Dominion. Prior to their current expansionist phase, Woguo was deeply isolationist in character. Since the Suhfang lands were much closer to the island of Woguo than the Zindian lands, the vast majority of cultural pollination that took place would come from Suhfang.

However, it should be remembered that Suhfang in Oerik (at least as I envision it; we know nothing about it but the name and the vaguest outlines of geography) lacks the influence of Zen Buddhism that its real-world counterpart has. It's still a very deeply polytheistic land, and if Woguo is anything like Japan, we need to account for the much more Zen-like character of its religion.

I'm sure the answer is as obvious to you as it was to me. The proximity of Zindia now becomes not a problem, but a solution! What little Zindian cultural pollination there has been of Woguo has been in the form of spirituality, rather than other aspects of culture and technology.

I put this out there not to invite a discussion on this specific idea, but rather as an example of how canon reconciliation is a useful and positive tool. I'm sure the explanation I proffer above will be lacking to some people. The answer, then, is to come up with your own canon reconciliation. Try to come up with an answer that stays within the bounds of canon before you throw something out. You might just find that your explanation ends up being more interesting than what you might have invented in its place.

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