Lovely episode. I especially loved the part where I click on it, and I get a message that says "Ad error". Minimalism at it's best. A scathing critique of the capitalist system. 10/10
Anyway, on to the short: The basic plot is simple Spoiler: Spoiler When the short starts, we see Rosa Salazar's character being sent off by Pike for her first command. She was previously a science officer on Enterprise, and he sees her off with a few "words of wisdom." As was thought, Pike is once again strictly in a cameo role here, and isn't seen after the first scene, which is really about the new captain's ill-fated two-week captaincy. Her crew is tasked with solving a foot shortage on a planet right outside of Klingon space. Many of the individual crew members seem to have good ideas, but one of them - Edward - has the wacky idea of using tribbles as a source of protein. The one issue is the low rate of reproduction of Tribbles. Edward eventually genetically modifies them using human DNA to speed up their reproduction process. The Tribbles end up basically overrunning the ship, causing his death and the abandonment of it, with the episode ending with Rosa Salazar's character facing a court martial, with the defense "he was an idiot." So the whole thing is basically an origin story regarding the tribbles. I liked the short a great deal more than I had expected to. The tribbles are really a side-show within the episode, and only really become the prime issue about halfway through. The real core of the story is Edward - who is a hilariously dysfunctional character dropped into the uber-competent world of Starfleet. There are two incredibly awkward interactions he has - one in a meeting where he is completely unprepared, and the other when being dressed down by the captain - which seem to stretch on forever in the best way. It wasn't laugh out loud funny - but Trek comedy seldom is. 9/10 - and, I might add, one of the best uses of the Short Treks format to date. This couldn't have been a B plot anywhere else. It lets us see two new characters who have their own complete "arcs" over the course of the episode, and it works as a complete story.
This feels like an Orville episode. Which is not a negative for me, but it could be for some. Oh also, there is a post credits scene Spoiler It's humours parody a commercial for a tribble themed cereal
OH MY GOD!!! How the heck did Edward ever get beyond the academy? (never mind assigned to a research ship) It feels like everybody kept passing him on to become someone else's problem. At first I was thinking another Barkley, but this guy doesn't even have Reg's likable personality. It was funny, but more than a bit preposterous.
I wonder if there's a Klingon translation for Edward Larkin, like "the greatest enemy of the Empire" or something.
I wonder if STO will reclassify all their Tribbles to some form of Tribleusis Ventricosus? All Meat ... Blood Red ... Nothing but Protein. I also wonder if perhaps Tribbles are poisonous for Klingons to eat because of Edward's DNA being involved?
twisted. i kind of loved it. i mean having the tribbles’ breeding turn out to be human intervention that’s not far removed from our heroes is extra prequel-y, but the absurdity of the whole thing masked any real plot issues i could have. and i loved spending some time on what seems to be a both under and oversized magee-class starship.
Today's Burger Special: The "No Tribble at All" Endless Sliders! Tribble patties on a hot roll with melted Swiss cheese. All you can eat... we never run out!
The one logic flaw I had with the episode is these tribbles in particular seemed to violate the conservation of mass/energy, insofar as they somehow grew and reproduced entirely in absence of food. TOS made it clear that if they didn't eat, they didn't breed. I think it could have been easily fixed through having the science ship have grain stores that the tribbles got into or something. That said, the short was supposed to be ridiculous, so I wasn't that put out by it.
These were still the souped up ones. After a few million generations, say, a week, they should normalize into what we saw later.
excellent use of the short trek format. from a geeky perspective, I liked the quasi-cage uniforms. the coexistence of all three styles ties up a bit of a visual loose-end.
I've got to say, Edward is the type of guy I normally try to avoid at all costs. The Captain, that's the way I would've dealt with Edward. If I had to. Oh, shit. He's still arguing. If he was on TrekBBS, I would've blown my top at him. Ever seen me angry? It would've been like that, but worse. I'd have gotten an infraction because of him for sure. They've done a great job of making someone I can't stand. And then we've got the tribbles! Love the way that ended! This is a 10. Watch this as soon as you can! This is completely bonkers and owns it totally.