Good lord, that was a long first episode! Not that I'm complaining- a really enjoyable listen. I think you could probably tighten it up and shorted it, but it's also kind of nice the way it's a little more like an audio book than a radio show, with more detail and depth. What a great beginning!
So nice to hear the Hidden Frontier storyline being continued and expanded upon. Also great hearing many cast and characters from other fan productions, particularly Mrs. Cook as Caed from Intrepid, the ubiquitous Korg, and Keiran Azhan, who's popped in and out of HF and Intrepid, but has finally been nicely fleshed out here.
Also fun are the mentions of Garrovick, Helena, etc. And it's really cool that you're doing a story about the Preservers. I've always wanted to see more about them.
I like that the lead character has children about. It's something we didn't see enough of on Trek (yes, I remember Wesley Crusher and the little Wildman girl).
I like the Poser pic of the Ambassador on your site. I hope we get to see the rest of the team similarly fleshed out. And I'd love to see the ship.
I was going to complain about the opening narration- because almost every Trek fan production tries to start off with their own version of "Space, the final frontier..." and just replace the word "Enterprise" with their own ship, which I think sounds silly- but you did your own original opening, and it sets up the situation nicely.
Nit Picks:
Not crazy about the title- Shouldn't it be Star Trek: Diplomatic CORE? The word Relations makes me giggle inappropriately.
There's a TON of exposition in that first briefing room scene- probably could have been deseminated a bit more subtly.
I'm terrible with names- and I love simple, iconic names, like KIRK, SULU, SCOTTY, etc. I wish some of your character names, in particular the alien ones, were easier to hear and remember.
I think the Vulcan character is written too stiff and limited. I thought it was a good thing that Next Gen got away from Vulcans, but I think the result is that the modern Trek producers, and modern Trek fans, don't like or "get" Vulcans. They're a disiplined, peaceful people who have a way of life that's worked for them for 2 thousand years, they don't need lectures from humans about learning to deal with people with emotions. Especially not from a human Starfleet commander who is supposed to be respectful of the cultures of the folks under her command. Spock had a hard time with all that because he was struggling with being half human, but all that's been done to death- let's see Vulcans for their virtues, and not as defective humans. (rant!)
I think a 24th century teenager can say "cool" without mentioning (clearly for the 21st century audience) that it's a 20th century phrase. Do you have any idea what century all our modern phrases come from? Do we make sure to identify them when we say them?
I also think it was not the alien's place to liken the terrorists' actions with ethnic cleansing on 21st century Earth. One of the human starfleet officers should have made that analogy.
So tired of officers who act out and disobey superior officer's orders to "stand down!" etc., but I guess that's unavoidable in a militaristic drama (One reason I hate that brat Starbuck!!!).
Section 31 already? They really get around.
Sorry for all the crazy nits- some of them are legit points, please take them as constructive. I really enjoyed listening to this, can't wait for more. THANK YOU!
