Star Trek Continues - To Boldly Go (Parts I & II)

I don't think just because someone says "Article 14, Section 31" we can automatically infer that the supposedly secret wing of Starfleet Intelligence we know as "Section 31" is automatically involved.

I have a feeling that for many of the Federations early years an organization called "Section 31" did not really exist. It was just a handy legalistic reference for elements of Starfleet to say "this is why we're sometimes allowed to do bad things for good reasons". The actual organization "Section 31" probably was just the group that adopted that name to glom themselves onto the way certain elements of the Federation had been doing things for decades thus giving it the aura of history, tradition, and legitimacy.

 

C'mon. Everyone knows the Kongo bit it on and near Corinth IV.

 

I'm told they didn't use contacts. The glowing eyes were CGI. Maybe she was blinking in the sunlight after taking the visor off.

 

How could we miss it? Also: it was unnecessary nonsense to explain something that did not need explaining.

 

Overall I have to say the execution (production, acting, sets, lighting VFX, SFX, music) is all top notch.

The story? Where to start:

Don't care for:

- Kirk the duped idiot. [Sorry, but if this is how they want the character of Kirk to go out from the 'TV era' - it leaves a horrible impression of him.]

- We saw BOTH Gary Mitchell and Dr. Elizabeth Dehnar gain INCREDIBLE abilities in just a matter of days (Gary withstood full Phaser fire from a Phaser Rifle). The one Esper we've seen so far seems really weak in comparison if she's had weeks of time to allow her powers to evolve and grow. Also, if the 25 are all just out to gain these abilities and move on to 'higher evolution'; why involve Kirk or Starfleet Command at all BEFORE they have them? (IE why leave the Esper and Vulcan behind to set this 'trap' in the first place?) Starfleet had already been fooled into thinking the lab was attacked by Romulans. The 'we want to play with manipulating Humans' honestly makes little sense story wise.

- I also don't care for the "This is a rescue mission..." line from Kirk. Sorry, but given what he and Spock know about the Mitchell incident, there should be zero hesitation in STOPPING this group by any means necessary. It's another case of 'Picard-esque TNG Kirk syndrome' by the writers here, and for me, that's disappointing. If you want these characters to be TNG characters? Do a TNG fan series. I've never really cared to see TOS characters so co-opted into a TNG mindset, but unfortunately it's not the first time this has been done in this fan series - and for me it's been a disappointing pattern in many episodes.

I DO applaud and appreciate the effort, time, blood, sweat, tears and money the fans and backers have put into this, and it's clear they've all done a remarkable job in realizing their version/vision of TOS post Season 3. For me though, I wish the characters were still written more like TOS Season 1 than TNG Season 1. That's my biggest disappointment here as to me, that season was the pinnacle of TOS where they were just telling good stories. Later (starting in Season 2) they started telling more 'Star Trek formula' stories and that's when (IMO) the characters and stories started to suffer a bit. YMMV.

All the above said, I'll still be interested to see the conclusion as there is enough of TOS there to make it enjoyable and fun despite all my nitpicks above.

It has been, overall, a fun and entertaining fan series.

 

To go really full circle, they should go and get the Talosians to fight the Espers. That would be an epic battle of cerebra.

 

There are a couple of things I didn't quite get. I thought at the first of the story the twenty four people from the research facility had ALREADY traveled to the barrier and been uplifted but at the end of the story it seems to be clear that when the Kongo takes them through the barrier that this is supposed to have been their first exposure to it.

Yet when Lana refers to them killing the crew of the Hood she says "we" which indicates those two dozen were already uplifted.
If they've already been uplifted, why are they going back to the barrier again?
Finally, it was said flat out that the Vulcan apparently went to the research facility to find a mate or someone who could equal him in esper abilities.
Yet, the uplifted are several orders of magnitude in powers beyond what even the most talented Vulcan would be. It seems to me that Lana is far further beyond him than he would be above the average Vulcan (or human).

 

There was certainly a lot happening in this story, a lot of which I assume will be tied in with the second part, but it definitely had the feel of a 'going all out' series finale.

I was very impressed by Nicola Bryant's performance. She really sold those melodramatic lines (appropriate for the time period, of course) and she made that role entirely villainous.

I did notice quite a number of...odd camera angles. Like, not very 60s Star Trek. What I love about Star Trek Continues is how they pride themselves on replicating the production design and shooting style, but there were some alternative angles in certain sets that didn't look very 'of the era'.

It's bittersweet, but I'm very keen to see Part Two.

 

It's possible that she was attempting to lure the Enterprise away and ensure it was destroyed by the Romulans, prompting an all out war that would cover the Kongos actions. As the rest of the group grew in power, they would have one of the last (or only) Constitution class ships left to protect them until they were ready.

Spock knowing a Romulan who could intercept them without causing a war was something they didn't anticipate. But that should all have been made clearer.

 

Hope so. So far the Romulans have been of no use. Getting them to the barrier too late does not count

 

I watched Part one To Boldly Go I really like d it alot. I can't wait to see part 2. The Romulan storyline is really intriguing.

 

Well, maybe the powers plateau after a time and don't continue to grow as Spock and Sulu assumed.

 

I'm not so troubled by the idea of Kirk being credulous when he was dealing with someone who could affect people's minds. She could have made herself seem trustworthy.

 

I wonder. Did the uplifted destroy the entire colony?

 

The script is really sort of an orgy of fanservice. It kind of reminds me of the Of Gods and Men story when they dredged up Charlie X (using a different actor, which was anti-climactic). The temptation is to shove the kitchen sink in since you think you won't be able to do another afterwards. I have to admit when the romulan commander showed up, I started to get teary eyed. Cheap fanservice, and implausible plot-contrivances to achieve it, but got me as I was hoping a fan-film would do that.

That being said, it's still very entertaining. Just sort of overpacked with gratuitous fanservice. And a few episodes ago STC started to let go of the slavish devotion to 60s recreation and you see more and more use of CGI to sweeten things. Not just the silvery eyes but it looks as though the planetscape was done in front a bluescreen and the virtual backdrops have some actual perspective shift to them. It's nice, but it goes beyond what would have been possible back then. More of a TOS remastered effect I guess.

 

Captain Kirk being sometimes gullible when it comes to the safety of the Enterprise is not without precedent. Remember he is the one who gave Khan wide access to the technical data regarding the Enterprise and it apparently never occurred to him after he found out who Khan was what Khan might be able to do with it.

 

If this be fanservice, this fan is well and truly serviced.

 

You might also say that he'd be inclined to believe that the powered-up espers could be "good" and "stable", that it helps him cope with the loss of his friend. Unfortunately, the opportunity to explore this callback in more of a character arc way has been overlooked so far. Instead it's been going in a police procedural direction with a lot of exposition and the biggest dramatic scene is the opener which continues to (wrongly, IMHO) glorify the role of McKenna.

 

Yeah, I don't get that complaint. I thought one of the big beefs of fans for years has been aired Star Trek never seeming to acknowledge things that have happened before in the Trek universe or mention things that have happened or mentioned in some of the more well known novels. Now Trek fans are complaining about it? WTF!!

As for the scene where Drake is forced to kill the security guard and then himself I think it is extremely well done. Apparently the only thing he can move is his eyes and the way he cuts them at Lana radiates pure (understandable) hatred. And the fact that he manages to flinch them shut both times before he fires the phaser is a very nice touch. I don't know how it could've been done better.

And amazing how effective the ominous rising music is the moment the Kongo emerges from the barrier. It so effectively conveys the terrifying fact that "now the espers have a starship in their control"

 

What do Gods need with a starship?

Neil