And in certain occasions, hilariously deck McCoy in the middle of a diatribe.
Revisiting Star Trek Continues...
- Thread starter Warped9
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While it was cute there is no way that would have happened on TOS. It was very much a contemporary form of humour.And in certain occasions, hilariously deck McCoy in the middle of a diatribe.
Granted. Still, I'd've paid real money to see UHURA knock Kirk over a table instead of Spock doing it!
No, he doesn't.
Oddly enough, I've found Mr Cullens videos become more annoying over the last year or so, yet can't quite shake that he's still making a valid point.
By the way, I'm sure he had a video where he says that he likes Star Trek: Continues a lot.
By the way, I'm sure he had a video where he says that he likes Star Trek: Continues a lot.
I know this was posted a couple months ago, but I'm just now working my way through the thread and I feel like standing up for some often-overlooked crew members. If one considers TAS to be canon, then there were a bunch of security ladies in The Lorelei Signal. But that's not actually the earliest occurrence, because Trek's first female security guard was very likely Martha Landon in The Apple.
It's easy to see her as "just a yeoman" or "just there to scan things" — an impression I myself had for years — but she clearly displays combat training and handles herself differently than do most other women we've seen in the crew. (Compare to Tamura in A Taste of Armageddon, for example, who was handed a phaser but was clearly out of her element.) Most likely Landon is a yeoman in the security division, perhaps the personal assistant to the division chief. I like to imagine that when Kirk called down ordering a security detail cross-trained in surveying, Chief Giotto used the intercom to assign Marple to the detail, then turned to his yeoman with a kind smile. "Okay Martha, you've been itching to get out in the field; grab a tricorder and a Type II on your way to the transporter room."
I'm not claiming she's a frequent or seasoned security officer, but I do think the context gives her a very good claim to being the first one shown of the female persuasion.
(Oh, and I'm also not trying to run down STC here. I love the series. It has many of its own "firsts" and other innovations, but I just don't see this particular point as one of them given what I see in The Apple.)
Was Yeoman Landon the only female crewmember in TOS to have a Phaser II on beamdown? I don't even think Uhura got that!
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Landon. No g.
Uhura's about to beam down with one in "The Gamesters of Triskelion" before the Providers whisk the landing party away. Does that count?
Yes, it does. She still has it when they arrive on Triskelion. I stand corrected.
Landon spelling also corrected.
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We don't, TAS is as canon as the novels, which means 99.5% not at all
I think that's overthinking it. She has a tricorder while the other men in red do not.
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And if we slightly broaden the term "phaser" to mean "Starfleet standard-issue landing party defense weapon" then we would also include Number One and Yeoman Colt. Neither was a security guard, but both were females issued "phasers" (laser pistols) for an away mission, and in the very first Trek voyage ever filmed.
Here's a list of the relevant "firsts" I'm aware of (happy to be corrected on any errors or omissions):
- 0x01 Cage: Number One & J.M. Colt, first female crew members issued energy weapons (laser pistols, as standard landing party protocol).
- 1x23 Armageddon: Yeoman Tamura, first non-white female crew member issued an energy weapon (Eminian disruptor, for an on-the-fly security situation).
- 2x09 Apple: Martha Landon, first female to beam down with a phaser on her hip and implied to actually be in the security division.
- 2x10 Mirror: Uhura's first time grabbing a phaser?
- 2x17 Gamesters: Uhura's first time being issued one for a landing party?
- TAS 1x04 Lorelei: Davison, first female security guard shown in a leadership role. Uhura's first time firing a phaser?
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Ah, I'm glad there is somebody who speaks for literally everyone here. That will be quite a timesaver.
Mr. Marple would like a word.
I don't think so. She's consistently referred to as a yeoman, and there's no mention of Lieutenant in the episode, the online transcript, or the Memory Alpha page. You must be thinking of some other rank mixup (there were plenty of them, sadly).
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Pretty sure the canonicty issue of TAS was resolved once Paramount got full control of the rights wrestled away from Filmation and it's now considered part of the canon with every other officially-produced series and films.
I suppose we probably don't need to get too wrapped around the axle about what is and isn't canon in a thread specifically devoted to a fan series. Surely if we're treating Star Trek Continues as "canonical enough" to merit debating what it may or may not have done first in the timeline, then also mentioning TAS just for the sake of completeness would not be out of line?
I mean, I did say "if one considers it canon" in order to place it squarely in YMMV territory. I'm not actually sure how much space this series even occupies in my own head. Yesteryear is pretty great, BEM is pretty trash, and there's an awful lot in between that's questionable. Personally I love individual elements like the Spock backstory in Yesteryear, highlighting an Indian/Native American/First Nations crew member in Sharper, and Uhura finally getting to command the ship in Lorelei, so things like those are legit headcanon for me. Walking dandelions, giant pink colony-tribbles, Orions dressed as comic-book henchmen, aliens that explode into hovering arms and legs, and everyone sounding like Jimmy Doohan on helium... not so much.
There's some of this with STC, too, although it leans much farther to the good for me. I agree with Rod Roddenberry when he says (more than once) that he considers it canon and he's pretty sure his father would have as well. And yet, there are some things that are just plain wrong, like leaning into the old debunked myth that every starship had its own unique emblem until Starfleet adopted the supposed Enterprise-specific patch service-wide. Couldn't be more wrong. On the other end of the spectrum, when the little girl in The White Iris spoke her line, it broke me. The gravitas of that one moment made the entire episode worthwhile, and I don't care what other loves were missing or how unnecessary the Farragut stuff may have been.
Anyway, back on point, it's fine if people love or hate TAS. I kinda do both. But if we're gonna throw it out of the conversation for not being provably 100% canonical, then I think we just invalidated the whole thread. Which would be silly. It's a good thread.
I mean, I did say "if one considers it canon" in order to place it squarely in YMMV territory. I'm not actually sure how much space this series even occupies in my own head. Yesteryear is pretty great, BEM is pretty trash, and there's an awful lot in between that's questionable. Personally I love individual elements like the Spock backstory in Yesteryear, highlighting an Indian/Native American/First Nations crew member in Sharper, and Uhura finally getting to command the ship in Lorelei, so things like those are legit headcanon for me. Walking dandelions, giant pink colony-tribbles, Orions dressed as comic-book henchmen, aliens that explode into hovering arms and legs, and everyone sounding like Jimmy Doohan on helium... not so much.
There's some of this with STC, too, although it leans much farther to the good for me. I agree with Rod Roddenberry when he says (more than once) that he considers it canon and he's pretty sure his father would have as well. And yet, there are some things that are just plain wrong, like leaning into the old debunked myth that every starship had its own unique emblem until Starfleet adopted the supposed Enterprise-specific patch service-wide. Couldn't be more wrong. On the other end of the spectrum, when the little girl in The White Iris spoke her line, it broke me. The gravitas of that one moment made the entire episode worthwhile, and I don't care what other loves were missing or how unnecessary the Farragut stuff may have been.
Anyway, back on point, it's fine if people love or hate TAS. I kinda do both. But if we're gonna throw it out of the conversation for not being provably 100% canonical, then I think we just invalidated the whole thread. Which would be silly. It's a good thread.
Oh, I don't think that's the case since we're discussing a fanfilm here after all. Whether or not TAS is canon is a topic I'm sure has been discussed to death in the TOS forum, which is the appropriate place for it. Let's try to keep this thread, mostly, about the production of Star Trek Continues folks. Thanks.
I felt sorry for Zahra. Everyone, including the ship's doctor had a phaser, except her.
London was the only non-com on the landing party but at least she was armed. Odd though to have so many security officers in one landing party. They probably wiped out half the senior security officers in one episode.
London was the only non-com on the landing party but at least she was armed. Odd though to have so many security officers in one landing party. They probably wiped out half the senior security officers in one episode.
Was he arrested or something? Was there a trial? I've never heard this story.
“Pilgrim Of Eternity” - 4.5/5
Stardate: 6147.3 - The Enterprise encounters once again the being known as the ancient Greek god Apollo.
From the get-go this is very much a treat. As a long devoted TOS fan this was really fun to watch. Yes, there is the adjustment of seeing new actors in place of the familiar cast, but beyond that I find very little to criticize here. And hearing the long familiar TOS music tracks in tandem with seeing those fantastic sets beautifully recreated is a massive grin inducing experience. In extent hearing that familiar fanfare accompanying a very nice cgi model of the Enterprise was is crazy cool. This looks very much like what a really cleaned up TOS could look like while maintaining that original TOS aesthetic. The overall production standard here was first-rate for what it was trying to achieve, and any criticism I have is really only minor nitpicking.
The new cast does a (mostly) admirable job in their respective roles. With most of them I found them quite natural in their respective roles which made it much easier to accept them. The only one I felt was off the mark was Grant Imahara as Sulu. He struck me as over playing it a bit. We know him to having been a big Trek fan and I think his enthusiasm was showing a bit too much.
Chris Doohan as Scotty was an interesting bit of casting given he is James Doohan’s son. Todd Haberkorn as Spock works quite well only at this point his hair style is not yet quite right.I found myself quite liking Larry Nemecek as McCoy. Vic Mignogna as Kirk really won me over.
What really helps is that none of the new cast were trying to outright imitate the original cats’s performances, but merely channel some of them into their own portrayals. It’s a fine line that generally worked well. No one can replace William Shatner or Leonard Nimoy, or any of the others, but I found myself going with it with little difficulty.
Having Michael Forest reprise his role as Apollo was inspired. His presence almost seemed to encourage everyone else to rise to the occasion so that they didn’t seem outclassed in comparison.
In this story we’re introduced to a new regular character aboard the Enterprise: Michelle Specht as Dr. Elysse McKenna, the new ship’s Counselor. I will say introducing a ship’s Counselor into the TOS era strikes me as really fannish in trying to inject a TNG element into TOS, something that wouldn’t have been on the radar when TOS was in production. It’s just off for me. It also echoes something else from the past. Way back when TOS’ first pilot “The Cage” was being made Gene Roddenberry cast his then extramarital girlfriend, Majel Barrett, in a significant role as the Enterprise’s second-in-command, Number One. Now, here, Vic Mignogna cast his then fiancee Michelle Specht, in a prominent recurring role for STC. If they really had to do this why not have her portray the ship’s psychiatrist as we had seen previously in TOS with Dr. Elizabeth Dehner and Dr. Helen Noel?
That said I have to say Michelle Specht’s performance was good and very natural. She never came across as amateurish in any way whatsoever. I might question her role, but I can’t argue her screen presence.
Now the story. What are the odds that TOS would revisit a previous character or storyline given Roddenberry’s idea was the Enterprise was heading outward and therefore very unlikely to encounter the same people more than once? They encountered Klingons and Romulans more than once, but not the exact same characters they had encountered before. They did encounter a previous character again only once, Harry Mudd, and it was treated as a fantastic coincidence which allowed it to work. Yes, they did encounter Mudd, and a few other characters, in TAS but not in TOS. And note that STC doesn’t seem to be acknowledging TAS as having happened in the live-action continuity.
Nonetheless it’s not impossible, but highly unlikely TOS would have brought back Apollo for another story. That said this followup does work as a means of redeeming the character for his past deeds. It’s not a story that needed to be told, but it still works and doesn’t undermine the original episode “Who Mourns For Adonais?” And it does feel very much like like a story we could have seen from TOS.
What really brings all the elements together here is the writing. I have very little to criticize here because it plays very much like an original TOS story. The staging, the direction, the spoken words all sound exactly right. I could easily envision the original cast doing these things and and saying these words. As a proof of concept this production delivered and brought home the bacon. I found myself really buying into this could have been done 1969.
Another thing I only just noticed this time around was watching the reactions of some of the characters, notably McKenna and Uhura, in the background when Apollo is confronted by Kirk and flexing his god-like powers. McKenna and Uhura’s reactions really help sell the scene.
The criticisms I have here are minor and mostly in regard to some of the vfx. Given a bit more time and money TOS could have done more, but there are some visuals here that might have challenged TOS without a lot more time and money. It still looks good, but I wonder if TOS could have pulled them off.
In the end this is a 4.5 out of 5. It’s really quite good for a first effort and my criticisms are really minor.
Agreed. It was great seeing the original actor playing Apollo. It was a fun episode. A nice companion to the original..
These were defamation lawsuits? Has he been convicted of anything thus far? I can't seem to find anything.
