Star Trek Social Club

Star Trek: Lower Decks Will End With Its Fifth, Final Season

Well hell.

https://gizmodo.com/star-trek-lower-decks-canceled-season-5-paramount-1851407280

#StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks @startrek

"Star Trek: Scotty played by Scottish actor for first time"

Nice interview, very very light spoiler stuff if you're trying to go into next season stone cold unknowing.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c72kn4gzq8no

#StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds @startrek

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Trill has a surface area of 500 million km^2, which is similar to Earth (501 million km^2). Other data include an orbital distance of 1.215 AU, a year of 483 sols, a surface temperature of 297 Kelvin (23.85 C) and 1 satellite.

Trill spots are as unique to the individual as human fingerprints or Saurian dorsal ridges, and Zora links them to one Jinaal Bix, who lived 800 years before. Adira says it is unusual, but not unheard of, for a symbiont to live to 800 years.

Rayner has assumed the rank of Commander as the new XO. It’s not clear if this was a condition of his staying on in Starfleet or if it is a situation like that of Will Decker in TMP, where he was Captain rank but was temporarily reduced in grade for the purpose of the mission once Kirk assumed command. On the other hand, by the time of the Enterprise-A, this ship had at least two or three Captains on board (Kirk, Spock and there’s some debate about Scotty), and Spock was referred to as Captain, not Commander.

Reno pronounces raktajinos as “raktachinos”- which is actually not entirely wrong. Raktajino is actually a portmanteau word from both Klingon and Italian. Technically, Klingon coffee is qa’vIn, derived from “caffeine” (coffee is not native to the Empire, and was probably first taken as plunder from human vessels or colonies). Adding liquor (HIq) to it produces a beverage known as ra’taj, which also gained popularity outside the Empire. The “export” version is non-alcoholic but contains a nutlike flavoring, being called in Federation Standard raktaj. Then a variant of raktaj with cream became popular, which became combined with “cappuccino” to become raktajino. So while the preferred pronunciation is jino, with a soft “j”, saying it as chino actually pays homage to the second word that makes up the portmanteau (Klingon for the Galactic Traveler by Marc Okrand).

Guardian Xi was last seen at Federation HQ in DIS: “…But to Connect”, when Gray Tal decided to join the Guardians. The Caves of Mak’ala house the breeding pools of the symbionts, and we last visited them in DIS: “Forget Me Not”. The milky liquid in the pools acts as a medium for electrical impulses that allow the symbionts to communicate with each other.

The zhian’tara ritual was first seen in DS9: “Facets”, where the memories of a previous host are temporarily incorporated into a volunteer to allow face-to-face communication with the current host. Done under the supervision of a Guardian, a variation of this was used to transfer Grey’s consciousness and memories into a synth body (DIS: “Choose to Live”).

The favinit is a Vulcan plant, first mentioned in VOY: “Alliances”, where Tuvok created a hybrid of it and a South American orchid.

The year is finally stated as 3191, although that does not match with the Stardate given last week, which by TNG reckoning only makes it 3189. More evidence that stardates work differently now, and I do wish the production team would stop being coy and let us know how.

So, just to get our chronological bearings, Michael leaves 2258 at the end of Season 2, lands in 3188 at the start of Season 3, spends a year with Book before Discovery lands in 3189, and the rest of Season 3 takes place. A few months pass between Season 3 and 4, taking us into 3190, and at least six months between Season 4 and 5, bringing us to 3191.

The Vulcan Purists were first mentioned in DIS: “Unification III”, where we met their representative V’Kir. In DIS: “All is Possible”, the Purists tried to force an opt-out clause in the agreement for Ni’Var rejoining the Federation, but a compromise was brokered by Saru and Burnham for an independent review committee instead.

Cabrodine, an explosive material, was first mentioned in DS9: “In the Hands of the Prophets”, where the station schoolhouse was destroyed by a cabrodine-infernite bomb.

Jinaal says that the Dominion War was raging when the Progenitor technology was found, so it’s not a literal 800 years (which would make it 2391). The Dominion War officially lasted from 2373-2375.

Dalaka was a rogue planet, one that had broken out of orbit and was traveling through interstellar space untethered to a star system, first encountered in 2151 by the NX-01 Enterprise in ENT: “Rogue Planet”. Bore worms were said to enter a person’s ear to lay their eggs there.

Tongo was a Ferengi game played in Quark’s on DS9 in the 24th Century, so at some point either the game migrated to Bajor or Asha spent some time with Ferengi who played. She says her nicknames were “Full Monopoly” and “Bluff Master”. Two of the winning hands in Tongo are “Full Consortium” and “Total Monopoly” (DS9: “Change of Heart”).

Nilsson was played by Sara Mitich, the original actress for Airiam in Season 1, who then changed roles for Seasons 2-4. This dialogue establishes that she left to join the Voyager-J, the platform for testing the pathway drive, and that the tribble seen in Discovery’s corridors is a pet.

Sehlats are large bear-like beasts native to Vulcan (TOS: “Journey to Babel”), and domesticated varieties were treated as pets. Spock had a pet sehlat named I-Chaya in his youth, who died defending him from a le-matya (TAS: “Yesteryear”).

The bar on Discovery is given a name, “Red’s”.

The Tzenkethi were in conflict with the Federation sometime in the mid-24th Century (DS9: “Paradise Lost”), but although mentioned in that episode and extensively in DS9: “The Adversary”, we have never seen one on screen. Different versions have appeared in both Star Trek Online, the Litverse novels and in the current Star Trek comic by IDW.

At the end, we see a disguised Moll plant some kind of device on Adira’s sleeve.

Written by: Kyle Jarrow & Lauren Wilkinson

Directed by: Andi Armaganian

Supermodel

For those who don't know the Roddenberry Archive: they're rebuiliding 3D modles of Starfleet bridges and other sets where you can freeroam, and sometimes even interact with consoles etc.

Last week I posted a thread about the bridges of the TMP Klingon Battle Cruiser and the USS Discovery being added. The official blog update is here.

What the blog update doesn't mention is that multiple existing locations have been extended:

• On the Enterprise XCV-330 you can now climb the ladder to another level. (I'm fairly certain this wasn't possible a few weeks ago)

• On all Enterprise NX-01 versions, the 2151 version, 2155 version and the Mirror Universe version, you can now enter the Captain's ready room.

• On Deep Space Nine you can now enter Odo's security office.

• The Disco version of the Enterprise NCC-1701 now has a briefing room that wasn't shown on screen. (leave the Bridge to the starboard side)

• Burnham records the stardate as 866274.3 in her personal log.

• Burnham has the recording of the projection of the Progenitor from “The Chase” displayed in her quarters.

• As with season four, it appears that aliens serving Starfleet, specifically the ones whom you would except to have hands notably different from a human’s based on their facial features, wear gloves. Apparently this mandate extends to the admiralty, as we see the Deakohn admiral here covering the shameful monstrosities we can only assume his digits to be.

• In addition to the USS Discovery A and the USS Antares, congregating around Federation Headquarters at various points we see:

    • Three Eisenberg-class starships

    • Two Courage-class starships

    • Two Constitution-class starships

    • Two Merian-class starship

    • Three Friendship-class starship

    • A Saturn-class starship

    • A Mars-class starship

• It’s grudge! From Star Trek!

• We learn that Lyrek is a burial world that was used by the Promellians prior to their extinction. Promellians first appeared in “Booby Trap”.

• ”The last recorded exploration was over a century before Doctor Vellek was even born.” That does potentially raise the question of how Burnham would have been so familiar with Lyrek in the previous episode, though of course she and most of the rest of the Discovery crew might have been alive before Doctor Vellek’s birth.

• Saru reveals that it was Jett Reno who gave him the nickname ”Action Saru,” which only makes the fact that we’ve yet to see Reno this season all the more galling.

• ”I remember the day you came aboard Discovery. A mutineer. A prisoner. You seemed exactly the wrong choice.” Saru seems to be overlooking the fact that he knew Burnham prior to her mutiny and imprisonment, as seen in the series premiere, “The Vulcan Hello”.

• Saru implies to Burnham that she should consider making Book the new first officer on Discovery. Book is not a part of Starfleet or any other similar hierarchical organization. Presumably Saru makes the suggestion so that his own choice of ensign Tilly as his first officer in “Unification III” is no longer the wildest choice of in the history of Starfleet.

    • Presumably Book could be given field commission, as Chakotay was in “The Caretaker”.

• Adira laments being separated from their boyfriend, Gray who almost immediately booked it off Discovery in “But to Connect…” after his consciousness was transferred out of the Tal symbiont and into a synth gollum in “Choose to Live”.

• On Lyrek, Burnham and Saru encounter parts of statues, including heads that have features similar to the Promellian captain whose log was seen in “Booby Trap”, but the statues have four eyes whereas Promellians only have two.

• The Promellian statues launch flying drones that set to attacking Burnham and Saru. The crew of the USS Enterprise D were also attacked in a jungle by the flying drones of a dead civilization in “The Arsenal of Freedom”.

• ”Tilly, we’re losing our foot!” Burnham is referring to a bit of shelter she and Saru have taken cover under. Nog lost an actual food in “The Siege of AR-558”.

• Lang-cycle fusion engines were established as being a feature of Promellian battle cruisers in “Booby Trap”.

• It was established in “Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum” that Kelpiens are stronger, and faster than humans.

• We’ve previously seen Saru’s quills stab into a wall, or incapacitate a human, but this is the first time we’ve seem them projected with enough force to obliterate a machine.

• The fact that Kelpien visual acuity allows them to see things outside the range available to humans was seen in “Brother”.

• Burnham and Saru both recognise a type of Romulan poem called a revlav. Burnham and Saru also both come from a time in Starfleet’s history when the Romulans were known to the Federation only as a mysterious enemy.

• ”Diary’s Romulan; Federation’s got no claim to it.” it was established in “Unification III” that the Romulans had reunified with the Vulcans at some point during the in the past, and in “All Is Possible” Ni’Var rejoined the Federation.

• Romulan homes having a false front door was established in “The End is the Beginning”.

• Zora uses programmable matter to create a physical copy the symbol from Doctor Vellek’s diary. This physical version is the one seen in the opening sequence this season.

• Book explained that he got his name from his mentor, the previous Cleveland Booker, in “Species Ten-C”, who was also apparently Moll’s father.

    • ”Which, I suppose, makes her the closest thing to family I’ve got left.” Book’s Kwejian family was killed in “Kobayashi Maru”.

• Saru’s pruning knife was a gift from his sister in “The Brightest Star”.

• Saru recounts his experience going through Keplein puberty, vahar’ai, in “An Obal for Charon”.

• Saru told Tilly to avoid touching the swampkelp while it was in bloom in “Choose to Live”.

For a higher quality downloadable version: https://archive.org/details/st-ds-9-rootbeer-analogy-2160p

This is the premiere of the fifth and final season of “Star Trek Discovery”, the first iteration of Trek’s modern era. I think it is important in this moment to acknowledge that, regardless of individual opinions of quality the series -- personally I am a fan, but this is not about my personal perspective -- without DIS we would not have the abundance of new Trek available to us.

With that acknowledgement aside, on with the very serious business.

• This episode is the first mention of the titular Red Directive. Starfleet has a number of directives most recognizable of which is the Prime Directive, introduced in “Return of the Archons”, which codifies interactions with non Federation cultures, and their principles of non-interference. There is also:

    • The Temporal Prime Directive forbidding interference with historical events, first mentioned in “Future’s End, Part II”

    • The Omega Directive, dictating the necessity of destroying any and all omega particles that might be encountered during the course of Starfleet activities, introduced in “The Omega Directive”

• This episode was written by DIS co-showrunner, Michelle Paradise, and directed by executive producer, Olatunde Osunsanmi.

• The episode opens with Captain Burnham [Sonequa Martin-Green] on the exterior of a ship at warp. We’ve previously seen characters outside ships traveling faster than light in “Divergence” and “Mindwalk”.

• The crew of the USS Discovery A attends a Millennium Celebration commemorating 1,000 years of the Federation. The Federation was founded in 2161, as per “These Are the Voyages…” and this episode takes place, presumably, in 2191. The cadet serving the signature cocktail, Tonic 2161, does comment ”Give or take a few decades,” when Tilly [Mary Wiseman] explains to Adira [Blu del Barrio] the context for the drink.

    • Tonic 2161 is blue with stars floating in it to match the emblem of the Federation emblem.

    • Ross claims the stars taste like jumja sticks, a Bajoran treat first seen in “A Man Alone”. Bajor has, to the best of our knowledge, not been inducted into the Federation at any point.

• Stamets [Anthony Rapp] is upset because Starfleet is “shuttering the spore drive program.” In season four, the program’s lead scientist used a stolen prototype to attempt to reach Species 10-C and kill them with an illegal weapon.

• A prototype pathway drive was mentioned as having been installed aboard the USS Voyager J in “Kobayashi Maru”.

• President T’Rina mentions the Tholian Republic and Breen Imperium as polities outside the current Federation, and seems to imply they’re antagonistic if not hostile to the Federation. The Tholian Assembly was introduced in the TOS episode “The Tholian Web”, and the Breen Confederacy was mentioned in “Strange Bedfellows”.

• The 800 year old Romulan science vessel is an update of the Romulan ship seen in “The Next Phase”.

• When L’ak removes his helmet, there is a brief moment where his face appears to be non opaque, not entirely dissimilar from how Changelings are see through in the natural state, or Mellanoid slime worms, such as Murf.

    • L’ak is played by Elias Toufexis, who previously had a role DIS season one’s “Context is for Kings” as one of the other prisoners aboard the transport shuttle rescued by Discovery along with Burnham. He never asked for this.

• Antares is a well loved name for Starfleet vessels:

    • Antares, NCC-501 - “Charlie X”

    • USS Antares - A ship both Captain Pike and Number One served aboard, according to “Brother” and “Memento Mori” respectively

    • USS Antares, NCC-9844, Miranda-class - “Favor the Bold”

    • A Kelvin Universe USS Antares - 2009’s “Star Trek”

    • In addition there are also three different Antares-class ships: one used by the Corvallens in “Face of the Enemy”; a carrier used by both Cardassians and Bajorans, introduced in “Ensign Ro”; a civilian freighter like Kasidy Yates’ SS Xhosa first seen in “Family Business”.

• There are new aspects integrated into the title sequence. For the purposes of this comparison I’ll be mentioning changes from specifically the season four sequence. Such as:

    • A rotating planet with two moons has replaced the visualization of Zora’s program

    • The captain’s chair appears earlier in the sequence

    • A 3d representation of a symbol from a Romulan journal is shown

    • The Infinity Room key appears, replacing an exploded planet, and Discovery approaching the DMA

    • Book’s unnamed ship is replaced with Moll and L’ak’s

    • A number of rotating structures are now at the very end where there used to be a long range view of the DMA

• Burnham, Owosekun, and Rhys find the mummified corpse of a Romulan wearing a TNG era uniform.

    • We will learn that this Romulan was Doctor Vellek, a scientist present for the events of the TNG episode, “The Chase”.

• Burnham is able to grasp her phaser pistol, and stretch it out into a type-3 configuration. It’s unclear what advantage the transformation has. Other than Boimler’s assertion that, ”Uh, they take two hands,” from “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie”.

• Moll [Eve Harlow] and L’ak have a Romulan puzzle box, a tan zhekran, when Burnham confronts them. This puzzle box is larger than the one Narek had in “The Impossible Box”, and has more sides.

• When we see the Antares, it has the saucer of a Friendship-class starship, and the nacelles of Merian-class, both first seen in “People of Earth”.

• ”I would rather not die out here, I’ve got a saxophone lesson to get to.” Harry Kim took up playing the sax in “Ashes to Ashes”.

• Captain Rayner [Callum Keith Rennie] is a Kellerun, which have only previously been seen in the DS9 episode, “Armageddon Game”. I mention this only because Rayner lacks the somewhat distinctive topknot that all the men of his species styled their hair in in that episode.

• Book [David Ajala] has been helping refugees displaced by the DMA rebuild, as per the community service he was sentenced to in “Coming Home”.

• ”It’s like what it means to be a crew. I can’t crash all these kids on to an ice moon in order to teach them that.” Tilly is referring to the events of “All Is Possible”

• Fred is a synth with skin, eyes, and hair presumably inspired by Data. Or Lore? Or B4.

• Among the gear Moll and L’ak attempt to sell to Fred are:

    • Isolinear co-processors

    • PADDs

    • Tricorders

    • Self-sealing stembolts

• Fred claims to have not encountered a tan zhekran for 622.7 years, which would indicate he’s been functional since at least the mid 26th century.

• The script in the journal contained in the puzzle box is different from the Romulan language seen in TNG and other Star Trek shows and movies of that era; it was introduced into canon in “Absolute Candor” but was created in 1993 by linguist Trent Peherson who is credited in this episode as a language consultant.

• Fred has a number of weapons on display in his place of business, including:

    • A Klingon kur’leth as seen in “Disengage”

    • A d’k tahg,

    • A Klingon bat’leth of the type introduced in “The Vulcan Hello”

    • A TNG era Romulan disruptor pistol

    • A “First Contact” type-3 phaser rifle

• Book and Burnham are able to rent some sand bikes. The bikes have shields capable of protecting the rider from ship based weaponry, which probably has to reduce the deposit, right?

• Stamets determines that Fred’s serial number begins with AS as an homage to Altan Soong, and claims that Fred was based on Altan Soong’s designs, not Noonien Soong, despite the resemblance to Data.

• In Kovich’s quarters, he brings explains the basic plot of ‘The Chase’, and brings up stills from that episode featuring the Romulans, Captain Picard, and the Progenitor.

Happy First Contact Day!

LLAP

[Image source] ( < not my blog and no affiliation)

Unless I'm mistaken, the Discovery bridge has been added only recently as well.

For those who don't know the Roddenberry Archive: have fun exploring. On some ships you can even leave the bridge and go to different areas of the ship (for example the shuttle bay or main engineering on the Enterprise D). Also, sometimes you can move or activate objects like consoles.

It is Stardate 866274.3, which places it, by TNG reckoning, in 3189. However, as I’ve noted before, this is an impossibility, since Burnham arrived in the 32nd Century in 3188, then spent a year before reuniting with Discovery (3189), then months passed between Seasons 3 and 4, and also between Seasons 4 and 5 so at a minimum it should be 3190. So stardates have to be working differently now.

The image Burnham is looking at is of the Progenitor hologram from TNG: “The Chase”, played by Salome Jens, who also played the recurring role of the Female Changeling in DS9.

The unwritten Starfleet code of conduct is apparently “Don’t snitch.” Rayner has been in Starfleet for 30 years, during which time the Federation was apparently at war (but no longer), and he’s fought side-by-side with Vance. The Breen are infighting over a new leader (they are now an imperium instead of a confederacy), and the Orions are regrouping, presumably after the splintering of the Emerald Chain at the end of Season 3 (DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 2”).

Book imitates Saru’s threat ganglia, which started as a response to sensing danger, but following his vahar’ai (DIS: “An Obol for Charon”), were replaced organs which could shoot spines.

The Promellians fought a long war against the Menthars which ended in the extinction of both species in the 14th Century. The Enterprise-D encountered a Promellian battle cruiser caught by a Menthar booby trap and nearly fell victim to the same trap in TNG: “Booby Trap” (2366). A necropolis is basically a very large graveyard or tomb, hence Burnham’s concerns about it being a sacred space.

Zareh was a courier who encountered Saru and Discovery when they first arrived in the 32nd Century (DIS: “Far From Home”), attempting to extort dilithium from them. He allied himself with Osyraa during her commandeering of Discovery and eventually died in the ship’s turbolift systems while fighting Book (DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 2”).

The Promellians’ use of Lang-cycle fusion engines was first mentioned in TNG: “Booby Trap”. I do wonder, however, what the statue was supposed to represent, since Promellians as seen in TNG only had two eyes, not four.

Being able to generate new phasers with just a metaphorical flick of the wrist is really handy.

Booker says that Moll and L’ak are Sui, couriers who take the most dangerous jobs fpr the action and latinum (from suicide, perhaps?).

The inscription starts with “Jolan tru, zarbalgon…" which Burnham translates as “Hello, wanderer”. Jolan tru is a traditional Romulan greeting which was used as both “hello” and “goodbye” (TNG: “Unification I”). Where Burnham learned Romulan is unexplained, but likely from her mother, a member of the Qowat Milat or on Ni’Var (DIS: “Unification III”). At the time she left the 23rd Century, the Romulans were still safely ensconced behind the Neutral Zone.

Burnham identifies the inscription as a Romulan revlav, which from context must be a poetic form, consisting of five verses or lines. “Hello, wanderer. Many worlds have you traveled. Opaline waters call to you. Thoughts are shared.” Saru says that seems to point to Betazed, but the fifth verse is missing.

Saru and Burnham have really been boning up on Romulans. The shaiqouin, the false front door of Romulan houses, was first mentioned in PIC: “The End is the Beginning”, but there was called a shaipouin. The last verse reads, “A world like no other, where two souls entwine, joined as one.” Adira deduces that the whole poem in context points to Trill.

Booker reminds us that his name is an alias, passed down from courier to courier (DIS: “That Hope is You, Part 2”, “Species Ten-C”).

Saru packs his knife, a gardening tool given to him by his sister on the night he left Kaminar to join Starfleet (ST: “The Brightest Star”).

Saru talks about giving oneself over “to the journey”, which reminds me of the toast that Barclay gave in the alternate future’s tenth anniversary of Voyager’s return (VOY: “Endgame”). Saru first warned Tilly about not touching the swamp kelp in bloom in DIS: “Choose to Live”.

Vance’s daughter previously appeared in DIS: “Kobayashi Maru”, but this is the first time we learn her name is Charlie (named after him, presumably).

Other receipients of the Grankite Order of Tactics (first mentioned in TOS: “Court Martial”) include James Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard (PIC: “Remembrance”) and Liam Shaw (PIC: “The Next Generation”). The latter three also received its Class of Excellence.

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