Healer Trek

Monday, June 17, 2013

TWITrek Character Insight No. 55: Christopher Pike

Pike is the Captain of the new flagship the U.S.S. Enterprise during the time when James Kirk and his future crewmates go through Starfleet. Indeed, Pike is the driving force behind convincing the Kirk of this timeline to leave his podunk Iowa life and shoot for the stars like his late father George did. Although Pike challenges Kirk on many occasions, he is a mentor and friend that was vital to Kirk's development as a true Captain deserving of the command chair.

Pike sees the great potential in young Kirk even when many others see nothing but brashness and inexperience, and that leads Pike to promote Kirk and to rally behind him when others in power (including Spock) would send him to the brig or back to the Academy for more training. By continuously taking the volatile Kirk under his wing, Pike instills wisdom into the new captain that sinks in just in time before John Harrison murders many Starfleet leaders including Pike in the beginning of Into Darkness.

Pike rose to the rank of Captain in just four years, which was the fastest anybody had achieved that feat until Kirk came along. Pike challenged the young potential cadet to do better than his father and himself, and Kirk does just that by taking over the flagship as Captain in a mere three years. Pike also has the distinction of being the first major Starfleet character to die and stay dead in the Abrams Timeline (too bad we didn't have some extra magic blood laying around...).

Assuming a third movie is made, it will be interesting to see how Kirk grows without the steady hand of Christopher Pike at his side. Spock will eventually have to stop relying on Spock Prime, but at least his mentor is still around when required.

One similarity with the Pike in the prime timeline is that the character gets badly injured enough to be put in a wheelchair, Abrams timeline Pike by Nero's torture and the Prime timeline Pike by a baffle plate explosion and delta particle radiation poisoning. Pike meets a grim end in both timelines, although his importance as a mentor and possible father figure to Kirk in the Abrams timeline makes him much more critical than just being the predecessor to Kirk.

Our notable quote this week comes from Star Trek 09:
""Your father was captain of a starship for twelve minutes. He saved eight hundred lives, including your mother's and yours. I dare you to do better."

Actor: Bruce Greenwood took on the role of Pike in the Abrams timeline. Greenwood had been previously known for many television appearances over the past three decades as well as roles in I, Robot and Deja Vu.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

Monday, June 10, 2013

TWITrek Character Insight No. 54: Nero

This is the latest installment in a series of "Character Insight" articles regarding the rich history of characters in the Star Trek universe. An audio version will appear on the This Week in Trek podcast, available for direct download here.
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Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we begin a series of segments reviewing the characters of the Abrams timeline to celebrate the release of Star Trek Into Darkness. Fair warning, this segment is going to have some <> for the next few weeks.

Let's start with Nero, the Romulan villain from Star Trek 2009.

Nero is the captain of a Romulan mining vessel from around the year 2387, which follows nearly 10 years after the return of the U.S.S. Voyager and 20 years following the end of TNG. Nero is on a mining mission on his vessel the Narada when a supernova caused the destruction of his home planet Romulus. Nero stood helpless as he watched his pregnant wife and unborn child die with the rest of Romulus, as Spock did not arrive to form a black hole to stop the supernova in time.

This causes Nero to seek vengeance against all those who did not help his home planet, including Spock and the Federation. Nero is pulled through the black hole with Spock back in time to the 23rd Century, where he waits until he can effect the same planet-destructing fate on Spock's home world Vulcan. This time travel leads Nero to destroy much of the Federation fleet on the day of Jim Kirk's birth, altering the timeline of the original Enterprise crew to the Abrams timeline.

Unlike other Romulan villians we have seen, Nero's face is tattooed heavily and this is explained as a modified mourning ritual in the prequel comic Star Trek: Countdown. Romulans would paint their faces with their grief on the death of loved ones and as the paint fades away, so does the time for grieving. Nero contorts this to tattoos because he believes his grief will never go away.

Nero is actually the second Romulan movie villain in a row, following Shinzon in Nemesis. However, while Shinzon had significant political aspirations and purposes to his villainy, Nero is simply a demented angry survivor of a natural disaster.

Although the character of Nero is provided much interesting backstory in the comics associated with Star Trek 09, most of the material this backstory was based on was cut from the movie, including imprisonment by Klingons on Rura Penthe following damage to the Narada caused by George Kirk's suicide attack. That's a shame, as it causes this character to be pretty undeveloped and poorly written compared to other villains like John Harrison and Khan.

Our notable quote this week comes from Star Trek 09:
"Kill him? I'm not gonna kill him. I'm gonna make him watch."

Actor: Eric Bana played Nero, and his other interesting roles include an anchor on Finding Nemo and Bruce Banner on the highly-panned 2003 Hulk movie. He will star in upcoming movies Closed Circuit and Lone Survivor.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

Sunday, June 2, 2013

TWITrek Character Insight No. 53: Tuvok

Tuvok is tactical and security officer for Captain Janeway, and he serves as second officer following the combination of crews with the Maquis leads to Chakotay becoming the new first officer. Similar to the role Spock plays for Captain Kirk, Tuvok is the most trusted and logical guide for the Captain during the seven-year stranding in the Delta Quadrant. Tuvok exudes these qualities even more than Spock because Tuvok is the first full Vulcan main character on any of the shows.

Tuvok enters Starfleet at a young age as a result of the desires of his parents, and his first three years under Hikaru Sulu on the Excelsior makes him wary of humans and how they believe everyone can be positively influenced to be like them. After 50 years away from Starfleet, Tuvok comes back a changed man after living the family life and realizing the mistakes he made as a youth in judging humanity too soon.

One of Tuvok's passions in herbology, and he is a prize-winning orchid breeder. His passion for plants causes him to form a bond with Neelix, who is the most unlikely of friends for a brooding Vulcan. Of course, the transporter accident that temporarily combined these two characters into Tuvix also helped them understand and bond with one another on a level not understood by others.

Tuvok also is one of the only major characters (including Picard) to be assimilated by the Borg. However, just like Picard, Tuvok survives the ordeal and comes back to the regular Vulcan life he had before assimilation thanks to his Starfleet crewmates. Despite being a married family man, Tuvok does have a couple of brief romantic endeavors when it seems that his return to the Alpha Quadrant is hopeless.

In addition to orchids, Tuvok spends his free time meditating frequently and studying Earth-based martial arts. Tuvok would make an interesting match for a Klingon warrior like Worf, although we never get to see him engage in such interesting combat.

Our notable quote this week comes from the episode Meld:

"Sitting here, attempting to meditate, I have counted the number of ways I know of killing someone using just a finger, a hand, a foot. I had reached 94 when you entered."
Actor: Tim Russ played Tuvok, and he earned the role after narrowly losing out to Levar Burton for the Geordi La Forge role in TNG, and after playing various roles in TNG, DS9, and Generations. Russ continues to be a prolific actor, most recently appearing in iCarly and the upcoming movie Monster School.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

Monday, May 20, 2013

Film Review - Star Trek Into Darkness

Fair warning, this has spoilers!

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Into Darkness was an enjoyable theater experience, something that JJ Abrams has delivered twice in a row, a rare feat for Star Trek movies. Although his movies sometimes feel more like Star Wars, seeing good Trek on a big stage making millions of dollars is a good thing.

Let's start with the things I liked: (1) I liked the symmetry of the story, seeing Khan use his own blood to save a girl and start his plot against the Federation leaders at the beginning then seeing the Enterprise crew do the same to save Kirk at the end, (2) Cumberbatch was good, but the glowing praise for Benedict Cumberbatch seems a bit much...he was great compared to Eric Bana's Nero, but that's like competing against a cardboard cutout. I felt like Cumberbatch was outshined in the bad guy department by Peter Weller's Admiral Marcus, and Weller was incredible, (3) The visuals were stunning, especially the redone warp departure, and the Enterprise felt like much more of an important piece of the story this time around, (4) I loved the return of suspense to the Klingon relationship after decades of post-TOS stories made the Klingons friends, (5) Almost each character in the ensemble crew had a memorable and significant role, much more so than the 2009 Trek.

There were a few things I did not like also: (1) Did we need another Prime Directive story to start off?, (2) Why do we insist on going back to Earth again, there was little reason to stage much of the ending there, (3) I'm not a massive fan of the flipped Wrath of Khan redone ending, good for nostalgia only but lost the emotional punch of the same scene in Wrath of Khan, (4) Not a fan of Carol Marcus so far, but that was one of few weak points in the character development, (5) the Klingon fight scene on Kronos felt like a rejected scene from Mortal Kombat.

Bottom line: I had fun, but for some reason the movie left less of a positive overall impression than 2009 Trek. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. However, I love that the beginning of the 5-year mission ended the movie, as that hopefully means a new fresh story far away from home in the next movie or even better, a new television series.

TWITrek Character Insight No. 52: T'Pau

(Insert clip of T'Pau British rock band ) - No, not that T'Pau. However, the British rock band was named after this character thanks to the lead singer watching the TOS episode Amok Time when naming the band.

T'Pau was a leader of the Syrrannite movement on Vulcan, a movement seeking to reform Vulcan society based on the true teachings of an ancient Vulcan philosopher Surak. When she takes over as leader of the movement following Syrran's death, she is farily quickly framed for a bombing of the United Earth Embassy.

While the crew of Archer's Enterprise investigate the bombing, T'Pau initially does not trust these officers. However, Syrran had transferred the katra of Surak into Jonathan Archer, and T'Pau immediately accepts them and tries to force Archer to undergo a procedure for removing the katra from him. This was unsuccessful, but Archer was not killed by the process, which was a precursor to the successful removal of Spock's katra from Dr. McCoy in Star Trek III.

T'Pau ends up curing T'Pol of Panar Syndrome, which was caused by the previous mind meld. She helps Archer prove the teachings and peaceful history of the Syrrannites, which helps her off the hook for the bombings. This also lofts her to one of the high ranking ministers in the new Vulcan government following the dissolution of the Vulcan High Command.

T'Pau later serves as the officiating priestess at Spock's formal Vulcan wedding in the episode Amok Time. She established the disdain for outsiders in this episode, a theme that is picked up by Jolene Blaylock as she played T'Pol in Enterprise. In fact, the role of T'Pau was highly influential on many future actors who played Vulcan characters.

Our notable quote this week comes from the episode Kir'Shara:

T'Pau: [to Archer] You may be witnessing the start of a new era, not only for Vulcan, but for Earth as well.
Vulcan Ambassador Soval: The Minister intends to pursue a less aggressive policy toward your people. The High Command will be dissolved.
T'Pau: You'll no longer have us looking over your shoulder. It's time for Earth to stand on its own.
Actor: As noted above, Kara Zediker played young T'Pau in Enterprise after Celia Lovsky played the character in Amok Time. Zediker has played in the TV show 24 and the movie Contagion.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

Sunday, May 12, 2013

TWITrek Character Insight No. 51: Sarek

Sarek is an ambassador for Vulcan and also serves on the Federation Council. Sarek is the father of Spock, who was profiled last week and is a central persona in Star Trek lore. Before serving in the ambassador role he is seen in during most appearances on the series, Sarek was an astrophysicist.

Similar to his father Skon and later his son Spock, Sarek uses his role as ambassador to negotiate the entry of multiple species into the Federation. Sarek also builds early treaties with the Klingon Empire, which sets the foundation for the work that Spock would later do many decades later. Although Sarek appears in more movies than television episodes, we learn more about Spock and his history in these few appearances.

Sarek initially had a child with a Vulcan princess, and then he married Spock's human mother Amanda Grayson. This half-brother Sybok does not appear until Star Trek V, and some might say the wait was not worth it considering the story that was told with Sybok. However, Spock ends up understanding how to be a Vulcan better than even Sybok thanks to struggling with Sarek's inter-species marriage through his childhood.

Sarek has a strained relationship with Spock after Spock joins Starfleet Academy, but he mends that relationship and ends up being the driving force behind getting Spock resurrected in Star Trek III. Sarek then serves as the first major crossover character starring in episodes of The Next Generation, appearing in two episodes before Montgomery Scott made the other significant appearance by a TOS character.

Mark Lenard immediately made Sarek a fan favorite, although it took nearly 15 years for him to reprise the role in his first movie appearance. Ironically, he did not know that Sarek was killed in the TNG episode Unification I until after it aired since he only saw part of the script. However, Sarek leaves a part of himself with Captain Picard in a similar manner to how Spock left his impression on Dr. McCoy before his death.

Our notable quote this week comes from the episode Journey to Babel:

Gav: There will be payment for your slander, Sarek.
Sarek: Threats are illogical. And payment is usually expensive.

Actor: As noted above, Mark Lenard played Sarek after first appearing as a Romulan Commander earlier in TOS. Ben Cross took over the role in the 2009 reboot.

Until next time, live long and prosper...

Sunday, May 5, 2013

TWITrek Character Insight No. 50: Spock

This is the latest installment in a series of "Character Insight" articles regarding the rich history of characters in the Star Trek universe. An audio version will appear on the This Week in Trek podcast, available for direct download here.
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Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we continue Vulcan Month and celebrate our 50th segment installment by profiling the Vulcan who started it all, Spock, from TOS.

Spock serves as first officer and science officer aboard the Enterprise under Captain Kirk. Although Kirk and Spock share very few qualities, they become best friends that learn to harness each other's natural abilities for the best of the crew. For example, Kirk's intuition and impulsiveness shores up any weaknesses in Spock's detached logical nature, and vice versa.

Spock went on to be an ambassador, following in the steps of his father Sarek. Spock was the lead force behind the alliance of the Federation and the Klingon Empire, a union that ended up being critical as bigger threats came in the future such as the Borg and the Dominion. Perhaps his time with an opposite personality Kirk led him to lead the charge for combining the opposite cultures in the Federation and the Kilingon Empire.

Spock grew up as the son of a human teacher and a Vulcan ambassador, which led him to struggle with fitting into either human or Vulcan culture. Spock ends up taking on the traits of a Vulcan more than a human, but it is his humanity that plays a vital role in many of his Starfleet endeavors. Some of this he does not realize until his time working with Captain Picard in TNG.

Spock also has an interesting relationship with Dr. McCoy, the two never holding back from verbal jabs when the benefits of being human or being Vulcan crop up in a particular mission. Some of the best dialogue in the entire TOS series comes between these two characters.

Spock cements how close this friendship is by giving his katra or Vulcan soul to Dr. McCoy before dying in the Wrath of Khan, but this decision allows his resurrection in the next movie. Spock's death and resurrection are signature moments in the Star Trek story, showing just how critical his character was to the Enterprise and to the Federation at large.

Spock has many interests, including poetry, music, art, and chess. He is a vegetarian, yet another Vulcan trait he took on. Our notable quote this week comes from many episodes:

"Live Long and Prosper"

Actor: Leonard Nimoy played Spock, and he also appeared on other shows Gunsmoke, Mission Impossible, and Fringe. He also directed multiple movies, including two Star Trek films and Three Men and a Baby.

Until next time, live long and prosper...