Reviewing The Original Series: The Man Trap, Charlie X

After viewing the movie last week ( and receiving "Enterprise: the Complete Series the same day) , The Dungeon Master decided we should watch all of TOS from the start, in order. We will be doing the same with Enterprise, and I will be doing mini-reviews of each episode.

The Man Trap is the first episode broadcast of Star Trek. It seems an unusual introduction to the series as it does not establish the Enterprise's mission.
One of the "classic" original series episodes (by classic we mean, non Trekkies would remember it, and who could forget the "salt vampire"). It set the tone for future ship searches , including the expend ability of the guys in red, altough the salt vampire seemed happy to kill crewmen in any colour shirt. we don't see Sulu on the bridge, we see him in the botany lab, along with his hand puppet plant.
***Movie Spoilers Follow***
Everyone has an episode of Star Trek they would be happy to never see again. For my husband, it is Charlie X. He is not a fan of the psycho teenage super being. This episode has some rather pathetic moments, with Charlie mooning after Janice Rand and she trying to explain how human mating rituals work. ONe of my favourite parts is the scene in the rec room with Spock and Uhura's det. Given the smile the usually stoic Vulcan sends her way, I think there may have been some basis for Abram's movie pairing.

The Spoiler filled movie review.

You have been warned. Continue at your own risk. This is ALL spoilers.
We went to see Star Trek at the 7 PM Thursday prescreening, in IMAX. Like most die hard fans, I went in with certain amounts of both trepidation and excitement. I am very glad I went to see this movie in IMAX as many of the effects were spectacular (blairwitchcloverfield shaky camera effects non withstanding) and it was well worth going to see it on the giant screen. The movie changes the tieline right at the start. The scene where George Kirk sacrifices himself just as he hears his son's borning cries is predictable- yet I found myself tear eyed. We then move onto glimpses into the childhoods of Kirk and Spock- I was disappointed by the brevity of the Spock'c childhood scenes, as I had read on the net that there was a good look into life on Vulcan inspired by Diane Duane's "Spock's World". Maybe in the dvd release?
The villain, Nero, played by Eric Bana, and his fellow Romulans diverge from the norm as much as the storyline , seeming more like Remans than Romulans. Nero is a one dimensional revenge driven character who could have stepped out of the "bad guy profile" of any number of past movies.
There are some stellar performances . Karl Urban, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana get their characters spot on. I think we can say the same for John Cho, but there is not enough Sulu in the film to tell. Anton Yelchin is am amusing Checkov with an adorable accent. I can't tell why they took an actor, in the one film I have seen him in ( Hearts in Atlantis) had dark straight hair, hire him to play a character who originally had dark straight hair, and then curled it and bleached it? Chris Pine left me cold. He has no fire. Simon Pegg was also fun but I don;t think he captured the essence of Scotty...and what is up with his cauliflower headed sidekick?
All in all, this was a great movie, but not so great Star Trek. I am sure to watch it again; but if I could watch it with anyone in the world, it would be Joel Hodgeson or Mike Nelson.

Treason by Peter David

The latest in the New Frontier series brings the Excaliber back to New Thallon when the newly widowed requests that Doctor Selar attends the birth of her son. When the Excaliber leaves, Makenzie Calhoun contacts his son, Xyon, to ask him to check in on Robin's mentally fragile sister in law Kalinda- and he narrowly save Robin , Kalinda and the newborn. Meanwhile, Doctor Selar tries to unravel the mystery of a mysterious Hermat picked up from a derelict- and what s/he might mean to the lifespan of her son. A story of betrayal and redemption ensues, with more of the loss that seems to permeate recent Star Trek books. I especially enjoyed reading descriptions of Robin nursing little Cwansi.

TOS: Mere Anarchy

Originally published as a series of e-books, this story arc takes the crew of Kirk's Enterprise from his earliest days of command to the time after his death. The action takes place on the planet Mestiko, which had just achieved warp drive when a rogue pulsar wreaks devastation on the planet. The Federations valiant attempts to shield the planet from the pulsar's effects, and the populace must deal with the knowledge that they are not alone in the Universe along with the planet wide disaster. Minor politician Raya elMora suddenly finds herself in command of the population of Mestiko, by dint of being the highest ranking official to survive. This anthology contains stories by Mike W. Barr, Christopher L. Bennett, Margaret Wander Bonanno, Dave Galantar, Daytone Ward and Kevin Dilmore, and Howard Weinstein.

ST A Singular Destiny by Keith RA DeCandido

The followup to the Destiny Trilogy, "A Singular Destiny" mainly follows the crew of the Aventine,the hard work placed before Federation President Nan Bacco, and history Professor Sonek Pran. In the wake of devastation by the Borg, the Federation, along with other Alpha and Beta Quadrant races, must rebuild. The fleets are stretched as they attempt to ferry refugees and supplies. The Klingons face an old threat, and the Federation faces a potential new threat. Everyone must grieve.
One amusing thing I must note is DeCandido's obvious nod the The Venture Brothers. Quite amusing. Be warned that this book does have a few moments of "Wow, did he really just kill that character off?"

God Bless JJ Abrams

Spoilerific sneak preview review:

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/40683 (language advisory)

Now, this sums up why I love Star Trek:
There’s some powerful thoughts about the future of our people in STAR TREK. That we as a people could be those people in a hundred, two hundred, three hundred years. If we can put away childish notions of borders and differences. If we can culturally keep our differences and celebrate our commonalities. At our best, STAR TREK is our future. Not BLADE RUNNER. Not TERMINATOR. Not any other Science fiction that I’ve seen, but STAR TREK. It’s where I HOPE we’re headed.
It’s the world where we didn’t blow ourselves up, where we didn’t fall prey to the worst of our nature. It’s the part of me that loves reading science journals and reading about the best inventions of any given year.

ST Mirror Universe: Shards and Shadows

This anthology continues stories from various MU timelines, many of them as written in "Glass Empires", "Obsidian Alliances", and "Infinity's Prism". Dave Stern's "Nobunaga" details The Empress Sato One's efforts to eradicate rebellion against her rule.
Dayton Ward and Kevin Dillmore's "Ill Winds" is a prequel to TOS Mirror UNiverse, taking place before Captain Christopher Pike takes command of the Enterprise.
Margaret Wander Bonnano's "The Greater Good is also a prequel, taking place three years before the events of "Mirror, Mirror".
"The Black Flag", by James Swallow, is a tale of Vanguard in the Mirror Universe.
IN "The Traitor", Micheal Jan Freidman looks at the MU through the eyes of the Stargazer crew he introduced in Reunion.
In "The Sacred Chalice", Rudy Josephs gives new meaning to the ancient Betazed artifact entrusted to Lwaxana Troi.
"Bitter Fruit" by Susan Wright has the MU Kes, stranded in the Alpha Quadrant, and kept a secret from all- even the man she loves.
Keith RA DeCandido's "Family Matters" is the only story in the book I couldn't finish- although usually love DeCandido's work, the "subspace communications transcript" style was a bit dry.
IN Peter David's "Homecoming", Soleta returns to Romulus- with deadly cargo.
Jim Johnson's "A Terrible Beauty" answers many question about why Keiko Ishikawa came to Terok Nor, but leaves many more unanswered.
Christopher L Bennet's "Empathy" brings together members of the standard universe Titan crew in a web of love, deceit, and telepathy.
The anthology is brought to a close with David Mack's "For Want of a Nail" brings together the unlikely duo of K'Ehlyer and Barclay as a team raised from childhood to protect the secret of Memory Omega.