Reminder: ‘Star Trek: Short Treks’ Episode 2 “Calypso” Debuts Tonight

The second Star Trek: Short Treks episode debuts tonight. Short Treks are four standalone mini-episodes related to Star Trek: Discovery, they are being released one a month from October through January. This month’s was written by Discovery writer Sean Cochran and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon.

Preview: “Calypso”

Star Trek: Short Treks – Episode 2

After waking up in an unfamiliar sickbay, Craft (Aldis Hodge) finds himself on board a deserted ship, and his only companion and hope for survival is an A.I. computer interface.

The mini-episode will be available in the US on CBS All Access at 9:30 pm ET (6:30 pm PT). In Canada it airs on Space at 9:00 pm ET (6:00 pm PT), it will be available on CraveTV Friday at 9:00 pm ET (6:00 pm PT).

Promo trailer

Photos

Writer teases episode… with sombrero

Writer Michael Chabon shared a behind-the-scenes picture from “Calypso” when it was being filmed back in July.

What say you?

TrekMovie will be posting a full review of “Calypso” tomorrow. But you don’t have to wait to offer your views in the comments below.

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this is very carzy, why would the discover starship ever be left desert with no peoples on board?

Who’s to say it was/is? This is sci fi. Maybe it’s a hallucination, a program, or a recreation. Just watch and see for yourself.

It’s explained. VERY vaguely of course but it has one. You just have to accept it for what it is though.

Mr. Chabon,

Being a Joe Lansdale fan, I’ve naturally always felt that there were not near enough sombreros on Trek. And as a Michael Chabon fan, I can’t wait to see what sensibilities one of my favorite novelists brings to this franchise that, for all its flaws and disappointments, we both love so much.

Mike

My daughter has been reminding me daily for the last week.

Just finished watching it on Space. The ship’s voice is played by Annabelle Wallis, who is reportedly dating Chris Pine. So Alex Kurtzman is likely keeping Pine is his good graces in some way.

I have no idea what to think as far as the actual episode itself is concerned.

Oh my God. That was incredible.

I absolutely loved it.

I also loved it. I love when Star Trek and Sci Fi in general take a very abstract situation and turn it into something poignant and beautiful. Craft and the AI both were so lonely until they found each other and the bond that formed was just lovely so watched. They also somehow found a way to not make it seem rushed. A+ on this one!

Definitely worth a few re-watches

Without spoilers, IMO this was a very good short sci-fi story and very happy to see with a few extra commercials, it almost ended up being a 25 minute episode. Unlike the first story Runaway, IMO this story felt less rushed. Of course, there are a ton of open questions regarding the Discovery, the AI and Craft but it was still a satisfying conclusion. Too bad we still have to wait another month for Short Trek 3 and another couple of months until Disco Season 2.

We’re less than 2 months away now.

I don’t know how it fits into the larger Discovery arc, but the story itself is sweet and poignant, and I enjoyed it.

This was an amazing adaptation of the Odyssey. Craft (like crafty Odysseus) was coming home from a war and ,like Odysseus , had a wife and child at home who had grown much older since he had left. Even though Craft had a family back on Alcor he did not seem in any hurry to get home,like Odysseus. This was a nice throwback to when Trek dove into literature

Agreed. Very poetic and beautiful production values.

Just my opinion… did not like the episode at all. Was a total waste. Maybe I’m too old and have seen too much sci-fi and short stories? Seemed pointless. I was attached to no one. Was invested in no one. I had no care or concern what happened. And yes, I completely watched it and accepted it as a non-Trek story and I acknowledge it’s a one-off sci-fi tale. Problem is… it was boring as F. I had no problem with the acting… I had no problem accepting that it was 1000 years in the future and the starship was in the state it was in. But who cares? A lonely A.I. danced with a random fly-by. Whoooopeeeee. C’mon. We can do better than this. I have high hopes for future Short Treks.

I’m serious, I think a Trek reboot of Andromeda is coming. First the mycellial network looked just like slipstream, now this, a thousand years after Kirk and the Federation is gone, Earth culture is lost.

It also seems like these Short Treks are auditions. Michael Chabon wrote this one, he is now EP and writer on Picard. The upcoming Mudd is written by the guy just hired to make the new animated show. Pretty sure one of Runaway’s writers is a new hire on the Discovery team, dunno on the Saru one at present.

Yep they appear to be “auditions” of sorts for newer CBS Trek folks.

Saru’s story was written by existing Discovery writing staff members Bo Yeon Kim & Erika Lippoldt. They wrote the great mid-season finale for Season 1 “Into the Forest I Go.”

The best Star Trek story I’ve seen in a very, very long time. I think we may also have just been given our first clue as to the fate of Discovery and her crew. We never heard of Spock’s sister or of Discovery because they were both lost long before Kirk took command of the Enterprise.

Or it could have been abandoned and left there 20 years later. But, yeah, it’s intriguing.

Runaway was complete garbage, seemed like it was written by a 14 year old girl and has exactly no internal consistency even just as a story, ignoring the terrible “PARENTS SUCK AMIRITE” nonsense. I’m hoping that Chabon can bring some much needed talent to the writing team.

A completely perfect episode. The acting, the SPFX, lighting, costumes and the slow, deliberate and engaging story. I love the Discovery theme music when Craft enters the bridge. This was a perfect short story, sad, loving, hopeful, otherworldly and familiar all at once. What a gem! Welcome to Star Trek, Michael Chabon.

And who knew the Bridge could be an all-in-one entertainment center!

This was a good story! I watched it twice in a row. First time I watched it went by a little too quick to catch everything. On second view I got everything. Obviously we didn’t get many answers but a nice tease. I have no idea if this is just a one off or it’s setting some things up for next season but either way I like it. THIS feels like Star Trek to me. This is a type of story you could find in TNG, VOY or ENT. An offbeat but touching story with a nice sci fi twist.

And while this was a very short story it proved, surprise, surprise, you can go as far into the future as you want and show both relatable humans and technology. Craft is a human from the 33rd century who clearly knew nothing about Earth (the Tuesday line had me lol) but yet came off like another guy who just missed his family. Zora is an advanced A.I. and was more interesting than some characters are all season. It just depends on the WRITING. I been saying this over and over and over again for I don’t know how long.

All the naysayers who keep saying people in the 25th century and beyond would feel ‘unrecognizable’ to us, they just been proven wrong. And my guess this is only a taste of what’s to come in the coming years, especially if the Picard show is a hit.

Wow. Only 21 comments so far. Maybe folks are waiting for the official synopsis from Trekmovie but I would have expected more comments by now. I hope that isn’t an indication of the excitement for Short Treks and the upcoming season of Discovery. Personally, I enjoyed the episode. It was timely from the perspective of our current dabbling with Artificial Intelligence and the implications on humanity. And it teed up a mystery about why Discovery was abandoned and lost for 1000 years. I wonder if it will eventually tie into the storyline of the show?

I just think many people have not signed back up to AA to watch these shorts for one (and I can’t blame them). And they are not being shown outside of North America at all so that cuts the viewership waaaay down.

As for the episode, yeah I do hope it’s a tease into next season. Maybe we will see Zora pop up again on the ship, maybe in a less advance form but it would be cool to have an A.I. computer on the ship.

Oh it’s being shown outside North America! Just maybe not officially,yet. lol!

I am a big proponent of subscribing to CBSAA for Discovery, but I will not pay for two/three months worth just to see about 60 minutes of content that isn’t continuing the story i’m invested in. I will wait until the season begins and then go back and watch the shorts.

I was hoping for some deeper mystery, maybe some twist ending, but it was not much more than can be gathered from the trailer.

The ‘twist’ I kept hearing as a possibility was that maybe they weren’t in the 33rd century after all and it was some kind of test for Craft by Starfleet or someone else. While a twist would make it more exciting I didn’t mind they played it straight.

More short treks…more short tr… more sh…this is the only reason why I pay for cbs all access…