[Discovery 504 review starts at 26:00]
Anthony and Laurie start with the good news that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has been renewed for another season and the bad news that Lower Decks will end after its fifth. The Trek on TV talk continues with Alex Kurtzman’s description of the challenges of making Trek for streaming networks and the benefit of shorter seasons, plus Martin Quinn’s comments about being the first actually Scottish actor to play Scotty. Then they start talking movies: the announcement that the origin movie has been officially added to Paramount’s production slate and a cryptic conversation on The View about Whoopi’s potential involvement in a Trek film. Next up, the return of the original Enterprise model to the Roddenberry family and the latest on Star Trek: Discovery—and then it’s time for a full review of Discovery episode 504, “Face the Strange,” which Tony and Laurie consider the highlight of the season so far. They wrap up with the invoking of Star Trek at a White House State Dinner and the Trek-adjacent series The Librarians.
Links:
‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Renewed For Season 4; ‘Lower Decks’ To End With Season 5
Review: ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ Season 4 On Blu-ray Brings It All Together
Paramount Pictures Officially Confirms Star Trek Origin Movie For Its Upcoming Film Slate
Quentin Tarantino Drops ‘The Movie Critic’ As His Final Film [Deadline]
Lost Original USS Enterprise Model From ‘Star Trek’ Returned To Gene Roddenberry’s Son
Bits:
Anthony: Japan’s Prime Minister Invokes Star Trek In White House State Dinner Toast
Laurie: The Librarians
Let us know what you think of the episode in the comments, and should you be so inclined, please review us on Apple.
Subscribe to our podcasts
The All Access Star Trek podcast has joined the long-running Shuttle Pod as part of the TrekMovie.com Podcast Network. If you already subscribe to The Shuttle Pod, your subscription will now include both shows from the TrekMovie Network. If you prefer, you can sign up for only the Shuttle Pod or All Access Star Trek using the links below.
| TrekMovie.com Podcast Network of Shows | ||
|---|---|---|
| TrekMovie.com Podcast Network | All TrekMovie.com podcasts | Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Stitcher |
| The Shuttle Pod Podcast | The original TrekMovie.com podcast | Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Stitcher |
| All Access Star Trek Podcast | All about the Star Trek Universe | Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Stitcher |
Keep up with everything to do with the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
About those red uniforms traveling into the past…
To the extent they did exist in Century 23, they meant something completely different than “command.”
Great podcast as usual Laurie and Tony.
One week on, and I’m still crushed by Lower Decks’ cancellation. And it was a cancellation, no matter how Paramount words it – the decision was made by executives, against the wishes of Mike McMahan, the cast and crew, who have all said and continue to say they have more stories to tell.
I’ve been a Trek fan for a long time, but for many years watching Trek felt more like a duty than something I enjoyed. Discover and Picard S1 weren’t clicking with me…then came Lower Decks.
I didn’t know what to make of it at first…now, I can say it’s the show that reignited my fandom, made me love Star Trek again.
To be clear, I do not begrudge anyone who loves Discovery or Picard…if they’re your favorite Trek shows, that’s great! It’s a big tent…or it should be. (I will add I really liked “Face the Strange”).
I only hope that Season 5 will serve as a satisfying conclusion. The way Mike has been talking since last October, I got the sense that he felt Season 5 would be it, much as he didn’t want it to be. Hopefully he and the writers room crafted the season with that in mind.
Yeah, every time I think about LDS ending I get sad again. Such a shame. Paramount must be really hard up for cash if they are ok with dropping down to only 1 Trek show on the air until Academy gets up and running.
The mention on today’s podcast of a possible streaming movie perked me up a little: seems like it would be perfect for the idea of the occasional streaming Trek movie. Of course, I would still prefer that the show get picked up by Netflix – “the home of animated Star Trek” ? – but anything is better than nothing.
If nothing else, maybe once the Paramount ship is righted after the sale/reorg, they could bring the show back. It’s not as if the actors are going to age too much in the meantime to do some more voice work in a few years. :)
Making my way through the podcast. RE: The model, I’m guessing it’s probably closer to sixty years old, as it was used to film The Cage. It was likely lost about 47 years ago.
Picking a nit, I’m sorry…. :-)
Thanks again for a fun podcast! I had a thought about the exchange on “The View.” IF this wasn’t just some joke gone awry, it seems to me that a likely scenario is that Guinan might appear in the ST: S31 movie. Georgiou has probably gone back to an era when Guinan is still alive, raising the interesting prospect of her getting some psychological help from her as part of a redemptive arc. Seeing Whoopie Goldberg and Michelle Yeoh interacting would be something to look forward to!!!
I’d love to see the two of them together, too!
Great episode, as always, guys! We truly look forward to following our first viewing with your thoughts and reactions.
I just want to pop in to say that Reno calls Stamets “Dr. Truffles” because truffles are fungi. They are the apparently tasty (I certainly can’t afford truffles to find out!) and hard to come by fungi that grow underground and get hunted by trained pigs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truffle
Yes! I figured that out yesterday, randomly. I knew truffles were fungi, but the first thing my brain goes to when I hear the word is chocolate. D’oh.
I disagree with Alex Kurtzman on two fronts. The first is that Star Trek needs to be cinematic. It does not. If the writing, stories, and character development are high quality and thought provoking, Star Trek could be shot on a static tripod. Fans that are acquired because of the ‘cinematic’ look will not stick around long term. Second, to say that Discovery doesn’t have filler episodes because every episode serves the overall story is simply BS. In my mind, the entire show is filler in the context of the Star Trek franchise.
hear here