You'd find more stakes in a vegetarian restaurant than we're finding in "Enterprise" this week! (cue Data waving his arms comically) But seriously, folks, we don't care. At all. The future might be doomed but the 22nd century is going to be fine in "Cold Front". After that, what SHOULD be the A plot is instead relegated to the backup story about a cake in "Silent Enemy". Also that crackly mic effect is intentional vintage, not technical errors. Yeah...

Also this week: no setup, no death, but we've got Uhura.

[timestamps: Cold Front: 03:10; Silent Enemy: 47:44; blog: 1:19:26]

[Uhura moments: https://www.tumblr.com/sshbpodcast/732177080556601344/character-spotlight-nyota-uhura?source=share]

Meeting a lot of jerks this week on "Enterprise", and no we don't mean more members of the NX-01 crew! First up: a developing alien world is being poisoned by a different, more advanced alien who claims he's just chilling there because he likes the culture and TOTALLY isn't up to no good in "Civilization". After that, some cargo haulers are trying to keep Archer from finding out about their attempts to extract information from a prisoner in "Fortunate Son".

Also this week: 90s sitcom issues, a better pirate option, and Sulu!

[timestamps: Civilization: 04:44; Fortunate Son: 41:31; Talkin' Sulu: 1:19:43]

[Blog: https://www.tumblr.com/sshbpodcast/731542674163793920/character-spotlight-hikaru-sulu?source=share]

For some reason the braintrust at Paramount decided it was worth "celebrating" the fiftieth anniversary of "Star Trek: The Animated Series". To do that, they appear to have scraped together the rejected jokes from every Adult Swim series and South Park and slapped a coat of TAS-style animation on top. Seriously, of the five they churned out, one was good. Which one? Listen to find out!

Also this week: overdoing the gags, Gazelle did better, and yelling more about "Prodigy" because this was recorded before the news about it moving over to Netflix dropped. Yay, "Prodigy"!

Archer is SO BAD at subtlety and diplomacy, guys. Seriously. Watch as he buys time badly and then declares himself simultaneous King of two civilizations in "The Andorian Incident". After that, nothing will get in the way of his prejudices when Vulcans are hanging around in "Breaking the Ice".

Also this week: vampire assignment, puffy poop boots, and Montgomery Scotty!

[timestamps: Incident: 01:32; Ice: 24:41; engineering Scotty: 46:48]

[Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/sshbpodcast/730276089262489600/character-spotlight-montgomery-scott?source=share]

Descendants are all over the place this week on "Enterprise"! First up, Trip finds out the hard way he's biologically compatible with an alien species in "Unexpected". After that, the "Enterprise" goes looking for a missing Earth colony and finds some rather unexpected residents in "Terra Nova".

Also this week: bad safety, bad naming, and Doctor McCoy!

[Timestamps: Unexpected: 01:04; Terra Nova: 36:25; Doc Talk: 1:04:23]

[Tumbl with Bones:https://www.tumblr.com/sshbpodcast/729664631136747520/character-spotlight-leonard-mccoy?source=share]

And we're off! Yes, with the pilot out of the way it's time for "Enterprise" to hit the ground running, and...ah...oh, did they not hear the starting pistol? First up: space is pretty empty and it's making everyone antsy until things get kinda scary in "Fight or Flight". After that: drugs bring out the worst in everyone in "Strange New World".

Also this week: everyone is jerks, just stun people, and Spock Talk!

[Timetamps: Fight or Flight; 03:09; Strange New World: 36:05; Spock Blog: 1:05:00]

[Vulcan Tumbl: https://www.tumblr.com/sshbpodcast/729009866626170880/character-spotlight-spock?source=share]

Right! Break time is over, back to the "Trek" mines as we dive face-first into "Enterprise"! But now we're going back to an earlier point in the future as we join Captain Archer and his crew on the first warp-five Starfleet ship taking tentative steps out into the galaxy a century-ish before TOS! A Klingon has crash landed in the titular "Broken Bow", and it's up to the "Enterprise" NX-01 crew to ferry him home...but some new enemies would prefer they fail!

Also this week: you know what we have to talk about first, nepo-babies, and Kirk!

[Timestamps: Broken Bow: 1:47; Kirk-chat: 1:08:40]

https://www.tumblr.com/sshbpodcast/728368986902970368/character-spotlight-james-kirk?source=share

We've come around to another anniversary, and as has become tradition we're celebrating with fanfics! But it's also our cap to "Voyager", which we wrapped a mere few weeks ago. So it's one last go with Kathy and crew, many fake folks, and a few fake worlds! What does that mean? Listen to find out!

Jake's: 03:33

https://www.tumblr.com/sshbpodcast/727743530759585792/tales-from-the-holodeck-voy-fanfic-jakes-story?source=share

Caitlin's: 28:03

https://www.tumblr.com/sshbpodcast/727743552670580736/tales-from-the-holodeck-voy-fanfic-caitlins?source=share

Ames's: 40:50

https://www.tumblr.com/sshbpodcast/727743566816935936/tales-from-the-holodeck-voy-fanfic-amess?source=share

Chris's: 1:15:49

https://www.tumblr.com/sshbpodcast/727743583941197824/tales-from-the-holodeck-voy-fanfic-chriss?fbclid=IwAR29u6pYtlHCEucPdDGotCKKzIRz6JsZ_k02SPl52L7EG-8pRtIB5TikrXI

Well, the "Voyager" doc wasn't ready in time for us to cover it at the end of the series, so we went through the shelves and scrounged up "Trekkies", the Denise Crosby–hosted look at "Star Trek" conventions and the fans that attend them! It...certainly has a bias.

Also this week: The Match Game, Iowa, and mascots!

[cw: brief mention of suicidal ideation]

[The Star Trek Adventure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kC_dCCZV-o]

Slap on your spurs and get ready to think Fourth Dimensionally, because it's time for "Back to the Future Part III"! Time to finish things off by going back to the beginning of Hill Valley, as Marty travels to 1885 to save Doc from the wrath of Mad Dog Tannen. But will the erstwhile scientist's reason be clouded by...love?

Also this week: M. Night corner, the truth about Frisbee, and the great Doc Paradox conspiracy!