The first season of Strange New Worlds is a wrap, with an unexpected retelling of an episode of The Original Series fresh in Ken and Bri’s minds! What character arcs did the scriptwriters manage to cram into just one season, how does it all fit with what we know of these characters, and where do we go from here? Tune in to hear our reviews of all five episodes in the second half of the season!

Stream the audio edition of Transporter Lock above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Podchaser, or the Internet Archive.

Spock and T’Pring get up to hijinks with Captain Pike and Nurse Chapel as Ken and Sabriel review the first half of Star Trek: Strange New World‘s debut season. Who are our favorite characters, what episodes have we liked best, and how does the show compare with Discovery and Picard? Bonuses include praise for Rebecca Romijn, a review of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, comparisons to a cinematic technique employed by Avengers: Endgame and Nobody, and a brief conversation with a Stargate SG1 makeup artist!

Stream the audio edition of Transporter Lock above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Podchaser, or the Internet Archive.

Susan Arendt, intrepid writer for Space.com and Channel Surfing, joins Ken to review Pike’s first outing at the helm of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Listen to us discuss mortality and disability, debate how women are portrayed on the show, and swoon over Nurse Chapel.

Stream the audio edition of Transporter Lock above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Podchaser, or the Internet Archive.

After a mediocre middle act, Picard‘s penultimate season comes to a satisfying, bittersweet conclusion. Some important lessons were learned at great cost, some familiar faces made a return, and some intriguing questions were raised. With most loose ends tied up, Ken and Bri are left wondering: was this season meant to be binged? As Steve Jobs once said, you can’t connect the dots looking forward, only backward.

Stream the audio edition of Transporter Lock above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Podchaser, or the Internet Archive.

Ken and Bri are shocked by the secrets in Picard’s childhood, but we’re relieved to see Picard, Seven, and the Queen ready to face their fears. There’s still one episode left in the season, though — where do we go from here?

This podcast episode comes with a content warning for discussion of self-harm as depicted in Picard.

Stream the audio edition of Transporter Lock above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Podchaser, or the Internet Archive.

Charlynn Schmiedt joins Sabriel to talk about “Mercy”. From ships to ‘ships, Queen Agnes’ battery-acid Borgification, Picard and Guinan on budget X-Files, to another Soong turning evil—they cover it all!

Stream the audio edition of Transporter Lock above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Podchaser, or the Internet Archive.

This episode is ostensibly about Picard, but Chief Engineer Ken and Commodore Mark Thompson felt Teresa and Tallinn stole the show. Forget stepping on a butterfly, though — this show is trampling an entire field of them. Has Voyager‘s Lt. Ducane arrived to clean up the mess? And where are Q and Adam Soong? There’s a lot of ground still left to cover, and not much time left in the season!

Stream the audio edition of Transporter Lock above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Podchaser, or the Internet Archive.

Our goodness, can Agnes Jurati sing! Her showstopper number crescendos in a terrifying union with the Borg Queen, the two actors playing off each other perfectly. Other subplots leave us a bit uncertain: is Picard grandfatherly or manipulative? Is Adam Soong ostracized or influential? Is Tallinn a Romulan or not? All this, plus our excitement for Picard season 3 as well as Strange New Worlds!

Reddit threads mentioned in this episode:

• Members of Soong Dynasty qualitatively ranked in descending order of amorality/evil
• Gabriel Bell not having a Supervisor watching out for him suggests the Prophets are connected to the Watchers/Supervisors
• Ensign Mariner telling off Q is responsible for the entire second season plotline of Picard

Stream the audio edition of Transporter Lock above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Podchaser, or the Internet Archive.

Agnes and the Borg Queen get closer; Chris, Raffi, and Seven finally decide to join the plot; and Q continues to behave in unexpected ways. Although Ken and Sabriel enjoyed the episode’s humor and Easter eggs, we’re left wanting cliffhangers with significant payoffs and adding more depth to existing Star Trek lore.

Stream the audio edition of Transporter Lock above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Podchaser, or the Internet Archive.

Although Ken and Bri agree on loving both the new Guinan and the return of Punk Rocker, we’re divided on this episode overall. Why are they ignoring “Time’s Arrow”? And how are Chris, Seven, and Raffi moving the plot forward? We discuss how woke Star Trek is in its critique of modern society’s maladies, we compare Q to a villain from Buffy, and we turn our eyes skyward to Europa for the future of the season.

Stream the audio edition of Transporter Lock above or subscribe on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Podchaser, or the Internet Archive.