Trek Marry Kill

GENE RODDENBERRY'S MISOGYNY. Apparently, women couldn't be Star Trek captains all along. In a season that began with "Spock's Brain," wherein we discovered that Gene Roddenberry (and Gene L. Coon) had a chip on his shoulder about beautiful women preferring handsome men in their prime the season -- and series -- ends with a similar diatribe from Roddenberry's mind. This time, women want the same positions men have, only, they don't have the constitution to handle the job! It's a silly notion foisted on TV viewers by a silly man and a tough way to end the run of a show that had largely been an inspiration to everyone, regardless of gender. 

Will the crew figure out that Captain Kirk's mind has been swapped out with a vengeful ex-girlfriend? Due to some scheduling changes, this episode is Kristen's first date back to record even though she's appeared recently; and, look out for another release tomorrow as part of our weekly schedule. Today's a special one because it's the 55th anniversary of "Turnabout Intruder."

The grades begin at (27:22).

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UHURA HAS VISIONS and none of them are good. Will she be able to figure out the source before she loses her mind? Helping her through all this is Lt. James T. Kirk who is aboard the Enterprise for reasons, one of which is to eventually meet Spock. Is it an historic moment? 

Shereese Alexander was on our episode about Voyager's "Drone" and returns to comment on her very first episode of Strange New Worlds while also celebrating the end of The TNG Podcast, which looked at every episode of TNG, as well as promote her Tik Tok channel @thescifisavage -- check it out! Will TNG come up in this discussion? Hmmm...

The grades begin at (35:39). 

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BEYOND THE VACUOLE. Ensign Eager himself, Harry Kim, winds up in another dimension or on another planet after a transporter malfunction sends him through a subspace vacuole. He arrives in a world that thinks he's visiting them from their afterlife, which is no heavenly place at all it would seem -- thanks to him being unable to keep his big mouth shut. 

Returning to discuss Brannon Braga's big swing at exploring life & death on Star Trek is Marina Kravchuk (@drakkorex) from Daily Star Trek News. Does this big swing connect?

The grades begin at (24:18). 

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WELCOME HOME, RO? Michelle Forbes returns to Star Trek: The Next Generation just before the series finale and 30 years later Bryan finally understands just exactly how tragic this episode's ending is, resonating all the way until Star Trek: Picard's "Imposters." 

Joining him to sift through 30 years' worth of opinion about Captain Picard is actor-producer Samantha Gregory, who has co-founded a women-led production company Sam Hill Productions (samhillproductions.com and sam__hill__productions on social) and who has played Ro Laren before in a Star Trek fan film. 

The grades begin at (20:55). 

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ONE FINAL ADVENTURE inside the holodeck is what the writers had in mind for the antepenultimate episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Is it a big swing that connects? Joining Bryan to render a final verdict is TV reviewer Diana Keng (@diana4tv), who wrote hundreds of Star Trek reviews for TV Fanatic, but now provides her talents to another of outlets. 

Does the 30th anniversary of this episode's premiere make the hosts nostalgic or has time allowed them to more soberly assess one of the last episodes of a foundational show? 

The grades begin at (24:40). 

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NICE SHOT, da VINCI! Our animated spotlight for this season of Trek Marry Kill concludes with the final two episodes of Lower Decks' first season, and joining Bryan to discuss is Katie Hampton, who appears in Jerry Seinfeld's Netflix movie, Unfrosted, which debuts May 3rd, 2024. 

The penultimate episode might very well be the ultimate holodeck adventure as Mariner reprograms Boimler's sucking up to the Captain simulation into an exciting Star Trek-themed action movie called Crisis Point: The Rise of Vindicta. Does Boimler learn what he needs to in order to impress Captain Freeman during an interview or does Mariner go on a journey of self-discovery that shakes her to her very foundation? 

Meanwhile, in the season finale, Mariner's big secret gets out that Captain Freeman is her mom and now it's up to them to figure out how to deal with the fallout. And then Captain Riker shows up. 

Our animated spotlights will return in September. 

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SPOCK BECOMES HUMAN after a shuttle accident at the mouth of an interdimensional vortex places his broken body in front of a group of energy beings patterned after Amazon customer service chatbots. It only gets worse for our favorite Vulcan when the in-laws drop in to complete a sacred Vulcan tea ceremony. Can his mother help him tap into his human side in time to lie his way through it? Will any of this story make sense? Bryan and Kristen are highly skeptical! Does this big swing connect? 

The grades begin at (26:24). 

If you're curious about Jane Espenson's blog, here's her post on clams. 

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MY FAIR SEVEN. The Doctor sticks his photons into Seven of Nine's interest in procuring a man to "date," and little does he know that his programming has made him vulnerable to the feminine wiles of Seven of Nine, who is completely clueless about how humans date. Kristen returns to discuss the "Seven is horny" episode which features a complimentary B-plot featuring the hilarious Scott Thompson from comedy group Kids in the Hall. 

The grades begin at (24:26). 

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A LOVE STORY? When Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Commissioner Nancy Hedford discover Zefram Cochrane is both still alive and under the influence of an electrical cloud that has fallen in love with him, it's just the setup for perhaps the deepest exploration of love in Star Trek history. 

Joining Bryan to discuss this BIG SWING from 1967 is Laurie Ulster from TrekMovie.com. Can she and Bryan agree on a final grade for this one?

Two podcast episodes to check out which Bryan references in the episode: 

1) The remastering of TOS for HD on Inglorious Treksperts
2) "Metamorphosis" director Ralph Senensky on the Scott Mantz Star Trek podcast, Enterprise Incidents

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OFF THE SCALE! The Enterprise is thrown to the edge of the universe in one of the biggest swings Star Trek has ever taken. Joining Bryan to discuss this important early episode of TNG where Captain Picard talks to his dead mother and when Wesley Crusher meets the Traveler, are Mark Farinas & Ryan T. Riddle from the Ship Full of Jerks Podcast. They're here not only to judge the quality of this season 1 episode but also to extol the virtues of TNG-Season 1 overall. Better than you remember or simply too good to be forgotten?

The grades begin at (26:34). 

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