Trek Marry Kill

BOIM US UP! This month's animated spotlight looks at the highs and lows of being a lower decker as well as the highs and lows of Star Trek stories told via animation. Joining Bryan to discuss are two animation veterans: Cassie has written for multiple animated series and hosts a podcast that spotlights women & nonbinary talent in animation called The Ink & Paint Folk Podcast. Their partner Matt is a CG artist who's worked on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man slated for release later this year. 

The grades for "Much Ado About Boimler" begin at (22:50). The grades for "Veritas" begin at (58:35).

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SCOTTY GETS DRUNK with a Kelvan and Star Trek fans are given a scene to enjoy forever. Does the rest of the episode rise to the occasion or is there a "just play the hits" quality to it? It's Trek Marry Kill's 79th episode, and so it seemed only fitting to do an episode of TOS. 

The Enterprise is once again taken over by superior beings and once again it's up to Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty to figure out how to take down "gods." This time, the gods don't want to test humanity or watch them toil for amusement, they need the ship to complete a 300-year journey back to their home galaxy of Andromeda. 

This time, our intrepid crew takes down "gods" with the most human behavior they can conjure. Joining Bryan this week to discuss the episode is CG Artist Matt who worked on both wrapped seasons of Star Trek: Prodigy (season one of which you can watch right now in the US on Netflix) and whose opinion of this episode has changed over time. 

If you're enjoying the show, consider rating and reviewing us on whichever platform you use to listen to the show. Check us out at trekmarrykpod on social. 

Our monthly animated spotlight will post on the 2nd of the month and was preempted only to make sure a TOS episode went in as our 79th episode. 

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ANSON MOUNT'S RETURN from paternity leave thrusts Captain Pike into an adventure where he loses his memory and becomes... the darkness that's been inside him all along? And it's because an asteroid crashed on a planet thousands of years ago? Huh? This week, Bryan is joined by Michael Baumann of the cycling blog Wheelysports and the baseball blog FanGraphs to sort out a greatest hits-type of story. 

Michael has a great theory about how every Star Trek series has a captain who is a different type of dad. Is Mount's "Dad Energy" your kind of Star Trek captain energy? Is this episode a big swing that connects? The grades begin at (33:39). 

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GATES MCFADDEN DIRECTS one of the biggest swings in the history of the Star Trek franchise: the crew de-evolves! How did the Dancing Doctor's perspective improve the episode and is her directorial debut a classic? Joining Bryan this week is actor-writer-producer-director Heidi Cox, creator of the web series "Stalking LeVar" and co-founder of Dweeb Darlings (@DweebDarlings on social), a media company promoting balance in the industry for women driven content from women creators. 

Not only was this Gates McFadden's TV directing debut, it's the first time in Star Trek history that an episode is directed by a woman castmember and lucky for her she gets to direct a horror movie aboard the Enterprise. Is this a big swing that connects? What's the fate of Spot's kittens? You'll just have to listen.

The grades begin at (23:53).

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MASAKA IS SLEEPY! Writer-Director-Actor Thomas Tulak joins Bryan to discuss one of the most extreme examples of writing, directing, and acting in all of Star Trek history. Is Brent Spiner up to the task of playing multiple characters from an entire civilization? Is Patrick Stewart sleepwalking through his performance or does he manage to act just enough in this one to not be shown up by the 12 errant palm fronds production brought in to decorate the Enterprise sets after the ship starts to transform into an alien sun god/dess's palace? Listen and find out!

And you can watch Thomas Tulak's feature film, Who Dunt Dunt Dunnit?:: The Movie, RIGHT NOW on Tubi. https://tubitv.com/movies/100013396/who-dunt-dunt-dunnit

If you're enjoying the show, consider rating us five stars on whatever platform you use to listen to podcasts. 

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PARTY OF LINCOLN! We continue to look at Star Trek's BIG SWINGS with the episode where literally Abraham Lincoln beams aboard the Enterprise. It's a classic Star Trek story that includes wacky 1960s predictions about the future, alien gods pitting our crew against the forces of evil itself for their own amusement, and some really unsubtle Kirk-Spock slashfic material. 

Joining Bryan this week is returning guest Andrew Bloom (@TheAndrewBlog and andrewbloom.substack.com). Will they Trek, Marry, or Kill it?

The grades begin at (26:18).

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COOL OR FOOL? In the this month's animated spotlight, Bryan and Katie Hampton from the Napping Through Happy Hour podcast take a look at two Lower Decks episodes that firmly push the freshman series in its own direction. In the first, Mariner suspects that Boimler's long distance girlfriend is a parasite. In the second, Tim Robinson screams his way through some shenanigans.  Are they Treks, Marrys, or Kills?

If you want to jump to "Terminal Provocations," the grades begin at (39:50).

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CAMP OR CLASSIC? The Emmy-winning and New York Times-bestselling writer Joshua Pruett returns to walk Bryan through the high camp of one of Star Trek: Voyager's most tragic episodes in which the crew discovers that they are merely mimic goo that's now disintegrating because of an enhanced warp drive. Did Bryan Fuller and Nick Sagan have higher aims or were they locked into a nihilistic ending? And just how many members of the cast were in on the joke of playing up the ridiculousness of turning into puddles of goo? 

It's another BIG SWING for Star Trek -- does it connect? And whose side do you agree with: Bryan's or Josh's? It's another split vote scenario and we're asking the audience to break the tie. 

Check out The Last Comics on Earth: Too Many Villains! releasing this April and check out Josh's social media @zombietardis on most platforms. 

Enjoying the show? Consider rating us five stars on your platform of choice!

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LOKI MEETS TWILIGHT? Bryan and Kristen kick off a new theme series: BIG SWINGS. And, folks, Star Trek is committed to the big swing. This time out sees La'an teaming up with an alternate reality Captain Kirk to travel back in time to 21st century Earth for reasons. Does the episode reveal something new about La'an? Does it give us a new side of Kirk even if only through the lens of an alternate reality figure? Or is it all too safe and pat?

The grades start at (17:35).

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SOME MALE BONDING is all the crew behind Star Trek: Enterprise needed to get excited again about their show late in the first season. This bottle episode that was largely a two-hander wound up bonding actors Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating IRL. Does this one evoke the adventure and progressivism that are the hallmarks of Trek, or does it tend to scratch the itch of its corporate masters who want a more conventional network TV show? 

Joining Bryan to discuss another episode in TMK's Two Hander series are Kayla Iacovino & Brian Drew, hosts of Shuttle Pod on the TrekMovie.com feed. Does this popular episode make a whole lot of sense? More importantly, is it a TREK, MARRY, or KILL?

The grades begin at (19:08). 

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