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USS Defiant (NCC-1764)

The USS Defiant (NCC-1764) was a Federation Constitution -class ( Bonhomme Richard sub-type) heavy cruiser in service to Starfleet in the 23rd century . ( TOS episode : " The Tholian Web "; FASA RPG module : Federation Ship Recognition Manual )

The  Defiant  was named in honor of the British  warship  HMS  Defiant . ( ENT episode : " In a Mirror, Darkly ", set decoration )

• 1 Construction and service history
• 2.1.1 Discovery
• 2.2 Raise the Defiant
• 2.3 Interphase
• 3.1 Starfleet
• 3.2 Terran Empire
• 4 Appearances and References
• 5.1 External link

Construction and service history [ ]

The Defiant was constructed at Tranquility Base , Luna . She was the last of the original thirteen Constitution -class starships to be constructed and commissioned. During the early years of her service, the Defiant conducted many missions of importance for Starfleet, and constantly patrolled the Klingon Neutral Zone as tensions between the two powers continued to rise. During that time, the Defiant became the sixth Federation starship to encounter the N'shaii , and was easily able to dispatch them. ( TOS - My Brother's Keeper novel : Constitution , DSC novel : Drastic Measures , FASA RPG module : Federation Ship Recognition Manual )

During the Federation-Klingon War of 2256 , the Defiant was assigned to patrol Sector 006. ( DSC episode : " Despite Yourself ")

During the Four Years War (in the year 2253), the Defiant and a squadron of Baton Rouge -class cruisers, under the command of Commodore Jarv Maxwill , were escorting convoy Y-16Z to Deuteronomy III and passed by the Rebonet system . They were ambushed by a small task force of Klingon cruisers and gunboats in what became known as the Attack of Convoy Y-16Z . All eight Klingons ships were either destroyed or captured during the battle. ( FASA RPG module : The Four Years War )

At sometime prior to 2265 , the Defiant was refitted with new technologies, as well as receiving some cosmetic changes to the look of the ship. The USS Constellation and the famous USS Enterprise were two other vessels that received the same treatment. ( TOS - Crucible novel : The Fire and the Rose )

In late 2265 , the Defiant returned from her first five-year mission, and Captain Serling stepped down as commanding officer. He was replaced by Captain Thomas Blair who took the Defiant out on her second five-year mission in early 2266 . With increasing tensions with the Klingons, the Defiant was once again posted along the Neutral Zone.

By 2267 , the Defiant had been assigned to operations in the Taurus Reach . That year, it accompanied the USS Endeavour and the USS Akhiel on a mission to drive Klingon forces off of Golmira , a low-tech planet where a Shedai conduit had been discovered. ( VAN novel : Precipice )

In 2268 , the Defiant was called to the Klingon colony on Traelus II after receiving a distress call. A landing party discovered no Klingon survivors left on the colony, but they recover a land-based web generator of Tholian origin. The Defiant set a course back for Federation space, but soon found themselves being pursued by three Tholian vessels. Trying to escape the Tholians, the Defiant entered a spatial interphase and became trapped. Captain Blair managed to get a distress call out to the USS Enterprise before the crew succumbed to madness and started to kill each other. ( SCE eBooks : Interphase, Part One , Interphase, Part Two ; VAN novel : What Judgments Come ; DSC episode : " Vaulting Ambition ")

Time was altered when the Na'kuhl , bent on revenge towards the Tholians for the destruction of their homeworld, ambushed the Tholian colony that was nearby, murdering an entire generation of Tholians. The Defiant was caught up in the conflict until a starship from two years into the future arrived to help, though refused to explain why. The two starships defeated the Na'kuhl, but the Tholian Queen refused help and opted to kill the Na'kuhl Dreadnought attacking them by ramming it with her own ship, though getting word out that the Federation did nothing wrong. The two starships attempted to escape the destruction of the two ships, but the temporal energies released ended up trapping the Defiant in the spatial interphase. Despite the pleas of the time traveling captain, Agent Daniels refused, as it was what history needed to do. ( STO mission : " Painful Omens ")

The Defiant in the interphase

By the time the Enterprise arrived at the Defiant 's location, three weeks later, the crew of the Defiant were dead, and the ship had been drawn deeper into the interphase. Interference from the Tholians stopped the Enterprise from trying to retrieve the Defiant and she was left behind. ( TOS episode : " The Tholian Web ")

The Three USS Defiant s [ ]

There are three distinct accounts of the recovery of the Defiant , the first version saw the USS Enterprise -A returning in the late 2280s and retrieving the vessel, while another saw the Defiant remaining in the interphase until 2376 .

In a Mirror, Darkly [ ]

The Defiant emerged in the mirror universe in the year 2155 , where it was captured by the Tholians and taken to a drydock in the Vintaak system . Commander Jonathan Archer of the Terran Empire ship ISS Enterprise learned of the ship and led a mission to capture it from the Tholians.

With the Defiant , Archer planned to use it to crush an alien rebellion plaguing the Empire. The Defiant rendezvoused the assault fleet, but found only the ISS Avenger remaining. Destroying the rebels, Archer proceeded to assassinate Admiral Black and decided he was going to use the ship from the future to overthrow the Emperor . The aliens on Avenger however, led by T'Pol and Soval , inspired by the database onboard the Defiant (describing a United Federation of Planets in the other universe), convinced Phlox -the only remaining non- Terran aboard Defiant -to disable the ship, allowing Avenger to attack. However, the crew was able to restore systems and destroy the rogue ship, killing Soval.

Upon the arrival of Defiant at Earth , Hoshi Sato poisoned Archer and intended to use the futuristic ship to install herself as Empress. ( ENT episode : " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II ")

When Starfleet refused to surrender, the Defiant was forced to engage a fleet of seven Terran vessels; including the dreadnought ISS Imperator , four NX -class battlecruisers, including the ISS Broadsword and ISS Khan's Wrath as well as a pair of destroyers . Despite this, the Defiant was able to disable Imperator and destroy three of the NX class ships before bombarding Starfleet Headquarters from orbit , eliminating Fleet Admiral Gardner , and declaring herself Empress.

Sergeant Travis Mayweather was appointed the ship's Captain , and over the next few months the interior and exterior appearance of the Defiant was modified to reflect the propaganda of the now-Empress Sato that the ship was a vessel from the future of the mirror universe where the Terran Empire flourished into the 23rd century . The Defiant was also the subject of a massive attempt to reverse engineer its weapon systems for installation on other Terran vessels. The Defiant was sent to the Devolin system to search for a potential rebel base. This was revealed later to be a ploy by General Shran to get the powerful ship away from Earth, leaving it vulnerable to a rebel attack. The ship later participated in the battle over Aldus Prime against rebel ships in an attempt to rescue Empress Sato.

After her successful rescue, Empress Sato discussed with now- Regent of Vulcan T'Pol about sending the Defiant (as the head of a fleet) into an unexplored region of space to make first contact with a race believed to inhabit the area known as, " Romulans ." ( ENT novel : Age of the Empress )

Discovery [ ]

USS Defiant seen on a view screen aboard the USS Discovery

Owing to the rebellion its computer files had once incited, information on the Defiant (up to and including its arrival in the mirror universe) was highly classified. Only the emperor knew the full story of the Defiant 's crossover. ( DSC episode : " Vaulting Ambition ")

By 2256 , information on the true origins of the Defiant were stolen by rebels and stored aboard a datacore on a Klingon warship. As part of his plan to seize the Terran throne, Captain Gabriel Lorca baited the crew of the USS Discovery with information on the Defiant . To that end, he assumed the role of a prisoner with Michael Burnham posing as her Terran counterpart so they could board the ISS Shenzhou and recover the Defiant data. ( DSC episodes : " Despite Yourself ", " Vaulting Ambition ")

Burnham was able to access the data on the Defiant but the files were heavily encrypted and too large to transmit back to Discovery . After Ash Tyler was revealed to be a Klingon sleeper agent , he was beamed off the Shenzhou in accordance with Imperial law. Burnham surreptitiously placed the data card containing the Defiant data on Tyler so Saru could decode it upon Tyler being beamed aboard Discovery . ( DSC episode : " The Wolf Inside ")

Saru managed to decode the file but found it to be heavily redacted, learning only how the Defiant had crossed over. After revealing her true identity to Emperor Philippa Georgiou , Burnham was able to bargain for the totality of the Defiant data in exchange for the blueprints to the spore drive Discovery utilized. ( DSC episode : " Vaulting Ambition ")

After the two had overthrown Lorca, Georgiou gave Burnham the full information on the Defiant . ( DSC episode : " What's Past Is Prologue ")

Upon the return of the Discovery to the prime universe all data on the trip to the mirror universe was highly classified by Starfleet. As a result the crew of the Defiant were unaware of their ultimate fate, and computers on Starfleet vessels held no information on the mirror universe even after Kirk's 2267 crossover. ( DSC episode : " The War Without, The War Within ")

Some information on the mirror universe was ultimately declassified by the mid 24th century. ( DS9 episode : " Crossover ")

Raise the Defiant [ ]

The USS Enterprise -A recovers the USS Defiant in 2287

Raise the Defiant was a special issue of DC Comics ' Star Trek line, written by Kevin Ryan and published in Winter 1994 , set in 2287 .

Interphase [ ]

In 2298 , the Defiant was seen drifting near the rift by the Excelsior . ( TLE novel : The Sundered )

In 2376 , a passing Tholian vessel rediscovered the Defiant . The USS da Vinci was sent to salvage the vessel until the Tholian vessel opened fire. The Defiant was trapped in the rift with the SCE crew. ( SCE eBook : Interphase, Part One )

The Defiant was able to escape the rift to help battle against the Tholians. The Defiant later went into Spacedock on its own power. ( SCE eBook : Interphase, Part Two )

Crew Manifest [ ]

Starfleet [ ].

• Commodore Jarv Maxwill (2252-2256)
• Captain Serling (2260-2265)
• Captain Thomas Blair (2265-2268)
• Commander Philippa Georgiou (2246-2249)
• Commander Kamau Mbugua
• Lieutenant Commander Philippa Georgiou (2246-2249)
• Lieutenant Commander Erin Sutherland (2266-68?)
• Lieutenant Commander Clarissa Nyn (2268)
• Lieutenant Commander Stevok
• Ensign Ravishankar Sabapathy
• Lieutenant Commander Trethishavu th'Vlene
• Jane Hamilton (2267-2268)
• Lieutenant T'Lehr
• Lieutenant Commander Terry Shull
• Ensign Garrovick (2266-2267)

Terran Empire [ ]

• Jonathan Archer (2155)
• Travis Mayweather (2155-2157)
• A.G. Robinson (2157)
• T'Pol (2155)
• Charles Tucker (2155)
• Malcolm Reed (2155)
• Hoshi Sato , (2155)
• Travis Mayweather (2155)
• Zona (2155-present)

Appearances and References [ ]

• TOS novel : Ex Machina
• TOS novel : Prime Directive
• TOS - Fortunes of War novel : Dreadnought!
• SCE eBook : Interphase, Part One
• SCE eBook : Cold Fusion
• SCE eBook : Enigma Ship
• SCE eBooks : War Stories, Book 1 , War Stories, Book 2
• SCE eBook : Wildfire, Book 2
• SCE eBook : Home Fires
• SCE eBook : Balance of Nature
• SCE eBook : Breakdowns
• The Captain's Table Omnibus
• TOS - Seven Deadly Sins short story : " The First Peer "
• VAN novel : Precipice

Connections [ ]

External link [ ].

• USS Defiant (NCC-1764) article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .
• 1 Lamarr class
• 2 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition
• 3 Odyssey class

• Federation starships
• Starships named after UK Royal Navy ships

USS Defiant (NCC-1764)

• Edit source

The USS Defiant (NCC-1764) was a Constitution -class heavy cruiser of the Achernar -subclass in operation during the 23rd century . Believed lost in 2268 as the result of an encounter with Tholians , the Defiant was actually transported into the mirror universe and captured by the Terran Empire . ( TOS : " The Tholian Web ", ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly ", " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II ")

• 2.1 Command Division
• 2.2 Helm and Navigation Departments
• 2.3 Science Division
• 2.4 Medical Division
• 2.5 Engineering Division
• 2.6 Communications Department
• 2.7 Security Department
• 3 Notable Mirror Universe crew members
• 4 Apocrypha
• 5.1 Delta Dynamics
• 8 Appearances
• 9 External links

History [ ]

Defiant was assigned to patrol Sector 006 during the Federation-Klingon War . ( DIS : " Despite Yourself ")

Notable crew members [ ]

Command division [ ].

• Captain (first name unrevealed) Serling, commanding officer , ?-2265 ( TOS novel: Constitution )
• Captain Thomas Blair , commanding officer , 2266-2268 ( Star Trek: Vanguard novel: What Judgements Come )
• Lieutenant Commander Philippa Georgiou , executive officer , late 2240s ( DIS novel: Drastic Measures )
• Commander Kamau Mbugua, executive officer, ?-2268 ( What Judgements Come )
• Lieutenant Commander Terry Shull, gamma-shift duty officer, 2268 ( What Judgements Come )

Helm and Navigation Departments [ ]

• Commander Julienne Cochrane , navigation officer, 2261-2265 ( Tamerlane )
• Lieutenant T'Lehr, chief helm officer , 2267-2268 ( The First Peer , What Judgements Come )

Science Division [ ]

• Lieutenant Commander Erin Sutherland, science officer , ?-2267 ( The First Peer )
• Lieutenant Commander Claryssa Nin, science officer, ?-2267 ( What Judgements Come )
• Lieutenant Commander Serek , science officer, 2268-2269 ( Star Trek: The Intrepid Adventures )

Medical Division [ ]

• Jane Hamilton, M.D., chief medical officer , 2267-2268 ( The First Peer , What Judgements Come )

Engineering Division [ ]

• Ensign (later Lieutenant) Michelle Smithfield , engineering officer , 2256-2266 ( Starship Farragut )
• Lieutenant Commander Stevok, chief engineer , 2268 ( What Judgements Come )
• Wayne Galway , engineering technician, 2248-2261 ( Starship Farragut )

Communications Department [ ]

• Ensign Ravishankar Sabapathy, communications officer, 2267-2268 ( The First Peer , What Judgements Come )

Security Department [ ]

• Lieutenant Commander Trethishavu th'Vlene, chief of security , 2268 ( What Judgements Come )

Notable Mirror Universe crew members [ ]

USS Defiant command insignia

• Jonathan Archer , acting captain, 2155
• T'Pol , acting science officer, 2155
• Charles Tucker III , acting engineer, 2155
• Malcolm Reed , acting security chief, 2155
• Hoshi Sato , 2155
• Travis Mayweather , acting helmsman, 2155

Apocrypha [ ]

Original footage of the Defiant

Defiant' s registry first revealed

Remastered footage of the Defiant

No official registry was established for the Defiant during the initial run of the Star Trek television series. During the original episode " The Tholian Web ", the vessel was seen from a distance which established her as a starship , a term used throughout the series to describe the USS Enterprise and other vessels of a similar configuration, later known as the Constitution class .

Oddly, Franz Joseph's Star Fleet Technical Manual did not list the Defiant . The closest entry was for the USS Defiance with the registry NCC-1717. [N 1] Some believe this to be an omission or a typographical error that was never caught. Additionally, the Technical Manual lists the registry NCC-1764 as belonging to the USS Galina .

More recent and official sources, including the Star Trek web site and Michael Okuda’s Star Trek Encyclopedia and Star Trek Chronology do list the ship as a Constitution -class vessel with the registry NCC-1764. This registry was assigned by Greg Jein, a model-maker who worked with Okuda on Star Trek: The Next Generation and the later incarnations of the Trek franchise.

The first canon appearance of the Defiant which clearly showed her registry was in the television series Star Trek: Enterprise during the episode " In a Mirror, Darkly ".

It should also be noted that since the beginning of " Star Trek: Remastered ", a project produced by CBS/Paramount to bring TOS into the 21st century with hi-definition quality video, sound and new, computer-generated special effects (CGI), the Jein registries have been consistently used when any other Constitution -class ship has been seen. As such, during the remastered version of "The Tholian Web" the Defiant 's registry is clearly visible as 1764, giving further credence to the Jein list as "official" or "canon", while simultaneously dismissing registries listed by Joseph.

Alternative continuities [ ]

Delta dynamics [ ].

Victory subclass

The USS Defiant (NCC-1764) was a Constitution -class heavy cruiser —of the Victory subclass—in Starfleet service during the mid- to late- 23rd century . In 2268 , she went missing into an interdimensional rift in the direction of Tholian space. ( Star Fleet Starship Recognition Manual : Report #298 : Constitution Heavy Cruiser )

• ↑ In Ships of the Star Fleet , vol. 1 [revised], this registry is assigned to a Constitution (Bonhomme Richard) class ship named Defiant.

See Also [ ]

Appearances [ ].

• " The Tholian Web "
• " In a Mirror, Darkly "
• " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II "
• " Voyage of the Defiant "

External links [ ]

• USS Defiant (NCC-1764) article at Memory Alpha , the canon Star Trek wiki.
• USS Defiant (NCC-1764) article at Memory Beta , the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
• Star Fleet Starship Recognition Manual : Report #298: Constitution Heavy Cruiser
• 1 Daniels (Agent)
• 2 Phalanx class

Star Trek: USS Defiant, Explained

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At the heart of Star Trek is the will of Starfleet officers to defy the odds when they’re stacked against them, and nothing symbolizes this fighting spirit quite like the USS Defiant. Ships are pivotal to the lofty goals of the Federation. The first crew couldn’t have set out to boldly explore the galaxy without one. Starfleet would never have made First Contact if they lacked the means to even leave Earth in the first place. From scientific missions to duking it out in space for the very soul of galactic democracy, there is no feat that cannot be accomplished with a good engine and an even better warp factor.

But the USS Defiant holds a special place in the heart of many. William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) once called it a “tough little ship,” which is both accurate and the understatement of the century. The USS Defiant was indeed tough despite its small size, or maybe even because of it. However, it was also pivotal in various battles fought by the Deep Space 9 crew. It may have been built to withstand all manner of attack, but it was also built to last, and it’s done so long enough to create quite the legacy.

RELATED: Most Powerful Women in Star Trek

The USS Defiant Versus the Borg

These days, the USS Defiant is known among Star Trek fans as having been vital during the Dominion War of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . Season 7, episode 8, “The Siege of AR-558,” was only one example of the small ship being taken out on relief missions by officers like Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig), Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell), and Ensign Nog (Aron Eisenberg).

Despite its successful career, though, the USS Defiant had a rather rocky beginning. It was designed to defend itself in battle after the Borg attacked Federation space. Instead, features provided to make it dangerous to enemies of the Federation only made it a threat to those unfortunate enough to be inside of it when the engines were first tested. This must have been before Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meaney) got his capable hands on them.

Features of the USS Defiant

The USS Defiant is designed with a circular body and an elongated front. The battleship is introduced in the season 3 premiere of Deep Space Nine as needing of a lot of internal work. It initially only possesses the basic features, such as deflector shields, photon torpedoes, and a warp drive.

What makes the USS Defiant such a uniquely combat-capable ship , though, is that it's later updated with Ablative armor coating and a cloaking device. The armor coating acts like a shield, but is more able to withstand direct attacks. The cloaking device is a little more controversial, as it was loaned to Starfleet by the Romulan government and its use was limited to the Gamma Quadrant. To be the best, the USS Defiant needed some pretty wicked features, and it got them exactly when the crew needed them most.

The USS Defiant Versus the Maquis

Deep Space Nine wasn’t afraid of hijinks, but it was even less afraid of dealing with complex issues and involving the USS Defiant in the process. The Maquis were determined to remain in their established settlements located in Cardassian-controlled systems.

That’s where the USS Defiant comes in. Season 5, episode 13, “For the Uniform,” marks one of the first times in Star Trek history that a captain is willing to sacrifice living beings to defeat an enemy. Captain Sisko threatens to launch biochemical weapons at a Maquis settlement from the helm of the USS Defiant. Ex-Security Officer / Maquis leader Michael Eddington (Ken Marshall) calls his bluff. But the captain isn’t lying, and he proceeds to follow through. The plan works exactly as Captain Sisko planned, and the leader turns himself in. But one has to wonder if the results of saving Cardassian lives was worth the method.

The USS Defiant Saves the Day

Questionable use aside, the USS Defiant really showed what it could do in the heat of the moment. In season 6 of Deep Space Nine , the chips are down and the Dominion War is continuing to rack up an already-high body count in one of the bloodiest battles in Star Trek . In season 6, episode 6, “Sacrifice of Angels,” Captain Sisko takes the USS Defiant into the Celestial Temple in a desperate attempt to convince the Prophets to provide protection from a Dominion attack. He pleads:

“You want to be Gods? Then be Gods! I need a miracle – Bajor needs a miracle. Stop those ships!”

The Prophets eventually agree but vaguely allude (as they do) to a price he’ll have to pay later on. Before Sisko can find out what that is, he’s transported back to the USS Defiant and then later greeted by grateful Bajorans back on Deep Space 9. This miracle turns the tide of the war in favor of the Federation and its allies, though a full surrender from Dominion forces is a long way coming.

The USS Defiant has played an iconic role in Star Trek history. Its first appearance officially marked the Federation’s willingness to prioritize the needs of a battle over its scientific goals. It has saved lives, and taken them. It has been beaten and defeated almost as much as it’s emerged victorious from bloody battles. The USS Defiant was introduced in Star Trek: First Contact , but earned its pips for its service throughout Deep Space Nine . Star Trek: Prodigy brings the USS Defiant back into action, while Picard sees it finally docked at the Starfleet Fleet Museum run by Commodore Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton).

The Defiant will probably continue to make appearances for as long as it may be needed, whether it's active among the stars or laid to rest for new generations to learn of its importance in the survival of the Federation. After all these years, it seems like Star Trek just can’t let the USS Defiant go.

MORE: Star Trek: The Cardassian Occupation of Bajor, Explained

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A Legendary Ship Gets an All-Star Crew in Christopher Cantwell’s Star Trek: Defiant

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The Star Trek Universe is home to intrepid heroes exploring the galaxy, but it's also full of scoundrels, né'er-do-wells, and villains looking to profit from carnage. Sometimes saving the galaxy means boldly going into its underbelly. That's the premise of the newest book in IDW's line of Star Trek comics; Star Trek: Defiant by writer Christopher Cantwell and artist Angel Unzueta.

An all-star crew composed of Captain Worf, First Officer Spock, and crew members B'Elanna Torres and Ro Laren have illegally taken the titular ship to hunt down the murderous Klingon cult, the Red Path, that was introduced in the first arc of IDW's flagship Star Trek book. The hunt for the Red Path comes to a head in this Summer's Day of Blood crossover between Star Trek and Star Trek: Defiant. CBR spoke with Cantwell about that crossover, the joy of working in the Star Trek universe, the dynamics between his cast of characters, and the ongoing role that two classic Star Trek villains play in his book. CBR also got an exclusive first look at Unzueta and colorist Marissa Louise's pages for Star Trek: Defiant #3.

CBR: Star Trek: Defiant spins out situations set up in the initial arc of writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing's Star Trek ongoing series. What did you find most exciting about the set-up and potential of this book?

Christopher Cantwell: I immediately sparked the idea that this book primarily would serve to counterbalance and contrast against the main flagship book Jackson [Lanzing] and Collin [Kelly] are doing. If their book is everything great and grand about Star Trek in its themes and concepts, Defiant gets to also be that, but also deal with the more morally gray and ethically compromised side of Star Trek; Its underworlds, its lawless areas, etc. Star Trek has a great history of mutiny and treason (see Menagerie from TOS and go forward from there), so Defiant gets to celebrate that side of the universe. I was so fired up about that. That's how the book shaped this idea of The Dirty Dozen set in the Star Trek universe.

It's clear from issues #1-2 that you're having a lot of fun with character dynamics in Defiant. O ne of the most intriguing is the Spock and Worf interaction. What's it like bouncing these characters off of each other? What's your sense of how they view each other?

How great is it to have a Klingon captain and a Vulcan first officer? Talk about a wonderful counterbalance. But I wanted to upend some expectations there as well. Worf is aware of his emotionality and is more thoughtful than one might expect. Spock is so intelligent and wise that he can wrap logic itself around his finger and use it to justify what he wants to do. Both characters have a history of subverting the stereotypes of their species. I wanted to bring that into the book.

Spock is committed to Worf as captain. I wanted to see that again -- how Spock always is there to serve the needs of the many. Worf is gun shy of the captain's chair. Sisko told him in DS9 that he'd never sit in one. And here's this guy who is a living legend who is serving as his first officer. It strengthens and challenges Worf's confidence at the same time. Both of them share a history of unquestioning duty and insubordination. So they have that in common.

Related: REVIEW: IDW's Star Trek: Defiant #1

Their interactions in these first two issues suggest that B'Elanna Torres and Ro Laren don't like each other despite being former members of the Maquis. Why is that?

Well, their perspectives on the Maquis are quite different, and it seems rich for the drama of the story. B'Elanna joined the Maquis as a believer but then was whisked away to the Delta Quadrant. She was a member mostly in theory and less in experience. By the time the Voyager returned, the Maquis movement had collapsed.

Conversely, Ro at first infiltrated the Maquis as a spy. Then she decided to join them and defected from Starfleet. Ro was there during the roughest part of the movement and likely saw the collapse of it with her own eyes. So it made sense to me Ro would look at B'Elanna and feel she was a lot of talk and no experience when it came to the Maquis. And it made sense that B'Elanna, not knowing Ro firsthand, would just know her as this Starfleet spy who infiltrated the network. She never saw proof of Ro's allegiance, so she's questioning its authenticity. Obviously, both of them are covering up massive insecurities in what they believe. B'Elanna rejoined Starfleet after the Voyager returned. Ro has been in prison. So they have mirroring paths that are the opposite of each other. Of course, they wouldn't get along, at least not at first.

Your cast doesn't just include former Star Trek heroes. It also involves villains like Data's brother, Lore, and Sela. What can you tell us about your plans for them? What made you want to include them in this book?

I wanted my ensemble to be a spectrum of the Star Trek universe. We go from roguish Starfleet heroes like Worf, Spock, and B'Elanna, to people in the middle like Ro, to full antagonists and villains like Sela and Lore. But again, even those last two characters share some heroic DNA with counterpart characters -- Sela with her mother, Tasha Yar, and Lore with his brother Data. The book seeks to explore if any of that latent similarity with heroes might be activated in these characters, or if they'll just give in to their darker tendencies again. Also, Sela and Lore are trying to claw their way back into relevance after past failures. The Defiant's mission might be their chance to do so. So they're opportunists, first and foremost. But Worf is willing to use them. To him, the ends might justify the means.

The recent final season of the Paramount+ show, Star Trek: Picard , is set several years after the events of your book. It did have some interesting revelations, though, about Worf, Ro, and Lore. Will elements from that show inform some of how you're handling the characters in Defiant ?

It has informed things for sure. We get to do very interesting middle points for Ro and Lore. How did they get to where they are in Picard? Our book seeks to fill some of that in. We'll get to do that with other characters down the line as well.

The current arc of Defiant has the crew of the titular ship delving into the seedy underbelly of the Star Trek universe, but it still has quite a bit of fun and humor. What's it like exploring this corner of the Star Trek universe? What else can you tell us about this first arc?

It has been such a blast. We get to deal with Orion pirates, but the decision was to make them more like how they were represented in the animated series from the '70s. Our first original character of the book comes out of this world, one I'm really excited about. Tonally, we looked at The Dirty Dozen [and] films like The Expendables and even The Fast and the Furious . I also looked at movies I love, like The Hot Rock and The Friends of Eddie Coyle, [with] backstabbers and opportunists. There's a lot of fun to be had there.

Artist Angel Unzueta helps establish the tone of this book with his knack for likenesses, acting, and mood. What's it like working with him? What do you enjoy most about the work he's done so far on this book?

I've worked with Angel since Issue #8 of our Iron Man run. He took over the book full-time from CAFU once CAFU departed. So Angel and I have a shorthand at this point. But he has taken so much ownership of this book with its defining look. Coupled with Marissa's colors, the art is unstoppable. Every issue gets better and better.

Star Trek: Prelude to Day of Blood will be one of IDW's offerings for this year's Free Comic Book Day, and July is the beginning of the big crossover between your book and the main Star Trek title. It involves conflict with the Red Path, but two of Starfleet's greatest heroes, Captains Worf and Sisko, are divided on how best to handle that conflict. How big is their divide when Day of Blood begins? What's your sense of Sisko and Worf's clashing perspectives?

Sisko's and Worf's divide is what causes Worf to leave the main Star Trek book and for my book, Defiant, to launch. They have fundamentally different approaches when it comes to handling Kahless [The cult's leader]. This is also rooted in a deeply personal reason for Worf, as his son Alexander has joined the Red Path. Sisko and Worf have had their past friction, but it really comes to a head here. Day of Blood is going to be such a great examination of how these two work together and see things differently.

Finally, what's it like working with Collin and Jackson on Day of Blood ? What hints and teases can you offer about the scope, scale, and action of the crossover?

I love working with those guys, and it's an honor that they brought me into this endeavor. The writers' room for Day of Blood at the IDW offices was some of the most fun I've ever had in a room. The "alpha issue," the one-shot Day of Blood #1, slams all of our casts together, and that continues for the entire summer in both books. There [are] like 19 characters in 22 pages when I wrote Defiant #6. The scope is breathtaking. We're seeing all these different parts of the Klingon homeworld Qo'noS. There are different groups of characters working together from almost every Star Trek series. There's rioting in the streets. Worf drives a Klingon ATV at top speed. Bat'leth fights. Shaxs is there, tearing stuff up. Chancellor Martok is getting in on the action. Starship battles. All of it is happening at once at a sustained pitch for three months. It's insane.

I'm so proud of this book and this line. I hope the fans dig it as much as we have putting it together. It's all born of love for Star Trek . Stick with us, and you're in for a great ride.

Star Trek: Defiant is due out on May 10.

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Star Trek: Discovery Defiant Easter Egg Made Showrunner’s “Brain Melt”

The latest episode of Star Trek: Discovery casually makes a deep dive into hardcore Trek lore with a bunch of original series references, but it also drops a super deep-cut plotline from a 2005 episode of the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise. The USS Defiant referenced in this new Discovery episode is not the ship from Deep Space Nine , and for the uninitiated, it does have a slightly confusing history in the Trek canon. So much so, even the showrunners of Discovery knew bringing this old ship into the fold would be trickier than Captain Lorca’s Scotty impersonation.

Spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Discovery episode 10, “Despite Yourself.” And oddly, spoilers for Back to the Future II as well.

In “Despite Yourself,” the crew figures out that in order to get back to their own universe, they might need some other intel on another Starfleet ship that crossed over into this dimension: the USS Defiant , registry NCC-1764. As Burnham explains: “It’s unclear but data suggests that in the future, Defiant will encounter a phenomenon that will bring it into this alternative universe’s past.” And as Tilly says in the new episode, “What the heck! Hold your horses!” That’s right, the Defiant crossing over to the Mirror Universe is in the future for the characters of Discovery , but the point when it pops out in the Mirror Universe is like a century in the past . And the original series episode in which it first crossed over, wasn’t even about the Mirror Universe.

The Defiant first appeared in Trek canon in a 1968 third season episode of the original series called “The Tholian Web,” which, as you might guess, involves the Enterprise being trapped in a web created by some guys called the Tholians. To be clear, chronologically, everything in the original series (except for “The Cage”) hasn’t happened yet for the people on Discovery.

So, in “The Tholian Web,” Defiant was a sister ship of the old Enterprise , meaning it pretty much looked exactly the same when Kirk and Spock beamed over to it. Nothing about this episode was about the Mirror Universe, the only original series episode that was about the Mirror Universe was “Mirror, Mirror” in the second season. But, through the course of “The Tholian Web,” the Defiant got sucked into another dimension, though we never knew where it went.

The first appearance of the Defiant in "The Tholian Web." When it disappeared, it got green.

Fast-forward (and backward) to 2005. The prequel series Enterprise is in its fourth and final season and does a two-part episode called “In a Mirror, Darkly,” which takes place entirely in the Mirror Universe. Like the rest of this series, “In a Mirror, Darkly” occurs in the 22nd century, about 100 years before the original series. And it’s here, where all the stuff in Burnham’s explanation from the new Discovery episode happened. It turns out that when the Defiant phased out of the regular dimension in “The Tholian Web,” it not only ended up in another dimension but it time-traveled into the past, too. Analogously, this is kind of like what happened to Marty and Doc in Back to the Future II when they leave 2015 and end up in an evil version of 1985. Only, unlike Back to the Future II , both the time travel and the dimension switching were a total accident. Basically, as temporal anomalies go, the one that got the Defiant in “The Tholian Web,” was a double-whammy.

In "In a Mirror, Darkly," T'Pol from the Mirror Universe borrowed some retro Star Trek clothes from the Prime Universe USS Defiant. This is like wearing vintage clothes in the real world with zero knowledge of history. So, exactly like at least half the people you know who wear vintage clothes. The big difference here is these retro clothes were technically in T'Pol's alternate future. Does anybody need a nap? 

“My brain still melts when I think about the Defiant . And that temporal anomaly,” co-showrunner Aaron Harberts tells Inverse. “We have always come at this from the standpoint of let’s tell the best story. What’s the best part about the Mirror Universe? And then go to the huge Trek fans that are on our staff who have watched all of Enterprise and say, ‘Okay. Now tell us about the Defiant .’ And then we kind of get nervous and then we kind of figure out a way to address it so that the fans who have done the deepest dive on the show know that we know that the Defiant existed. But the key is to really make sure that anybody could enjoy this trip over to the parallel universe.”

Most Trekkies will probably agree, that if you’ve seen this episode, having Burnham just quickly explain this in one sentence was probably the best way to go. Knowing all the details of where the Defiant comes from isn’t super important to the plot or the themes of the episode, but for completists, it’s certainly cool.

For those who still might be wondering about the other Star Trek ship called Defiant , here’s the quick explanation. It just has the same name. That’s it. But —and this might blow someone’s mind — there was another version of this other Defiant in the Mirror Universe, too. And, to make matters weirder, it had to be built by people from the Prime Universe. In “Shattered Mirror,” Terran rebels kidnapped Captain Sisko to make him help them complete their rip-off version of his Defiant.

Still, let’s not get worried about that right now. All of that is way in the future of stuff that is happening on Star Trek: Discovery right now, so there’s no need for Trekkies to call up Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts and tell them about the other Mirror Universe Defiant. Are we clear?

Another Defiant, in the Mirror Universe,  like 100 years after stuff happening on 'Discovery' in a "Deep Space Nine' episode called "Shattered Mirror" that aired in 1996. But don't worry, this has nothing to do with 'Discovery.'

“I think after the wrap is when I had my panic attacks. When I realized, oh my gosh. Like, oh my gosh,” Berg said in reference to the Defiant time-travel and alternate universe shenanigans. “But we have to make sure that we tend to this in the way that it needs to be tended to but it sure takes a village.”

New episodes of Star Trek: Discovery air on Sundays at 8:30 p.m. Eastern on CBS All Access.

Screen Rant

Sisko’s defiant had a revolutionary feature star trek: ds9 only used once.

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Voyager Is Why Star Trek: DS9's Starship Is Called Defiant

Love jeffrey combs in star trek: ds9 thank jonathan frakes, why doctor who season 14 replaced shirley as unit's scientific advisor.

• The USS Defiant had a forgotten holo-filter, used once to deceive Cardassians with a distant disguise.
• Star Trek's Gene Roddenberry initially disapproved of such covert technology on Starfleet ships.
• The Defiant's holo-filter was limited and not very convincing, leading to its one-time use and eventual abandonment.

The USS Defiant, commanded by Captain Benjamin Sisko in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had a revolutionary new starship feature that the show swiftly forgot about. Introduced in DS9 season 3, the USS Defiant was a starship of many firsts. It was Starfleet's first warship in decades, initially built to battle the Borg threat but deployed to tackle the Dominion . The USS Defiant also had a cloaking device fitted, which was authorized by the Romulan Star Empire for use in the Gamma Quadrant. The Defiant's cloaking device broke Star Trek rules , but it was necessary to tackle the threat posed by the Dominion.

The USS Defiant's cloaking device wasn't the only covert feature that the starship had in its arsenal, however. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3, episode 5, "Second Skin", Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) is kidnapped by the Obsidian Order, forcing Commander Sisko to take the Defiant into Cardassian space. With the use of the cloaking device banned outside the Gamma Quadrant, Sisko had to come up with another way to try and fly the Defiant past Cardassian defenses. So, for the first and only time, the Deep Space Nine crew used the Defiant's holo-filter.

One of Ronald D. Moore's first jobs on Star Trek: DS9 was to name the starship that would become the Defiant, and Voyager vetoed his first choice.

Sisko’s Defiant Had A Holofilter That Star Trek Forgot About

The Defiant's holo-filter could change the appearance of someone during visual communications with other ships . In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 3, episode 4, "Second Skin", Sisko used this feature to disguise himself as a Kobheerian freighter captain. As impressive as the technology was, the Defiant's holo-filter was only functional from a distance. Lt. Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) tells Sisko that if the Cardassian patrol got closer, it would identify the Defiant as a Starfleet warship and not a humble Kobheerian freighter.

The footage of the Kobheerian captain was from the DS9 season 1 episode "Duet", but actor Norman Large was not credited for his appearance.

This is the only time that the USS Defiant uses a holo-filter in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , but it wasn't the last time that the technology was deployed. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 5, episode 1, "Apocalypse Rising", Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) uses a holo-filter to pretend to be a Klingon Warrior while smuggling Sisko and his team into enemy territory. After this point, however, the holo-filter was never used again.

What Happened To The USS Defiant’s Holofilter In Star Trek?

Although a neat feature that would have helped the USS Defiant infiltrate the Gamma Quadrant in the years leading up to Star Trek 's Dominion War , the holo-filter was potentially just as controversial as a cloaking device. Gene Roddenberry famously objected to Starfleet ships having cloaking devices because " our guys don't sneak around ". It's possible that Rick Berman, the custodian of the Star Trek legacy after Roddenberry's death in 1991, decided that a holo-filter was similarly underhanded.

A one-off use of the holo-filter was probably signed off by Berman because, ultimately, Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson) convinced Sisko to turn it off and confront the Cardassians directly. It was also very limited, only useful from a specific distance. The most likely reason that the USS Defiant never used the holo-filter is the fact that it wasn't all that useful in convincing a Cardassian patrol that Sisko was a humble freighter captain. Which is why "Second Skin" was the one-and-only appearance of the Defiant's holo-filter in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine are available to stream on Paramount+.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

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Star Trek: The Original Series

“The Tholian Web”

Air date: 11/15/1968 Written by Judy Burns and Chet Richards Directed by Herb Wallerstein

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

Review Text

An Enterprise away party beams over to the USS Defiant , found dead in space, to assess why its crew had gone mad and apparently mutinied itself to death. When the Defiant begins dissolving and enters an "interphase realm," the party hastily returns to the Enterprise , except Kirk, who is left stranded on the Defiant when a lack of power causes his transport to be delayed.

Spock plans to retrieve the captain when the Defiant returns to normal space from its interphase cycle, provided Kirk's atmosphere suit can keep him alive long enough. The situation grows more complicated when the Tholians intervene, ordering Spock to leave the area, which they claim as their own. Whether it's Spock's interphasic theories, the Tholians' energy webs, or McCoy's medical research to cure the insanity that has spread from the Defiant to the Enterprise , "The Tholian Web" provides a good example of Trekkian tech plots being juggled in relatively interesting fashion. And although the "interphase" plotting rules are conjured at will, they're somehow still believable on the story's terms.

What gives this episode its lasting power, however, is the way Spock and McCoy work with and challenge each other—as McCoy questions Spock's dangerous plan to retrieve the captain at the expense of the ship's safety. Eventually, it is Kirk's final recorded message that reveals the way Spock and Bones require each other for guidance, nicely highlighting the cemented relationships within the Big Three.

Previous episode: For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky Next episode: Plato's Stepchildren

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44 comments on this post.

This isn't a great episode -- the space madness stuff is tired by season 3 and the scenes on the Defiant are clunky. Also, I never understood how the Enterprise was "thrown clear" of the web. But the McCoy/Spock stuff is great and the scene where McCoy gives "a medical order" is one of the best in the series. TOS was clearly showing it's age by this point, but in spots, it still had its moments.

nice web ,and movie reviews ,thanks. [email protected]

Jo Jo Meastro

I'll start with what I liked. The director did a great job in creating an atmosphere and I love the use of first person perspective and unusual camera angles. It was nice to see Uhura get a chance to sign which was all too rare on TOS. There were some imaginative and fun sci-fi which makes a nice addition to the TOS cannon. The Bones / Spock conflict was a mixed bag for me but at least the pay-off was very good. As mentioned, the conflict needed to reach that pay-off was a mixed bag. This was down to Bones being completely unprofessional and undermining Spock with little reason. I agreed with Spock every time he essentially told him to shut up and get on with his work. I also found the outbursts of space madness unintentionally hilarious! All in all though, it was highly enjoyable and a good insight into the crew dealing with a crisis without their captain. A solid 2.5 star outing imho.

nice to see Uhura get a chance to shine*

I thought it was a pretty dramatic reversal for McCoy, in that he was haranguing Spock for the decision to stay and try to rescue Kirk, whereas usually his problem is that Spock isn't doing enough in similar scenarios. It's as if he's bent on taking a contrarian to Spock's as often as he can.

I was looking forward to this episode because I had heard good things about it, and because it had a tie-in with an episode of Enterprise (the series I watched before TOS) that takes place in the mirror universe. I found Tholian Web to be just too much complexity and plot without enough clarity on any one aspect of the story. How the Defiant disappeared into another universe was completely esoteric and not well explained. Why Kirk didn't quite disappear with it was a bit better (he was "caught in the transporter beam at the time"), but still wanted for more effort of explanation. For example, why did he keep halfway appearing at odd places of the ship? The Tholians were ok as meddlesome side-antagonists, but the "space madness" sickness was just the straw that broke the camels back. Too many things going on at once made the episode feel like it was trying to do too much, and nothing ended up feeling whole. Yeah, the Spock/McCoy interaction was good, I'll give it that. Just would have preferred a less hairy plot to support that interaction. Weirdly, I feel like this same plot would have come across better if it were stretched into a 2 hour movie. Hey, could be good for the third new Star Trek movie, as there hasn't been much McCoy/Spock interaction in those as of yet.

According to Memory Alpha, the original author of the episode wanted to do a ghost story, and Roddenberry insisted that Trek was SF and not fantasy. No ghosts. So he went with an interdimensional phasing thing instead. Great! And that is how this episode functions as SF, though of course like most Trek it's of the softer sort. But really, this is a ghost story. The Enterprise comes across a ghost ship where the whole crew are dead, and then the captain apparently remains with it, and he fades in and out of existence and he may be real, or is he just a figment of their imaginations? And they all go mad. Meanwhile, enemies are enclosing them in a net, which means that if they don't move right then they may be trapped at this boundary between two universes -- you know, the real universe and the spirit world -- forever, and be driven mad by it, until they, perhaps, become a ghost ship themselves. Pretty worrying situation! The decision to set this episode within the established conventions of the Trek universe -- parallel dimensions were established in "Mirror, Mirror," after all -- is an important one, because while continuity and internal consistency is spotty in TOS, it is still meant to overall be recognizably a universe that mostly obeys rational laws, or pretends to. However, the point of this rundown is that the episode's overall emotional impact and story structure are not significantly different than if the Defiant really were a ghost ship, Kirk really did become a ghost, and the crew just went mad because of being close to the spirit world, like this is a Gothic naval novel. Kirk becoming a translucent figure caught between dimensions has the same narrative function of him being a "ghost." Part of the reason ghost stories have their impact is that they can represent, in emotional/intuitive language, the way in which our bonds with people close to us and to the past in general continue even when the person is no longer alive. That works in this episode -- in which the crew believes that Kirk is dead, and then his "ghost" haunts the ship, even as Kirk is essentially still maybe *the* dominant factor in the Spock/Bones dynamic -- they are unable to grieve Kirk, and as a result they naturally come into their usual pattern of conflict, but without the ability to mediate themselves the way Kirk would mediate them. Similarly, the madness throughout the whole ship is the result of Kirk being gone, possibly dead. The ship is perhaps going to be trapped in a web, forever. The normal tensions within the crew in a stressful, deadly situation are exacerbated by the absence of their leader -- both lack of a leader everyone fully trusts, and grief over the man they admired. Space madness is the figurative representation of the irrational anger and confusion resulting from grief and loss -- exaggerated here for mythological reasons. I think the idea that the madness is the result of the intersection of two worlds is kind of nifty, because, if one accepts my premise that this story is basically a SF update of ghost lit tropes, it represents madness at peering into the divide between the world of the living and the world of the dead. That Kirk seems to be completely into the world of the dead means that initially his ghost sightings are just attributed to madness. But he's still alive -- just trapped somewhere between what we think of as "living" and "dead," and only carefully watching for the signs he might still be out there can lead to him being recovered (as if he were, for instance, floating out in the ocean, just barely staying afloat but soon to be pulled under by the waves, or in a coma slowly losing life signs). Spock's decision to stay in this intermediate space between life and death in order to recover Kirk has some mythic connotations -- going into the underworld, and risking anyone who goes down there, to save one who is trapped there. In addition to representing the *impact* of Kirk's apparent death, and the continued uncertainty of whether this has actually happened, the "space madness" has the narrative advantage that it allows ghost-Kirk's visits to occur without immediately requiring action. So, the big draw here is the Spock/McCoy interaction. One thing I find interesting is that it starts off from a conflict in which their superficial roles seem to be reversed: McCoy insists that they need to get out of there as soon as possible, ditch Jim in order to save the rest of the crew. Spock is willing to risk the ship to save Kirk. This makes the episode build on the conflict in previous episodes, especially "The Galileo Seven," in which Spock's for-the-good-of-the-many pragmatism ran up against the others', and particularly McCoy's, human and emotional values. However, true to form, Spock continues to justify his decision on cold, rational grounds, and McCoy continues to voice his objections in terms of hot-headed emotional outbursts, which become increasingly irrational and even contradictory as the episode goes on. So I...sort of agree with other posters (Jo Jo Maestro, Alex) that McCoy seems a little exaggeratedly contrarian in his interactions with Spock. I mean, McCoy is actually very possibly *right* that the ship needs to get out of there as soon as possible, and that Kirk would prefer them leave and safeguard the crew rather than wait to rescue him. However, Spock's "illogically" staying to try to protect Kirk is totally inconsistent with McCoy's eventual angrier and angrier accusations that Spock is just doing this because he wants Jim's command, which even McCoy seems to recognize (stating as he does that he doesn't understand why Spock would not just leave and protect his new command). McCoy's internal logic breaks down, because he starts using any and all emotional reasons to be mad at Spock to start because he's too stressed to think clearly, and because he's angry that Spock has apparently killed them all in a doomed attempt to save Kirk. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an element of anger at himself in all this, for McCoy to be confused and frustrated that *he* is the one advocating leaving Jim behind and Spock is the one who seems to cling to saving the captain. Because it's so inconceivable to him that Spock might be even more tied to the captain emotionally than McCoy is, his quick, intuitive, not-fully-logically-consistent mind keeps searching for cold-blooded reasons why Spock might want to stay and can find none, and it just makes him angrier. Meanwhile, Spock really does risk the ship to save Kirk -- and why? I think that there are logical reasons to do so -- as long as Kirk might be out there, there is a distinct possibility that he can protect everyone on the ship from death, including Kirk. Spock's calculation is the one prioritizing the best best-case scenario, rather than prioritizing the best *worst*-case scenario, which is what leaving immediately and abandoning Kirk would mean. I do think that there is an emotional component to Spock's decision, however -- not emotional in the sense of "irrational," but emotional in that Spock's value system is one in which he really does personally value Kirk's life more than he personally values other lives, including his own. Kirk is Spock's friend and Spock will not abandon him. I think this is extremely difficult for Spock to explain or justify, so he simply doesn't explain or justify it, but I think it's one of the major reasons behind Spock's decision, and it's the missing element of Spock's decision to stay, which does turn out to be justified, which McCoy doesn't initially expect or understand. I do like that it's Kirk's tape that allows Spock and McCoy to come back into alignment -- because it's really an inability to properly grieve Kirk, or to incorporate Kirk's role into their dynamic, which is the source of their conflict. With Kirk there, they can snipe all they want until Kirk stops them, and they can even do so affectionately, but they don't have very effective brakes on their conflict (well, McCoy especially doesn't). They are both angry at the loss of Kirk and unwilling to accept his departure enough to start trying to do for themselves what Kirk would do for them -- remind them that they need each other. It's also another type of "ghostly" message from Kirk, where his presence changes their dynamic after his apparent departure. Ultimately, Spock's big play to stay and try to save Kirk pays off. I also really like that the way they escape the Tholian web is by phasing into the other dimension when they meet Kirk -- thus being able to escape the purely "our universe"/physical boundaries set up by the Tholian web. The last moment of Spock and McCoy pretending they hadn't seen Kirk's video suggests their new stronger private bond. Here, and in Spock's "I'm sure the captain would simply have said: 'Forget about it, Bones,'" there is the sense of Spock's continued comfort with his humanity without losing his essential core of Vulcan logic, which fits along with McCoy's increasingly recognizing the pragmatic essentials of the situation (i.e. in his willingness to abandon Jim to his fate). Did Scotty just go get super-drunk at the end of this episode? He is probably THE reason Starfleet put synthehol on their starships. An effective, if somewhat scattered, episode, and one of the few very essential episodes of season three. A high 3 stars.

Another awesome comment by William B, bravo. I must say I was a little shocked when Spock and Scott discuss that they have 20 minutes to get the ship ready or they're dead, and then they forget that urgency and Scott starts drinking on the job! Perhaps it was the space madness.

Christopher Booker says that there are only 7 basic story plots: Overcoming the monster, rags to riches, the quest. voyage and return, comedy, tragedy and rebirth. Maybe you can come up with a couple more but given the limits of plots available, repetitive themes are bound to happen in a series that runs for years with 20 episodes per season. The job of the writers is to try to make interesting stories around these limited plot lines. Over the years, between the various series and movies, Star Trek has done a pretty good job with making the story lines interesting. the type of shows I tend to hate are what I refer to as 'hospital shows'; in which a series regular lies in a bed for 45 minutes and the viewer is essentially asked to sit in the waiting room. DS09 did it often. How many times was Dax in a bed in mortal danger for 45 minutes? Enough times that I got tired of it. This was essentially a hospital show (Kirk was the patient who wasn't going to die), but there was enough going on where you did not feel like you were in the waiting room. The conflict between Spock and McCoy took center stage. The madness, the Tholians and even Kirk's dilemma were merely minor distractions.

They should have eliminated the Tholians, just made it an area of space that's phasing into another dimension, and called it something different. As it is, we build up all episode waiting to see what will happen when the web is finally complete, and then poof they get thrown clear and we never find out. It's a Shaggy Dog Story.

The Tholian Web seems like a poor weapon. It can only work if the target ship is immobilised and has no weapons to fire at the small ships.

Pretty strong episode here without too many flaws although there's an awful lot going on that doesn't get satisfactorily explained for my liking. The most important part about this episode is another Spock/McCoy interaction. Kirk's dead captain log settles it, but McCoy is out of line on a couple of arguments and Spock's actions were justifiable. For McCoy to harass Spock about firing on the Tholians and not withdrawing is ridiculous. Then he accuses Spock of wanting Kirk's captaincy. But at least they had a good scene at the end when they feign not having had to listen to Kirk's dead captain log. Great start to the episode with finding the Defiant and the mystery about its crew -- the whole space is breaking up phenomenon and the eery music created the right atmosphere -- kind of like when Kirk & co. go aboard the Constellation in "The Doomsday Machine". Good tension/suspense here. It gets a bit tricky with Kirk's situation -- apparently he's caught in the transporter beam and not moving in space despite what the Defiant and the 2 universes are doing somehow. And at the end when the Tholians complete their web and the Enterprise just disappears and re-appears somewhere else -- how did the ship's power throw them clear of the web? A bit of handwaving required here I think. Also, what's the explanation for the Kirk visions? It's sci-fi here, not fantasy. Only thing we get is from Spock saying something like in dire situations, people see what they want to see? Spock declaring Kirk dead, I guess, is based on the amount of time until the next interphase possible being too long after his oxygen supply runs out. In retrospect, that was presumptuous but it gave him and Bones the duty to listen to the dead captain log, which was needed to get them out of the predicament. As for the Tholians, we don't learn too much about them but it's interesting that the Enterprise series made use of them in a couple of episodes. I wish other Trek series had made more use of TOS aliens (like the Gorn etc.). A strong 3 stars for "The Tholian Web" -- nearly 3.5 stars for me but for some minor flaws in the writing and McCoy's acting toward Spock. The revisiting of multiple universes is good sci-fi. Definitely one of the better Season 3 episodes and a good one for Spock.

A great "ghost ship" story with a strong Sci-Fi hook centering on inter-dimensional phasing, "The Tholian Web" stands out as one of the few TOS episodes that ends with the mystery unresolved, and I like that ambiguous feeling here which doesn't try to over-explain everything and tie it all up with a neat bow. I liked this one as a kid because of the cool Tholians and their web weapon, but there's a lot of good character stuff here as well, continuing a Season 3 theme of testing how the characters react to the loss of their own. I give it 3 1/2 stars as one of the really good and memorable TOS episodes that borders on great-to-excellent in its mix of pure Sci-Fi elements and strong character moments. We all know that Season 3 suffered from a reduced budget and the departure of some great craftsmen from the show. To me, that's most visible in the frizzled hair/makeup (everyone looks a little frazzled in this season) and the garish over-lighting of every scene that washes out people's faces on the bridge in what looks like harsh halogen lighting. But low budgets can also spark creativity, and "Tholian" combines some really cool special effects (hands passing through tables and people, ships and people phasing out of solid matter, etc.) with "crew under duress" moments in a way that really generates some good Sci-Fi thriller tension. As the crew tries to solve the mystery of the Defiant and locate Kirk, the arrival of the Tholians and space madness symptoms really up the ante. Compared to "Immunity Syndrome" in Season 2, where the crew likewise suffered from space madness but there was little sense of tension or urgency until the very end, I actually much prefer "Web." Like "Syndrome," "Web" gives us some classic Spock-McCoy moments, and I love the touching scene where Kirk's farewell log predicts their enmity in his absence and urges them to work together, which yields a great payoff at the end when the recovered Kirk asks if they played his death log. For whatever reason, perhaps because of the lack of a tangible threat like the Tholians, "Immunity" has always been a really slow burn for me that lulls me to sleep until the great final act featuring McCoy-Spock-Kirk. I also love Uhura's strong role in the story of this episode and the next one, "Plato's Stepchildren," giving her some strong moments regarding her affection for the captain. The plight of the person who sees something that others think is a hallucination, recalling Shatner's own Twilight Zone episode with the Gremlin on the airplane wing, is a classic Hitchcockian theme and Sci-Fi thriller trope. Nice to see Uhura be the one to see Kirk, rather than the usual suspects, and to be vindicated at the end of the story. Her deep affection for Kirk makes it natural for the others to believe she is seeing what she wants to see; this is a nice bit of building on what we already know about the character. And I have a confession to make: I love Chekov, who was my favorite character as a kid because he is such a hot mess of inexperienced youth, and Walter Koenig flipping out with some alien torment is always a guilty pleasure for me. It's campy but fun. Indeed, one of my lasting disappointments with "The Deadly Years" in Season 2 is that Chekov's initial freakout proves a false alarm, as he is the one member of the landing party not afflicted with the aging disease. A pity: There's something fun and goofy about watching Koenig get horribly tormented by things throughout the series and movies.

Some goofy stuff going on and things don't make much sense, but overall, a good, entertaining story is told. The McCoy Spock stuff was a bit awkward and overdone, but still the best part. I'm having a hard time getting through TOS, but I'm going to persevere to the end. This messy, goofy, awkward offering seems above average to me. How many more of these do I have?

@Springy, IMO season 3 is quite rough, and I like season 1 and 2 a fair bit. There are still some episodes I find worthwhile, though the TOS goofiness is present in most of them. It's up to you but I might recommend swapping Turnabout Intruder and All Our Yesterdays, which is considered by most (including me) to be a better episode, and a better one to go out on, if you want to end on a higher note. AOY gives a lot of attention to Spock & McCoy, whereas Turnabout Intruder, while having good qualities, is infamous for SHATNER ACTING and sexism. (Well, not everyone agrees re: sexism, or that the SHATNER ACTING is bad. But I think you will fall in with the not being a fan of TI camp.)

OmicronThetaDeltaPhi

Yeah, Turnabout Intruder is an awful note to go out on. This is one of the reasons I prefer to view TOS in stardate order rather than production order. "All Our Yesterdays" is a far better episode to end the series with. This is even truer for the remastered version, which added a CGI view of the star going nova as the final scene. It's a wonderful breathtaking shot, which lets you go out with bang.

In fairness, there are a few things that I like about TI as a final episode, involving the supporting cast. I won't say them here because Springy's going through the series (and that's why I wrote my comment). But overall, no.

Thoughts on Star Trek Continues: "Still Treads the Shadow" which takes a tangent from this episode and is the best STC episode yet for me. It employs some cliches but ultimately it's a pretty good story about a duplicate of Kirk getting trapped alone for 200+ years with AI for company. Defeating the AI "Tiberius" requires some hand-waving and there's the token love interest thrown in with Rekha Sharma (not an actor I really care for but who does a reasonable job here). The episode employed some themes and plot moves from original episodes like "Metamorphosis" with a companion to keep a human company, the surprise injection to knock out Kirk (a la "The Empath" when McCoy tranquilizes Spock), and of course making a computer (AI) self-destruct. But all these things were woven into a good TOS-style tale. I also liked the visuals of the black hole/rift in space/dark matter -- looked like what you might see in some of the better TOS enhanced visuals. Some interesting conversations between the 2 Kirks and the counselor about being old and alone, "old mariner", and also between McCoy (who overacts) and Spock about what is evil vs. AI just using cold logic. The episode gave enough time to breathe and think beyond the next step in the plot. 3 stars for "Still Treads the Shadow" -- overall a nice package of sci-fi, the human condition of loneliness and getting old and a clever way to do a twist on a "The Tholian Web" epilogue. The part about AI run wild has been done enough on nu-Trek but here it is more like the Companion although more intransigent (perhaps a bit convenient to be dismantled so summarily, but that's TOS). Good to see some seemingly additional thought put into coming up with this STC episode.

3 stars @Jammer (and @Rahul)?!? Are you out of your Vulcan minds?!? Just cause it has your beloved “Defiant” does not make it good ;) Weak sauce, 2 stars at best. And I am officially sick of people going or acting mad. We’re only 9 episodes into season 3, and so far madness has played a role in 6 episodes! - The Enterprise Incident - Kirk acts like a raving lunatic as a cover - Paradise Syndrome - Kirk catches the Tahiti Syndrome - And The Children - weird fist-bump thingy makes people act insane - Is there no Truth - looking at the Medusan ambassador drives you mad - Day of the Dove - weird red blob thingy makes everyone crazy - Tholian Web - space is warping and driving people mad Madness, Madness, Madness I tells ya! If this was Voyager, I’d say the writers had simply run out of ideas. Oh wait, I’ll still say that ;) I agree with @Daniel B, the episode would have been just fine without the Tholians. And it would have saved @dgalvan a watch. Only saving grace for this episode is that it means Discovery does not take place in our universe. To wit, CHEKOV: Has there ever been a mutiny on a starship before? SPOCK: Absolutely no record of such an occurrence, Ensign. So how do we explain Discovery? To wit, SPOCK: Well, picture it this way, Mister Chekov. We exist in a universe which co-exists with a multitude of others in the same physical space. At certain brief periods of time, an area of their space overlaps an area of ours. That is a time of interphase, during which we can connect with the Defiant's universe. So it turns out that CBS All Access is actually access to all the different universes, and in one of those, Discovery exists as a Star Trek series. Either that, or Spock is a damned liar. After all, he liars to his captain: KIRK: My last orders. The last orders that I left for both of you. The last taped orders. MCCOY: Oh, those orders. Well, there wasn't time. We never had a chance to listen to them. SPOCK: No. You see, the crisis was upon us, and then passed so quickly, Captain, that we KIRK: Good. Good. Finally, if as @William B says, “The Tholian Web” was meant as a ghost story, then dang nab it, this episode and Sub Rosa (TNG) are proof positive that Star Trek should never EVER do a ghost episode again. I can see, @William B, why Scotty’s been hitting the bottle so hard lately (see also "Spectre of the Gun”). With all the madness this season, I can't say's I blame him.

@Mal Even after re-watching TOS umpteen times, it never bothered me that with "The Tholian Web" (TW), it is another episode where the crew goes "insane". TOS will use devices like insanity (or mass crew manipulation more broadly) and super-beings (particularly in S1) over and over but with enough twists on it so that they tell a different story or focus on a different theme every time. There's plenty of substance in TW to differentiate from the mediocrity of a 2* episode. William B.'s ghost analogy is very well thought out (as usual), but where TOS shines here is the situation created with Kirk's seeming death and the effects that has on Spock/Bones. Even if Bones is over the top, he is playing an archetypal role, as is Spock with Kirk (presumed dead) not available to balance things out. I really liked this dynamic, particularly for Spock. It's a very busy episode sort of like your favorite "Journey to Babel" but the pacing is excellent and it all works very well, with a touch of handwaving. From the standpoint of TOS sci-fi, this one is also pretty good and the intro of the Tholians as a hostile species with a different technology (weapon) with their web shows some creativity in that it's not just another race that's going to pew-pew you to death. Anyhow, I think you're about to review "The Empath" -- one of my favorites, so I look forward to that!

@Rahul said, "where TOS shines here is the situation created with Kirk's seeming death and the effects that has on Spock/Bones. Even if Bones is over the top, he is playing an archetypal role” I agree completely that the sibling rivalry between Bones and Spock, and how it comes to a head here, would be a core contribution to TOS, especially in light of “Bread and Circuses,” which has that cute dialogue when the four of them are in jail, SPOCK: Doctor, if I were able to show emotion, your new infatuation with that term would begin to annoy me. MCCOY: What term? Logic? Medical men are trained in logic, Mister Spock. SPOCK: Really, Doctor, I had no idea they were trained. Watching you, I assumed it was trial and error. FLAVIUS: Are they enemies, Captain? KIRK: I'm not sure they're sure. I’m not sure they’re sure. LoL :-) Well, “The Tholian Web” could have gone a long way to sorting that out. Except for one thing that really detracts from everything. The madness. They start this episode with a mutiny on board the Defiant, which leaves everyone dead. And then the madness causes our crew to also lose it. In that kind of artificially-mutinous environment, how can we tell if the friction between Spock and Bones is really at so high a level that they have to go watch Kirk’s final home video, or if that is just a symptom of the madness (madness I tells ya!)? The artificial madness really muddies the waters. For what purpose? They could have played “Tholian” like “The Immunity Syndrome”, an insanely competent crew trying to find its ghosted captain while also dealing with a unique adversary intent on trapping them in a web. Now that’s something I would have loved to watch! It’s a matter of TPTB being lazy in season 3 and going with madness again and again and again. I suspect it is harder to write a strong competent crew, in which, sure, Bones has strong reservations about Spock’s command abilities. After all, Bones was there on “The Galileo Seven” and saw so many men die under Spock’s first command. Just a few weeks ago, Bones had to order Spock to get some damn rest in “Paradise Syndrome” because the stresses of command were getting to him. But as competent professionals, they take Kirk’s final orders as a sign to fall in line for now. They have a job to do. They have a captain to save. They have a web to evade. Oh by the way, getting rid of madness would have also elevated Uhura’s role. Bones would have taken her glimpse of Kirk far more seriously, rather than the ravings of a mad woman. Remember how weird it was the first time Jake sees dead Sisko in “The Visitor”? How much less of an impact would that have been if everyone on DS9 was going mad at the time? I’m not even in “The Visitor” fan club, but I think it did a much better ghost story than “Tholian”. “Tholian” is like if “The Visitor” took place during "Dramatis Personae”. Ridiculous. I love the idea of “Tholian”. The new alien race. What is the "territorial annex of the Tholian Assembly”??? I want to know. I love seeing the Defiant, even if it is unfortunate that every time we see a Constitution class ship, the ship and crew are dead. Decker lost the Constellation (“Doomsday”). The Republic was destroyed because of Finney (“Court Martial”). The Farragut crew was killed by some weird fog (“Obsession”). 500 people on the Lexington and Excalibur were killed by The Ultimate Computer. We could go on and on… . In any case, there were lots of good ideas in Tholian, including pushing the Bones/Spock relationship up to the next level. Maybe I’m so hard on the episode not because of what was there, but because of what was squandered. @Rahul said, "Anyhow, I think you're about to review "The Empath" -- one of my favorites, so I look forward to that!” For “The Empath,” I’m thinking of just re-posting what @Brundledan wrote for his review of Plato’s Stepchildren, "Hateful. Hateful. Hateful. There aren't enough words in the dictionary to describe "Plato's Stepchildren". It is fifty minutes of pure, sadistic humiliation of our lead characters. The third season had its share of stinkers, but this is the only one of them that makes me wish the series had been yanked from the network schedule before the ep had a chance to air. I can only imagine how many Trekkies who had worked so hard to get the show renewed sat in front of their televisions in slack-jawed horror that Friday night in November 1968, watching Kirk slap himself silly for thirty seconds and wondering what they had written all of those letters for. Hateful.” :-) Weirdly, I used to always enjoy The Empath. I think back in the day, when they would air TOS reruns during marathons, they would be careful not to put too many torture episodes or too many madness episodes into any given marathon. I suspect these episodes hold up a lot better on their own or when couched with some fun episodes, rather than when they are viewed in Season 3 airing order - which makes them seem needlessly derivative, and over the top sadistic. On TNG, Chain of Command part II is one of my all-time favorites. On Babylon 5, Intersections in Real Time - the Sheridan torture hour - is one of my favorites. The Delenn torture episode is also good - "Comes the Inquisitor” starring Jack the Ripper! On Firefly, "War Stores" - the Mal & Wash torture hour - is awesome. But if these episodes were all aired one after another, they themselves would become torture. I feel Season 3 of TOS is a lot like that.

@Mal Re. the madness being needed or not in this episode, I suspect it is a "feature" meant to amp up the ticking time bomb factor. It could have been done without, but the episode would have been less visceral. Also, given the episodic nature of TOS, I don't think TPTB expected us to be counting the number of recent episodes where the crew is going insane. They surely didn't expect folks like us to watch the series over and over again and analyze it to death! Also, I think we have to assume that for most of the duration of the episode, Bones and Spock are not affected by the madness, such that they are able to carry on their "rivalry" as being true to their archetypes. That's how I feel that these 2 characters maintain their integrity here and why TW is a high 3 stars ep. I'll also add re. "Plato's Stepchildren" that it is the one of the very few TOS episodes that I actually also hate, though I do respect it from a critical standpoint. On re-watches, I don't watch the parts where Kirk/Spock get humiliated. I also found CoC II to be tough to watch at times but it's a very powerful hour and in the context of a prisoner of war situation, the torture is more understandable. But as for "The Empath", this one is more true to TOS in that we don't actually see brutal torture taking place. It wouldn't be consistent with the aesthetic of the episode. Bones is at death's door but the writers leave it to us to fill in the details. Can you imagine if DSC was to do "The Empath" -- well, I guess we have seen how idiotically brutal DSC can be...

3.5 stars. There, I’ve said it. I have read the negative reviews of this episode, and am truly amazed. This was always one of my favourite episodes and watching again hasn’t changed my mind. No, it isn’t perfect but the main ‘criticism’ is that there is so much in it. Too much? Well, it crackles along with energy and tension and is never boring, so I’d say no, not too much. I’m not sure I agree with William that it’s a ghost story though the visions of Kirk ARE ghostly. However, look what we did get: great Spock/ Bones scenes; more involvement for Uhura; a decent different (I.e. non-humanoid) alien AT LONG LAST; a break from Kirk dominating every scene; tension everywhere and drama. The negatives are few: the contrived way they finally escape; the budget limiting an entire crew of 400 to less than 50 for the funeral service... and that’s about it. This episode is as strong as anything in Series 2, in my opinion. I love it still. Oh, and it made a great Mac screensaver in the 90s!

Jeffery's Tube

I never realized before now how little this episode features Kirk. I wonder if Shatner was pleased to have some time off, or pissed that he wasn't front & center as the star?

I love this one. Spock and McCoy at their best without "The Shat". These episodes should be taken on their own and not linked to each other like a lot of fans try to do. Taken on their own they are still the best SF ever on television.

This was a great episode, the pacing and depth is fantastic as well as the character development.

Sigh. The "Vulcans don't lie, but they can mislead" idea really does have such potential for cleverly written dialogue, but repeatedly, the writers come CLOSE to clever, then throw it away and just have Spock out-and-out lie. Eliminate the word "No" from the start of Spock's line, "You see, the crisis was upon us, and passed so quickly …" and he's just making a statement of fact that combines with McCoy's lie about not having listened to the recorded orders to reinforce an untrue impression. So close. So close to clever.

The web was cool although a bit pedestrian as a way of defeating an enemy. As a Kirk-lite episode it worked pretty well. The camerawork was good - a fisheye lens POV shot looking at Spock was quite disturbing! Some good banter between the main cast. 3 out of 5.

2.5 stars This ep had more potential but execution held it back Just watched again last night and shocked at how much of an a-hole Bones is especially in his interaction with Spock Wondering if it’s just him succumbing to the pressure of the situation or the effects of interspace and the madness His character is redeemed by the ep’s conclusion but some of the dialogue was cringeworthy Spock’s temperance was noteworthy

"Just watched again last night and shocked at how much of an a-hole Bones is especially in his interaction with Spock" Some writers understand the Spock-McCoy dynamic and some don't. By season three Coon and Fontana had left the show I think so maybe that's why you get more OOC moments.

I rewatched a bit of this one to see what Gary was talking about. For some reason the Spock-McCoy roles were switched in this one. Usually it would have been Bones insisting on saving the Captain, with Spock taking the logical course of putting the safety of the crew first. Odd.

I was absolutely despising the way this was going at first. Why was Spock holding Kirk's death announcement meeting so soon? Why did McCoy claim he wasn't needed to work on the cure because his staff was working "around the clock" --- it's been all of like two or three hours. Why does McCoy insinuate Spock wants the Enterprise? Etc etc. The whole Spock/McCoy dynamic is whacky and out of character. However, it all makes perfect sense if they are all subtly affected by the space sickness. McCoy even suggests it at one point, but it's never made remotely as explicit as Trek usually does which makes it fairly deeper writing.

This is one of many episodes focused on the relationship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy, but what sets it apart from others is the ex negativo examination with Kirk absent for most of the time while Spock and McCoy are facing a sort of no-win situation: if they stay, the Tholians will attack and they will all succumb to the disease; if they leave, they have no chance to save Kirk. Some have complained that McCoy’s reproaches to Spock are illogical and unfair, and I fully agree: on the one hand, he’s blaming Spock for Kirk’s death, on the other hand, he insists on leaving the area, and his allegation that Spock wants Kirk dead in order to assume command is totally unjustified. However, I think McCoy is very much in character here; his behavior shows his inner conflict, how he is torn apart by his emotions which, as usual, are standing in sharp contrast to Spock’s rational way to deal with the situation. And of course, this contrast is what upsets McCoy even more. He contrasts his own feelings of grief and despair with Spock’s apparent dead-heartedness, and he wants to provoke an emotional reaction from him, no matter the cost – that’s why he attacks Spock in such a blind rage. Spock, however, tries to handle the situation in the same way he supposes Kirk would do: negotiate with the Tholians; defend the ship against their attack; stay behind and at least attempt to save the missing crewmember. He doesn’t make an error; he’s not to blame for failing – as I said above, it’s a sort of no-win situation. The escalation of the conflict between Spock and McCoy while Kirk is absent shows just how much they need him, to balance logic and emotion and to find a compromise between the extremes. His absence makes their relationship break up. In this respect, Kirk’s last orders hit home, as if he had divined the conflict when he made the tape… well, to be honest, he doesn’t need to be a prophet to see it coming, but to me it seems that his words really have an impact on both Spock and McCoy: they realize that he’s dead and that his legacy, his last wish, the last thing they can do for him is to stick together for the sake of the Enterprise and its crew. That’s what brings them to at least try to understand each other. And it’s simply brilliant how both finally find it in their heart to apologize. It’s almost as if the conflict has brought them closer together; I love the final scene on the bridge because it showcases their newfound complicity in covering up for each other. I think Kirk knows exactly that they are flat-out lying to him – and they know that he knows! – but he respects their secret (or he prefers not to know…) and lets the matter rest: “I hope we won't have similar opportunities to test those orders which you never heard.”

This one just happened to be next in my watch-through, timing is very closely with Lannion's post. I was actively thinking about his ideas while watching it (that it's an examination of Spock and McCoy's weaknesses without Kirk to moderate them) but one thing I found troubling was just how aggressive McCoy was toward Spock, without it being reciprocated. And unlike how The Galileo Seven highlighted the problem of supposedly pure logic in chaotic situations, this episode didn't show me that clearly that Spock was making too-logical but emotionally cut-off choices. So I don't quite see McCoy and Spock's usual selves being put to question. Rather, McCoy quite aggressively lays into Spock for putting the ship in danger, which he did do. In this respect I think McCoy was acting the same way he would have toward Kirk. Things get weird when McCoy starts saying that Spock did it all to steal the command from Kirk (!?) and that he's going to do everything in how power to take Spock down. These elements are so weird and out of characters (and so randomly nonsensical in-context) that I don't see how they represent McCoy's natural tendencies but out of temper due to Kirk not being there. But in one of their conflicts when McCoy is about to get physical on the bridge, he catches himself and sheepishly says the space sickness must be getting to him. But what is played as a feeble apology should be taken pretty seriously: the space sickness clearly was getting to him, and in fact is the only rational explanation for his outright hostility to Spock the entire time. But Spock hasn't been acting strangely at all, and contrary to Bones, I don't think hanging around in the dangerous anomaly to try to rescue the Captain is (a) unwarranted, or (b) selfish. In fact it's the sort of thing I'd expect McCoy to respect, taking a risk to save a comrade. So it flies in the face of his own values and of common sense to lay into Spock for what he claims is getting rid of the Captain for good and sticking around to ensure he becomes the new captain. So why shouldn't we just assume he's literally going insane? But that does beg the question of what the point is supposed to be of Kirk's secret order and the lesson they learned but didn't want to admit? What lesson did Spock actually learn, anyhow, where he had to admit he was wrong to ignore his 'human intuition' and also McCoy? I just don't see it. So a writing error, then? But here's an idea of mine: maybe the plot is representational generally of what a Captain does for his ship, and the spatial anomaly is a metaphor for the things that start going wrong when the captain is absent. Maybe the captain balances and holds all things together, evening out problems and enhancing everything. Maybe the ship's engines losing power is an example of the weakness in the physical function of the ship without its captain. Maybe Spock and McCoy's disputes aren't so much about McCoy's character flaws, but about how the trust between them is channeled through Kirk. So in the details I think McCoy's actions are best explained as insanity caused by the anomaly, but the meta-story is that his bond with Spock is really a 3-way bond, of which Kirk is the lynchpin. And we may also notice that Chekhov is the first officer to go insane after Kirk has gone, and Chekhov is notably the character usually portrayed as Kirk's protégé, or perhaps as the one who looks up to Kirk the most. He's the first to lose his composure, so maybe that's not an accident. It would fit in with the idea that the episode really about just how important the captain is to everyone on the ship, both functionally and in terms of morale. But more than that, I think maybe the episode is saying that part of the civilization effect of Starship life is just how great and admired the captain is. Rather than being a laterally collegial sophistication, it looks a lot like it's more like an aristocracy, where the greatness of the captain holds together the best human parts of the crew, like reason, peace, and harmony. Maybe the episode is hinting that even in a great future society like the Federation, we still can't expect that each person will be able to mightily overcome all their weaknesses and become a paragon, but that with a leader-figure to look up to and respect, perhaps one in relatively close proximity, people can and will rise up to be much better people. What would then make the Federation different from the present is that at present the ecosystem punishes virtue and rewards corruption and the power-hungry. CEO's are successful by maximizing profits, not by maximizing decency. Maybe in the Federation the system is set up so that people succeed by being better people, and this self-reinforcing situation elevates everyone. That way we could well imagine that Kirk's role on the Enterprise isn't merely to be the one to give orders, but to be the role model (not a fake role model like politicians today), the teacher of morals and wisdom, the judge and arbiter of disputes (like Moses), and the one who understands each crew member well enough to know how to nurture their development. It's sort of like a military/religious/civic leader all rolled into one. And to be honest, now that I say this, I do think this is consistent with how TOS portrays Kirk's role in general. An interest comparison might be with Picard, for whom I also think it's true that he makes the people around him better and more civilized than they would otherwise be. To an extent I think TNG also uses this model of the captaincy, as being far more than just being at the head of a chain of command on a ship. And as he is a paragon, like Kirk perhaps, it's not quite true that the Federation must be littered with Picards, which we could hardly believe, but is perhaps believable that the Federation uniquely enables Picards to be in command positions, so that they can lift everyone up as Kirk did. That greatest society, then, may well be the one the can identify and raise up the greatest citizens, so that they can serve as guide, model, and teacher for everyone else. And maybe most importantly, so that those kinds of leaders can be close to everyone else and in their actual lives. Just think - wouldn't you treat your job or other areas of your life differently if you were literally working for Jean-Luc Picard? If just working next to him changed your views of the world, of how to treat others, and made you feel like being part of the human race was a great honor? If I'm right, The Tholian Web is saying something like this. I don't think its script works all the time, and especially not in the exact nature of McCoy's accusations against Spock. I think there could have been a more organic way for their tendencies to turn them against each other, as they did in Galileo Seven. And if all of McCoy's actions were merely space insanity, this point was not made clear enough either. The literal story seems to perhaps take back seat to the meta-story, which is a weakness in writing.

Without feeling the need to write a PhD dissertation here to dissect it, let me simply and humbly say this one of if not the best season 3 episodes, and of my favorites overall in the original series. Ignore the diatribes above; it's a good one.

Mr. Jimmy nails it. Just simply an enjoyable hour of 1960s Star Trek. Some may see the flaws in any or all of TOS episodes, but I frankly wish that they all were as good as this one. Favorite line by Spock, renowned Tholian punctuality.

WAIT QUESTION--isn't Spock way out of character--staying behind for a friend and risking all other lives--isn't that illogical and emotional or did I miss something?

The Tholian Web feels more like a season two, or even season one episode from my point of view. It’s a pretty competent, engaging, and fairly taught episode with multiple ticking clocks being raced against. The character work is the typical TOS standard, layered and emotional without being garish or unreasonable. However, the space madness stuff does kind of undercut the character interplay, which sort of dulls the potency of this episode much like McCoy’s nerve/agent scotch cocktail softens the brains of our crew. We can’t be sure if McCoy and Spock are engaged in their usual acerbic banter or if they’re both a little haywire from some kooky mind warping. McCoy in particular is heavily implied to be a bit off kilter, even catching himself in the processs. But, even that negative has some saving grace in the moments of reconciliation and understanding that Spock and bones share, which always has to be played with such subtly that it constantly surprises me how impactful that nuanced style of character work is. Also the ending in which the big three all slyly agree not to acknowledge what they all know to be the truth is such a strong statement of their friendship and mutual respect, it really is the backbone of what makes TOS work. I really like the introduction of the Tholians, a truly alien species. I also like that the Tholians aren’t depicted as purely unreasonable, they give the enterprise time to make good on their claims about space being all fuzzy before they start webbing it up. And speaking of that web, it’s a strange and cool concept. I like the idea that the Tholians, being an insectoid species, even employ alien concepts of weaponry, building webs in space, with their tech possibly reflecting their evolutionary history in a way. The web might be a corollary to a tractor beam, or perhaps as insect-like creatures they have a different approach to conflict in general, prioritizing immobilization over outright destruction. Pretty cool stuff. I’d say this is a pretty strong outing and a good argument that the perception of season three as a dismal crapfest is greatly exaggerated. Although, I’m aware of the doozies coming along the back stretch: space hippies(shudder). A few other thoughts: -I always dig it when the crew dons spacesuits. It’s nice to get a glint of hard sci-fi every now and then. -McCoy straight up gets the entire crew drunk as the solution to their space madness problem. I mean, Scotty was apparently already there , as usual. It never ceases to amuse me that Scotty has two skills: badass engineering acumen, and an extreme alcohol tolerance. The Scottish functioning alcoholic stereotyping continues! -the poor Defiant. Yet another ship with all hands lost, between The Doomsday Machine, The Omega Glory, The Ultimate Computer, and the Enterprise’s trail of redshirt corpses left in space it’s a wonder the federation made it to that next generation. 3/4 incorporeal, floating, Shatners.

A jumbled episode but good parts. The idea of Captain Kirk "dying" but then phasing in to the crew is really strong. But its undercut by the B, C, even D plots that are sort of thrown in there. Even tho the Tholians are genuinely of the more interesting of Star Trek aliens.

If all of their sensors (except the main view screen and presumably looking out a window) were unable to detect the Defiant, how was Sulu able to get the Enterprise within transport range, and how was the transporter operator able to lock on to the Defiant's bridge?

This "spider web in space" episode I just learned was a sort of fan inspired episode which is a good thing because the original writers had by this time run out of hat tricks, left out of frustration, or been otherwise let go. Yet adaptations were made to abide with a prohibition against story lines with supernatural elements like a "ghost ship" and ghosts in general, so the alternative of a sci-fi "multiple dimensions" gets it's third or fourth dose. I don't see what the big deal was, it's perfectly acceptable to turn into a cat and back and forth, and monsters can turn into other things, but no ghosts. There were also no scantily clad women in this episode, although Ohura presents well in a rare costume change. Thought to be crazy at first for reporting seeing an apparition, but later vindicated when the command crew is also confronted with the appearance of the same apparition. Although the spells of weakness followed by bursts of madness thingy.... which was not caused by a pathogen or an alien will, gets attributed to the same interdimensional warp, is difficult for me to find convincing, but it was easy to just say and cheap to film lol. Buried in the mix is the bug like alien, bug like alien ships, bug like cocoon they were deploying around the Enterprise, that didn't provide as much tension as it could have. Because too much emphasis was being placed on spock and mccoy jousting for positions of power after the captain's presumed demise. And how they all suddenly escaped from that dilemma, retrieved the captain, and resumed normally going about their way in about thirty seconds....... have to leave room for the commercial.

Eastwest101

Agree with many on here - this is easily the best most competently written and produced Season 3 episode so far in season 3. I was never bored, there were many different moods, great use of actors, a decent script, real danger, mostly believable causes and effects, believable reactions that were true to character character, different use of camera angles and music and lighting, and no repetitive filler scenes. Some really nice understated and genuine work by Leanard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley really lifted this to well above average.

As fans i think we know what we love about Star Trek which is why new trek failed to find an audience. even when its goofy star trek still treated us with respect because fans are important to fandom. That seems to be missing from new trek.

My theory on the 'madness' in this epizode is that the "interphase" intersects the Mirror Universe (as proven in ENT mirror episodes). So the 'madness' is actualy not madness at all, but just the fact that 'our' universe's Humans can't handle the very different subconscious pressures of the other, more savage universe. So they break and go insane, since they can't control it. And yes, I know there are other episodes where Mirror crossovers happen and nobody goes crazy, but never in a area of space that is itself in flux. So even tho we cross over, our 'essence' if you will, is stil from our universe, not the other one. We're "shielded". Maybe the interphasic rift causes the other universe's 'energies' to imprint themselvs into our subconscious mind, making us as base and violent as the mirror Humans. We just can't control it like they can (they're used to it, they evolved in it), so we go berserk, not just savage and brutal. In the ep, Chapel describes the effects as 'deteriorating'. I dont think they are. I think it's the Mirror Universe trying to 'rewrite' us, and we're not 'compatible'. Just like the Defiant crew, but they stayed in the rift a lot longer, before crossing over fully. So they killed each other. Aniway, that's why I like this ep. Because I can attach my own theory to it, and it makes more sense then just random 'space madness'. Also brings up a interesting point. Maybe the mirror Terrans simply can't help being the way they are, becauze thats how the other universe 'wired' them. And specifically the humans, since we see that Spock is pretty much the same, in both universes. So are the Vulcans in general, and the Andorians, and evryone else. it's just us that basicly get flipped upside down. Basicly (chaneling my inner nerd XD ) I think as a species, we'r very sensitive to different quantum states and evolve according to them. And yea, Bones' 'antidote' is just a shot of souped-up booze. Cute XD I mean it wil deaden the nerves, probably keep the madness away, but it's not a cure lol 3/4

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The Star Trek Aliens That Made TOS a Weirder (and Better) Sci-Fi Show

For a low-budget TV show from the 1960s, Star Trek came up with some wild forms of life.

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Even though it was a relatively low-budget TV show (by today’s standards, it was practically made for the cost of a home movie) and visual effects in the 1960s were limited (again, by today’s standards), Star Trek: The Original Series managed over the course of its three seasons to come up with some of the more decidedly weird alien races of the entire franchise.

While nowhere near as prolific in its production of monsters as its early ‘60s predecessor, The Outer Limits , which was mandated by its network to cough up a different boogeyman every week, Star Trek did turn out an interesting array of strange, creepy, or even psychedelic (this was the ‘60s, after all) deep space denizens – although in classic Trek fashion, many of them were not the threats that their hideous surfaces hinted at, and were often more advanced than us humans in our bags of bone, flesh, and blood.

What makes this even more surprising is that the rest of this now-vast franchise didn’t push the notion of aliens that didn’t look like us with more fervor as budgets and VFX opened up. While The Original Series had plenty of humanoid aliens wearing antennae, blue makeup, or furry facial appliances, shows like The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine often presented a generic array of humanoids often represented by nothing more than bumps, ridges, or armored plates on top of their heads or down the center of their noses.

Maybe the drugs in the ‘60s really did expand the minds of the writers, producers, and designers of The Original Series . Maybe it was the fact that the show hired legendary sci-fi writers like Theodore Sturgeon, Robert Bloch, and Harlan Ellison to pen multiple episodes. But as primitive as they may look now, TOS did give us some of the Trek universe’s most bizarre life forms, 10 of which we’ve featured below. And no, the Gorn is not on this list – we love him but he’s still just a guy in a lizard suit.

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The Salt Vampire

Although we’re mostly avoiding humanoid aliens in this survey, our first two entries are decidedly humanoid in shape – if not relatable to humans by any other measure. The very first Original Series episode ever televised, “The Man Trap,” was centered around an ancient creature that feeds on salt – by fatally draining it out of its victims — and is the last of its kind. The salt vampire (the race is never named) is humanoid in shape, but features hooded, reptilian eyes, a snout-like spherical mouth with sharp teeth inside and long fingers covered in suckers that attach to its target’s face.

The creature is a shapeshifter, able to present itself as whatever its victim wants to see, which provided TOS with one of its earliest progressive moments : Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) encounters the creature in an Enterprise corridor, where it appears to her as a tall African man. The two speak Swahili, Uhura’s native tongue, in a moment that was pretty special (and rare) for early ‘60s national network TV. The story is also ultimately empathetic to the creature and its plight, setting the pace for future Treks to come.

In the classic episode “The Corbomite Maneuver” (the 10 th episode aired, but the first filmed in regular production), the Enterprise encounters a titanic vessel in uncharted space that claims to be from the “First Federation.” Its commander, Balok, appears onscreen with a rather sinister-looking, almost demonic visage and proceeds to put the Enterprise through a series of threats and challenges; when Kirk finally outwits Balok, they end up meeting face to face. While Balok admits this was all just a test to gauge how civilized humans are, what’s most bizarre is that Balok’s initial appearance was a puppet: his real form, to us, resembles a little boy.

That little boy was played by Clint Howard (Ron Howard’s younger brother) and while Balok is certainly humanoid, the effect of this powerful alien being housed in the body of a child and voiced by an adult actor (Walker Edmiston) makes this one of the most surreal and unexpected early moments in TOS history. Although we never really heard much more about the First Federation on any of the Trek shows, fleeting references popped up now and again – including the fact that Balok’s favorite drink, tranya, was served at Quark’s bar on Deep Space Nine . In addition, this mysterious confederation, like other TOS civilizations first introduced on TV, were part of several Trek novels, short stories, and video games.

One of the most popular Star Trek episodes of all time was “The Devil in the Dark,” in which the Enterprise is summoned to a mining colony to discover what is killing the miners down in the tunnels. It turns out that the rock-like “monster” laying waste to the miners is actually a peaceful silicon-based form of life called a Horta, who’s merely protecting her eggs – which the miners are inadvertently destroying by the thousands – like any mother would.

According to Star Trek legend, creature designer and stuntman Janos Prohaska crawled into TOS producer/writer Gene L. Coon’s office one day wearing the Horta costume, which more or less resembled a giant lasagna. Coon wasn’t sure what to make of it, but when he saw Prohaska “give birth” to an egg, he immediately hit on the idea for “The Devil in the Dark,” one of the original show’s most acclaimed tales. Fun fact: the costume got an earlier test run in The Outer Limits , where Prohaska played an oversized germ in the anthology series’ final episode, “The Probe.”

Denevan Neural Parasites

The final episode of the first season of TOS , “Operation – Annihilate!”, finds a colony on the planet Deneva – including Kirk’s brother Sam and his wife – decimated by an invasion of flying, parasitic creatures that attach themselves to human beings and drive them insane with pain. The creatures are shapeless blobs of jelly that Spock describes as resembling “brain cells.” He’s actually right on point: the individual lifeforms are all part of one hive mind – the creature itself – that implant themselves in the human nervous system so that the entity can use humans to spread itself through the galaxy.

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The things and their physiology are so beyond the frame of human reference that Spock suggests they have come from outside our galaxy, and while the puppets used are rubbery-looking (and the strings making them “fly” can be glimpsed on hi-def versions of the episode), their cumulative effect and background is still unsettling (kind of like the gigantic space amoeba in the second season episode “The Immunity Syndrome,” although that was an exact opposite of the flying parasites, being one tremendous, mindless cell).

The Providers

In the second season’s “The Gamesters of Triskelion,” Kirk, Uhura , and Chekov are captured and transported to the title planet, where they are forced to compete in dangerous gladiatorial games with representatives of other alien races. It’s all for the amusement of the Providers, who enjoy wagering on the contests, and who turn out to be three glowing brains encased in a dome who – despite evolving past the need for anything but the most rudimentary physical form – have grown lazy and complacent.

The Providers – aside from their rather goofy appearance – are typical of TOS aliens in that they learn some kind of lesson thanks to Kirk and the Enterprise crew, eventually agreeing to stop using other beings as pawns for their games. It’s a stock TOS plot, but what makes it entertaining is that the Providers, despite their immense technological and mental power, speak down to others and bicker among each other like sneering, wealthy fat cats with too much time on their hands – which, in a sense, is what they are.

The Medusans

Fred Freiberger’s term as the producer of The Original Series ’ lackluster third season will forever be debated by Trek diehards, but one thing that Freiberger was interested in doing was making the show’s aliens more…alien. His first attempt at that was season 3 episode 5, “Is There in Truth No Beauty?”, which introduced us to the Medusans – a non-corporeal race of supremely intelligent, highly advanced beings whose natural state is so hideous that a mere glimpse of them can drive human beings insane.

By this point in the series’ run, we’d already met beings like the Metrons (“Arena”) and the Organians (“Errand of Mercy”) that advanced beyond physical bodies, assuming human form when necessary to deal with lower species like us. But while the Medusans, represented in this rather soap opera-esque episode by Ambassador Kollos, can form mind-links with physical beings, they are otherwise carted around in a special box that can’t be opened with humans around, lest the phrase “resting bitch face” take on lethal new meaning. The episode itself is inconsistent with its own rules (in one scene, with the box closed, Spock wears a special visor while Kirk stands there with nothing on his head but his toupee), but turning the idea of what defines “beauty” upside down is in many ways a classic Trek theme (A Medusan also showed on Star Trek: Prodigy , this time wearing a robotic suit).

The Melkotians

One of the more infamous episodes from Star Trek’s third season is “Spectre of the Gun,” in which Kirk, Spock, Scotty, McCoy and Chekov are forced to refight the 1881 gunfight at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona between the Earps and the Clantons, with the Enterprise men on the losing Clanton side. Although the story is a perfect embodiment of much of the silliness of the third season, there is an atmospheric moment near the beginning when our heroes beam down to the planet of the Melkotians – xenophobic aliens who wish no contact with the Federation – and meet one of its representatives.

Although somewhat obscured by swirling mists, the Melkotian (or Melkot, as it’s sometimes called) was one of the show’s eerier beings, with a floating, oversized, bulbous head, large, glowing eyes, and either tentacles or limbs dangling below. For Star Trek , it was downright Lovecraftian, although in typical TOS fashion, these initially hostile aliens are inviting the humans to a sit-down by the end of the episode (strangely, in the episode’s novelization, the Melkot is humanoid). The Melkotians were also one-and-done; despite opening relations with the Federation, we never hear from them again.

The Tholians

In the popular third season episode “The Tholian Web,” the Enterprise comes upon a sister starship, the Defiant, that is trapped in an interdimensional rift in space with all its crew dead. When Kirk disappears into the rift after being stuck on board the Defiant, Spock tries to rescue him – but his efforts are hampered by the appearance of a hostile race called the Tholians.

The Tholians are crystalline in appearance, with an angular, glowing head featuring just two triangular eyes. The Tholian commander, Loskene (voiced by Barbara Babcock), seems to appear against a very hot background, indicating that they need high temperatures to survive. Although they don’t seem to be known to the Federation, Spock comments on “the renowned Tholian punctuality,” hinting that the Vulcans may have run into them before. But as it turns out, the Federation (in a bit of retconning) has encountered them earlier as well: the Tholians were one of the few non-humanoid races to return to a later Trek series, showing up in the Enterprise episodes “Future Tense” (where only their ships are seen) and “In A Mirror, Darkly” (where a Tholian’s full, insectoid body is shown).

The Zetarians

A number of Star Trek aliens were of the “sparkling energy cloud” variety: in the episode “Obsession,” there was one that drank blood, another one was desperately horny for warp drive inventor Zefram Cochrane in “Metamorphosis,” and a third literally planted fake news into the heads of the Enterprise crew and a bunch of Klingons to get them to fight in “Day of the Dove.” But what made the Zetarians – the last, disembodied survivors of a race looking for a physical body that they can inhabit – so bizarre is not their twinkly lights but what they did to their victims.

Although they are so powerful that they end up shorting out most people’s brains, the Zetarians cause their targets’ faces to shift through all kinds of strange psychedelic colors while their voices sound like a vinyl record being spun very slowly on a turntable. It’s a pretty creepy effect in an otherwise unremarkable episode (it sure scared the hell out of this author as a wee lad), making the Zetarians a minor but still memorable addition to the Trek gallery of weirdness.

The Excalbians

The final non-humanoid alien race to appear on ST: TOS , the Excalbians showed up in the late third season episode “The Savage Curtain,” in which Kirk and Spock must fight alongside recreations of Abraham Lincoln and a Vulcan philosopher named Surak against a team made up of four of history’s most sinister figures. Orchestrating all this is the Excalbians, a race of rock-like beings who use such “plays” to educate themselves about other civilizations and concepts such as good and evil.

The Excalbians are represented by Yarnek, who initially disguises himself (itself?) as a boulder before revealing his true self – a massive being made of searingly hot “living rock” (the Excalbians’ planet is mostly lava) with flashing, bulbous eyes and claw-like appendages. No doting mother like the other TOS rock monster, the Horta, Yarnek – and by extension, his people – is extremely powerful (they’re able to manipulate matter) and totally cool with forcing other beings to act out their little shows.

Star Trek: The Original Series can be streamed on Paramount+.

Don Kaye | @donkaye

Don Kaye is an entertainment journalist by trade and geek by natural design. Born in New York City, currently ensconced in Los Angeles, his earliest childhood memory is…

Giant Freakin Robot

The Surprising Reason Star Trek Discovery Re-Used A Ship Design

Posted: June 13, 2024 | Last updated: June 13, 2024

Star Trek is a franchise that has often shamelessly re-used ships and sets whenever possible. As you might expect, the primary reason is to save as much money as possible while producing these expensive episodes. There is one notable exception, though: the Star Trek: Discovery episode “Context Is For Kings” re-uses the Discovery ship design and sets because the plot (involving another ship researching the spore drive) called for another Crossfield-class vessel.

The Tried-And-True Crossfield Design

In order to really appreciate how and why Star Trek re-used the Crossfield starship design, you need to know a bit more about the franchise re-using various vessel designs over the decades. In The Original Series, for example, the D7 Battlecruiser was introduced as a Klingon ship design before shamelessly being re-used as a Romulan vessel. Speaking of The Original Series, it’s not a coincidence that Kirk kept running into other Constitution-class ships: such plots allowed the show to re-use the Enterprise model as needed instead of designing something else entirely.

The same logic applies to interior sets as well: look closely at the Delta Flyer bridge in Voyager and you’ll notice that it’s actually the same bridge as the Defiant from Deep Space Nine. Parts of the Engineering set from The Next Generation were used (ironically enough) to create the Engineering room in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Regarding that film, if you take a closer look at the Federation president’s office, you’ll notice that it’s actually just the Ten Forward set from TNG.

Potential Use Of Shepard-Class Vessel

Long story not very short, Star Trek has a storied history of reusing ship exteriors and interiors, but that’s not why the Discovery’s Crossfield design was re-used in the episode “Context Is For Kings.” Originally, the producers wanted to introduce a new ship design in the form of the USS Curie. The ship was going to be a Shepard-class vessel (which admittedly has a pretty cool-looking design).

If It Ain’t Broke

However, before the Star Trek producers decided to re-use the Crossfield design, they had very ambitious plans for the Curie. Designer John Eaves created an entirely new kind of vessel for “Context Is For Kings” and went as far as creating both a physical CG model for the new ship. Eaves also worked extensively in Photoshop to create some cool damage to the ship’s exterior that was meant to illustrate a time warp gone wrong, but it turned out that all of his design efforts were in vain.

Practical Reasons For Tactical Redundancy

You see, as the “Context Is For Kings” script evolved, producers decided that the new vessel would be one that was damaged during an incident testing out the same kind of spore drive that the Discovery was working on. Because of that, the Star Trek writers simply made the new vessel another Crossfield-style design. Their logic was simple: if you have exactly two ships testing an experimental new propulsion system, then it would make sense that the vessels are physically identical.

Not Done For Budgetary Reasons

Thanks to John Eaves, we know that this Star Trek: Discovery episode is one of the only examples in franchise history where a re-used starship (in this case, the Crossfield exterior and interior) design was not done primarily to save money.

Still, the Paramount show eventually got their money’s worth out of the new design: look closely during the Battle of the Binary Stars and you’ll see Eaves’ Shepard-class vessels in action. That might give you something more palatable to think about whenever “Context Is For Kings” gives scenes of deformed corpses that channeled David Cronenberg long before he played a character on the show.   

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Star Trek: Defiant

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• Star Trek: Defiant, Volume 1 (issues 1-5)
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Biggest Differences Between 'Battlestar Galactica's Reboot and the Original Series

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The Big Picture

• The Battlestar Galactica reboot was a more profound, emotional, and politically relevant series in contrast to the original.
• The reboot changed character dynamics, leading to complexity; supporting characters became more dynamic and enriched.
• The reboot also addressed modern issues such as the war on terror, corruption, and environmentalism, adding to its significance.

The evolution of the Battlestar Galactica franchise has been one of the most surprising reboots in the history of science fiction. Although it did end up generating a cult following, the original Battlestar Galactica series from 1978 was by no means a mainstream hit; in fact, the show was so often compared to the Star Wars franchise that 20th Century Fox actually sued producer Glen A. Larson for plagiarism . However, the Battlestar Galactica reboot from Star Trek: The Next Generation writer Ronald D. Moore ended up becoming an acclaimed, politically relevant drama series that ran for four successful seasons on the SyFy network. Despite utilizing many of the archetypes and mythology of its predecessor, the Battlestar Galactica reboot had many major differences from the original series.

Both shows have the same relative premise . In the future, a human civilization lives on the Twelve Colonies throughout the galaxy as they engage in a war with the robotic race known as “the Cylons,” which they helped create. The Cylons’ continued attacks on human territories lead to the devastation of these planets, forcing humanity to escape on massive starships as they search for the fabled thirteenth colony of Earth. With exciting galactic action, a cast of memorable characters, and some dense worldbuilding, Battlestar Galactica had all the makings of a great space opera epic. However, the reboot's changes made Battlestar Galactica a more profound, emotional, and politically relevant series.

Battlestar Galactica

When an old enemy, the Cylons, resurface and obliterate the 12 colonies, the crew of the aged Galactica protect a small civilian fleet - the last of humanity - as they journey toward the fabled 13th colony, Earth.

‘Battlestar Galactica’s Reboot Changed the Characters

Both Battlestar Galactica reboots focus on the characters William Adama and his son Lee , who goes by the nickname “Apollo.” In the original series, Adama ( Lorne Greene ) served as the head of the fleet’s governing body, giving him complete control over humanity’s political and military infrastructure. The reboot changed this up by introducing the character of Laura Roslin ( Mary McDonnell ) as the President of the Twelve Colonies. This led to an interesting dynamic in the reboot, in which Adama ( Edward James Olmos ) is forced to appease his political allies in order to make decisions that are in the best nature of the fleet. The dynamic with Apollo is also radically different. While Apollo ( Richard Hatch ) is largely subservient to his father in the original series, Jamie Barber ’s interpretation of the character is more defiant. The tension between the two, relating to a family tragedy, is perfectly set up in Battlestar Galactica ’s brilliant pilot episode.

The Battlestar Galactica reboot initially sparked controversy for gender-swapping the character of Starbuck . Dirk Benedict ’s interpretation of the character in the original series was that of a suave, womanizing scoundrel who felt more or less like Battlestar Galactica ’s version of Harrison Ford ’s Han Solo. However, the reboot cast Katee Sackhoff as Lieutenant Kara Thrace, a brash young leader within the fleet who risks her life on more than one occasion in the fight against the Cylons. Despite the protests of fans and even complaints from Benedict himself, Sackhoff’s version of Starbuck grew into a fan favorite. The new series also genderswapped the character of Boomer; while Herbert Jefferson Jr. ’s version of the character was a close ally of Apollo’s, Grace Park ’s version in the reboot was a secret Cylon model, Number Eight. Park also portrayed Lieutenant Athena, another Eight model; in the original series, Athena was portrayed by Maren Jensen , and was Adama’s daughter.

The Battlestar Galactica reboot also changed the supporting characters to make them more complex. The original show’s version of Count Baltar ( John Colicos ) was an over-the-top villain who was willing to help the Cylons reign supreme over humanity. However, James Callis ’ interpretation in the reboot turned him into the show’s most dynamic character ; Baltar was an opportunist who believed he was under the control of the Cylons and used his scientific knowledge to advance within the fleet’s government.

The ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Shows Had Different Philosophical Influences

The original Battlestar Galactica presented a far more straightforward depiction of “good versus evil,” with no humanistic characteristics given to the Cylons that made them more empathetic. The style felt much closer in tone to classic film serials like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon , and lacked the serialization that made the reboot series so successful. The series also drew influence from the Church of Latter-Day Saints, of which Larson was a member . Although the reboot series makes some offhanded references to religion when discussing Roslin’s re-election campaign, the messianic allusions didn’t come full circle until the show’s controversial series finale .

The Battlestar Galactica reboot addressed modern issues such as the war on terror, corruption of democratic institutions, and environmentalism. As the fleet attempts to find a new home, an ethical debate regarding the amount of freedom that can be denied for the sake of survival is created. Similarly, the notion of “sleeper cell” Cylon agents that are hiding within the fleet, disguised as humans, provoked eerie parallels to suspicions about latent terrorists in the aftermath of 9/11. The overarching political, philosophical, and ethical complexity of the Battlestar Galactica reboot transformed it into one of the greatest drama shows of all time .

‘Battlestar Galactica’ Shows How To Do a Reboot Correctly

Battlestar Galactica is the perfect example of a show that should have been rebooted. While there’s no use in trying to retool a series that was already perfect from the beginning, taking a second stab at a flawed show that had potential is far more interesting. If the original Battlestar Galactica was a cult classic that never got past the first season, then the reboot was a successfully serialized narrative that even inspired a few spinoffs of its own.

Battlestar Galactica was highly influential within the “Golden Age of Television,” proving that genre shows had the potential to reach the same dramatic heights as prestigious dramas like The Sopranos and The West Wing . While details are scarce about the upcoming reboot from Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail , it's hopeful that any new series will continue the proud legacy of its predecessors.

Battlestar Galactica is streaming on Prime Video in the U.S.

Watch on Prime Video

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Denise Crosby Returns As Captain Sela For ‘Star Trek Online: Unparalleled’ – Watch The Launch Trailer

| May 28, 2024 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 4 comments so far

Today Star Trek Online launches “Unparalleled,” the 32nd season of the multiplayer online game. The new season features the return of Star Trek: The Next Generation star Denise Crosby.

Unparalleled is live now

Star Trek Online: Unparalleled is available now on PC and will launch on PlayStation and Xbox consoles on June 19. his new season features the return of Denise Crosby, playing Captain Sela of the Enterprise F from a parallel universe. This new season continues the Aetherian and Mirror Borg story content within Star Trek Online , as the player’s Captain must work with allies to defend the Iconians against a mysterious, new Borg threat. Starting today, PC players can go up against a new Borg foe in the new featured episode, “Situation Under Control”, participate in a new TFO, “Borg Battle Royale”, jump into a new event, and experience a gender/species change feature, along with updates to the Infinity Lockbox.

Here is the launch trailer…

And here is the official synopsis for the story:

In Star Trek Online: Unparalleled, the Khitomer Alliance has tasked you and a new Aetherian ally with modifying an Iconian Gateway, when you receive a distress call from another universe. They’re under siege by a multiversal Borg, attacking from within a massive Dyson Sphere. Can you stop these new Borg before they gain control?

From Star Trek Online: Unparalleled

Unparalleled also includes the following new features…

New Episode – Situation Under Control The Aetherians will send you on a mission with one of their own into a new universe, and you must join forces to stem the tide of a new Borg foe!

Brand New Task Force Operation – Borg Battle Royale

• A new 5 Captain Ground TFO.
• After the Season event ends, an infinite round version will be available.

Season 32 Event – Delete Alt Control For this new event, players can play selected content to earn the following rewards:

• Dimensional Hypermass Torpedo Launcher
• Type 14 Shuttle Support Squadron
• 500 Lobi Crystals
• 1 Phoenix Epic Prize Token
• 30,000 Dilithium Ore

Infinity Lockbox Update T6 Aetherian Revelation will be added to the Infinity Lockbox.

Captain Alteration Token Want to change your character but keep your hard earned rewards? Now you can, with the Captain Alteration Token. This new token will allow you to change your Captain’s species and/or gender, within your chosen faction.

More screenshots…

Star Trek Online  is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online game available on PC, PlayStation and Xbox. To download and play Star Trek Online today for free, visit  www.playstartrekonline.com .

Keep up with all the  Star Trek Online news and updates here at TrekMovie.com .

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Can’t wait to try it out.

I just played through the new episode, and I can tell you right now, the only way the plot of Star Trek Online could go further off the rails at this point is if Kruge came back from the dead, ripped his makeup off to reveal Christopher Lloyd and said “Rails? Where we’re going, we don’t need rails.”

I wish we saw more of Sela live action wise. Nemesis would have been perfect or PIC.

Legacy characters, the Borg, clunky dialogue, ugly starships… yep, that’s modern day Trek alright!