Defiant.

When a transporter accident turned William Thomas into two separate people, it did more than just get Troi all excited about the prospect of two Rikers. It also set up a great crossover opportunity for TNG and DS9. Once The Next Generation had left the air and Deep Space Nine was in its third season, bringing Jonathan Frakes to the Station made perfect sense. But this was better than a cameo. “Defiant” played off of a unique event from Star Trek’s past to create an episode that added to the story.

In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Matthew Rushing, Daniel Proulx, and Eric Brasure to discuss Thomas Riker's visit to DS9, his role in the Maquis, whether or not the writers missed an opportunity by not following up on this story, and we try to figure out why Kira is objects to everything except Riker's seductive glance.

In our news segment we discuss the conclusion to the TNG remastered project, the "All Good Things" Blu-ray, Gates McFadden's unique fundraiser for her next theatrical production, and we welcome Mission Log: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast to the network.

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Chapters

News

TNG Season 7 Blu-ray trailer and All Good Things… (2:57)

Welcome Mission Log: A Roddenberry Star Trek Podcast to Trek.fm! (21:29)

Gates McFadden kicks off Krusher Kontest to fund theatre (25:52)

Support Trek.fm on Patreon (33:42)

Sponsor: Audible (34:56)

Feature: Defiant

Intro and Synopsis (37:33)

Initial Thoughts (40:17)

Riker Don't Like Him No O'Brien No More (45:32)

Bringing Frakes and Riker to Deep Space Nine (48:46)

What If Worf Were There? (56:12)

The Maquis Connection (1:03:20)

Setting Up "The Die Is Cast" (1:13:35)

Dukat Doesn't Get It (1:21:57)

Kira Objects! (1:31:39)

Final Thoughts (1:40:29)

Closing (1:49:35)

If Wishes Were Horses.

Aliens appearing onboard a starship or space station is nothing new to Star Trek. But normally you expect to see a menace like Klingons, the Borg, or a woman in go-go boots and a bling belt—none of whom can spin straw into gold. As Terry J. Erdmann said in the DS9 Companion, “If Wishes Were Horses” could have been just another “mysterious-aliens-play-head-games-with-the-Star Trek-crew” story. Instead it morphed into a delightfully whimsical episode. Or did it?

In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Megan Calcote, Von Glitschka, and John Mills to discuss the power of imagination, the demise of baseball, the challenges of working with space emus, the fantasy life of Julian Bashir, and, of course, Rumpelstiltskin.

In our news segment we share our thoughts on The Primate Directive, which is IDW's crossover between Star Trek and Planet of the Apes, comments by Benedict Cumberbatch and Zachary Quinto about Khan possibly appearing in the next film, and we discuss the results of StarTrek.com's poll that asked fans to choose the saddest death scene in Star Trek.

Send us your feedback!

Twitter: @trekfm

Facebook: http://facebook.com/trekfm

Voicemail: http://www.speakpipe.com/trekfm

Contact Form: http://www.trek.fm/contact

News

IDW's The Primate Directive combines Star Trek and Planet of the Apes (2:07)

And the saddest death scene in Star Trek is… (7:42)

Could Khan appear in the third Abramsverse Star Trek film? (23:31)

Sponsor: Audible (30:12)

Feature: If Wishes Were Horses

Initial Thoughts (34:09)

The Star Trek V Retcon (42:41)

Explorers on a Mission: Good Idea or Rehash? (45:09)

The Power of Imagination (52:36)

Who Were These Aliens Anyway? (1:01:10)

Quark, You Disgust Me! (1:05:00)

The Fantasy Life of Julian Bashir (1:12:26)

Expanded Baseball Mythology (1:22:41)

Running Short On Material (1:35:48)

Closing (1:40:40)

Rapture.

When we visited Deep Space 9 for the very first time, Picard made it clear to Sisko that his mission was to do everything, short of violating the Prime Directive, to prepare Bajor for admission into the Federation. It took five seasons, but finally Bajor's petition was approved and the ceremony was set to take place—at least until the Emissary began having visions. After becoming obsessed with ancient Bajoran symbols, Captain Sisko found the lengendary city of B'hala, lost for 20 millennia, in a matter of days. Along the way he saw past, present, and future as one, drew the ire of Starfleet, and stopped Bajor from signing on the dotted line.

In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by John Mills, Alice Baker, and Daniel Handlin to discuss the fifth-season episode "Rapture," Sisko's gradual acceptance of his role in the Bajoran religion, Starfleet's discomfort with having a captain walk amongst an alien society as a god, get a rare glimpse into a not (fully) evil Kai Winn, and ponder why admirals can't act.

In our news segment we take a look a NASA's warp ship design concept, the IXS Enterprise, visit the Mirror Universe with Star Trek Continues, and explore the Enterprise-D 8 bits at a time.

The Sound of Her Voice.

War changes people. And that’s no different whether you're in the 21st century or the 24th. Just before DS9 kicked into high gear for its final season, our crew took a quiet moment to reflect in “The Sound of Her Voice,” the penultimate episode of Season Six. It's a unique take on a bottle show that reveals a great deal about the station's crew. In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Matthew Rushing, Michael Fisher, and Von Glitshka to discuss the hours spent by the Defiant crew talking to Captain Lisa Cusack, what the conversations tell us about how life changes and the struggle to move on, and the twist of time that allows our heroes to step back—at least for a moment— to a place where the Dominion War had yet to shatter the peace.

In our news segment we look at the pros and cons of Roberto Orci's bid to direct Star Trek 2016, head into fluidic space or Star Trek Online's ninth season, wrap up Enterprise's Blu-ray release, and find out about the independent film Star Trek: Horizon, which is set in the Enterprise time period and tells the story of the Romulan War.

Civil Defense.

On a Federation starship, you pretty much know what to expect from your surroundings. But what happens when you move into a Cardassian-built ore processing facility? One of the fascinating aspects of Deep Space Nine was the idea that our characters were living in borrowed space. They could never be sure what they might find in the bowels of the Station—or the computer. They found themselves in a dire situation in "Civil Defense" when a dormant computer file triggered a counter-insurgency program installed by the Cardassians during the Occupation. Suddenly their lives were at risk—and the clock was ticking.

In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Michael Fisher and John Mills to discuss "Civil Defense," which was born of the desire to slip a straight action story into the middle of DS9's drama. We discuss the mysteries of the Station, the production challenges of the episode, character developments for Dukat and Garak, and debate whether there was any way out of an unsatisfying ending.

In our news segment we check in on two interviews with new Star Trek film writer J.D. Payne, CommBadge's second run at funding, Star Trek Online's arrival on Mac, and an STO Mirror Universe event. Plus, we learn about the starship accessibility requirements of Targ Starfleet officers.

For the Uniform.

We knew from the start that Benjamin Sisko had a temper. After all, he punched Q in the face in the sixth episode of the series. But if you really make Sisko mad he’ll do more than just punch you. He’ll chase you down in a broken ship and then try to punch a holographic projection of you. That’s what happened to Michael Eddington when he decided to escalate the Maquis-Starfleet conflict by sabotaging the Defiant and attacking a Cardassian colony with biogenic weapons. In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Ben McCormick, Mike Schindler, and Max Hegel to discuss Peter Allan Fields’s futuristic take on Les Misérables, the extreme tactics of both Eddington and Sisko, and how this episode paves the way for another of Fields’s classics, “In the Pale Moonlight.” We also explore the creative communication methods employed in this story, including the holographic communicator and the shouting Ferengi. In news we get into the Halloween mood with our favorite scary or spooky Star Trek episodes, debate the results of a poll that asked which character should have died differently, take a look at a new Starfleet uniforms infographic, and hear a few tidbits about the next Star Trek film. 

Homefront / Paradise Lost.

In the 24th century Earth is a paradise. At least that's what we've been led to believe. But paranoia can drive even the residents of paradise to begin burning down the house, and that's what happened at the heart of the Federation when the Changeling threat reached Earth. In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Michael Fisher, Max Hegel, and Mike Schindler to discuss the mid-season two-parter that was originally planned as the third-season cliffhanger and fourth-season premiere, what it says about civil rights during times of danger, Gene Roddenberry's utopian vision versus reality, and how Worf's addition to the show changed the story's original concept.

In our news segment we discuss some interesting comments about the Star Trek video game from J.J. Abrams, his decision on directing the next film, which Starfleet engineer would make the best handyman, and our first venture into interstellar space with Voyager 1.

Explorers.

During the second season, DS9 focused its stories more and more on characters. But as Jake grew up it became harder to figure out how to handle the father-son relationship with Sisko. Then, in the third season, the perfect story came along, pitched by show intern Hilary Bader. In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Matthew Rushing, Drew Stewart, and Ben McCormick to discuss “Explorers” and how inspiration from Heyerdahl’s 1947 voyage aboard the Kon-Tiki was the perfect vehicle for bringing the two Siskos together. We also explore the budding bromance between O’Brien and Bashir, and whether we’re losing something special in our lives as the digital age takes over from the analog.

In our news segment we find Creation Entertainment encouraging another run at the costume record at Star Trek Las Vegas, take a peek at what DS9’s logo could have been, cook breakfast with the Enterprise spatula, take QMx’s NX-01 artisan replica for a flight, and discuss John Eaves’s account of designing Star Trek Into Darkness. Plus, we reveal a cosplay loophole that could help fans shatter that world record set at Destination Star Trek London.

Our Man Bashir.

The holodeck malfunction was a staple of storytelling on The Next Generation. So as the Deep Space Nine writing team set out to chart a different course, they shied away from this perhaps overused plot device. But sometimes a story comes along that it is just too fun not to tell. And if you can find a way to do it that ties into your overall premise, that’s all the better. In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Michael Fisher and Larry Nemecek to discuss DS9’s romp through the 1960s life of secret agents as Dr. Bashir’s holosuite fantasy goes terribly wrong, yet turns out to be the hero. 

In our news segment we find out what special features are in store for us on the Trek Nation special edition DVD, discuss the value and functionality of a Spock coin bank, make ice for the 24th century, find out which Abramsverse actor has been secured for Star Trek Las Vegas, and pay our final respects to Katherine Woodville, who played Natira in “For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky.”

Trials and Tribble-ations.

When the 30th Anniversary of Star Trek rolled around in 1996, the creative teams of both Deep Space Nine and Voyager were charged with the task of paying homage with a special episode. Inspired by the revolutionary techniques of Forrest Gump, the DS9 writers set out to pen a story that would insert Sisko and his crew into the middle of one of the franchise’s most iconic episodes—“The Trouble with Tribbles.” The result was one of the most memorable moments in Star Trek history. In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Matthew Rushing, Charlynn Schmiedt, and Larry Nemecek for a look at the making of “Trials and Tribble-ations.” Larry’s firsthand experience on the set delivers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at what truly is a Valentine to Trek.

In news we look at the debut of TNG HD on iTunes and Amazon Instant Video, a reunion of the full principal cast of Enterprise for the upcoming Season Two Blu-ray release, TV Guide’s 60th Anniversary commemorative covers, Dayton Ward’s picks for 10 of the best Star Trek audiobooks, Cumberbatch talking about John Harrison’s motives, and some of the new Star Trek Into Darkness poster art including spotlight’s on Uhura, Spock, and the Enterprise, plus a Tumblr-inspired Cinemosaic poster. We also reveal our own pick for the most influential TV series of the 1980s… and we think you already know what it is.