Only three two none left, hooray. My motivation to write these up is dying by inches.

( Why do we always end up like this? )

So, in order, the TAS episodes you really should watch:

1x02, "Yesteryear"
1x04, "The Lorelei Signal"
1x05, "More Tribbles, More Trouble"
1x07, "The Infinite Vulcan"

I have been watching these with sparrow_hawk (I say this like we didn't have a 12-month break between sessions, but I think we have momentum to finish now). The last two sets of episodes were awesome semi-canonical crack, but we have definitely gotten into the "not bad enough to be awesomely bad semi-serious Trek" doldrums in the middle with these. That said, they are still pretty hilarious. Onward!

Onward to spoilers, that is.

( Blast it, Spock, work harder! They're in the terminal stage! ) 

Trek fans who have gone more boldly than I have, into the farthest reaches of the fifth series, I have two questions for you! I humbly beg of your knowledge and opinions.

# If I were going to watch one (1) episode of Enterprise showcasing the relationship between Archer and T'Pol, what one (1) episode should I watch?

# If I were going to watch one (1) episode featuring T'Pol after her exposure to Trellium-D, which one (1) should I watch?

FYI, I am planning to watch the series finale. Anything I should know about how that relates to the rest of the series? Because I have Heard Things.

So many thanks in advance, you have no idea.

 The following is a very partial set of notes from the "Race and Star Trek" panel that I saw at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia last night, moderated by Betty Laurence. I didn't take notes on every topic that was covered; things that are attributed to the speakers are a mixture of quotation and paraphrase, mostly quotation. I've tried to contextualize things with brackets--feel free to ask for clarifications and I'll do my best to answer.

( You are the dreamer, and the dream. )

This one gets its own post both because I have thematic thinky thoughts and because it's going to take me a bit to obtain the other movies.

( The word is 'no.' I am therefore going anyway. )

I recently rewatched both these movies, which general consensus seems to regard as the joint pinnacle of Trek on the silver screen. After watching TWoK I'm personally wondering whether The Undiscovered Country might not be the best classic Trek movie, but I'll have to withhold judgment on that score until I get to it.

I've excoriated Star Trek XI for pasting Trek onto the frame of a generic scifi movie, but one thing that's clear to me after watching these two movies is that this is actually an old Trek tradition: First Contact in particular is a well-executed marriage of Trekkiness (holodecks, quoting literature, etc) with a scifi action flick, and it works pretty well. TWoK is also more than glancingly similar to other scifi movies of the 80s (particularly, in some respects, Dune and Alien). In some ways this makes me appreciate more what most people hate about Star Trek I, which is that "nothing happens." This isn't quite true; there's just very little action per se in that movie: the only time the Enterprise discharges its weaponry is at an asteroid, in the middle of the film. Granted that movie had horrible pacing and a thin plot, but I think in some ways its determined non-violence is more a part of Trek than the shoot-em-'up ethos of later films (particularly the new movie. Not that the whole "Resident Romulan" sequence at the end wasn't shot pretty cool, because it was).

( Time is a luxury you do not have. )

( Timeline! This is no time to argue about the timeline, we don't have the time! )

I have to excise the Star Trek brainworm posthaste. I think the only way to do this is to watch more faster. Argh.

I've read a bunch of Star Trek books lately (and judging by how many of the books I checked out from my library came up "reserved" when I checked them in, I'm not the only one), mostly books I've never read before by authors I've previously enjoyed. This probably isn't coincidental.

( The Wounded Sky )

( My Enemy, My Ally )

( Spock's World )

( Strangers from the Sky )

( Enterprise: The First Adventure )

I currently own The Romulan Way, Duane's next Rihannsu book, but I think I'm just going to spring for The Bloodwing Voyages, which collects the first four of the five in one volume--if I'd realized what was what, I'd have bought it initially (though these old Pocket Books covers and blurbs are priceless). Apparently the last Rihannsu book, The Empty Chair, will have to come to me through ILL, since it's currently going for not less than $55 used on the internet. Supply and demand can be a bitch sometimes--I'm really hoping for Pocket Books to do a reprint. I'm also hoping to track down Sand and Stars, a compendium volume that includes Spock's World as well as A.C. Crispin's Sarek, about which I have heard very good things. Tune in next time...

So, pursuant to the return of Star Trek to my life, I decided to re-watch Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). The movie is, on one level, not great, but it also is in many ways very, very characteristic. And amusing. Be warned, some of my thoughts are probably very obvious.

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( The human adventure is just beginning. )

And on that note, live long and prosper. I'm going to watch The Wrath of Khan next.

I have seen Star Trek: 2009. I did not expect this icon to be so appropriate.

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( She has exceptional oral sensitivity. )