I just finished a rewatch of some of the better Star Trek docs, like 'For the Love of Spock' and the DS9 retrospective 'What We Left Behind'. Those two in particular are quite poignant, and the emotion displayed by the actors is very genuine and quite heartfelt (looking up at you, Aron Eisenberg).

I find that some of my favorite parts of these docs are the testimonials by the fans talking about what Star Trek means to them, and I realized it's been a while since I've seen a post asking the question of what brought us all here to begin with. Star Trek fans are seriously the best, and r/startrek is by far the greatest sub on Reddit.

So please, I beg you, take a moment to get a little sappy and share your story. It doesn't have to be too long if you don't want it to. Sometimes a single sentence will suffice. For others, be as long winded as you please. I know for certain I'll be reading them all and taking them to heart, and I'm sure plenty of others will appreciate them too!

I'm...confused why they made up a human mental disorder in Voyager. Its not as bad as when they made up an Indigenous tribe for Chakotay, but there's actual real world conditions and disorders that match what Chakotay had.

It kinda reeks of "We thought it'd be too offensive if we gave it a real name" but instead it just comes off as odd.

NINETIES STAR TREK-watch 3 great episodes in a row, and then see one scene where its like "Why the hell did they do this?"

Greetings humans! I'm currently decorating some noticeboard-esque stuff for my home and am looking to add a few quotes from my favourite two sci-fi shows! I'm primarily looking for motivational/self-acceptance quotes, though I'd be open to funny ones too.

Due to family visiting somewhat frequently I need them to be clean as well, so no 'now entering glory hole' (Orville) or 'we have lost our sex appeal' (Voyager) or anything along those lines!😆

People of Reddit, engage!🖖

One thing I love about Star Trek and some other pre streaming era shows is now much time you get with the characters. Is there any indication of TV moving back to that model? Is there any reasonable possibility we get a 22 ep season of Strange New Worlds? Obviously I wouldn't want more episodes at the expense of people being overworked, but I'd love more episodes if it could be done in a way that ensure the actors, writers, and crew were fairly compensated and treated well. What do you guys think, are longer seasons in the future?

Spock was a favorite of mine and Scotty

To be clear, I don't think the writers intended this to be read this way. It's just sort of something I noticed when thinking about Elogium and Before & After.

1. The Ocampa form a yellow bonding slime (called the ipasaphor) on their hands that facilitates mating and conception. The slime has a 50-hour window to stick them together, and they must remain stuck together for six days in order to conceive. There are two animal mating processes on Earth I can find that are similarish and may have provided inspiration- the well-known copulatory tie between canids and some other four-legged mammals like ferrets and fossas, and the less well-known proteinic adhesion between certain amphibians like frogs, toads, and salamanders. The proteinic adhesion seemed like the thing to really look at, since that's a secretion and might explain why their hands need to be glued together, but it turned out to be motion-functional- that is, it keeps slippery animals from falling off each other during sex. The amphibians secrete it in the places that need to be stuck together for fertilization to take place. So if you were to apply it to Ocampa...it kinda suggests it's all taking place in the hands.

2. The Ocampa female does not have a uterus or cervix prior to elogium- she grows these on her upper back during the event. This is much more damning because without those, there's...really no biological reason for her to evolve a vagina.

Yeah. Sorry. I just don't think that their reproduction as shown makes sense if they have human-typical genitals.

So how do they do it? Let's go back to the yellow slime for a minute.

As I see it, the best possibility for what exactly its role in Ocampan fertility is DNA exchange. Basically, they hold hands, the slime breaks down some epithelial tissue and absorbs the DNA back into the elogious body, and pregnancy occurs from there. I find this idea very interesting, because hypothetically, it could allow for both partners getting pregnant. This keeps with the show's implication that they can only get pregnant once while also offering a potential explanation for how the Ocampan population stays stable (not only does it mean the potential for each Ocampan couple to have two children, it also means that you could biologically reproduce indiscriminately with whatever partner no matter what gender that partner is presenting as). This wouldn't even require that both partners are going through elogium at the same time, because Kes is able to mate with Neelix and Tom (and Linnis with Harry) even though neither of them produces the ipasaphor, so only the partner getting pregnant has to have some.

This does raise some questions about the Ocampan sexual drive (which, admittedly, were already there- if they only need to have sex once, how much urge could they possibly have?) and also about what sexual intimacy is like for an Ocampa with a non-Ocampa (fewer there- bluntly, they have hands, they have mouths, they have butts, figure it out).

Again, I don't think the writers intended any of this, but I think that with the available evidence, it might be what fits the most, and even accounts for Kes' once-mentioned uncle. (Though I never had that much trouble reconciling him with elogium as described in the episode- twins, step-siblings, half-siblings, adopting an orphaned kid, parents having a good friend that gets called uncle even though they're not related, there's plenty of possible explanations there.)

But it would still mean that Ocampa don't have genitals.

The Next Generation A beloved classic that stands the test of time, even if it's episodic format starts to wear on you after a while.

Deep Space 9 A fantastic show with an extremely rocky start, but winds up succeeding in surpassing it's predecessors by the end.

Voyager By far the best opening score. I literally cannot say anything more positive about it. It is best described as a constant string of wasted potential, and buildup leading to yet more wasted potential. It's greatest achievement is only in its memorable cast and characters (And Harry Kim).

Enterprise A great idea for a show marred by half-hearted planning and jumping the shark in what appeared on its surface to be a more grounded program.

Discovery A fantastic premise with an excellent first season that rolled down a hill on season 2 before falling off a cliff in season 3. It's not the worst writing that has come from Star Trek, but Michael is definitely one of the most insufferable captains, to the point even hearing her voice at this point is taxing. Writers seem to be constantly trying to tell us that her character is growing, maturing, and becoming better while never actually showing it on screen, as she seems to make the same types of mistakes over and over again.

Strange New Worlds My first soiree into TOS territory (not counting discovery or enterprise. ACTUAL TOS territory). And it definitely has me hooked on a retro futuristic nostalgic feel I never realized I needed. It is definitely the best thing from the IP in a long time.

Started but haven't finished: TOS Picard Lower Decks Section 31 (though just from the premise I assumed it was going to be bad, and reviews haven't helped that opinion. Fillipa definitely overstayed her welcome in discovery and I was not looking for more of her).

Could the voice actor of Captain L. Isao Telaka of the USS Lantree be René Auberjonois (who played Odo in DS9)? In TNG's season 2 ep.7, 'Unnatural Selection', a voice recording of L. I. Telaka, captain of the supply ship USS Lantree, is recovered following his death from rapid onset superannuation. The recording is played in the episode's eighth minute. I thought the voice sounded familiar, but Memory Alpha lists the voice actor as unknown. Just listening, I thought it might have been Auberjonois; it sounded quite like him to me, albeit putting on a more aged voice. I know Auberjonois was involved in Star Trek media from at least 1991... So, could this have been him?

(Aside about Captain L. Isao Telaka: 'Isao' is a Japanese given name. But 'Telaka' isn't Japanese, though I suppose it sounds oriental(ist). It reminded me of the pseudo-Japaneseness of Hikaru Sulu. That said, the character is portrayed on-screen by an actor, also uncredited, who appears to be European.)

New to star trek and I'm a big fan of star wars. What things do I need to know and what should I watch to see if I like it? Thanks

What should I watch before?

would love to see her and get an autograph

I first saw this movie on a display TV in a Best department store. It had just started on one of the display TV's and my parents parked me in front of it while they went and shopped for furniture or some other adult nonsense. I only saw the first twenty minutes or so, but the weird toothless bald guy and the charismatic Vulcan cult leader captured my young imagination, and I credit that moment with my becoming a lifelong fan.

I had watched TNG on tv occasionally, but I was still too young to really get it when it started, and I'm sure it was on at a time my parents probably wanted to watch something else, but after learning it was part of the same world as that movie I had seen in the store, I started insisting we watch it, and from then onward I was hooked.

Fast forward to today, as I'm rewatching it for the nth time to go along with the Star Trek Pod Crawl, I'm torn once again between siding with critics who call it the worst piece of Star Trek ever made and my own strange love for it.

It's fundamentally a B-movie set in the Trek universe, and that makes it unique in the canon. It's full of ridiculous banter and goofy humor that can only work because the three cast has such a long history together. The premise is straight out of a TOS episode. It presents us with a trash heap of a starship the Enterprise-A, which seemingly was cobbled together out of spare parts by a Starfleet in a major economic recession and labor shortage caused by the triple disasters of an extended war with the Klingons, the widespread crisis caused by V'Ger's path of destruction through the quadrant, and the planetary emergency or the whale probe. Everything is so incredibly grungy and broken down, so much so that it feels of a kin with the Mad Max movies of earlier in that decade -- pure late Reagan-era decay, owing far more to George Miller and the worn-out 'dirty sci-fi' of original trilogy Star Wars than to the optimistic utopian vision of Roddenberry's earlier vision for Star Trek.

This crew is old, the ship is falling apart (despite being supposedly new off the production line), and the diplomatic situation is a dystopian mess. Starfleet can't muster even a single functioning ship to deal with this obscure crisis on a shitty backwater, presumably because they're all scattered across the quadrant dealing with the aftermaths of V'Ger and various other crises caused by a decade of complacency and elitist excess mirroring the real world's 1980s. The hopeful, colorful future imagined in the 60s is long gone, replaced by cynicism and groupthink, as people fall under the sway of a charismatic cult leader, Sybok, on a vain quest for nirvana. Everything sucks, and I love it. It's Star Trek's grunge era.

Anyone else shed a tear for Scotty? Damn it got me good

like captain kirk went there at least three times by my count.

ion storm

tholian web

that one weird space pod that was going to explode or something

B’Elanna just told Tom she’d meet him for dinner at 0700. 07 as opposed to 7a or 7p indicates a 24 hour clock so 0700 would be early morning, an odd dinner hour.

From Chain of Command we know the Enterprise operates (except with Jellico) on three shifts. In Data’s Day there was a reference to “Day Shift” and “Night Shift”

Capt Archer ticked off some aliens by not matching the ship clock to the alien capital.

So, what time is it onboard ?

There is an episode of Star Trek I'm desperately trying to remember, but of course I can't remember the series or characters.

Two crew members (or maybe three) are trapped on a planet and are being attacked by monsters they try to fight off, but can't, and there is a child who is alone who is scared of them and runs from them. I think there is a forcefield keeping them within a small area of this planet. They eventually discover that the child is controlling holograms which are attacking them out of their fear of them. I think the child's father created the holograms to be company for her because the rest of the planet was destroyed? And I think a hologram version of him appears to one of the crew members. At the end they find a video recording from the father to the child and the child finally realizes the planet is an illusion and ends up leaving with the crew.

It isn't Shadowplay from DS9, but it's kind of similar. I think it might have been Voyager, but I can't find a corresponding episode, and it's not Enterprise or TOS.

I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the episode, the series or the characters and I need to know I'm not crazy. Can anyone help?

Like Symphony of the Seas … but in SPACE!

Do you believe that Captain Janeway was right to destroy the array like the caretaker had tried to do with the self destruct sequence, stranding the crew in the Delta quadrant?

If you were the captain of Voyager, what would you have done?

Was Janeway right to put the interests of the Ocampa before that of her crew? Did destroying the array actually do anything but delay the inevitable, since the Ocampa seemed to have finite energy reserves?

By forcing Voyager to cross the delta quadrant, introducing federation technology and ideology to a huge variety of species, did Janeway ‘contaminate’ the delta quadrant? Was that a better or worse than leaving the array intact and jumping back to the alpha quadrant?

Watching this episode,

Always makes me think about how often Voyager would be diplomatic and help neighbouring civilisations work out there differences, or help them,

Not only was voyager the best of Star Trek in that regard, but it also really highlights how the humans / Starfleet really are one of the most diplomatic species, and then it made me think about it as a sort of biological distinctiveness sort of thing.

I finally watched the finale of TNG. This was my first time watching the series. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were a few episodes that I certainly didn't enjoy as well as others, but overall I'd say it was a wonderful experience. I wasn't sure direction that finale episode was going to go, but I thought it wrapped up nicely. The ending scene around the poker table was emotional.

Here are some of my thoughts about the series:

Favorite Episodes: Datalore, 11001001, Elementary, Dear Data, The Measure of a Man, A Matter of Honor, Yesterday's Enterprise, The Offspring, Sins of the Father, Sarek, The Best of Both Worlds 1 & 2, Family, Brothers, Future Imperfect, Data's Day, Clues, First Contact, In Theory, Silicon Avatar, Hero Worship, I, Borg, The Inner Light, Time's Arrow 1 & 2, A Fistful of Datas, Face of the Enemy, Starship Mine, Descent 1 & 2, Phantasms, Inheritance, Parallels, Lower Decks, Thine Own Shelf, Masks, Genesis, Emergence

Favorite character: Data, no hesitation

Episode that made me the most emotional: The Inner Light

Feel free to ask questions if you want to know my thoughts on anything in particular 🖖

WHAT?! WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!

Its weird enough how in season 5 they don't get enough couple moments, but then near the tail end-BAM-married, no proposal, just JUMP right into it!

Its also as random as Miles and Keiko's marriage in "Data's Day" , ALMOST.

Hello so Im currently still exploring classic trek with tng and im just wondering how good is new trek and which shows or movies u would recommend or just i give it a try even if its not for you?

So let’s say Kruge isn’t in the movie at all. What exactly was Kirk’s plan? He steals the Enterprise and goes to the restricted planet,where he immediately hails the by the book captain of the Grissom. Captain Esteban would follow protocol and immediately contact starfleet to verify whatever bs excuse Kirk gave him for being there,and they would all immediately be taken into custody. It doesn’t sound like much of a plan at all. There’s no way Esteban would allow them to take Spock’s body to Vulcan when he wouldn’t even let Saavik beam it up to the ship.

I’ve watched tons of Star Trek pretty much all the movies by now and watching TNG Star Trek honestly makes me feel so much less stressed when I watch it and it’s amazing one worry I do have is Ive just made it to season 2 in TNG and I’m worried it may become repetitive don’t get me wrong it’s really good but the first season can be boring at times

I've recently saw the condensed version of TMP: Star Trek Legacy and the Otoy videos. It struck me that TMP was somewhat out of time. I found out that TMP was set just a few years after the end of the 'Five Year Mission' (comprising the TOS 3 seasons and 2 of the Animated Show.) Assuming a few years to refit the Enterprise that would set TMP around 1973 if show time follows real time. But of course it didn't come out until 1979. And the uniform and makeup design is definitely trying to age the cast down. Now cut to 1982 and the crew are now the appropriate ages, and Kirk is dealing with a lot of baggage as he is now hitting somewhere around 50.

So I looked up the timegap and it says there is a 12 years gap between TMP and WOK. The Monster Maroon movies all seem to happen in maybe 2 or 3 years.

Section 31 is supposed to be set in the 'Lost Era.' But it strikes me that Kirk's middle career is a mini Lost Era. Picard's lost time seems to have been very well filled with Star Trek 09, flashbacks and Lower Decks and Prodigy, so we have a good sense of what was going on in the galaxy between Nemesis and Picard S1. So what do you think Kirk and crew were getting up to in those middle years? How long were they in the pastel gear, and was it very warm?

There has been a lot discussion about this point over the years, Picard season 3 kind of confirmed it. The Borg were never going to survive. I've seen key points why, they mostly come down to the following;

Assimilation concept was flawed. The Borg only stole tech from others, they didn't figure out evolution was greater than assimilation until it was too late (Picard season 3).

No diplomacy. They only made foes and no allies. Build up too many enemies and you'll either be overwhelmed or overpowered. They were overwhelmed by the other quadrants, and overpowered by Species 8472. There is a reason the Dominion still exists and the Borg doesn't. Diplomacy.

Picard season 3 is unique in that the Borg shed both these concepts in a last-ditch effort to survive; they tried to evolve instead of assimilate, and formed a shaky alliance with rogue changelings. They gave it a good shot, but it was far too late. The three big factors that brough them down;

-Meeting the Alpha Quadrant
-Meeting Species 8472
-The Janeway Virus

I really hope Star Trek is done with the Borg Collective. They were great villains for the series, but it's better they're retired now. Let some other Big Bads shine now.

Preferably an orginal character for the book/series? Either and Ensign or Lt?

Would love a series to dig into, but will take one offs 😀 thank you

I began my Star Trek journey back in August with Enterprise. I finished it today and am happy with how much I loved the series but sad that it ended so abruptly. I’ll be moving on to my next Star Trek series in a few weeks but am giving it some time to appreciate what I’ve seen before enjoying what’s to come. Added bonus that the last three episodes of Enterprise caused me to tear up several times. Storylines like what occurred with T’Pol and Trip hit harder when you’ve been there yourself.

Watching discovery s4 and I find it interesting that there is a USS Armstrong. Is it named after a guy from 1200 years ago? Is going from Earth to Luna that big of a deal to people in the 32nd century?

Of course it’s possible it’s named after Shirley Armstrong a more recent hero.

And a comp today might be Leif Erickson from the tenth century.

I’m not raging about it. Just curious.