THE AMERICAN TRAGEDY of the September 11th attacks becomes a Star Trek turning point, as a vision of a hopeful future gets put on pause so that it can explore the deep grief of the American psyche in the "War on Terror." Our season premiere dealt with the episode that might've saved Star Trek as we knew it, but Enterprise' s second season finale might've changed the franchise once and for all. An attack on Earth from an unknown alien species compels Captain Archer to take Enterprise into an unex...
Aug 15, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 2Ep. 4
CAPTAIN JAHEEL SUCKS. Bryan and Kristen are joined by special guest Katelyn Hempstead from the podcast Lizard People to talk about the fourth episode of Deep Space Nine ever which featured a virus that gave the infected aphasia. But more importantly, this episode includes a character so annoying, so worthy of derision, that Bryan has remembered him ever since this episode aired and after rewatching this, Kristen and Katelyn agree -- Captain Jaheel sucks!!! Before deciding if this one should get ...
Aug 08, 2023•54 min•Season 2Ep. 3
GROW THE BEARD. Season two of Star Trek: The Next Generation fundamentally altered the course of the franchise's popularity and all of that started right here in the season two premiere. Based on a script recycled from the aborted Star Trek: Phase II series, this episode about Counselor Troi having a miracle child causes Bryan and Kristen to discuss abortion, yo momma jokes, and HIPAA laws. Will they TREK, MARRY, or KILL it? If you're enjoying the show, consider rating us five stars in your podc...
Aug 01, 2023•46 min•Season 2Ep. 2
BRYAN AND KRISTEN kick off the second season of Trek Marry Kill with a review of season one. What worked? What didn't work? What was the biggest complaint and how did we decide to address it? Season two will feature some minor tweaks to the format, including theme months, the animated shows, a new question to ask before TREK, MARRY, OR KILL? and a list of Wild Card episodes that Kristen drew from a Spock mug. Stay tuned because we dropped two episodes this week: Counselor Troi is pregnant in The...
Aug 01, 2023•43 min•Season 2Ep. 1
GOODBYE, SPACE DAD. Bryan and Kristen get together to say goodbye to Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D in the series finale of Star Trek: Picard . Is it a fitting end to the longest parasocial relationship of Bryan's life? Does Kristen dig the backdoor Star Trek: Legacy pilot season 3 Executive Producer Terry Matalas snuck in there? Picard fights to rescue Jack from the clutches of the Borg Queen while Seven & Raffi enlist the aid of the few remaining Olds aboard the Titan to ...
Jun 27, 2023•1 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 38
ENTER THE ENTERPRISE. The last cast member of this Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion finally enters the story as Picard & co. seek refuge aboard their old ship after the season's main enemy reveals themselves during Frontier Day: the Borg, humanity's most lethal enemy, has a doozy of a plan that might be unstoppable. This week, Bryan is joined by an old friend, Stu, now a movie producer, but the two were once production assistants together. They geek out over seeing the Enterprise-D aga...
Jun 20, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 37
THE FINAL ROUND between Data and Lore forms the center of a critical episode in sorting out the season arc of #StarTrekPicard season three. Bryan is joined by actor-improvisor-podcaster Katie Hampton (@ElSassyPants on Twitter) from the Napping Through Happy Hour podcast to talk about the challenges of playing two roles that involves acting against yourself and, wouldn't you know it, Brent Spiner is truly great at it. Meanwhile, Captain Vadic faces a cold reality and Riker and Troi are forced to ...
Jun 13, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 36
A BRIDGE EPISODE raises a lot of questions from Bryan, Kristen, and this week's special guest, Emmy Award-winning writer Joshua Pruett (@zombietardis on Twitter & Instagram). Does Jean-Luc's plan to turn the tables on Vadic in hopes of figuring out her master plan make sense or is it all just a bunch of nonsense? Check out The Last Comics on Earth , released April 25, 2023 by Viking Books and follow Joshua Pruett on social media to stay current with the busy writer of The Last Kids on Earth ...
Jun 06, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 35
SUCH BEAUTIFUL STARSHIPS! That's all Bryan wants to talk about with special guest co-hosts Matt from Star Trek: Prodigy and Rian from QCODE Media, but there's a whole other storyline in there that makes this episode one of the stranger ones in Star Trek history. Just how much fan service is *too* much fan service, and does Picard-Season Three showrunner Terry Matalas body slam Bryan and his complaints with a perfect explanation of the realities of producing TV? You'll just have to listen! Matt i...
May 30, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 34
RO LAREN RETURNS and Bryan might still be tingling. Does this week's special guest co-host, Kat Spada of Feminist Frequency Radio , share his love for Picard's wayward protege? They also get into Todd Stashwick's continued excellence as Captain Shaw, talk about the pairing of Michelle Hurd & Michael Dorn, and other famous Star Trek things like wonky ADR and wigs. The Changelings can now pass blood tests, Jack Crusher might be Jason Bourne, and there's a logical explanation for organized crim...
May 23, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 33
EMMY FOR FRAKES! At some point during the past 36 years, Star Trek: The Next Generation's Number One, Jonathan Frakes, became Star Trek's ambassador and a cultural meme in his own right. Bryan and Kristen weigh all that against his incredible work in this episode and quickly decide that this one is a lifetime achievement, one deserving of an Emmy Award! Succession? Who cares! Jonathan Frakes is where it's at! Beyond that, they get into the nitty-gritty of the holodeck and how its power cells all...
May 16, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 32
WORF AND RAFFI become a classic Star Trek duo by the end of this episode that's mostly about Jean-Luc and Beverly's relationship reckoning. How could she keep a secret son from him for all these years? How does Ed Speleers pull off playing a 20-year old human male? How will the Titan evade the Shrike in this weird-ass nebula? What sort of celebrity gossip do Bryan and Kristen peddle about midway through this one? You'll just have to listen and find out! If you've been enjoying our show, consider...
May 09, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 31
WHO'S JACK CRUSHER? It's the question with an easy answer, only, Jean-Luc Picard's in denial. This week, we're joined by Joel, who runs Trek Against ALS, a special fundraiser to help in the fight against ALS by raising support funds for Margot, who was Jeri Ryan's stand in on the ABC series "Body of Proof" and in the last two seasons of Star Trek: Picard. Come aboard and listen to Joel talk about how Jeri Ryan and other Trek stars have come together for this important cause and stay for his stor...
May 02, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 30
ALL GOOD THINGS... get one more story in the 21st century and Star Trek: The Next Generation proves to be no exception. Will this reunion be like an eighth season of TNG or the best season of Star Trek: Picard ever or the best TNG movie we never got? You'll just have to log on and listen! Jean-Luc Picard receives a message from Dr. Beverly Crusher who needs his help on the edge of Federation space, but in order to get to her, Picard will need to enlist the help of his old Number One, Captain Wil...
Apr 25, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 29
REMIX OF TERROR? Strange New Worlds concludes its first season with a bookend to Captain Pike's dilemma setup in the series premiere: dude knows he's gonna suffer a terrible fate. Does this episode help him see that he shouldn't try to wiggle out of it? Bryan and Kristen examine an episode that serves as a "What If?" story to one of the stone cold classic episodes from The Original Series. Is the juice worth the squeeze? Does Strange New Worlds do the original episode justice? And, did the Troja...
Apr 18, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 28
THE VOYAGE HOMAGE. Captain Pike leads a rescue team to an icey planet after the USS Peregrine crash lands there, only to discover that Gorn invaders caused the crash and are not on the planet with them! Joining Bryan this week is the hilarious Ryan Nanni (@celebrityhottub on Twitter) from the best college football podcast ever made: Shutdown Fullcast. He's here because one of his New Year's resolutions was to appear on as many podcasts as possible, with a preference for subject matter not in his...
Apr 11, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 27
CHILDCARE CRISIS RESOLVED! For most of the first season, Dr. M'Benga has been stuck caring for his daughter who's stuck in Sickbay's medical transporter buffer. That changes after the Enterprise's chance encounter with a living nebula! Does the nebula's ability to transform the crew into characters from his daughter's favorite book wind up being a great story twist or merely a lot of fun for the cast and crew? Bryan and Kristen put on their cloaks and head into an enchanted forest to see if this...
Apr 04, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 26
ANGEL OR DEVIL? This week, Bryan is joined by special guest co-host Jen (writer at Baseball Prospectus) to discuss one of the most interesting episodes of Star Trek we've ever seen. The legacy of Spock has featured the culture clash of his human side vs. his Vulcan side, and in this episode of Strange New Worlds that dynamic faces a direct challenge from one of the most compelling characters ever created for the franchise. Spock's Human-Vulcan dynamic gets challenged by nonbinary Dr. Aspen who s...
Mar 28, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 25
PIKE'S FORMER CRUSH has a secret and this week we have guest co-host Cassie Soliday from The Ink & Paint Folk Podcast to talk about it! Is the perfect world of Majalis too good to be true or does it just seem that way to Federation outsiders? Meanwhile, Cadet Uhura gets exposed to La'an's list of security rules -- which are more like guidelines -- and Dr. M'Benga's doctor goes on a playdate. Does this episode setup a disturbing motif in this new Star Trek series, or were the writers really j...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 24
SPOCK BECOMES T'PRING after a Vulcan Soul Swap goes awry and it's all thanks to Spock's pesky humanity! This week, Bryan is joined by Aliza Pearl from the Women at Warp Podcast, the Star Trek Adventures campaign called Clear Skies: Perseverance and she's created an interactive story you can playthrough right now on StoryLoom called Welcome to the Blood Bar. Will Spock and T'Pring learn a valuable lesson about radical empathy in time to repair the Federation's delicate negotiations with the Rongo...
Mar 14, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 23
HOT GORN ACTION! The Enterprise comes face to face with the mysterious Gorn, realizing La'an's worst nightmare! With the entire ship under constant attack, the episode splits into multiple storylines: Cadet Uhura and Lt. Hemmer are trapped in the cargo bay; and, Number One is trapped in Sickbay with the manic pixie dream Nurse Chapel. Listen to this one to find out what Bryan and Krsiten think about using mind melds to help with psychotherapy, a glistening Anson Mount, and the movie Interstellar...
Mar 07, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Season 1Ep. 22
SECRETS AND LIES invade the Enterprise while investigating a distant planet that once was home to the mysterious race called the Illyrians. Has this genetically modified people been hunted to extinction or have they evolved? Bryan and Kristen conduct their own investigation into an episode that's heavy on incident and light on consequences. They also talk about the production realities that affected this one and how much the story owes to shooting TV during COVID-19 lockdowns and safety protocol...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 21
ARBITER OF LIFE? Second episodes can be as difficult as the pilot episode of a new show, and Bryan and Kristen don't see an exception with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . Does the combination of Anson Mount's charisma and Celia Rose Gooding's talent sell a sometimes sweaty script or does the Star Trek -ness of the whole thing wind up saving the day? The Enterprise tries to stop a comet from colliding with a planet only to be intercepted by The Shepherds, an alien species that views the comet as ...
Feb 21, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 20
A BUREAUCRAT'S OFFICE! That's all Captain Picard seems good for to rogue Captain Benjamin Maxwell, but little does he understand that the USS Enterprise is the top diplomatic vessel at the Federation's disposal! Trek, Marry, Kill wraps up its Star Trek: Picard Season Three prep by watching this 4th season episode that introduces Cardassians to the world of Star Trek ... and maybe the world to the Kardashian family? Joining Bryan this week is Rian from podcast network QCODE to discuss what might ...
Feb 14, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 19
BEVERLY CRUSHER COMES to the realization that her entire maternal line has been haunted by an anaphasic life form in one of Star Trek 's most hare-brained episodes ever. It's the one with the Sex Ghost! Or... the one where Beverly Crusher has an orgasm! Or... the Sex Candle. Whatever you call it, this episode has gone down as a camp classic akin to "Spock's Brain" or "Threshold." Does that make it an automatic kill? Bryan and Kristen get to work examining one of the most famous episodes to featu...
Feb 07, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 18
BEVERLY'S GRIEF BUBBLE? With Beverly Crusher set to play a pivotal role in the final season of Star Trek: Picard , Bryan and Kristen decide to watch a couple of key Beverly episodes to prepare. In this one, Wesley's warp bubble experiment traps Beverly in a alternate reality where one by one, everyone she loves disappears. Has she lost it or is something amiss? This episode also holds a special place in Bryan's cold black heart: it's the first episode of Star Trek he ever watched. Do you agree w...
Jan 31, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 17
DATA'S DAD LIVES and that causes a whole lot of problems for our favorite android and the Enterprise . Joining us this week is special guest Craig Calcaterra, a sportswriter who writes at Cup of Coffee , one of the top newsletters on Substack. He also has a brother and a dad, but his love of Star Trek goes beyond family ties -- his love life was at one time centered around the outcome of "The Best of Both Worlds." This episode continues our look at key episodes that might factor into the events ...
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 16
SHUT UP, WESLEY! People forget where this eternal line was first uttered, but it's right here, in this oft-forgotten episode from TNG's first season. But "Datalore" does quite a lot of heavy lifting for TNG lore, not just with that line, but also some new "rules" about Data. With Lore -- Data's evil twin -- set to return in Star Trek: Picard - Season Three, Bryan and Kristen take a look at his first appearance and see if that memorable line isn't the only thing worth remembering about this episo...
Jan 17, 2023•50 min•Season 1Ep. 15
HOLODECK HIJINKS ENSUE when Lt. Barclay unlocks a secret file that stored the sentient hologram Professor James Moriarty from Data and Geordi's ill-fated adventure we graded in last week's "Elementary, Dear Data." Moriarty figures into the plot of Star Trek: Picard - Season Three in some way, and joining Bryan to figure out how he fits -- along with returning to this Next Gen classic -- are Laurie & Brian from TrekMovie.com. After you listen to our episode, go check out their podcasts on the...
Jan 10, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Season 1Ep. 14
LEAVE DATA ALONE! Dr. Pulaski teases Geordi for hoping Data would get into the spirit of cosplaying as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on the holodeck instead of quickly solving the case like a computer would. This compels Geordi to ask the computer to create a holographic adversary capable of defeating Data, a character who winds up being Sherlock Holmes' arch nemesis, Professor James Moriarty, played in this episode by the wonderful Daniel Davis. Bryan and Kristen prepare for Star Trek: Picard ...
Jan 03, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 13
