How I Learned to Stop Worrying About ‘Star Trek’ Canon and Enjoy the Big Dumb Mystery

March 16, 2023March 20, 2023 Zhouweiwen

As we are halfway through our return to the 25th Century, we can pretty much settle into the rhythm of Star Trek: Picard. It’s a bit of a clunky narrative but a lot of fun character work for new and returning players. Most discouraging but perhaps least surprising is for all the things Season 3 has done to get us those wonderful character moments, it can’t escape the Kurtzman of it all and has at its center a big dumb mystery around Jack Crusher.

Reviews, Star Trek

‘Star Trek: Picard’ is Really Worried about Mom and Dad Fighting

March 2, 2023March 2, 2023 Zhouweiwen

Yellow alert! This was still an overall enjoyable episode with a mix of good and somewhat forced character beats. However, some of the internal logic is starting to be concerning.

Reviews, Star Trek1 Comment

‘Star Trek: Picard’ — That’s Not How Accents Work

February 25, 2023March 2, 2023 Zhouweiwen

Mercifully, Picard is not hiding the ball. A recurrent problem with a lot of serialized shows is setting up a lot of mysteries that are slowly dripped throughout the season and you have to hope the mystery at the end is worth it.

Reviews, Star Trek1 Comment

‘Star Trek: Picard’ — Once More Unto the Breach

February 17, 2023March 2, 2023 Zhouweiwen

Star Trek has always wrestled with managing its legacy and the ability to do something new. Fans are always a prickly bunch judging a new series, movie, or a given episode as to whether or not it feels like Star Trek.

Hard N.O.C. Life, Star Trek1 Comment

Hard NOC Life 299: All Good ‘Star Trek’ for the Next Generation

February 13, 2023February 27, 2023 Hard NOC Media

In anticipation for the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard, Keith welcomes his brother Raymond to Hard NOC Life as they countdown their top five episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation!

Hard N.O.C. Life, Star Trek, Television

Hard NOC Life: Engaging with ‘Picard’

January 27, 2020January 30, 2020 Hard NOC Media

On a new episode of Hard NOC Life, Dominic, Shawn, and Keith return to the Final Frontier and review the CBS All Access Original Series, Star Trek: Picard.

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Sci Fi, Television8 Comments

Our Roddenberry Moment

November 16, 2016November 17, 2016 Shawn Taylor

The day after the election, I received a message from a frenemy I’ve known since junior high. He has kept close tabs on me and my career, always presenting himself as “devil’s advocate” or “the rational voice of the other side of the argument.” Basically, he’s a book smart troll I didn’t block because of the insidious effects of nostalgia. His message was one line:

“What good is all that science fiction stuff, now that we’ve won?”

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Movies, Star Trek9 Comments

Star Trek Beyond: Be Still My Trekkie Heart

July 22, 2016July 22, 2016 Junko

Thanks to CAPE (The Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment) and AMP (Asian American Media Professionals), I got to attend a small screening of Star Trek Beyond at Paramount studios.

I won’t get into the story itself, but I must say to all my Trekkies: my solid ice cold anti-Trek reboot heart is starting to melt. I understand how this film had a 94% Rotten Tomatoes rating, making it a ripe tomato.

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Star Trek, Television6 Comments

#MyStarTrek: The Immigrant Generation

July 20, 2016July 27, 2016 Junko

Originally posted at YOMYOMF

A little context before you jump into reading this: I’m a child of immigrants (access: child of immigrant experience) who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago: the not very diverse kind of suburb (access: white suburbia experience).

I’ve been a Trekkie since I was about seven years old when Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) first aired. Up until then, my father and I use to watch some old Star Trek episodes or the films… Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was a favorite of mine. It was great to see George Takei up there, but I really loved seeing Uhura be the strong independent female especially by the time the films came out.

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Movies, Star Trek12 Comments

I’m a Trekkie and I Loved Into Darkness

September 9, 2013June 17, 2014 Jenn

I’m an unabashed Trekkie. I grew up on Star Trek: The Next Generation, watching it at my piano teacher’s house between lessons. I watched Deep Space Nine and Voyager religiously when I was home from college. I crushed on the usual suspects — Wesley Crusher, Tom Paris, Harry Kim, and Julian Bashir — and consumed my fair share of Star Trek paperback novels in the lull between new episodes.

I saw every TNG full-length movie at midnight openings in theatres. I own the Star Trek Encyclopedia and even made a point to visit the Las Vegas Star Trek Experience exhibit, when it was still touring.

And, I loved Star Trek Into Darkness (which is being released on DVD and Blu-ray this week).

This didn’t seem particularly unusual to me until I read last month that thousands of Trek fans at the official convention in Vegas had voted Into Darkness the single worst Star Trek film in canon history. They voted it worst behind Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Behind Star Trek: Generations! Behind Star Trek: Insurrection! Behind Star Trek V: I Found God at the Edge of the Freakin’ Universe!!!

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