“The Star Gazer”

Following the events of Season 1, Picard returns to his life in France with the flame of love unexpectedly flickering in the vineyard. But when his connection to the Romulan Laris comes up against internal defenses, and Starfleet presents him with a mystery, Picard sets out on a journey of personal exploration that leads him to encounters with old friends.

In this episode of The Artificial Tango, our rebranded dedicated Star Trek: Picard podcast that carries forward the flame from The Line, hosts C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing discuss the start of Season 2, digging into Picard as a character, his connection to Laris, how Seven on Nine serves as a mirror to Picard, how the story sets up a hopeful Federation worth saving, and how the characters transition from the story of Season 1. We also speculate on where the upcoming adventure in Los Angeles might take us.

Note: This episode is being published as a joint episode of Interphase, our Star Trek Universe podcast, and The Artificial Tango, with Interphase being used to introduce the name change and transition of The Line.

Hosts
C Bryan Jones and Matthew Rushing

Production
C Bryan Jones (Editor and Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Cornelia Reutner (Associate Producer)

Serialization in Star Trek.

When it comes to discussion of serialization in Star Trek, Deep Space Nine is the go-to series—at least prior to Discovery and Picard. The Original Series was famously episodic, and The Next Generation, for the most part, followed that same pattern. DS9 itself barely moved away from the model in its first season, but then things started to change. By the time Voyager came along, the winds of serialization were blowing. But how do these two Next Generation spinoffs compare when it comes to story and character threads that span the seasons?

In this episode of Interphase, host C Bryan Jones is joined by Chris Chaplin to discuss the history of serialization in Star Trek—especially comparing Deep Space Nine and Voyager—through plot threads, character arcs, interaction with various species, and more. We also break down the narrative structure of the two series season by season. Lastly, we ask the question, “Is Star Trek episodic by nature?”

Host
C Bryan Jones

Guest
Chris Chaplin

Production
C Bryan Jones (Editor and Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Renee Roberts (Associate Producer)

Watching TOS for the first time, in 2020.

For many of us, the five-year mission of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the crew of the USS Enterprise is what hooked us on Star Trek and made us lifelong fans. But there are many who have never seen The Original Series, and still others who are just now finding Star Trek itself for the first time. What is it like to watch those episodes from the 1960s with modern eyes and sensibilities, without decades of seeing the mythos be built layer by layer, and the approach to storytelling evolve with the times? Can the expectations of today be set aside to allow the messages of Star Trek to shine through the veneer of yesterday?

In this episode of Interphase, host C Bryan Jones is joined by Michael Pfeffer, who has just finished his first-ever viewing of Star Trek: The Original Series—an experience that was, in fact, his first contact with the Star Trek television franchise in general. How did he connect with the style, themes, storytelling, and attitudes of 1960s TV? Let’s find out.

Chapters
Intro (00:00:00)
Connecting with Star Trek (00:02:42)
Starting with TOS (00:05:48)
Target Audience (00:09:12)
More About Characters (00:16:01)
Science, Technology, and Cultures (00:30:52)
What Is Star Trek About? (00:38:34)
Klingons and Romulans as Analogue (00:42:45)
Temporal Insensitivity (00:48:06)
Favorite Episodes (00:53:36)
Final Thoughts (01:00:09)
Closing (01:04:40)

Host
C Bryan Jones

Guest
Michael Pfeffer

Production
C Bryan Jones (Editor and Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Renee Roberts (Associate Producer)

Lower Decks pre-launch speculation.

Starfleet is preparing to become animated once again in the new CBS All Access series Star Trek: Lower Decks. Mike McMahan, writer and producer of the Cartoon Network animated comedy series Rick and Morty and creator of the Hulu animated series Solar Opposites, is introducing us to the people who really make a starship run. Apart from two 2019 installments of Short Treks—“Ephraim and Dot” and “The Girl Who Made the Stars”—Lower Decks marks the first “cartoon” incarnation of the franchise since Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973–74) and follows the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the USS Cerritos, in the year 2380.

In this premiere episode of Interphase, Trek.fm’s new Star Trek Universe podcast, host C Bryan Jones is joined by Hayley Stoddart, Zachary Fruhling, and Chris Chaplin to discuss our expectations, whether Star Trek is the right platform for comedy, our thoughts on the crew and the ship, and whether a fractured fandom can—or should—be reunited.

Host
C Bryan Jones

Guests
Hayley Stoddart, Zachary Fruhling, and Chris Chaplin

Production
C Bryan Jones (Editor and Producer) Matthew Rushing (Executive Producer) Renee Roberts (Associate Producer)