STAR TREK CONTINUES releases their 10TH EPISODE: “To Boldly Go, Part 1”!

29 thoughts on “STAR TREK CONTINUES releases their 10TH EPISODE: “To Boldly Go, Part 1”!”

1. Oh my god..

   They got it so right.

   1. I know!!!! 🙂

2. Excellent episode! It’s almost like watching Willian Shatner in the bridge again. I’m pretty sad that we’re soon going to see the end of the 5 year Mission.

   1. All good things…

      But yes, Edward, I feel your pain, too.

   2. Well, you know, there would’ve been two more episodes if–

      ::takes deep breath, turns around slowly, walks away::

      1. …if Vic and the STC didn’t decide to do four more episodes instead of six.

         1. And if Axanar hadn’t happened.

            1. Then likely Renegades would have been sued, and we’d liekly still have the guidelines.

               The guidelines were inevitable, James. Trek fan films (including STC) were regularly raising five and six-figure amounts to create their productions. Remember that Axanar had already been shut down by the time the guidelines were released. They weren’t intended to stop Axanar but rather to stop the biggest fish who were left who were not being sued…mainly Renegades, who had announced they would do 12 half-hour episodes per year as seasons of an ongoing fan series. Look at guideline #1. It was written for Renegades, not for Axanar (which was going to be a single feature film).

3. Just got through watching the episode, and I really enjoyed it, no question!!!! 🙂 CBS should be taking notes from these people on how to write and portray a proper Star Trek episode, but of course, their arrogance will never allow them to do such a thing – So sad… *smh*

   1. The funny thing is that, for the price of producing ONE MINUTE of a single episode of Star Trek: Discovery, CBS could produce FOUR one-hour episodes of Star Trek Continues. (Yeah, I checked my math on that. It’s correct.) 🙂

      1. That statement isn’t exactly true. If CBS produced it, it would cost quite a bit more, as they’d have to pay market rates to make it. Vic and Co. could probably do it, though…..

         1. CBS couldn’t create a series on those sets simply because the STC studio is located so far off the beaten track and the support infrastructure just isn’t there in southeastern Georgia. Also, Vic and company were paying folks about 10% (on average) of what they would usually charge. But if they were working full-time on a series for CBS, you can bet they’d want their standard rate. Also, the unions wouldn’t tolerate such low wages on a network-produced show.

4. Watched the new episode. I love these guys! My only issue has been with Spock’s makeup being uneven (it’s darker on his face than his neck and makes him look odd), but outside of that, these guys have been doing a great job of recreating the feel of the original series. My mother and I watched the first 7 or 8 episodes of STC together (she needs to catch up on the ones I’ve already seen) shortly after we watched ST-TOS in its entirety and we both agree that watching STC feels like we’re watching new episodes of TOS. My personal favourite of the STC episodes is still “Come Not Between Dragons” (Usti is so adorable, they should make a plush toy of him), but all of the episodes have been true to the feel and spirit of the original. I will be sad to see the STC series end, but it’s been a great ride and we’ll still have them to watch over again along side TOS. Great job STC. Live Long and Prosper.

   1. If your ONLY problem is Spock having uneven make-up, Elley, I’d say these guys have pretty much scored a touchdown! 🙂

5. Um . . . nah. Things were happening in the episode because the writers wanted it to happen, not because the characters did. (SPOILERS)

   Teaser was a bit weak, ending on Not-The-Kirk’s “Romulans!” (NTK — Sorry Vic, I can’t get past the acting. Kirk you’re not. Although the acting was better than what I saw in a previous episode. Still, the work reminds me of Baby Dinosaur’s name for his Dad.) Also, Admiral Thesp’s complete lack of information of what was really happening on Aldeberan really didn’t sit well with me, especially since Yorktown and Republic were lost after a similar mission to investigate.

   Act I was kkay by itself (well, except for the battle droid that had worse fire-control than a BSG Cylon Centurion who couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn at close range). The trouble that I had was that Act I was completely negated later on because Lara clearly demonstrated the ability to have the redshirts kill themselves with her mind manipulation and also dupe the Enterprise’s bridge crew into chasing the Romulan “Marauder” into the Neutral Zone when no such ship ever existed. She even bragged about killing everyone on the Hood because she could. She turned off the super-duper force field on her holding cell with the wave of a hand. She and Sentek could keep the Romulans from firing their plasma torpedo. So if she could do all that, why go through the lame schtick that we saw in Act I to get her and Sentek on the Enterprise? (Answer: because the writer wanted her to do it, not because the character wanted to. The character is an omnipotent being. She can do whatever she wants, whenever she wants merely with mind control and direct physical control of her surroundings.)

   And when NTK asks himself at 36:00 “Have I put my ship at unnecessary risk?” I immediately thought “YESSSSS! You did!!” (See? NTK was more like Janeway.) But to be honest, Admiral Thesp did screw him up by not providing THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP with top secret info on what was really happening down on the planet. But NTK could have deduced something was wrong with Thesp’s story when in the transporter room at 6:15 Spok said the colony was destroyed by a power system containment failure and NOT by Romulan disruptor weapons as per Thesp’s intel. For NTK to ignore that and not set up secure protocols like the code used in “For Whom the Gods Destroy” was his own fault.

   Oh, but the Galaxy Quest tuck & roll at 8:37 was priceless. 🙂

   IMHO.

   1. I’m going on record as saying that I thoroughly enjoy Vic’s portrayal of James Kirk. It’s not an easy thing to do, following Shatner. His dramatic style is truly his own and very unique. Trying to imitate it usually results in more of a parody. On the other hand, to NOT imitate Shatner, you aren’t really portraying Captain Kirk.

      So Vic walks a VERY challenging line between homage and satire. And to me, he pulls it off very successfully. No, we’ll never see William Shatner portraying a young Captain Kirk any more. Those days are locked in 79 classic and 22 animated episodes. So if you want to see a show like Star Trek Continues even exist, Kirk has to be portrayed by someone–be they a professional actor, an Elvis impersonator, an untrained fan, or a voice-over actor. And it’ll be easy to find fault with any of the above portrayals. What’s significantly harder–by exponential orders of magnitude!–is to be the one actually portraying the character.

      I don’t look at STC episodes for all that they are not. I look at them and admire them for all that they ARE.

6. I’m hoping Vic and crew follow up with an original production after this that no one can put the brakes on.

   They’ve shown that you can do intelligent Sci Fi that can hold an audience’s attention at a fraction of the cost Hollywood attempts to do it on. Do something that allows everyone involved to make a living and continue to do something they love and the fans appreciate. n I for one know I’m willing to follow where ever they go.

   1. Well, they didn’t exactly pay people enough to make a living. Vic was usually able to bargain the production team members (those who were getting paid and not volunteering) to about 10% of what they would usually charge for their services.

7. Having ST:C and ST:NV/P2 wind down at the same time is really a loss for the star trek fan community. I have a soft spot for ST:NV even though their earlier offerings were a little rough. The last few, however, were terrific and Mind Sifter, in particular, was great.

   As an old school trekker (watching reruns in the early 70s with my dad) the original series (and Wrath of Khan era) aesthetic is really satisfying to me. So even though ST:C, which was great from the start, is going out on a great note, it will be sad that there’s nothing regular on the horizon to scratch that original series itch.

   1. Well, STC was always going to end eventually, In fact, the original plan was to have 13 episodes. So ultimately, only two episodes were never made…still sad, but not as cataclysmic as if they’d been planning another 10 or 20 episodes and were only able to give fans four of them.

      1. True. Still sad, though!

8. Finally got to watch this yesterday. And this is easily the best episode of this series. Probably the only one I’d watch a second time.

   As far as this series goes, there’s a few assertions they make that I am not finding anywhere else. I am not a canon junkie. For me if it’s not in the 79 episodes. or TNG etc… It’s not something I consider Canon. So do you know if it’s in a book or something?

   So I’d like to know….
   1. where the idea that only the Enterprise completed the 5 year mission, came from. If you have 12 Constitution class ships it doesn’t make a lot of sense, that all those ships would be on the same mission. Or that all the others were failures in one way or another.
   2. Kirk states, that the Preservers, constructed the energy barrier. Which,,, that’s a big job.. encompassing a whole galaxy like that, and doesn’t make a lot of sense.

   I do feel obligated, to point out that as good as the episode is, that what they doing is still in violation of the guidelines. Does this mean that others can do the same?

   1. 1. where the idea that only the Enterprise completed the 5 year mission, came from. If you have 12 Constitution class ships it doesn’t make a lot of sense, that all those ships would be on the same mission. Or that all the others were failures in one way or another.

      I believe is was in the novelization of The Motion Picture where it implied Kirk’s mission was the first of the 5-year missions, and they previous durations were four years or less. That doesn’t make complete sense, as the NX-01 was out in space at least ten years under Archer. Also, Spock served on the Enterprise under Pike for 11 and a half years. So one might assume that Kirk’s 5-year mission was simply one of many.

      As for other Starships, let’s look at how many were lost or destroyed. The Constellation was destroyed by the planet killer, the Intrepid by the giant space amoeba, and the Defiant fell into another universe. It’s not clear whether or not the M-5 destroyed the Excalibur during war games with the Enterprise. The Farragut was attacked by the vamopire cloud creature, but ha;f the crew survived. Perhaps the starship did, too. On STC, the Lexington and Hood were also lost in space. So yeah, those Constitution-class starships seem to be dropping like flies!

      2. Kirk states, that the Preservers, constructed the energy barrier. Which,,, that’s a big job.. encompassing a whole galaxy like that, and doesn’t make a lot of sense.

      Well, the line was, in fact, a bit of a throw-away just to honor yet another bit of Star Trek lore: the preservers (from “The Paradise Syndrome”). Obviously, they were a very powerful species. Perhaps the were gods. Who is to say they didn’t have the power to create an energy field 300,000 light-years in circumference? It was negative energy, after all. 🙂
      
      I do feel obligated, to point out that as good as the episode is, that what they doing is still in violation of the guidelines. Does this mean that others can do the same?

      A fair question to ask, Mickey. But as STC itself said, the guidelines are guidelines, not laws. You violate them at your own risk. If CBS and Paramount choose to leave your fan series alone, that it their prerogative. But they can just as easily decide to sue. So yes, others can do the same…and assume the same risks as STC did.

9. Well, the Enterprise and her crew have come full circle. And once again, they are dealing with the consequences of coming into contact with the galactic barrier. Not only is the Romulan Commander from The Enterprise Incident(played by Joanne Linville’s daughter Amy Rydell)helping Kirk and crew out, they are also having to deal with Section 31 and one of their Black Ops projects getting SERIOUSLY out of control. One that has ‘SPOILER ALERT’ already claimed the life of Security Chief Drake, and will no doubt claim many more before Part 2 comes to an end. I have a hunch who the soon to be fatalities will be.

   What really frustrates me the most about this – aside from other reasons that are well known – is that Kirk doesn’t even suspect that the female Esper is not a ‘peaceful one’. You would think that after what happened with Gary Mitchell and Elizabeth Dehner, Jim would be more suspicious and not bring that esper on board. Somebody on STC’s writing staff should have done their research more and made some changes to the story.

   SMH. Another reason – among many – why I’m glad that STC is coming to an end. Not only has it been just a rip-off of Star Trek-New Voyages/Phase II(and spiteful one at that), it has also had its share of some less-than-stellar writing.

   Like the late Leonard Nimoy stated back in 2009 – Star Trek has run its course.

   1. I honestly don’t think Star Trek has run its course, BT. And as for the writing on STC, it’s ever-so-easy to criticize. I do it often for Star Trek: Discovery. But I appreciate and acknowledge how hard the production team works on that show, how dedicated they are, and that they have the best of intentions. I feel as though you don’t give that same respect to the folks at Star Trek Continues…which is a shame.

      1. To quote an old Klingon phrase “Respect is earned. It is not given away.”

         And given the fact that STC was born out of Vic’s inability to takeover the New Voyages/Phase II production from James Cawley – something well known in fan circles concerning the dispute between those two – that is one of MANY ways NOT to earn respect.

         It may be easy to criticize – especially since Vic and his staff ripped off some episode ideas from a friend of mine who wrote and posted some stories back in the first decade of the 21st Century – but the weakness in the ‘re-writing’ still shows.

         Star Trek has indeed run its course. And Star Trek – Discovery, as well as what led to CBS/Paramount enforcing those guidelines back in 2016 AD, is a sign of just that.

         1. I have a great respect for all that STC accomplished. I might not always agree with what Vic says or does (and the same is true when it comes to Alec), but I respect and admire what Vic was able to create and accomplish. Eleven full-length, high-quality fan productions in five years. Over a half million dollars raised from fans. Keeping all of those moving pieces from crashing down and coming out the other end triumphant. I had enjoyed each and every episode of STC immensely and consider them a gift to fans.

            To me at least, respect has indeed been duly earned.

10. [quote]What really frustrates me the most about this – aside from other reasons that are well known – is that Kirk doesn’t even suspect that the female Esper is not a ‘peaceful one’. You would think that after what happened with Gary Mitchell and Elizabeth Dehner, Jim would be more suspicious and not bring that esper on board. Somebody on STC’s writing staff should have done their research more and made some changes to the story. [/quote]

    Yeah, that was my beef, also. Jonathan thought that my spiel, above, was that I didn’t like HOW Vic played Kirk, but that’s only half of the problem. The other half is WHAT this Kirk did, and that had the egregious error in this episode of not taking any precautions similar to how Kirk kept Garth off the Enterprise in “For Whom Gods Destroy.” I mean, 4 ships were lost in the same area (Yorktown, Republic, crew of Hood, and Halifax) and Kirk doesn’t catch nor prepare for the case where the intel he got from Admiral Thesp didn’t match with what was evident on the ground. In short, this Kirk volunteered his own (and his ship’s) jeopardy, just like Janeway did a lot.

    And the really sad thing was that it just needed another pass or two through the writing room to polish that up, say to have Kirk be ‘smart’ and put in some protocols to avoid entrapment but Lara could have gotten around them by the end of Act I. She’s certainly smart enough (enough so that she could have Kirk doing pirouettes in tutus by the time it was done)

    But I didn’t buy into her being benevolent, either, from the moment she said it.

    So, like I said, “Nah.” But that’s just me. If others liked it, great. Enjoy.

    1. Personally, I was satisfied with how they handled it: Kirk deciding to let Lara come aboard and Spock being concerned with that decision. Their conversation was a tool used by the writers to explain what needed to happen in order for the story to unfold. Lana needed to be brought aboard with the crew’s trust. Kirk’s reasoning was that Gary Mitchell was corrupted by absolute power, but Elizabeth Dehner held onto her humanity. And also–and this was something that Spock found to be logical–Kirk felt that, if the Enterprise was about to go up against 25 enhanced ESPers, then it was better that they had at least one enhanced ESPer of their own. There wasn’t really time to “ESPer-proof” the ship. Gary Mitchell was essentially unstoppable anyway–how do you protect your ship from a god? So Kirk just went with his gut that this woman would be more of an asset than a threat. He was wrong, ultimately, but the command decision had to be made quickly. The clock was ticking, as the ESPers were already on their way to the galactic barrier.

       And hey, if that’s your only complaint with the episode, then I’d say they did pretty well. There was a lot more to the story than just Kirk’s bad command decision…and even the great captain himself is still…human. He makes mistakes.

Comments are closed.