Uncanny Treks

Bob is forced to listen to Matt recount the plot of Matt Reeves' "The Batman". To support Uncanny Treks, to keep B5 vs. DS9 on course, and to get your Patreon exclusive podcast X-Men 92 vs. Young Justice, please support us for as little as $5 a month at https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks

SPOILERS for the Discovery Season 4 finale. Bob and Matt discuss "Assimilation". To support Uncanny Treks, to keep B5 vs. DS9 on course, and to get your Patreon exclusive podcast X-Men 92 vs. Young Justice, please support us for as little as $5 a month at https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks

Bob and Matt discuss B5 S2E21 and DS9 S3E25. To support Uncanny Treks, to keep B5 vs. DS9 on course, and to get your Patreon exclusive podcast X-Men 92 vs. Young Justice, please support us for as little as $5 a month at https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks

Bob and Matt discuss the second episode of Picard season 2. If you like what you hear, please head over to https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks and subscribe at the $5 tier to receive a new episode every week. Thank you for supporting our work!

Bob and Matt discuss B5 S2E20 and DS9 S3E24. To support Uncanny Treks, to keep B5 vs. DS9 on course, and to get your Patreon exclusive podcast X-Men 92 vs. Young Justice, please support us for as little as $5 a month at https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks

Bob and Matt discuss the first episode of Picard season 2. If you like what you hear, please head over to https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks and subscribe at the $5 tier to receive a new episode every week. Thank you for supporting our work!

Bob and Matt discuss B5 S2E19 and DS9 S3E23. To support Uncanny Treks, to keep B5 vs. DS9 on course, and to get your Patreon exclusive podcast X-Men 92 vs. Young Justice, please support us for as little as $5 a month at https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks

Bob and Matt discuss S2E18 of Babylon 5 (chronological order) and S3E22 of DS9. To support Uncanny Treks, to keep B5 vs. DS9 on course, and to get your Patreon exclusive podcast X-Men 92 vs. Young Justice, please support us for as little as $5 a month at https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks

Bob and Matt discuss season 1 of Peacemaker. To support Uncanny Treks, to keep B5 vs. DS9 on course, and to get your Patreon exclusive podcast X-Men 92 vs. Young Justice, please support us for as little as $5 a month at https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks

Bob and Matt discuss S2E16 of Babylon 5 and S3E20 & S3E21 of DS9. To support Uncanny Treks, to keep B5 vs. DS9 on course, and to get your Patreon exclusive podcast X-Men 92 vs. Young Justice, please support us for as little as $5 a month at https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks

Bob and Matt would like to share the first episode of their new podcasting endeavor. If you like what you hear, please head over to https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks and subscribe at the $5 tier to receive a new episode every week. Thank you for supporting our work!

Bob and Matt would like to share the first chapter in their latest podcast endeavor. If you are interested in listening to more, please head over to https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks and subscribe at the $5 tier to receive a new episode each week. Thank you for supporting our work!

Bob and Matt discuss S2E15 of Babylon 5 and S3E18 of DS9. To support Uncanny Treks, to keep B5 vs. DS9 on course, and to get your Patreon exclusive podcast X-Men 92 vs. Young Justice, please support us for as little as $5 a month at https://www.patreon.com/Uncannytreks

Bob and Matt discuss S2E14 of Babylon 5 and S3E17 of DS9.

Matt defends Garibaldi's "Down Below" disguise, while Bob gets deep into the philosophy of Effective Altruism.

Bob and Matt discuss the most recent episode of Star Trek: Prodigy "Kobayashi".

Giggity giggity

All Alone in the Night S2E11 (15 Feb 95) vs. Heart of Stone S2E14 (6 Feb 95)-The Shadows ate our episode on GROPOS vs. Life Support. Sorry folks! Thankfully they weren’t very good episodes-Matt got Fire in the Sky (1993) vibes off Sheridan’s abduction-We both get big Twin Peaks vibes off Sheridan’s vision-We both love James Ellroy’s LA cop novels. Bob also loves Walter Mosley’s LA & James Sallis’s New Orleans PI novels

Coming of Shadows S2E9 (1 Feb 95) vs. Past Tense S3E11-2 (2-9 Jan 95)-The Hugos recognize both science fiction & fantasy-Bob sees both G’Kar & Mollari as being somewhat Falstaffian characters-Emperor Turhan is played by the famous Austro-Turkish actor Turhan Bey, nicknamed Turkish Delight in 40s Hollywood who returned to US tv in the 90s, including playing a Russian on an early seaQuest DSV-One of the many things that’s cringey about The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe is someone selling their soul for Turkish Delight-Prime Minister Malachi is played by Jewish-American actor Malachi Thorne who also played False Face in the 60s Batman show, the Judge on the early 90s Batman cartoon, a gorilla in Batman Beyond, the Talosian keeper in the very first Star Trek ep, the commodore in the original series clipshow episode of that first episode, & a Romulan senator on TNG-Matt & Bob discuss their reluctance to revisit the 60s Batman show & the good things they’ve heard about the Batman ‘66 comic-If you want Roman intrigue, Bob always recommends I, Claudius (1976) &, for Venetian intrigue, Don’t Look Now (1973)-Bob admires Brendan Fraser’s mullet in Doom Patrol-Matt torments Bob w/ Robert Frost-Bob wants to be buried w/ both the Little Red Book (1964) & the Rules of Acquisition (1995)-The cop Vin is played by Dick Miller, he voiced a gangster in Mask of the Phantasm & played the newsstand vendor in Picard’s Dixon Hill program on TNG-Bob has been deeply disgusted by Michael Shellenberger’s book tour & how he wants to expel the homeless from SF-The best entry book on Trotskyism is Ernest Mandel Trotsky: A Study in the Dynamic of his Thought (1979)-Pt2 references the greatest director’s credit of all time in The Wild Bunch (1969)-Pt2 has Ron Howard’s brother as the guy who steals Dax’s combadge, his 2nd of 4 Trek appearances & only 1 as a human, the first being Balok in one of the first original series episodes, the third being a Ferangi in Enterprise, & the 4th being an Orion drug dealer late in Disco S1

Soul Mates S2E8 (14 Dec 94) vs. Fascination S3E10 (28 Nov 94)-Bob continues to recommend the Thomas Pynchon-esque dramedy Lodge 49 (2018-9)-One of the best books on Carnival is Joseph Roach Cities of the Dead (1996)-Matt recommends the comic Batman: Long Halloween (1997), but Bob disagrees & just says go with the film The Godfather (1972), which Long Halloween shamelessly rips off

Bob and Matt discuss the newest Star Trek releases.

Race thru Dark Places S2E7(25 Jan 95) vs. Defiant S3E9 (21 Nov 94)-A couple of cool alternative history novels that incorporate modern technology in Underground Railroad narratives are Colson Whitehead Underground Railroad (2016) & Ishmael Reed Flight to Canada (1976). Bob read the Whitehead after our recording & digs it. He hasn’t read the Reed yet but really digs his Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down (1969) & Mumbo Jumbo (1977)-The group telepathy scene does seem to anticipate JMS’s concerns in Sense8 (2015-8)-Bob’s ranking of Riker guest spots: Voyager, Lower Decks, Deep Space 9, Picard, & Enterprise

Spider in the Web S2E6 (7 Dec 94) vs. Meridian S3E8 (14 Nov 94)-Bob hasn’t watched much of either Parks & Rec or Brooklyn 9-9-Bob strongly recommends the AMC show Lodge 49-The voices of Catwoman, Mr. Freeze, Ra’s al Ghul, & the Judge from Batman: The Animated Series all show up on B5, & the voice of Riddler shows up on DS9.-Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter stars in the first planetary romance novel series-David K. Johnson has written a good history of the Lavender Scare-Jessica Walters played Lucille Bluth on Arrested Development-The review of Ready Player 1 in ep 199 of Chapo Trap House is the only RP1 content you need-Matt recommends the Neal Stephenson novel Snow Crash-James Shigeta plays a Japanese-American detective in the Sam Fuller noir Crimson Kimono & a Vietnamese president in seaQuest DSV-Twin Peaks is one example of US media paranoia of Asian businesspeople in the 80s & 90s

Bob and Matt discuss the latest episode of Star Trek Prodigy.

Bob and Matt discuss what they liked and hated about Titans Season 3.

Long Dark S2E5 (30 Nov 94) vs. Civil Defense S3E7 (7 Nov 94)-Dwight Schultz also played Howling Mad in A-Team & Barclay in TNG-Jerry Doyle & Dwight Schultz both hosted rightwing radio shows, Schultz sometimes guesthosted for Doyle & Michael Savage, & Doyle’s show took Savage’s show’s slot. For the funniest account of Savage & his son, see ep 249 of the amazing podcast Grubstakers-Bob hates on the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy franchise

Bob and Matt discuss the third episode of Star Trek Prodigy.

Bob and Matt discuss the premiere of Star Trek Prodigy.

Distant Star S2E4 (23 Nov 94) vs. Abandoned S3E6 (31 Oct 94)-Bob & Matt failed to make any references beyond their usual Trek, Babylon 5, & Twin Peaks this week, so they’ll just include a link to the video, a preview of their upcoming Patreon campaign: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQI8VA4Iayo

Bob and Matt discuss the season 2 finale.

Geometry of Shadows S2E3 (16 Nov 94) vs. 2nd Skin S3E5 (24 Oct 94)-Technomages don’t reappear in B5 but do play a big role in the spinoff Crusade (1999) & a novel trilogy (2001)-Much to Bob’s distaste, Lord of the Rings & Power Rangers come up-Michael Ansara plays the technomage as well as Kang in TOS & DS9 & Mr. Freeze in Batman TAS-René Descartes entertains questions about the first principles of reason & the possibility of deception & error in Discourse on the Method (1637) & Meditations on 1st Philosophy (1641)-Philip K. Dick’s narratives often engage w/ questions of Cartesian doubt, for example Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) & the film adaptation Blade Runner (1982) & “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” (1966) & the film adaptation Total Recall (1990)-Bob’s example of Cartesian doubt this time is the Hitchcock thriller The Lady Vanishes (1938)-Matt makes grim Purge & Jonathan Swift references

Disclaimer: Cover art is meant to be clickbait (and never going to happen).Bob and Matt discuss the announcement of Babylon 5 returning on the CW Network.

Bob and Matt discuss the latest episode of Lower Decks.

Price of Peace (comic Dec 94-Mar 95) vs. Equilibrium S3E4 (17 Oct 94)-Bob vaguely paraphrases the opening line of Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘Cask of Amontillado’-Matt & Bob references the post-Vietnam & X-Files vibes of the Earth Alliance govt. okaying the Minbari mindwipe of Sinclair-Bob recommends skipping issues #5-10 of the first run of Babylon 5 comics, Matt recommends skipping issues #2-10-The assassination plot seems very inspired by Oliver Stone’s film JFK (1991)-The artist for issue #1-2, & 4, Israeli Mike Netzer, drew a Batman/Green Arrow graphic novel Matt & Bob read as kids, Poison Tomorrow (1992) as well as a 1978 Legion of Super-Heroes back-up where Mon-El fights the Khunds that Bob likes very much in Superboy & the Legion #236-The fill-in artist for #3, Colombian Carlos Garzón, apparently mainly worked on Marvel Star Wars & DC Star Trek comics.-The artist for #11 is Englishman John Ridgway, who did several fill-ins on the best run of the Spectre, John Ostrander’s in the early 90s-Matt & Bob say Cypher sounds like a badass 90s superhero name, but in fairness it is the mutant name of the least badass 80s member of the New Mutants-Bob makes the connections between the Siskos, beets, & black Louisianan cuisine to great Chew artist Rob Guillory-Bob & Matt debate the meaning & entailments of the concept thirst

Bob and Matt discuss the latest episode of Lower Decks.

Revelations S2E3 (11 Nov 94) vs. House of Quark S3E3 (10 Oct 94)-Matt & Bob debate whether Batman should be motivated by guilt in the same way as Spider-Man-Matt connects Delenn’s post-cocoon skin condition to Greyscale in Game of Thrones-Bob references June Lockhart from last season of Babylon 5 & the original Lost in Space-Bob is fatigued of cliched recitings of W.B. Yeats & T.S. Eliot poetry

Bob and Matt discuss the most recent episode of Lower Decks.

Points of Departure S2E1 (2 Nov 94) vs. The Search p1-2 S3E1-2 (26 Sep & 3 Oct 94)-This week Matt & Bob are too excited to introduce the season premieres by name-Matt no-sells Bob’s reference to the variety show Soul Train (1971-2006); in retaliation Bob no-sells Matt’s reference to the Borat franchise

Bob and Matt discuss the latest episode of Lower Decks.

Bob and Matt discuss the most recent episode of Lower Decks.

Bob and Matt discuss the ups and downs of DS9 Season 2.

Bob and Matt recap season 1 of Babylon 5.

Bob and Matt discuss the latest episode of Lower Decks.

Bob and Matt discuss the first four episodes of Titans Season 3 on HBO Max.

Chrysalis S1E22 (3 Oct 94) vs. The Jem’Hadar S2E26 (12 Jun 94)-Matt & Bob recorded a podcast episode on the penultimate television episodes of B5 S1 & DS9 S2, but Matt blacked out for 24 hours and lost all memory of "Legacies" and "Tribunal". He also keeps having flashbacks of torture and probing.-Bob’s favorite Faustian narratives are Christopher Marlowe Dr. Faustus (1592), Goethe Faust Pt. 1 (1808), Lord Byron Manfred (1817), Herman Melville Moby-Dick (1851), & Oscar Wilde Dorian Gray (1891)-Bob speculates that B5 may be the first show to tell a whole narrative across multiple seasons, in contrast to a show like Wiseguy (1987-90) that did multi-episode arcs or more improvisational soap opera like Dallas (1978-91), Crime Story (1986-8), Twin Peaks (1990-1)-Bob speculates that Harry Potter may be responsible for younger millennials’ and zoomers’ love for bildungsromans, in stark contrast to our elder millennial bitterness-Bob does like the new but sadly canceled Twilight Zone (2019-20)-Matt namechecks Banshee from the X-Men & Bob talks fondly about the Stepford Cuckoos’ disquiet that they lack telekinesis-Matt fails his Voight-Kampff test for Galaxy-class starship empathy-Bob, a UAW member, thinks highly of this radio episode on UAW president Walter Reuther’s death https://player.fm/series/history-conspiracy-podcast/the-death-of-walter-reuther-from-the-dave-emory-archives but not so highly of this podcast episode on Sen. Paul Wellstone’s death https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-strange-death-of-senator-paul-wellstone/id1235651909?i=1000501700367-Bob hopes Black Lightning (2018-21) allowed Cress Wiliams to be as haughty in that role as he is as Talak’talan-Bob lies & says we’re covering the B5 comic Price of Peace next, but, instead, we held off a couple of weeks on the comic & did the B5 S2 premiere & 2part DS9 S3 premiere next

Bob and Matt discuss Lower Decks S2E3.

TKO S1E20 (25 May 94) vs. Collaborator S2E24 (22 May 94)-Matt & Bob debate whether we’d be better off w/ the Mutai or The Purge franchise-Theodore Bikel also played Worf’s foster father in The Next Generation-Matt’s favorite boxing movies are Rocky (1976), Raging Bull (1980), & Pulp Fiction (1994). Bob’s are The Set-up (1949), Raging Bull, & Creed (2015)-Matt’s favorite martial arts movies are Drunken Master (1978) & Mortal Kombat (1995). Bob’s are both 1978 Shaw Bros films: 36th Chamber of Shaolin & 5 Deadly Venoms-Bob embarrassingly forgot that Johnny Blaze is a nom de guerre of Method Man-Twin Peaks & Sopranos are the best dream shows-Matt & Bob both co-sign that Danny McBride’s HBO comedies are the great examples of contemporary southern realism-Matt harasses Bob for not watching Logan (2017)

Bob and Matt discuss Season 2 Episode 2 of Lower Decks.

Bob and Matt review The Suicide Squad. To support our podcast, please consider subscribing to our Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/uncannytreks.

Quality of Mercy S1E19 (17 Aug 94) vs. Crossover S2E23 (15 May 94)-Matt maybe coins a phrase for a common sf trope: hardluck telepathy, examples from the X-Men include: Jean Grey, Emma Frost, Betsy Braddock, Kwannon, David Haller, Xi’an Coy Manh, Dani Moonstar, Quentin Quire, David Alleyne, & Stepford Cuckoos-Matt educates Bob on ‘Cult of Personality’-All the talk of spacing puts Bob in mind of the famous hard sf tale ’Cold Equations’, although it’s arguably a bit ridiculous & pretty sexist-Magneto gets mindwiped in the climax of Fatal Attractions (1993)-Bob was foolishly misremembering the concept of Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton as being introduced in Weapon X (1991), but it was much earlier in Proteus Saga (1979), although Wolverine’s unbreakable bones were alluded to before-June Lockhart played Dr. Maureen Robinson in the original Lost in Space (1965-8) & Dr. Rosen in this episode; sadly, there’s no reunion with Bill Mumy-The best popular book on M4A is Tim Faust Health Justice Now: Single Payer & What Comes Next (2019)-Bob references Sigmund Freud's very short essay “Medusa’s Head” (1922). The best & funnest popular introduction to psychoanalysis is Slavoj Žižek Looking Awry: An Introduction to Jacques Lacan through Popular Culture (1991)-Bob & Matt compare the many episodes, comics, & novels set in the Mirror Universe-Bob again waxes nostalgic about Diane Duane Star Trek novels-Bob praises the Star Trek comics crossovers w/ Planet of the Apes (2015) & Legion of Super-Heroes (2012) & condemns the Dr. Who crossover (2012)-Matt references an Odo retcon in the David Mack Section 31 novel Disavowed (2014)-Great if controversial movies involving slavery include Burn! (1969), Mandingo (1975), Drum (1976), Django Unchained (2012), 12 Yrs a Slave (2013), Aferim! (2015), & Free State of Jones (2016)