Uncanny Treks

Babylon 5: The Gathering (22 Feb 93) v DS9 S1 E1-2 Emissary (4 Jan 93)-We weren’t wild about Tamlyn Tomita’s performance as Lt. Cdr. Takashima, but we love her as Commodore Oh in Star Trek: Picard (2020)-Johnny Sekka who played Dr. Kyle was a Senegalese-born Gambian actor famous from the London theater scene-Dr. Kyle’s & Ms. Alexander’s openings of Ambassador Kosh’s encounter suit reminded us of scenes in the films Kiss Me Deadly (1955), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), & Pulp Fiction (1994)-A fantastic early use of Medusa in sf is Catherine Moore tale “Shambleau” (Weird Tales 1933), and the other famous weird fiction writer referenced is H.P. Lovecraft, known for his Cthulhu Mythos (1917-35)-The amazing DS9 dream episode w/ Sisko as 50s sf writer is “Far beyond the Stars” (1998)-The early Next Generation episodes w/ crossovers to the original Star Trek series we reference are “Encounter at Farpoint” (1987), “Sarek” (1990), “Unification” (1991), & “Relics” (1992)-Colm Meaney’s post-DS9 work includes Intermission (2003) & Hell on Wheels (2011-6), René Auberjonois’s post-DS9 work includes Boston Legal (2004-8), & the great Michelle Forbes appeared as Ro Laren in 8 episodes of Next Gen S5-7 (1991-4)-For more on the historical specificity of antisemitism, see the political economist Moishe Postone essay “The Holocaust & the Trajectory of the C20” (2003)-DS9 premiered in Jan 93, B5 in Feb 93, & X-Files in Sep 93-Delenn’s rings have big Green Lantern Corps or the Mandarin (Iron Man antagonist) energy-Afrofuturist novelist & sf critic Samuel Delany seizes on descriptions of doors as an example of the techniques of sf language in prose fiction late in his essay “About 5,750 Words” (1968)

Introductory episode:-Even as 90s kids, we weren’t clear on the differences between Babylon 5 (1993-9), Stargate SG-1 (1997-2008), & Farscape (1999-2004)-The aborted B5 computer game was developed by Sierra, the company famous for King’s Quest (1980-2016) & Space Quest (1986-95)-B5 S1-4 was on PTEN, B5 S5, most of the latter tv movies, & the spinoff series Crusade (1999) were on TNT-Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-93) is a big touchstone for both of us, Matt likes “The Inner Light” (1992) episode, Captain Riker’s adventures continue in the fun Titan novels (2005-17), but the proliferation of new Trek tv series set after the movie Nemesis (2002) have led to the announcement of a Coda trilogy of novels (2021) to end the extensive novel series that had continued the Next Gen, DS9, Voyager, & Titan crews’ adventures-The first DS9 console game was Crossroads of Time (1995)-As kids we both played the Star Trek 25th Anniversary computer game (1992) & the sequel Judgement Rites (1993)-The B5 S2 episode Bob references is “Distant Star” (1994)