Captain’s Log, Stardate 11338.5
This week of Star Trek Sundays had to be one of my favourites. Both the watch and discuss. I’m a huge fan of the James Bond books and movies so seeing this mashup of James Bond and Star Trek was great fun in Spies and Their Lies in podcast episode 17.
First Officer T curated the following episodes for us to discuss for this episode:
- The Enterprise Incident, The Original Series, S03, Ep04, First aired: 27 September 1968
- Face of the Enemy, The Next Generation, S06, Ep14, First aired: 8 February 1993
- Our Man Bashir, Deep Space 9, S04, Ep10, First aired: 27 November 1995
Starting with The Enterprise Incident, once again we saw some sparks fly – between Spock and the Romulan Commander – in this RomTrek episode. And I loved how they didn’t just forget that. The writers carried it through to the end when Spock was escorting the Commander to her quarters – in a turbolift I might add, a la Q & A.
We asked the crew if there was ever a time they found themselves having to deceive someone in order to do what they felt was the right thing? And the answers might surprise you in all the right ways.
I found Face of the Enemy quite disturbing at first. Imagine being kidnapped and surgically altered to look like one of your enemies. I know spies do it but generally it is done with consent.
This was an excellent episode and a great follow up to The Enterprise Incident. It was a nice vehicle for Deanna Troi’s character to shine, and for Marina Sirtis to show off some acting chops. The way Picard and his crew went along with Deanna’s character was interesting and fun. Improv with high stakes.
And
finally we get to Our Man Bashir – a wonderful homage to all things James Bond, and its own parodies.
I figured I would like this one a lot given my affinity for all things Bondian, but this was way better than I expected. It wasn’t just a take on Bond or a parody of Bond but the writers added something new with the twist. And I liked how Garak wasn’t really a Felix Leiter character for our man Bashir but more like a Watson in some level-headed way.
I felt a bit protective of Bashir when Garak was criticizing the holodeck program. And that goes back to our discussions on “what’s your freaky” and that there should be no shame in what tickles us, for the most part.
This episode, for me, felt like the answer to the question, “What franchise would you like to see mashed up with Star Trek?
So, I put that to the crew and the answers were imaginative and delightful.
Star Trek Sundays Episode 17 Crew:
First Officer T, Lt. Jamesy, Lt. io, Ensign Maicol, Ensign Adam
