Uncanny Treks

B5 S1 E4 Infection (18 Feb 94) v DS9 S1E11 Nagus (21 Mar 93)

-Ikarrian infections recalls in various ways the Star Trek: Next Generation antagonists the Borg, the role of evil AI in the original Trek (“Return of the Archons” [1967] & “Ultimate Computer” [1968] are 2 of the most prominent), the Phalanx in X-Men comics (they’re first big story Phalanx Covenant came out a few months after this episode, the Black Panther antagonist Klaw (debuted 1966), & the Terminator (1st 2 films came out in 1984 & 1991)

-DC Comics published an 11-issue B5 comic series (1994-95). The first arc, Price of Peace, was published in a trade paperback, & we will probably cover it on the show between S1 & 2 of B5. The second arc, Shadows Past & Present, explores the backstory of how Garibaldi & Sinclair meet. It isn’t good, folks. In 1998 DC republished a 3-issue B5 mini called In Valen’s Name, which takes place in B5 S4, we might cover that. DC’s interest in B5 comics may have stemmed from its long swath of publishing Trek comics (1984-96)

-David McCallum was one of the leads of the excellent English series Sapphire & Steel (1979-82). The other 2 charismatic characters from Sapphire & Steel, beside the leads, were Lead & Silver. The finale of Sapphire & Steel influenced Twin Peaks Season 3: The Return (2017)

-Mark Fisher, one of our great theorists & horror media critics, writes about Sapphire & Steel in his Ghosts of My Life: Writings on Depression, Hauntology and Lost Futures (2014), although his posthumous The Weird & the Eerie (2017) is also relevant.

-The leather aesthetic was big in the first X-Men film trilogy (2000-6) & Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run (2001-4)

-Quark’s reception of a petitioner is an homage to the opening scene of The Godfather (1972)

-Ironic given his portrayal of a capitalist patriarch, Wallace Shawn is also a socialist playwright & his monologue play The Fever (1990) is a particularly harsh presentation. The podcast Proles of the Round Table has an excellent version of the play.

-Scenes of learning to read in primary or secondary languages or awakening to the power of the written word are an important trope of Afro-American literature, for example in Frederick Douglass & Richard Wright autobiographies Octavia Butler Dawn (1987) sf novel

B5 S1 E3 Born to the Purple (9 Feb 94) v DS9 S1 E8 Dax (13 Feb 93)

-For more about metaphysical questions of identity, consult the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s entries on ‘identity’, ‘personal identity’, ‘identity over time’, & ‘relative identity’

-For a recent critique of meritocracy, see Daniel Markovits Meritocracy Trap: How America's Foundational Myth Feeds Inequality, Dismantles the Middle Class, & Devours the Elite (2019) & a critical interview with the author on The Genn [Loury] Show

-Trills factor heavily into Star Trek: Discovery S3 (2020-1) & the new space opera novel that has shaped Bob’s understanding of the Trill as an integrated consciousness is Arkady Martine Memory Called Empire (2019)

“Long Black Veil” is a famous country ballad originally performed by Lefty Frizzell (1959) similar to the plot of “Dax”. The ballad has also been covered by Joan Baez (1963), Johnny Cash (1965), & al.

-Italian actress Fabiana Udenio is best known for roles in Austin Powers (1997) & Jane the Virgin (2014-9)

-The use of Quark’s bar as a courtroom recalled similar scenarios in westerns like Man who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) & Deadwood (2004-6)

-Other, better Star Trek episodes involving legal proceedings are Next Generation episodes “Measure of a Man” (1989) & “Drumhead” (1991) & the Voyager episode “Death Wish” (1996)

-DS9 returns to questions of murder & the Dax symbiote in “Equillibrium” (1994)

B5 S1 E2 Soul Hunter (2 Feb 94) v DS9 S1 E7 Q-Less (8 Feb 93)

-Bob misidentifies the year for “Soul Hunter”; it’s actually 94

-Sf writer Isaac Asimov is most famous for his Robot (1950-6) & Foundation (1951-3) trilogies

-Bob continues his streak of being one year off on airdates, Bladerunner is actually 82 (it came out on the same day as John Carpenter’s The Thing, remarkably)

-Q appears in 10 episodes across almost every season of Next Generation, Vash appears in the Next Gen episodes “Captain’s Holiday” (1990) & “Qpid” (1991)

-Two of the best studies that explore the triangulating dynamics of desire are René Girard Deceit, Desire and the Novel: Self and Other in Literary Structure (1961) & Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick Between Men: English Literature & Male Homosocial Desire (1985)

-Harry Mudd has appeared in 2 original Trek episodes, 1 animated Trek episode, 2 Discovery episodes, & 1 Short Trek

-The new space opera novel that has shaped Bob’s understanding of the Trill as an integrated consciousness is Arkady Martine Memory Called Empire (2019)

-Prof. Moriarty tries to murder by exsanguination in Sherlock Holmes & the Secret Weapon (1943)

-Twin Peaks S3: The Return (2017) is the best thing to air on tv since the moon landing

-The best cocoons in pop culture are spun by the kaiju Mothra

-N’Grath does seem to only appear in B5 S1. His ancestor Zorak debuted in 1966 & returned for Space Ghost: Coast to Coast in 1994

In this bonus episode, Bob and Matt discuss the trailers that dropped on First Contact Day.

B5 S1 E1 Midnight on the Firing Line (26 Jan 94) v DS9 S1 E3 Past Prologue (11 Jan 93)

-Lursa & B’Etor appeared in the Next Generation episodes “Redemption” (1991) & “Birthright” (1994) & movie Generations (1994)

-Andrew Robinson, the great actor who plays plain & simple Garak, published the novel Stitch in Time (2000), which fills in Garak’s backstory & was published as the last numbered DS9 novel shortly after the end of the tv series. The novel would be very influential on the DS9 relaunch novels (2001-17) that continued the story after the tv series’ end

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)