tavnian star trek

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Tavny (or Tavnia ) was a planet located in the space of the galaxy 's Alpha or Beta Quadrants , in the Umani sector .

History and specifics [ ]

Tavny was the homeworld to the Tavnian civilization . ( DS9 comic : " Lwaxana Troi and the Wedding of Doom ", TNG - Slings and Arrows eBook : The Insolence of Office ; ST website  : StarTrek.com )

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• DS9 comic : " Lwaxana Troi and the Wedding of Doom "
• TNG - Slings and Arrows eBook : The Insolence of Office
• ST website  : StarTrek.com

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS04E21TheMuse

Recap / Star Trek Deep Space Nine S 04 E 21 The Muse

Edit locked.

Jake hangs around the Promenade people-watching and thinking up ideas for stories. His eyes land on a mysterious woman from far away. Meanwhile, Lwaxana Troi shows up in Odo's office, crying and pregnant! She explains that she's on the run from her husband, a Tavnian, who treats her like his possession and means to take her newborn son away from her.

At the replimat, the mysterious woman notices Jake writing and introduces herself as Onaya, and she's got a thing for artists. She's helped many artists unlock their true potential, including a famous Cardassian architect. With a generous helping of erotic subtext, she offers to help Jake with his writing, and he agrees. Jake cancels on a trip with his father and Kasidy Yates to keep an appointment he makes with Onaya. She gifts him a pen and tells him to start writing in a stream of consciousness. He does, and ideas start pouring out of him. Unbeknownst to him, however, Onaya is draining his life force as he writes.

Lwaxana is bummed and, being a telepath, bumming everyone else out at Quark's bar, so Odo comes in to distract her. She manages to invite herself into his quarters and is amazed by his shapeshifting furniture. Odo provides a shoulder for her to sleep on (turning himself into a pillow and blanket) and later plays hide and seek with her to keep her occupied. But her husband, Jeyal, finally arrives. Odo confronts him, but Jeyal won't be dissuaded from exercising his custody over his son. Odo hatches a plan to marry Lwaxana in a Tavnian ceremony to transfer custody of her child to him. But in the process, he'll have to convince Jeyal that his love for Lwaxana is genuine.

Jake is writing page after page, but he's slowly getting the life drained out of him. Onaya keeps cautioning him to slow down, but he keeps writing, and she keeps feeding. He finally takes a break and collapses at the replimat. Bashir takes him to sick bay and notes that his brain is in a critical state. Onaya abducts Jake from the hospital and takes him to a secluded spot near the reactor core to keep writing.

Odo and Lwaxana go through the Tavnian marriage ceremony, but his stiff proclamations don't convince Jeyal. Odo then talks about how Lwaxana accepted who he is and helped him feel pride about himself rather than shame. Jeyal accepts the marriage and leaves. Lwaxana thanks Odo heartily for helping him and announces that she's going to take the next ship to Betazed. Disappointed, Odo suggests she stay until she gives birth. She tells him that, even though he's started to enjoy her company, she knows he'll never love her like she loves him, and that will ultimately cause their friendship to sour, so she's got to go. Odo accepts this, and they depart, though still officially as husband and wife.

Sisko arrives back on the station and tracks Jake down. He finds his son near death and forces Onaya away at phaserpoint. The psychic vampire defends her actions saying that although she kills artists, she gives them immortality through their work. This fails to impress Sisko. She starts to dematerialize, and Sisko tries to phaser her to prevent her from escaping, but it has no effect. She floats off the station as a shimmer of light. After recovering, Jake is reluctant to take credit for the amazing writing he did while under Onaya's spell. Sisko argues that the words are already inside him. He just needs to figure out another way to get them out. Jake is convinced and signs his name to the unfinished novel, Anslem .

• Comforting Comforter : Odo turns his hand into a blanket for Lwaxana.
• Lwaxana recalls the death of her daughter while walking with Odo.
• Odo's Love Confession (below) makes reference to the time he and Lwaxana were trapped in a turbolift together .
• The book the Muse is drawing out of Jake is Anslem , the critically acclaimed book that was first brought up in the future alternate timeline portrayed during " The Visitor ", complete with a closeup of Jake writing the title on the manuscript.
• Onaya mentions "Tarbolde," an alien artist quoted in the original series episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before."
• Dead Artists Are Better : Onaya feeds off the creative energy of artists, killing them while they create their greatest work.
• Does This Remind You of Anything? : While Onaya makes it clear their relationship is to be purely chaste ("Whatever you're thinking, put it out of your mind. You're here to work .") her interactions with Jake come across a lot like a sexual predator grooming a naive teenager.
• Emotion Eater : Onaya feeds on psychic energy while simultaneously stimulating an artist's creative ability. It kills them, but leaves them with a final masterpiece.
• Energy Being : Onaya is ultimately revealed to be a creature of psionic energy who has assumed a humanoid form. At the end, she reverts to her true form — a glowing ball of light — and disappears right through the station walls.
• He-Man Woman Hater : This is evidently a fundamental part of Tavnian culture. Not only are the sexes strictly segregated, each not even learning that the other exists until they are sixteen, but wives are considered their husbands' property. Jeyal firmly insists that he intends his son to be raised "by men, not by the pampering foolishness of women", and later, when telling his now ex-wife how much he will miss her, tells her that she was "my most treasured possession".
• Karma Houdini : Onaya gets away scot-free after nearly frying Jake's brain.
• Loophole Abuse : Odo realizes that according to Tavnian law, custody of a woman's male child goes to her "husband," not the father, so he marries her to take custody away from the father.
• Love Confession : Though Odo tries some hollow platitudes to satisfy Jeyal, he doesn't buy it. So Odo lets it fly from the Changeling equivalent of a heart. Odo: Before I met her, my world was... a much smaller place. I kept to myself, I didn't need anyone else, and I took pride in that. The truth is, I was ashamed of what I was, afraid that if people saw how truly different I was, they would recoil from me. Lwaxana saw how different I was... and she didn't recoil. She wanted to see more. For the first time in my life, someone wanted me as I was. And that changed me forever. The day I met her is the day I stopped being alone. And I want her to be part of my life from this day on.
• The Muse : Onaya is a fatal kind, preying on her subjects while unlocking their artistic abilities.
• Please, Don't Leave Me : Odo to Lwaxana when she changes plans to go back to Betazed to have her baby instead of having it on the station. It's less about romantic love and more that Odo is very lonely and Lwaxana gives him someone to take care of. Lwaxana recognizes that he's in love with Kira, and gently rebuffs him, saying that she doesn't want to make him fall for her. She wants him to be happy.
• Psychic Nosebleed : Jake gets them while Onaya is feeding off his creativity.
• Shout-Out : Onaya mentions John Keats and Catallus, two poets who died before the age of 30.
• What Happened to the Mouse? : Deanna Troi's half-brother is never brought up again, despite her appearances in the TNG films, Voyager , and Picard . He is only finally named and appears in the ebook The Insolence of Office (in the Slings and Arrows miniseries) and in two of the Marvel's DS9 comics, as well as a short story and novel which take place during the Dominion War.
• Star Trek Deep Space Nine S 04 E 20 Shattered Mirror
• Recap/Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• Star Trek Deep Space Nine S 04 E 22 For The Cause

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine : “Shattered Mirror”/“The Muse”

“Shattered Mirror” (season four, episode 19; originally aired 4/22/1996)

In which Jake loses his other mother…

It must be something of a blessing and a curse to get a regular role in a long-running TV series. On the one hand, you’ve got job stability (which would be difficult to undervalue, especially in the creative arts), and there’s something to be said for having time to develop a part and settle into a world. On the other hand, even if you’re blessed with the most talented and ambitious writing staff in the industry, it is still just one role; I imagine even James Gandolfini had moments in the last year or two when he wished Tony Soprano would go far, far away. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine often has great scripts, and its main ensemble has been given the opportunity to enrich the characters they were hired to play, enough so that I doubt they could have too many complaints here in the mid-point of the run. But still, there are only so many ways Kira or Bashir or Dax can behave and still be consistent, and sometimes, the restrictions that define them must start to chafe on the actors who bring them to life.

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Not that the actors’ comfort should be our primary criteria for judging their work, but it’s the best reason I can think of for why the show insists on returning the Mirror Universe again and again, long after any dramatic potential lift in the concept had been wrung dry. The very first mirror episode , back on the original Star Trek , was a fun, campy, and somewhat unsettling excuse to see the goody-two shoes Federation rendered in the worst light possible, combined with the creep-factor of familiar faces going balls-to-the-wall evil. (Plus the revelation that, in any universe, Spock is basically Spock.) The first trip back on DS9 wasn’t nearly as memorable, but it did at least provide a sick punchline to the one brief hope raised at the end of the TOS episode. And it was fun to see Nana Visitor doing her weird Joker sex-kitten riff, while all the ensemble we’d already come to care deeply about hunted around for the backs most vulnerable to knives. As a one-off, it was a cute way to pay homage to the franchise’s roots, and, I’m sure, a fun writing exercise for the staff.

But it doesn’t work as an ongoing saga, in part because every successive visit just reminds us how weird the idea is in the first place. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were always bumping into ludicrous, blatant symbolic bullshit in the original series, and it worked because that was just how that show was designed; everything was more vital, more immediate, and nobody gave a damn about continuity or science fact. But DS9 is a more rigorous show, and so the folks on the other side of the mirror have to start developing long-term personalities, and it just doesn’t play. Everyone is so cartoony here, from sneering Bashir to pouty, sneering Dax; O’Brien comes across relatively unscathed thanks to his essential O’Brien-ness, and Kira and Worf are both clearly enjoying the chance to let loose, but as entertaining as they are, there’s no real dramatic frisson to anything that happens. We don’t care about most of these people because their only reason to exist is to remind us of the characters we’re actually invested in, and because the show’s version of the Mirror Universe resolutely refuses any serious connection between the parallel selves, this teaches us next to nothing about the “real world” ensemble. So there’s a version of Bashir who’s a dick. He’s not developed enough to stand on his own, and he’s not really a reflection on Julian, because the Mirror-verse Bashir is too generically dickish to be connected to anyone. If it weren’t Alexander Siddig in the role, he would be immediately and completely forgettable. As is, there’s momentary “Oh right, that guy’s different from our doctor,” and once that fades, nothing is left.

What’s even worse is that the contrast between the universes, the fact which made the original episode so potent, is almost meaningless in this context. There wasn’t any question who the good guys were on TOS ; while that’s basically true on DS9 , the universe of the show is more complex, less interested in good versus bad than in us versus them, when they might also be us, and we might not be who we thought we were. There’s really not much charge in seeing an already morally gray setting turned morally gray but slightly meaner. Take Mirror Garak: He seems to be pretty much Garak, although far more obsequious and pathetic than the non-mirror version. (Gosh, it’s been too damn long since we’ve had a good Garak episode.) I suppose the argument could be made that without his exile to Deep Space Nine, Garak would never have grown into the moderately trustworthy, though still deeply conflicted, character we know and love, but there’s no real effort made to make that connection land. Really, the only way this would have any meaningful dramatic impact is if the contrasts were underlined, and if some of the regular-world characters came into contact with their mirror-world selves. But since Sisko and Jake are the only ones who cross over to the other side, and since Mirror Sisko is dead, and Mirror Jake never existed, it’s a wash.

So, Mirror O’Brien has Jennifer “kidnap” Jake, to force Sisko to help him fix the Defiant so they’ll be able to defend themselves when the Alliance attacks. And so on. It’s passable for what it is, and the episode keeps moving along well enough that it never becomes painful to watch. As for surprises, well, Mirror Nog turns out to be an irredeemable dick who yells at Jake before helping to free Mirror Kira from her jail cell; since Mirror Kira killed Mirror Quark and Mirror Rom, she left Mirror Nog in charge of the bar, which puts him firmly on her side. Not that this is enough to stop her from killing him, mind you. So that’s fun. Michael Dorn clearly relishes the opportunity to go full-Klingon, so that’s also fun. And the space battle that closes out the episode is one of the better I’ve seen on the series; if we’re going to have hollow conflicts, at least they can look pretty.

Otherwise, the only hook for the episode is the return of Jennifer, who gets to meet Jake this time, before she dies (again). It’s an okay idea, I guess, but apart from underlining the obvious fact that Jake still misses his mom (which, duh), there’s no real payoff. Mirror Universe Jennifer isn’t an interesting character, and the actress who plays her still isn’t great. Jake gets to hang out with a replacement Mom for a while, which gets sort of weird and Oedipal because he keeps calling her by her first name, and then she dies in front of him when Kira tries to shoot Jake. Which, come to think, is a bit of a bummer, and the last scene, with Jake and Sisko embracing next to Jennifer’s saintly corpse, doesn’t really strike me as earned. Punishing a character for the sake of drama is a time-honored tradition, but letting Jake briefly reconnect with a presence he’d thought lost forever (even if that presence isn’t his real mom) before forcing him to relive the most traumatic experience of his life, is a cheap shot, used mostly to give “Shattered Mirror” the illusion of depth. Cirroc Lofton and Avery Brooks give it their best, but it still plays as manipulative and shallow, and best forgotten quickly.

Stray observations:

• The episode is almost worth it for Sisko’s line introducing Jake to Jennifer: “This is the woman—the one I told you about. The one I met in a parallel universe.” Oh, her.
• The fact that Jennifer just pops in for a visit destroys what little mystique the Mirror Universe retained. It should be at least a slightly big deal for people to pass between places; otherwise, you have to wonder why the “good guys” on the other side aren’t just moving en masse to the universe where everything hasn’t gone completely to shit.
• Apparently, Kira had her phaser set to “Most Dramatic Impact.” Nog dies almost instantly, but Jennifer takes hours.
• This Worf/Garak exchange also made me laugh: “Spoken like a Klingon!” “I’m trying!”

“The Muse” (season four, episode 20; originally aired 4/29/1996)

In which Jake is inspired to new heights of penmanship…

Well, it’s the last appearance on a Trek show of Lwaxana Troi, and thankfully, I don’t have to spend the whole review complaining about the character. Overall, Lwaxana has been well-used by DS9 , and “The Muse” provides a fitting cap to her career in the franchise, letting her exit gracefully in a storyline which makes up in sincerity what it lacks in immediate tension or drama. She shows up pregnant, looking for Odo’s help; Odo gives it; and then she leaves. It’s all very low-key. A pity, then, that it isn’t the episode’s only storyline. I’m not sure Lwaxana’s struggles with her latest ex-husband over custody rights would’ve benefited from more screentime, but at least it wouldn’t have been as idiotic as Jake’s storyline, which has the burgeoning writer fall into the clutches of a mysterious alien played by Meg Foster. The alien (the muse of the title) stimulates the creative centers of Jake’s brain with a lot of pseudo-erotic scalp massage, and then tries to drain him dry as he writes his first novel. Wackiness, thus, ensues.

It’s lousy, and immensely silly, although not in a fun way. The whole thing smacks of an early or late Star Trek: The Next Generation  episode, the sort of broad, stupid concept that boils down to “aliens are magic, and we are their playthings.” (Actually, that’s pretty TOS too, although it has that cheesy, curtain-heavy sexiness that TNG liked to indulge in from time to time.) The brief glimpse we get of Jake watching for story ideas from above the Promenade is fun, but everything else he does in the episode is goofy as hell, and there’s no real point beyond what happens, apart from the always silly suggestion that great art has to have some kind of outside excuse, as opposed to just being the product of a lot of hard work and time. But really, this is all just embarrassing and childish, and if this is the most interesting plot the writers can come up with for Jake’s artistic ambitions, they should probably just let him go off to the Penington Academy, lest we get an episode in which his latest short story is accidentally downloaded into one of Quark’s holosuites, bringing the characters to life, or something equally lame.

Anyway, there’s not much to say about it. In fact, there isn’t much to say about “The Muse” in general; the whole thing reeks of a certain creative exhaustion that tends to hit series late in the season. Between this and “Shattered Mirror,” it must’ve been hard for the show’s fans, but at least “The Muse” has Odo and Lwaxana hanging around, having fun and being nice to each other. Pairing these two characters together was the smartest Lwaxana-related idea anyone on a Trek show ever had; Odo’s isolation and loneliness mean that Lwaxana’s forceful personality actually do some good, and also allows Majel Barrett to be tender and a little sad, which suits her much better than forced antics. Given that the last time we saw her, she was going through the Betazed version of menopause, it’s surprising to find out she can still get pr pregnant, but hey, aliens and whatnot. The father of the baby, Jeyal, played by Michael Ansara (this time he’s not a Klingon, but a Tevnian, which translates to “regressive gender politics and a face like a hammerhead shark), is determined that the infant, a boy, be raised by men, as is the custom of his people. Lwaxana objects, hence her arrival on the station. You’d think she would’ve realized Jeyal would come with some baggage, but she didn’t believe she could get knocked up either, so she probably assumed it wouldn’t be an issue.

Jeyal barely registers, though. The real point of all this is to give Odo and Lwaxana some time together, and the few scenes we get of them hanging out are quite sweet. Odo somehow makes Lwaxana necessary in a way she so often wasn’t, and his open, and completely guileless fondness for her makes us like her more in turn. There’s a fun scene with the two of them playing hide and seek in Odo’s apartment (Lwaxana immediately realizes the giant jungle-gym-like structure in the room is for shape-changing), and it all builds to a wedding without a lot of fuss. Not that Odo is permanently marrying Lwaxana; he just determined that under Tavnian law, the new father has say over what happens to the baby, supplanting the biological dad. So he and Lwaxana will get hitched, stay together long enough for the marriage to be binding under Tavnian law, and the baby is protected.

The downside being that Jeyal wants to attend the wedding, and if he objects to Odo’s sincerity, he can null the arrangement. This presupposes Jeyal is an honorable man, obviously, since if he was truly determined to keep the child for himself, he’d object no matter what Odo said. Really, the only reason the clause is there is so Odo can give a very nice speech about how much Lwaxana means to him. He slightly oversells the case, for obvious reasons, but the sentiment is heartfelt, and reinforces just how nifty this small, heartfelt relationship has been. Lwaxana’s limited appearances on DS9 mean that she never entirely wore out her welcome, and it also means that the connection between her and Odo them always seemed fleeting, a rare moment’s peace in two disparate, complicated lives. And, as Lwaxana herself reminds us, she’s still legitimately in love with Odo, which means they can never spend too much time together—she would always want something he wasn’t prepared (or able) to give.

I’m not sure there’s enough here to justify the episode, and “The Muse” is mostly forgettable, lacking a strong center to hold itself together; its pleasures are minor, but they do exist, at least. Neither of this week’s entries is utterly without merit, but it does sting a bit to run into them both at once, a speed bump double feature that squanders momentum as we move into the final part of the fourth season. Five episodes left; here’s hoping things pick up soon.

• “The day I met her is the day I stopped being alone.” I may have to steal this.
• I like how eager Odo is to help Lwaxana.

Next week: Sisko makes a surprising discovery about a close friend in “For The Cause,” and then has to deal with the Jem’Hadar in “To The Death.” Promising!

Star Trek: Discovery's Commander Rayner Tragedy Echoes Strange New Worlds' La'an

Warning: SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery Season 5, Episode 7 - "Erigah"

• Commander Rayner and La'an share tragic pasts, becoming valuable assets for Starfleet.
• Both survivors use their experiences to help fight against Breen and Gorn threats.
• Mentors play a crucial role in helping them heal and grow beyond their traumatic pasts.

Commander Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie), the new Kellerun First Officer on Star Trek: Discovery , finally opens up about his tragic past in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 7 , "Erigah", and it draws surprising parallels to the history of USS Enterprise Security Officer Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh (Christina Chong) in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . Commander Rayner's practical perspective stands in contrast to Captain Michael Burnham's (Sonequa Martin-Green) steadfast idealism, making Burnham and Rayner one of the best Captain and First Officer pairs in Star Trek: Discovery and its ever-changing command lineup. Rayner was quiet about personal details, however, until Discovery 's plot demanded it.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds spun off from Star Trek: Discovery season 2, following the adventures of Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) and the USS Enterprise crew, and included both familiar characters like Lt. Spock (Ethan Peck) and brand-new characters with familiar names, like Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh . La'an is, in fact, a descendant of the infamous Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), but La'an's connection to Star Trek 's infamous dictator is just one thing that influences Lt. Noonien-Singh's character. La'an's personal history is both more compelling and more tragic than being related to Khan, with details doled out carefully throughout Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' first 2 seasons.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5's Callum Keith Rennie On Captain Rayner Challenging Burnham's Authority

Screen Rant interviews Callum Keith Rennie about how his new character, Captain Rayner, fits into Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

Commander Rayner's Breen Backstory Matches La'an Noonien-Singh Surviving The Gorn

Rayner and la'an provide valuable intel for starfleet's survival.

Star Trek: Discovery 's Commander Rayner and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh are both their families' sole survivors of devastation wracked by enemies Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets know almost nothing about. While Federation representatives weigh options for handling the imminent Breen threat in Discovery season 5, episode 7, "Erigah", Commander Rayner tells Captain Michael Burnham that the Breen gutted the Kellerun homeworld to use as an outpost, killing Rayner's entire family in the process. Similarly, La'an reveals to Captain Pike that the Gorn used the entire complement of the SS Puget Sound as either food or breeding sacks, with La'an alone surviving as a warning from the Gorn.

La'an was captured by the Gorn again in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds ' season 2 finale, "Hegemony."

The Federation has an advantage in facing these violent and otherwise mysterious alien species because Rayner and La'an know how the Breen and the Gorn, respectively, operate, despite being traumatized by the horrors they experienced. Rayner knows well that Kellerun was devastated under the leadership of Breen Primarch Tahal, and even provides specific details to legitimize the Federation's bluff to stall the Breen forces demanding L'ak (Elias Toufexis). La'an's expertise helps the Enterprise survive a Gorn encounter in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 4, "Memento Mori", and shapes the plan to rescue Gorn attack survivors in Strange New Worlds season 1, episode 9, "All Those Who Wander".

The Kellerun didn't have it easy in their first appearance, either. In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 13, "Armageddon Game", the Kellerun home world was already ravaged by Harvesters, biological weapons used in the war against the T'Lani.

How Traumatic Backstories Shaped Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery and La'an in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Starfleet mentors help la'an and rayner overcome their tragic pasts.

Commander Rayner in Star Trek: Discovery and Lt. La'an Noonien-Singh in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds were severely impacted by the trauma they experienced as survivors of deadly alien massacres, and that pain manifests in very similar ways for both of them. Rayner and La'an appear standoffish and brusque, building intentional emotional walls between themselves and anyone who might want to get close to them. Both have a strong respect for rules and regulations, because rules keep people safe, and also trust in their own judgment over anyone else's, regardless of whether Breen or Gorn are involved or not, thanks to their own heightened sensitivity to danger.

Fortunately, both La'an Noonien-Singh and Rayner have Starfleet mentors who take a personal interest in helping them heal the damage from their pasts . Commander Una Chin-Riley (Rebecca Romijn) sees a mirror of her own difficult past in La'an's struggles to relate to the world. Michael Burnham went from Starfleet's first mutineer to Discovery's captain thanks to second chances, so Burnham extends the dismissed Captain Rayner an offer to be Discovery's First Officer. Through the support of others and new chances to help, both Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' La'an Noonien-Singh and Star Trek: Discovery 's Rayner have opportunities to grow beyond their traumatic pasts and truly thrive instead of just surviving.

Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds are streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

Cast Blu del Barrio, Oded Fehr, Anthony Rapp, Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Eve Harlow, Mary Wiseman, Callum Keith Rennie

Writers Alex Kurtzman

Where To Watch Paramount+

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Cast Bruce Horak, Celia Rose Gooding, Jess Bush, Melissa Navia, Ethan Peck, Babs Olusanmokun, Rebecca Romijn, Paul Wesley, Christina Chong, Anson Mount

Writers Bill Wolkoff, Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers

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‘star trek: discovery’ co-showrunner teases the final episodes and her message for fans.

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Co-showrunner Michelle Paradise with her "Star Trek: Discovery" cast and crew.

For five seasons, Star Trek: Discovery has taken audiences on the ride of a lifetime. With its series finale now in sight, I sat down with executive producer and co-showrunner Michelle Paradise at SeriesFest in Denver, Colorado to discuss the beloved show’s journey and what fans should expect from this ever-expanding television universe on Paramount Plus, before we say a proper farewell to the U.S.S. Discovery.

So for starters, what has Paradise enjoyed most about the evolution of Star Trek: Discovery , since it first premiered in September 2017?

“That’s a really great question,” Paradise said. “I have loved being a part of it. I joined halfway through season two, and it was starting to know what it was and it’s really found its way. I’ve really enjoyed the character arcs and getting to take them all to these different places. It’s also hard for me to separate out the evolution of the show from my evolution on the show and stepping into co-running it with [co-showrunner] Alex [Kurtzman] and starting to take over more of that in later seasons. It’s been the highlight of my career.”

Mary Wiseman as Tilly and Blu del Barrio as Adira in "Star Trek: Discovery" episode 7, season 5 - ... [+] streaming on Paramount+.

Paradise is no stranger to television production. She was previously an executive producer on such television projects as Exes & Ohs and The Originals , but I wondered what it might be about her Star Trek: Discovery cast and crew that perhaps feels special.

“It’s like a big family. First of all, our cast is incredible. They’re all insanely talented actors but they’re lovely human beings. They approach one another and they approach the project from just a place of love and respect for one another and for the material, which is always a wonderful place to start. You can’t say enough of [actor] Sonequa [Martin-Green], our number one and the tone that she sets on the show and on the set. We have a lot of folks on the show and the crew who come back, year-after-year. They all really love the world of Trek and they love one another. We try and go bigger and better and bolder every season, and there’s never a feeling of Oh, we can’t do that . It’s always a feeling of How do we do that? ”

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Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham in "Star Trek: Discovery" streaming on Paramount+.

Since the original Star Trek series first premiered on television in 1966, the Star Trek story and fictional sci-fi universe has evolved into several iterations, including Star Trek: The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , Voyager , Enterprise , Strange New Worlds and Picard - not to mention the numerous Star Trek movies over many decades, including the three recent blockbuster films, starring Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana and Zachary Quinto, with another sequel in the works.

Throughout all of these years, Star Trek fans have remained quite loyal and vocal, both when they love a story and even when they don’t. So, how does Paradise and her Star Trek: Discovery creative team try to appease Trek fans, but also not allow the chatter to stop them from taking on some creative risks?

Wilson Cruz as Culber and Anthony Rapp as Stamets in "Star Trek: Discovery" episode 6, season 5 - ... [+] streaming on Paramount+.

Paradise said, “I think the best way to answer that is we always try to honor what Trek is - where it came from, what is the DNA of any Trek series, which of course goes back to the original series, and then also honoring what is this version of Trek and knowing that it’s our job to make the best version of Discovery . Someone who loves Discovery may not love Strange New Worlds or someone who loves Strange New Worlds may not love Discovery. By design, these are all very different shows. To a certain degree, it has to be okay that not everyone is going to love this iteration. We always feel like if we can do justice to the franchise as a whole - what it means, do justice to the characters and do our best version of Discovery , then we will have succeeded.”

Ever since the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes ended late last year, there have been signs of movement and optimism within the entertainment industry, but also a sense of some standstill with television and film productions. So, what is Paradise seeing around the current state of Hollywood?

“I think it depends on who you talk to,” Paradise said. “It feels a bit like a mixed bag to me. There are a lot of people who are still very much struggling - writers, crew members, directors - because things have not picked up in the way that they would normally at this particular time of year. By in large, there’s not really a pilot season, as we used to know it. That’s very difficult for people. Of course, there’s still a lot of wonderful opportunities, but it seems like the compression that happened - it’s the combo platter of the [Covid-19] pandemic and the strikes, just after that. It does feel condensed - there are fewer things but I feel like, to some degree, that had to happen because in the big balloon of streaming, that in retrospect, it doesn’t feel like it was necessarily sustainable. Hopefully it will ease up, sooner than later, and kind of calm down because there’s still a lot of people who are struggling to get back into work right now and I feel for them - it’s hard.”

On more of a positive note, when asked what Paradise is enjoying most about the television landscape today, she says that she feels there is a lot that can be done, applauding the way that every week, Star Trek: Discover y is a “cinematic storytelling into television,” though she admits that the visual design of Discovery is not sustainable for every network and studio.

While our real world faces divisive times with war, political unrest and other conflicts, I wondered if Paradise and her team keep in mind the real-life issues occurring, when crafting its stories for the screen on Star Trek: Discovery .

Mary Wiseman as Tilly, June Laporte as Ravah and Wilson Cruz as Dr. Culber in "Star Trek: Discovery" ... [+] episode 6, season 5 - streaming on Paramount+.

“That comes from just the DNA of the show itself. The original series did not shy away from what was happening societal at that time. It did not shy away from tackling those things in the way that it could. That’s one of the cool things about sci-fi - aliens can stand-in for another culture, different relationships can stand-in for whatever is happening in society at the time. That’s kind of baked into any Trek show, is that reflection of what’s happening in the world at that time via sci-fi and the different ways we could do it.”

Paradise added: “In Discovery , we were very much aware of that and very thoughtful about what are the types of stories we want to tell, how does that reflect certain things that are going on. Trek means so much to so many people and where people are actively looking to Trek to reflect themselves in some way or actively looking to Trek as an answer to what’s happening in society and for hope that, as divisive as things are right now, as challenging around the world and in our country, that there is hope and we can overcome it with our better selves.”

Blu del Barrio as Adira, Tig Notaro as Jett Reno and Mary Wiseman as Tilly in "Star Trek: Discovery" ... [+] episode 7, season 5 - streaming on Paramount+.

When asked about what fans can expect ahead in the remaining episodes of Star Trek: Discovery , which drop every Thursday during this final season, Paradise teases that fans “might see more of our bad guys this season.” She added: “We did not going into the season [knowing] that this would be our last season. We’re so fortunate - CBS Studios and Paramount Plus gave us the opportunity, after the fact, to go shoot some additional material, and I feel like the thing I just want to keep reiterating for fans of the show is it has a proper ending. Our Discovery is not going to end on a cliffhanger of Are they all going to die? and then we never find out. It was worth the investment and I do think when people finish the season/series, they will feel like this season - again, we didn’t know going in - but it does feel like if you didn’t know that, you would think we knew going in because of what we’re doing thematically and where our characters go. So, I think people will feel very satisfied.”

As the conversation with Paradise concluded, she was left with one last question: For Star Trek: Discovery fans, people who have followed these five seasons - as they soon finish these final episodes, what message do you as a co-showrunner want to say these people, after investing their time in the series over the past seven years and falling in love with these characters?

Mary Wiseman, Sonequa Martin-Green and Michelle Paradise.

“I just would want to say thank you. There is no Discovery without the fans and they are always so loving and supportive and passionate, even when they don’t like what we’re doing, they’re passionate. As writers and creators and actors and the directors, we love that! We love that passion and their passion means so much to us.”

Paradise added: “It was a gift. Hopefully, we’ll all get to do it again someday.”

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• May 14, 2024 | Denise Crosby Returns As Captain Sela From Another Universe For ‘Star Trek Online: Unparalleled’
• May 14, 2024 | See Captain Sisko Meet A Familiar Face From ‘Picard’ In Preview Of ‘Star Trek’ #20
• May 13, 2024 | Preview ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Episode 508 With New Images And Clip From “Labyrinths”
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• May 10, 2024 | ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Debuts On Nielsen Streaming Top 10

Preview ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Episode 508 With New Images And Clip From “Labyrinths”

| May 13, 2024 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 41 comments so far

The fifth and final season of Star Trek: Discovery continues on Thursday with the eighth episode, and we have details, new photos, and a clip WITH SPOILERS .

Episode 7: “Labyrinths”

The eighth episode of the season, “Labyrinths,” was written by Lauren Wilkinson & Eric J. Robbins and directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour. The episode debuts on Paramount+ on Thursday, May 16.

When Captain Burnham is trapped within a “mindscape” designed to test her worthiness to retrieve the Progenitor’s powerful technology, Book, Rayner, and the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery must hold off the Breen long enough for her to escape.

Co-showrunner Michelle Paradise previously teased this episode saying, “Oh, just an incredible gorgeous location, incredible scope and a singular journey for Burnham.”

NEW photos:

Tony Nappo as Primarch Ruhn (Michael Gibson/Paramount+)

Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham (Marni Grossman /Paramount+)

Elena Juatco as Hy’Rell  (Marni Grossman /Paramount+)

Dorian Grey as Lt. Arisar (Michael Gibson/Paramount+)

Episode trailer

CHECK BACK LATER.

You can see a clip from “Labyrinths” from the latest episode of The Ready Room below …

The fifth and final season of  Discovery debuted with two episodes on Thursday, April 4 exclusively on Paramount+  in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, and Austria.  Discovery also premiered on April 4 on Paramount+ in Canada and will be broadcast on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada. The rest of the 10-episode final season will be available to stream weekly on Thursdays. Season 5 debuted on SkyShowtime in select European countries on April 5.

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I guess Hy’Rell is a Efrosian.

Interesting. I was thinking Klingon.

Why not both? Maybe she’s half-Klingon, half-Efrosian…

Same.. I couldn’t tell if it was Klingon ridges or not. Wait… did I just racially profile a character over ridges and hair?

We definitely need to see 32nd century Klingons before the show is over. As much as I’l like a STIV deepcut, I hope she’s Klingon…

we will, some stunt guys leaked it before the season started said they’d be playing Klingon and Breen soldiers

She is indeed Efrosian — I’m a big fan of STVI.

I hope you all enjoy the episode, it’s a fun one. Our director Emmanuel knocked it out of the park!

That’s cool!

Woohoo!! I’m excited for this episode. Awesome to see an Efrosian again after all of this time!

My money is on Klingon…… Change the Hy to L and you have L’Rell.

Should be Klingon.

Er, a Discovery writer just told us here that she’s Efrosian.

Cool that one of the writers replied and let us know.

Brave soul to post on a trek site though. We can be a rowdy bunch at times.

I always loved the Efrosian in Voyage Home. “Here it comes now-”

Great voice on the actor, Nick Ramus, who I’m just learning was a member of the Blackfoot tribe.

Wow, I always thought he was an *Asian* Indian.

Same here, though with all the makeup it was hard to tell.

Looks like Ramus was in quite a few westerns. He passed away in 2007, age 77.

“…singular journey for Michael” this whole show has been only about Michael.

the only parts of this season i’ve enjoyed are Moll / L’ak and the Breen

“ this whole show has been only about Michael”

Just because you don’t like an African-American woman in the lead role doesn’t make this true.

Saru for example has had a major character arc over the course of the series. If you don’t see that, you can’t be helped. Also Culber/Stamets have gone through major, even soap opera level of stories with their relationship.

You could criticize the series for being too much about the characters. But the series being about the main character is a silly criticism. Or can I see your criticism about Kirk doing everything in TOS? Would like to see a link to that.

And before you come with the trite “but we don’t know nothing about the bridge crew!11!”: Tell me the names and character arcs of the people working in Ops of Deep Space Nine. I’ll wait (actually I won’t, I have better things to do).

If you don’t like a black woman lead, just say so.

This comment right here is why it is so difficult to get people to take actual issues around racism and misogyny serious.

Jan, your comment is completely unwarranted. Nothing in Sean’s comment suggested a racial component to his critique. I dislike the entire series as a matter of fact. Not because of the genders, racial origins or personal lives of the characters depicted or the cast – I just don’t like it Especially compared with Strange New worlds. An apology is in order.

Where did you get a racial dislike from what he said? All he said was “this whole show has been only about Michael” which is accurate (also the way the show was designed from Day 1, but I don’t see where he’s disputing that). So not sure where this criticism is coming from. I’ve been very critical of the character, but it has nothing to do with her race… I don’t think she has been written very well. My dislike of how they’ve written her has nothing to do with who is playing her. Sonequa is a wonderful actress and has elevated the writing because of it. The fact is, she and the character deserve better than they’ve gotten. Knock on wood, so far this season she has been written much better, where her character is concerned. None of that has anything to do with her race. But I have to defend Sean here, because I just don’t see where you get that from anything he said, and it’s unfair of you to project that on to anyone without knowing.

Wow, I just realized something beautiful. All the five clues are hidden within the worlds of all five classic legacy shows.

Fred, the Soong-type android = TNG Trill = DS9 ISS Enterprise = TOS Denobulan weather station = ENT Badlands = VOY

Well spotted!

Whoah, I really like this. Nice catch! That’s awesome!

Awesome observation Garth!

Excellent catch!!

I wonder if Hy’Rell is even a real person. The uniform looks very 23rd/24th century. Maybe it’s a projection of what Burnham expects to see.

Re: a closed thread below:

There’s a solid case to be made that Discovery has focused primarily on one character more than any Trek show before it.

Sure, the other shows sometimes gave the captain more attention than other characters (although I’d argue that Spock, Data, Worf, Kira, the Doctor, Seven and T’Pol often had the spotlight), but Discovery has been The Michael Burnham Show from the get-go, by design.

Nope. Solid character arcs for Saru, Stamets, Culber, even Book and Adira… Michael is the lead character but not to an extend any of the other characters get sidelined…

I think that’s true of any show centered around one central character. With TOS, there was the Troika of Kirk, Spock, Bones, all others were support with some occasional focus on them. Disco is no different, it’s just much more focused on one person, rather than a triumvirate.

I think the issue is the low episode count per season and length of time between seasons, combined with Discovery’s identity crisis and needing to reinvent itself every season, that prevents any meaningful connections to any of the supporting characters. The show was designed to be about Burnham’s journey, even if they seemed to be in a rush to shorten that journey by making her captain as fast as possible in my opinion.

The Berman era shows had more episodes to include the supporting cast than the new era of Trek does and there wasn’t that long of a wait between seasons to forget about what happened before.

You’re contradicting yourself. All of the other live action shows had as their primary focus the person in command as well. No exceptions. Yet Discovery sets off some people. Gee, what is the obvious difference between Discovery and all other live action Trek…..

Please don’t try to continue a contentious topic that we closed for a reason.

Dorian Grey chose a good role. No way he sees the portrait through that helmet.

Ha! But that was Gray. :-)

He’s good, he won’t see it burn either.

The production is amazing. That efrosion looks terrific. Wow! The make up artists and the costume designers are fantastic and deserve awards.

Perhaps it is just me, but I was thinking — not for the first time in modern Trek — that the latex on the Efrosian looks very latex-y, not like natural skin. I had the same reaction to Sneed in Picard and sometimes to Saru, especially this season.

An Efrosian, cool. Shout out to Mel Efros, the namesake and creator of the design.

Court is the final frontier for this lost ‘Star Trek’ model

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In April, Heritage Auctions heralded the discovery of the original model of the U.S.S. Enterprise, the iconic starship that whooshed through the stars in the opening credits of the 1960s TV series “Star Trek” but had mysteriously disappeared around 45 years ago.

The auction house, known for its dazzling sales of movie and television props and memorabilia, announced that it was returning the 33-inch model to Eugene “Rod” Roddenberry Jr., son of series creator Gene Roddenberry. The model was kept at Heritage’s Beverly Hills office for “safekeeping,” the house proclaimed in a statement, shortly after an individual discovered it and brought it to Heritage for authentication.

“After a long journey, she’s home,” Roddenberry’s son posted on X , (formerly Twitter).

But the journey has been far from smooth. The starship model and its celebrated return is now the subject of a lawsuit alleging fraud, negligence and deceptive trade practice, highlighting the enduring value of memorabilia from the iconic sci-fi TV series.

The case was brought by Dustin Riach and Jason Rivas, longtime friends and self-described storage unit entrepreneurs who discovered the model among a stash of items they bought “sight unseen” from a lien sale at a storage locker in Van Nuys last October.

“It’s an unfortunate misunderstanding. We have a seller on one side and a buyer on the other side and Heritage is in the middle, and we are aligning the parties on both sides to get the transaction complete,” said Armen Vartian, an attorney representing the Dallas-based auction house, adding that the allegations against his client were “unfounded.”

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The pair claimed that once the model was authenticated and given a value of $800,000, they agreed to consign it to an auction sale with Heritage planned for July 2024, according to the lawsuit. However, following their agreement, they allege the auction house falsely questioned their title to the model and then convinced them, instead of taking it to auction, to sell it for a low-ball $500,000 to Roddenberry Entertainment Inc. According to the suit, Eugene Roddenberry, the company’s CEO, had shown great interest in the model and could potentially provide a pipeline of memorabilia to the auction house in the future.

“They think we have a disagreement with Roddenberry,” said Dale Washington, Riach and Rivas’ attorney. “We don’t. We think they violated property law in the discharge of their fiduciary duties.”

The two men allege they have yet to receive the $500,000 payment.

A surprise discovery in a Van Nuys storage unit

For years, Riach and Rivas have made a living buying repossessed storage lockers and selling the contents online, at auction and at flea markets. In fact, Riach has appeared on the reality TV series “Storage Wars.”

“It’s a roll of dice in the dark,” Riach said of his profession bidding on storage lockers. “Sometimes you are buying a picture of a unit. When a unit goes to lien, what you see is what you get and the rest is a surprise. At a live auction you can shine a flashlight, smell and look inside to get a gauge. But online is a gamble, it’s only as good as the photo.”

Last fall, Riach said he saw a picture of a large locker in an online sale. It was 10 feet by 30 feet, and “I saw boxes hiding in the back, it was dirty, dusty, there were cobwebs and what looked like a bunch of broken furniture,” he said.

Something about it, he said, “looked interesting,” and he called Rivas and told him they should bid on it. Riach declined to say how much they paid.

There were tins of old photographs and negatives of nitrate film reels from the 1800s and 1900s. When Rivas unwrapped a trash bag that was sitting on top of furniture, he pulled out a model of a spaceship. The business card of its maker, Richard C. Datin, was affixed to the bottom of the base.

A Google search turned up that Datin had made “Star Trek” models, although the two men didn’t make the connection to the TV series.

“We buy lots of units and see models all of the time,” Riach said. He thought they would find a buyer and decided to list it on eBay with a starting price of $1,000.

At once, they were deluged with inquiries. Among Trekkies, the long-lost first starship model had attained a mythical status.

The original “Star Trek’’ debuted in 1966 and aired for three seasons. Although its original run was brief, the show has generated numerous films and television spinoffs and is one of the most lucrative entertainment franchises, with an enormous fan base.

In 2022, at a Heritage auction of 75 props and items, a Starfleet Communicator from the 1990s series “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” sold for $27,500 while a pair of Spock’s prosthetic Vulcan ear tips from the original series went for $11,875, more than twice the amount they brought when they were sold in 2017 for $5,100.

The starship’s design was crucial to the series’ success. “If you didn’t believe you were in a vehicle traveling through space, a vehicle that made sense, whose layout and design made sense, then you wouldn’t believe in the series,” Gene Roddenberry said in the 1968 book “The Making of Star Trek,” according to the auction house.

For years, the show’s creator had kept the 33-inch model on his desk. It became the prototype for the 11-foot model used in subsequent episodes. That version was later donated to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. But that first model disappeared around 1978 when the makers of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” borrowed it.

A missing starship model

In 1979, Roddenberry wrote to then Paramount executive Jeffrey Katzenberg stating that he had “loaned” the model to the studio more than a year earlier.

“My problem is simply that of getting my model back,” Roddenberry wrote, according to a copy provided by Washington. “It is a fairly expensive piece of model making but its real value to me is what it represents.” He added that no one he had spoken with “had the slightest hint as to who got it or what happened to it.”

Roddenberry died in 1991 .

After the massive interest sparked by the eBay listing, Riach and Rivas pulled the sale and began researching the model more intently. They discovered the connection between Datin and the TV series but also learned that the original model was the same size as the one they had found and it had gone missing. “I said wow, do we have something here?” said Riach, and then reached out to Heritage.

Riach admitted that “Star Trek” wasn’t really on his radar. He was a die-hard “Star Wars” fan, having collected vintage memorabilia from the space films since he was 8 years old.

But given the treasure he unearthed, he now says, “I love ‘Star Trek.’

“There are people buying storage units for 20 years and you will never find anything this great,” he said. “It’s like buying a lottery ticket. It was a very great find.”

Things took an unexpected twist, Riach said. In March, he and Rivas signed an agreement to sell the model for $500,000 after it was pulled from the planned auction and they were told Roddenberry Entertainment had a “strong claim” to the model’s title and “would tie them up with its ‘powerful legal team.’” But then they were given a new transfer agreement to sign with a new set of terms. Riach declined and, instead, he and Rivas called Washington.

Heritage “moved the goalposts,” said their attorney. Under the new agreement, Riach and Rivas would be paid a “finder’s fee,” which Washington called a “reward,” converting it from a transactional payment to a potentially voluntary payment.

They claimed that by April, when Heritage announced the model had resurfaced, the pair came to believe the house failed to disclose the item’s value was much greater than they had been told.

Joe Maddalena, Heritage’s executive vice president, made public statements calling it “priceless.” “It could sell for any amount and I wouldn’t be surprised because of what it is,” he told the AP . “It is truly a cultural icon.”

They also had not been paid.

On April 28, 10 days after Heritage announced it had returned the model to Roddenberry, Riach and Rivas’ lawyer sent a letter to the auction house’s attorney outlining their claims and asking for the payment promised; they also proposed mediation.

Vartian, the lawyer representing Heritage, said that Riach and Rivas became “impatient” about getting the transaction done, and disputes the house had a fiduciary duty to them.

“This is an arm’s-length business relationship,” Vartian said. “They bring something to the auction house and are trying to get the most possible amount as quickly as possible, that is [Heritage’s] position and what they did.”

Still, Vartian is confident that they will soon conclude the transaction, saying, “Various things including scheduling have taken longer than it would.”

For his part, Riach says this experience is much like that of the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise — “a strange new world.”

“I’ve never experienced anything like this. I’ve sold fine art at auction and other places, I got my check and went on. I’ve never had this roller coaster.

“Storage is a hard game. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose,” he added. “We’ve bought a $10,000 unit and everything was complete garbage. But if you play long enough, you can get lucky.”

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Chris Pine got his movie-star education from Denzel Washington

The director, cowriter, and star of "Poolman" reflects on his rise through Hollywood's ranks, from his rom-com days to playing Captain Kirk.

"Is this on camera?" Chris Pine asks me as we stare at each other through the magic of Zoom.

Sporting a graying beard, perfectly combed shoulder-length hair, and a loose-fitting yellow and white cardigan, Pine certainly appears camera-ready. But once I tell him that video won't be recorded, he slouches back in his chair, seemingly pleased that he can keep a toothpick dangling from his mouth during our conversation.

Whether he's playing the handsome leading man in a rom-com or an intensely focused franchise star, Pine has the uncanny ability to adapt into the movie star that's needed at any particular moment. And right now, with the cameras not technically rolling, he doesn't have to be one at all.

Pine didn't want to be a movie star growing up, either. A third-generation actor, he first avoided going into the family business. As a die-hard Yankees fan thanks to his East Coast-raised father, a teenage Pine dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player like his idol, Yankee great Don Mattingly.

When that phase passed ("Kids were starting to pitch faster," he said), he dabbled in theater. But it wasn't until he returned home from a stint studying abroad in the UK during college that he decided to pursue acting in earnest.

"It wasn't a passion," Pine says. "It's something that I found."

But the childhood memories of both his parents struggling to find work as actors stayed with him. His mother, Gwynne Gilford, eventually gave up acting to become a therapist. Though his father, Robert Pine, is still working as a veteran character actor best known for playing Sergeant Getraer on the late-1970s hit series "CHiPs," he was keeping the family afloat gig by gig during Pine's childhood.

Those Hollywood anxieties are present in Pine's directorial debut, "Poolman," in theaters Friday. Though the film is hardly autobiographical — Pine stars as a burnout pool cleaner in LA who's trying to uncover a city scandal — his character gets support from two parental figures in his life, who are struggling showbiz types played by Danny DeVito and Annette Bening.

"There's a scene at the end when Danny's character, Jack, says that his agent finally called back and offered him a sitcom for $75,000 an episode, and he turned it down," Pine says. He looks down in his lap, almost reliving what he's describing. "And Annette's character has a conniption fit."

Pine finally looks up.

"That's my childhood," he continues. "The dream was for my father to get a television show that paid $70,000 an episode, and that would finally get us out of financial distress."

With a filmography that charts an impressive ascension from heartthrob to the face of IP-fueled blockbusters to prestige fare, it's safe to say that distress is now behind him.

In Business Insider's latest Role Play interview , Pine discusses why he refuses to watch some of his rom-coms, learning how to be a movie star via Denzel Washington, and the untimely end of the "Wonder Woman" franchise.

On hating working at restaurants and refusing to watch his old rom-coms

Early Chris Pine is a trip to watch. You played a hard partier in an episode of "E.R." You cried in front of David Caruso in "CSI: Miami." At that time in your life, were you just going after anything?

Fuck yeah! Don't be a waiter. Actually, I was a host at a restaurant and just hated it. Could not have hated it anymore. I was not a people person. It was all about just getting work.

You started getting noticed thanks to romantic comedies — "Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement," "Just My Luck," "Blind Dating" — would you watch any of those titles now? Like, if you're in a hotel room flipping through the channels and it comes on.

I mean, not a chance. And that's for most of my films. It's too difficult because then you're thinking, "God, why did I fucking do that?" Or "Why did they pick that take?"

What I will say, though, is I get more people coming up to me about "Princess Diaries 2," and I think that's because it's played for so many generations of young girls now. So that's a trip.

On being comfortable playing Captain Kirk — by movie No. 3

Playing Captain Kirk in the "Star Trek" movies must have been daunting — not only were you taking on an iconic IP, but the actor who originated the character, William Shatner, is still so synonymous with Kirk. Were you ever comfortable in that role?

It's interesting. Karl Urban decided to go head first into McCoy because Karl loved "Star Trek." With Spock, you have to do Spock-like things, plus Zach [Quinto] kind of looked like Leonard [Nimoy]. And then Kirk is a tricky one. You are the lead of the band of characters, so you don't want to occupy too much space. It's fine if they are doing a thing, but you don't want to. And J.J. [Abrams] never asked me to do a thing, though I did do little nods to Shatner because it was fun.

But I would say I felt most in his shoes in the third movie. By that point, I think I mellowed into it and didn't feel like I was trying too hard.

Has the ship sailed to do Kirk again?

I honestly don't know. There was something in the news of a new writer coming on board. I thought there was already a script, but I guess I was wrong, or they decided to pivot. As it's always been with "Trek," I just wait and see.

On getting a crash course in being a movie star from Denzel Washington and playing a 'non-charming' leading man

"Unstoppable" is the moment, I feel, where you're not fucking around anymore. Tony Scott, working across from Denzel Washington —

Youth really is wasted on the young [ laughs ]. It's such an awesome moment. It's one of the biggest films of the year; all the lights are shining on you, all the possibility of you being able to do whatever you want. I really wish I took more effort to enjoy that moment. 

I was reading a lot of scripts at the time, and I was on a plane when I read this one. And I didn't want to like it because it's a train. It's like, what is my job in this fucking film? The train is going to explode and then it's not. You know exactly what is going to happen.

But Mark Bomback wrote this incredible script, and I was on the plane, and I couldn't stop reading it. I would push it away — No. Buuut. No, nope. Buuut. I just could not turn away from it. Plus, Tony Scott was a god to me. He'd done "Days of Thunder" and "Top Gun," and then you add into that mix Denzel, plus that it's a two-hander that takes place in one location. From an acting class standpoint, I'm getting paid a lot of money to learn at the feet of one of the best who has ever done it. It was out of control cool. I learned more from that set about what it means to be a movie star than probably anything else. 

Before "Hell or High Water," you'd worked with Ben Foster in "The Finest Hours." How much of the praise you received for that movie do you attribute to the comfort you two had in working together?

I think it's more than that. Taylor [Sheridan] wrote a banger script. That script is one of the five best scripts I've ever read in my entire life. So you have the writing. Then you have David [Mackenzie] coming off of making "Starred Up," which is an incredible film, and then you have the Jeff Bridges of it all.

I think I held my own there, but you have these two incredibly dynamic actors: Jeff is the legend, and Ben is a caged animal of an actor. I had a lot of fun because up until that point, I hadn't played a closed-off, non-talkative, non-charming leading man. So I was really stoked to take that on. I think it was all the pieces coming together, not just one thing.

On turning down 'Wonder Woman' twice before director Patty Jenkins convinced him by bringing up 'Casablanca'

By the time you did the "Wonder Woman" franchise, you had done your fair share of blockbusters. Was there a moment in filming the first movie when you realized this one was different than the others?

I got pitched the film and didn't want to do it. Patty came on board and I still didn't want to do it. I had no interest in playing the boyfriend, and it sounded like second fiddle. Then, in talking to Patty, the way she described it was, "Forget the superhero of it all, this is a romance, this is "Casablanca," that's the movie I want to make." And I was like, oh, now that is very cool, because when had you seen a superhero film that was a love story, ultimately? That had nothing to do with blowing shit up.

For me, the pivotal moment is the scene on the tarmac; it's "Casablanca" by a different name. So when I saw that film, man. Film is not an actor's medium, it's a director's and editor's medium, and shit can go wrong really fast, and that was a movie where you're in the theater and you get lost in it. You forget you're in it. That's when you know it's gold.

Do you or Gal Gadot or Patty feel that there's unfinished business with the franchise not doing a third movie?

Me? No. Homie is dead. Steve is gonzo. It would be ridiculous to try to bring me back.

I'm stunned that they said no to a billion-dollar franchise and decided to pivot elsewhere. I don't know what the reasoning was behind that; it's above my pay grade, but Wonder Woman is an incredible character, and Patty is such a thoughtful director. Even think of "Wonder Woman 1984" — that's a blockbuster movie that is a hero's journey not about revenge. I mean, wow. People poo-pooed it, but wow!

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

"Poolman" is in theaters May 10.

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Cast & Character Guide

Star trek: ds9 needed uss defiant & season 2's finale is proof, star trek: ds9 had a real jerk on set.

• Deep Space Nine's season 2 finale showcased the Jem'Hadar as a formidable threat by destroying a Galaxy-class starship.
• The decision to blow up a model of the USS Enterprise-D symbolized DS9's break from The Next Generation.
• Executive story editor Robert Hewitt Wolfe doubted whether Captain Picard and the Enterprise could have survived the Jem'Hadar.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine blew up a USS Enterprise-style starship to prove a point in its season 2 finale. DS9 had struggled to break away from the shadow of its parent show, Star Trek: The Next Generation , but the season 2 finale, "The Jem'Hadar" afforded Deep Space NIne a perfect chance to establish its unique identity. DS9 's season 2 finale aired three weeks after TNG came to an end with "All Good Things", meaning that when it returned for season 3 after the summer break, Deep Space Nine would be the only Star Trek TV show being broadcast for the rest of 1994.

With no Star Trek: The Next Generation to compare with, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was free to embrace its more serialized approach to storytelling. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 26, "The Jem'Hadar" was the first important step on the road to DS9 's Dominion War , which would define the show for the next five years. It introduced the Jem'Hadar and the Vorta, and established the Dominion as the greatest threat to the Federation since the Borg Collective. To prove just how dangerous the Dominion were, DS9 took a bold step with a leftover model of TNG 's USS Enterprise-D .

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had the biggest cast of characters of any Trek show, meaning that Captain Sisko had numerous allies in the Dominion War.

Star Trek: DS9 Blew Up An Enterprise Starship To Make A Point About The Dominion

In Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 26, "The Jem'Hadar", a camping trip for Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and his son Jake (Cirroc Lofton) becomes a major diplomatic incident when he and Quark (Armin Shimerman) are captured by the Jem'Hadar. In response, Starfleet dispatches the Galaxy-class starship, the USS Odyssey, to the Gamma Quadrant to investigate the situation. Unfortunately, the Odyssey was unprepared for a battle with the Jem'Hadar, who destroyed the Galaxy-class starship by flying their ships directly into the secondary hull. This caused a devastating explosion from which there were no survivors.

The USS Odyssey was the name of the starship in Gene Roddenberry and Greg Strangis' first Star Trek: The Next Generation pitch to Paramount.

The Galaxy-class vessel was deliberately chosen by the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine production team . It was felt that, depicting the destruction of a starship which was the same class as the Star Trek: The Next Generation version of the starship Enterprise would establish the Jem'Hadar, and by extension the Dominion, as a credible threat to the Federation. In fact, one of the USS Odysseys used for DS9 was a repurposed model of the USS Enterprise-D from the TNG episode "Cause and Effect" , in which the Enterprise repeatedly exploded while caught in a time loop.

Other models involved in depicting the destruction of the USS Odyssey in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine included the damaged USS Enterprise from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock .

Could Captain Picard’s Enterprise Have Defeated DS9’s Jem’Hadar?

The shocking destruction of the USS Odyssey in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine season 2, episode 26, "The Jem'Hadar" raises the question of how Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) would handle the Jem'Hadar. Discussing DS9 's season 2 finale in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion , executive story editor Robert Hewitt Wolfe cast doubt on Picard's ability to beat the Jem'Hadar . Hewitt Wolfe said:

We wanted to show the long-term fans how dangerous these guys were. And it's my belief that if that had been the Enterprise and not the Odyssey , and Picard rather than Keogh in command, it still wouldn't have survived.

Thankfully, fans didn't have to watch the USS Enterprise-D being destroyed in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , though it would later crash on Veridian III in Star Trek Generations . Reportedly, some viewers believed that the Enterprise would be destroyed in DS9 's season 2 finale when they saw footage of the USS Odyssey exploding in the trailer . It's up to fans to speculate how the Enterprise would have fared against the Jem'Hadar. However, with such a strong crew of tacticians, engineers, and pilots, the USS Enterprise-D may have been battered by the Jem'Hadar, but it would have lived to fight another day.

All episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: The Next Generation are available to stream on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the third installment in the sci-fi franchise and follows the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew members of the USS Enterprise. Set around one hundred years after the original series, Picard and his crew travel through the galaxy in largely self-contained episodes exploring the crew dynamics and their own political discourse. The series also had several overarching plots that would develop over the course of the isolated episodes, with four films released in tandem with the series to further some of these story elements.

GalaxyCon Oklahoma City to host actors from 'The Boys', 'Star Trek', 'Blue's Clues'

A three-day festival of fandom will commence later this month during GalaxyCon at the Oklahoma City Convention Center .

From tickets, times to attractions, here's everything we know about 2024 GalaxyCon Oklahoma City.

What is GalaxyCon?

GalaxyCon Oklahoma City is a three-day event with celebrities, artists, writers, voice actors, cosplayers, entertainers, creators, wrestlers, fan groups and panelists, according to its website.

The convention will feature cosplay conventions, Q&A sessions, autographs and photo opportunities among other attractions.

When is GalaxyCon Oklahoma City?

GalaxyCon Oklahoma is May 24-26.

GalaxyCon Oklahoma City guests

This year, GalaxyCon Oklahoma City will host several celebrities, voice actors, entertainers and more, including Antony Starr, or Homelander in TV show "The Boys", according to the convention's website.

Among others, the convention will also feature actor George Takei who's known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the "Star Trek" franchise, actor Charlie Cox who portrays Matt Murdock, or Daredevil, in TV series "Daredevil," and Steve Burns who's best known for hosting children's TV show "Blue's Clues" in the late 90s and early 2000s.

GalaxyCon Oklahoma City special events

GalaxyCon Oklahoma will feature several special events including a learning session on how to create comic books and graphic novels with writers Howard Chaykin and Mark Waid.

The convention will also host Maggie Lawson and Timothy Omundson, also known as Lassiter and Jules from TV show "Psych," for a live podcasting recording where they'll talk about their favorite "Psych" episodes, behind-the-scene stories and memories, according to the event's website.

GalaxyCon tickets Oklahoma

Ticket prices vary based on the day of the week for single-day tickets and how many days a customer purchases. For more information, visit https://galaxycon.com/pages/galaxycon-oklahoma-city-tickets .

• View history

Tranya was an orange or pink - colored beverage originating from the First Federation .

It was first introduced to the United Federation of Planets in 2266 , when Balok , who enjoyed drinking tranya, served it to USS Enterprise personnel visiting a pilot ship sent from the Fesarius . ( TOS : " The Corbomite Maneuver ")

By the 24th century , tranya was available outside the First Federation. Odo ordered two "very cold" tranyas for Benjamin Sisko and himself at Quark's in 2371 , while he was hosting Curzon Dax 's personality during Jadzia Dax 's zhian'tara . ( DS9 : " Facets ")

In 2399 , Bjayzl served drugged tranya to Bruce Maddox on Freecloud . ( PIC : " Stardust City Rag ")

Background information [ ]

Tranya wasn't physically described in the script of "The Corbomite Maneuver". However, in the episode's final draft script, Balok said about the drink's name, " It is not easily translatable. "

The tranya that Balok served the crew was, in fact, grapefruit juice, which young Clint Howard absolutely hated. He said in an interview that he had to work very hard at making it look like he actually liked it. ( TOS Season 1 DVD special features)

William Shatner claimed that tranya was composed of "warm, food-colored apricot juice." ( Star Trek Memories , p. 110)

In The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner , it was implied that tranya could be an addictive beverage and that Balok had developed a bit of a drinking problem.

According to Star Trek: Discovery props master Mario Moreira , a drink in Clint Howard's Orion character's lair was also tranya. [1]

External link [ ]

• Tranya at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works