Trekabout: A Star Trek Podcast

On this special holiday episode of Trekabout, we celebrate the death of Tasha Yar… wait, that’s not right. “Skin of Evil” isn’t that great, but it’s at least audacious, unlike “We’ll Always Have Paris”, which, uh… is an episode. Plus! Richard compares Armus to Trelane. Richard has never seen Star Trek before. iTunes Google Play ...

Man, unintended consequences are a bitch. In “The Arsenal of Freedom”, space Americans who were selling weapons to space Iran end up destroying themselves. Meanwhile, in “Symbiosis”, the cast of TNG does a drug after-school special, but with a distinct lack of space Nancy Reagan. Also! Don’t do drugs. iTunes Google Play RSS

This week, we’re all about existential threats to galactic civilizations. In “Coming of Age”, a Starfleet admiral appears to berate the Enterprise crew because conspiracy. Meanwhile, in “Heart of Glory”, some dicky Klingons want the freedom to murder some people because warrior race. It’s really a shame that Wesley failed the Starfleet Academy entrance exam, ...

Our episodes this week are all about strange lifeforms that are hard to understand. “When the Bough Breaks” features an alien planet full of kidnappers who decide they really need a few bad child actors and Wesley Crusher. Meanwhile, “Home Soil” features the Federation discovering that silicon-based life exists. Wait a second. Also! Data’s penis ...

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Star Trek loves itself some duology, and The Next Generation is no exception. In “Datalore”, Eric Brasure and Richard Goodness discover that Data has a “brother”, and, well… he’s kind of a dick. In “Angel One”, we discover that women in power are kind of dicks. Plus! Data has a dick. Oh boy, does Data ...

Star Trek: The Next Generation starts getting a little philosophical this week, as our main characters encounter computer-generated people that question their own personhood. No, we’re not talking about Lwaxana Troi in “Haven”, we’re talking about “The Big Goodbye”, but we can understand why you might think that. Let’s just not talk about “Haven”, okay? ...

This week’s Trekabout finds us learning new things about our intrepid adventurers. In “The Battle”, we learn that Picard might be going senile because he doesn’t remember inventing a starship maneuver so famous it’s taught in Starfleet Academy. Later, in “Hide and Q”, we get to discover that Geordi is attracted to Wesley Crusher. Plus! ...

Hi everyone, Acting Ensign Wesley Crusher here! Well gee, Eric Brasure and Richard Goodness let me write the recap for this week’s episode of Trekabout and I’m so goshdarn excited! Let’s see… in “Lonely Among Us”, some mean alien thing takes over Captain’s Picard’s body while some other mean alien things try to eat each ...

Eric Brasure and Richard Goodness are not having a good week. "The Last Outpost" reveals the new Star Trek threat, and it's... the Ferengi. So they talk about the Prime Directive instead. Later, in "Where No One Has Gone Before", Picard's past as a momma's boy, and Wesley's future as an asshole, are revealed. Plus! Richard wants a replicator. He hates doing laundry.

Star Trek: The Next Generation continues to get off to a rocky start by basically remaking two Original Series episodes. "The Naked Now" reveals what the crew of the Enterprise-D secretly desires, and most of it is so boring and/or horrible that it's never brought up again. Meanwhile, in "Code of Honor", director Russ Mayberry works out his fear of black people.

This week, Eric Brasure and Richard Goodness leap ahead into the 24th Century by covering the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Encounter at Farpoint”. How is Picard different from Kirk? How is Data different from Spock? Why are there so many men walking around in miniskirts? Also! How annoying is Q? iTunes ...

Well, we’ve come to the end of our journey with The Original Series crew with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The last adventure for Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov features them coming to terms with Russian Perestroika… I mean, Klingon… Perestroika. I mean, the Klingons are in trouble and the Federation ...

Oh boy. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. While it’s not the worst of the Trek movies, it’s decidedly the roughest ride we’ve had in quite a while. Eric tries to defend the movie a bit, and Richard tries to find some deep Buddhist resonances in the film, but overall it’s just a poorly put-together ...

We close out the trilogy of Trek movies with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which just so happens to be Eric’s favorite. The film combines humor, action, and Trekkian optimism in true Original Series fashion, and it’s just spectacular. Richard likes it too, I guess. But don’t worry! Just because the trilogy is over ...

After the unbelievable high of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the Original Series movies come back to Earth this week (literally.) Star Trek III: The Search for Spock inverts the traditional Trek plot by placing our heroes on the run from Starfleet, in a desperate attempt to find Spock. Spoiler: they find him. ...

In Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, we learn that Kirk fears obsolescence, Khan fears embarrassment, and Spock fears nothing. Which, you know, is a benefit and a curse, because he ends up dying. Plus! Kirstie Alley. Do we need to say anything else? iTunes Google Play RSS

The late Seventies were a depressing time. Economic malaise. Oil embargo. Iran hostage crisis. Star Trek: The Motion Picture will make us all feel better, right? Well, no, not really–it’s a rather somber affair, full of drab colors, violent death, and characters who barely acknowledge one another’s presence. It’s not all bad, though, because it ...

We bid a fond if not entirely unwelcome farewell to The Animated Series this week, the show that proved that The Original Series was not just a flash in the pan. “How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth” is basically a retread of “Who Mourns for Adonais?” but with 100% less sexual harassment and 100% more ...

Well, after a lackluster start, the second season of The Animated Series roars back. “The Practical Joker” is notable for featuring the precursor to the holodeck. It’s also notable for being insane. Meanwhile, “Albatross” (winner of the 1998 Most Obtuse Star Trek Episode Title Award) is a quiet character study and a cautionary tale about ...