Without giving away any spoilers, this one may not be the at top of the Star Trek Continues pack, but it is a solid episode in the spirit of the original series and well worth watching. It was great to see John DeLancie and Anne Lockhart as guest stars--even if they could have been given stronger characters.
On the positive side, this was very much in the spirit of old star trek. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were very much in their element and the performances of the top three rang true. The plot was also very classic Trek, with the inhabitants of the asteroid facing imminent starvation and death and some of the inhabitants plagued by a disease. The Enterprise crew is there to help, but there is a plot twist. The production values are better than late '60s standard, the sets are impeccable, and the acting in this one was actually better than many previous episodes. (Don't forget that these guys are producing this show on a shoe-string budget and it's truly a home grown, effort.)
On the down side, the maiden in distress and Kirk's love interest who is one of the inhabitants stricken by the fatal disease, is a little too simple minded/innocent to believe. The idea that radiation from the sun prevents the asteroid inhabitants from seeing in color-- something the landing party observes early on in the episode--is really too contrived. And the resolution is 100% TOS but not necessarily TOS at it's best....
True to classic Trek, the writers have given us a parable for a modern problem: illegal immigration and the controversy surrounding DACA. Unlike some of the critiques on IMDb of this episode, 'What Ships Are For' brings up the issues at the heart of the matter without pointing fingers to current political figures.
The fact that just bringing up the issue has pushed some buttons is more a function of the strong feelings about it, and is EXACTLY why it SHOULD be brought up in this kind of context. (Think 'Let That Be Your Last Battlefield' from TOS that dealt with race relations.) That said, if the writing had been a little more clever, the authors might have brought in the issue more subtly. Even if they smacked you in the face with it by the end of the adventure, the best written TOS episodes did a better job of sneaking hot-button issues into the plot before doing so. Then again, not all episodes (even TOS), will have City-On-The-Edge-of-Forever writing quality.
The authors simply ask the question as to what might happen if seemingly upstanding citizens could be immediately unmasked as illegal aliens (pun intended, but not in a humorous way) and how we might handle this. There is clearly a moral imperative they are foisting on the audience but no blame was laid at the feet of the Trump administration or the Republican party. As our present political system is not going to be able to benefit from Captain Kirk's unique solution to the problem, we will have to leave this up to our present political process.
Kirk's long speech in this one is no better/worse than the moralizing in similar, drawn out speeches in Star Trek TOS. If you don't believe me, look back at just a few of some vintage, Kirk speeches: his diatribe at the end of 'A Taste of Armegeddon' (the 'we're not going to kill today), or his 'risk is our business' speech from 'Return to Tomorrow,' or--probably the mother of all Kirk speeches--the one at the end of Omega Glory ('ee plebneesta...' oh, my)...
And as to Vic Mignogna's handling of his prolonged speech in this episode, it was utterly over the top, but was the most pitch perfect, Shatner-channeling that he has done in the series. Go ahead and quibble with the performance, but it was absolutely a homage to the classic--and yes, at times, cringe-worthy--Kirk speech.
In my estimation, Star Trek Continues' best episode has been 'Fairest of Them All,' their take on the aftermath of the TOS episode 'Mirror Mirror.' That episode was brilliant. This one, not so much. Remember, though, as Trek fans, we often conveniently forget TOS episodes like 'Spock's Brain' and 'The Way to Eden.' ("You've got a hard lip, Herbert." Ugh.)
But in terms of staying true to Trek, I would take this STC episode over (at least) the first episode of the brand new, official Star Trek Discovery. And there are no streaming fees with this one. This was a trip down memory lane for me again and I can't thank Vic Mignogna and his team enough.
On the positive side, this was very much in the spirit of old star trek. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were very much in their element and the performances of the top three rang true. The plot was also very classic Trek, with the inhabitants of the asteroid facing imminent starvation and death and some of the inhabitants plagued by a disease. The Enterprise crew is there to help, but there is a plot twist. The production values are better than late '60s standard, the sets are impeccable, and the acting in this one was actually better than many previous episodes. (Don't forget that these guys are producing this show on a shoe-string budget and it's truly a home grown, effort.)
On the down side, the maiden in distress and Kirk's love interest who is one of the inhabitants stricken by the fatal disease, is a little too simple minded/innocent to believe. The idea that radiation from the sun prevents the asteroid inhabitants from seeing in color-- something the landing party observes early on in the episode--is really too contrived. And the resolution is 100% TOS but not necessarily TOS at it's best....
True to classic Trek, the writers have given us a parable for a modern problem: illegal immigration and the controversy surrounding DACA. Unlike some of the critiques on IMDb of this episode, 'What Ships Are For' brings up the issues at the heart of the matter without pointing fingers to current political figures.
The fact that just bringing up the issue has pushed some buttons is more a function of the strong feelings about it, and is EXACTLY why it SHOULD be brought up in this kind of context. (Think 'Let That Be Your Last Battlefield' from TOS that dealt with race relations.) That said, if the writing had been a little more clever, the authors might have brought in the issue more subtly. Even if they smacked you in the face with it by the end of the adventure, the best written TOS episodes did a better job of sneaking hot-button issues into the plot before doing so. Then again, not all episodes (even TOS), will have City-On-The-Edge-of-Forever writing quality.
The authors simply ask the question as to what might happen if seemingly upstanding citizens could be immediately unmasked as illegal aliens (pun intended, but not in a humorous way) and how we might handle this. There is clearly a moral imperative they are foisting on the audience but no blame was laid at the feet of the Trump administration or the Republican party. As our present political system is not going to be able to benefit from Captain Kirk's unique solution to the problem, we will have to leave this up to our present political process.
Kirk's long speech in this one is no better/worse than the moralizing in similar, drawn out speeches in Star Trek TOS. If you don't believe me, look back at just a few of some vintage, Kirk speeches: his diatribe at the end of 'A Taste of Armegeddon' (the 'we're not going to kill today), or his 'risk is our business' speech from 'Return to Tomorrow,' or--probably the mother of all Kirk speeches--the one at the end of Omega Glory ('ee plebneesta...' oh, my)...
And as to Vic Mignogna's handling of his prolonged speech in this episode, it was utterly over the top, but was the most pitch perfect, Shatner-channeling that he has done in the series. Go ahead and quibble with the performance, but it was absolutely a homage to the classic--and yes, at times, cringe-worthy--Kirk speech.
In my estimation, Star Trek Continues' best episode has been 'Fairest of Them All,' their take on the aftermath of the TOS episode 'Mirror Mirror.' That episode was brilliant. This one, not so much. Remember, though, as Trek fans, we often conveniently forget TOS episodes like 'Spock's Brain' and 'The Way to Eden.' ("You've got a hard lip, Herbert." Ugh.)
But in terms of staying true to Trek, I would take this STC episode over (at least) the first episode of the brand new, official Star Trek Discovery. And there are no streaming fees with this one. This was a trip down memory lane for me again and I can't thank Vic Mignogna and his team enough.