This week, Katie Harben and Kyle West discuss teenage tantrums in “Charlie X”, the offensive sexism and racism in “Code of Honor”, the first glimpse of a Sisko not to be messed with in “Past Prologue”, and the fashion choices in “Time and Again”.
What to expect from episode 3: “President Katie”?
The episodes covered in this edition of Her First Trek are (TOS) Charlie X, (TNG) Code of Honor, (DS9) Past Prologue, and (VOY) Time and Again.
Where Are We Again?
Katie started the episode off, by forgetting the name of the show.
She was horrified when Kyle said that he wouldn’t edit it out of the show.
Wesley
They introduced their new cat, who joined their family only a few hours earlier.
Kyle apologised in advance for any cat noises that listeners may hear throughout the episode.
Katie was persuaded to give the kitten a Star Trek-inspired name. She rejected Kyle’s suggestion of Lorca, we found out.
It came down to Wesley or Odo. Katie went with Wesley.
Changing the Format
Kyle revealed that they plan to spice up the format of the show, in an episode or two.
Rather than always do one episode from each of the four legacy Star Trek shows, he said that they’d play around with how shows were (if at all)
Kyle said that the most important thing, with Her First Trek, is that Katie has fun.
Spin the Wheel
Katie had the choice of which show to start with, this week. She picked the Star Trek: Voyager episode, “Time and Again”.
Unlike the previous episode of Voyager that they watched, Katie enjoyed this episode.
Kyle said that he’s seen this episode so many times.
Overuse of Time Travel, Already?
Time travel, and time loops, had appeared in Voyager’s first two episodes.
Kyle asked if it was too much. Katie felt it was different enough to the story in “Parallax”.
“Get phased, kid!”
Kyle hated the child who appeared in this episode.
Katie felt the same but specified that it was the character they disliked, not the actor himself.
Nailing the Twists
They both felt that Star Trek: Voyager, thus far, had done a great job of delivering a big twist in each episode.
Final Thoughts on “Time and Again”
Katie really enjoyed this one.
Kyle felt that the scenes on the planet, post-explosion, genuinely had a feeling within them, that people had recently died there.
They compared it to the feeling of seeing imagery from Pompeii, etc.
After Kyle asked what her current ranking order for Star Trek: Voyager episodes are, Katie, put “Caretaker” first, then” Time and Again” a close second, with “Parallax” in third place.
“Code of Honor”
Katie chose the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, next.
She read out the episode synopsis from TrekCore.com.
Sexist & Racist
They spoke about the sexist and racial stereotypes that were used in the episode, labelling them as being “offensive”.
Kyle said that a lot of the racial issues were on the screen, but that the sexism was baked into the script.
“We’re not trying to ignore it,” Kyle said, when he said that they would be discussing the episode plot and events, regardless of the clear race and gender issues with the episode.
It Wasn’t Bad!
Judging the episode by the merit of its story, both Katie and Kyle enjoyed the episode.
They liked the climactic fight scene. Kyle said that he would love to see the sequence made today, with current-day TV technology.
Katie liked how Picard was able to resolve the problem of the week.
Twists and Turns, Every Single Week
Kyle was almost dumbfounded when Katie revealed that this may have been her favourite episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, thus far.
He said that he can never predict how she’s going to react to the episodes.
Very Badge-y
Whilst Katie still doesn’t see how Sisko becomes the badass that Kyle says he will be, she said she did see a glimpse of it in this episode.
Katie thought that, at that moment, Sisko was very Badgey.
Cold on Kira
Katie finds herself being rubbed up the wrong way, by Kira. She doesn’t like her attitude.
Admittedly, this episode did improve her opinion of Kira, ever-so-slightly, she said.
Kyle believes that Kira only told Sisko about the attack planned by her old friend because she felt it wasn’t best for Bajor. He doesn’t think it was done out of loyalty to Sisko.
He is excited to see how Katie finds Kira, as the show goes on.
Klingon Boobies
They spoke about the appearance of the Duras Sisters, in this episode.
Katie wasn’t familiar with the characters but was aware of the Duras family due to Star Trek: Enterprise.
Kyle was accused of enjoying the sight of the sisters’ breasts being largely on show. He denied all charges.
Thoughts on DS9, As a Whole?
Katie said that she really enjoys the stories on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but that she can’t grow attached to the characters.
Kyle believes that will change, as the show continues. He said that, of all the Star Trek shows, DS9 did the best character work across it’s run.
An Important Voice in the Fandom
Kyle believes that people will appreciate Katie’s view on Star Trek, despite her own misgivings.
He said that she comes to it from a fresh place, with a viewpoint that hasn’t been poisoned by the small majority that tries to hate on Star Trek nowadays.
Last, but not Least
“Let’s be honest, the end of that summary sounds like a Lower Decks episode!” Kyle joked after Katie read out the episode synopsis for “Charlie X”.
Katie “really liked this one,” to Kyle’s surprise.
The acting style of 60s Star Trek is still putting her off, but she was a fan of the episode, as a whole.
Unclear Powers
Neither were sure to what extent Charlie was able to use his powers.
It didn’t make sense to Kyle that Charlie didn’t use his abilities on Kirk, but Katie wondered if it was because Kirk was a father figure to him.
Given Charlie did not understand consent, Kyle was surprised that the writer(s) didn’t take the typical problematic TV route of having Charlie use his abilities to make Janice Rand more open to his advances.
Kyle feels that, in these instances, he has to remember that The Original Series was not designed to be dissected in this manor 50+ years later.
A Desire to Connect
Kyle thought that, ultimately, the episode was about experiencing love for the first time. Love for a woman. Love for a father.
Charlie had no memory of ever experiencing these things before he came on board the Enterprise.
“It was NOT what I was expecting.”
Katie did not expect the ending to be what it was, but she didn’t have any idea how they were going to resolve the plot, beforehand.
She was surprised that Kirk let Charlie be taken away but accepted that he didn’t have any real control over it.
Kirk’s Parenting Abilities
Kyle made a special shout-out to the scene where Kirk is speaking to Charlie about consent from a woman, and how to behave around a person you are interested in.
Both he and Katie thought that Kirk was hilarious in the scene and so awkward.
Jynx
In that same scene, there was one line that Kirk spoke, which Kyle believes to be one of the greatest lines he has ever heard spoken on a television series.
Katie agreed, and they both called it “profound”. At the same time, in fact.
A Big Shock
Katie said that she cannot rank the TOS episodes, thus far, as she has really enjoyed all of them.
Kyle asked if this meant that, seeing later episodes had now changed her opinion of “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, and she confirmed it had!
She’s surprised, herself!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Useful Links
Small Print
The theme music is "Amiss in Wonderland" by Gabriel Lucas, and is licenced by Holosuite Media through Epidemic Sound.
Episodes contain brief extracts of audio from episodes of Star Trek, for the purpose of production style. These audio extracts are the property of CBS Viacom.
STAR TREK and all related marks, logos and characters are owned by CBS Studios Inc.
Her First Trek, Holosuite Media, the website, the promotion thereof and any exhibition of material created by Her First Trek, Holosuite Media, or the Her First Trek team are not endorsed or sponsored by or affiliated with CBS Studios/Paramount Pictures or the STAR TREK franchise.
This podcast is a fan production. All views made are that of the individual(s), and may not represent that of Her First Trek, or the Holosuite Media network.