Nerd heaven

🎩 Exploring the World of Oz – Books, Movies & Future Adaptations 🌪️ In this episode, I’m joined by special guest Paeter Frandsen of Spirit Blade Productions, who has just released a brand-new audiobook recording of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum**. Together, we take a deep dive into the magical land of Oz—past, present, and future! We chat about: ✨ Our experiences reading the original Wizard of Oz books 🎬 The iconic 1939 Wizard of Oz movie 🌀 Return to Oz and its darker take on Baum’s world 💚 Oz the Great and Powerful 🎭 Wicked, and how its popularity has reshaped modern Oz fandom 🎶 The excitement around the upcoming adaptation Wicked: Part One (Wicked for Good) We also share our hopes and ideas for future adaptations of Baum’s novels and discuss how renewed interest in the Oz franchise could open the door to new faithful retellings. Whether you're a lifelong Oz fan, love the classic movie, are obsessed with Wicked, or curious about untapped corners of the Baum universe, this conversation is for you! 🔊 Check out Paeter Frandsen’s audiobook of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNC7Qz41mx8 or download it from https://www.patreon.com/posts/44479037 Find Paeter at https://Christiangeekcentral.com 💬 Join the conversation! What’s YOUR favorite Oz book or movie? What story would YOU love to see adapted next?

Join me for a full breakdown and character-focused analysis of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home — the hilarious, heartfelt time-travel classic that wraps up the three-part Spock resurrection arc. From whales and alien mysteries to Spock’s evolving relationship with his father, this is more than just a sci-fi comedy. We explore: 🖖 Why the tonal shift shouldn’t have worked — but did 🖖 The probe's mystery and how it deepens the Star Trek mythos 🖖 The completion of Spock’s emotional arc (and how Star Trek: Discovery enriches it) 🖖 Kirk’s final "punishment" and why it’s so satisfying 🖖 The quiet emotional weight behind key moments like Sarek’s confession Whether you're a long-time Trekkie or just diving into the films, this is your place for thoughtful commentary, nostalgic appreciation, and character storytelling. 👉 Next up: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier — and I’ve got thoughts. 📘 Love Star Trek? You’ll probably enjoy my own space opera series, Jewel of The Stars. Grab book one for less than a dollar at: https://books2read.com/jewel 🖖 Subscribe for more deep dives on Star Trek movies and series.

In this episode of Nerd Heaven, Adam David Collings takes you on a passionate and thoughtful journey through Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Often overshadowed by its predecessor and successor, this film is far more than a bridge—it’s a deeply emotional exploration of friendship, sacrifice, and what makes Star Trek so enduring. We break down pivotal scenes like the death of David Marcus, the Klingon confrontation with Kruge, and the climactic resurrection ceremony on Vulcan. From James Horner’s unforgettable score to Leonard Nimoy’s directorial choices and Spock’s spiritual rebirth, this episode offers insightful commentary that will resonate with fans of Star Trek lore, character arcs, and sci-fi storytelling. You'll hear: 🖖 Why Kirk's sacrifice defines his character 🖖 The surprising emotional growth of Sarek and McCoy 🖖 How Genesis represents both hope and destruction 🖖 Thoughts on the “even vs odd movie” theory 🖖 A tribute to James Horner’s legacy in Star Trek music Whether you're a longtime Trekkie or revisiting the films with fresh eyes, this episode will help you appreciate The Search for Spock as a beautifully crafted chapter in Star Trek’s cinematic saga. 👉 Subscribe for more Star Trek analysis, sci-fi reviews & geek culture deep dives. 🖖 Live long and prosper.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan—the film saved Star Trek, as it could be argued. This movie embraced the aging of its characters, leading to a very meaingful character arc for Kirk, which only means more to me as I get older. Let's geek out over the Star Trek movie that many still hold up as their favourite.

Today we start a new series looking at the original series Star Trek movies, starting with Star Trek The Motion Picture. This is a film with very clear weaknesses, but also some strengths. Let's take an honest look at what I like, and what I don't like about this movie.

This is an author's commentary for the first book in my Jewel of The Stars series. Think of it like the director's commentary on a DVD.

In this episode, I discuss the Babylon 5 animated movie The Road Home. How does it stack up as a Babylon 5 story? Let's dig in and find out.

Blood of the Stars is an epic fantasy novel, the first of a series by debut author Karyne Norton. Learn more about the book at https://www.karynenorton.com/ And check out my books at https://adamdavidcollings.com/books

Bonus Episode - My thoughts on Indianna Jones and The Dial of Destiny.

Today, we're looking at the final episode of Star Trek Continues. "To Boldly Go. Part 2." So how does this episode hold up against other series finales such as "All Good Things" and "What You Leave Behind". And how well does this episode tie together Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Motion Picture. There's a lot to talk about, including some cool stories shared with me by director James Kerwin. Audio Player control at bottom of page. ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars. And I am a Nerd. This is episode 107 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the final episode of Star Trek Continues. “To Boldly Go, Part 2.” bringing our coverage of this show to a close. The description on IMDB reads The iconic mission of the U.S.S. Enterprise comes to an end, as Kirk and his crew battle the ultimate adversary. This teleplay was written by Robert J. Sawyer and James Kerwin. With story by Vic Mignogna, Robert J. Sawyer and James Kerwin. It was directed by James Kerwin And it first aired on the 13th of November 2017. We pick up in a very tense situation from last episode’s great cliffhanger. Kirk is unwilling to relinquish his bridge. He, Spock, and Uhura all try to fight back. To no avail. Even the security officer’s phasers are useless against Lana’s powers. And then the big surprise twist happens. Smith’s eyes go silver. She is uplifted as well. This was nicely foreshadowed in the last episode where they mentioned that she was holding Garry’s hand when they passed through the barrier. I felt then, that she was holding something back. She uses the same lightning force powers that Lana was using. We saw Gary Mitchel and Elizabeth Denher use them in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. She forces Lana and Sentek to retreat to the Kongo. So … it seems Smith wasn’t quite so unaffected as she claimed. I think this is a very cool development. But it raises a lot of questions. Where does Smith sit in the esper scale? Has she always been affected, but has been hiding it, or have her powers only just now manifested. And if so, why? Kirk asks security to escort her to sickbay. At first, she’s taken aback. After all, she’s one of the good guys right. She helped them against Lana. But after a moment of thought, she relents. It’s probably a good idea. She understands the potential threat she represents. She sees things from Kirk’s point of view. Maybe she’d even do the same thing in his place. She voluntarily goes with security. The big question is, why are they just sitting there. Why have they not destroyed the Enterprise and her crew? McCoy has the answer. It takes time for uplifted espers to grow in their powers. Perhaps they’re biding their time until they all reach full strength. Bones has a medical defence that might help with the illusions. Scotty recommends keeping their distance as the espers don’t have unlimited range with their powers. The Kongo’s engines are offline. The crew must have shut it off before they were overpowered. Maybe the espers don’t know how to get them going again. Kirk hasn’t slept for two days. McCoy doesn’t argue. Usually Kirk would be wrong, but not this time. He needs to keep going. I’m not sure McCoy is right, actually. As Riker says in Best of Both Worlds, you can’t fight the enemy at the same time you’re fighting your own fatigue. Lack of sleep impairs human decision making. I know my mind is absolutely useless after putting in a day of work, and Kirk has been going much longer than that. Yes, the situation is critical, but for the moment, it’s quiet, This might be the perfect time for Kirk to catch 30 minutes of sleep while the enemy regroups. Of course, there’s a lot to accomplish while they have this time. Coming up with defences, a plan of some sort. There are no good or easy answers, which is probably why McCoy is not arguing with him. In five years, 73 people have died under...

Today, we're looking at "To Boldly Go Part 1", the first half of the Star Trek Continues grant finale. See how this episode ties back to the Star Trek pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before", how it sets up everything for the exciting conclusion, and hear some fascinating new insights into the episode from director James Kerwin. Player at bottom of page http://AdamDavidCollings.com/books ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars. And I am a nerd This is episode 106 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the first part of the Star Trek Continues grand finale, “To Boldly Go, Part 1”. I got an email a few weeks ago. It was from James Kerwin. Yes, that James Kerin. Writer, producer and director for Star Trek Continues, including director of today’s episode. He reached out to me to say he’d been listening to the podcast and enjoying it. This was a huge thrill. It’s very humbling to find that one of the creators of the show has been listening to the podcast, so I want to give a big shout out and thank you to him, not only for his work on the show, but for his encouragement. And he pointed out a few fascinating things that I’d missed. Remember in episode three, I talked about how good the shuttlecraft exterior looked. It turns out, they didn’t build that from scratch that was the real shuttlecraft Galileo from Star Trek The Original Series. How awesome is that? I’ve made mention of Nurse Chapel a couple of times, but that wasn’t actually Chapel. They made a conscious decision not to have Chapel appear on screen in this show because she should be off at Starfleet Medical getting her doctorate at this point in time, which makes a lot of sense. So it was always Nurse Burke, a character who had appeared in Star Trek comics and novels. And Lieutenant Smith has not actually been on the Enterprise the whole time. But we’ll learn more about that in the next episode. But here’s a big one I missed. The actress who plays her, Kipleigh Brown, was the writer of episode 9 “What Ships are For” I didn’t put that together, but I think that’s really cool. The description on IMDB for today’s episode reads To solve the utmost mystery, the Enterprise must return to where Kirk's five-year mission began. The teleplay was by Roberty J. Sawyer based on a story by Vic Mignongna, James Kerwin, and Robert J. Sawyer. It was directed by James Kerwin, And it first aired on the 18th of October 2017. Robert J. Sawyer was the primary writer of this two-parter. He is a very famous Canadian author who wrote FlashForward, which was adapted for TV by Star Trek’s Branon Braga, and Man of Steel’s David S. Goyer. When Star Trek The Next Generation was preparing to wrap and move to the big screen, they gave it a two-hour finale. This idea was pretty unheard of at the time. Lots of shows in the 90s had movie-length pilots, but not finales. TV shows tended to pitter out and end with a bit of a whimper. TNG changed all that. But the original Star Trek never got a proper finale, like TNG, DS9, and Voyager. Even Enterprise got a finale of sorts, which I will partially defend, though not the feature length extravaganza that others got. But things were different in the 60s. TOS had no ending. It was cancelled. Turnabout Intruder wasn’t intended to be the end of the story, it was just an episode. One of the greatest things about Star Trek Continues is that it rectifies this. It gives TOS the ending it always deserved. And it’s done so well. Much like “All Good Things”, it calls back to a lot of things from the past, but it specifically links us back to the very first episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” Even the titles relate, each is part of Kirk’s iconic phrase. The symmetry is beautiful. But hold on, I hear you say. “What about the Cage? Isn’t that the pilot of TOS?” Well, yes it is. Star Trek had an unprecedented two pilots. But The Cage never actually...

We're taking a brief side-quest from our regular coverage of Star Trek Continues, to look at an episode of Star Trek New Voyages, because it sets up the back-story of Kirk and Carol Marcus's relationship, and I just like to throw it in there when I'm doing a re-watch of Star Trek Continues. ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars And I am a nerd. This is episode 105 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about an episode of a different fan series - Star Trek New Voyages. “The Holiest Thing” Why? I just like to throw this one in when I do a re-watch of Star Trek Continues, because it does a similar thing to Continues, that is, to help develop the story filling in the gaps between TOS and the Star Trek movies. This one introduces Kirk to a much younger Carol Marcus, for the very first time. So I figured, let’s have a look at this one. Next time, we’ll be back with part 1 of the finale of Star Trek Continues. The description on IMDB reads Captain Kirk and the Enterprise investigate the devastation of Lappa III, apparently by the terraforming efforts of Dr. Carol Marcus. This episode was written by Rick Chambers It was directed by Daren Dochterman And it first aired on the 15th of January 2016 We start this episode in a very unexpected place. A shuttle flies past the camera. But it’s not a TOS shuttle. It’s an Enterprise D shuttle. We cut to the inside where we see a woman in TNG era uniform and an older Scotty. So, clearly this is set some time after the TNG episode “Relics” where a retired Scotty finds himself in the 24th century. I have to say, they cast a pretty decent look-alike for older scotty. A guy named Carl Sheldon. He hasn’t done a lot of acting. Watching this scene, I’m again reminded just how professional the acting and writing are in Star Trek Continues. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Star Trek New Voyages. They did some amazing stuff long before Star Trek Continues was a thing. But the acting, and the dialog here just isn’t at the same standard as Continues. But I want to give this show credit for set design and visual effects. What we see in this episode is great. And not all the acting feels as amateur as this first scene. The ensign has been doing some training with Captain Scott. They’re approaching the Lappa system. She asks Scotty if he’s ever been there. He recalls a time in his past, when the world was still very much on the frontier. It was un-inhabited back then. At least, that’s what they thought. We then cut to the TOS present day. A scientist, who we’ll shortly learn is Dr. Carol Marcus, is working to terraform this planet. Scotty is there, and in this show, he has a moustache. Another little nod to closing the gap between TOS and TMP. Marcus says “we have Enterprise and her chief Engineer watching over our shoulder.” This is something that bugs me. That she says “Enterprise” rather than “The Enterprise.” Voyager was the first Star Trek show to drop the word “The” when referring to the ship. And I was okay with that because “The Voyager” somehow sounded wrong. In contrast to “The Enterprise” and “The Defant” which both sounded completely natural and right. Then we got Enterprise, and on that show, they did the same thing. They called the ship “Enterprise”, not “The Enterprise” That annoyed me a little, but I got over it. But nowadays, in Strange New Worlds, they are referring to the original starship Enterprise, the one commanded by Pike and eventually Kirk, as “Enterprise.” I’m sorry, but that’s just wrong. That ship was always “The Enterprise” so that annoys me quite a bit. I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all. Here, in New Voyages, we have the same problem. Carol is referring to Kirk’s ship. It should be “The Enterprise” Marcus told the science council she could terraform Lappa III in less than a decade. But with recent problems with the equipment, it’s going to take twice...

In this episode of Star Trek Continues, we are treated to the return of John De Lancie is a new role. But just because he's not playing Q, doesn't mean he isn't awesome. "What Ships Are For" explores an issue that has been topical in our world in recent years - immigration and refugees. ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars And I am a nerd. This is episode 104 of the podcast. (Yes, I’m counting the chat about DC comics from last time) Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “What Ships are For”. The description on IMDB reads Kirk struggles with aiding a society whose inhabitants view their isolated world in a very unique way. This teleplay was written by Kipleigh Brown With story by Vic Mignogna, James Kerwin, and Kipleigh Brown, It was directed by Vic Mignogna And it first aired on the 30th of July 2017 When I first heard that Star Trek Continues was bringing in the legendary John DeLancie, but that he’d be playing a character that wasn’t Q, my initial reaction was “What a waste of John De Lancie.” My thinking went something like this. The idea of having Q visit Kirk’s Enterprise would be fun. Something that could certainly happen in-universe because Q can travel through time with the click of a finger. But it couldn’t have ever been done in TOS because The Next Generation didn’t exist yet. It’s the similar problem to having Kirk and Spock make references to Archer and T’Pol. While Enterprise took place before TOS, it was created more than 30 years later. These kinds of references and interactions can only be done by fan productions (or maybe Strange New Worlds). But as fun as it would be having Q show up in a TOS episode, it’s unlikely a fan production would be able to get John DeLancie. But Star Trek Continues managed to get him. But they didn’t use him for Q. They cast him as another character. Added to the disappointment of him not being Q, was the fact that De Lancie is a very recognisable guy, so seeing him as a different character would be odd to say the least. After watching the episode the first time, I had to back-pedal my thoughts on this because of De Lancie’s great performance. He did a fantastic job with this character, and now it’s hard to imagine this episode without him. The Enterprise is responding to a distress call from an inhabited asteroid with a limited warp capable society. I like that it’s an inhabited asteroid. We always see people living on planets, but I think we need more inhibited moons and asteroids, not only in sci-fi, but in fantasy as well. If I ever write a fantasy book, the world I set it on will be a moon, rather than a planet. And a nice bit of ongoing continuity, we learn that two Federation starships have been dispatched to investigate what happened to the hood. Both have suffered unexplainable damage. We also learn that Nurse Chapel is already at Starfleet medical, studying to become a doctor. We know that by the time of Star Trek The Motion Picture, Chapen is a doctor. This is the first really big sign that Star Trek Continues is on a trajectory toward that movie, starting to set up some of the big changes that occurred off-screen between season 3 and the movie. You sometimes see nurses who decide to become doctors in both fiction and real life. It can be almost viewed as a promotion, which, I suspect it technically is, if you look at the hierarchy of authority in a hospital. But nursing certainly needn't be seen as a stepping stone to medicine. Nursing is a respected profession of highly intelligent people. And interestingly, my wife works with a nurse who used to be a doctor, but decided she’d rather be a nurse. You don’t often see it go that direction. The other hint of the motion picture you see is the white medical uniform the doctor at Starfleet is wearing. Kirk jokes that you’ll never get him in one of those things. The Hyalini have...

In this episode, I talk about some of the DC Comics that I've read in recent time. I cover * Batman: The Killing Joke * Green Lantern Emerald Twilight * Zero Hour: Crisis in Time * Superman: Dead Again This is a bonus as my next Star Trek Continues podcast is not yet ready. Next fortnight, we'll return to our regularly scheduled program.

This episode of Star Trek Continues takes an alternative look at what might have happened to the USS Defiant after The Tholian Web, making use of a divergence field so as not to contradict In a Mirror Darkly. It also features a guest appearance of Rekha Sharma, before her role in Star Trek Discovery. ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars And I am a nerd. This is episode 102 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “Still Treads The Shadows”. The description on IMDB reads The Enterprise becomes trapped on the edge of a rift in space where alternate universes meet and Kirk finds himself having to contend with a ghost from his past and danger in the present. This episode was written by Judy Burns It was directed by Julian Higgins And it first aired on the 1st of April 2017 And this one guest stars Rekha Sharma of Battlestar Galactica fame, and she actually appeared here long before she appeared in Star Trek Discovery. The Enterprise is investigating a nascent singularity. A gravitational wave engineer has been sent along to help them. This makes sense to me, while one of Starfleet’s primary missions is scientific, and they have their own scientists, if there is no expert on a given field on board, a guest may be sent with them. And if the leading expert on a field is a civilian, it makes sense that a civilian would go along to work with the crew. There’s a stronger than anticipated gravitational wave. It has consumed planets 3 through 8 in ten days and is about to destroy a moon. It seems our guest, Avi Samara, is on a first name basis with Kirk. She calls him Jim, then corrects herself. They’re detecting an interdimensional rift, like the one Kirk was nearly lost in back in The Tholian Web. They’ve detected a lifeform, it’s not on the moon as they first think, but on a ship. The USS Defiant. Well that’s interesting. Especially since we know what happened to the Defiant after The Tholian Web. It ended up in the 22 century of the mirror universe. (and that episode aired long before this series was thought of) Also when The Defiant vanished, there was nobody alive on board. Samara wants to go aboard to investigate, but Kirk denies her request without explanation. All the dead crewmen Kirk saw last time are gone. The bridge is empty. Bones has found the lifesign. It’s a much older looking Kirk. Cryonically preserved. A DNA scan suggests he’s not a clone because there’s no genetic drift. He’s literally Kirk. Samara’s research suggests that rogue singularities can move from universe to universe. The Defiant is stuck, halfway between two universes. Her engines have been modified over a long period of time to reach warp 15. Old Kirk arrives in the briefing lounge. All this time he thought they’d left him behind. Now he finds his old crew, still young, and …. Himself. Even old Kirk knows Samara, so they’ve known each other prior to this mission. Given their embrace it seems they were close. Old Kirk remembers the attempt to beam him back to the Enterprise, but he found himself back on the Defient. Samara suggests a divergence field. Two Kirks. Two Defiants. They don’t know where our Defiant went, (but we do) but this is the duplicate. The other defiant has been in another universe for 217 years. The big question is, who put Kirk in cryo? The old-age makeup isn’t bad. Along similar lines to what was done in the original series. But not at the level of what could be done today with a professional budget. And Vic does a good job of altering his performance, his voice, to help sell it. It would have been interesting if they’d been able to get William Shatner for this episode to play older Kirk. It would be a good way to bring him back, something he’s sometimes said he’d like to do if the role was more than a cameo. Fan productions have had original series actors...

In today's Star Trek Continues podcast, we talk about the episode "Embracing The Winds" which tries to address Janice Lester's claims that "your world of Starship captains doesn't welcome women" in the episode Turnabout Intruder. This episode does a good job of looking at a contemporary issue in a new way through a Star Trek lens. ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars. And I am a Nerd. This is episode 101 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “Embracing the Winds.” And I’m excited to announce that the third book in my Jewel of The Stars series is now available in eBook and print from all the usual retailers. You can find links to many of them by going to books2read.com/jewel3 (and that’s the number 2 in books 2 read) Let me quickly read the back cover blurb and then we’ll jump into this episode. Tourists on a cruise. Stranded in an alien battleground When their warp drive mysteriously stops working, the luxury cruise ship Jewel of The Stars becomes easy pickings for humanity’s enemy – the Dracnor. And there may be an enemy agent on board. Before the fall of Earth, a madman made doomsday predictions on Captain Les Miller’s doorstop. How did he know the invasion was coming? Now that same man has been spotted walking the promenade. Les must stop him, but the evidence contradicts what he knows to be true. Will the legacy of an ancient war mean the end of the galaxy’s last free humans? So if that sounds interesting to you, please consider checking it out. You can find the first links to all the books in the series at AdamDavidCollings.com/books The description on Star Trek Continues.com reads While the Enterprise is sent on a seemingly routine mission, Kirk is recalled to starbase where he faces an ethical dilemma that challenges the very core of Starfleet Command. This episode was written by James Kerwin and Vic Mignogna It was directed by James Kerwin And it first aired on the 3rd of September 2016 Star Trek has a problem which was introduced in the original series episode “Turnabout Intruder.” That episode postulates that women are not allowed to be Starship captains in Starfleet. Of course, we’ll see a number of female captains after this, in Star Trek 4, Yesterday’s Enterprise, and Voyager just to name a couple, and we even saw a female Captain before this, back in Enterprise. It seems a very out-dated concept to think that there are not female captains in the 23rd century. So how do you deal with this? This episode of Star Trek Continues is one approach to try to explain this issue, which I find very creative. Another approach, postulated by the youTuber Lorerunner, is simply that Janice Lester was mad (just look at her) and the whole rule against women being Starship captains was all in her mind. I don’t mind that explanation either. Interestingly, Star Trek Continues re-shot the final scenes of Turnabout Intruder as a transitional short film to connect to the new show before their first episode. So Kirk and Spock have been called down to Corinth IV. Sulu is along for sightseeing and Mckennah for work research. We get a nice little bit of continuity back to the episode “Lolani” dealing with the fallout in the Orion Syndicate, and how things may be changing due to Lolani’s influence. And that’s beautiful. This is the kind of ongoing continuity you just didn’t get in the original series. Not to this extent. Sulu makes reference to one of his ancestors being in an internment camp during World War 2, which is a nod to George Takai who actually lived that experience. I love the planet. Very TOS but with effects that couldn’t have been done in the 60s. I have to ask, are there any high ranking Starfleet officers who don’t indulge in Romulan ale? Perhaps Admiral Ross really was the only one. Even Spock relents and drinks after the news he’s about to be...

I'm very busy preparing to publish my third book and I have run out of time to produce today's episode. I'll be taking a little break over January to rest and publish my book. I intend to be back with regular fortnightly episodes in February. Thank you so much for listening to Nerd Heaven and have a wonderful holiday.

On this 100th episode of the Nerd Heaven Podcast, I discuss the Star Trek Continues episode "Come Not Between The Dragons" a deeply thematic episode starring aussie sci-fi royalty - Gigi Edgly of Farscape Fame. Join me as we discuss the episode and it's themes, and then reminisce a little over the last 100 podcasts. (Place button to listen at bottom of page) ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars And I am a nerd. And it’s a big moment. This is episode 100 of the podcast. How insane is that? When TV shows make it to 100 episodes, it’s a big deal and they usually celebrate by doing something special. I’m going to spend a bit of time reflecting on the past, and maybe having a little fun, at the end of this podcast, But first, we’re going to be talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “Come Not Between The Dragons”. The description on IMDB reads A troubled creature pierces the Enterprise hull, pitting the crew against a pursuer that threatens to tear them apart. The teleplay was written by Greg Dykstra, James Kerwin and Vic Mignogna The story was by Greg Dykstra It was directed by Julian Higgins And it first aired on the 28th of May 2016. And just a little warning, this episode deals with themes of violent abuse by a parent. The first thing you’ll notice that’s special about this episode is the presence of Aussie sci-fi royalty - Gigi Edgley. Most famous for her role in Farscape as Chiana. In this episode, she plays Ensign Eliza Taylor. And the cool thing is, they let her keep her Australian accent for the role. I don’t hear many familiar aussie accents in Star Trek, so I found that pretty cool. While I gave up on it too early back in the day, I’ve become quite a fan of Farscape, so it’s very cool to see her here. By the way, I can’t believe I didn’t notice it, but a few episodes back, in The White Iris, the character of Amphidamas, the alien representative, was played by another member of sci-royalty, Colin Baker, who played the 6th Doctor on Doctor Who. I’m unbelievably embarrassed that I didn’t notice and comment on it. Sorry about that. This one starts off seeming to be a monster story. But we’ll soon learn that it’s not. This is a real thematic message show, but one with a real difference. Scotty is currently in command. Eliza Taylor hands him a padd. And then Kirk enters. 8 ships have been destroyed studying an accretion disc. But the crew have been rescued It’s very telling of Scotty when Kirk says “at least there were no casualties” and Scotty says “there were - the Lexington.” With the shift over, Smith and Eliza leave the bridge. Smith and McKennah are heading to the rec room, and they invite Eliza to join them. I get the impression she’s not quite part of their little friendship circle, but they’re welcoming her in. And isn’t that just the way a friendship group should work? I know it’s not easy. You really need an extrovert in your group to do the inviting, but cliques are not healthy, and being excluded can be quite hurtful - even for an introvert. The Enterprise suffers a hull breach from a meteorite travelling near light speed. As Chekov says, “that should be impossible.” But I’d have to believe that an object travelling that fast making impact with the ship would have to completely destroy it, so there must have been some substantial and rapid deceleration. Whatever it is, is moving through the ship, from Deck to deck. Scotty can’t find it. As we end the teaser, we see that whatever it is has broken into Eliza’s quarters. But we don’t see it, only her reaction. This is an okay use of the ‘hide the monster’ trope because we’ll almost immediately see what she’s seeing after the credits, but her reaction gives us a powerful hook. And Taylor isn’t sure what she’s looking at just yet. We experience it with her as the thing slowly unfolds. Some kind of lifeform. Hard and rocky with glowing...

Today in the podcast, we talk about the Star Trek Continues episode "Divided We Stand" which sees Kirk and McCoy living out something of a nightmare in the American civil war. And we discuss what the mysterious nanites might represent in the greater world of Star Trek. ----more---- Transcript Welcome to Nerd Heaven I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars And I am a nerd. This is episode 99 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “Divided We Stand.” And if you’d like to check out some of my original science fiction, head over to AdamDavidCollings.com/books I recently appeared as a guest on the Yum Yum Podcast with fellow Australian nerds, Ryan and Rachel, discussing the Babylon 5 episode “Ceremonies of Light and Dark.” If you love Babylon 5, as well you should, be sure to check out the episode, and all the other stuff that Ryan and Rachel do at Yum Yum Podcast. The description on IMDB reads After an explosion on the bridge resulting from a failed attempt to isolate the ship's computer from a nano-virus, Kirk and McCoy wake up to find themselves in the middle of one of America's bloodiest conflicts. The teleplay was written by Marc Cushman & Susan Osborn With story by Vic Mignogna and additional material by Todd Haberkorn It was directed by Vic Mignogna And it first aired on the 25th of September 2015. This episode was dedicated to the memory of Grace Lee Whitney. Another of Star Trek’s veterans who sadly passed away during the making of this show. This one gets right into the action, making good use of the captain’s log to skip past all the setup and throw us right in the thick of the crew’s trouble. The Enterprise computer has been infected with a virus, or as Kirk calls it, a pathogen, a term I haven’t heard in computer science before. This happened when they tried to make contact with an old Earther probe called Friendship 3. This is significant, because, as you may remember, Voyager once encountered the predecessor - Friendship 1 - in the Delta Quadrant. What makes this pathogen interesting is that it is of a much more advanced technology than the primitive earth probe. It is quickly migrating through the entire ship, Spock’s library computer, scotty’s engineering specs. Spock doesn’t think this is a virus, and it’s not singular. He says he detects hundreds of thousands of microscopic objects. So…are we talking actual physical objects? He’s also seeing evidence of high-level intelligence. McCoy shows a startling lack of awareness as he casually arrives on the bridge and berates Kirk for not keeping his medical checkup appointment. Now if the circumstances were different, McCoy would be well within his rights, but it’s very obvious that the bridge crew are in the middle of a crisis. Kirk clearly has a good reason for missing his appointment and this is not the time or place to hassle him about it. That time will come later, of course. The intelligence of whatever is invading the ship is growing. As the bridge controls overload, Kirk finds himself in a very unexpected place and time. He’s on a primitive battlefield, surrounded by men firing rifles, and wearing unfamiliar uniforms. This scene marks “Divided We Stand” as the first episode of Star Trek Continues to take us off the ship. If you think about it, the last four have all taken place on board the Enterprise. If I’m not mistaken, this is the American civil war. Is this a holographic simulation? A fantasy created by a being like Trelane? In Star Trek, there are many possibilities, but in their shoes, time travel wouldn’t be my first thought. I mean, what could have caused it right? So Kirk and McCoy would be feeling understandably disoriented and confused. But, they’re in uniform, which means they’re expected to fight. At the very least, they can’t just sit here and wait for the bullets. They may have to play along until they figure out what the go is. But they wisely...

While not as memorable as the big tentpole episodes, "The White Iris" is a true classic. This is a very emotional character-driven episode that advances Kirk's arc and adds depth to a number of previous Star Trek episodes. This episode is a great example of what makes Star Trek Continues so special. ----more---- Transcript Welcomed to Nerd Heaven. I’m Adam David Collings, the author of Jewel of The Stars And I am a nerd This is episode 98 of the podcast. Today, we’re talking about the Star Trek Continues episode “The White Iris” The description on IMDB reads Captain Kirk finds himself haunted by guilt from his past as the fate of an alien world hangs in the balance. The teleplay was written by James Kerwin, Chris White, and Vic Mignogna Based on a story by Vic Mignogna and Chris White. The episode first aired on the 29th of May 2015. This episode was dedicated to the memory of Leonard Niymoy, placing it in time just after he passed away ,which was certainly a significant and sad moment for all Star Trek fans. Going into this one, I didn’t remember the episode. Looking at the thumbnail and description on the Star Trek Continues website didn’t ring any bells, but I knew I must have seen it before, because I’ve watched all of Star Trek Continues. It gets right into the action from the get go. Some aliens, the Calsins, are expressing their pleasure at the invitation to join the Federation when Kirk is unexpectedly attacked from behind by one of them. He’s beamed to sickbay but is suffering fatal damage to the part of the brain responsible for emotional memories. Spock suggests an experimental drug. It hasn’t even been tested yet. They don’t know the dosage. Now I have a feeling that in the real world, by administering this drug to a patient, McCoy would be doing something highly unethical and probably illegal. Although Kirk does give his verbal consent. Still, giving an untested drug that doesn’t have approval to a patient has got to be a huge risk. Kirk sees a vision of Rayna, an android woman Kirk had feelings for in the episode Requiem for Methuselah, one that I don’t remember in huge detail either. Spock erased all memory of Rayna from Kirk’s mind, to spare him the pain of her death. But now he remembers it all again. After just a few seconds of receiving the medication, Kirk is himself again. And then he’s straight off the bed and back to duty. I get there’s a time-critical situation on the planet, but minutes ago he was near death. Now he looks okay but he’s been given a guessed dosage of an experimental drug. Who knows what kinds of side effects he might experience. I think it’s kind of insane not to keep him in sickbay for observation for a while. Spock is an accomplished commander and a capable diplomat. And he can always liaise with Kirk from Sickbay. This was a big believability problem to me. Anyway, McCoy, Scotty and Uhura marvel at how nothing can keep Kirk down. Kirk has a lot of guilt over Rayna. In his opinion, while she started out as an android, she was human when he pushed her too far and she malfunctioned, unable to deal with the conflicting emotions inside of her. I’m not sure that human is the right word here, but Kirk clearly saw her as a sapient being. So Calsis, the planet they’re currently orbiting, wants to join the Federation, but their sister world opposes it and will do anything, including assassinating Kirk, to prevent it. Although I do wonder how they think Kirk’s murder will accomplish what they want. The Federation is giving them a defence grid to protect their world, but Kirk is suddenly hesitant. Possibly because he’s seeing another vision. Time time, a woman named Nakia. She appears to be a new character created for Star Trek Continues. Interestingly, she is named after the actress that plays her - Nakia Burrise. Nakia is ghostly translucent. Kirk can’t remember the passcode for the defence grid. He created the code himself, with...