The trek potential is off the charts.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 Hello, hello, hello. How are you?
00:01 This is Sean Ferrygere for Trek Culture.
00:03 How are you getting on?
00:04 I am here today to talk to you about
00:07 the Great Unknown period,
00:09 which is basically Star Trek's Lost Era.
00:12 So what is the Lost Era?
00:14 Why am I talking to you about this?
00:15 The Lost Era is basically everything that happened
00:18 between roughly the events of Star Trek VI,
00:21 the Undiscovered Country,
00:22 and when Star Trek The Next Generation starts in 2363.
00:26 So we're talking about around late 2280s to 2363.
00:31 In between that time, we've always got hints
00:35 and we've got suggestions as to what happened.
00:37 And we know incidents that took place,
00:40 but a lot of them have never actually been shown on screen.
00:43 At the moment, it seems that if you wait about five minutes,
00:47 another Star Trek series gets greenlit,
00:50 whether it's a Short Trek or a Picard
00:53 or a Discovery or whatever,
00:54 the current showrunners love the absolute plethora
00:59 of Trek that we've gotten.
01:01 In fact, I think there's more Trek now
01:04 than we would have had back pre-J.J. Abrams.
01:07 It's actually bonkers.
01:09 It stands to reason that they might be looking
01:11 for more ideas of what to explore.
01:14 And that speaks to us at Trek Culture
01:17 because we've been thinking about for a long time
01:20 this Lost Era.
01:22 So why Star Trek needs to explore the Lost Era?
01:27 That is because we will be seeing pretty much any show
01:32 based in the Lost Era in the Monster Maroon uniforms,
01:35 which I love so...
01:36 Let me catch up.
01:38 My friends, you have no idea how long I've been waiting
01:44 to break this out for a video, okay?
01:46 Any story basically that's gonna happen in the Lost Era
01:50 is gonna take place, frankly, in one of these uniforms,
01:54 which I'm very, very here for.
01:57 So if you think the Kidimer Conference
01:59 in the Undiscovered Country takes place in 2293,
02:02 and then you have the launch of the Enterprise D in 2363,
02:06 what have we got going on?
02:08 And also, who are the key players
02:10 that we might be looking at in terms of this time?
02:14 I'm gonna start with the Enterprise B
02:17 because Captain John Harriman and Demora Sulu
02:21 are two characters who, if we look to the novels,
02:24 for example, are quite important in this Lost Era of time.
02:29 So John Harriman was played by Alan Rook
02:32 in Star Trek Generations,
02:33 and Demora Sulu was played by Jacqueline Kim,
02:35 both of whom are still working today
02:37 and could easily reprise the roles.
02:39 Now, the Enterprise B and these two characters
02:42 were involved in the Tome Ed incident,
02:44 which then it preceded the Treaty of Algeron,
02:48 which established at least the peace treaty
02:50 between the Romulans and the Federation
02:51 and also banned the Federation
02:53 from developing any cloaking technology.
02:55 This has never been shown on screen.
02:58 So this is the first of a story
03:01 where not only could the original actors
03:02 reprise their roles,
03:04 but also something that's pretty massive
03:06 in Star Trek history.
03:07 Now, we have as well the Kitimer Massacre.
03:10 So this would feature characters
03:13 such as Sergei and Helene Roschenko.
03:15 We have Worf, we have Moog,
03:16 who has never been depicted on screen.
03:18 We could also possibly have Colonel Worf,
03:20 which would allow Michael Dorn to return
03:23 to the role that he originated in Star Trek VI,
03:25 The Undiscovered Country.
03:27 Again, huge piece of Federation Klingon history,
03:31 one that it seems pretty crucial
03:36 to showing really how they got to the peace treaty
03:39 that is shown in Star Trek The Next Generation.
03:42 And I suppose on the topic of Klingon Federation history,
03:47 there is 2344, there's the Battle of Narendra III.
03:50 Now, we saw what happened to the Enterprise C
03:53 when it went through that temporal rift.
03:55 Captain Rachel Garrett, played by Trisha O'Neill,
03:58 again, still working today,
04:00 was in command of the Enterprise C
04:01 when they responded to the distress call
04:03 of the Klingon colony.
04:05 That is something that, again,
04:06 we've not seen the other side of that temporal anomaly.
04:10 So, and also, what else happened aboard the Enterprise C
04:14 up until that?
04:15 It could be quite a short story
04:17 because a little bit of research says
04:19 that the Enterprise C was only in service in the 2340s.
04:22 So it looks like at best we get four years.
04:25 There's other characters who are kicking around
04:27 at this time as well.
04:28 If we actually go back now a little bit,
04:30 we've got Curzon Dax.
04:32 He was joined, so Curzon and Dax were joined in 2286.
04:37 He was joined right up until 2367,
04:42 which is when Jadzia took over the Symbiont.
04:45 There is a whole plethora of history then,
04:48 not least to say the history of him and Sisko.
04:51 There is the story of the prophets
04:53 Sarah Sisko and Joseph Sisko
04:55 that could be explored as well.
04:57 Again, go back.
04:58 There was talk a long time ago
05:00 of trying to get a Sulu spin-off series going.
05:03 Now, I will be honest, nothing saying at all
05:06 that George Takei couldn't do it,
05:08 but this might be something more of a special
05:11 or a shorter run.
05:12 There is, of course, the possibility
05:14 of revisiting Chekhov as a character,
05:16 as Walter Koenig is still acting.
05:18 Funnily enough, a little bit of how time comes together
05:20 is that in the first episode of season two
05:23 of "Star Trek Picard,"
05:25 we see that Cadet Jean-Luc Picard served aboard the ship,
05:30 and I wanna get the pronunciation right,
05:31 is Leon de Grance, Leon de Grance,
05:35 which was commanded by Captain Nyota Ohura.
05:39 Looking ahead to "Star Trek Strange New Worlds,"
05:42 Celia R. Gooding is now taking over the role
05:45 of Cadet Nyota Ohura.
05:47 So this is easily a storyline that could be followed.
05:50 Now, this might be something
05:51 a little bit further down the line,
05:53 as presumably now we're gonna get
05:54 all of her backstory first,
05:56 but again, that is another era
05:58 that can be explored in this time as well.
06:01 Now, there was also such things
06:02 as the Cardassian occupation of Bajor,
06:05 which could see the return of Inabran Tain.
06:07 Now, it is unlikely that Paul Dooley,
06:09 though still alive, is in his 90s at this stage,
06:13 so unlikely to return to the role of Tain,
06:15 so this would be something that could be recast.
06:17 However, you could bring in Dukat a little bit later on.
06:20 The makeup is so heavy for a Cardassian,
06:23 frankly, Mark Ilimo could reprise the role.
06:25 That would also see, potentially,
06:27 a return of the character of Keira Norris,
06:29 and of course, the Sha'kar resistance cell.
06:31 Again, something we've only really seen in flashback,
06:34 not properly depicted on screen.
06:37 On that then, there is the Cardassian Wars,
06:40 and the often-mentioned, yet never actually depicted,
06:43 Massacre of Setlik III, where Chief Miles O'Brien
06:47 was, of course, serving aboard the USS Rutledge.
06:50 Then, of course, in the 2350s,
06:52 we have Jean-Luc, Beverly Crusher, and Jack Crusher,
06:56 all around the time of the Battle of Maxia.
06:59 There is a whole plethora of options right there,
07:02 and again, with a lot of actors still working
07:05 who could quite easily return.
07:08 So, what makes us think that any of this is possible?
07:11 In a recent interview, Akiva Goldsman said
07:14 that he had never truly gotten rid of the idea
07:16 of doing an anthology series,
07:19 an idea which had, in fact, been spoken about
07:22 when Brian Fuller was still the showrunner
07:24 on Star Trek Discovery.
07:25 Now, with that being the case,
07:27 one or any of these storylines could easily be visited.
07:31 So, what possible formats are we talking about here?
07:34 We could talk about a full-season story,
07:37 where a bit like the show American Horror Story,
07:40 each season you have, you know,
07:41 technically the same cast of characters,
07:43 or the same cast, I should say,
07:45 that are playing different roles each season,
07:46 and each season is effectively a standalone story,
07:49 although I know there's crossover in that show as well.
07:52 So, that, of course, is the first option.
07:54 Another option is you could just do
07:56 a feature-length episode.
07:57 That one, it's very, very possible,
08:00 but it could get quite costly to, let's say,
08:03 build the bridge of the Enterprise-B for one episode.
08:07 You never know, there could also be a five-season run
08:10 with an option for a movie as well.
08:11 Think about it, Star Trek Strange New Worlds
08:14 effectively came out of the appearance
08:17 of Pike, Number One, and Spock on Star Trek Discovery,
08:20 and their reappearance in the short treks,
08:22 which led to Fan Outcry,
08:24 which has led to Strange New Worlds.
08:26 There's really any choice of formats for this.
08:29 Personally, I think it would be good
08:32 if we get the one-season storyline.
08:34 You can do a self-contained story.
08:36 For example, if we go back again to, let's say,
08:39 Treaty of Alderaan, Tomet Incident,
08:41 that is something where you can sort of drop us
08:43 more or less into the beginning of the story,
08:46 or kind of just after the beginning of the story.
08:49 We know the Federation and the Romulans
08:51 aren't really friends.
08:52 We know Harryman is captain of the Enterprise-B.
08:55 So, if you give us a 10-episode arc,
08:59 you can flesh everything out.
09:00 You can give Demora Sulu much more of a story,
09:03 because we know, for example, again, from beta canon,
09:06 that she's gonna go on to command the Enterprise-B,
09:09 so you could show her being set up for command
09:11 in this series as well.
09:12 There's a lot of pros to doing one-season arcs, too.
09:16 One is that, quite frankly,
09:17 it's less commitment for the actors.
09:19 Let's say George Takei was to return
09:22 and do a show about Sulu.
09:25 Well, I mean, having to commit to a five-season arc
09:28 is a lot to ask for someone who is in their 80s.
09:32 However, if you say, "Look, give me one year,
09:35 "and we will tell a self-contained story,"
09:37 that is far less of a commitment,
09:39 because you can obviously film that in a bunch together.
09:41 I know, for example, obviously,
09:42 that Star Trek Picard is doing a three-season arc,
09:45 where seasons two and three have been filmed back to back.
09:48 In fact, as of the filming of this video,
09:50 season three has just wrapped production.
09:53 So, that was something that was considered,
09:55 because Patrick Stewart, for all of the enthusiasm
09:58 that he has, is in his 80s.
10:01 Let's do as much together
10:02 to make it a bit easier on these actors.
10:04 That is definitely a pro of doing an anthology.
10:06 Now, a con, of course,
10:07 is that if everyone loves the bloody series,
10:09 but it's over at the end of it,
10:11 that would definitely be a con.
10:12 Another pro would be the amount of effort,
10:15 and frankly, finance,
10:16 that goes into making some of these stories.
10:19 If you do a one-season, one and done,
10:22 that's a bit easier to manage.
10:24 Let's say, for example,
10:25 that the Captain Worf series finally happens.
10:28 Michael Doran has been looking for this series forever.
10:31 However, he's also consistently said
10:33 he really doesn't like the makeup for Worf.
10:35 But if he's only doing it for one series,
10:37 again, less of a physical commitment
10:39 on the part of the actor,
10:40 but also, let's go to the cost
10:43 of building one of these things.
10:44 You know, if you have to build a set for this,
10:47 you want to, you know,
10:48 you want to have a way of justifying the set
10:50 without actually breaking the bank either.
10:52 So again, a one series, one and done,
10:55 is probably the best way to do some of those ideas
10:59 of those lost era stories.
11:01 There's also, quite frankly,
11:03 do these things as a one and done.
11:05 It's a way of testing the waters.
11:06 The aforementioned "Strange New Worlds" did that.
11:09 They're getting a season out of it, at least.
11:11 I think they've actually, in fact,
11:12 they have been confirmed for a season two
11:13 before they even air.
11:15 So, you know, not bad.
11:17 There are frankly so many characters
11:20 that can be explored.
11:22 I haven't even mentioned Kang, Koloth, and Kor.
11:26 I mean, these three Dahar masters
11:28 are kicking around the 24th century
11:30 with so many stories, so many incidents in their past,
11:35 that we've seen so little of.
11:38 Chronologically, the last time we see Kang and Koloth
11:41 is in "Blood Oath,"
11:42 Kor is in "Once More Under the Breach."
11:44 Before that, again, chronologically,
11:47 the last time we see them is in the original series.
11:49 What are they up to in the meantime?
11:52 Now, they are, of course, roles
11:53 that would have to be recast,
11:54 as all three actors have passed away at this point.
11:57 Now, that actually, in a way,
11:59 because Koloth, who was played by William Campbell,
12:01 reminds me, when was the first time
12:04 the Federation encountered the Q?
12:06 In the original series episode, "The Squire of Gothos,"
12:09 William Campbell appeared as Trelane.
12:11 Now, Trelane has for a long time been said,
12:14 by John de Lancie at least,
12:15 to have been a precursor to the Q,
12:19 and certainly his performance of Q.
12:21 And it's been said in,
12:23 notice there's comic books as well as novels
12:25 that established Trelane as a member of the Continuum.
12:28 It's never been explicitly stated on screen.
12:31 Let us see what's going on.
12:33 And again, that's not to mention,
12:35 I'm just throwing names out there,
12:36 two Vokas around at this time.
12:38 Let's check in with Christine Chappell, Janice Rand.
12:41 What are they up to?
12:42 What's going on with their careers?
12:44 There's so many different directions
12:47 that this series could go in,
12:49 leading up to, and potentially including,
12:52 the very beginning of "Star Trek The Next Generation,"
12:55 when everyone looks a little bit like this.
12:59 (dramatic music)
13:02 All right, I'll admit, it's not going to be too expensive
13:04 to do costume changes in this show.
13:07 There you go, another reason to do it.
13:09 The time is absolutely perfect
13:12 as to why "Star Trek" needs to explore the lost era.
13:15 There is a wealth of talent behind the scenes, for sure.
13:20 Alex Kurtzman, who I know is watching this video,
13:24 and the rest of the showrunners of the various shows,
13:27 they seem to really, really care
13:29 about "Star Trek" at the moment.
13:31 Look at the work that's being done
13:33 on "Star Trek Picard" for one.
13:35 Like, the difference between season two and season one,
13:38 not that season one was bad,
13:39 but season two is bringing so much legacy stuff in.
13:42 So, let's visit this lost era.
13:45 We get loads of versions of "Monster Maroon,"
13:48 so, you know, I'm delighted.
13:50 We know as well that the audience is there.
13:53 For proof, look at the video we did
13:55 on why "Star Trek Enterprise" needs to return
13:58 for a fifth season.
14:00 That got a fantastic response from the fan base.
14:03 We know there's stories there that need to be told.
14:05 We've also done, there's a list,
14:07 the 10 biggest events in "Star Trek" history
14:10 that we never got to see.
14:11 Again, huge amount of interest there.
14:14 So, how much of a crossover do you think there is
14:16 within that list and this lost era?
14:19 So, we're talking the late 2280s to the early 2363s.
14:24 Early 2363s?
14:27 I'm gonna commit to it, early 2363s.
14:30 We get more "Monster Maroons" than I know what to do with.
14:33 We even get this version.
14:35 Put a bit of talcum powder in my hair
14:37 and I could be that version of DeForest Kelly
14:39 who was going to appear in "The Encounter at Farpoint"
14:42 before they went in a different direction.
14:43 Whatever you end up doing,
14:46 make sure you hit like, share, and subscribe for this video.
14:49 Let me know in the comments below
14:50 what you would like to see
14:52 if and when "Star Trek" does explore the lost era.
14:55 I have been Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture.
14:57 You can catch us over on Twitter @TrekCulture.
14:59 You can catch myself @SeanFerrick on Twitter as well.
15:02 You look after yourselves until I see you again.
15:05 Remember, stay safe wherever you are in the world.
15:08 Just try and do the right thing.
15:12 Je ti dovo i prostituti.
15:14 Live long and prosper.
15:15 Thank you very much.