The Trouble with Tribbles

Everyone loves tribbles. We love tribbles. You love tribbles. Uhura and Chekov love tribbles. Bones loves tribbles. Spock loves tribbles (even if he won't admit it). Kirk loves tribbles (but not too much). Sulu would've loved tribbles (if he had been in this week's episode). And Scotty loves tribbles (even if he is responsible for all of their deaths).

In this episode of Standard Orbit, Drew and Mike provide and audio commentary for “The Trouble with Tribbles.” So grab your copy of the episode, sit back, relax, and strap it down!

Originally published as Standard Orbit 8: A Glorious Commentation.

Ensign Ro

During TNG's fifth season the decision was made to shake up the show with the introduction of a new character. Ensign Ro Laren was a feisty Bajoran who would become an important part of the crew and someone we'd get to know for the next couple of years. In fact, she almost ended up on Deep Space Nine. In this episode of Earl Grey, hosts Phillip Gilfus, Darren Moser, and Daniel Proulx provide their first commentary track as they take you through her namesake episode, "Ensign Ro." Along the way we discuss the introduction of the Bajorans, their conflict with the Cardassians, badmirals, the lack of blue shirts on TNG, Guinan, and how we feel about Ro as a character.

Original published as Earl Grey 10: Drinking the Syntha-Kool-Aid.

His Way

Odo spent much of the series brooding over Kira, and it seemed like he was never going make the move. As it turns out, all he really needed was a little jazz and a push from a well-intentioned lightbulb. In this episode of The Orb hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing bring you a commentary for “His Way” and discuss how Odo went from a square to a cool cat, how easy holograms make practice perfect, and how Vic Fontaine’s premiere on the show was not only the perfect fit for DS9 but also helped the Constable break our of his shell.

Originally published as The Orb 38: A Nanook of the North Thing.

Looking for par'Mach In All the Wrong Places

Love is in the air aboard Deep Space 9, only it isn't between the people you might expect. Quark has eyes for his Klingon ex, Jadzia has eyes for her Klingon colleague, and Miles and Kira have… well… something neither of them really wants. In this episode of The Orb hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing bring you a commentary for the episode that put a Star Trek spin on a classic tale of chivalry and wit—sprinkled with a few of Cupid's misplaced arrows—and planted the seeds for so much to come in the lives of our characters—especially for Worf and Jadzia.

Originally published as The Orb 34: The Bats of Love to Hang By.

Collective

Adolescent drones is what every starship needs running around, right? In this episode of To The Journey we take on the not-oft remembered episode which introduces us to the Borg kids—"Collective." It starts with the boys playing poker and ends with Seven in new clothes! Needless to say, our discussion takes us to places you'd expect, and a few you wouldn't. We find out that Char thinks the First Contact uniforms look sleek, Lorrie doesn't remember the Borg cubes, and that Tristan is thankful for Icheb. What did you think of those Borg babies?

Originally published as To The Journey 43: Borg Babies.

Sacrifice of Angels

What appeared to be the culmination of The Dominion War proved to simply be one of several turning points in the conflict. “Sacrifice of Angels,” the culmination of a six-part arc, is about as exciting as they come. But beyond these fun superficial elements is a story a love, betrayal, and loss. In this episode of The Orb hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing take you through the episode with a commentary track that examines the heart of an evil man, the death of an innocent angel, and whether or not Sisko hit the reset button by seeking the help of the Prophets. 

Originally published as The Orb 30: Trying to Control the Game.

In the Pale Moonlight

It’s widely held as the darkest moment of not only Deep Space Nine but all of Star Trek. Captain Sisko’s decision to trick the Romulans into entering the Dominion War rocked the foundation of Roddenberry’s world and the principles of the Federation. Despite this—or perhaps because of it—“In the Pale Moonlight” is one of Star Trek’s finest pieces of storytelling. In this episode of The Orb hosts Christopher Jones and Matthew Rushing take you through the episode with a full commentary. Because we felt that, maybe if we just laid it all out in our logs, it would finally make sense.

Originally published as The Orb 23: The Finer Points of Morality.

Blood Fever

It’s time to roll around in the dirt in this episode of To The Journey as we watch and discuss Voyager’s legendary Pon farr episode. Vorik chooses B’Elanna as his mate, and she punishes him for it. Tommy Boy shows his creamy center as he acts like a gentleman towards the woman of his dreams. Tristan does commentary in the style of Arnold Schwarzenegger… doing commentary. Char imitates… someone. And Lorrie likes the shiny-shine costumes. Get your DVD or Netflix ready, and watch along! 

Originally published as To The Journey 32: No Palm Trees On Vulcan.

Shattered

With Tristan in Sickbay, Char and Lorrie talk about the Voyager “clip episode” that wasn’t: “Shattered.” We look at the missed opportunities in a seven-year retrospective—such as Seska’s possible romantic re-entanglement with Chakotay or Chakotay’s choice to not violate the Temporal Prime Directive and tell Kathryn about the ship’s future. 

Originally published as To The Journey 22: Not Shades of Grey.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

It’s finally here. The journey you’ve been waiting for: a trip to Paradise City. In this episode of Trek News & Views, Colin joins forces with Mike Schindler and Max Hegel of Commentary Track Stars for a crossover show as they watch—and provide commentary on—Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

Originally published as Trek News & Views 63: The Road to Sean Connery.

Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy

2013 is a new year, so Tristan, Charlynn, and Lorrie kick it off with something new: an episode commentary of “Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy”. Follow along on Netflix or with your DVD as we discuss the ins and outs of the Doctor’s daydreaming experiment.

Originally published as To The Journey 9: Super Pakleds.

The Big Goodbye

Holodeck malfunctions became a staple of Star Trek plot devices, and Picard’s Dixon Hill program is the glitch that started it all. In this week’s Trek News & Views, Colin offers up his commentary for this first-season episode, “The Big Goodbye.” Plus, we touch on a number of recent news items including Neil Armstrong singing Scotty’s praise, the La-La Land Records anniversary celebration, ThinkGeek’s tribble slippers and Spock oven mitt, Bruce Greenwood’s thoughts on the secrecy surrounding Star Trek Into Darkness, and Shatner’s new iOS app Shatoetry.

Originally published as Trek News & Views 54: Here's Looking at You, Kid.

The Xindi

This week we take a look at some recent news stories including the Star Trek KRE-O toys and KREON figures being unveiled by Hasbro at San Diego Comic-Con, the smart phone app voiced by Garret Wang for Vulcan Tourism in Canada, the grand slam returning to Star Trek Las Vegas next year, and Karl Urban letting slip the (possible) identity of the bad guy in the next film. Then Colin brings us a commentary track for the Enterprise episode “The Xindi.”

Originally published as Trek News & Views 36: The Xindi Commentary.