Subspace Radio: a Star Trek podcast

Rob: It's that time again.

Welcome back.

Welcome back to the
Subspace Radio channel.

I am Rob.

Kevin: Coming through loud and clear.

Rob, it's Kevin here.

Rob: Yes.

Here on the intergalactic wireless,
we are here to talk about another Star

Trek episode that has just dropped.

It is Lower Decks season three,
episode six, "Hear All, Trust

Nothing" and, "O frabjous day!

Callooh!

Callay!"

as Lewis Carroll has said, they have
dedicated an entire episode to the

greatest Star Trek series of all time.

Yes, the Cerritos has finally
gone to Deep Space Nine.

Kevin: I feel a little ashamed
making you introduce this episode

cuz I feel like you are going to
do most of the talking as it is.

And rightly so.

You are by far the biggest Deep Space
Nine fan here, though I acknowledge

its greatness and supremacy.

Rob: Yes.

Kevin: This was an episode that caught me
by surprise, even though— I'm very good

at watching trailers and then forgetting
what I've seen, because as soon as uh,

Deep Space Nine appeared on the screen,
I was like, Oh yeah, we're doing this.

Rob: Oh, yeah.

Kevin: The "continue circling" line
was one that was in a trailer early

in the lead up to this season.

So I should have known it was coming,

Rob: It was a great cold opener, and
it was one of the most Lower Decksian

cold openers I have ever seen.

It was pretty much just going,
here's some Star Trek stuff.

Here's us commenting on
it in a meta cool way.

Bang, welcome to Lower Decks.

Kevin: Yeah, exactly.

Rob: And yeah, just to have the
classic music kick in as they,

got outta hyperspace into Deep
Space Nine, it looked beautiful.

That glorious music from the first
couple of seasons before they changed

it up and added a bit more oomph to it.

And yeah, classic gag of sort of
like, yeah, just circle around

as if we're in awe of the pylons.

And then as they go past, the music
comes and yes, the wormhole opens,

and then the poor ensign at the
front going, Uh… Just go around

again and then buh-buh-buh-buhhh!

Great.

Kevin: I dare say that station
has never looked better.

Deep Space Nine is one of the
series of Star Trek that has

yet to be remastered for HD.

And so every time I watch it,
I admit to myself the effects

looked better in my memory.

Rob: Yeah, it is the best that Deep Space
Nine has looked, and sadly will ever look.

You know, from what we've heard,
all the original footage and

stuff like that is lost to time.

So going back to the originals to
update that and all this type of stuff,

it's a mess, and it'll never get done.

Kevin: Name your price.

I will pay it.

Rob: Oh, me too.

That is a price that
I'll be willing to pay.

There's some glorious battle
scenes in the later seasons that

would just kill to be updated.

But yes.

Our episode focuses on the Cerritos
being dragged in for a trade negotiation

with a mercantile species – I love it
when they use terminology like that

– from the Gamma Quadrant coming in.

The crew who were meant to be doing
it, were looking after an emergency

of a brown hole and the captain
says, that's not even a thing.

Hilarious.

Um, it's given to the Cerritos to deal
with the negotiations and yes, what

better place to have trade negotiations
and diplomatic chat at Deep Space Nine?

And look, right off the bat, it is great
to come back to a place that is so iconic

within Star Trek, and they're doing okay.

Kira is looking after Deep
Space Nine, working hard.

Quark's doing well.

The years have been good.

You know, Kira went through a lot of
crap within her seven years on Deep

Space Nine, even beforehand as well.

And it ended in a heartbreaking way.

So to come back, couple of years later
and, you know, she's working hard,

doing well, got the respect and it's
a great place to come in when we come

back to a place that, especially for me,
holds such a special place in my heart.

Kevin: I feel like they made
a list of things that they

needed to do with this episode.

I feel like they wanted to
reassure us that everyone is fine.

We knew Quark was doing great for himself
as we saw his bars peppered across the

episodes of Star Trek Picard and beyond.

But seeing that he is still right
back here on Terok Nor, where it

all started, still running his
bar, still serving drinks to Morn

and trading barbs with Kira Nerys.

Everything is as it should be,
reassuring to see it that way.

Rob: And it goes to show that the
sacrifice that Sisko made and the whole

essence of what the show ended on, there
is a positive spin to it, which is great.

You know, Star Trek is
okay with being positive.

You hear me, Picard?

You hear me?

So yes.

Unlike our usual Lower Decks,
instead of being an A plot, B

plot, we've got A, B, C, and D.

We've got four plots going on.

Kevin: There is an entire episode
of Deep Space Nine buried inside

this episode of Lower Decks, and
it all in half an hour somehow.

Rob: Beautifully well.

So we have all the different
levels of this diplomatic meeting.

So you have the captain and the higher
decks working on the negotiations.

You've then got the Lower Decks, Tendi
and Rutherford working on transporting

the supplies from one ship to the other.

You've got Boimler just,
working on his Dabo skills.

And you've got some crucial developments
for Mariner with her finally meeting

the friends of her girlfriend.

A big step, big step
in their relationship.

We've got Shaxs and, Kira reconnecting.

It's a great moment.

I haven't even mentioned the part when
we finally see Deep Space Nine, the

first sight of it, and of course the
Bajoran on the ship just goes, Urrr

Cardassian fascist architecture, rrrrrr!

Kevin: Yeah, it is amazing.

Like when they met and they
knew each other, I went, Of

course they knew each other.

They're old war buddies.

Never even occurred to me like these
obvious, satisfying connections.

Uh, so good.

Rob: And again, I'm finding out the
hidden gem of this series, because

some of my favorite lines in the whole
show are coming from the captain.

While Shaxs and Kira are trading,
I saved you, I saved you.

The captain says in a beautiful tone.

Well, that I'm sure that
was all very … rebellious.

Such an incredibly diplomatic
way of going, well, this is

awkward, let's just move on,

Kevin: Yeah, the dry wit.

Rob: Tendi is in particularly
fine form this episode.

Kevin: She is.

Getting to see the extra layer to Tendi.

Getting to see the extra
layer to Rutherford last week.

It seems like this is the season
of fleshing out the characters and

making them more than skin deep.

Rob: Yes, especially cuz Ruthford
was so very much one note.

Oh no, he was two notes: shock and awe.

Kevin: Yes.

Rob: So much so that he's there
going, Oh, Bajoran food court!

Oh, this!

Oh, gotta tone it down a bit.

Kevin: We had seen Tendi among her people
previously when she and Mariner visited

an Orion colony to try and repair Dr.

T'Ana's scratching post last season.

And there was a bit of a, there was a
something, there was a dynamic there.

It was obvious she was
uncomfortable among her people.

Rob: Yes.

Kevin: Also obvious that her people
looked at her in a way that she didn't see

herself anymore, but it was not addressed.

And in this episode, I feel like
we're closing that loop, now.

We're understanding a bit more
of what the deal was there.

Rob: Definitely, definitely.

And her interacting with another Orion,
uh, Mesk who is… He was very much a

creation of a bygone era of comedy.

Sorta like late nineties,
early noughties type stuff.

He's very much had a sense of a
character from like the American

Office or those frat squad type films,
like Old School and stuff like that.

Kevin: We've seen, some Orions in
the flesh, in Star Trek Discovery,

recently, in the far future.

And they cast actors in that— I don't
know if they are wearing a prosthetic

or if they are just the square jawed
football player sort of stature, but

it seems like they have decided that's
what the modern interpretation of

a male Orion is, is intimidatingly
large, ridiculously square jaw to the

point where you wonder if there's some
CG enhancement of the jaw going on.

And that is represented
delightfully in the animation here.

Rob: And with all this going on, you
also have a rather intimate moment of

Mariner being taken out of her comfort
zone and actually having to be in a

situation that she has no control over.

Kevin: Mm.

Rob: With another one of my favorite
moments, when Jennifer appears, and all

three of them just go, Hiii, Jennifer.

Kevin: She appears out of Mariner's
bunk as far as I can tell.

So apparently they have been bunking
together in their hallway bunks.

She appears fully clothed,
which is unusual for that

area of the ship, apparently.

Rob: Well, they, there's the one guy
who shows you with just the towel…

Kevin: Yeah, that's right.

Rob: Barely a towel.

Like a hand flannel.

Kevin: So I love the cartoon version
of the scandalous morning after of

like she just pops outta the bunk
and everyone goes, Hi, Jennifer.

Rob: And then they're
going, Oh, no, no, no, no.

You go and play with your
girlfriend's friends.

And then she goes, I'm not bossy.

And all three of them, Rutherford,
Tendi and Boimler just go Ha-ha-ha!

This is what endears me
to Mariner even more.

She's great.

She's kickass.

She's amazing.

She knows everybody.

Of course she knows everybody.

But, you know, I don't
like her being untouchable.

I love to see how she
deals with this situation.

Kevin: So you like Mariner when
she's having chunks torn out of

her by her well-meaning friends.

Rob: Diamonds are created when
they're put under pressure.

And she has become a beautiful diamond,
because we get to see her under pressure.

And, you know, when in doubt and they're
losing oxygen and just phaser all of

Jennifer's friends, which is hilarious.

Kevin: The salon… a salon, right?

Rob: It is a salon.

They're making candles.

I love the moment when the girls are
wanting to talk about Boimler, and she

goes, Yeah, I'm gonna need all of this
and pours the entire glass of, I'm

assuming it's Romulan Ale or something,

Kevin: What kind of salon
do you make candles in?

I mean, I know it's not
supposed to make sense, but

Rob: What type of salon do you
have a dance, an interpretive

dance called the Kobayashi Maroon?

Kevin: Random small thing that
stood out to me, I think this is

the first time anyone in Star Trek
history has ever pointed a phaser

at themselves on stun and fired.

Rob: Yeah, I can't remember
seeing that in anything before.

Kevin: Yeah.

Rob: So the main thrust of the story
is negotiating with the Karemma

who are very on edge, and if they
don't get things exactly their way

they like to cause a bit of a fuss.

Kevin: This whole thing feels to
me just like Quark's greatest hits.

Rob: And look, we can't go further without
mentioning it is so great to have Nana

Visitor back as Kira and especially
the legend, the icon, the myth, the man

himself, Armin Shimerman, to do Quark.

Some people are just born into roles.

It was just so great,
even in animated form.

And he was in his prime Quark outfit,
the patchwork jacket that he wears.

Kevin: Yeah, so amazing.

Rob: And yeah, just the
level of performance.

I love Starfleet.

Kevin: I love nothing more
than Quark pretending to be

humble for selfish reasons.

When he is behind the counter
and Kira is like, Tell us about

your amazing bar franchise.

And he is like, Nope, no.

I, it's, it's fine.

I'd rather not, I'd rather not talk about…

Rob: I keep my trade secrets.

Kevin: So good.

Rob: So great.

So great.

We've got the special replicator.

And of course Ransom just goes,
Couldn't you just use a replicator?

No, no, no.

Not the special ones we have.

Kevin: It's got algorithms.

Rob: Algorithms that he stole, of course.

Kevin: I love the reveal that it's
just a cardboard cut-out pasted

on the front of their technology.

Rob: Which you kind of get the
impression of going, that's just

something cardboard— of course it is.

Yeah, that's fine.

Kevin: The low tech deception.

Rob: He is kidnapped, he is gonna
be taken into the Gamma quadrant.

Tendi, who was trapped on the ship
with Rutherford and saves the day.

They turn to the Orion Mesk and go, All
right, use all your pirating skills.

And he just crumbles under pressure.

He goes, I don't know,
I've never pirated before.

And what's my favorite line?

I've never even been to Orion.

I'm from Cincinnati!

And Tendi's great, Are
you freaking serious?

Kevin: I learned everything I know
about Pirating from bad holonovels,

the one with the boobs on the cover.

Rob: That's just like classic
early noughties type of flip around

comedy that you saw in a lot of
the TV shows that were huge at that

time and the movies of the time.

And then Tendi is… Oh my Lord, my heart
and my lower regions skipped a beat.

That was impressive stuff.

Like removing a tooth to use…

Kevin: It can remove teeth?!

Rob: Yeah.

You took the ship!

You took the ship!

Kevin: And another like tick the box
moment of our return to DS9 is seeing

the wormhole up close in all its glory.

And there's no better way to
look at the wormhole than stuck

stationary in the opening while
awaiting rescue by the station.

Rob: And I'm sure the prophets and
Sisko were there with their opera

glasses and their popcorn watching
going, This is a great show.

We haven't had a show…

Kevin: …applauding.

Slow clap.

Rob: My favorite shots of Deep Space
Nine on the outside is when it's

actually a thriving space port.

Kevin: Bustling traffic.

Rob: Yeah, when there's
ships coming and going.

It's very haunting and beautiful to see
this lone station out in the middle of

nothing, but for me, it should always be a
thriving base of people coming and going.

Kevin: And you get the impression it
only, the only reason it, often wasn't

was just the cost of the practical
effects that many models or mixing the

CG ships with the models of the station.

like that would always have
been expensive at the time.

Rob: Exactly.

Kevin: They were limited in their
ability to portray it that way.

Rob: And of course, one of my… one of
my favorite moments is when Boimler's

winning Dabo over and over again,
and the Ferengi comes up and goes,

Surprising for a man with a coin purse.

And he goes, Actually, it's clutch.

Kevin: Knocking down barriers left and…

Rob: Knocking down the,
knocking down those walls.

So, yeah, for unfair reasons, this
is just one of my favorite episodes.

Kevin: They can stop now.

They have done your favorite
episode of Lower Decks.

Rob: That'll do pig.

That'll do.

How'd you find it?

Kevin: It was magnificent.

I said afterwards, my immediate
review was I now want Deep

Space Nine, the animated series.

Rob: Yes,

Kevin: They've proven they can do it well.

Let's just bring 'em all back and tell
some stories from between the stories.

Rob: Exactly.

So that led us to discussing,
what would we talk about?

What has inspired

Kevin: The cold opening of this episode
spoke to my heart, continue circling.

I circle that station all
day, gazing at it beautifully.

I am a sucker for a great
fly-by in Star Trek.

I appreciate the ships as much as I
appreciate the characters and the stories.

Rob: There's not enough said about
the design of ships that are very

unique to Star Trek, and also how
they've evolved what Federation

tech looks like, what a Klingon ship
compared to Cardassian ships as well.

So to have those long, slow, in
awe of the pylons shots to see what

Cardassian technology looks like, and
architecture, whether it is fascist

or not, is a fascinating sight to see.

Kevin: Yeah.

So as the Cerritos slowly orbits the
station, I thought we could look back

on other times that we have been given a
long, good look at a beautiful Starship

as it slow panned across the screen.

Rob: Oh yeah.

Kevin: Yeah, once again, I'd like
to start at the beginning and work

our way towards the present day.

Rob: It's a very good place to start.

Kevin, are you going all the
way back to the original?

Kevin: No, I will not.

And I think that is just a
limitation of the technology

and the budgets of the time.

The Original Series, certainly the ship
was iconic, but it was never beautiful.

It never took your breath away.

And so I will skip the Original Series.

You must have something
from the movies though.

Rob: Are we thinking of the
famous shot that everyone talks

about and everyone makes fun of
from a certain Motion Picture?

Kevin: Yes.

Yes I am.

And that's not just shot.

That is 20 minutes of shots, my friend.

Rob: Well I just recently picked
up on 4K the Director's Cut, and so

I've watched that and it was great to
re-watch it again because even as a kid,

I loved Star Trek The Motion Picture
cuz it didn't feel completely the,

you know, Star Trek II, where Nicholas
Meyer just went, It's Navy in space.

It's Hornblower in space.

We're doing it, baby.

We're leaning into that.

Kevin: The Motion Picture was a step
back to the original vision of Star Trek,

where they were back into the muted
colors before the TV network asked them

to make it more colorful to sell TV sets.

Rob: Exactly.

But that concept of V'Ger being figured
out to be Voyager, and so to have in the

23rd century, them talking about something
from the 20th century, me as a young

sci-fi nerd went, Oh, that's so exciting.

Kevin: It's real.

It's the real thing.

Rob: That's a real thing.

That stuff I loved.

And of course there's the iconic,
20 minute sequence of, You haven't

seen this on the big screen.

Kevin: That's right.

So, for people who haven't seen the
Motion Picture, it is a slow burn

at the start, as our characters are
slowly pulled out of retirement and

reunited onboard the Enterprise.

And when Kirk, Admiral Kirk makes
his way to the Enterprise, he is

ostensibly going there to tour the
Enterprise being run by Decker, but

he comes on board and takes command.

Before he does though, he has Scotty
fly him up there in a slow, looping path

around the ship that is in spacedock.

It is a good, long, sequence that
is really designed to show off the

Enterprise in her newly reimagined form.

Rob: And her newly realized
big screen adventure as well.

It really is that beautiful moment of
going, We are not on the small screen.

This is a truly cinematic experience.

And even me watching it on my big
screen here at home, I'm there

going, Ah, I want to see this
Director's Cut on the big screen.

I want to see that 20 minutes, William
Shatner just going, Yep, yep, again.

Let's go for it again and again,
and again and every angle.

Kevin: Yeah, there's lots of
shots of them just gazing at the

ship in pride and thinking, Yep.

It's a nice ship, isn't it?

What stands out to me is
the scale of the ship.

This is the first time, ever,
that the Enterprise looked huge.

Rob: Yes.

Kevin: And the thing that makes
the difference is what became

known as the Aztecing, which is
the visible plating of the hull.

Rob: Yes.

Kevin: The light plays over it,
and it's not a uniform surface.

You can see the squares of metal that
form the hull and they each reflect

light in a slightly different way.

The model makers manage to find some
phosphorescent paint of slightly

different colors and they laboriously
painted this thing in this pattern

that creates a sense of scale.

Rob: Yes.

Kevin: It is that that takes my breath
away more than anything else about

this, that it feels like a thing that
hundreds of people could be inhabiting.

Rob: Oh, and especially with the
new Directors Cut with the enhanced

special features, you see the scale
of it so much more with the amount of

ships flying by or the people nearby.

And again, like we talked about last
week about, this is the end point

of a journey that's taken years.

So like with one gag about Data
going, You know, sometimes I envy you.

That's taken us years
to get to that point.

But for this particular shot, this has
taken years of those people who watched

the Original Series that was meant to
be five seasons, only went for three,

but they stuck at it and they found
it in syndication and they rallied

and they wanted this to come out.

And they had only seen this ship,
this iconic ship, either as a

small little recreation, or on
this small, crappy analog TV.

To finally see it on the big screen
and go, this is the scale that we want.

This is what we can achieve.

Kevin: …how we imagined it all along.

Rob: Yeah, it's a beautiful shot
and it's a beautiful statement

about we are here, we are relevant.

They're claiming the cinematic
world for themselves.

Kevin: This sequence of the Enterprise
being seen in dry dock and then

setting out amongst the stars was so
good, they reused it in Star Trek II.

They cut down to a much
more, uh, curt moment.

But just like in Star Trek I, Star
Trek II begins by Kirk taking a shuttle

trip to the Enterprise, and, uh,
then it heading out on its merry way.

And it's the exact same shots.

Rob: Yes.

Yes it is.

Kevin: So we won't revisit it the second
time, but I'm not gonna take us far,

because I want to make another stop in
Star Trek movie land with Star Trek III.

Rob: Oh, oh, the film that
dare not speak Lloyd's name.

Kevin: This is in the good starting bit
of Star Trek III, so you may wanna give it

another watch, at least up to this point.

Battered and bruised from their battle
with Khan in Star Trek II, the start

of Star Trek III is the Enterprise
limping home to space dock, with the

repairs completed and its side patched
with metal panels on it, the new

cadet on the bridge asking if they're
gonna get a parade when they get home.

But the shot that stands out to me
here is, it goes from close up on the

Enterprise and pulls out as the Enterprise
flies over the earth towards space

dock, this giant structure in space.

Rob: I can only imagine
how huge that dock is.

They use it a lot in Star Trek
III and IV it a lot as well.

And I think VI as well.

It's, yeah, epic.

Kevin: This zoom out from this ship
that we now appreciate the scale of,

to see something that dwarfs it, to
me was a moment of the world of Star

Trek and the Federation taking shape
and you feeling for the first time

that the Enterprise is a small part
of the Federation and Starfleet.

It's a tiny little dot dwarfed against
the fleet assembled in earth orbit.

Those moments that make you feel small,
when you're used to feeling large.

That is the sense I get from this shot.

As soon as my computer let me choose
a desktop background, this shot

of the Enterprise flying towards
Spacedock was my background for years.

Um, I love it.

Rob: Look at you.

You're tempting me to go back and do the
thing that I never said I would do, and

I've got it on 4K, just sitting there.

Kevin: It's so good.

Rob: It's calling out.

Well, I'm gonna jump ahead
to the very next film, Kevin.

As we all know, Star
Trek IV: The Voyage Home,

Kevin: Is gonna be a flyby
of a Klingon Bird of Prey?

Rob: It is not!

It is the welcome return, the final
sequence, where Kirk has faced trial

for his insubordination to go save
Spock, and Spock has stood by with

his crewmates, who have all been put
on trial as well, which they are let

off because they saved the planet.

But Kirk is demoted from Admiral
and back to the position he always

should be, the captain of a starship.

I love how the president, that old,
bald, white haired man just delivers

the line, the captain of a starship.

And the beautiful sequence, all
the crew are in the shuttle going

through Spacedock and they're
going, Oh, it's gonna be this ship.

It's gonna be this ship.

Kevin: They fly towards the Excelsior
and everyone grits their teeth…

Rob: Cuz Sulu goes I'm planning
on Excelsior, and Scotty goes, Why

do you want that bucket of bolts?

And of course Kirk, in his magnanimous
way, he goes, a ships a ship.

Aye captain, thy will be done.

And they go towards the
Excelsior, which we've seen in

Star Trek III the previous film.

And it goes over, and the music
crescendos, and there it is: a

completely rebuilt Enterprise.

Kevin: The reveal of the Enterprise A.

Rob: The Enterprise A.

Now this is before, well before we
get to the era of the Chris Pine Star

Trek, where they destroy the Enterprise
pretty much every frigging movie.

And this is a beautiful moment
where the crew and us as an audience

look at this beautiful ship.

You look at it from below, above
panning around all that beautiful stuff.

Yes, it's there.

It's the exact same design, but it's
an all new ship and a beautiful line

from the man himself, William Shatner
going, My friends, we've come home.

Kevin: I never thought of it this
way before, but Star Trek III is the

movie where Spock comes back to life.

Star Trek IV is the movie where
the Enterprise comes back to life.

Rob: And that's what
the real Voyage Home is.

It's not the voyage home back to earth.

It's the voyage home back to
the Enterprise because we've

been flying around in a Klingon
ship for the entire movie.

Kevin: I'm gonna move us beyond these
big budget, cinematic spectacles,

because of course when you've got a
movie budget, you can make a ship look

amazing, but do it on a TV budget.

I challenge you, Rob Lloyd.

You can't, you can't do it.

Rob: Oh really?

Can't you?

Kevin: Well, Star Trek The
Next Generation did it.

And it is my favorite
ship, the Enterprise D.

Rob: Now D is the one from The Next
Generation TV series and the one

that was destroyed in Generations.

Kevin: Yes.

It looked beautiful in the TV series,
but it was always limited by the fact

that it was a physical model being shot
on motion capture rigs on a TV budget.

So they were limited to a set
of stock shots that they filmed

at the start of the series.

They could maybe top it up with
a couple more each season, but

they had to be pretty generic

Rob: Let's shoot it from…

Kevin: …reused a lot, yeah.

Rob: Let's shoot it from below.

Let's shoot it from the front.

Kevin: The one that stands out to me,
from Star Trek The Next Generation season

six, episode 16, Birthright Part I, is
one of the memorable times where there

is a bespoke shot of the Enterprise D.

It appears only in this episode, as far as
I can tell, and was designed specifically

for the story of this episode.

And this is the episode, we
talked about it last week, in

which Data learns to dream.

He's hit by an electric shock.

Dr.

Bashir is on board and trying to
help figure out why he had a vision

while he was unconscious, and he ends
up unlocking his dream subroutines.

And when he finally at the end of
the episode, is able to have a full

length dream, one of the things that he
dreams is this amazing swooping shot.

It starts from the same sun that
we see in the opening credits

at the start of every episode.

And we see the lens flare as
the camera pans away from the

sun towards the Enterprise.

We see something very similar.

But what we pan to is not the
Enterprise coming at us, but

looking down on the Enterprise
from above, which is a rare angle.

You see the whole thing top down,
and we swoop down over the saucer,

turn around, dipping over it
past the nacelle into a nebula.

And it's over in, I'm gonna
say less than 10 seconds.

But for me was the first time the ship
felt real, in that it was something that

you could maneuver around and see from
any angle rather than something that was

sitting there posed for you to look at.

Having revisited it before watching
this, it is underwhelming now, by

today's standards, but at the time it
seemed magical and it stuck with me.

Rob: Wonderful.

Well, I'm gonna push the
boundaries of what we're defining.

It's not so much a one track
sweeping shot of the ship, but

it is in many ways a showcase.

A showcase of what this ship can do.

It is displayed in many different
angles, but this is a statement.

The ship is the name of the show,
and there's a lot riding on it.

So much so that they brought back the
maestro, who we haven't talked about

yet, but his work on the Motion Picture
with sound and music is incredible.

The often overlooked Jerry Goldsmith
is one of the greatest, film composers

of all time and his iconic work
in the Motion Picture was brought

back for The Next Generation theme.

And he was brought back specially
to do the music for Voyager.

And those opening credits for me are a
great showcase of showing off this ship.

This ship is called Voyager.

This is a different
class to the Enterprise.

You're gonna see how it flies, how it
angles, you look at every part of it.

You get to see all aspects of the ship
in any type of terrain within space.

And it's beautiful.

It glides, it soars, it powers through.

It's a great showcase of a rather
streamlined design of a ship.

It's not technically a shot,
but it's definitely a showcase

of every aspect of that ship.

Kevin: It is a banner day here on
Subspace Radio, because for the first

time we have matched, Rob Lloyd.

This was on my list as well, the opening
credit sequence for Star Trek Voyager.

Rob: If we were on an FM radio
show, we'd have a horn going.

Kevin: Yeah.

I was talking about the Enterprise
D feeling real for the first time.

The opening credits to Star Trek
Voyager, it won an Emmy for outstanding

individual achievement in graphic design.

Rob: The graphics are incredible.

Kevin: It is the first time that
they combined a CG ship with a

physical model in Star Trek history.

Every shot of this sequence is designed
to show us something we have never

seen a starship do on screen before.

We have Voyager reflected in the rings
of a planet with icy rings around it.

And in that shot, the Voyager above
the rings is the physical model,

but the Voyager reflected is the CG.

Rob: Incredible.

Kevin: We have Voyager flying
through a clouded nebula and

it pushing aside the clouds.

Rob: The ripples it creates
is glorious, beautiful.

Kevin: The effects artists who worked
on it said they were told when they

wanted to do that, it was not gonna work.

And they set out to prove it could work.

And sure enough, it works.

Rob: Look, if Jurassic Park has shown
us anything, don't tell computer

programmers it's impossible or you
can't do it cuz they will go, Oh, we'll…

Kevin: We'll show you.

Voyager comes towards us with an
eclipse passing in the background.

So the sun is coming out from
behind a moon and it casts rays

of light so that you can see the
shadow cast by the ship, in space.

That is something we'd never seen before.

Rob: This beautiful shot of
like planet view, and you've

got the shot of Voyager coming…

Kevin: The frozen moon,
that is the opening shot.

Yeah, I skipped one.

Uh, obviously, uh, referenced in
lower decks when the Cerritos crashes

into the ice at the every episode.

I don't wanna miss the final shot of
this opening credit sequence where

Voyager comes to a pause and then
its engines tilt up and it warps out.

The articulated engines.

It is such a gimmick, but my umpteen
year old self seeing this for the

first time in the premiere of Voyager,
I am sure I screamed in delight.

Rob: Look, it is white boy
nerd version of Pimp My Ride.

It's there going, Oh, you want a new ship?

Oh yeah?

You know what?

Before we go to warp?

Our parts move, baby.

Kevin: Flip up the spoiler,
we're going for a ride.

Rob: What a happy accident.

I thought I was pushing the
boundaries by using that, but not

only was I not, we agreed on that.

That's amazing.

Kevin: Totally with you.

Rob: Well, look at us.

We're uh, how many episodes
into this thing are we?

Kevin: We're finally in sync.

Rob: Finally in sync.