STAR TREK: SHORT TREKS
To briefly go where no Blu-ray has gone before…
RELEASED OUT NOW! 2018-2020 | PG | Blu-ray/DVD Showrunner Alex Kurtsman
Cast Mary Wiseman, Doug Jones, Rebecca Romijn, Anson Mount
This series of short films, most of them unavailable in the UK until now, offers by turns intriguing and frustrating new takes on Star Trek.
Of the first season, “Calypso” is the standout. Penned by Picard showrunner Michael Chabon, it finds the abandoned Discovery gaining sentience thousands of years in the future. It’s a cool SF concept, well told, with sharp direction by Olatunde Osunsanmi. “The Brightest Star” is also worthwhile, adding more context to Saru’s backstory, while “Runaway” gives Tilly’s alien pal Po (Yadira Guevara-Prip) a much-needed proper introduction. By contrast, “The Escape Artist” is a Mudd story that’s somehow overstretched at just 16 minutes.
Season two feels like two separate shows. The first three episodes are effectively a trial run for the forthcoming Strange New Worlds series, giving us more time with Pike, Spock and Number One – though it’s the outright comedy of Tribble tale “The Trouble With Edward” that really stands out. The last two episodes, however, move in a very different direction: into animation. “Ephraim And Dot” is a witty little piece, full of nods to the original series. By contrast, “The Girl Who Made The Stars” is cloying – a bedtime story for young Michael Burnham that adds no insight to the character, doesn’t feel like Star Trek, and seems to exist simply because someone wanted to make something a bit Pixar. “Children Of Mars” – a prequel to Star Trek: Picard – is absent, presumably saved for that show’s box set.
Extras Every episode gets its own feature, examining different aspects of the strand. There’s also a five-minute overview of the series with Alex Kurtzman, plus commentaries on “Runaway” and “Ask Not”. Will Salmon
One abandoned idea would have seen a young Jean-Luc Picard being called to a hospital and given a mission by Uhura.