The Ready Room: A Star Trek Podcast (deep space nine)
32: The Albino On the Mantel

Blood Oath.

Jadzia Dax may be a young Starfleet Lieutenant, but she is also one of the wisest members of the Deep Space 9 crew. Thanks to the seven lifetimes of experience carried by the Dax symbiont, Jadzia is both young and old at the same time. She is Starfleet and yet not Starfleet. The writers of DS9 played this up in the second-season episode “Blood Oath,” which also marked the return of three famous characters from The Original Series—Kor, Koloth, and Kang (and the actors who originally portrayed them). This is a story that played a key role in the early development of the Jadzia character by giving us a look at how Dax had deep roots within the larger Star Trek universe and how Jadzia was tied to that past despite being only 29 years old. In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined Brian Finifter as we discuss “Blood Oath,” how DS9 looks at the world differently from other Star Trek series, and how this story affects how we see Jadzia.

In news we cover the arrival of Star Trek Online Free-to-Play, ThinkGeek’s plush Enterprise, Shatner’s response to George Takei, Scanadu’s Real-life medical tricorder, plus lots of movie news and rumors including the start of shooting, upgrades to engineering, J.J. Abrams’s thoughts on 3-D, Thor Actor Joseph Gatt joining the cast, and whether Benedict Cumberbatch might be playing Sybok? Plus Greg serves up the official show drink—a G&T. (It’s not what you think.)

Direct download: trr-032.mp3
Category:Deep Space Nine -- posted at: 8:00pm MDT

27: This Thing Can Blow. Stuff. Up.

The Search.

Deep Space Nine shaved the head in the Season Four premiere “The Way of the Warrior,” but the shears of change started trimming a season earlier. “The Search” is a title with many meanings. It’s Odo’s search for his people as well as the show’s search for its own identity. It’s the birth of the Dominion, the introduction of the Defiant, Ronald D. Moore’s debut on the writing team, the first Romulan involvement in the series, and so much more. In this episode of The Ready Room we discuss the Season Three premiere and how it marks the beginning of DS9’s greatness.

In news we cover the 20th anniversary of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and recount our memories of the premiere, the Dodd’s Furniture Star Trek Mattress Commercial, movie news and rumors including Benicio Del Toro, Edgar Ramirez, Jordi Mollà, and KHAAAN!!!, the results of our Alice Eve poll, and we’ll preview two more tracks from Five Year Mission’s Year Two. Plus Greg teaches us what kind of sound the Prime Spock Probe makes.

Direct download: trr-027.mp3
Category:Deep Space Nine -- posted at: 8:00pm MDT

24: 7.1 Surround Sound Flute Action!

Past Tense.

Star Trek has often been prophetic, but few episodes have been more prophetic of today’s world than the DS9 two-parter “Past Tense.” Many parallels between the Occupy movement and the Sanctuary Districts of 2024 can be drawn, though it’s not necessarily a clear-cut comparison. Still this episode can come across as being “ripped from the headlines” today, despite that fact that it first aired in 1995 years ago. In this episode of The Ready Room we discuss “Past Tense” and how it shows where we may be headed as the rift between the rich and poor in our society grows.

In news we cover new movie developments, more confirmed guests for Star Trek Las Vegas 2012, the second TNG HD trailer that shows some side-by-side comparison, Star Trek’s ten least-threatening villains, upcoming IDW Star Trek Ongoing comics, and we preview two more tracks from Five Year Mission’s “Year Two.”

Direct download: trr-024.mp3
Category:Deep Space Nine -- posted at: 8:00pm MDT

20: Shaving the Head

The Way of the Warrior.

DS9 promised a new kind of Star Trek from the very start, yet the early seasons had more in common with the TNG method of storytelling than the rich and intricate Deep Space Nine we came to love. Just as TNG grew the beard with “The Best of Both Worlds,” so did DS9 with “The Way of the Warrior.” Shaving the head set DS9 on a course for greatness and its place as the most unique series in the Star Trek franchise. In this episode of The Ready Room we discuss “The Way of the Warrior” and how it changed Deep Space Nine. In news we look at the official music video for William Shatner’s cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Five Year Missions “Errand of Mercy,” a comparison of Star Trek technology to real-world progress, Microsoft’s progress in holodeck technology, John de Lancie reading “The Raven,” and the Roddenberry Foundation’s $5 million dollar gift to the Gladstone Institutes for stem cell research. 

Direct download: trr-020.mp3
Category:Deep Space Nine -- posted at: 9:00pm MDT

7: Frederickson's Squid Vendor

Deep Space Nine.

As The Next Generation began to approach the finish line and with fan support at an all-time high, Paramount knew that they needed to pass the television torch to another crew. In doing so they created a different kind of Trek that was embraced by many fans and shunned by others. In the episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Brian Finifter of Down In Front to take a look at DS9, how the series departed from the classic Star Trek mould, and how it enriched the franchise by telling stories and developing characters in a way we had never seen before.

In our news segment we discuss Mila Kunis’s love of Star Trek, take a look at a lost Larry Nemecek interview with Ira Steven Behr, hear what Mike and Denise Okuda have to say about their role in the new browser-based game Infinite Space, open our ears to a limited-edition collection of unreleased music from TNG, find out what is lined up for the Shore Leave con in Baltimore, look at a Kirk maquette, find out why Pegg is asking for patience on the Star Trek sequel, examine a new technology that may be the first replicator, and play with the new CBS Interactive PADD application for iPad.

Direct download: trr-007.mp3
Category:Deep Space Nine -- posted at: 9:00pm MDT