Number One, whose name is here firmly established as “Una” in print and in dialogue, meets Spock in the Enterprise’s transporter room and begins to introduce him to his new ship. The plot is simple: We witness Spock’s first moments aboard the Enterprise, as he beams over from Starbase 40 (which features a truly strange transporter facility) to begin his assignment under Captain Pike. Thankfully, “Q&A” works on almost all counts. They can also spectacularly misfire, as was the case in ENT: “Precious Cargo,” one of the worst episodes of Star Trek, ever. From Enterprise’s “Shuttlepod One” to DS9’s “Armageddon Game” and “The Forsaken,” these “two-handers” can offer a great opportunity to explore characters in depth, and generate sparks between dissimilar people. Star Trek has had its share of “two people stuck in a situation they didn’t choose, giving them a chance to bond” episodes. That we never get bored watching them say those things is mostly Pellington’s doing, though the fact that those two people are Ethan Peck’s Spock and Rebecca Romijn’s Number One doesn’t hurt, either. That those two people have interesting things to say to each other is credit to writer Chabon. The first episode of the new season of shorts is written by Picard showrunner Michael Chabon and directed by Mark Pellington, best known for directing 1999’s Arlington Road and 2002’s The Mothman Prophecies, but whose only other Star Trek credit was providing the voice-over for the Ba’ul in the Discovery episode, “The Sound of Thunder.” Pellington directs his actors with a sure hand and maintains visual interest in a short that is largely made up of scenes of two people stuck in an elevator. The first two Short Treks are now live on CBS All Access, with more set to drop about one a month until Picard debuts.Īfter the enormous popularity of Discovery’s take on Captain Pike, Spock, Number One, and the USS Enterprise, it’s perhaps no surprise that the first two shorts make use of characters and sets from those episodes.
The same philosophy animates the latest batch of Short Treks, aimed at bridging the gap between Discovery season two and the launch of Star Trek: Picard in January 2020. The idea behind Short Treks is both to keep the appetite for Star Trek strong between seasons, and to let them do some focused, lighter character pieces for a show that can be awfully serious. Between season one of Star Trek: Discovery and season two, the production crew behind Discovery made four Short Treks, each clocking in at about 10-15 minutes.
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