[Gemini1999]

Hi folks -

Well, I've been spending the last few nights watching episodes of Star Trek: Hidden Frontier....

As it turns out, they had only just recently finished Season 5 and are soon gearing up for production of Season 6. I've gotten all the way through Season 1, which is 6 half-hour epsiodes. This series does quite well considering each episode is only 30 minutes long. The series is serial in nature and each episode builds up the story with each segment.

I must say that the scripts are very well done - there are one or two scenes that are a bit long on conversation, but it's not too bad. The actors are quite good for the most part, considering that all of the talent is local and fan-based. The costumes in Season 1 are not too bad, but the costuming quality improves from season to season.

The VFX in Season 1 are pretty good - there were a few scenes that made my jaw drop considering that someone did them at home on a PC. The VFX gets almost TV series quality as the seasons pass by. If nothing else, the VFX are worth "tuning" in for!

Here is a count for the episodes completed thus far:

Season 1 - 6 eps
Season 2 - 9 eps
Season 3 - 9 eps
Season 4 - 6 eps
Season 5 - 6 eps

There have been some interesting character appearances in this "series". I've seen an episode where Wesley Crusher returns. A couple of main characters are from TNG - Commander Elizabeth Shelby ("Best of Both Worlds") and Lt. Robin Lefler ("The Game" & "Darmok". Another character is a more mature version of the young Baku boy, Artim, from ST: Insurrection and there is even the brother of Ensign Ro Laren from TNG. Another TNG staple is Admiral Necheyev as a recurring character.

One of the things that I like about this series is that the cast does change in and out from beginning to end. Unlike the very lengthy attatchments that Starfleet crews have for ships named Enterprise, the characters in Hidden Frontier get reassigned and move on and up in their careers.

I know that in my previous post, I mentioned a couple of gay characters in the show. As it turns out, this is a very minor subplot, and only comes up in a minor way in Season 3 (I've not seen it yet) and Season 5. If it's keeping anyone from taking a look, I wouldn't let it stop you.

The one thing that I've learned from this site, is that there are actually quite a few Trek sites that are making their own episodes and showing them online. I did read that Paramount has no problem with this as long as the episodes don't wind up on DVD (even if they are only sold at cost for the disks). None of the material that has been shown so far, directly infringes upon what has already been established in the Trek universe. The majority of the plotlines are confined to the "Briar Patch" that was introduced in ST:Insurrection. The stories pretty much take place after ST: Voyager ended - I did note a reference to Admiral Janeway in a Season 3 epsiode.

So, if you've got some time on your hands after the holidays and would like to watch some "fresh" episodes of Trek, you might want to check this out - It's been keeping me from the TV every evening this week....

Happy Holidays!
Bryan