Star Trek: Short Treks is an American anthology web television series created for CBS All Access by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman. It originated as a spin-off companion series from Star Trek: Discovery, and consists of several shorts that use settings and characters from that series and the wider Star Trek universe. The shorts are around 10 to 20 minutes long.
There are currently two seasons.
S1Ep1 "Runaway" - Following a discussion with her mother, Sylvia Tilly
encounters a young Xahean stowaway named Me Hani Ika Hali Ka Po. Tilly,
who is accustomed to taking orders from others, decides to make
decisions by herself, to help Po return home in time for her coronation.
I really enjoyed this one as I'm a big fan of Tilly. It was a nice simple story but also moving. I like that they bring back Po for season two of Discovery.
S1Ep2 "Calypso" - The USS
Discovery has held position in space for a thousand
years, and its computer system "Zora" has become sentient. She retrieves
a passing escape pod carrying a man named Craft. Zora keeps Craft
aboard the ship and begins to fall in love with him, but eventually lets
him take Discovery's last shuttle to return to his family on Alcor IV.
This episode was heart wrenching. What I really liked about this episode is it was only one actor playing against a computer voice but it was incredible moving and you felt so bad for the ship. This was my favorite of the shorts from season 1.
S1Ep3 "The Brightest Star" - On the planet Kaminar, Saru
wants to learn about life outside the pre-warp society of his village,
where his people are harvested as food by the predatory Ba'ul. Saru is
able to send a distress signal into space that is answered by Lieutenant
Philippa Georgiou, who takes Saru to join Starfleet.
I enjoyed this episode, it was nice getting some back story on Saru, this episode also plays into an episode in season two of Discovery.
S1Ep4 "The Escape Artist" - Harry Mudd
is captured by a bounty hunter and taken to a Federation ship, but
there the hunter finds multiple other versions of Mudd already detained.
Elsewhere, the real Mudd continues to create android copies of himself so he can continue to evade the authorities.
This is my least favorite of season 1 but I still enjoyed it. I'm not really a fan of Mudd but I'm glad they brought in an original TOS character.
S2Ep1 "Q&A" - On his first day aboard the USS Enterprise, Ensign Spock and his new superior officer Number One
get trapped in a turbolift. While waiting for the turbolift to be
repaired, Spock asks Number One numerous questions, and the pair bond
over their similarities.
I was super excited that they made more of these Star Trek Short Treks. This new batch started off strong with this one. I really enjoyed this one. I like that they was when Spock first stepped foot on the Enterprise. I really liked seeing the interacting between Spock and Number One. They also started releasing these awesome pictures that look like old style Star Trek books.
S2Ep2 "The Trouble with Edward" - On the USS Cabot, science officer Edward Larkin tries to solve a planet's food shortage by genetically modifying tribbles against his Captain's orders, creating a species that is born pregnant and reproduces at a dangerous rate. The Cabot is overrun, and Larkin dies when he chooses to remain behind while the rest of the crew escapes.
This was a fun episode as we get to see the birth of the Tribble or at least the Tribbles we know. I really felt bad for the new Captain on her very first assignment.
S2Ep3 "Ask Not" - When Starbase 28 is attacked, Cadet Thira Sidhu is given care of a mutinous prisoner: Captain Christopher Pike of the Enterprise.
Pike attempts to pressure Sidhu into releasing him, but she refuses.
Pike reveals that this is a simulated test, and by passing it Sidhu is
accepted as a part of the Enterprise crew.
This was a pretty intense episode though I figured it was all a test pretty early on, it didn't take any of the enjoyment away and it's always cool to see Pike again.
S2Ep4 "Ephraim and Dot" - A tardigrade looking for a place to lay her eggs crosses paths with the USS Enterprise and is attacked by a repair drone named Dot. When the Enterprise self-destructs, Dot helps save Ephraim's eggs. When the eggs hatch, the pair travel with the baby tardigrades together.
This was the first of two animated shorts and it was pretty cute, I liked the style of animation and the story was cool.
S2Ep5 "The Girl Who Made the Stars" Young Michael Burnham's
father eases her fear of the dark by telling her a story about a young
African girl. In the story, the girl's people fear the dark because of a
predatory Night Beast, but she braves the night and discovers an alien
that gifts her new light. The girl uses this to create the stars, and
grows up to be a warrior queen.
This was the second animated short, I liked that we got to see a young Michael but I have to say this was probably my least favorite of season two.
S2Ep6 "Children of Mars" Two schoolgirls on Earth develop a fierce rivalry, but are drawn
together by a tragedy when they see news of Mars and its orbital
facilities (where both girls have family working) attacked by rogue
synthetics. During the news footage an image of Admiral Jean-Luc Picard appears, with the network reporting that Picard called the attack "devastating."
This is the last and final Short for season two, I watched it today in prep for the new series Picard as it's a kind of prequel. I really enjoyed it, no words are said, it's all music and parts of it had me in years.
All of these shorts were so well done, they convey so much emotion in such a short amount of time. I cried on more then one occasion and several of these shorts I'd love to see longer versions. I'm happy to say that we are getting a season three. I can't wait to see what comes next.
If you have CBS All Access and enjoy Star Trek these are must see's.
