Fans of the Original Star Trek have something to be happy about, the wait is finally over! The fan-based Classic Trek Webseries Starship Farragut has released their third full episode, titled ‘The Price Of Anything‘, for free streaming online and for download via an official DVD release. The episode has been a long time coming, and having seen it Moby can say it is a worthy effort and a definite ‘Must-See’ for Trek fans.
While this marks only the third Live-Action Farragut episode to be released so far, there have also been two animated episodes as well as a couple of shorter Live-Action vignettes to tide us over. The last Live-Action Farragut was the double-length episode ‘For Want of a Nail’, released in 2007. That’s a pretty long interval between episodes, and perhaps that is why it took a month before I noticed this release. Now, most Trek fans are probably more familiar with the efforts of the ‘New Voyages/Phase II’ crew, and that is understandable. But fans all over are missing out if they do not check out this crew as well. Their effort is in nearly every way unrivaled, and at the very least on par with any other fan-based Trek outfit, with the exception of some visual effects.
This third episode introduces us to Captain Carter’s father. From their site: “Captain Carter has a chance meeting with his ailing, estranged father. After crash landing a shuttlecraft on a mission to save a rare plant, they discover a rogue Romulan and a failed experiment involving a Romulan super soldier they must fight to stay alive!” That about sums it up pretty well. The casting for the rogue Romulan was especially well done, and he does an exceptional job, right down to coughing up a bunch of green blood. Nice. And the redshirt…well, you know. Let’s just say all the Classic Trek bases are covered.
The acting is much improved overall, and the episode is solid all around with the possible exception of a few of the special effects, but even those are not too badly done. The sets, and the soundtrack by Hetoryn, are very well done and catch just the right vibe and feel, bringing us back to the original Trek universe once again. While it is easy to pick nits, it is obvious to anyone who cares to look that the time and energy that go into these productions are enormous.
The set of ‘Farragut’ is a meticulous replica of the original form the 1960’s
Now for my thoughts. The father. This seems to be done more and more in these webseries: relatives and super-duper guests and deaths and so on. I know that with only a few episodes coming out, they must use the ‘Big’ story lines, but it sort of gets old. It’s like, every villain is a ‘Super-Villain’ and wants to take over the earth. Just once, would it not be nice to have someone who is just out to take, I don’t know, Des Moines or Fresno or some and not the whole fricken planet? I think that is why Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies was so great, asking for ‘One MILL-ION Dollars’. It would be nice if not every guest star were introduced as a nephew, father, or ex-roomate to the captain or such. OK, so now I am mixing up my webseries, but still.
I guess what I am saying is I would like to see an episode that does not need a lot of location shooting, or special effects, or a big huge guest star, or death of a key crew member, or someone coming out of the closet, or such. You know, a ‘bottle show’. Just a simple, well written episode with a dead redshirt by the end of act two. Is that too much to ask? Perhaps it is, and I don’t want to sound ungrateful. I just want to thank the cast and crew of Farragut Films for scratching that itch for us all, one more time. What more can a Trek fan ask for? (Bottle Show)
Starship Farragut is available online for free. Recommended by Moby.
