Star Trek

I never suspected that J.J. Abrams would have a major influence on my contemplation of time travel. First we have Lost discussing the nature of a single unchangeable timeline, and now Star Trek with its splitting timelines.

The first thing to deal with when viewing the new Star Trek is the alternate universe. Many fans seem to be quite upset with this, suggesting that it wipes out the history that we have watched over the last 40 years. They just can't understand the concept, even though it was explicitly revealed in the film. A reboot, a la Batman, Battlestar Galactica, and James Bond, would have wiped out that history. But thankfully in this case we have an escape built in to the Star Trek Universe. Now, Trek has had it both ways, showing many times a single changeable timeline, but it has also shown parallel universes before, starting with the venerable "Mirror, Mirror." In the Next Gen episode "Parallels", we watch Worf jump between universes a la Sliders, finally resulting in the converge of 285,000 Enterprises. Other notable episodes were "Yesterday's Enterprise," and "All Good Things", each portraying other ways things could have worked out. Producers of the new film have suggested that every time travel event in Star Trek history has produced a new universe, although I would argue that "Parallels" claimed that each universe had a unique quantum signature, and that one could return to their original home universe, so I think this explaination is unneccessary. [1]

I would also point out here that I fully contend that this new universe was pre-existing and that it was not "caused" by the Spock singularity. Federation technology was already on a different track, with the Kelvin being more advanced than its prime counterparts. It has been estimated that if the multiple universe theories are true, that only a googol universes would need to exist to allow for an infinite number of different outcomes. [2] So, it would seem that these googol universe already exists, otherwise any one of our decisions would create the energy and matter of an entire universe, and that seems far too extraordinary too any of this.

The second point to come to terms with is the new actors playing the sacrosanct characters of Kirk, et al. This has already been dealt with by some fans, with Star Trek: New Voyages, and I'll quote their website:

"Star Trek: Phase II's producers/crew feel that Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest should be treated as "classic" characters like Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman, Gandalf from Lord of the Rings or even Hamlet, Othello or Romeo. Many actors have and can play the roles, each offering a different interpretation of said character. Though the character is the same, the interpretation of the actor is what's in question. We feel that the crew of the Enterprise has more to teach us about life and each other than has been explored to date. We also feel the new actors can add to the legend in a believable and contemporary way. The timelessness of the classic characters was recognized by JJ Abrams."

It is certainly true that Captain Kirk has joined the ranks of some other great fictional characters and has become part of contemporary mythology. All I can say is that the actors did a great job, bringin new dimesnions to the characters, while giving a nod to their original incarnations.

Thematically, this Star Trek is a bit of a departure. It is a more dangerous universe, cold and traumatic. There are clearly influences from Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars, both in terms of visual style and action - being bold and dynamic, and in the story. Star trek has always been timely, from the height of the Cold War to the end of the Cold War . This is a post 9/11 Trek, with the destruction of a planet as their central history point. It would seem that planets and civilizations are now no longer safe in any of the great sci-fi worlds.

The major drawback of this film is the design of its most important character- the Enterprise. Externally, this one is simply ugly. It is obvioulsy much larger than its prime counterpart, as depicted by the interior.[3] [4] Internally, it is an incredible departure. It may have the nicest bridge on any sci-fi ship, with an ultra-modern Correllian design and a 300+ inch screen. Curiously some have noted that the engineering locations look like a brewery, with massive tanks. I guess these are just all the things that used to appear in Enterprise deck plans, but have now been magnified to usuable preportions. The interiors of the secondary hull contain immense levels of scaffolding and catwalks, looking like a 20th century industrial building. This gives an interesting contrast to the ipod-ness of the main hull. The shuttle bay is also massive, besides being influenced by the aforementioned epics, it also expands on the attempts made in TMP, although this time its exterior is enlarged to contain it.

What's next, and what will it be called? Will it be STII, or STXII? I was hoping that this film would do well enough for Paramount to do another Next Generation movie, as Levar Burton has suggested. I feel that the Enterprise E story is not over yet, but I also want to see another film with this cast. Perhaps the next one can feature the prime Enterprise following the missing spock, and they can call it The Search for Spock.


[1] This interview details canon and continuity.
[2] Once again, I refer to Time Machines
[3] USS_Enterprise_(alternate_reality)
[4]

Metropolis Pt 1

"It only ends once, anything that happens before that is just progress" - Jacob, Lost

The season five finale of Lost may have had the best opening scene, ever. Immediately we see the statue, the Black Rock, Jacob [and Cerberus] and in one scene the scope of the overall story dramatically increased, revealing the epic nature we have been waiting for. My only disappointment, is that I now wish we hadn't seen the statue earlier this season. If this had been our first view of it since season two, the dramatic impact would have been more intense. As the story spirals out further each season, we see that the conflicts of the main characters are insignificant to the overall story, and they only are significant in particular events of history. But , it would seem the overall conflict involves Jacob and "Man #2", shown in a black/white dichotomy. This episode had a very biblical feel to it, and this character may be Esau, as they were both mentioned in the fictional book Bad Twin. There are also overtones of Cain/Abel and Set/Osiris. I suspect, however, that the Jacob / Nemesis situation may not be as simple as we have been shown and perhaps some of what has been attributed to Jacob may in fact be his other (i.e. the cabin). It would also seem that the Cerberus monster fits in here somewhere. At this point the Nemesis and Locke (or Locke-2) would seem to be the best candidate for being the monster, as he appeared after Ben summoned him. This all seems to go back to the first episode, when Locke was explaining backgammon: "Two players. Two sides. One is light, one is dark."

I suspect that the time loop flight 815 is caught in may only be part of a larger time cycle. This is why the island "is not done" with certain people, and why when these people try to do things like kill themselves they are told "the island won't let you." Because this all may have happened already and can't be changed. Jacob clearly represents freewill and freedom of choice, emphasizing to each person he encounters the freedom of their choice. This is a polar opposition to the notions of fate and destiny we have seen attributed to the island. Perhaps this has to do with Jacob's nemesis, the two of them defining the archetypes of opposing groups on the island. These differing schools of thought are played out by evermore social groups of "others" who are constantly changing and reforming. The Nemesis takes a pessimistic viewpoint and views newcomers as ones who "fight, destroy and corrupt", while Jacob is more social and optimistic, unconcerned about the future. This would fit with the Nemesis being the monster, the security system of the island. The theme of immortality is also introduced , and besides Richard, it seems that Jacob is an immortal, unable to die, yet ready for it. Finally, everything has changed, reversed, with this episode and its white ending. The season 6 teaser shows eyes opening, presumably Juliet, though they have become a different color [1]. I propose that the explosion will neither destroy the island or reverse time, but rather propel the survivors back to their original time, where their exile and search for meaning will continue.

As a side note, I still believe that Desmond is a major part of the center of the story (he is certainly is the dramatic center). So far he has been the only one to experience two timelines, or rather a changing single timeline, making him "special. He seems to me to be a Christ figure, although that may have something to do with Henry Ian Cusak once playing Jesus. After he imploded the hatch he traveled back to his former life, and then was forced to choose returning to the island, although changed. This echoes Christ's decent into hell and resurrection (and I mean that in a Last Temptation sort of way.) He may be the one that saves them after all.


I am reminded of the Dream Theater song Metropolis, inspired by the ancient tale of Romulus and Remus. In this rendition, the two twins are locked in conflict throughout time in the lives of others. In any case, the underlying tone of this episode evoked this song in my mind.

The smile of dawn
Arrived in early May
She carried a gift from her home
The night shed a tear
To tell her of fear
And of sorrow and pain
She'll never outgrow

Death is the first dance, eternal

There's no more freedom
The both of you will be
confined to this mind

I was told there's a miracle for each day that I try
I was told there's a new love that's born for each one that has died
I was told there'd be no one to call on when I feel alone and afraid
I was told if you dream of the next world
You'll find yourself swimming in a lake of fire

As a child, I thought I could live without pain without sorrow
But as a man Ive found its all caught up with me
Im asleep yet Im so afraid

Somewhere like a scene from a memory
Theres a picture worth a thousand words
Eluding stares from faces before me
It hides away and will never be heard of again

Deceit is the second without end

The citys cold blood teaches us to survive
Just keep my heart in your eyes and well stay alive

The third arrives...

Before the leaves have fallen
Before we lock the doors
There must be a third and last dance
This one will last forever
Metropolis watches and thoughtfully smiles
Shes taken you to your home

It can only take place
When the struggle between our children has ended
Now the miracle and the sleeper know that the third is love

-Dream Theater, Metropolis from Images & Words, 1992


[1] Read Lost is a Game for an extraordinary theory of the show. While I'm not convinced its the absolute solution, his research and attention to recurring details is amazing (the change in eye color, for example)

The Death of Daniel Faraday

With the episode "The Variable," Lost has moved into the endgame chapter - everything is in place for the final season. When I wrote last year about the book Time Machines, I never suspected that it would pertain so much to Lost, which is to my mind the most significant example of postmodernism in current pop culture. The view expressed in that book is that time travel is possible, but that the universe consists of a single time-line, so what ever has been done in the past is fixed. This is precisely the view that has been enumerated several times on Lost, since the survivors started jumping through time with the commencement of this season. They usually express the view in terms of "whatever happened, happened." But now, Daniel Faraday has theorized that the timeline can be changed, and has refocused his concentration on constants to that of variables- people with freewill. Of course that presents many problems: obviously whatever has happened has become reality by occurring. The only way out is to split the universe into a parallel reality where the future is changeable, or do what even God cannot logically do - erase history. This last option seems to be the one that the survivors will ambitiously attempt to do, make it so their plane ( and 5 years of adventures) never happens. They will begin this attempt by detonating a hydrogen bomb (presumably this years' finale explosion). We may very well see in the last episode, Flight 815 safely landing, unaware of the events that were erased and skipped and the characters will continue on as they were. I hope the ending is not this simple, and even if the plane does land, hopefully the characters will remember their experiences. What is particularly interesting at this point is the existential crisis confronting them. If it is possible to erase your life, should you do it? It is your life and who you are now. Undoing it may be the greatest sin of life.

But I think the writers still have a more important meta-story to tell here. Even if the survivors were to return to their original lives, there must be a significant point to the mysteries of Richard, Jacob, Widmore, Cerberus and the Island itself. Flight 815 is a mechanism for furthering some greater purpose, and even if the survivors escape the rhizomic conditions they are currently in, their interaction in it will have made profound changes. This may have been one of the most brain-straining seasons of television, and the next year promises to be just as enthralling.