Transporter Room 3: The Star Trek Podcast

What can we say? A legend has left us.

Two Captain Kirks beam down to Transporter Room 3 this week, with our review of the classic Star Trek episode “The Enemy Within.”

Directed by Sean Penn’s dad (!), this powerful installment — which celebrates its 60th anniversary this month — introduces the popular “problem with the transporter” trope into Trek with Kirk being split into two parts. “Positive Kirk” struggles to make critical command decisions while his other half — the feral and fearful “Negative Kirk” — wreaks havoc on the ship. It’s both a riveting and, in one particular instance, very problematic story, and we explain why.

We also jump to the 24th century to eulogize a TNG Red Shirt after a stop at the Replimat with Nathan Fielder and Jason Voorhees’s mom!

So get cozy, heat up some rocks with a hand phaser and listen now!

It's Uhura x 2 on this week's TR3, as we review Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' time-bending season finale "Tomorrow's Enterprise." Speaking of Enterprise, we also revisit Star Trek: Enterprise to celebrate the 25th anniversary of its action-packed pilot, "Broken Bow."

Batman and Green Lantern visit us in the Replimat this week (ish) and we eulogize one of Star Trek's first Red Shirts. So watch out for white holes and listen now!

Disaster strikes the Enterprise in two different ways this week on Transporter Room 3, with our reviews of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "Off-Hour" and "Like Chronitons Through the Hourglass."

The former is "24 meets The Poseidon Adventure" in space, and the latter puts Pike and his crew into a soap opera. No, really. One we really liked, the other we have some questions about.

News wise? We have a small update on what could be the next Star Trek movie, which seems to be going in a very Crimson Tide direction. We also stop by the Replimat and prep another photon tube for this week's Red Shirt.

So watch out for slipstream wormholes and listen now!

In this week's episode of TR3, we delve into the ghostly depths of the USS Griffin for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' "The Griffin Incident"... before encountering something even more horrifying, the comedic episode "Human Best Friend"!

OK, maybe we're exaggerating, but while we really liked the creepy "The Griffin Incident" -- with some reservations -- "Human Best Friend" is, to paraphrase the Comic Book Guy, one of the worst episodes of Strange New Worlds ever. So listen to Transporter Room 3 to hear us complain about it... and more!

Captain Pike, his hair and the crew of the Enterprise are back — and they have a T-Rex.

This week, we review Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 4 premiere, "Valles Marineris," which just might be its biggest episode yet. Come for the ancient aliens and their pointy shoulders, stay for La’an punching a raptor!

We also swing by the Replimat for some Superman and Nick Cage recs, eulogize a whole species of Red Shirts and tease an upcoming major interview you don’t want to miss.

Revisionist history and the dangers of it take center stage in this week’s review of “Living Witness,” an exceptional Star Trek: Voyager episode which finds the Doctor’s backup hologram awakening in a distant future where Voyager is a warship responsible for some truly dastardly things.

“Living Witness” is the closest fans got to a Mirror Universe-y take on Voyager, with Janeway rocking some evil gloves and the Doctor melting some poor alien’s optic nerves. So come for the deep dive into this episode’s origins, and stay for our reaction to that killer twist ending!

We also breakdown Strange New World's new dragon-and-dinosaur-filled trailer before beaming down to the Replimat for some Spielberg, followed by another Red Shirt eulogy.

So watch out for a creepy-eyed evil Doctor and listen now!

And we're back with a look at one of Star Trek: Voyager Season 1's best -- "Faces," aka the episode where B'Elanna Torres gets split in two and that guy Lt. Pete Durst gets what he's had coming! (OK, not really on that last part.)

But before that, we take a quick detour to discuss a few weird Star Trek movie plot holes that we never really noticed before. Are there more that you can think of? Hit us up and we'll talk about them on the next episode!

TrekCore's Ken Reilly joins us to discuss the news that Starfleet Academy has been cancelled. Caleb and his fellow cadets have one more season left, so we unpack what led to the show's abrupt end... and what might be in store for Star Trek’s future. If it even has a future, that is.

So get in your school that's also a spaceship and blast off for the latest TR3!

This week, Transporter Room 3 beams up our review of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy's freshman season finale, "Rubincon." And, nope, that's not a typo.

Ake (Holly Hunter) struggles through a very chatty tribunal, while the rest of the cadets must save the Earth in a way that, if we were them, we'd expect to skip a few years and go straight to graduation (zing!).

A trip to the Replimat and a TNG Red Shirt are also in order, so get comfy in your Captain's chairs and listen now!

This week, we review Jonathan Frakes' intense Starfleet Academy episode, "300th Night." The penultimate episode of the season features Caleb's reunion with his mom, lots of punching and, of course, a wall of space mines. But, is it good? Listen to find out.

We also walk on over to the Replimat for some movie picks and eulogize another Red Shirt from The Original Series. So watch out for the Omega particles and listen now!

Welcome back to Transporter Room 3, as we delve into the mid-season Starfleet Academy episodes "Come, Let's Away," "Ko'Zeine," and "The Life of the Stars" -- aka the one with the USS Miyazaki, the one with the wedding, and the one where Tilly comes back!

We also pay tribute this week to a lost soul from the Dominion War. Plus, Phil's dog pays us a visit, so be sure to listen now!

And the Starfleet Academy train (shuttlepod?) keeps on rolling (flying?) as we jump in to talk about Episodes 4 and 5, "Vox in Excelso" and "Series Acclimation Mil," aka the one with the Klingons and the one with... well, that's a spoiler, actually.

Suffice to say, you do NOT want to miss this episode of TR3, as special guest star Ken Reilly from TrekCore returns to dig in on a wormhole-sized Trek event. So cook up some gumbo, put on your Niners uniform, and listen now!

And we're back with a review of the third episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Season 1, "Vitus Reflux, "as Caleb, Darem, Genesis and the rest of the cadets find themselves up against those jerks over at the War College... and yes, that does include Tarima, the Betazoid with the mysterious power inhibitor...
Speaking of which, we talk about the question many of you have been asking -- are Betazoids empaths or telepaths or all of the above? We also hit the Replimat for some Cold War fun and we have a really good Red Shirt from DS9!

New year, new episode of TR3! And a new Star Trek show, Starfleet Academy. So what did we think of it? You literally won’t believe Phil’s review...
We also visit the Replimat for some Rage virus to go with our hot earl grey teas. So take off your Starfleet-issue boots, get extra comfy in your captain’s chairs, and listen now!

It’s Christmas, Romulan style!

A review of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s riveting “Face of the Enemy” wraps Transporter Room 3 for the year. We also unpack the original idea for this episode and why Troi was ultimately selected to pose as a Romulan to help her enemy smuggle some defectors into Federation space.

As Spock once said via Christmas ornament: “Happy holidays. Live long and prosper.”

This week, we mourn the loss of nuTrek, as Variety unceremoniously announced in an article about Paramount’s new (and problematic) leadership that the J.J. Abrams era of Star Trek seems to be no more.

The studio is reportedly moving on from Chris Pine’s Kirk and into, well, darkness. So we revisit the three films from the Kelvin Timeline, what worked, what didn't, and why Hollywood is closing the door on this chapter from the Final Frontier.

And now, the conclusion… of our deep dive into Star Trek’s first three-part episode arc ever, wrapping up with DS9’s “The Siege.”

This week, Kira and Dax get their Top Gun on while Sisko, O’Brien and Odo play Die Hard on the station. Does this 32-year-old episode still hold up? You’ll have to listen to find out.

We also recap New York Comic Con and the new, cool toys coming from Nacelle. And yes, we have a Red Shirt.

So snack on a palukoo and listen now!

Sisko and Odo work to stop a coup in “The Circle,” the second episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s three-part Season 2 premiere, and we have another commentary track for you!

This week’s TR3 is full of behind the scenes trivia — from the first appearance of Sisko’s baseball to the typo in the opening credits and much more (interesting, we hope, stuff). Listen now!

The first part of DS9’s three-part Season 2 premiere, “The Homecoming,” gets the review treatment this week on TR3.

After we unpack Kira and O’Brien’s mission behind enemy lines to free a legendary Bajoran figure, we take a trip to the Replimat and hold a Red Shirt funeral. So get your hasperat and listen now!