It’s finally here! The Section 31 movie, wanted by almost no one and quietly put out onto Paramount Plus looking like a bad attempt to be a Guardians of the Galaxy, Suicide Squad (the bad one) and Borderlands: The Movie.

To celebrate, Charlie and Miles have formed a ragtag band of bantering ne’er do wells including Cele from Celeste is Best and Sean from Famicom Dojo. They carry out a four-person relay recap, pitch their own versions of a Section 31 movie and try to say something good about it!

00:03:19 What Non-Star Trek Thing We’ve Been Enjoying:

00:09:18 Introduction to Section 31

00:18:51 Section 31 Recap

00:33:30 Section 31 Review

01:16:22 Saying something nice about Section 31

01:21:24 Miles’ Pitch

01:29:08 Cele’s Pitch

01:36:52 Sean’s Pitch

01:43:41 Charlie’s Pitch

01:57:52 Cele’s Wife’s Pitch

Talking points include: Borderlands (video game), Guardians of the Galaxy, Creature Commandos, a nice Americano, scone and a book, Macross, Silo (film & books), Midnight Suns, The original Section 31 predicted how the Patriot Act would go down, SHIELD in the War on Terror Era, Babylon 5, Mass Effect 2, Battlestar Galactica, The Culture, X-Force (Cyclops’ and Wolverine’s), Hunger Games, 90’s Animated Cyclops, ‘meh’ should never be said in a Star Trek, “We have Tendi at home”, everyone looks like budget ‘someone else’, if this was on HBO Max then Zaslav would have killed it, The Drazi’s religious war, The Big Outdoor Fight, Rebel Moon, British versions of successful American sci-fi, is there anything original? Starbucks supervisor energy, an Oirish accent, a Pacey from Dawson’s Creek haircut, Agent for Harm, MST3K, Rogue One, Making Georgiou into Spike, referencing Lorca’s most unfortunate line in Discovery, Fifth Element, the sins of Joss Whedon’s writing, Dr Who, Suicide Squad, Torchwood, Celeste’s Harsh Truths™, The Franchise, Jessie Gender, this is a Roger Corman movie if he was an idiot as well as a thief, choking on a Manta Force, Garth of Izar, Gundam references, . Oh, and occasionally Star Trek.

Pedant’s Corner:

• Silo came out in 2011, Fallout came out in 1997, A Boy and His Dog first appeared in 1969

• Marvel’s Midnight Sons actually consisted of: Danny Ketch, Johnny Blaze, Blade, Frank Drake, Hannibal King, Morbius, Vengeance, Sam Buchanan, Victoria Montessi, Louise Hastings, Modred the Mystic and Jinx. In retrospect I can see why they went more mainstream.

• Amarie in Unification had four arms

• William Sadler is alive at time of editing

Casual Trek is by Charlie Etheridge-Nunn and Miles Reid-Lobatto

Music by Alfred Etheridge-Nunn

Casual Trek is a part of the Nerd & Tie Network

https://ko-fi.com/casualtrek

Celeste is Best YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@NickIzumi

Cele’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CelesteIsBest

Famicom Dojo: https://famicomdojo.tv/

Famicom Dojo YouTube: https://youtube.com/@famicomdojolive

Miles’ blog: http://www.mareidlobatto.wordpress.com

Charlie’s blog: http://www.fakedtales.com

Quick, put on your secret black leather uniform and prepare yourself for moral dubiousness as we prepare ourselves for the upcoming film- ‘Star Trek: Section 31.’ With the film debuting in just a few days after this episode drops, Miles and Charlie prepare themselves by choosing three episodes tangentially related to the forthcoming film, in ‘Inquisition,’ we and Julian Bashier meet Section 31 and all Bashier wants are Scone and Jams, then in ‘Yesterday’s Enterprise,’ we slip into an alternate universe/Tasha Yar fixfic and meet Captain Rachel Garrett (who will apprantly be in this movie) and we encounter that most deadly Star Trek threat… WALL ROCKS and then in Saints of Imperfection, Captain Pike meets the worst kind of secret operatives, catty drama kids who can’t shut up about how secret they all are, will any of this actually relate to the film? We don’t know, but we’ve assembled a team of our own to talk about it in the next episode! Inquisition (11:52) Yesterday’s Enterprise (46:00) Saints of Imperfection (1:16:08) Talking Points: Favourite Spy TV Shows, Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, A whostrobot, Charlie is trying to play every Super Mario Brothers and he’s just wrong inside, Section 31 just feels like a 15 year old’s attempt at edgy, we talk realpolitik for a second, The Prisoner, Jam and Scones, a surprise Jeffrey Combs appearance, William Sadler also being Death in Bill and Ted, the subtle differences with the alternate Enterprise characters, this is a Tasha Yar fixfic, wall rocks are useful… maybe, Picard being a bit more like his ‘ST:Picard’ counterpart here, bloody bloody deaths, the mysterious ‘Arratia’, Section 31 is run like Starbucks’. Tech differences in Discovery, how Mirror Phillipe gets tedious really quickly, Miles talks Blake’s 7, Miles and Charlie LOVE Death Stranding, EastEnders, Tilly being earnestly hopepunk (I hate that term), Spock is a kleptomaniac, Pedants Corner: Roj Blake is played by GARETH Thomas, not GARTH Thomas

Don’t click on those ‘Unification Explained YouTube’ videos! Miles and Charlie open 2025 by talking about the OTOY short film ‘765874 Unification’ and honestly, for those of you disappointed that there were no lumps of coal in our Christmas Special… this is it, this is the coal. If this is (as the comments say) ‘Proper Star Trek,’ what do the Casuals who rank Tuvix as 44 out of 144 on their Big List (at time of recording) have to say about this and can they say anything good?

Episode Mentioned: 765874 Unification (12:35)

Talking Points: Charlie hasn’t seen Tron Legacy, Miles goes on about Galaxy Express 999, what does OTOY stand for? Weird CG Jank, Weird Dr. Who regeneration BS, the Koala did it, where’s Michael Burnham? If you don’t know what dogging is, just Google it, Human Jank, DON’T READ THE COMMENTS, Letting the nostalgia run the asylum, fans were complaining about the same stuff back in the 90s that they are today, what ARE we looking forward to in the Year 2025?

It’s the end of another year for Casual Trek, so Charlie and Miles have picked out episodes to gift each other!

It’s been quite a year, all in all, so they’ve both been merciful and decided to go for some fun episodes.

Charlie’s gift to Miles is Space:1999’s Nick Tate guest starring in a Miles O’Brien spy drama in “Honour Among Thieves”

Miles’ gift to Charlie is some amnesia-based hijinks around a castle in “Among the Lotus Eaters”

And for two episodes about betrayal with ‘Among’ in the title, neither host mentions Among Us!

00:02:17 What Non-Star Trek Thing We’ve Been Enjoying: Absolute Superman, Spy X Family,

00:14:02 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine “Honour Among Thieves”

00:52:29 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds “Among the Lotus Eaters”

Talking points include: Castles, Miles is MARL now, Absolute Superman, Spy X Family, Titanic, Nick Tate, gangster movies, Goodfellas, disappointing D&D Beyond stats, Skip Intro’s series on Copaganda, Poker Face, John Hodgeman (who I did know about from his podcast), Brighton is genuinely nice despite how Miles and I describe it, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Con Air, Chester will appear again, Blake Snyder ruining the film industry, Charlie is a Time Team nerd, Morgan Wallens is awful, Charlie and Miles do a forced amnesia bit, the amnesia plot of 24, the finale of Chuck, Dr Who amnesia theories. Oh, and occasionally Star Trek.

Pedant’s Corner:

My Heart Will Go On is apparently a power ballad

There’s an 11 year difference between Nick Tate and Colm Meaney

Casual Trek is by Charlie Etheridge-Nunn and Miles Reid-Lobatto

Music by Alfred Etheridge-Nunn

Casual Trek is a part of the Nerd & Tie Network

Christmas music by Emraan

https://ko-fi.com/casualtrek

Miles’ blog: http://www.mareidlobatto.wordpress.com

Charlie’s blog: http://www.fakedtales.com

Put on your biggest shoulder pads, your pointy ears and start being secretive because we’re looking at one of Star Trek’s dastardly duplicitous Romulans and we’ve recruited Celeste from the Nerd and Tie network to divulge secrets!

In ‘The Enterprise Incident,’(TOS) we see Kirk do THE WORST Mission Impossible Mission ever while Spock gets his flirt on, then in ‘The Enemy,’ (TNG) we get to see one of SF’s greatest performers make the first of three appearances with Andreas Katsulas’ Commander Tomalak and Worf ABSOLUTELY kills a guy (and there was definitely a meeting) and then in ‘Eye of the Needle,’ (VOY) we discover a tiny wormhole with a Romulan at the end of it and the conversation gets about as mature as you definitely expect. But don’t worry, your secrets are safe with us, but only if you rate and review us!

Episodes Discussed: The Enterprise Incident (11:31), The Enemy (46:23) and ‘Eye of the Needle’ (01:17:35)

Talking Points Include: Finding joy despite the horrors, Witch of the Holy Mountain, Dark Shadows, Dan Da Daan, Kirk is just as bad at Metal Gear Solid as Miles, Rom-Face Kirk, Remastered TOS vs original effects TOS, Romulan (and I can’t believe I’m saying thing) Cuck Chairs, TNG’s strength’s as an ensemble show, Andreas Katsulas and an unexpected anime VA, the acting chops of LeVar Burton, Worf DEFINITELY killing a guy and everyone being respectful of his choices, Riker’s espresso habits, Harry Kim is definitely ‘quiet quitting his Starfleet career,’ where Voyager just squanders it’s story potential, the 80s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon, Do you think the world of Star Trek has spam mail? Space is REALLY BIG GUYS and thus We might be one of the few podcasts to ever mention ‘Journey into Space,’

Pedant’s Corner: No whales were harmed in the recording of this podcast.

Casual Trek is by Charlie Etheridge-Nunn and Miles Reid-Lobatto

Music by Alfred Etheridge-Nunn

Casual Trek is a part of the Nerd & Tie Network

https://ko-fi.com/casualtrek

Celeste is Best YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@NickIzumi?si=zn9n9co5XTbM3d-P

The Nerd & Tie Podcast: http://www.nerdandtie.com/our-shows/the-nerd-tie-podcast/

Miles’ blog: http://www.mareidlobatto.wordpress.com
Charlie’s blog: http://www.fakedtales.com

Jeri Taylor- (June 30, 1938 to October 24, 2024) was a screenwriter and producer for many TV shows, including Star Trek The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. In dedication to her memory, we’re talking about three of her scripted episodes. In ‘Night Terrors,’ the Enterprise crew are having trouble sleeping and people’s REM levels are dropping (insert your own Radiohead joke here, we did) and it’s making everyone go a little crazy. Meanwhile, Neelix gets into true crime for his early morning TV show in ‘Investigations’ and bites off more than he can chew while uncovering a traitor in the midst. Then back to the Enterprise for ‘The Drumhead’ which gave us one of the more infamous Picard facepalm memes, but is it enough to put it at Number One on the Big List? If not, you might find yourself on trial for subversion!

Episodes Discussed: Night Terrors (14:02), Investigations (39:29) and The Drumhead (01:01:50).

Talking Points Include: Elementary, Ranma 1/2, The Clash, the joys of lighting hydrogen on fire, Silent Hill-esque horror, we get another ‘The Rimmer of the Enterprise’ in Gillespie, some surprising scenes of Worf trying to unalive himself and can Data do white noise to help with sleep? Voyager’s bad workplace politics, would Neelix be a Murderino? Voyager trying to bring a unwanted subplot that we don’t really understand to a conclusion, we’re not in the mood for McCarthy-ism in the Drumhead but that’s okay, this episode has all the subtlety of a brick, Joseph McCarthy is the WORST person to come out of Wisconsin, but who are the best people to come from Wisconsin?

Moopsy!

As Lower Decks is back for the last time, we’re looking at three animated Star Trek episodes, specifically ones about strange creatures.

The Eye of the Beholder brings us weird dopey-looking elephant slug things who are actually more evolved than humans!

A Tribble Called Quest brings us all kinds of mutant tribbles including a bizarre horrible Tribble with a face! Ugh…

I Have No Bones, Yet I Must Scream brings us an adorable monster in Moopsy, who may have done one or two things wrong.

Moopsy!

00:03:55 What Non-Star Trek Thing We’ve Been Enjoying: Still Wakes the Deep, Kew Gardens’ Halloween Trail

00:09:58 Star Trek: The Animated Series “The Eye of the Beholder”

00:35:37 Star Trek: Prodigy “A Tribble Called Quest”

00:56:03 Star Trek: Lower Decks “I Have No Bones, Yet I Must Scream”

Talking points include: Pokémon, which Pokémon wore sunglasses the best? Dave Willis, Still Wakes the Deep, big ups to The Chinese Room, Alien Isolation, Kew Gardens, Merry Xmas Everyone, that song from X-Men Apocalypse or whatever one it was, Charlie tries to remember X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Roger Dean album covers, sand trouts in Dune, that one Flight of the Conchords song where a leg gets eaten, Play-Doh, Morph, vast, desolate landscapes, does The Federation still have Timpsons? You don’t put the Scottish in a zoo, space zoos, Equilibrium, at some point Charlie should watch Star Trek, dunking on Chakotay, picking up a story partway through, Peter David’s weird universal Majel Barrett thing, X-Men, I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream, Todd in the Shadows, Miles gets angry at Charlie, the show and himself for having to listen to Oliver Anthony Music, Anthony Michael Hall, self-destructive insubordination at work, bones and teeth aren’t the same thing, Charlie’s childhood rabbit and the little bunny gulag, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Nolan North, Vegeta & Goku workforce dynamics, trying to stop from having any Big Bang Theory rants, can you tell Charlie’s vamping for time because he forgot who wrote I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream? The Spoony Experiment, Awesomed by Comics, Miles was right to be a despairing heap on a men’s room floor given the election results. Oh, and occasionally Star Trek.

Pedant’s Corner:

• While I don’t recall Karate Kid being in a zoo in The Legion of Super-Heroes, there was a tragic story about Beast Boy of Lallor dying defending a girl from a zoo animal.

• The fish that nibble you in those baths are not piranhas. DO NOT have piranhas nibble your feet.

• Oliver Anthony Music has since given up music, I assume it was pressure from us at Casual Trek.

• Peter Pan isn’t killed in the holodeck, but Robin Hood

• Official Moopsy Plush: https://www.masterreplicas.com/products/star-trek-lower-desks-moopsy-plush-10inch

Casual Trek is by Charlie Etheridge-Nunn and Miles Reid-Lobatto

Music by Alfred Etheridge-Nunn

Casual Trek is a part of the Nerd & Tie Network

https://ko-fi.com/casualtrek

Miles’ blog: http://www.mareidlobatto.wordpress.com
Charlie’s blog: http://www.fakedtales.com

It’s Halloween time again! Put on your sexy Star Trek costume and make sure you’re fully in control of your faculties because you might not be entirely you in there!

This time, our Casual Explorers decided to explore some of the many psychic and or energy beings who can just pop inside your flesh and blood as easy as a pair of boots.

In Enterprise’s ‘Observer Effect,’ Trip and Hoshi get sick off Klingon rubbish while Travis and Reed get possessed by one very eager energy being and one who is basically #quietquitting, in Deep Space Nine’s ‘The Assignment,’ O’Brien’s life is once more a living hell when his wife gets taken over by the Pah’Wraiths and Rom struggles to make friends at work and finally, we round it off with our main event, Dr. Beverly Crusher’s adventures with sex-ghosts who live in candles ‘Sub Rosa’ and Charlie and Miles find themselves watching one of Star Trek’s worst-ranked episodes and ask the most important question, ’Do the Scottish know there's a Scotland in Space?' Honestly, it’s much more fun to watch Troi get heavily involved in talking about Crusher’s sex dreams than it ever is to have to engage in discussions on the ethics of terrorism as we did last episode. If you or anyone else is showing signs of possession, please don’t come to us for help, Google it. Or ask us on Ko-Fi.

Episodes Discussed: Observer Effect (12:25), The Assignment (42:12) and Sub Rosa (01:13:40)

SHOW NOTES: The FULL English Breakfast, Miles forgot to do his Crypt-Keeper Schtick this Halloween, he also has opinions on the Halloween series of films, the Leprechaun films, Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, Jailhouse Rock’s surprising appearance on the charts and a quick diversion into British music magazine the NME, Let Me Love You is possibly the WORST song we’ve had to listen to for the show (you win this round, Sheeran!) Miles admits to his dark past as a ‘Nice Guy’ The Andromeda Strain, You gotta feel sorry for Klingon Plumbers, quiet-quitting Energy Beings, the Organians have gone all The Good Place with their criteria for success, how this would have ended if this were either an episode of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, the Spice Girls, Charlie DOES know songs that weren’t featured on Rock Band thank you very much, Miles takes a break from bitching about Starbucks to bitch about the Hilton, Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 are ripping each-other, Bashir and O’Brien being sitcom scamps, Rom trying to make friends, ‘Things can Only Get Better’ is a song that’ll forever be thought as an anthem for Neo-Liberal malaise, Sunshine, Charlie recommends a horror film,Scream, Bryan Adams, Sting & Rod Stewart as alternate Three Musketeers, Have YOU ever told a boss about a sexual fantasy? Marina Sirtis’ accent slips a lot, ‘The Innocents’, Charlie’s RPG of the week ‘The Between,’ would Ronin have had to seduce Wesley Crusher? Despite it’s female audience Star Trek always has a Male Gaze on the Cosmos, SF complaining about romance and sexuality, the SCOTTISH PLANET, the fact there’s a church leads us to wonder if the Abrahamic Religions are still practised and worshipped in the often-secular Star Trek, consent in ‘Sub Rosa’ comparing to consent in ‘Plato’s Stepchildren,’

PEDANTS CORNER: It’s Busta Rhymes who kung-fu’d Michael Myers in Halloween Resurrection, The Defiant actually came first with Deep Space Nine’s Season 3 in 1994 Babylon 5 introduced the White Star in Season 3 in 1995. Although, when talking about Doctor Who, I didn’t think to consider that some of the more legitimate arguments against the Doctor being more sexual as a being has felt like the show’s Ace-Erasure to fans who see the Doctor as an all-too-rare example of positive Asexual Representation)

Casual Trek is by Charlie Etheridge-Nunn and Miles Reid-Lobatto

Music by Alfred Etheridge-Nunn

Casual Trek is a part of the Nerd & Tie Network

https://ko-fi.com/casualtrek

Miles’ blog: http://www.mareidlobatto.wordpress.com

Charlie’s blog: http://www.fakedtales.com