Q&A (episode)
Ensign Spock's first day aboard the USSEnterprise doesn't go as planned when he and Number One are unexpectedly stuck together in a turbolift.
Summary[]
In2253,EnsignSpock, aVulcan,beams aboard theUSSEnterprise fromStarbase 40 to report for duty. Materializing in theEnterprise'stransporter room with a small, momentarysmile on his face, he is met byUna Chin-Riley, the ship'sfirst officer. Spock announces himself loudly before being asked by Chin-Riley about his voyage to Starbase 40, which he describes as uneventful. Chin-Riley reminds him that there is no need to yell and admonishes him for not having asked a single question in the thirty-seven seconds he has been onboard, giving him until she reaches theturbolift to start.
Spock begins by asking Chin-Riley for her name, to which she replies "Just call me Number One." He then asks for her opinion of theOnafuwa model ofcombat salvo analysis compared to thetraditionalNeo-Wayne model, learning that she considers it "problematic". As two enter theturbolift, Number One asks Spock how he would like to see thebridge before setting it as their destination.
Number One and Spock in the turbolift
Number One comments that Spock had been inOnafuwa'sFundamentals of Quantum Stochastics class, advanced one and two, and seminar, and that he had receivedtop marks. Spock agrees with Number One's assessment of the classes as "brutal." She continues, describing Onafuwa as a "brilliant monster" and the subject matter as "fascinating."
Suddenly, the turbolift suffers acomputererror and the twoofficers are trapped inside. Number One contactsengineering and alertsUpjohn of thefailure. As they wait for the malfunction to be corrected, Spock heeds Number One's advice and continues asking her questions to the point ofannoyance. Spock first asks for "the three most salient facts aboutCaptainPike," the captain of theEnterprise. Number One describes Pike's openness to other points of view and his belief that resorting toforce is an admission of failure, concluding by calling him "utterly unsentimental . . . except when it comes tohorses."
Spock continues asking questions, inquiring aboutEnterprise'soperating system, itsfood synthesizers, Number One's views on thePrime Directive, and her opinion ofeggplant. Eventually, becoming tired of waiting, Number One has Spock hoist her up so she can open the service hatch and try to fix the problem. As Upjohn gives her directions, she has Spock continue asking questions. Suddenly, the technology behind the service hatch emirates an electric shock, knocking Number One to the floor. After making sure Number One is unhurt, Upjohn informs them thatLieutenantAmin will repel down theturboshaft to get them out of there, but that it will take a little more time.
"Folks ready to go?"
Number One asks Spock if he has any more questions. He apologizes, saying that he has none. She then asks him if he was smiling when he beamed aboard theEnterprise, as she did not know thatVulcans smiled. Spock says that he will avoid smiling in the future, but Number One rejects this, saying that "Thestrength of aStarfleet crew is in itsdiversity and differences." She continues, saying that, despite this, one must be aware of how they are perceived by their comrades. She explains that this is the advice she would give to any officer whose goal it is to attaincommand. Spock, however, claims that command is not his goal. Number One is skeptical, saying that, "No one endures two solid years of Onafuwa onquantum-stochastic combat modeling because they want to sling atricorder for the rest of their lives." She then says that, if you want to command, you must "keep your freaky to yourself, even if that'spainful." Spock tells her that he has been doing that his whole life, and that it is painful. Number One tells him that she knows it is, which "leads to a logical next question." Number One responds to this by revealing her own "freaky" by singingGilbert and Sullivan's "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General". After a moment's pause, Spock joins in for chorus, concluding with them both bursting intolaughter. Just then, Number One hears Lieutenant Amin descending and orders Spockswear on hishonor as a Starfleet officer to forget what just happened, to which he swears. They are then rescued by Lieutenant Amin.
"Do Vulcans ever feel awe, Spock?"
Finally, Number One and Spock reach the bridge. Captain Pike asks Number One if Spock is the "new boot," prompting Number One to look up Spock's name on a list to tell it to Pike. Pike tells Spock to beat ease, to which Spock replies that it is not one of his strong suits. Pike says he understands. As they look out of theviewscreen and observe a stellar phenomenon, Pike asks Spock if Vulcans ever experience awe. Spock informs him that they do, but that they tend to keep it to themselves.
Memorable quotes[]
"Sir, Ensign Spock, S 179-276 SP, reporting for duty."
- -Spock toUna Chin-Riley, after being transported to theEnterprise
"What are the three most salient facts about Captain Pike?"
"One, his capacity for hearing out another point of view is exceeded only by his willingness to change his own once he's heard you out. Two, even though he is the most heavily decorated fighting captain in Starfleet, he views resorting to force as an admission of failure. And three... he is utterly unsentimental except when it comes to horses."
- -Spock andUna Chin-Riley, on Captain Pike
Background information[]
Promotional poster for the episode released after the premiere
- This episode was released on Saturday,5 October2019, in conjunction with aStar Trek panel at the New York Comic-Con.
- This is the first episode or film in theStar Trek franchise to premiere on a Saturday sinceStar Trek: The Animated Series' "The Counter-Clock Incident", 45 years earlier.
- This is the firstStar Trek episode or film to debut without the premiere date having been announced ahead of time.
Writing[]
- Michael Chabon wrote this episode to provide an in-universe explanation of why Spock's behavior and manner in "The Cage" are so different from those seen in the rest ofTOS.
- "It's something I've mulled over and thought about since the very first time I saw "The Menagerie" when I was like 10 years old. And of course there was aDoylist explanation for why Spock is so, so different. But, the one thing that just can't be explained is from a Watsonian point-of-view was that; like what is with Spock? It's that smile. More than anything. Yeah, there's the shouty-ness and lots of other expressions of emotion that are sort of disturbing if you feel like you know the character of Spock. In the extra-fictional sense, Spock took over Number One's personality. And if we're going to really plunge into them and they're going to be co-existing with each other, we need to account for that."
- Chabon described this episode as "patching the hole" of "the mystery of Spock's smile, when he encounters thesinging flower onTalos IV." Chabon wrote that in "The Menagerie","apart from the ears and the gull-wing eyebrows, the Spock who served under Captain Pike was nothing like the Spock who later launched a thousand zines."
Spock's smile, when he encounters thesinging flower onTalos IV
- "In the rejected pilot, and in Roddenberry's original conception of the show, Number One was the expressionless, rational, cool-tempered crew member, "almost glacier-like," according to the episode's teleplay, "in her imperturbability and precision" (glaciers evidently having become more precise by the twenty-third century). Spock, by contrast, was decidedly warmer, his animated face and voice freely expressing such emotions as alarm, concern, relief, and even an almost childlike delight, when, having beamed down to the surface of the planet Talos IV, he encountered that singing flower and broke out, in a way that never got less disturbing, no matter how many times one saw it, in a toothy grin. The pretext for my script, the hole in the quilt, was the lack of any "in-universe" – or "Watsonian," as opposed to "out-of-universe," or "Doylist" – explanation for Spock's transition from expressive, even unreserved, to thoroughly glacial."
- During the writing of this episode,Alex Kurtzman textedRebecca Romijn and asked her whether she had any special skills. She replied that she playedbadminton, was good with foreignlanguages, and sangGilbert and Sullivan. Because of the last, Michael Chabon decided that Una Chin-Riley's "freaky" would be a fondness for Gilbert and Sullivan, and wrote the scene in which she sings "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General". ("InsideShort Treks: How Rebecca Romijn Helped Sneak Gilbert and Sullivan intoStar Trek" atCBS All Access;"Michael Chabon Explains His NewShort Trek's Connections toThe Next Generation and Picard" atSyFy Wire)
- When Chabon pitched thisShort Trek episode, he also pitched, as a bookend, aShort Trek aboutNumber One's last day on theEnterprise. ("Michael Chabon Explains His NewShort Trek's Connections toThe Next Generation and Picard" atSyFy Wire)
Production[]
- This episode appears to haveinitially been called "Chaos Theory". That title was announced in an Instagram post by director Mark Pellington in lateMay2019. Another post by Pellington contained images of the director with actorsRebecca Romijn andEthan Peck, and the hashtag #Chabon, suggesting the episode was written byMichael Chabon.[1] The title "Q&A" was first mentioned in passing in the press release announcing that Michael Chabon had been named the showrunner forStar Trek: Picard.[2] On20 July2019,Alex Kurtzman confirmed that there would be six episodes in the second season ofShort Treks. The same day, a trailer for the season was released, including six episode titles; "Chaos Theory" was not among those names.[3] This episode was written by Michael Chabon and was mainly focused onUna Chin-Riley andSpock, the characters played by Romijn and Peck, respectively, leading to the idea that "Q&A" is likely a new name for what had previously been referred to as "Chaos Theory".
- The episode is dedicated in memory of Dr. Robert Chabon, father of Michael Chabon. As Chabon recounted in an essay inThe New Yorker, he wrote part of "Q&A" in his father's hospital room as he lay dying.[4]
Cast and characters[]
- Samora Smallwood (Amin) first appeared in theDIS Season 2 episodes, "Such Sweet Sorrow" and "Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2".The Enterprise War had established that Amin had joined theEnterprise crew at some point before the events of the book in 2256, which is consistent with her being aboard in this episode which is set in 2253.
- In this episode,Jenette Goldstein took over as theEnterprise'scomputer. The role was held byMajel Barrett-Roddenberry from1966 until her death in2008. Goldstein previously portrayed thescience officer aboard theUSSEnterprise-B inStar Trek Generations.
Music and sound[]
- Michael Giacchino served as a supervising composer on this episode, and some themes reminiscent of thealternate reality films can be heard in the short.
- Israeli/Dutch composerNami Melumad composed music for this episode, including the end titles cue. This is the first episode in the franchise to be scored by a female composer.[5]
Continuity[]
- This episode takes place before the events of "The Cage", which is set in2254.
- The crew already wear what were described as "the new uniforms" in "Brother", set in2257.
- Spock's observation that Una Chin-Riley has "made a most careful study" of Capt. Pike, and Number One's subsequent reaction to that comment, foreshadow the revelation in "The Cage" that she is attracted to Pike.
- After beaming aboard, Spock stated hisserial number "S 179-276 SP", which was also stated in "Court Martial". At this time, Spock also announces to Number One that he is "reporting for duty" in a similarly loud, enunciated intonation to the one used byLeonard Nimoy in his original performance as Spock in "The Cage."
- When conversing about the nature ofGeneral Order 1 with Number One during this episode, Spock refers to it as the "Prime Directive." In "Strange New Worlds", which takes place several years later in2259, AdmiralRobert April describes that theFederation Council had only just ascribed that moniker to the directive in the wake of theEnterprise's incident response on the surface ofKiley 279.
- There are a number of similarities between this episode and theStar Trek: The Next Generation episode "Disaster". In addition to having characters stuck in aturbolift and having to exit through theturboshaft, both episodes feature a character singing "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General", then being embarrassed by it. Writer Michael Chabon acknowledged the similarities, but said that they were inadvertent:
- "I know that episode ["Disaster"]. I remember that episode. But it really was an accident. I think in the back of my mind, the idea of Picard getting trapped in the turbolift was certainly there. I've seen it at least twice, maybe more over the years.
[Having Number One sing Gilbert and Sullivan] arose because it's in Rebecca Romijn's resume! I didn't know that. I inquired. I was already thinking of Number One and her quote-unquote 'freaky.' So I asked her if there was anything that Rebecca might be capable of that I didn't know, that the public didn't know, that maybe nobody knew, and that's one of the first things said she was a trained Gilbert and Sullivan singer. And I said 'that's perfect.'
Now, the fact that 'that's perfect' was my response is because I had this unconscious memory of the Gilbert and Sullivan from that episode. But it was not the first thing I thought of. The first thing I thought of was I can instantly see this cool, reserved woman who doesn't ever show anyone anything just suddenly busting out in this incredible patter song. It seemed immediately perfect and immediately true to me of Number One. So then, to have it all come together and kind of resonate as an homage to that episode of TNG, it was both accidental I think, but also, deep down, I'm a huge fan of TNG. Having that stuff in there. It's all in there somewhere."
Links and references[]
Starring[]
Co-starring[]
References[]
99 Pegasi;animal;animalculous;binomial theorem;belaying rig;boson sampling;bullshit;combat salvo analysis;Delta Scuti star;differential calculus;diode;e;eggplant;England;Enterprise, USS;fan;first officer;food synthesizer;Fundamentals of Quantum Stochastics;golden ratio;Gupta glucose matrix;helmsman;horse;hypotenuse; "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General";integral;Katzman glucose matrix;king;Ling plateau;Major-General;Marathon, Battle of;mathematical constant;memorandum;microbox;mineral;Neo-Wayne model;news;Onafuwa;Onafuwa model;Prime Directive;quadratical equation;quantum stochastics;quantum-stochastic combat modeling;rock climbing;science officer;OS;service hatch;smile;Starbase 40;square;tricorder;turbolift;Una glucose matrix;vegetable;Vulcan;Waterloo, Battle of
External links[]
- "Q&A" at theInternet Movie Database
- "Q&A" atMemory Beta, the wiki for licensedStar Trek works
- ""The One with Two Short Treks"" atMissionLogPodcast.com
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