You have to give credit to these guys on almost every conceivable level.  There’s definitely something to the idea of the fans making the series.  It’s the same thing that happened when Doctor Who came back in 2005 – the fans that loved the show growing up, were the ones who were making it.  The two SF giants have both benefited from this sort of craft.  To Boldly Go is the final chapter in the story of James T. Kirk and the 5 year mission.  It brings us right up to the start of the movie franchise and closes out the 5 year mission admirably.  It does it with an action packed adventure too.

This is the second time the title is used to give us a hint to where we are in the series.  This is a sequel to Where No Man Has Gone Before.  We open up with Kirk being sent to explore a mystery that’s been bothering him since the destruction of The Hood 2 episodes ago.  It turns out, Starfleet has a top secret base near there where they are experimenting with espers.  Remember what happened to Gary Mitchell and his awesome, glowing eyes and telekinetic powers?  The latest guest star has the same powers and things are going to get dicey.

Out latest guest star is Doctor Who‘s Nicola Bryant as Lana, leader of the espers.  For being one of the Doctor’s weakest companions (televised; her audio stories are excellent), she makes one of Kirk’s most dangerous enemies.  Cas Anvar (The Expanse) is Sentek, a Romulan who is helping Lana to bring about a new race of espers.  Amy Rydell rounds out the cast as Commander Charvanek, the Romulan commander from The Enterprise Incident originally played by Joanne Linville.  Like Fairest of them All, it’s uncanny how close the actress looks to the original.  What you’re seeing here is Linville alongside images of Rydell.  My compliments to everyone involved, from the casting to the actress.  What I didn’t know at the time of viewing was that Rydell is the daughter of Linville.  Outstanding casting, am I right?

Not just actors and actresses, they clearly do a lot right by the series itself.  Jim explains that what happened to Gary Mitchell effected his mind; he couldn’t even remember his friends middle name.  That’s a reference to the grave stone Mitchell erects for Jim on the planet.  Fans may recall the James R. Kirk which Gary has prepared for his friend’s demise.  Jim even says the word “sabotage” in a distinctly Shatner-esque way.  There’s a fan favorite moment of Shatner mispronouncing the word and Mignogna does it justice.  As if that’s not enough, we’re privy to seeing how Kirk’s shirts get ripped when Sentek gives the shirt a distinct downward yank, ripping it in classic Kirk style.  

But homages for the fans aside, we end up with a powerful episode where no one can trust their own senses.  It turns out that the crew of the Hood was killed by the espers making them turn off their own life support.  Even teamed up with the Romulans, the Enterprise has all to do to fight one Federation starship so Kirk has a plan to give them 3 ships and we get to see the original Enterprise separate the saucer section for a 3-on-1 spaceship battle.  

The second part of the story was an hour long but the story is over within the normal time.  The remaining 15 minutes is given over to bridge-work; I mean the connections that make sense of so much that came later.  Back at sector 001 and parked in space dock, Kirk is feeling the weight of all 73 people who died under his command in the 5 year mission (I can only assume that’s a fact-checked, accurate number based on what we know of the writers of this series).  With one more added at the end of this story, Jim decides to take a promotion to Admiral.  He also says that the experimental counseling program works and should be continued, which will eventually give rise to Troi’s presence on Enterprise D.  Spock, who allowed his emotions to guide him throughout this story, decides to go back to Vulcan.  And McCoy, unwilling to watch more people die, resigns his post.  We are now set for the events of Star Trek The Motion Picture.  The Starfleet logo is replaced to match the Enterprise as an honor to the crew that saved mankind.  And to wrap it all up, McCoy invites Jim to dinner… and tells Spock that it would mean a lot to him if Spock came too.  “I’d be happy to,” is Spock’s perfect response.  

This series blew me away.  I can’t believe that nearly 50 years after I started watching classic Star Trek, I managed to find new episodes!  Vic Mignogna and crew gave me a chance to explore strange new worlds all over again.  We went boldly back to the past and created some new and amazing memories.  If my 10 week run didn’t inspire you to watch it, all I can say is, you’ve missed out.  I had hoped to inspire more fans to check this out because it was something I never expected: a work by fans that was as good as the original upon which it’s based. 

I thank the cast and crew that gave their time to creating a memorable experience for the fans.  This was a labor of love and I felt every bit of that love directed at all of Star Trek fandom.  May you all live long and prosper.  ML