New year, new old-school “Star Trek” episode: Kitumba!

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Of all the Star Trek fan projects out there, the best of the bunch is Star Trek: Phase II, James Cawley’s labour of love, in which the show continues the Original Series with new episodes featuring Kirk, Spock, McCoy and other characters from the 1960s series. Originally funded in part by Cawley’s work as an Elvis impersonator, Star Trek: Phase II wisely kept the 1960s look, but with special effects that outclass even the CGI-enhanced official episodes that you see on TV these days, and there are times that the writing and acting are even better than the “real” TV series. They’ve also managed to get old Star Trek writers (including Dorothy Fontana) for a couple of episodes, and even a couple of the old actors, namely Walter “Chekov” Koenig, and George “Sulu” Takei.

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Star Trek: Phase II takes its name from a proposed 1977 TV series that would bring the crew of the Enterprise back to television, with the notable exception of Leonard Nimoy, who had a bit of a feud going on with series creator Gene Roddenberry. It also borrows some characters (such as the Vulcan Xon, who was supposed to take Nimoy’s place) episode ideas from that proposed TV series, including the concept behind Kitumba, the latest episode, posted online on New Year’s Day.

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In Kitumba, the Organians (extremely powerful beings who maintained the truce between the Federation and Klingons by making war between them impossible) have disappeared. Capitalizing on the fact that they can now plunder unhindered, the Klingons are massing for war. Kirk and the Enterprise are sent on a very dangerous mission: to travel unaided to Qo’noS (pronounced “Kronos”), the Klingon homeworld, to convince their teenaged emperor that war would be devastating to both sides and accomplish nothing. The only assistance they have comes in the form of the boy emperor’s teacher, the first “new school” (with bumpy forehead, as seen in the first Star Trek film and onward) Klingon they’ve ever seen (there’s a bit of a convoluted story as to why Klingons look different in the 1960s TV series vs. all subsequent TV series and movies).

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Kitumba’s one of the better episode in the Star Trek: Phase II fan series, and it’s a testament to the sort of magic than only fandom can create. In fact, I’d say that I  prefer Star Trek: Phase II to Paramount’s last attempt at a Star Trek series, Enterprise — while Enterprise had its moments, Star Trek: Phase II is consistently better.

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Kitumba takes us to a place that the Original Series couldn’t: the Klingon homeworld. While many Star Trek fan series are happy to fall into the Lucasfilm trap of making every location a green screen, a lot of the Qo’noS scenes were shot at Fort Ticonderoga in New York state. There are also some spectacular space battle scenes, and of course, a melee where Kirk’s shirt gets ripped. You can’t mess with some traditions, after all:

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Go on, watch Kitumba. You know you want to…

Also worth watching:

• Episode 1, In Harm’s Way: We’re in an altered timeline and Kirk must set things right with the help of his Klingon science officer, his ship the U.S.S. Farragut, and the Guardian of Forever.
• Episode 2, To Serve All My Days: Written by Dorothy Fontana, Chekov is suddenly hit with an aging disease, even though he’s pretty much the only person who can save a crippled Enterprise from a Klingon marauder. Special guest star Walter Koenig, who played Chekov in the Original Series.
• Episode 3, World Enough and Time: Sulu gets into a transporter accident, which returns a version of himself from 30 years in the future. Special guest star George Takei, who played Sulu in the Original Series.
• Episodes 4 and 5, Blood and Fire, Part 1 and Blood and Fire, Part 2: While facing down Klingons bent on their destruction, Kirk can only watch helplessly as Spock and an away team face a creeping horror that could consume them all. Special guest star Denise Crosy who played Tasha Yar on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
• Episode 6, Enemy: Starfleet!: A Federation starship, presumed lost, is found by aliens who use its superior technology and firepower to subjugate their neighbours. The Enterprise does what it does best: intervene.
• Episode 7: The Child: This was a proposed episode for the Star Trek: Phase II TV series, and during the writer’s strike, it became an episode for Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is their take on the story in which a female Enterprise crew member is impregnated by a strange alien force and give birth to a child who grows up in days.