With "Sanctuary Lost" going into sneek peek release, here is your chance to post questions, comments, reviews, etc.

The episode goes into wide release after the newsletter later in the week.

Enjoy!

Rob

Yay, first vote. I gave it an A. Great job all round. Brian turned in a fantastic script, though that comes as no surprise. Love the new characters, especially Rockney. Rockney rocks.

I thought the story was excellent too, the new characters as well.

I liked Dr Ness the best.

Great first episode, the acting of the characters that we already know is a lot better then HF and the new characters fit in very well. Beau has improved alot. The storyline is very good and I like the idea of more spaceborn creatures to come

Very well done and heres to episode 2

The last shot of the Helena warping off (presumably being watched) was pretty neat.

:agree:

I hate the chatroom not wanting to let me into it. It's hindred me getting access to the episodes before. Any help would be appreciated!

I gave this one an A as well. I think the two breakout characters are going to Rockney and Ness because of their personalities. The story was well done, acting and special effects were also up to the quality I expect. Nice cameos as well keeping it within the same universe so it is very recommended and once it is released I am sure all will enjoy it.

I liked the show. nnot to impressed with jorian doubting aster he seen his uncanny mental abilitys before i am glad it seems he plans to atleast reserach it ofcourse they dont know what we do i dont see corey giving up....  i noticed in the credits at the beging coreys rank is missing is he not going to be considered an office are they going to keep him as menaly unfit for duty??? 

One question: what is the name of the doctor's race?

This was a great start. I loved the show. Now the hard part will be making each show better when you start with the bar so high.

I love the Scotty theme with the engineer that loves his ship again.

:agree:

Outstanding entrance for the U.S.S. Helena (sans HF)!   I agree that Ness and Rockney seem to be the real 'breakout' characters in this episode.  But I think Rockney is even more obsessed with his ship than Scotty was, to the edge of mental illness.  ;D But I really like that!   Ness . . . very quirky! That's the best adjective I can think of to describe him.

The connection to Odyssey also makes it a very compelling new entrance into the Trek universe, and I rate this at an 'A'.  Excellent directing work, Jenn!!   Now I'm wishing that Helena was going to get equal billing as Odyssey, but unfortunately, that's not going to happen.  Mayhaps, we'll see the Helena in Operation Beta Shield?  :D

The other thing I want to know is when we'll be able to DL the theme song for Helena? It's GREAT!

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Very, very good startup for Helena Chronicles.  I gave out a rare "A"

Liked the new characters (really liked Dr. Mordan Ness and his quirky but lovable antics).  Seems like there is potential for some light-heartedness as well as some serious drama to unfold.

Good score, nice new theme.

More later.

Rick

Doctor Ness is a Braidan.

FANTASTIC! "A" overall! The writing, acting (for the most part), and FX were top notch. Only a few cases where the color keying were a little noticeable.  Although the character of Knapp is necessary, I still have some problems with Dial's acting (but it's no better or worse than usual in this episode). PHENOMENAL acting by PK and Ben. Their characters stood out as extremely interesting because of the professional acting jobs.  The foundation of the story with humans now being a long ways from the top of the food chain is very intriguing.  I'm very anxious to know more about the Braiden.. hope that will be expounded on in future episodes.

Thank you.

Of course, an "A" rating!  A brilliant start to a new series.

I agree with Camren--when can we download the theme song? I think it's my favorite out of ALL Star Trek theme songs.

I love the look of the Helena--especially sickbay.  I am in love with the sickbay.  The red layout is sooo lovely, and it's something I don't think we've ever seen before.  Dr. Ness is hilarious, and Rockney's love for "Helen" amusingly borders on insanity.

I thought the fight with the kraken was amazing--giant space creatures!!! And, apparently, there's always a bigger fish...
Was I the only one who laughed when some kraken guts stuck to the "camera" after the kraken exploded?

What's up with Corey's stigmata?  That looks to be an interesting storyline.

I need to watch it again; perhaps I was too tired when I watched it the first time.  The story just didn't catch fire for me, and I don't know why.

The quirky characters strike me as not merely quirky, but borderline psychotic.  Well-acted, of course, but something tells me the StarFleet psychs fudged some of the results.

I'm hoping that giant monster storyline gets dealt with and resolved, unlike the parasite story in TNG.  "A message was sent out, but we don't know where, nor what it said."  Then nothing ever again until Hidden Frontier lightly touched on it.

Wonderful acting jobs by everyone, and Jenn was her usual excellent self directing.

Lemme watch it again when I'm actually awake and alert, and  maybe my perspective will have shifted some.

Rob, is there a way to boost the contrast on the live part of the video?  I noticed that the actors are looking a little flat, with grays instead of blacks, et cetera.  Nice CGI overall, and I know the Space Kraken was a royal pain to animate.

The more recent scenes have increased contrast.  The "milky" scenes have the old contrast that was carried over from "Orphans of War".

Rob

I loved it.  It was a nice way to start.  My only complaint was the B story of Corey was a little too drawn out, I thought that Jorian would have been more understanding.  Though, that's already been mentioned.... but I get how Dao might not be so understanding.  I have another DOCTOR I can adore!  I have a headache, wanna treat it? :)

Ah.  Okay.  I knew I had to watch it again when I was awake . . .

Under the circumstances, I think he was pretty understanding. For all he knows Corey is just suffering from delusions/wishful thinking.

Okay, after so much suspense, we finally get to see the final episode, and damn was it GOOD!

Each of the new characters gets enough screen time so we get a rough idea of what and who they are, and each of the actors have definately sunk their teeth into them! Dr. Mordan Ness stood out the most to me, simply for his comedy value (using himself as his own test-subject? What psychologist would love to analyse that?), but Dais and Rockney each had their moments too - i wouldnt want to meet Dais in a dark alley (pluck an eye from a head - EWWW!!!), or interrupt a moment between 'Helen' and Rockney (the Jeffries tube scene was a little too sexual for my tastes!) for all the latinum in the sector!
Seeing the character of Faisel expanded was interesting, and seeing her move beyond the Conn/Ops console and step up to the big chair was impressive. We all know Sharon can act with the best of them, but after seeing her as Seram for two episodes of "Odyssey", it seemed to me that Faisel was very understated at times - until her ship was in danger. Then we saw her really bloom, not taking any mess from Knapp and formulating plans all by herself!
Jorian seems to have finally found some balance in his joining. Although their are times it does seem like it is Dao talking, pushing Jorian's personality out of the way, the apparent fact he now longer has to hide who he is (indicated by addressing himself as Dao when he comms Faisel) seems to have helped. Being back in red agrees with him!
As someone else indicated earlier, Corey is not depicted with his rank in the opening credits, so Im wondering what this might mean - will he resign his rank and stay aboard Helena to work on ways to look/find Nevin, or will he be declared psychologically unfit for duty because of his obsession to save his husband? We will definately be seeing some new facets to Corey with that storyline. He is apparently alone in his beliefs, and this will be a very isolating position for someone normally so outgoing and friendly.

CGI - improving in leaps and bounds! The sets were gorgeous, be it Sickbay, Faisel's quarters, Engineering or the expanded bridge. Finally, a new transporter effect! When I first watching HF, i was impressed with their transporter effects, but after 8 years, and much continued usages despite the differences in races, its great to see some improvement on that effect, and one that looks a hell of a lot better. I bet when the CGI people read Brian's script, they felt their jaws drop! "He wants us to do what?!" The 'minnows' and 'Kraken' were fantastic to see in action, and even more proof that fanfilms are the way of the future for Trek. Also, the decompression scene was a vast improvement on the one seen in "Hearts and Minds", since the actual actor (and who didnt know he was tempting fate with that "Im okay!" bit?) is seen flailing about as he is sucked towards the Kraken. The only thing Im not a fan of is the use of Poser people - i can understand why they are used to add further dramatic affect to the story so we can see consequences of certain actions and try shots that are not usually possible, but their obvious CGI nature makes them stand out so glaringly to me. I felt them same on their usage in "Its Hour Come Around At Last", even though they added in some great and varied 'camera' shots.
Storyline - If you've read "Shades of Grey" in the fanfic section, you have a pretty good idea how fantastically Brian graps the HF characters, and he didnt dissapoint with this episode, bringing more detail to a fan favourite in Faisel, who never really got much more then  a few "Aye Captain"s until the last few episodes of HF , as well as deliver an intriguing storyline that harkens back to some of the more memorable TOS and TNG episode stylings. The idea that lifeforms have evolved to exist freely in the Patch and have no had their home erased is something that is kinda fitting with todays worries of deforestation and such. My one critique was the scientific technobabble - dont get me wrong, I love technobabble, but i did get a little lost on the first watch - the references to "siliquoids" made me think back to the creatures glimpsed in "Entanglement" years ago. Still, i got the idea more clearly on the second run, hence my score of "A". I loved the 'perspective' shot that ended the episode, showing that the Helena wasnt even aware it was being observed, illustrating that these lifeforms, be it the Big Bad we will hopefully meet, or something lower on the food chain, are going to be around for a while.
Also, I love the idea that "Helena Chronicles" will show the other side of the equation, something that was only glimpsed at briefly in "Voyager", as people deal with the loss of a loved one stranded light-years away, who may never return or die trying. Wondering how often the two will do linking stories is something else to think about (like Buffy and Angel did every so often).

All in all, a damn fine beginning for a show with a lot to live up to. What further glimpses into life in the former Briar Patch will it bring? What does fate have in store for Mr. Aster? All I will say to end this review is... bring on the next one!

::editted to add a point about CGI::

Great work!

Question: why were gel packs loaded into the shuttle?

I wasn't sure (after one viewing) whether the creatures consume (and digest) regular biomass, and whether the gel packs were there as bio-bait.

Epi
P.S.  New signature line below inspired by Rockney.  :)  (It's a Marillion song.)

I was wondering what you all thought i nopticed in the title credits of helena that Corey Asters rank is missing he is not listed as a guest star and i assume the title trak is here for the season. Is corey going to remain or leave starfleet?  Perhapes hell steal a ship and strike out on his own quest to find Ro. Have him steal the delta flier..lol  I was really interested at to why his rank was omitted was it oversite or design?




It's a vauge Tease A ship with a pirates Cross behind it in shadow and sepeculation to its meaning people? Its a neat graphic but it could mean alot the ship could go against order to help corey on his mission to save ro or who knows. Aster could try to hyjack the helena if he gets desprete enouph? what are your thoughts? and if you look at the scull it could look like the top of it almost looks like and omega symbol pehapes? Maybe they will experiment illeaglly?

What are the reast of your thought on this?

Just got to see this, this morning. GREAT JOB EVERYONE!

1st, let me say thank you to everyone that was in the chat for making my son feel welcome yesterday! And yes, Jenn, he saved it for me to see!!! :-p

The story was compelling, the effects were great! Kudos to everyone for an outstanding job!

Looking forward to seeing the next installment of Helena and finding out what Corey's future has in store for him as well.

--- Gave it an 'A'!

your son was very nice in chat, Vorzok. He was a pleasure to be in the room with and I am glad he saved it for you so you can enjoy it as much as we did.

No Rank???? Aww Crap! Where's my Manager when I need him! 

I havent seen the eps yet :( I'm taking care of my mum in Illinois. My only internet outlet is the local library. love you all.

Back to Rank...I worked very hard to get those pips. Sad to see them go :( Maybe it's a typo? Then again, typos are rare with Rob. Unheard of when it comes to rank.

Yeah Give Corey Back His Rank. He is awsome and why was he replaced on excelcor as cheif eng?
he was suposed to be on temp duty he sould be able to get his job back.

Props to JT in this new ep. awsome work. :-)

Mister Aster-Ro seemed a bit pre-occupied.... one might even say, 'obsessed' with finding Nevin, even though logically, he should assume his love is a casualty of war.  I mean, how could one ship alone stand up against all the Archeins??  It's just foolish for him to even assume that Nevin is alive.  He was probably just having a dream or something, right?  Corey seems a bit unbalanced.  I hope he doesn't go off and do something foolish that might jeopardize his career.  Or worse, the careers of others!

But I am sure nothing like that could ever happen...  cuz that would be just cra-a-a-a-a-zy.

Rick

Considering the fact that Corey has displayed limited psychic powers before, if I were on the Helena and knew his track record as I do from watching, I'd believe him completely. :P

Hi, I'm on Windows Vista (Grrr) which for some reason won't let me get into the chatroom. Any idea when the password to get to the episode will be posted in the sneak peeks forum?

Check other threads, but usually this is a problem with the Java version... the Chatroom doesn't support the latest.  If you can find an older version of Java (version 1 or 2 I think) and then go back to the chatroom, it will load fine.  Alternatively, there are ways to use a direct  IRC client.  Again, for details, search the forum, I know there is  a thread there with tips somewhere.

Rick

Thanks Rick, I'll have a hunt around the forum and see what I can find. :)

JT you where kicked out of Star Fleet and never told and all for love.

:angel: :angel: :angel: :angel: :angel:

When I opened this page and it asked me to rate the episode, my pointer instictively went to B, because I have never given an A. But then I thought, this was a perfect episode. So I gave it a rare A (rare for me anyway)

The story of corey's loss is one of the saddest i have ever seen. and JT did an awesome job. I love the new characters, especially Ness and Dais. The theme music is amongst the best i've ever heard, like anywhere. I have to admit, I really didnt like Odyssey's theme, and I did not have high hopes for HC. But I was pleasantly surprised.

The story was very TOSish, which is what i love the most. I never thought a giant cracken chasing a starship through space could be so exciting. I loved the scene of Faisal doing her crazy stretching in her quarters, I knew when I saw that, the episode would be good.

All in all, I think this is the best episode Rob and Crew have ever made. I liked it better than Odyssey's pilot, and I think that this show will take us back to the roots of Star Trek. They'll get some exploring done for a change.

If I could have given it an A+, I would have.

PS-(whisper)find a way to bring back Tolian Naros :D

No, Just Find a way to get corey to ro and have someone belive him, being the only one who knows something can be very lonely and "WE" know corey is right.

Just get Aster back to the Excelsior, whichever form it has ATM  :innocent:, and have S'Tal mind-meld with him.  She'll be able to report whether or not his visions and convictions are real or imagined.
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Or find a betazoid counselor.

I enjoyed the episode. Wasn't too crazy about the main theme, although the incidental music was good. The scene with Aster on the floor wasn't quite right----the medpack appeared to be floating in midair.

I think you guys have really pushed the limits of what's possible with pure-virtual sets. Ever think of building one or two practicals to enhance things? Even if it's just a bridge railing or something.



(SPOILERS for DS9 relaunch novels)

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The parasites are touched on in the DS9 relaunch, first with Captain Pike and Audrid Dax encountering some in The Lives of Dax, and later with them attempting to take over the Bajoran government. Although I don't recall the details, they're revealed to be an ancient offshoot of the Trill symbionts.

But then, it's been obvious for a long time now that you guys have been only paying token attention to the novels' storyline, so no big deal.

sorry i did not get to see it , I had buses to get out  to the mouses house and miss the preveiw . but from what i read it is good . however being little off balanced  myself  I think  i can speak for corey .  just wait until his husband comes back a "diffrent man" .

The Wine Dark Sea - deleted scene

INT. ODYSSEY CONFERENCE LOUNGE

Ro is looking over status reports, when T'Lorra and Stadi enter.

Stadi glances at Ro, an eyebrow shooting up.

STADI
Did you do something to your hair, sir? You look different.

Hey, that's right. The wedding flashback at the start still had Ro Mk 2, didn't it?

:lol:
>is reminded of the "becky-swaps" from rossanne<

Yeah old Ro was in the flash backs i did'nt see bobby credited thou brandon was and i did not see him at all if it was him by the tree it was really unclear.

As long as he is not so changed to be damaged and there love is still intact love conquers all.

Gave it a B, because of the dark and (almost) impossible to see reason.
As I'm using Windows XP, and have been searching for a player that has a light and contrast regulator, I am restricted to use the players that doesn't have such ones, and then the images gets too dark to see sometimes. Especially when you look at the main screen, and can't see a thing out there.
Also, the "fantasy" scenes Aster is seeing is very confusing, and seems way out of place.

Don't get me wrong, the episode had it's good script, and the direction was great. . .And Faisal will be a good captain, on line with even Kirk and Picard. I just think that the series needs to turn into more of the exploration and/or battle side instead of hanging too much into the HF things.

I can't wait to hear this new doctor say something like; "Dammit, Theresa, I'm a Doctor, not a . . . " or the New engineer delivering a line like "She cannae take anymore, Captain" in a very thick scottish accent. . .

But, I would appriciate having more light in the movie, so it might be possible to SEE what's going on, not just hear it.

And it won't help to ask me get a Mac to watch the episodes. . .Firstly, I can't afford one, and second, it wouldn't be used for anything else, as I've tried Mac's and finds them years behind Windows in all areas, except for graphics.

Mac's Rock and PC's are nice too... they both have there purposes i love my mac for creative things like composing music and making home movies and stuff. but for office and general gaming and even web surfing i prefer my pc however i have most of the old eps on my mac all the divx stuff is on my pc and it words fine wmp has hue and color control and i can tweek it if i have to but it has never really been a problem. 

I agree with your comments on the new direction - Thats what initially interested me in the scripts.
I hope (and no, I don't actually "know") that the series continues into the more absurdest adventures.

And as for Rockney mimicing other characters - I'd say he'd be more to go for characters like Han Solo or even Invader Zim.

I see why people make the comparison - but I dont know that Rockney really has any real simmilarities to Scotty.

yeah and scotty love his enterprise but i dont think he was in love with her... to rockney it's almost sexual the way he talks to her and calls her helen but really how do you have sex with a ship. please don't answer that I dont really want to know that would really fall under TMI.