The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise are investigating mysterious energy drains from power stations, when they encounter an alien artifact, which begins to draw power from the ship. They are forced to destroy the artifact to save themselves, however Spock (Todd Haberkorn) detects two life forms on it.
The two forms then materialize on the bridge, one of which is the alien known historically as the Greek god Apollo (Michael Forest). The crew had previously dealt with him only a couple of years prior, but he has now aged significantly. He says he was exposed to the energy draining properties of the Realm, the destroyed structure, built to ensure immortality, but which had malfunctioned and killed all the others of his race. He professes at first to no longer wish to have humanity worship him again, but after a brief stay in the sickbay, begins to return to form and seek adulation for his singing and storytelling. When Captain Kirk (Vic Mignogna) demands to speak with him about his behaviors, he uses his psychic powers on the captain and others to try to enforce worship.
The new ship's counselor (Michele Specht), who had begun to be enamored of Apollo, fires a phaser at him to stop his endangering the captain's life. Apollo is taken to the sickbay again, this time under restraint. Spock surmises that Apollo is incapable of controlling his desire to be worshiped by force. Apollo surprises the crew by requesting that Dr. McCoy (Larry Nemecek) operate to remove the organ which gives his race the power to convert human worship to life energy. The operation is a success, but it leaves Apollo in a much weakened condition. No consensus can be made on his stated desire to live out his days on a planet of humans, with doubts remaining as to his actual intent.
Meanwhile, the remains of the Realm are still causing difficulties, which results in the loss of a crew member while he and Sulu (Grant Imahara) are removing debris from the hull of the Enterprise. Scotty comes up with a method to remove the remains, using an electromagnetic pulse, but while doing so, Uhura (Kim Stinger) is gravely wounded from an electrostatic shock, and dies while in sickbay. Apollo, witnessing this, gets up from his bed and places his hands over Uhura, and despite a warning from Spock to conserve his own energy, is able to return Uhura to life. Though he collapses upon completion, he recovers with more energy than he had prior to surgery.
Kirk, following a logical premise from Spock, surmises that the true source of Apollo's power may be in the act of sacrifice, which Apollo admits his race had never considered in all their centuries of forced worship from humans. The chief crew now agree to place Apollo on a planet with humanoid forms, at the approximate level of Earth's 14th century. After a humorous vignette with Kirk and McCoy teasing Spock about whether Apollo's race would have found the unemotional Vulcans to be as worthy of their attention as humans, the story jumps one year ahead, showing Apollo aiding the natives, with the last shot of him looking much younger, and without gray hair.
Production and release
Director, co-writer and co-producer Vic Mignogna, who portrayed Captain Kirk in "Pilgrim"
As with all such Star Trek fan productions, permission to use copyrighted and trademarked properties from the original series was allowed so long as the production was not-for-profit.[1][2]
The idea of creating an episode about Apollo came to Vic Mignogna when he remembered that, years before, actress BarBara Luna told him that actor Michael Forest would have been glad to act again in a Star Trek production. Mignogna asked the actor to reprise his role of Apollo in an unofficial sequel to "Who Mourns for Adonais?" and Forest liked the idea.[3] Forest, in his 80s during filming, was included in the story as having been artificially aged, since he had last encountered the crew of the Enterprise only two years prior, according to the original series timeline.
The production of "Pilgrim of Eternity" was funded by Mignogna.[3] Principal photography started in Los Angeles with exteriors and green screen, while photography of the Enterprise set followed at the Farragut Films facility in Kingsland, Georgia.[4] On January 30, 2013, it was announced that the filming was completed.[5]
Diana Hale as Athena (Hale is Michael Forest's real wife. Other onscreen work includes the 1974 TV series, Planet of the Apes)
Doug Drexler as Paladin (Drexler is probably best known for his work as an award-winning visual effects artist on Star Trek as well as Battlestar Galactica (2004) and Defiance. Drexler also contributes VFX for Star Trek Continues. His role in this episode is a homage to the 1950s TV western series, Have Gun - Will Travel which starred Richard Boone as Paladin. Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry was a writer for this series. The dialogue delivered by Drexler was often spoken by Paladin in the series and his character's costume was also based on Boone's.)
The episode was first shown to the public at the Phoenix Comicon on May 26, 2013, and was at the same time released onto the internet, on various streaming services, including YouTube and Vimeo.[1][6] The Canadian theatrical premiere was on June 1, 2013 at the Lost Episode Festival Toronto.
Reception
"Pilgrim of Eternity" has received very positive reviews, many of which highlighted the quality of the production. Slice of SciFi wrote: "They have certainly raised the bar for independent Star Trek episodic film making"[7] and SyFy's Blastr wrote: "Lots of people try to make fan versions of Trek. None of them look like this."[8] Other reviewers praised the resemblance between the episode and the original look-and-feel of TOS. Phil Plait wrote on Slate: "I have to say, I quite enjoyed this. The attention to detail is wonderful, and I really like the choice to film it in 4:3 format to maintain the feel, as well as the inspired decision to reuse the original music."[6] while Lauren Davis wrote on io9: "Star Trek Continues goes to great effort to evoke the look and feel of the original series through the sets, sound, even the aspect ratio".[9]
Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) and its crew. It acquired the retronym of Star Trek: The Original Series to distinguish the show within the media franchise that it began.
James Tiberius Kirk, commonly known as Captain Kirk, is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. Originally played by Canadian actor William Shatner, Kirk first appeared in Star Trek serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise as captain. Kirk leads his crew as they explore new worlds and "boldly go where no man has gone before". Often, the characters of Spock and Leonard "Bones" McCoy act as his logical and emotional sounding boards, respectively. Kirk has also been portrayed in numerous films, books, comics, webisodes, and video games.
Spock is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. He first appeared in the original Star Trek series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise as science officer and first officer and later as commanding officer of the vessel. Spock's mixed human–Vulcan heritage serves as an important plot element in many of the character's appearances. Along with Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, he is one of the three central characters in the original Star Trek series and its films. After retiring from active duty in Starfleet, Spock served as a Federation ambassador, and later became involved in the ill-fated attempt to save Romulus from a supernova, leading him to live out the rest of his life in a parallel universe.
Nyota Uhura, or simply Uhura, is a fictional character in the Star Trek franchise. In the original television series, the character was portrayed by Nichelle Nichols, who reprised the role for the first six Star Trek feature films. A younger Uhura is portrayed by Celia Rose Gooding in the 2022 prequel series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, while an alternate timeline version of Uhura has been portrayed by actress Zoe Saldaña in the feature films Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Into Darkness (2013), and Star Trek Beyond (2016).
"Mirror, Mirror" is the fourth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on October 6, 1967.
Christine Chapel is a fictional character who appears in all three seasons of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series, as well as Star Trek: The Animated Series and the films Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Portrayed by Majel Barrett, she was the ship's nurse on board the Starfleet starship USS Enterprise. A younger version of Chapel appears in the 2022 series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, portrayed by Jess Bush.
"Journey to Babel" is the tenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by D. C. Fontana and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on November 17, 1967.
"The Changeling" is the third episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by John Meredyth Lucas and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast on September 29, 1967.
"The Man Trap" is the first episode of season one of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by George Clayton Johnson and directed by Marc Daniels, it featured design work by Wah Chang and first aired in the United States on September 8, 1966.
"The Naked Time" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by John D. F. Black and directed by Marc Daniels, it first aired on September 29, 1966.
"Who Mourns for Adonais?" is the second episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Gilbert Ralston and Gene L. Coon, and directed by Marc Daniels, it was first broadcast September 22, 1967.
"The Gamesters of Triskelion" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Margaret Armen and directed by Gene Nelson, it was first broadcast January 5, 1968.
"And the Children Shall Lead" is the fourth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Edward J. Lakso and directed by Marvin Chomsky, it was first broadcast on October 11, 1968.
"Turnabout Intruder" is the twenty-fourth and final episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Arthur H. Singer and directed by Herb Wallerstein, it was first broadcast on June 3, 1969.
Doug Drexler is an Oscar winning visual effects artist, designer, sculptor, illustrator, and a makeup artist who has collaborated with such talents as Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, James Caan, Meryl Streep, and Warren Beatty. He began his career in the entertainment industry working for makeup artist Dick Smith on such films as The Hunger and Starman. He has also contributed to Three Men and a Little Lady, The Cotton Club, FX, Manhunter and Dick Tracy. Dick Tracy earned Drexler an Oscar, as well as The British Academy Award and the Saturn Award for his special makeup effects on characters such as Big Boy Caprice and Mumbles. Two Emmy nominations in the same field followed for three years working on Star Trek: The Next Generation, where he performed such tasks as aging Captain Picard for "The Inner Light". His final make-up job for the series was the Mark Twain makeup worn by Jerry Hardin in the two part episode "Times Arrow"
Larry Nemecek is an American writer, speaker and host best known for his work in various capacities regarding the Star Trek franchise.
Star Trek Continues is an American fan-made web series set in the Star Trek universe. Produced by the nonprofit Trek Continues, Inc. and Dracogen, and initially co-produced by Far from Home LLC and Farragut Films, Star Trek Continues consists of eleven episodes released between 2013 and 2017. The series is an unofficial direct continuation of Star Trek: The Original Series, and emulates its visual and storytelling features to achieve the same look and feel. The creators of Star Trek Continues intended to finish the original five-year mission of the show, which they do in the final two episodes.
"Lolani" is a fan-produced Star Trek episode released in 2014, the second in the web series Star Trek Continues, which aims to continue the episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series while replicating their visual and storytelling style. It was written by Paul Bianchi and Huston Huddleston from a story by Huston Huddleston and Vic Mignogna, and directed by Chris White.
"The White Iris" is a fan-produced Star Trek episode released in 2015, the fourth in the web series Star Trek Continues, which aims to continue the episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series replicating their visual and storytelling style The episode is dedicated to Leonard Nimoy, who had died earlier in the year.
"Fairest of Them All" is a fan-produced Star Trek episode released in 2014, the third in the web series Star Trek Continues, which aims to continue the episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series replicating their visual and storytelling style. It was written by James Kerwin and Vic Mignogna from a story by Vic Mignogna and directed by James Kerwin. Fairest of Them All is a direct continuation of the original 1967 Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror". In 2014, "Fairest of Them All" won the Burbank International Film Festival award for Best New Media in Drama.
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