Gimme That Star Trek Ep.39: The Alien Bracket

LET’S AGAIN GET READY TO RUMMMBLLLLLLLLE (AGAINNN)!!!!!! Gimme That Star Trek pits 64 Trek ALIEN RACES AND CULTURES from across all series in a bracket fight decided by five panelists – Derek William Crabbe, Kurt Onstad, Cory Drew, Ryan Blake, and Siskoid! Their task: Decide each bracketed fight until the greatest Star Trek aliens of all time stand alone! Who will it be? Grab your bracket sheet HERE to follow along, and may the best alien race win!

Listen to Episode 39 below!

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Credits:
"Star Trek Theme" by Alexander Courage, with the Irredeemable Shagg on vocals. End theme: "Deep Space Nine Theme" by Dennis McCarthy.

Bonus clips from: Star Trek’s “The Gamesters of Triskelion” featuring Bartell LaRue, Walker Edmiston and Robert Johnson; Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Chase", starring Salome Jens and Linda Thorson; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "The Way of the Warrior", starring Robert O'Reilly and Michael Dorn, "Image in the Sand", starring Jeffrey Combs and Casey Biggs, and "Destiny", starring Terry Farrel and Armin Shimmerman; “Star Trek Fight Music” by Gerald Fried; "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" by Nicholas Meyer, starring George Takei; and "REDACTED Anthem" by Volker L. Holz.

And thanks for leaving a comment!

12 responses to “Gimme That Star Trek Ep.39: The Alien Bracket

    1. I completely understand, Rob. To think that the oppressors of the Bajorans were given this prestigious award! I fear this “both sides” approach to Bajoran history is another sign of our dark period of history.

      On the other hand — Marc Alaimo, Andy Robinson, David Warner … and whoever is playing Ziyal this week…. okay, there was a good argument there.

      As for the Vulcans, in the Kelvin timeline, they must have a survivors’ complex too. Yeah, I don’t really count the Kelvin timeline either.

  1. Well, based on how these things have gone in the past, I shouldn’t have been surprised. But I still am. Not Comic Book Movie bracket surprised, but still.

    Yet, as others have said, entertaining.

    Chris

  2. The way I sorta see the prophets in my head is that what they can see is all the time of that dimension. But anytime an action occurs that was not an action that was going to originally take place this creates a new dimension. Until this new dimension exists they can not see all the actions that have and will have had taken place. This can happen with time travel or extra dimensional beings.
    From time tralel episodes we know that in the Star Trek universe time travel can change events. Each of those changes is a new dimension. So what they see is what happens unless some force outside of that time that they have seen affects it. This is the reason they can have a fight with the pah wraiths and not know the outcome but know what is going to happen if it goes one way

  3. This was an amazing time, I may have betrayed my people but i still think it was a ‘fair’ result. Next time can we have a bracket that doesn’t require me to be a quisling please? 🙂

  4. First, as I’ve mentioned, I have only watched maybe 15% of Star Trek. I’ve seen the original series. Ten out of the thirteen movies, and a tiny handful of episodes of The Next Generation and either Deep Space Nine or Voyager (I don’t remember which). So these bracket episodes aren’t really for me, and thus–

    Second — I didn’t listen to the entire episode. I hung in there for the first half hour or so and then I skipped ahead to the Elite 8 round. From that point on, however, I was high impressed because of how… predictable I found the results.

    If you asked ME what are the most important alien races in Star Trek I would say the Vulcans and the Klingons because those are the mainstays from the original series that I’ve seen. Those are the races that everyone has heard of, not just Trek fans, but EVERYONE. People know those names because they’re part of the popular consciousness. And even though I don’t know much about Deep Space Nine, what I have heard about it from GIMME THAT STAR TREK and other shows has always emphasized the Firengi and the Cardassians.

    So, even though I didn’t fill out the bracket sheet, if I had my finalists would’ve included Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, Firengi, and Bajorans. And all six of those made the Elite 8, and four of them made the Final Four! After some of the previous bracket shows on this network, I found the results of this contest the most pleasant and reaffirming of my limited Star Trek knowledge.

  5. I wrote it up as a one-on-one fight. Some similarities, some significant differences.

    Round 1:

    Humanity v Tellarites. I don’t know much about them, but I think that says a lot. What did they accomplish over the centuries? Humanity wins.

    Trill v XBs. Purely based on Dax’ stories vs. what I know of rogue Borg… I think the Trill lose. The Trill seem like either a fragile or a fragmented society, thriving only because of the cloak of the Federation. A few dedicated Borg would be a dire threat, without someone else to step in, unless they happened to have some symbionts who had learned from others how to fight these Borg. XBs win.

    Betazoid v Risians. Risians are excellent pacifists, so they’ll lose any fight if they’re on their own. The Betazoid win.

    Bolians v Kelpiens. Post-Discovery timeline, the Kelpiens win.

    Vulcans v Deltans. Unless there’s something the Deltans haven’t told us on screen, the Vulcans win.

    Organians v Ba’ku. Not because they’re aggressive, but because they’re a lot harder to defeat, the Organians win.

    Children of Tama v Prophets. I can’t imagine them fighting each other. Hmm. I think left to their own devices, the Children of Tama would live out an epic tale and end up with the means to defeat the Prophets, possibly bringing them down from the inside. Especially since the Prophets wouldn’t understand them, until the Prophets were already defeated, and the language to describe what had happened could exist. The Children of Tama win.

    Sisko becomes a Child of Tama.

    Benzites v Denobulans. The Denobulans are calmly cruel, and can wait a long time to achieve what they want. The Benzites are cautious, they want take in all the details before they act or coordinate. I think the Denobulans could win through a slow succession of precision strikes, leaving the Benzites to wonder what’s going to happen next. Denobulans win.

    Klingons v Kazon. The Kazon’s greatest advantage would be to appear so weak that the Klingons wouldn’t attack them, but that’s all they can do. The Klingons win.

    Andorians v Na’kuhl. Against the Na’kuhl, who had to go all the way back to WW2 to have an edge against humans, the Andorians win.

    Jem’Hadar v Enhanced humans. It really depends. With some experience, the Enhanced humans should be able to take on the raw force of the Jem’Hadar. But the arrogant kids we see, they lose. The Jem’Hadar win.

    Nausicaans v Gorn. I don’t know what kind of technology Gorn have, but it seemed their only advantage was to fight Kirk unarmed. The Nausicaans win.

    Borg v Species 8472. Without Janeway coming to their rescue, Species 8472 defeats the Borg. Besides adjusting frequencies and general software updates, the Borg aren’t actually that adaptable. Species 8472 wins.

    Hirogen v Tosk. The Tosk might keep running away, but ultimately, without friends to help them out, the Hirogen win.

    Xindi v. Son’a. It’s a bit of a cheat with multiple civilizations cooperating, but I think any one of them could’ve defeated the Son’a. The Xindi win.

    Tholians v Jarada. The Jarada will be too busy being offended to ever mount a defense. The Tholians win.

    Romulans v Remans. Remans are a third rate warrior race, ruled by a meek human clone and outpaced by an elderly human. Romulans win.

    Suliban v Beta Annari. By the numbers, the Suliban win.

    Q Continuum v Talosians. If the Talosians set out to destroy the Q Continuum, and could somehow keep it a secret, maybe there is a way. Especially if they could start a conflict within the Q Continuum. But no, the Q Continuum wins.

    Synths/Androids v Vidiians. The Vidiians’ only strength was the incompetence of the Voyager crew. Synths/Androids win.

    Cardassians v Antidians. Antidians can’t stand space travel. The Cardassians win.

    Zak’Dorn v Vorta. The Zak’Dorn are bluffers, the Vorta are delegators. I think a Vorta without a Jem’Hadar isn’t going to last long against someone who wants them dead. The Zak’Dorn win.

    Changelings v Ba’ul. The Ba’ul are cowards, they can’t win in a fair fight, and the Changelings aren’t going to let them have an edge. The Changelings win.

    Breen v Pakleds. The Breen aren’t going to put up with their BS. The Breen win.

    Ferengi v Talaxians. They’re just not on the same tech level. The Ferengi win.

    Lurians v Malon. Whatever it is that they’re dragging with them around their quadrant, it’s a danger to everyone. The Malon win.

    Tribbles v Mugato. How are the Mugato going to stop them all? The Tribbles win.

    Gallamites v Horta. The Gallamites seem to be spacefaring, so I guess they win.

    Bajorans v Ocampa. If there’s no Caretaker involved, the Bajorans win.

    Bynars v Holograms. They’re both sort of parasitic, but the Holograms are more reliant on others. The Bynars win.

    Orions v El-Aurians. The El-Aurians were defeated by the Borg, but not fully. It depends on when. In canon, by the numbers, the Orions win.

    Sheliak v Karemma. The Sheliak seem a lot more formidable. The Sheliak win.

    Round 2:

    Humanity v XBs. Unless you have a very large supply of XBs, Humanity wins.

    Betazoid v Kelpiens. Ultimately, Betazoids can’t do much but point out stuff to others, can they? The Kelpiens win.

    Vulcans v Organians. I don’t think that telepathy and the eruptive emotions work out in the Vulcans’ favor. The Organians win.

    Children of Tama v Denobulans. They don’t need to understand them. The Denobulans win.

    Klingons v Andorians. Based on their dominance over the centuries, the Klingons win.

    Jem’Hadar v Nausicaans. The Jem’Hadar win.

    Species 8472 v Hirogen. Species 8472 wins.

    Xindi v Tholians. The Xindi can destroy planets, the Tholians can destroy stars. The Tholians win.

    Romulans v Suliban. The Romulans win.

    Q Continuum v Synths/Androids. The Q Continuum wins.

    Cardassians v Zak’Dorn. They will believe their own lies over the Zak’Dorn’s. The Cardassians win.

    Breen v Changelings. The Changelings aren’t that powerful on their own, the Breen win.

    Ferengi v Malon. Possibly by detonating the Malon’s waste back onto them, the Ferengi win.

    Tribbles v Gallamites. I don’t know, but either one loses to the Ferengi.

    Bajorans v Bynars. They’re independently strong, the Bajorans win.

    Orions v Sheliak. The Orions can’t tempt them. The Sheliak win.

    Round 3:

    Humanity v Kelpiens. They have more resources, Humanity wins.

    Organians v Denobulans. The Denobulans are patient, but where are they in the 24th century? I don’t think they can outlast them, so the Organians win.

    Klingons v Jem’Hadar. Without Changeling interference, the Klingons win.

    Species 8472 v Tholians. Amending this after having listened to the podcast, I realized the Tholians could’ve broken through to fluidic space. But based on known Borg interactions, and Tholian unwillingness to fight the Dominion, Species 8472 wins.

    Romulans v Q Continuum. Because of their mastery of black hole physics, the Romulans find their way into the Continuum. Once they’re in, it’s easy. The Romulans win.

    Cardassians v Breen. The Cardassians need more than just a fair fight, the Breen win.

    Ferengi v Tribbles/Gallamites. They’d find a use for the Tribbles, and otherwise seem to have a stronger presence than the Gallamites. The Ferengi win.

    Bajorans v Sheliak. It’s lucky they made it this far. The Sheliak win.

    Quarterfinals:

    Humanity v Organians. Given enough time, if the Organians don’t develop further, Humanity wins.

    Klingons v Species 8472. The Klingons seem a bit lacking in the science department, they’ve been stagnant for centuries. Species 8472 wins.

    Romulans v Breen. That’s their secret, they’re always unfair. The Romulans win.

    Ferengi v Sheliak. They didn’t sign up for the rules of acquisition. The Sheliak win.

    Semifinals:

    Humanity v Species 8472. In an outright assault, they’ll suffer major losses, but they’ll come up with a way to defeat them. Humanity wins.

    Romulans v Sheliak. They don’t need speeches and rules to defeat them. The Romulans win.

    Final:

    Humanity v Romulans. With the rest of the Federation, Humanity had a slight advantage. The Romulans win.

    After listening to (and possibly being influenced by) the podcast, I did a personal preference version (the greener is the winner). https://i.imgur.com/GSDRFi7.png

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