"Star Trek: Phase II Episode 5: Blood and Fire Part 2" Is Something, But It's Not "Star Trek"
Tender moments abound.
It’s been a long time since we talked about the fan-based project, Star Trek: Phase II. Last year around this time they released “Blood and Fire Part 1” with Captain James T. Kirk (James Cawley) still piloting the USS Enterprise, but now with his nephew, Ensign Peter Kirk (Bobby Rice) on board, and behaving just as recklessly as his famous uncle. He’s also having a rather torrid relationship with Lt. Alex Freeman (Evan Fowler).
If you need a refresher on the plot of Part 1, you can read it here. And you can watch and download both episodes here.
From this point on, we’re in *****spoiler***** territory.
In essence, we start with Peter Kirk and Alex on a ship, the USS Copernicus, infected with blood worms, the AIDS metaphor. These blood worms are so deadly, all known species in the galaxy flee any systems in which they exist. There is no cure, and they feed on humanoid blood.
The Copernicus, however, was there trying to find a cure, or at least a way to control the blood worms. The mission was led by Dr. Yar, mother of Tasha, from the Next Generation series. You know this because they say it, and they recycled the actress, Denise Crosby.
No makeup, shapeless jumpsuit - at least the Yar spirit is there. 
Once the away team that Peter Kirk elbowed his way on to gets reunited with the surviving Copernicus crew, they discover a cure for blood worms, if they can just survive long enough to use it. Complicating matters is Klingon Captain Kargh, who wants to destroy both ships, but instead is talked into passively viewing the rescue operation as dinner theater.
The cure involves beaming the away team and the survivors over two by two, and replacing their blood completely. Unfortunately, there’s an odd number of people, and Lt. Freeman sends his boyfriend ahead, unconscious, with a tender kiss. He tries the cure himself, but doesn’t make it. Yay! We finally get gay characters on Star Trek, and we kill one!
A noble suicide for the gay. The more things change... 
One thing they don’t skimp on is Peter Kirk’s grief – he positively wails at the death of his lover as his uncle initially provides only cold comfort. In a series of heavy scenes, Capt. Kirk admits his family is the crew of the Enterprise, and Peter laments the only family he had was Alex who is now dead.
After a wild bioterrorism subplot we find out that Star Fleet wasn’t trying to cure blood worms, but utilize them as weapons. But a moment of insight gives them the true cure, Dr. Yar sacrifices herself to right her wrong, and the evil blood worms turn into a sparkly space butterfly that flies around the ships, getting the Kirks to hold each other and all is right with the galaxy.
Really? Didn't we already do sparkly space butterflies in Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century? 
Don’t get me wrong – this is an amazing product for a fan production. It just didn’t strike the right emotional tone to feel like Star Trek. Star Trek doesn’t do romance, at least not like this. Swashbuckling style is what it does well. And the sexual-ish moment in Part One felt like Trek. But that kiss goodbye? Not so much.
And I can’t recall a family moment like the Kirks had, even between Picard and Wesley Crusher. This was more of a Lifetime movie set on the Enterprise. And as Lifetime movies go, it was pretty good. But it wasn't Star Trek. Heck, I know the red shirt was a Kirk and had to live, but killing the blue shirt instead? You don't twist a trope like that.
What did the fanboys think of it? Last time it was pretty harsh. This time, the forums seem to have quite a few gay men in them, who appreciate the story. As for the review? It’s pretty much the opposite of what I said. Don’t worry, I’m used to it.
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Comments
Typical
It's so typical. Why always kill the gay? First Ianto from Torchwood and now LT. Alex Freeman in Star Trek. I know the writers are saying that by killing them off they treat the characters like everyone else. The gays can be killed or survive (most often killed) like the rest. It still sucks though.
Oh well, at least the homophobes will be happy about this. You wouldn't believe all the vile comments posted on Youtube. It's obvious there's no room for gay characters on sci-fi shows, as sad as it is..
Harvey Milk: You gotta give 'em hope.
Sad day
The amount of anger I felt towards the episode cannot truly be put into words. I waited 11 months for this episode and then they gave me THIS!? I had such hopes for Alex and Peter and now they're all laid to waste. I was such a fan of this series, but after this, I honestly don't think I could give it much thought unless they did something truly remarkable to make up for it. It's almost as if they're appealing to their heteronormative fanbase by killing off the gay character and going "see, don't worry folks, they're not like us, they're expendable." I'm sorry to sound so bitter, especially about Trek, because I love it, I truly do, but this just ripped out my heart and stomped on it.
At least I have Star Trek: Helena Chronicles and Star Trek: Odyssey to look forward to, where Ro and Corey are treated like real beings and not like second class citizens. I just hope that they make it home to one another.
CHEERS!
I so agree with you... there are no words.
O Liberté, que de crimes on commet en ton nom!
A different take on "Kill the Gays"
I'm always heartbroken to lose good gay characters and relationships, but I do think that there is a positive side to this phenomenon. A couple of years ago I convinced a reluctant friend of mine to see Brokeback Mountain. Due to her home environment she is a little uncomfortable with anything overtly sexual and her mind was not quite made up on her opinion of homosexuality. (We live in a small town and we knew about three gay people, all of them in high school with us and none of them in relationships). Anyway she was very uncomfortable with the first half of the movie, very fidgety. Then she calmed. She watched the movie avidly, and I could read her face like a book as she took in the unfolding story. When the movie ended she was in tears. She kept saying "Man, why was Ennis so stupid? He needed to just get over it and be with Jack!" I was more than a little flabbergasted. I had never heard her say anything like that about a gay couple before. I believe that what she had been exposed to before, what the picture in her mind was, was gay people who sleep with tons of people and never develop serious relationships. She had never seen a person grieve for a same-sex lover before.
I have noticed the same thing since. There is something poetic and unbeatably sad about one half of a loving couple and when it happens in literature, people grieve for both parties. When gay people die in literature, people grieve for them and sometimes they realize that, even if they couldn't understand that gay people and straight people are the same before, they sometimes realize it then.
Again, I was extremely sad watching this loving couple be torn apart. But Peter's grief was raw and real, and it didn't matter who or what the other person in the relationship was. I think that sends a powerful message.
Torrid?
My only quibble with your review Ed is your use of "torrid relationship.
They were engaged to be married and Captain Kirk had agreed to marry them once the mission was over.
Peter only joined The Enterprise to be with Alex because they missed each other so much.
Not that there's anything wrong with "torrid" affairs, but I don't think Alex and Peter were torrid at all.
They were totally out and open and in love and very happy.
I knew not to get too attached. It was just too good to be true
Sigh...
A little fun...
It was a little fun - they obviously have an active sex life (which I loved in part 1), and maybe even a little naughty with the "Sulu" response to "Guess who?" I had to have some fun with this, because the actual plotline was just awful.
And all affairs/relationships should have a torrid aspect. I don't attach a value judgement to it, I see it more like Dictionary.com:
3. ardent; passionate: a torrid love story.
That doesn't imply anything negative.
MAAWEDGE
I didn't think it was negative but for folks who hadn't seen the first (or don't remember the fact) they might not know that they were actually engaged which is kind of a big deal for folks who are the marrying kind.
So to have a gay couple on Star Trek who are not only sexually active and more than a little bit freaking (in the best possible way) but who was also engaged and whom Kirk had agreed to marry, is like Wowzers!, I think.
That's all I meant. Sorry if I seemed snarky.
Generally people don't refer to folks in a full on love sexual relationship as "torrid" unless their on the down low or someone is married or underaged or some other such "frowned upon" type thing (despite the word's actual meaning)
I didn't mean to take away your fun. But they really had such a sweet chemistry so it made the episodes worth watching for me. And those jumpsuits were hitting them just right.
UNTIL THEY KILLED HIM!! Bastards!
Blood and Fire
As a big Trek fan and a gay one, I am surprised that this is a shock to anybody..
Blood and Fire was originally a written as a TNG episode, the basic outline of the story has been on the net for years. So I already knew where the episode was going, because David Gerrold the original writer had already told us years ago that one of the gays was going to die.
No I don't think its original in this day and age, but I understand it from the perspective in which the era when the original episode was written. The pressures that the studio would be putting on him etc...
It could have been rewritten I guess... And its too bad they didn't think about that...
Nice to know someone actually bothers to know the backstory
This story was told the way it was meant to from the original story it was adapted from. But that doesn't excuse so many other tales where one member of the gay couple dies.
I wasn't surprised that no one knew anything about the history of the Blood and Fire story, though. So often people come onto all sorts of blogs and make all sorts of assertions without bothering to know any context or details before typing up their rants. I'm used to it.
As a 50 year ST fanatic and
As a 50 year ST fanatic and big fan of ST Phase II, I have been so looking forward to this second part of "Blood and Fire". Now that I know it is ending with the inevitable but disgusting "Kill the F*gg*t" cliche, I am not even going to bother watching it. I removed their website from my favorites, and intend to never give them a second thought again. I am beyond revolted, and and stunned that THOSE people would go this way. Yes, it may have been true to the original from 45 years ago, but it should have been undated to reflect a less dated and offensive denouement. Well... good riddance, ST Phase II. Sorry I wasted my time getting excited about your work.
Just as with Torchwood, I can only say this is one former fan that you have lost forever.
FORTY-FIVE???
45 years ago? You're being facetious, right? Actually, it was substantially rewritten. The quality of the original story was so subpar and that was the reason why it was never made into a TNG ep, not because of the gay content. Apparently according to the conspiracy theorists here, the "homophobia" behind the death of Freeman would have sent the "right message" at the time since that's what you guys are trying to get at.
This was supposed to be an AIDS allegory. People are still dying of AIDS. It's not about homophobia. It was about AIDS.
Having said that, a lot of other series where the gay character dies across many media beyond just TV do annoy me -- most recently Ianto, as stated by a few others already. If Ianto had to die, they could have made his death scene more sensible and he didn't have to die for just nothing the way he did on CoE.
Well What Do You Expect?