Spoiler alert: Michelle Yeoh surprises Star Trek fans

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IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MID-SESASON PREMIERE, STOP HERE!

JUST WEEKS after getting called out by the Anna Awards for the shortened presence of Michelle Yeoh in Star Trek: Discovery by killing her off in the second episode of the CBS show, the producers gave us a surprise twist in the midseason premiere by bringing back the popular actress.

Yeoh gave the first hint that we had not seen the last of Philippa Georgiou last October when she made a surprise appearance at New York's Comic-Con. 

“I’m not going to let them kill me, okay?” she told the audience, who applauded with enthusiasm at the announcement.

In the midseason premiere, Georgiou is no longer a Federation captain in the mirror universe that the Starship Discovery accidentally wandered into. Her character in this new universe is the exact opposite of the character we saw die while fighting the Klingons. 

Instead of being a heroic figure, she is now the universe's Emperor, or as she is hailed,
she is the "Imperial Majesty, Mother of the Fatherland, Overlord of Vulcan, Dominus of Qo’noS, Regina Andor. All Hail Philippa Georgiou Augustus Iaponius Centarius.”

Hoshi Sato (Linda Park)

Jordon Nardino, the writer of the episode “Vaulting Ambition,” took to Twitter to explain the Game of Thrones-like title. To understand, you need to know that 100 years before this series, during the time of  Star Trek: Enterprise where we introduced to communications officer Hoshi Sato (played by Korean-American actress Linda Park) is of Japanese descent.

In the mirror universe, Hoshi became Empress of Earth. As succeeding leaders took the power, they inherited the title Emperor and retained the hisotiric title.

Nardino continues his explanation:

I couldn't help but be reminded of the Dragon Lady stereotype of Asian women that was created and perpetuated by the white-dominated U.S. movie industry.

Michelle Yeoh as the
new Philippa Georgiou

The Dragon Lady trope first made it's U.S. appearance in the comic strips as the female villain in Terry and the Pirates. Later, Asian/American actress Anna May Wong portrayed the character in the movies.

As negative as that image is, let's hope Yeoh can infuse this character with complexity. The Singaporean actress seems to relish playing this new character, unlike any other role she has undertaken in her career in which she is usually cast as the heroine. Ask any actor and they'll tell you the bad guys are more interesting and challenging to portray.

At any rate, it's good to see Yeoh back again and that in this wildly popular and culturally influential Gene Roddeneberry-created universe inhabited by Klingons, Vulcans, Romulans and Ferengi, there is also room for Asians.

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TGIF FEATURE: Michelle Yeoh keeps her accent in Star Trek Discovery

A new Star Fleet captain is in town. Michelle Yeoh plays Captain Philippa Georgiou.

WHEN PEOPLE first hear Captain Philippa Georgiou speak they'll definitely notice the accent. That's actress Michelle Yeoh's real accent.

The Malaysian-born Yeoh said the producers and show runners of Star Trek Discovery, the latest iteration of the Star Trek franchise, embraced the accent, which she describes as a cross between American, British and Asian.

She's well aware of carrying on the traditions of the iconic science fiction universe set forth by creator, the late Gene Roddenberry.

“I think everybody pays homage to the original because they are the original, so the essence and spirit of how we started out … is very much there,” Yeoh said. “It’s about inclusion, raising the diversity, reflecting on what’s happening with us as a human race and going forward with strength and compassion. It is all there. I think this is the real spirit of what it is to be Star Trek.”

When the trailer was first released featuring Yeoh and Sonequa Martin-Green, who is African American, there was some grumbling among some of the white fanboys who believe that the future is full of white people.

The producers of Discovery were surprised by that online backlash. “If you don’t understand that diversity and everyone being included is part of Starfleet and the Federation and ‘Star Trek,’ then you just don’t get (the franchise). Especially in the future, we just feel that everybody would be represented on a starship — from our planet and beyond,” said co-showrunner Gretchen J. Berg.

The original Star Trek with Captain James T. Kirk also had a multi-racial crew, a Russian, a Scot, an African American and - or course - Mr. Sulu as portrayed by George Takei.

“I understand when I’m sitting in that chair and I’m coming across as an Asian woman captain, it means so much to women of Asian descent everywhere around the world,” Yeoh tells the Daily News.

“Because it just tells them that we are recognized to be in a position of power,” adds the 55-year-old actress. “It is very empowering and it is very inspirational. In the past I didn’t used to think about it, but now I can understand how powerful a motivator it is, especially for (young girls). They’ll think, ‘If she can do this, I can do this.’”

Writing for the show began the day after the elections last November and taping of the first episode began right after the inauguration so - as Star Trek and Roddenberry have always done - Discovery will reflect current events, the same way the original was a metaphor for civil rights movement and the cold war.

The Klingon's desire for racial and cultural purity, for example, reminds us of that small sector of American society who are white supremacists. (And if you don't know what a Klingon is, shame on you.)

“Star Trek has always been about hope and this show is no different. Because we all need to have hope, especially (with) the climate and the tension and the craziness when you turn on the TV,” says Yeoh, who volunteers as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador committed to female empowerment.

Star Trek: Discovery premieres Sunday, Sept. 24 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT on CBS, before debuting new episodes on CBS All Access weekly. The Talking Trek after show launches Sunday following the debut on CBS All Access.

Star Trek Discovery will go where no other Star Trek has gone before.  Fans of the franchise are fanatical about the universe created by Roddenberry but whether or not they will fork over money to watch the show is another question. The first two episodes will be on network TV but the rest of the 10-episode season will be shown on streamed on CBS All Access. The cost for CBS All Access is $5.99 a month ($9.99 without ads) or $59.99 for a year ($99.99 without ads). Now that's something to get upset about!

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Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/tv/warm-tv-blog/article174330551.html#storylink=cpy

George Takei schools racist trolls vs. the new Star Trek TV series

Critics didn't like having women of color in command of a starship in the new TV series Star Trek: Discovery. Above, we have a new alien share the bridge with the starship's First Officer and Captain.

IT APPEARS that Trumpsters have invaded the Star Trek universe. It just goes to show that racism can take many forms and can pop up in every segment of society.

People who are uneasy about the growing diversity of the U.S. are also apoplectic that  Gene Roddenberry's famous franchise's return to television this fall will feature minorities in prominent roles as ranking officers in the Star Trek Discovery series.

The trolls were busy on the internet last weekend, calling the latest casting of women in color on the TV series as "white genocide in space."

These are the same people who unsuccessfully tried to launch a boycott of the movie, Star Wars: Rogue One, because no white males were playing the lead roles. The crew of Rogue One was a woman, a Latino and three Asians.

If they were truly fans of Star Trek, they would know that the cult classic has always been about diversity.

That's what George Takei said in response to trolls who didn't like the casting of Michelle Yeoh as a Starship captain and African/American Shonequa Martin-Green, as the First Officer.

“Well you know — today, in this society, we have alien life-forms that we call trolls,” Takei said to MSNBC host Joy Reid.

“And these trolls carry on without knowing what they’re talking about and knowing even less about the history of what they’re talking about. And some of these trolls go on to be presidents of nations.” said Takei, who played helmsman Hiraku Sulu in the original Starship Enterprise crew. Not only was Sulu Asian, but he was also gay!

As you might figure out, Takei, who is gay in real life, is not a fan of the current president and the bigots who believe that Donald Trump's election victory has given them free reign to be ... well, racist. If you have any doubt, Takei concluded his interview with this, "I think that Donald Trump is as foolish, as uninformed and as ignorant as these trolls are."

George Takei and Joy Reid sign off after their interview with the Vulcan signal of "Live long and prosper."

Takei went on to explain creator Gene Roddenberry's approach to the sci-fi story:

"We had a guiding acronym – IDIC – which stood for 'infinite diversity in infinite combinations.' And we boldly went where we hadn’t gone before because we were curious about what is out there. And when you go out into space you are going to have even greater diversity. Now these so-called trolls haven’t seen a single episode of the new series, because it hasn’t even aired…and they don’t know the history of Star Trek … Gene Roddenberry created this with the idea of finding strength in our diversity. And the delight of life in diversity. So they don’t know what they are talking about."

Roddenberry used Star Trek to address issues of the day, and diversity and racism is a theme that he repeatedly addressed.

One of the most famous episodes of the original Star Trek was "Let That Be Your Last Battlefied," featuring comedian Frank Gorshin.

In that episode, the USS Enterprise ends up in the middle of an old conflict when an alien fugitive requests political asylum from an officer who is perusing him. The two aliens from Charon are differentiated due to one being black on the left side and white on the right and the other being the opposite. While members of the enlightened 23rd century crew find this to be inconsequential, the aliens see it as reason enough to (as it turns out in the end) destroy their entire planet.

Nichelle Nichols, the African/American actress who played the communications officer Lt. Uhuru on the USS Enterprise, shared TV's first interracial kiss when she and Captain Kirk got into it. In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, she said:

“Gene’s whole vision was that minorities weren’t on set because we were minorities, we were on set because in the future our diverse world would all be working together as equals,” Nichols said. “I understand that everyone needs to see role models that can inspire them and talk to them and represent them, but I believe we need to move to a future that transcends race, gender, or anything else. We’re all people.”

If there is any doubt about the intentions of Star Trek creator, the late Gene Roddenberry, let's let him have the last word:

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