PRIME DIRECTION - “Human Best Friend” with Yana Gorskaya

[00:00:02] Now, where we are now. Is this thing on? Hello? Hello? Informal, lighthearted welcome to Open Pike Night, the Strange New Worlds podcast where your calls are the prime directive. I'm your host, John T. Boulds, and we didn't see you there. Just kidding. We did. Tonight's prime direction. We have a first time Open Pike Night guest. The event planner behind Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 3, Human Best Friend.

[00:00:48] Yana Gorskaya from Marvel superheroes to vampires and now Starship crews. She's managed to find the absurdity in our favorite genres, all while keeping the heart of the characters front and center. Director Yana Gorskaya, welcome to Open Pike Night. Thank you for having me. Thank you for being here. And of course we are joined as always by my co-hosts, the man who definitely ate the dragon, Jesse Bailey. I will eat anything one time. Okay? Like, I'm going to eat the dragon. I'm going to eat the dragon.

[00:01:18] I'm like, I'm a firm believer in you got to try it at least once. And if you don't like it, that's okay. But who's not going to try dragon? Are you serious? And the man who I absolutely pulled a whole Captain Kirk on, we hung out for a full day once when he thought he was high, but man, I learned some stuff that day. Yeah. Who am I? Cameron Harrison. I want to hear more about this. I think we should just talk about that. Me too. I don't remember. New episode idea.

[00:01:48] It was yesterday. He's in Hawaii and he's real messed up on that one hour time change. I was going to say, I appreciate the Hawaiian shirt shtick guys, but I thought we were all meeting here to record this episode. I'm doing this beach house by myself. Yeah. I did not really got anything. Yeah. My bad. People think our budget is really good. Stop it, Ken. It seemed like an appropriate, it's an appropriate episode to add to chime in from Hawaii to interrupt my vacation for. Absolutely.

[00:02:15] I should add to, for people who are listening to this and not watching, these guys are all wearing Hawaiian shirts and it's, it's, it's baller. It's really, really good. Thank you very much. Come find us on YouTube. I will get it out of the way. For those of you who love this episode, I'm absolutely certain Paramount will roll out those Hawaiian shirts right away since they're so good at merchandising. Gotti shirt. I must know where I'm texting through that right now. I really want one. It is a surfing mugatu on there, right? Yeah.

[00:02:45] That is correct. Corset has a deep earth meaning. It's my favorite shirt. All right. Well, this is going to be a good conversation already. I can tell. Yes, it is. Well, let's, let's start it then. Let's begin it. Yana, what is your history, if you have any, with the franchise of Star Trek? Were you a fan of it coming in or is this all new to you?

[00:03:08] I am actually an immigrant. I came here as a child and I learned English from reruns of the original Star Trek that would go on after school. And I had a massive crush on Chekhov. And because I came from Russia and I was like, my people. And like, it was this beautiful vision of the world where Russians and everybody else got along. And I loved it. I inhaled it. And I particularly inhaled, because I was quite young, the trouble with tribbles.

[00:03:37] So when there was an opportunity to put a tribble in my episode, I lobbied so hard. They graciously allowed me to have a tribble in their episode. Yes. Excellent. As a tip of the hat to that. And then my husband also worked with Leonard Nimoy for a significant stretch right before he passed. They were working on a play together that Leonard wrote about Vincent van Gogh.

[00:04:06] And my husband was doing the French version and translation of that. And so Leonard was a very dear friend. And my husband, weirdly enough, was not a Star Trek fan because Star Trek in France, they dubbed it in Canada. So they had this like Quebecois accents and it just never took off in France as it should have. So he was unaware of how marvelous that was. He just like Leonard as a writer. Oh, wow.

[00:04:35] I wonder if Picard makes more sense in the French dub. Because they're like, oh, it's a Frenchman. And like here they tell us he's French, but then he has an English accent. It's true. It's a little weird. Yeah. It's the future. What about Strange New Worlds? Had you been keeping up or did you have to do all your homework? Absolutely. I was a massive Strange New Worlds fan. I'm an old, like from college friend of Henry Alonzo Myers. Oh, okay.

[00:05:01] So, and we, and Shadow shot in Toronto and Strange New Worlds shot in Toronto. And so we would always get together. And it had been multiple seasons that we had tried to make it work for me to come in and do one. But I was always working on Shadows at the same time. And so it just didn't time out. But then when Shadows wrapped, I finally got to come in and do one. And I was delighted. And he took me on a tour of the sets.

[00:05:29] And being that little kid who grew up with this stuff, like it just takes up a huge part of my brain. So, like it was completely surreal and delightful. And I'll never forget it. That's excellent. We have to ask, in case you're wondering out there, she's referring to what we do in the shadows, of course. A lot of people want to see Matt Berry as Cybok. Did that conversation happen?

[00:05:58] Were you present for that? Is there anything you can tell us? No, but Matt is a delight. And he should do Star Trek. He'd be amazing. Yes. Absolutely. So Strange New Worlds, like they have a very specific way. They select the directors for each episode. Like it's a very purposeful way. And it sounds like you know why you were tapped for this one. What's the background to that? Well, I have a rather extensive background in deadpan comedy.

[00:06:26] And this script was very much that. So as soon as I read it and saw that it was The Hangover in space but deadpan, I was absolutely delighted. And I think they also wanted me to bring my improv background, working with improvisers to the show because it's something they really hadn't done. And Martin and Melissa were so good at it.

[00:06:53] So playing, you know, doing fun run improvised takes really was some quite delightful things came out of that. But Kat's script, oh my God, was so funny from the get go. And I can't say that it changed all that much. I would say like all the best lines are still her script. She's amazing. And she gets to be in it too. Yes. That took me a second. I was like, I know that person. Oh, it's Kat. Okay. Yeah.

[00:07:23] You know, meeting Kat was incredible because there aren't a lot of women who work in genre comedy or in genre in general. And I was amazed that we weren't already best friends. And we are now. Like we got so tight on making this show. And I was as soon as I met her, I was like, unicorn, you have exactly the same interests as I do. And I'm never letting you go.

[00:07:51] And we are very good friends now. We were just texting today. Okay. So how did you balance the tone of this episode? Because like you said, it sounds like there were a lot of takes with varying degrees of, you know, over the top-ness. Did you have kind of a firm grip on what level of absurdity you wanted to land at? Or was it like, let's shoot as much as we can and we'll pick it out in the edit? No, we definitely played levels on that stuff.

[00:08:21] My feeling is that quote-unquote broad comedy is best when it's pretty grounded. And all of these actors are quite good at that. And particularly Martin and Melissa. And with Martin, we really wanted to dial in the how drunk is he of it all? Like, and he was very sensitive to not being slapstick or as he should be.

[00:08:47] Like, big, broad drunk is rarely a good thing. So we would do more contained takes and bigger ones that would kind of push the comedy a little bit harder. And I'd say we probably most of the time landed somewhere in the middle. And that was quite fun to explore. We did that with all of the cast, with all of their levels of inebriation. We would do takes where they were like, go as hard as you can. You are high.

[00:09:17] Like, and then, you know, let's pull that back. And you're just really trying not to be high. Right. Would be the direction. And then in terms of the comedy, it was interesting because I think tonally there was this desire for it to maybe be a little bit raunchy. But I think that we always kept in mind that people watched the show with their families.

[00:09:41] And while it could be a little bit edgy, like we never wanted to do something that was just tasteless. So, you know, walking that line in terms of where we went with our improv and performance. So you cut the Mugatu sexy. That's probably the right choice. That'll be on the Blu-ray. That's fine. Well, so on those levels from like one to ten, where do you feel like what level did you wind up picking for the final take?

[00:10:09] Do you feel like was there a kind of consistent? On Martin? For anyone? For being high. It really depended. Like some of them, I have to say like Christina got so funny when it's more intense that she got. Because already, you know, Lon's a fairly strident character to begin with. I feel like she has a lot of intensity. So just to dial her up to 11 was really, really fun. Yeah. And then other people, the smaller stuff was better.

[00:10:38] It really, really kind of depended on whether or not the moment needed to be more grounded or if we were playing comedy. But it was really, it was quite a fun puzzle to play. It was, I mean, they were all playing quite a bit out of character for a lot of this episode. And even Ethan, who the whole joke is that he hasn't changed at all. He's just hallucinating.

[00:11:04] But for him, like he hadn't really done improv. And so he was in an area where he was like, okay, this is new. And he was wonderful. Just so funny. So naturally funny. It's interesting that you bring up they're all kind of playing outside their characters. Because I think, and this is something you'll come to learn about me. I don't always ask a question. Sometimes it's just a compliment.

[00:11:30] But I think you guys managed to land exactly on like, okay, this is outside of the character. But it is totally believable. Like, chapel at the bingo table? Yes, this is how they would be. Yeah. This is somehow very true to these characters despite being something we haven't seen before. Yeah. Yeah. That's what we were going for. Yeah. Nailed it. Thank you. And with your background, you have a strong editing background.

[00:11:57] And you've worked in the editing department on most of Taika Waititi's films and projects. What did you learn there that you were able to apply to this episode beyond the deadpan comedy? Like constructing the episode itself? Well, comedy is about reactions. I've been doing so. So I always know the listeners are just as important as the talkers. And so to make sure that I land all of those moments.

[00:12:23] I had a phenomenal editor on this episode, Dana Gasparin. I love Dana. Yeah. She's the best. She's fantastic and so collaborative and had so many ideas. And her first cut was already a delight. So we dug into it together and nerded out as editors and had a lot of fun just kind of playing with the form and rhythm of deadpan. It was, yeah, she's great.

[00:12:49] So as you were approaching the material, obviously Hangover in Space, which was the first thing I thought of too. But did you draw inspiration from anything else where you're like, oh, let's look at how this handled the sort of situation? You know, I rewatched The Hangover and it was a movie that I loved when it came out. And I have to say, I wish it held up better.

[00:13:12] But there were some things about it, the kind of propulsiveness of it and the kind of anything can happen feeling of it that I really, really liked. And then I just watched a ton of this show and wanted to come in and bring my very overdeveloped Russian sense of deadpan to it.

[00:13:37] And, you know, it was an interesting tonal puzzle because the first two thirds of it are comedy, like very hard comedy. But it gets to someplace pretty deep. This episode does heavy lifting between the scenes and the seasons. So, yeah. Yeah. Like Martin and Melissa had some lovely, much more grounded drama connectivity that we shot in a deadpan way.

[00:14:04] But they were connecting in a completely grounded, moving way. It really moves me. I hope it does other people too. Yeah. And I think it's interesting that you note how propulsive it was, kind of like the pacing of The Hangover. Because this episode has a ton in it. Like there are so many things that happen before we even get back to the Enterprise. Like I was re-watching it today. I was like, oh, okay.

[00:14:34] I think I'm getting to the end. Because like there was this big fight. Chapel's yelling in the bingo. Oh, no. Well, there's like 12 or 14 minutes left of this because there's so much to wrap up. And it's like the pacing is really impressive in this. Was that something that you ended up thinking to yourself like, we need, you know, more time to complete this? Or did you just at the end of your shot list where you're like, okay, we've got this? You know, Star Trek is a really interesting show. Maya Bankovich shot my episode.

[00:15:04] And she's so talented. And she brings so much. And she has such good ideas. But you don't get to do as much coverage on this show as you do on other kinds of comedies. Like, you know, you're shooting. The equipment is massive. And, you know, setting up the lighting and everything. And so I actually didn't, like, I had to be very, very judicious about what was important. What's the scene about? What are the absolute must-haves to make this funny?

[00:15:33] And also cut together and be an episode. And she was incredibly helpful in guiding me in terms of how Star Trek works in that way. And then, of course, did a beautiful deadpan job. Her center frames are chef's kiss. That is, yeah, a jam. Well, we did not get Matt Barry in this episode. But we did get Dave Foley. The marvelous Dave Foley. As a longtime Kids at the Hall fan.

[00:16:03] I mean, just what can you tell us? He is a gentleman and a massive Star Trek fan. And so game. Marvelous improviser. He came up with a lot of the funniest little bit, like, swirls of Dendro that are in the episode. And because he's such a huge Star Trek fan. And also, he's really into aliens. Like, if you ever talk to Dave and you mention aliens, you'll be there for a while.

[00:16:33] Like, he's noted. And so he loved the prosthetics. And, you know, sometimes actors can get a little bristly about having to sit in a chair for a long time and get all that makeup on. But he was so down and, you know, wanted more. Great. And the other thing about Dave is he is a legend in Canada.

[00:16:57] And since we were shooting in Toronto, the crew was all kind of just hovering around with wide eyes. Like, just hoping that he might look their way. So it was very sweet. Like, you could tell he was just a legend amongst us. Like, you know, the halls went quiet. Well, actually, there was a little murmur everywhere he went. Very cool. Yeah. So where did you mostly shoot?

[00:17:27] On sets? Or was there a location? Did you guys go to location for this shoot? Or what was the mix there? This is a very unusual episode for Star Trek in that it was mostly shot on location. Oh, okay. They found a futuristic hotel in downtown Toronto. And we shot the bulk of everything that takes place on the planet in that hotel, which already looked like that. And to be fair, our production designer, he's brilliant.

[00:17:53] Jonathan did bring in a lot of flourishes to make it even more special and built that stage for the karaoke. And, you know, and some things we kind of, because it was a no tech zone, purposefully made look a little bit janky. Like, you know, the bingo had that incredible back wall that existed in the space.

[00:18:18] But it's just folding tables and old ladies that happened to be aliens, you know, like as those things would be in a kind of grounded real life, which was quite fun and very cheeky. Yeah. So getting off the set, did it feel like the actors were maybe having a little bit of shore leave of their own? Or was there that sense? It was, you know, it's interesting. It's just, it's a huge machine. Like, you know, Star Trek, the equipment we carry is a lot.

[00:18:47] So I think it was just like, oh my God, how do we get everything in here? I mean, the cast loved it. They were, you know, getting to play comedy and a little bit, you know, and high and having a blast. And the crew was sweating. Like, but it was great. It was such a good shoot. And everyone was on their game and it looked wonderful. And the cast, yeah, I think they were playing a bit because, like, you know, they were on shore leave.

[00:19:17] And they got to wear costumes that were outside of the uniform, which was really special too. Did you get to help pick out the costumes? Because there were some amazing ones. Oh my God. Bernadette, she outdid herself. The most amazing one was Celia's. That coat, yeah. Oh my, the whole thing was so gorgeous.

[00:19:42] And so much so that we hadn't planned a full body shot of her in the scene, in our kind of storyboard working it out. But when we saw the whole thing put together, we were like, we have to get a full body shot. We have to put it in here because this is, that is a joke. I mean, a beautiful joke in itself. And she looked incredible. She rocked it so hard. Yeah. I love her little party. Yeah, exactly. Just the mysterious party.

[00:20:12] Yeah, she definitely had the best party. Like the oracle of like, yeah, no, you can do this. I'm fine. I'm back to my party. So Strange New Worlds is already known for being a very colorful show, especially with modern Star Trek. Was there a really conscious choice to make this, like, the most vibrant episode of Strange New Worlds so far? Well, it's shore leave. And it's fun. And it's comedy. Like, tonally, yes, you want it to be bright and kooky.

[00:20:39] And in particular, that Hawaiian shirt, we talked a lot about the colors of it. I knew that it was going to have to play against black. And initially, the shirt was black with a lot of the same kind of cool design. But visually, that would not have popped. And so it ended up into this kind of brighter palette. And I think that may have driven the rest of the costumes in a way. Like, they all kind of snowballed into this. All right, fuck it. We're having fun.

[00:21:10] Let's go. Which I adored. So I want to ask real quick about the actors because Anson Mount's Captain Pike in this. I just I feel like he gets so many opportunities to play so many different genres. And not only does he knock it out of the park every time, but and especially in this one, I feel like there's a layer of like he is just having the most fun. He's a kid in a candy shop. He's like, I don't ever get to play this character. And I am going to play every ounce of this player character in the scene I can.

[00:21:40] Like, what was it like working with him on on Pike in this episode? He was great. And you're right. It was definitely a flavor that he hadn't gotten to play yet. And I think he had a great time in the tattoo parlor and threw a lot of really funny ad libs in there.

[00:21:59] But I think in some ways he might have even had more fun when he was on stage trying to hold it together and stumbling his way through the speech, this piece. The tattoos with his speech were fantastic. He was very hungover and, you know, struggling with his tattoos. Exactly, with his tattoos. Yeah, he was great. He was great. I think it was a fun challenge for him, for sure.

[00:22:23] This episode, like I was talking about structurally, like just thinking back, and I think this is what I'm going to remember most about this is, yes, it's the hangover space. It also kind of exercises Ortegas' demons from the last season of what's gone on. It brings Scotty into the crew. Actually, he's now a member of the crew, I feel like. Also, this is just Lower Decks live. I mean, if somebody has never seen Lower Decks, I'm like, do you like Strange New Worlds? Do you like Human Best Friend?

[00:22:54] Great, go watch Lower Decks because you just saw an episode of Lower Decks. Like, you had a lot of work to do with this episode, especially for this being your first. Is this your only involvement with Strange New Worlds? Yeah, I wanted to come back for the season five, but I had already signed a contract on another show, sadly. I would have loved to have done it. Like, there's a lot there. I cannot say enough good things about Martin and Melissa.

[00:23:22] They were so prepared, so game. Obviously, friends and supportive of each other. And, I mean, Melissa is a machine. You give her an adjustment and she rocks it. And she's so technical as a performer. I don't think I've ever seen someone so amazing at hitting marks. Like, she just never, she does not miss.

[00:23:50] And we had this ridiculous challenge for them both of having to put their arms in the position of the plants. Oh, of the plants. That Spock is hallucinating. And to kind of sell that. And, blessedly, it's a comedy because there are ridiculous positions. But, like, you know, she nailed that every time. But more than that, she's just an incredible performer and she'll give so many levels. And Martin, too.

[00:24:18] Like, they are wonderful. And I am dying to put them in something else. Like, anyone listening to me right now, if you have a project and you need actors, hire Martin and Melissa. They are aces. Just absolute aces. And could not be nicer people. Well, I want to get to the plants here shortly. Yes. Sorry.

[00:24:42] I mean, no, I want to say on Melissa and Ortegas a little bit because we are the official Mortegas podcast. We've always wanted Mortegas. And we've gotten some Ortegas-centric episodes along the way. I mean, Terrarium is an amazing episode. But it's a very different version of Ortegas, right? Like, we're seeing the deeper, darker side of her, which is great. We want to see that. But I've wanted, like, the Ortegas episodes that is the Ortegas we love. And for me, it feels like this is finally the Ortegas episode I've wanted.

[00:25:13] Yes. Was there any sense, like, did you feel the same way? Like, how did you approach her character with this episode? I've always been a fan of hers on the show. And so when I found out that she was, you know, kind of spearheading my episode, I was delighted. And it turns out, and I knew this already from watching the show, but she gives some of the best deadpan reactions I have ever seen in my life.

[00:25:39] Her eyes are just always thinking, always twitching back and forth exactly how you want them to for comedy. Like, she's just letting things land in a way that is funny. She's just naturally a very, very funny performer. And similarly, Martin, too. I mean, they're both fantastic comedians, which, you know, they're on a show that is 90% of the time driven by more of a, like, a drama tone.

[00:26:07] And I think that's wasted because they're so funny. They're so funny. And so, I mean, they nailed the drama scenes, too. They're just all around. They're Swiss Army knife actors. They're amazing. We told Martin that we would definitely watch the Martin Quinn sketch comedy hour. And now, it's like you've got to have Melissa as a regular on that show. Oh, yeah. You guys should tour. They absolutely should. They're so good.

[00:26:36] So was it written into the script, or did you get to help decide what kind of plants Scotty and Ortegas would be? And, like, how did that work? How was shooting them with and as plants? How did the plants compare to the actors as far as performances? They were written. Those particular plants were written. Kat wrote that into the script. I think she put a lot of thought into it, too, in terms of, like, what kind of plant best would be their spirit animals if they had a plant.

[00:27:06] And we landed at cactus and ficus. But picking the cactus and the ficus was an ordeal. Well, the art department spent a lot of time at garden shops sending pictures of, like, is this okay? We're like, no, the arms have to, you know. We want a bigger cactus and size and all of it. Yeah, there were a lot of conversations about plants.

[00:27:34] In part, I mean, largely because we knew we didn't want to do it as a VFX thing or a CGI thing. We wanted it to be a dumb, practical gag. They're not going to talk. They're just going to stand there. And, you know, when it moves, it's just on a dolly and it's a guy pulling it on a rope.

[00:27:51] And Ethan, poor Ethan, who has to act with this cactus on a dolly and try his damnedest not to break, which, bless him, like, 90% of the time he kept it together. I did not. Kat and I were on the side cackling through all of it because it was just too absurd in the best way.

[00:28:20] What broke me was that you put the cast on one of the arms of the cactus. I was like, that is the kind of subtle, dumb thing to your point where it's like, this actually completely makes this work. And then we had to track that. We're like, she's not wearing the cast when she, the second time he sees her. So we can't, you know, like continuity, cactus continuity was the thing.

[00:28:45] We have heard from both writers and directors about some of the props they really wanted to include in their scenes or in the backgrounds of their episodes. You already mentioned the Tribble, which was wonderful to see. Was there anything else you picked out maybe in that, you know, post-party scene in Ortega's apartment that you were like, this has to be in the background? There were a number of things that were in the background of the, of that party scene.

[00:29:12] But really, I can't say, I cannot express how much I wanted a Tribble. And it was, it was, it was my pitch. And I went to the, I was like, I'll lose a VFX shot. I don't care. And they had a practical one that, the one that rolls on the ground was a real practical, like furry Tribble. And I need to write them so that they give it to me because that is the thing.

[00:29:42] I was so, I don't know, like Tribbles are, my brain is 5% Tribbles. That's brilliant. That's fair. That's fair. Did you name it? Did you name the Tribble? No, we didn't. Oh. We should have. Well, when you own it, then you can name it. That's right. Exactly. That makes good sense. That's what I want. That's the thing that I want.

[00:30:03] One of the other things that really stuck out to me from the background of this episode is the list of songs that Una has signed up to sing. Was that in the script? Did you guys come up with that on set? How did that come about? The writers came up with it because we had to do the Klingon translations. And they are accurate to the Klingon language. Wow.

[00:30:25] So all, but because it's a tech free zone, like our department had to go and draw the Klingon and like we couldn't mess with it. I mean, we could a little bit, but yes, no, all the songs were chosen and translated to proper Klingon. And that is wonderful. That's Rebecca singing? And that is Rebecca singing. Oh, wow. And she is singing Klingon. That is a Klingon translation. Wow. We've got to give her some props for this. Yeah. That was amazing. She nailed it.

[00:30:55] Yeah. She's an incredible singer. Yeah. Yes. But I didn't know she could sing Klingon that well. Yeah. She had a phonetic, she worked with a translator and a phonetic guy. I mean, it was a whole, there was a lot of rehearsal for Klingon. I can't even imagine. Does the studio still have to pay for the rights to Total Eclipse of the Heart if it's sung in Klingon? They do. Yes. Okay.

[00:31:21] We kind of debated what the song would be and some of it was a bit price driven, but Total Eclipse was the song we wanted and it ended up not being too out of, you know, Star Trek is a score based, Nami's amazing, the composer. It's a score based show. Like it's very rare that you get a needle drop in Strange New Worlds. But this was one of those opportunities and we definitely took it.

[00:31:47] If we started GoFundMe and get enough money, I don't know if you're familiar with the Total Eclipse of the Heart music video, but can we make the Klingon version of that music video and will you direct it? Because that would be insane. That would be nuts. I mean, we recorded a lot of the song. I mean, that's why we used it for the end credits. I mean, it's largely already there. You could probably do a music video with Rebecca's performance, which she went for it.

[00:32:17] Like we didn't even use some of the bigger things that she tried. At one point, there was a much longer end montage that did the full song and let her hit all the amazing things that she did on that stage. But there just wasn't time.

[00:32:34] I think one of the things that I love about that, obviously, that just, you know, what it is, is it does give you that evokes that Dan Band cover from The Hangover. Right. Where you're like, so is she including the random F-bombs that he puts in that song? But in Klingon, right? Like I think it's Klingon. I think it's a very straight translation. It's so good. It's so good. Yeah. I didn't know.

[00:33:03] I actually, I mean, I am a Trekkie, but I didn't know that Klingon was a real like language. Oh, yeah. And that there are translators that work into this. And that was delightful. I'm pretty sure you can learn it on Duolingo. I think Duolingo has it. Yes. I discovered that and I started it on set. Friendly, I'm still learning Spanish, but we can keep each other honest. I'm at a very low level on Klingon, on Duolingo. Still learning your colors.

[00:33:30] It was incumbent on me to understand what Rebecca was. Yeah. If you thought that owl was threatening in English. Yeah. Just wait. My daughter always looks at my phone, Duol's mad at you, dad. Yeah. But at least he doesn't have a bat lift. Yeah. So in that first scene with Spock, after he asked them about Kirk and they leave and Kirk pops out. Where was Kirk? In your head canon, where was Kirk? He was in the bathroom. Oh, God. Thank you. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[00:34:00] That was the joke I was going to make. I'm like, was he peeing? He was just in the bathroom. It was a completely mundane reason why he wasn't in the room. And he just happened to come out. Yep. Yeah. We had, we absolutely explained where he was and why people weren't interacting with him every single time. Excellent. Yeah. Yeah. Paul Wesley doesn't get a ton of like comedic beats, right?

[00:34:25] Like it's, he's almost like playing a straight man in all of his scenes, but it's like, he just has a natural, like humorous charisma and it still comes across like that first hug. You're like, this fits, but it's also funny. Like he just, he's inhabiting this really well. And also he's high. Like, so like, you know, he is affected by the planet's atmosphere.

[00:34:51] And so, you know, he gets into this very kind of, all right, let's pour out and be touchy feeling and talk about our feelings space that I'd like, I don't think is like regular mode Kirk, but was really, really fun. So if you did get a chance to direct another Star Trek episode, is there a type of episode you'd really want to direct? Well, I, comedy is my, is my bread and butter.

[00:35:18] I don't speak any other language as a director or as an editor, really. I, it would have to be another kind of comedy take on this world. But a lot of times tonally, they're also into dramedy and that's a, that's a zone I'm comfortable in. But if there's no jokes, I'm not your girl. Like it is, um, there are better people.

[00:35:45] What would you want to do like a holodeck or something with Klingons or a time travel? I love the holodeck. I love, um, holodeck is like the other 95% of my brain. We found it, we completed it. So you completed it, definitely. Um, yeah, I've actually loved the holodeck episode, um, and, and studied it quite a bit when I was going in for, uh, you know, Jonathan Frakes is a marvelous director and, um, has

[00:36:14] a really, really good sense of comedy tone, um, that I very much enjoyed. Um, I don't, yeah, it would have to be, it would have to be a comedy, especially with these people, the people that work on strange new worlds are just, they're lovely. And yet have yet to meet one who's not, they've got to be out there, but maybe like one of the people that runs mail at the studio or something.

[00:36:40] So have you got a favorite shot from this episode? Like if there's one, one shot you're most proud of from this episode, what is it? You know, we did some things that were kind of visually ambitious. Um, but my favorite shot is not one of those. My favorite shot is, um, Ortegas and Scotty in the doorway. Um, after Uhura opens the door and the, and the practical smoke just like billowing at them

[00:37:10] when they're in this kind of deadpan center frame, just looking at us. Um, that kills me every time. And when we were shooting it and the smoke was billowing out and there was a moment of like, Oh my God, is it too much? And then it was, no, like we were, it was so funny. Just the smoke, the smoke as a gag. And then their faces taking it in, of course is what really made it funny. But, um, yeah, that's my favorite fit. And I, I love that we get two of those, right?

[00:37:40] So like you have the first time they go to the door and then that same shot composition when they go back to the party. And now it's a rave. And it's like, it's, it's such good like structure and pacing like that. The specifically you're right. Like her reactions in those moments, she's looking around in the hall and back. It's like, that is a beautiful shot. I can understand why you picked that. It's perfect comedy frame. I really, really love it. Yeah.

[00:38:06] And, and with the pacing, like you said, at the end, when they're on the transporter pad, I'm like, Oh, it'd be funny if like one of Scotty's hands was half gone. He told that joke with the finger. And, and you waited long enough that I was like, Oh, it's not going to happen. He just told something. Oh God, I love that. So well, and it was, it was practical. It was also just a prosthetic thumb that was hanging. I love a practical gag.

[00:38:34] And, and Martin, you know, it didn't always flip back. So he had to do it, you know, a few times and he'd reset and be like, fuck. But when it came up and it was flipped over, there were so many times when, when Kat and I were sitting behind the monitors and we had to try not to ruin takes because we wanted to laugh so bad.

[00:39:00] And so we would do these like silent cackles, like, and then just let it out after I call cut. But that was definitely one of those moments. Oh man. Martin sold it really well. Just perfect comedy timing on the seeing it, freaking out all of it. Yeah. Any other stories from the set that you think we should have asked about? We hadn't. I just cannot say enough good things about this cast and how game they were to try things and to take swings.

[00:39:30] And, and a number of them hadn't, I mean, they've all done comedy on this show, you know, there have been comedy episodes, but it's not necessarily their usual wheelhouse as performers. But they put their trust in me and tried things. And it was just, it felt like a very safe, fun set.

[00:39:52] And I hope they had as good a time as I did because I was, I was like, the little kid in me was freaking out the whole time. Amazing. Amazing. So I have to, I know that, you know, it's probably a little early to ask about deleted scenes, but I have to ask, A, was there ever a, oh, there's a tiger in this bathroom scene? And B, was there ever, did we ever meet the thugs that La'an beats up or was it decided early?

[00:40:22] Like, no, you don't need them. You only need her reactions. By the way, she did all those steps. She beat him up herself. We did not get a step first. And she's, she's a badass. Christina is just such a badass. But for me, the Tribble was the tiger. Okay. I was like, and that's why I lobbied for it because there needs to be like an absurd animal that they wake up to.

[00:40:50] And then of course, Scotty's the tiger, you know, in his costume. They did have some lines in the bingo scene that got excised for, for pace. They were great. Actually, I, I did, I quite liked those scenes and those performers. Um, it was just for a comedy episode. Um, Henry and Akiva really felt like it just wanted to move as quickly as possible.

[00:41:18] And so anything that wasn't like strictly necessary for the propulsion, propulsive energy of it, um, got, got shaved. And that was one of the things that, um, the thing that I miss the most is the extended, um, singing montage of Una doing total eclipse of the heart. And we shot a lot of little beats of like what actually happened that night, um, that we missed,

[00:41:45] um, that were in there and there was so much more material there. And it was really, really funny. Um, you know, Spock and Kirk hanging out and playing games. There's just like one little bit of them doing rock, paper, scissors, but we did so many things. Um, and just more Martin and Melissa hijinks. Um, and yeah, I, I, I do wish that, um, the credits were longer, I guess, so that we could have,

[00:42:14] um, enjoyed more of that. That's the thing. Yeah. And I get what, I get what Henry and Akiva were coming where they were coming from for that bingo scene, because you already have like these perfect. There's a lot going on. And the line reads from the bingo ladies are. They were great. Grade A stuff. It's like, you have it. Like you don't have to double up on that. But man, I, that, that is one of my favorite scenes in an episode full of favorites. Oh, that's so great.

[00:42:44] And kudos on one of the thugs wearing a Hawaiian shirt. When they come into attack. Oh, yes. Just kind of my last thing on it is, I think that you guys did a really great job of, you make it funny, you make it heartfelt. And then like, right when you think the episode is turning, Scotty and Erica get kidnapped. And you have this immediate sense of like, oh, am I not safe? Like, is this not, are they not okay now? Like, but to use that planet.

[00:43:14] Yeah. Like this stuff goes down. It was brilliant. And then to transition that into Dave Foley's explanation. I mean, it was. Yeah. I was like, oh, these guys kidnap seven people a day. This is just their journey. This is their journey. I mean, that's Kat. She's such a wonderful, wonderful writer. What a gift of a script this was. She's so good. Yeah. Absolutely. I agree. I agree. Well, Yana Gorskaya, thank you very much. We didn't get to talk about Taika.

[00:43:44] I would have happily done that. But we've got a lot of stuff. What do you got to say? What do you got to say? Yeah, yeah. He would fit into the Star Trek universe. Amazingly. He's good. Yeah. And he is also a massive fan of genre, which is one of the reasons we get along so well. Yeah. Give us a little background there. You've worked on a lot of his projects. I worked on his very first movie and got to do just like a couple weeks on Eagle vs. Shark.

[00:44:09] And Jermaine was here in L.A. also, and he just sold Flight of the Conchords. Oh, wow. And they were both absolute sweethearts. And Taika's mom is a Russian Jew. And so we had all the same food.

[00:44:27] And I think that is part of why we have such a similar sense of humor and pacing and also a distaste for over sentimentality. So we shared all of that. And because of that, we worked together for many, many years. And he and Jermaine gave me my first directing opportunity on what we do in the shadows. Yeah. How many have you directed? 22. Wow.

[00:44:57] No small number. Heck yeah. We're welcome to directed that right now in my house. Time Bandits, an episode of that, which shows a big favorite of my family. And I got to direct Taika and Jermaine in Time Bandits, which was really, really fun. Time Bandits is another property that takes up part of my brain. So I lot read hard to do that. And that was so fun also.

[00:45:23] And it was my first time working with a volume stage, which is a big part of the Star Trek universe and helped prepare me. Did you guys use it in this episode? Not a lot. But the entire, you know, the peace talks scene with the exploding shuttle, that was all on the volume stage. Okay. So minimal use compared to dinosaurs. For sure. But at least I knew how they worked. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:45:52] Well, I am on the record, I think, more than one podcast that saying that Thor Ragnarok is the best of the Marvel movies. Like for me, that's not a question. Thank you. Ragnarok is great. I think this episode is the Thor Ragnarok of Strange New Worlds. Like, it's bright. It's colorful. It has heart. It's got a needle drop. Seriously. A good old needle drop. It works on a lot of levels.

[00:46:20] And I'm just here to say, on behalf of the fans, thank you, Yana, so much for this episode. So this is... Oh, thank you so much for having me. This is been super fun. I wish I was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. That's the only thing that I didn't do right. Bring your back on just so you can do that sometime. Yep. Yep. We'll get one of those iPhone filters and put one on you. There you go. You got it. You got it. All right. Well, thank you, Yana, very much for being here with us on Open Pike Night.

[00:46:47] And for such a fantastic single outing on Star Trek Strange New Worlds. It was great to have your talent and your voice brought to this fantastic show. Thank you. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. And we can't wait to see what we've got coming in the future. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Have a good night. All right.