"A Rock and a Hard Place"
Starship Farragut
reviewed by Fred Dixon

The Starship Farragut team has produced two short subjects before releasing their third full episode “The Potemkin Passthrough.” Both focus on the romantic relationships of the Farragut crew. Let’s look at “A Rock and A Hard Place.”

This seventeen-minute vignette looks at the relationship between the captain of the Farragut, Jack Carter (John Broughton), and an ex-flame, Dr. Angela Bishop from the Lexington (D.D. Hatcher). The Federation has assigned the Farragut to perform a science survey of a planet near the Klingon border. Our good captain thinks this mission is a bit of a milk run and an opportunity to renew an old relationship. The planet cannot be scanned from orbit due to its ionized atmosphere, so Carter takes Bishop alone down to the surface in a shuttlecraft. The members of the crew object, but the captain is the captain. After landing, Bishop finds that the planet is a dilithium crystal treasurehouse. Unfortunately, the Klingons have also discovered this and have risked an incursion into Federation space to exploit it. They come upon the Starfleet officers and a pitched fight ensues.

Again, we find that fanfilm characters have character. Carter is willing to take a few risks to be alone with ex-flame. Bishop has no problem with Carter’s less than opaque plans. This short differs from “Just Passing Through” by combining romantic comedy with action and adventure. The special effects by Neo FX are good and include a CBS Digital level establishing shot of the Farragut, the shuttecraft in the shuttlebay, and the shuttlecraft landing on the planet. The episode shows off the new shuttecraft interior set, a good replication of the original. Hetoreyn’s soundtrack is again fine. Broughton brings out the hound dog aspect of Carter and Hatcher affects the feminine wiles of an ex-flame (I was quite taken by her actually). As it turns out, D.D. Hatcher was a last minute substitution for another actress. Producer Broughton must be either really good or lucky because she was a natural.

I give “A Rock and A Hard Place” A’s across the board. It is a professionally produced piece.

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