The most recent Star Trek: Short Treks “Children of Mars” is a powerful story packed into an eight-minute short-form film on CBS All Access. We’re quickly introduced to 12-year-old classmates Kima and Lil, who each have a parent working in the shipyards at Mars, likely Utopia Planitia, which was featured in TNG, DS9, and VOY.
The girls, who live in the San Franciso area (California, Earth) are on their way to school with fellow classmates when Lil knocks the satchel out of Kima’s hands, causing her to be late to school. The girls intensify their quarrel throughout the day eventually leading to a knock-down fight in the school hallway. The girls, separated, are sent to detention.
Soon the school staff begin talking in hushed, agonized whispers letting the audience know something is going sideways in a major way. The holographic screens placed throughout the lobby begin to report that Mars has been attacked. The chyron on the screens explain that “rogue synths” have attacked Mars and there are 3,000 estimated dead.
Next, we see Admiral Picard on screen with a single-word statement “DEVASTATING.”
The video ends with the girls looking into each other’s faces and their hands slowly coming together in solidarity for their shared anguish.
The attacks occur on First Contact Day (April 5, as established in Star Trek: First Contact). Whether the rogue synths chose that symbolic day for the attack or if it’s just an unfortunate coincidence. Regardless, the rogue synths are not just a one-off. They and their attack seem to be a very important plot point in the upcoming Star Trek: Picard series. As seen in the graphic below, the rogue synth ships are featured in the short and the trailer for Picard.
It seems likely the Mars attack and the rogue synths have a meaningful connection for Picard, which should be explained in the upcoming series.
Another interesting aspect of the short involves David Bowie’s “Heroes” being performed in a slow, melancholy style by an uncredited person as the girls arrive at school. The end credits give Jeff Russo credit for the music, but it’s not clear if that’s solely for the orchestration or also singing the Bowie song. Russo is certainly capable of singing “Heroes” as he was one of the founding members of the band Tonic.
A final point: It’s interesting the writers chose “Children of Mars” as the title of the Short Trek. Children of Mars was a 1943 short documentary film directed by Frank Donovan. The “short” was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. The short film focused on child delinquency and crime caused by the absence of their parents due to war (World War II). There are strong similarities here as both Kima and Lil have parents working far from home to help build ships for Starfleet. The absence of Lil’s father apparently causes her to act out against Kima, with confrontation escalating quickly between the girls, perhaps because of the mental strain of being so distant from their parents.
We may never learn more about these students, but we will learn more about the surrounding events involving the rogue synths when Star Trek: Picard launches on Jan. 23 on CBS All Access.
For those who’ve not yet subscribed to CBS All Access, here is a clip of “Children of Mars.”
