AirLockAlpha.com

Sometime this month, the people behind the fan-produced "Star Trek: Hidden Frontier" series will be releasing its fourth episode of spinoff "Star Trek: Odyssey" online, bringing yet more adventures with Starfleet to the fans who have to wait until next May before they get anything official in the Star Trek universe.

The episode will mark Brandon McConnell's third appearance as Ro Nevin, the commanding officer aboard the USS Odyssey, and is considered to be the first openly gay captain in Star Trek: even if it's not canon.

McConnell is the third actor to portray the role, which originated in the "Hidden Frontier" series, but is excited to take on anything related to Star Trek.

"I think that Star Trek has a great message through all of its incarnations and incantations," McConnell said during a recent broadcast of SyFy Radio. "I think ['Odyssey'] is a great way to practice my craft and enjoy myself, and [at the same time] hang out with a great group of people."

McConnell joined the star of another "Hidden Frontier" spinoff series, Sharon Savene of "Star Trek: The Helena Chronicles." There she plays Capt. Theresa Faisal, continuing to portray characters in the different fan series that she's done since 2005.

"Faisal is a complicated lady," Savene said. "She loves to have fun, and hang out with her friends. At the same time, she's strongly devoted to justice, universal themes, leadership, and all that good stuff. She has a dual personality as part of where she was raised and who brought her up."

Faisal was born on Risa to Terran parents: An Italian mother and an Arabic father.

Both of them find themselves from time to time reading lines written by Beo Fraser, or wearing makeup created by Beo Fraser, or even drinking coffee made by Beo Fraser. That's because like many of the crewmembers attached to the Robert Caves series, Fraser has to be a jack of all trades.

"I've written a couple of episodes and helped with general producing stuff," Fraser said. "It's been a learning experience."

McConnell and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" star Patrick Stewart have a lot in common. Not only did they both have break-through roles as ships commanders, but they also share a love for the stage.

"Acting is something I have been pursuing for the better part of my life," McConnell said. "I had a chance to shoot a movie in Romania about a year and a half ago, and done a handful of commercials here and there. But I grew up on the stage, and trained on the stage."

He needed that training to try and balance the difficult task of taking over a popular character from another actor, while at the same time trying to make that character his own.

"Ro Nevin is a very dynamic character and has been established through a delicate line I have to toe," McConnell said. "It is a good thing because it keeps me in check. I have to be loyal to the character and loyal to the fan base, and at the same time, I have to be loyal to myself in terms of my interpretation of it.

"At this point in Ro Nevin's development, he has only gone so far, and there is so much further for him to go as far as myself as an actor taking him there and the writers taking him there. I think he is only going to develop and grow more and become loved by everyone in their own way."

While his sexuality was more talked about in the "Hidden Frontier" series, many fans tuning in to just "Odyssey" become surprised to learn that Nevin is gay.

"They're pushing the boundary just like Gene Roddenberry's vision of" Star Trek, McConnell said. "I respect that a lot. To not say anything is to become stagnant, is to stand still. I think anyone who is a fan of Star Trek doesn't need to be beaten over the head by some political statement. The subtlety adds to the realism."

More information about "Star Trek: Odyssey" and "Star Trek: The Helena Chronicles" can be found at the Hidden Frontier site by visiting HiddenFrontier.com.

To hear the complete interview with McConnell, Savene and Fraser, visit the SyFy Radio archives at BlogTalkRadio.com/SyFyRadio.

Wednesday, May 7, Michael Jenkins and Steven Frank from the popular gay entertainment Web site AfterElton will join the live broadcast of SyFy Radio to talk about how sexuality is being tackled in the genre, and if some of the rumored changes to "degayify" the "Doctor Who" spinoff "Torchwood" is for real.

That show begins at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT at BlogTalkRadio.com/SyFyRadio.

Feeling a little horrific? Get your daily dose of horror news straight from The Doll, Rabid Doll that is at www.RabidDoll.com.

Hear Michael Hinman on SyFy Radio every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SyFyRadio.