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Post by goldensandslash on Apr 18, 2020 6:35:06 GMT
This is our first instance of seeing a shuttlecraft, specifically The Galileo. It does call into question why they have shuttlecrafts when the transporter is perfectly fine. (The answer is that the transporter is NOT always perfectly fine, but that's never explained within this episode.)
Anyways, seven members of the Enterprise crew are in the Galileo and they're heading for a quasar to study it. Spock is the highest-ranked officer in the Galileo, so he takes command. Of course, the Galileo is just a shuttlecraft, so it has a lot of technological limitations compared to the Enterprise. When everything starts going disastrously wrong for Spock's mission, a decent chunk of that is because the Galileo is simply insufficient. It made me wonder if shuttlecrafts were deliberately written to be weak solely for this episode, since, well, this is the episode that created the shuttlecraft.
You want to know what else is a dumb limitation? Commissioner Farris. He wants to get medical supplies to Makus III, for victims of a plague. That's very admirable. Unfortunately, it all falls apart when Farris turns out to be completely loathsome. Every single time he's on the bridge telling Kirk to call of the search for the missing Galileo, he's completely insufferable. Even if I were to accept that the colonists on Makus III were of higher priority than the lives of Spock and the others, he didn't need to be so constantly aggravating about it. Actually, come to think of it, he didn't need to exist at all. Kirk could have chosen that the medical supplies were more important. Or Uhura could have relayed a message that came in from Starfleet Command ordering Kirk to do this. But there's a problem with that: the "bad guy" in this story is the conflict between whether to take the medicine to Makus III or to rescue the crew of the Galileo. Having a vague idea of a conflict as a "bad guy" is harder for audiences to grasp than having a "bad guy" that they can put a face and a name behind, so they created one in the form of Commissioner Farris. In short, he's here because the plot needs him to be here, not because it makes any sort of logical sense.
Of course, I find it funny that I talk about "logic" while talking about the story that primarily focuses on Spock's attachment to logic.
Spock leads Dr. McCoy, Scotty, Leoman Mears, Lieutenant Boma, Lieutenant Gaetano, and Lieutenant Latimer down to a crash-landing on Taurus II. And they then discover that this planet is inhabited by ape-like creatures that are 10-12 feet tall, and these creatures kill Latimer and Gaetano. Funnily enough, I think that these creatures are accidentally amazing. Here's the thing: if we were to ever get a close-up shot of one of them, it'd look really silly by today's standards. Cause it would be so obviously be a man in a costume. There'd be no way to take it seriously as a threat. But, we actually DON'T ever zoom in on them and get a close look. This makes them more terrifying and helps the tone that the episode is trying to set.
Anyways, the crew of the Galileo have to survive against these hostile creatures. If that sounds familiar to you, that's because "survive against a hostile creature" is a cliché. Luckily, there is a variable thrown into this equation that changes things a bit: Spock. His dedication to logic falls apart when he realizes that these creatures that are attacking the crew DON'T behave logically. When Spock uses the phasers to frighten the creatures and to demonstrate his superiority in strength, he expects the creatures to flee. Instead, they attack HARDER, now deeming the Galileo to be a more serious threat.
The crew of the Galileo get increasingly frustrated with Spock's inability to show emotion in times of crisis like this. And then, at the end, Spock makes a decision. He burns up all of he remaining fuel in the Galileo in order to use it as a flare as a last-ditch emotional effort, even though he knows that the Enterprise is on its way to Makus III by now. And you can tell from the looks on everyone's faces that they thought they were all going to die.
I do have mixed feelings about the ending. The entire bridge crew tease Spock for his use of an emotion, and his refusal to admit that he had done so. And then they laugh at him. This honestly feels rude to me, like they're picking on him. It reminded me a lot of bullying. But then I remembered something: the previous episode. The previous episode saw basically this exact same ending, except with the roles reversed. Spock was the one playfully teasing the crew for how much they were implied to do during their shore leave. And I didn't have a problem with it there. So what's going on? I honestly don't know. It's a personal thing, so it doesn't actually matter. If I was able to enjoy one but not the other for no good reason, it stands to reason that some people may be the other way around, or some may enjoy both, or some will enjoy neither. This is a personal thing. (If I had to speculate, I would say that one person picking on many is a very different feeling than many people picking on one, but that's just a guess. And, as I said, either way, this is just personal opinion. There's nothing objectively wrong with either ending.)
At the end of the day, this episode provides a nice character study of Spock. There are some speed bumps in this episode, primarily caused by Commissioner Farris, but if you can overlook them, there's a fun ride to be had here.
And that's it for this one! Join me next time, where I'll be looking at "The Squire of Gothos".
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Post by goldensandslash on Apr 19, 2020 6:02:54 GMT
Trigger warning: Racism Trigger warning: Discussion of cultural appropriation
This episode was such a delight. William Campbell plays the role of Trelane here. Trelane is basically the same character as Q from The Next Generation/Deep Space Nine/Voyager. Actually, he's more like Q (the child Q from VOY: "Q2") than he is like Q. And I believe that the non-canon books show that Trelane is a Q, though don't quote me on that.
So yeah, we got a very Q-like character here, but seeing as how Q is still 20 years or so away from existing at this point, I'm gonna abandon that train of thought and just look at Trelane as his own individual.
Sulu and Kirk get kidnapped by Trelane, and we see Trelane, an outsider to Earth culture, attempt to recreate it. But he gets the time period wrong, and gets stuff from the 1300s instead of the 2200s. And, in fact, he only gets things sort-of right anyways. McCoy and Sulu note that his food has no taste, it is bland and boring. This is because he only merely observed Earth culture and was never a part of it. He does not understand the culture and generational practices that made the food what it is. He just saw that people enjoyed them, so he replicated them without the context. And even if he DID get it right, he also cherry-picked specific examples of Earth culture to use here, didn't he? Yep. You know where I'm going with this: this is cultural appropriation. The episode works wonderfully as a metaphor for cultural appropriation even though I don't think it's intended to be viewed that way. Trelane is meant to be viewed as a small child playing with some pets, and abusing them because he doesn't understand that they are alive. The final scene kinda solidifies that.
But before I get to that, let's talk about Uhura. One downside to having a 1300s view of things is that Trelane sees that Uhura is black and throws a bunch of racial stereotypes and slurs at her. "Ah a Nubian prize. (he kisses her hand) Taken on one of your raids of conquest, no doubt, Captain. She has the melting eyes of the queen of Sheba. The same lovely colouring." HEY, DIPSHIT, FUCK OFF. And indeed, after saying that, we see both Kirk and Uhura's reactions, and they seem ready to murder him. Though his racism against Uhura is the worst, it's far from the only example. He assumes Lieutenant DeSalle is a stereotypical Frenchman, and he assumes the same of Lieutenant Jaeger with German. I'm guessing he's saying racist stuff here, but, you see, I can't speak those languages. So I have no idea. And then there's the women. He treats Yeoman Ross as an object to be possessed, because... (sigh) because of course he does.
Ugh.
Does he mean well? Of course. Does that make it hurt any less? Not at all. He's a child who is used to the idea of instantly getting whatever he wants, and so anyone who rejects him or contradicts him causes him to go into a rage of anger. He's what happens when you give unrestrained power to someone without any intellect to go along with it.
And then at the end we meet Trelane's parents. They scold him and punish him and we learn that he was treating these humans as though they were his pets. It's a deus ex machina ending, and yeah, that's a problem. But at the same time, it shines a new light on Trelane's behavior. Much like a child, he never intended to ACTUALLY take part in the traditions of human culture, he just wanted to massively appropriate it. So, knowing that Trelane acts like a child, the reveal that he IS a child actually does help tie the episode together, but from an in-universe perspective, it comes completely out of nowhere, as though Kirk were just handed the victory over Trelane for doing nothing. There was no reason to believe that Trelane's parents would show up and free Kirk. So it's a bit of a mixed bag here.
Still, I thought it was a decent episode by today's standards, just because Trelane is such a memorable character. Were it not for the fact that Q exists and basically does this exact same character a thousand times better, I imagine that this one would be fondly remembered today as one of THE greatest Trek episodes out there. It's a lot of fun.
And that's it for this one! Join me next time, where I'll be looking at "Arena".
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Post by goldensandslash on Apr 19, 2020 8:38:51 GMT
The Enterprise is on a mission of exploration and peace. They have no hostile intentions. It is not their aim to colonize worlds.
But then we get an interesting conundrum. What if their actions are perceived as invasive, even if that was not their intent? That's what happens here. Kirk and a team of people beam down to Cestus III, where a Federation outpost is. They beam down and find that the outpost has been destroyed. Only one man survived, and he's near-death. Meanwhile, an unknown party bombs the hell out of Kirk's team. They're forced to take shelter. The Enterprise is also under attack by an unknown ship, and with shields up, they can't beam up the away team. I will say that the bombings are pretty good, as far as special effects go. It's not QUITE up to par with modern-day effects, but it's pretty damn close. Easily the best that Star Trek has done thus far.
So, to recap, the Federation's outpost was destroyed, everyone on the ground was massacred, the alien force is bombing the shit out of the away team, and they also attacked the Enterprise. Naturally, at this point, the Federation is entitled to claim that they are acting in self-defense. When Kirk does get back to the Enterprise, he orders a pursuit of the alien vessel, telling Spock that they cannot allow aliens to attack humans without repercussion. He keeps pushing the Enterprise's engines further and further, eventually reaching Warp 8. And then... they stop.
Both the Enterprise and the alien ship are frozen in place by a third party, the Metrons. The Metrons are an omnipotent race that judge both species to be "inferior" due to their violent tendencies, and then they force Kirk into an arena to fight the Gorn captain via trial-by-combat. Here's the thing: they're not wrong. Kirk is trying to kill the Gorn without taking the time to realize WHY the Gorn are attacking the Federation. And during the fight, Kirk learns the reason. The outpost on Cestus III, thought to be on unclaimed land, is actually in Gorn territory. Thus, the Gorn saw the Federation as invaders, so from their perspective, they are also acting in self-defense.
And Kirk realizes this after he uses his surroundings to form a crude weapon. He learns the importance of empathy, and decides not to kill the Gorn. The Metrons commend him for showing mercy.
And then... the episode stops.
Yeah, it doesn't really end, it just stops.
I think I would have preferred to see the Federation and the Gorn come to some sort of mutual agreement and diplomatic solution here, rather than just having the Metrons teleport each back to their respective ships and calling it a day. I think a follow-up story to this one is needed, but alas, we never get one. It gets thrown into that pile along with "Balance of Terror".
And that's it for this one! Join me next time, where I'll be looking at "Tomorrow Is Yesterday".
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Post by goldensandslash on Apr 21, 2020 5:45:14 GMT
So, in this episode, the Enterprise falls into a time warp to the 1960s, and they are almost immediately spotted by the United States military. And then the military sends an Air Force ship after the Enterprise. The only way for the Enterprise to stop the pilot from launching missiles is to beam him aboard. From there, the entire plot of the episode revolves around how the crew can undo the damage to the timeline.
Captain John Christopher, the US Air Force pilot that they beam up, adapts to the Enterprise fairly quickly. But they keep running into new problems. First they need to recover the film that Christopher took of the Enterprise. Then Kirk gets captured by the US military. Then they accidentally beam up a security guard. And so on. At every turn, the situation worsens.
I will say that the fight scene between Kirk and the security guards of the military base was an absolutely hilarious fight. Kirk just throws his body about randomly in a confusing fashion. It... is an interesting fight strategy... I guess. I dunno, it just seemed more silly than anything else.
Overall, I don't think this episode holds up. After the past several episodes kinda getting the ball rolling for TOS, this felt like a step backwards. I just don't find 1960s Earth to be that interesting. Star Trek is supposed to be about a sci-fi future, and so if that's what you're looking for, this episode doesn't deliver.
But let's take a look at the ending. In order to help "fix" the timeline, the Enterprise crew use their transporter to beam their two unwanted guests into their bodies from earlier in the timeline, as they're slingshotting through time. That... somehow... causes their memories to be erased. Yeah, yeah, technobabble never made any sense, but it's ESPECIALLY egregious here. I'm sorry, but no. The transporter cannot do that. That's just bullshit.
I'm sorry that this review is shorter than most, but I really don't have much to say about it. It wasn't very good, but it wasn't so abysmally awful that I can go on a tirade about it.
I guess I will say one positive thing about it: we learn that Captain Christopher's son will one day lead the first manned mission to Saturn. First of all, that's hilarious. Christopher is from 1969. We know that he has no son at the time this episode takes place. Therefore, we can assume his son is born in the 1970s. That's awfully generous to assume that he'll be going to Saturn in his lifetime. However, there is a positive note about this: this celebrates space exploration and science. That's what Star Trek is meant to do. In fact, for many people working for NASA or other space agencies nowadays, Star Trek is frequently cited as an inspiration for them. I see it over and over again. "What made you want to become a rocket scientist?" "I enjoyed watching Star Trek as a kid." I feel that Christopher's son was an in-universe nod to that.
And that's it for this one! Join me next time, where I'll be looking at "Court Martial".
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Post by goldensandslash on Apr 22, 2020 5:39:57 GMT
You know, I love courtroom dramas. No idea why, but I've always had a soft spot for them.
So naturally, I love that this episode is a courtroom drama. (Although, as with nearly any courtroom drama, any real-life lawyer would tear these people apart. This show definitely takes artistic license when it comes to how law works, but, again, so does every courtroom drama. Unrelated to this episode, but if anyone reading this wants to see what it's like when a courtroom drama averts this, check out the movie "My Cousin Vinny". It's about two boys that get accused of murder, and then a courtroom drama ensues from there, except that unlike most courtroom dramas, this one is 100% legally-accurate. The filmmakers had real lawyers on standby making sure that every detail is right. The only thing that isn't realistic is the defense attorney. He behaves like an attorney from a courtroom drama film, and has to quickly learn that this won't work in a real-life court of law. Anywho, I'm getting off-topic. Let's get back to Star Trek.)
Kirk's negligence gets Lieutenant Commander Finney killed. And then, when he reports it to Starfleet Command, his record of what happened doesn't match with what the Enterprise computer says happened, so he is charged with perjury.
One interesting story choice is that we are NEVER shown what actually happened. Much like the judge and jury of the case, we are forced to rely only on the evidence and the witness testimony presented before us. That's a nice way of doing this story.
Anywho, we learn that Finney made a mistake years ago, which Kirk reported. This single mistake caused Finney to be rejected for captaincy, in favor of Kirk instead. And that Finney resented Kirk because of that. The prosecution then argues that Kirk deliberately allowed Finney to die as a part of their feud. And what's more: she produces video evidence showing exactly that. And that's pretty damning evidence, isn't it?
Well, let's take a look at the excellent scene in which Cogley (Kirk's attorney) defends Kirk against the computer. It's an amazing scene to behold.
STONE: Court is now in session. The board will entertain motions before delivering its verdict. Counsel for the prosecution? SHAW: Sir, the prosecution rests. STONE: Counsel for the defence? COGLEY: Sir, the defence rests. (McCoy and Spock run in and whisper to Kirk and Cogley) STONE: Mister Cogley. Mister Cogley! COGLEY: Sir, some new evidence has just been brought to my attention. I'd like to ask the court to SHAW: Objection! Counsel for the defence has rested his case. STONE: Of what nature is this evidence? COGLEY: I can't tell you, I'll have to show you. SHAW: Mister Cogley is well-known for his theatrics. COGLEY: Is saving an innocent man's career a theatric? I- STONE: Counsels will kindly direct their remarks to the bench. COGLEY: I'd be delighted to, sir, now that I've got something human to talk about. Rights, sir, human rights. The Bible, the Code of Hammurabi and of Justinian, Magna Carta, the Constitution of the United States, Fundamental Declarations of the Martian colonies, the Statutes of Alpha Three. Gentlemen, these documents all speak of rights. Rights of the accused to a trial by his peers, to be represented by counsel, the rights of cross-examination, but most importantly, the right to be confronted by the witnesses against him, a right to which my client has been denied. SHAW: Your Honour, that is ridiculous. We produced the witnesses in court. My learned opponent had the opportunity to see them, cross-examine them. COGLEY: All but one. The most devastating witness against my client is not a human being. It's a machine, an information system. The computer log of the Enterprise. Can ask this court adjourn and reconvene aboard that vessel. SHAW: I protest, Your Honour. COGLEY: And I repeat, I speak of rights. A machine has none. A man must. My client has the right to face his accuser, and if you do not grant him that right, you have brought us down to the level of the machine. Indeed, you have elevated that machine above us. I ask that my motion be granted, and more than that, gentlemen. In the name of humanity, fading in the shadow of the machine, I demand it. I demand it!
GOD DAMN. That's so good.
And indeed, we go to the Enterprise, where we learn, via detecting heartbeats, that Lieutenant Commander Finney is indeed alive. He evaded search attempts to locate him, because he wanted to see Kirk disgraced. Now that's a plot twist! I admit, the first time I watched this episode, I did not see that coming. Indeed, I thought that Finney's daughter had altered the computer record in order to frame Kirk because she also resented him. Way to throw a red herring in there. But no, Finney himself altered the record. Which I admit is a little confusing. I get that in the 1960s, you can basically argue through technobabble that technology can do whatever the fuck you want it to, but nowadays, this is a bit silly. How do you make a camera change what it is recording? There's not really an easy way of doing that.
And yes, I know that video editing exists, but that takes far more time than Finney had here. But meh. It's not really that important, and you can overlook it in the name of a thrilling courtroom drama.
And then we get the fight scene between Kirk and Finney. Which made me laugh. First of all, William Shatner's shirt rips for like, the fourth or fifth time in this show. I know it's practically cliché to make fun of that from TOS, but yeah, it is getting VERY noticeable how often it happens. I'm beginning to think it was in Shatner's contract or something. Maybe he only agreed to do Star Trek if he could appear shirtless? Probably not, but hey, I can speculate. And it doesn't matter, because William Shatner is sexy (well, in his prime, obviously I'm not so into him today). So if I get to stare at more shirtless Kirk, I'm okay with that. (And this is coming from an asexual.)
But the other funny thing about the Kirk/Finney fight is the fact that the audio is being played onto the bridge, which is where everyone, including the courtroom members, are. You're listening to a live feed of a man trying to murder a Starfleet Captain. And it's your job to arbitrate the law. You wanna maybe, I dunno, do something? No? Just leave it to Kirk? Okay, fair enough.
The Enterprise's orbit is starting to decay at this point too, which will burn up everyone on the ship, by the way, if Finney isn't stopped. That includes you guys. Still want to just have Kirk deal with it on his own? You sure? Okay then.
Ladies and gentlemen, why do we even bother to let anyone anywhere do anything without James T. Kirk? Clearly he's necessary for all of this.
I will admit that I got a chuckle out of the departures of both attorneys. First of all, Cogley. Before he leaves, he promises to return. He never appears again throughout the rest of the episode (or, indeed, the entirety of the Star Trek franchise). That's funny to me. And then there's the prosecutor. Shaw says this to Kirk at the end: "Do you think it would cause a complete breakdown of discipline if a lowly lieutenant kissed a Starship Captain on the bridge of his ship?" YES. YES IT WOULD. DON'T DO IT.
Of course they do it.
God dammit.
Yeah, no, that's completely inappropriate behavior for people of different ranks.
So yeah, this episode is fun, but there are quite a few speed bumps on the way. If you can swallow the necessary pills, then it can be a fun ride, but they are tough pills to swallow.
And that's it for this one! Join me next time, where I'll be looking at "The Return of the Archons".
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Post by goldensandslash on Apr 26, 2020 7:50:42 GMT
This episode is creepy and overwhelming. Seriously, there is SO MUCH WORLDBUILDING in here. We open with Sulu running down the streets of a stereotypical "Old West" town. He's wearing 19th century clothing. And then a monk approaches him with a staff, and then the next thing you know, Sulu is reduced to becoming a smiling idiot.
WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?
Yeah, all that stuff I just mentioned? That's just the first three minutes. We've got a lot more to go.
And yes, the episode only gets weirder from there. See, ordinarily, this entire society behaves as Sulu does, always smiling, and offering greetings of joy and peace to each other. But then the "Red Hour" hits, and then they have a "festival". During the festival, which lasts twelve hours, it's as if all the rules of this society don't exist and everything descends into chaos. It's weird as hell, and it is NEVER EXPLAINED WHY THIS IS A THING. Not once throughout the entire episode. We're only left with fan theories.
Anywho, the riot is crazy. There's a fire, there's people punching each other, and so forth. Kudos to whoever did the sound effects on the crowd, by the way. It's VERY unsettling noises. Somehow, Kirk and the crew are able to sleep through this. I have no idea how, I certainly would not have been able to.
The three old men here are excused from the festival due to their age, but they are talking in nonsense. They speak of being part of "the body", they talk about "the will of Landru", and there's the "Lawgivers" and oh my god so much terminology.
This episode is great. It's easily the best world-building that Star Trek has done yet. In fact, I'm struggling to come up with a world even in future Trek that gets as much worldbuilding as this one did in just a single episode. Oh sure, other planets are more well-developed, but that's when we spend MULTIPLE episodes on a planet. Where as with Beta III, we, as far as I know, never see this place again.
Speaking of future Trek, I will say one other thing about this episode: this is the first mention of the Prime Directive: Starfleet cannot interfere with other cultures. That's great. IMPERIALISM IS BAD. Take notes, everyone. If you encounter a culture that is less developed than your own, there's a VERY large chance that any attempt to change them will result in a disaster. The Prime Directive is, of course, like all of Star Trek, a complete work of fiction. There is no real-life Prime Directive. And yet: this is so very poignant to real-life. How many times throughout human history has a disaster happened because of colonization and imperialism? FAR TOO MANY. We need to learn from Starfleet, and start up a real-life Prime Directive of our own.
Anywho, the plot of this episode is that the Enterprise is looking for a Starfleet ship, the Archon, that went missing in the area. Turns out that Landru shot it down and its crew were all either killed or absorbed into "the body". Which is basically just the TOS equivalent of Borg assimilation. That's why the people of Beta III refer to the Enterprise crew as "Archons". That's their term for beings from another world.
After this incredible world-building episode, we ultimately get the reveal that Landru is actually a computer, and this computer has been running this society the whole time. And then Kirk and Spock realize that Landru is stifling creativity and freedom. Thus, they convince the computer that it is doing harm to the society and that it must destroy itself. And so... Kirk violated the Prime Directive.
Kirk, go back and read the paragraph that I wrote on why imperialism is bad.
To his credit, Kirk does try to justify it as the prime directive "refers to a living, growing culture" and this one is not. Yeah, that's bullshit. Cause what that is basically saying is that it is okay to violate the Prime Directive and alter a culture completely, as long as you alter it into a better culture. That kind of thought process has led to so many of history's biggest problems, and I have no doubt that it will also continue to do so in the future.
This episode is honestly a lot better than I make it sound. There's so much worldbuilding here, but I honestly hardly remember it because, for the first time ever, I broke my one-episode-per-day streak. It's been about five days since I made a post here, and about four or five days since I saw the episode. I do remember the vague details and I remember being impressed though. So I think it is overall a good episode, I'm just kinda not in a good position to talk about it right now.
Lesson learned: don't skip so many days in a row. I'll try to do better in the future.
And that's it for this one! Join me next time, where I'll be looking at "Space Seed".
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Post by goldensandslash on Apr 27, 2020 5:33:15 GMT
Trigger Warning: Discussion of eugenics Trigger Warning: Manipulative relationships Trigger Warning: Abusive Relationships So, this episode is a thing. In the 1990s, we had the third world war: the Eugenics War. Everyone remembers that, right? No? Yeah... that never happened. But in Star Trek, apparently it did. Until it didn't. (VOY: "Future's End" shows them going to a more realistic 1990s.) So, yeah, here's the tricky part about this. It's hard to slam this episode too hard for predicting the 1990s incorrectly. After all, this was made in the 1960s. Star Trek is, at this point, just an obscure sci-fi show that airs on TV on a somewhat-regular basis. It's not a full multimillion dollar franchise yet. I totally understand that the writers of this episode did not expect anyone to be watching the show in the 1990s, never mind the 2020s. As such, setting the eugenics wars in the 1990s is fine. But, here's the thing: it didn't have to be done. You could easily rewrite this script to reference the 2090s instead. Or any other decade. Hell, you don't even have to do that. You can just say that Khan is from the Eugenics Wars, briefly explain what that was, but don't mention a time period. This episode irritates me because of how easy it would have been to future-proof this. Yes, I get it, the odds of Star Trek still being relevant by the time the 1990s comes around is slim. But why take the risk at all? Why not set it in the far-off future so that no living person will ever see the timeline of Star Trek come to pass (and, inevitably, not actually come to pass). To be fair, this problem isn't specific to Star Trek. (Relevant XKCD link: xkcd.com/864/ ) The most famous example of this is Back to the Future Part II, which shows a hyper-sci fi, ultra-high tech digitally-futuristic far-off year of... 2015. Yeah, these types of things NEVER age well. Protip to sci-fi writers: avoid mentioning time periods, especially ones within your own century. (Anything further away than 100 years is fair-game, as by the time that comes around, no one will still be alive who read your original work.) Actually, if you want to see this avoided, this news article from 1900 predicts what life will be like in the year 2000: 4.bp.blogspot.com/_sGYULzoQCgA/RiR7L_dyCLI/AAAAAAAAAdU/2COTRQtZAk8/s1600/Ladies+Home+Journal+Dec+1900+paleofuture+paleo-future.jpg It is scarily accurate. They were unable to predict the internet, but got almost everything else spot-on. The section about airplanes was especially dead-on. Though it did break my heart to read about the prediction of free university educations for everyone. *sigh* MOST COUNTRIES ALREADY DO THIS. WHY CAN'T WE!? Oh, right. I'm supposed to be talking about Star Trek. So, this was a good episode, but it is not without its flaws. The first is the actor who plays Khan. Ricardo Montalbán is a great actor, and I'm not gonna argue otherwise. But... he's Mexican. And yet, the character of Khan is South Indian/Sikh. Having a Mexican actor play him is pretty damn racist and would never hold up today. However, back in 1967, seeing ANY person of color in a main role for a television episode was fantastic. Ricardo Montalbán is an AMAZING actor too. I loved watching him in this. But, having said that, I think I would rather have avoided the racial issues and just had a real Indian actor. But hey, it could be worse. They could have had a white actor play him. (Seriously, if I keep these reviews up for the ENTIRETY of the Star Trek franchise, expect my review of Star Trek: Into Darkness to just be a long angry rant. Fuck that movie.) The other massive flaw in this episode comes from Lieutenant McGivers. Her character in any one given scene is interesting and compelling. The problem is that I can't just look at one scene, I have to look at the whole episode. And as the whole episode goes, these scenes just aren't compatible with one another. Let's go through what her character experiences and how she reacts to it, shall we? So, first, she goes over to the Botany Bay. There, she sees Khan, who is very muscular and has amazing biceps and is wearing nothing but a loincloth. Naturally, she's attracted to him. Can't really blame her there. So far, so good. Then we learn that she is a historian with a specialty in 1990s history (that's a sentence I never thought I'd ever write). So she's not only attracted to this highly attractive person, but also to the idea that he represents. Okay, great. Then we learn that Khan Noonien Singh was a brutal tyrant who is thought to be responsible for 25% of all of the deaths in the Eugenics Wars. And yet... she's still attracted to him, even after learning that. Now, I think I'm gonna take points off here. Sorry, but no. If you are a historian, and you got a chance to meet a person like this, I don't think you'd be able to divorce them from their actions like this. If you disagree with that and think that it's totally okay for McGivers to still be attracted to Khan, fine. I'll accept that. I don't agree with you, but let's just go with this for now. Let's take a look at what happens next. He starts abusing her. And then she calls him out on this at the very beginning, ONCE. Then she goes along with the abuse for the remainder of the scene. That's... not right. And yet... she still is showing attraction to him. It's like she's suddenly a whole new person. But then we see her betray the Enterprise in order to help Khan. So I guess she still loves him. Oh, but then she stands up for Uhura after Khan's people start hurting her. So I guess she's back on the "good guys' side. Oh, and then she rescues Kirk from being killed by Khan. So yeah, that confirms it. Okay, she's realized her mistake with being attracted to Khan. Great. Oh, wait, no. She decides to be marooned on an uninhabitable planet with him. *sigh* Again, this is after ALL THE SHIT HE PULLS OFF IN THIS EPISODE. For fuck's sake, if you still want to love him after all that, there's something wrong with you. But even if that is the case, at least be consistent about it. Jeez. And yet, despite that, I'm still willing to call this a really really really really good episode. Because there's a lot more to this episode than just McGiver's character. We open with the Enterprise discovering the Botany Bay, and something is very clearly wrong here. We don't know what, but something just feels "wrong" here. Then they go over and find Khan's sleeping body and bring him back to the Enterprise. When he wakes, we get to see him creepily threaten Dr. McCoy, and McCoy proves himself to be such a badass by not caring about the threat. It's a great scene for McCoy, but it also shows off just how creepy Khan can be. And then he notices McGivers. He quickly deduces that she is the weakest link in the crew, so he uses her as a means to escape the Enterprise and get back to the Botany Bay to re-awaken his army of genetically-enhanced humans. At this point, we learn the history of the Eugenics Wars and of who Khan Noonien Singh really was. KIRK: Name, Khan, as we know him today. (Spock changes the picture) Name, Khan Noonien Singh. SPOCK: From 1992 through 1996, absolute ruler of more than a quarter of your world. From Asia through the Middle East. MCCOY: The last of the tyrants to be overthrown. SCOTT: I must confess, gentlemen. I've always held a sneaking admiration for this one. KIRK: He was the best of the tyrants and the most dangerous. They were supermen, in a sense. Stronger, braver, certainly more ambitious, more daring. SPOCK: Gentlemen, this romanticism about a ruthless dictator is KIRK: Mister Spock, we humans have a streak of barbarism in us. Appalling, but there, nevertheless. SCOTT: There were no massacres under his rule. SPOCK: And as little freedom. MCCOY: No wars until he was attacked. SPOCK: Gentlemen. KIRK: Mister Spock, you misunderstand us. We can be against him and admire him all at the same time. SPOCK: Illogical. KIRK: Totally. Spock is 100% right here. It is illogical to admire someone who did such horrific things. This is part of why McGivers' characterization is so confusing. We also get some more of this at the dinner scene. Khan openly expresses his views, supporting the genetically-enhanced humans (this is before we learn that he is one). And he says that he's disappointed in humanity, arguing that it has not changed much since his own time. Sure, the technology has been advanced, but mankind itself is unchanged. Humans have not progressed further in evolution at all since the 1990s. And he talks about how humanity ought to "evolve" past its current state. Yeah, well... Khan and his super-army are a good example of what happens when you take that idea too far. And Khan proceeds to demonstrate this. In less than a day, he manages to not only take over the Enterprise, but is EXTREMELY thorough about planning for all contingencies, to the point where Kirk and the crew are unsure of how to stop him. He truly is one of the greatest Star Trek villains of all time. In the end, he's exiled to Ceti Alpha V. But we'll see him again. Kirk chose not to execute Khan or anything like that. He just got marooned on a planet somewhere. And this was a good writing choice. I'm sure the writers had no idea that they would be reusing Khan later on, but it's a very good idea when you write a good villain to not kill them off. Because if they're a REALLY good villain, you want to be open to bringing them back later on. And that's it for this one! Join me next time, where I'll be looking at "A Taste of Armageddon".
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Post by goldensandslash on Apr 28, 2020 5:47:01 GMT
"Good god, y'all. War. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing."
So said Edwin Starr and anyone else who did a cover of that song.
What's very interesting about this is that I disagree with it. War, in my opinion, can be a very good thing. It can help bring about change. Take World War II for example. It helped to end the Holocaust. If the Allies had never declared war on Nazi Germany, there would be a decent chance that the brutal massacres of Jews and other minorities would still be ongoing in Germany to this day. War can save lives.
Now, don't misunderstand my opinion here. Just because I believe that war CAN BE a good thing does not mean that I believe that it is ALWAYS a good thing. Indeed, a pointless war is a bad thing. That's just bloodshed for the sake of itself. And the war that this song was written for, the Vietnam War, was indeed very pointless. Bringing up a more modern example, look at Iraq and Afghanistan. Those wars are completely pointless. In fact, the United States has been at war with SOME country somewhere every single day since August of 1990. Anyone born within the past thirty years has NEVER known a time when the USA was at peace. And those wars have all (or at least, nearly all) been pointless.
Here's a good way to know whether or not your war is pointless: pretend that your enemy offers you an unconditional surrender. Now, does that make your life better than it was before the war began? If the answer is "no", then your war is pointless and you need to stop.
But just saying that war is ALWAYS bad and nothing good can ever come out of it? No, that's wrong. Pointless war is bad. War in general is not. It's why I hate so many anti-war stories. Because they completely miss that point. Again, I will point out that if war didn't exist, Nazi Germany would still exist.
So, this episode of Star Trek is 100% an anti-war story. It aired during the Vietnam War, so I assume it was meant to protest that particular war, but that's never been made clear. In fact, Kirk's speech at the end of the episode suggests that this was just supposed to be against the idea of war in general, and, as I already stated, I have a problem with that message.
But anyways, let's talk about this. The planets of Eminiar and Vendikar have been at war for each other for 500 years. That's a long time. Were this an Earth war, it'd be the ninth-longest one in all of human history, according to the Wikipedia article "lists of conflicts by duration". But here's the thing: the Eminiar-Vendikar war is not a normal war. In fact, when the crew beams down, they find an idyllic setting. Everything looks gorgeous and peaceful. There's no sign of any war whatsoever. This seems like a nice place to live.
And then they pull back the curtain. This entire war is being fought via computer simulation. They simulate attacks on each other, and the computer calculates casualties. If the computer declares that you are dead, then you have 24 hours to commit suicide so that the computer may be accurate. Both sides of the war still do this, because they know that if they don't die when the computer tells them to do so, then the other side will have no choice but to engage in REAL warfare, with "disaster, disease, starvation, horrible, lingering death, pain and anguish", to use the episode's terms.
And what makes this episode so unsettling is that the people just accept this as a part of life. Mea 3 (yeah, people on this planet have numbers as their last names, never explained why) is considered a casualty, and she isn't upset, she just casually marches into a disintegration chamber, just as though she were going to a meeting at work. This is really fucking disturbing.
I mentioned this planet as being a nice place to live. Could you imagine just going about your day-to-day life, and then all of a sudden be informed that you are now dead as a result of this war, and that you now need to go kill yourself? WHAT THE FUCK. How do you live like that, knowing that you can be ordered to die at any time?
But everyone is so complacent. That's the most horrifying part: people on these planets can't even fathom another way of life other than living with these suicide machines. This war has been going on for centuries precisely because there's been no incentive to end it. If all war is were just a simulation, a bunch of numbers, a list of dead people, and trips to a suicide box, then why stop it? That's risky. Stopping it could invite real war, which would be so much worse. And that's why everyone is so complacent: they understand that things could be worse.
And yes, they can. But guess what? They can also be so much better. Kirk realizes this, and so he ends up taking actions that ultimately result in the destruction of the computer that's simulating the war. Now, the two planets must either make war with real weapons, or attain peace. They can no longer have a clean and tidy war that is allowed to drag on for 500 years. War is messy. War is bloody. War is brutal. And if it were not, then there'd be no reason to ever try for peace. So Kirk gives them a war. A REAL war. Neither side wants this, and so they ultimately try for peace. We don't know whether they succeed or not, but we do know that they at least try.
Ambassador Fox, the Federation diplomat introduced in this episode, offers his services as a facilitator, so hopefully peace will be successful. There is a subplot with him being a jerk similar to Commissioner Ferris from "The Galileo Seven", but he eventually comes around. And he also gives Scotty a great character moment. Scotty flat-out admits that he knows he can face legal charges for defying Ambassador Fox's orders, but he does so anyways because he believes that he is helping Kirk and the Enterprise (and he's right).
So does this episode hold up? I'd say yes. It does exactly what it did back in the 1960s: it tells an anti-war story. War causes death and destruction, so it therefore ought to be avoided. The title of the episode, "A Taste of Armageddon", shows what these planets were experiencing: just a taste. Kirk offers them a full three-course meal of armageddon instead. And they realize that they'd rather have peace. In that sense, I don't think this episode has degraded at all since the 1960s.
But as I said at the start of this post, anti-war stories just don't work for me, because I fundamentally disagree with their message. War can be good, as long as it's not pointless. And while we never find out the reason for the Eminiar-Vendikar war in the episode, I think it's clear that after 500 years, they're continuing simply because they know no other lifestyle, so it is probably pointless. But "probably" is not "definitely". It's entirely possible that this war is completely justified. And without knowing the context of that, it's hard for me to get behind this episode.
But that's just a personal thing. If you don't mind anti-war stories, then you'll like this episode just fine.
And that's it for this one! Join me next time, where I'll be looking at "This Side of Paradise".
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Post by goldensandslash on Apr 29, 2020 2:08:36 GMT
The episode opens with the Enterprise going to Omicron Ceti III. This is a planet that was supposedly colonized by Humans, but the constant radiation that the planet experiences makes it impossible for the colonists to still be alive. And yet, when Kirk and the others beam down, they see the colonists are alive and well.
This is a familiar opening. Many episodes are presented this way: they give us the facts of the situation, and then we are immediately shown something that contradicts those facts. Is it getting repetitive? A bit. But then this episode goes a step further, and contradicts something not just within the episode, but something that has been a constant for the entire series.
Spock does not experience emotions.
Here, he does. We see that the colonists are living in a peaceful utopian society. They are all in perfect health and are all extremely happy. This is because the plants on the planet produce spores that cause happiness. They affect Spock as well. And he is able to actually feel joy and happiness for the first time in his life.
And yet, the episode presents this as a bad thing. The argument that Kirk makes is that there is no longer a drive to improve their society.
So um... yeah... let's talk about this.
This episode aired in the 1960s. At the time, what were we most afraid of? Communism. In that context, this is an anti-communism story, isn't it? I can't say for sure, but it feels like that'd be on the minds of the writers and producers at the time of the episode's original airing.
While that was probably fine at the time, it's kinda hard to get behind this story in the 2020s, as we're now seeing capitalism fail, and be constantly in a dying state, as more and more people every day lose faith in it.
So yeah, I don't think this one holds up today. The argument that a society must always improve itself is wrong. Eventually, you do peak. Reaching a state in which every single person in your society is genuinely happy means that there's no reason for you to progress further or to change anything. The curve of progress at this point either terminates or hits an asymptote.
And yet, Kirk destroys the spores' influence and evacuates the colonists, because supposedly a society that cannot further advance is bad. That's a very American capitalistic view and it does not hold up at all.
That is, for the main plot.
But let's talk about the side plot.
Spock experiences happiness. It's unreal. He tells Leila that he loves her. He finds animal shapes in the clouds. He climbs trees. He smiles. It's really nice. And then Kirk realizes that experiencing anger will temporarily counter the effect of the spores. So he angrily shouts a ton of racist shit at Spock. And then we get to see Spock experience anger. This lets Spock snap out of the spores' influence and go back to his emotionless self. He's then able to help Kirk evacuate the colonists.
But the real twist of the knife to your heart comes in the final dialogue of this episode:
MCCOY: Well, that's the second time man's been thrown out of paradise. KIRK: No, no, Bones. This time we walked out on our own. Maybe we weren't meant for paradise. Maybe we were meant to fight our way through. Struggle, claw our way up, scratch for every inch of the way. Maybe we can't stroll to the music of the lute. We must march to the sound of drums. SPOCK: Poetry, Captain. Non-regulation. KIRK: We haven't heard much from you about Omicron Ceti Three, Mister Spock. SPOCK: I have little to say about it, Captain, except that for the first time in my life I was happy.
That last line is spoken without any emotion behind it. It really really twists the knife in, knowing that Spock was ripped from paradise and will never again experience happiness.
I do disagree with Kirk here. They didn't "walk out on their own". Kirk forced them out for no goddamn reason.
Seriously, this planet made these people happy, and Kirk took that away from them. It's hard to get behind this.
I was actually reminded of an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (which, come to think of it, would be another great series to do these episodic posts for, but ehhh, Star Trek is gonna have me booked for the next few years). In the Season 5 finale, Buffy dies. The first half of Season 6 involves her friends trying to revive her, believing that the circumstances of her death has caused her to be trapped in hell. In reality, they are wrong. Buffy is in heaven. And she is happy. When her friends revive her, they unknowingly tear her away from heaven, and she has to spend the rest of her life miserable because she now knows what heaven is like. She even describes it in excellent detail: "I was happy. Wherever I was, I was happy. At peace. I knew that everyone I cared about was all right. I knew it. Time didn't mean anything. Nothing had form, but I was still me, you know? And I was warm, and I was loved, and I was finished. Complete. I don't understand about theology or dimensions, or any of it, really. But I think I was in heaven. And now I'm not. I was torn out of there. Pulled out, by my friends. Everything here is hard, and bright, and violent. Everything I feel, everything I touch... this is hell. Just getting through the next moment, and the one after that, knowing what I've lost..." The way that Buffy spoke during that monologue? It basically had the same weight as Spock's line at the end of this episode.
And that's it for this one! Join me next time, where I'll be looking at "The Devil in the Dark".
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Post by goldensandslash on May 3, 2020 4:35:12 GMT
So, first of all, I'd like to apologize for being gone for so long. Secondly, I'd like to announce that this is going to be the new normal. When I first started this project, I had hoped to do one of these posts every day. That proved to be too difficult, as writing these has turned out to be more energy-taxing than I originally thought it would be. As such, I am dialing these back to a "whenever I feel like it" schedule. I apologize for this.
So anyways, let's start by talking about this episode.
The plot here is that a planet is being plagued by a monster. The locals have no idea how to deal with it, so they call in the experts: the main characters on the Enterprise. That's a cliché storyline, though every other example I can think of was released after this episode of Star Trek was, so maybe this is where it started. I dunno.
Let me first say that I love the setting of Janus VI. It's a dark gritty mine that suits the setting of this type of story perfectly. We also meet the miners who are accidentally causing harm to the Horta and her offspring. And it makes sense. These people have a job to do and so they're going to prioritize that since they don't know what this creature is. And then the circulation pump is stolen and the situation becomes more urgent.
Spock learns that the Horta is the last of her species, and that killing her would be a disaster from a scientific perspective. And I think this is important to note. When Kirk went down there, he had only one goal in mind: exterminate the threat to the pergium. What's interesting about this is that I feel that if Spock weren't there, Kirk wouldn't have any reason to consider this possibility. Kirk ultimately lets the Horta live. If Spock hadn't been there, I'm not certain that he would have done that. Kirk is always a good captain, of course, but it's a nice touch that he has to rely on others to make himself a good captain.
And now let's talk about the Horta itself. Man this thing is ugly. And guess what? That makes it even better. If it were a cute cuddly creature, I imagine the characters in this episode would not be so eager to kill it. Instead, all we know about it is that it moves very rapidly, sneaks up on people, and then sprays them with some corrosive acid that burns them to ash. And we go a LONG time in the episode without even seeing it, making the idea of it even creepier.
And so the only way that the Horta is heard is through Spock. Spock mind-melds with it, and then the Horta is given a voice for the first time. Spock feels what the Horta feels, so the empathy is there.
And then there's Dr. McCoy. Kirk tells McCoy to beam down with a medical kit, but doesn't tell him why. Then McCoy sees that Kirk wants him to treat the Horta's injury. The look on McCoy's face is hilarious. Obviously it's unprofessional, and Kirk should have told McCoy the details, as McCoy's medical knowledge is useless on the Horta, since it's unlike any other lifeform seen before, since it's silicon-based life instead of carbon-based life.
In the end, we get a happy ending. The Horta was only doing what she was doing because the miners had unknowingly killed thousands of her offspring before they hatched. But once peace is made, the Horta and the miners come to a mutual understanding that will allow them to mine for pergium more easily than ever before. It's an odd choice for an ending, as usually these types of things are done as horror stories, but the thing is: we were meant to fear the Horta initially, and ONLY initially. Afterwards, when we learn it was protecting its eggs, it re-contextualizes everything. And then the Horta and the miners agree to start working together. It works as a story.
You want to know what's even more brilliant? The idea of "working together" was shown mere moments earlier too. Between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Spock had to use his mind-meld powers, McCoy had to use his healing expertise, and Kirk had to use his courageousness. All three of them working together is what allowed the Horta to come out ahead on this one. (And Spock also appreciates the Horta because it is a creature that acts solely off of logic.)
And that's it for this one! Join me next time, where I'll be looking at "Errand of Mercy".
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