Peeling "The Apple"

Scotty too in "The Doomsday Machine."

 

I was wondering why not as well.

 

Honestly, I have written Landon into the background of a few bridge scenes, when I needed a random officer. But, yeah, I haven't really been inspired to come up with a story where her character would play a significant part.

To be honest, I have yet to do much with Chekov in any of my books, let alone his girlfriend. I really need to remedy that one of these days. (Most of my TOS books end up being very Kirk-centric, although I made a real effort to highlight Sulu and Uhura in my last book.)

 

Don't start sounding like a movie writer, with performer contracts to consider, how many minutes of screen time, etc. Be an artist and include only what the story needs.

 

The issue I always had with episodes like The Apple is that no one ever discusses that maybe the way of life there was originally chosen by the people. Someone built Vaal. Was it because their civilization was violent and self-destructive, so they built this machine to take care of them so they're not give into their baser natures, much like the Vulcans embracing logic? Furthermore, it is implied that it was Vaal's power which made the planet lush, and without that influence what happens to the climate?

These are some of the episode's failings, along with the unanswered questions of if there are other villages and populations, and what influence did Vaal have on them?

 

IIRC, there is an ethical dilemma discussion btwn Spock and McCoy. All mooted/trumped by "Enterprise-in-danger," unfortunately.

 

Yeah, but they only discuss "it works for them" and "they shouldn't be slaves to a machine" without touching on WHY the situation is the way it is.

 

I'm not much of a TNG guy. Would Picard have sacrificed the Ent-D before interfering with a culture (even a "stagnant" to borrow Kirk's opinion)?

 

... Noe!!! Picard certainly would NOT!!!
(You have my assurances ...)

 

As I recall, there was a DC comic where Kirk returns to the "Apple" planet several years later to discover that everything has gone to hell . . ..

 

Good! That's what would happen. BUT -- it was pointed out to me here long ago -- he had to destroy Vaal b/c of endangered Enterprise. It wasn't just for kicks.

 

I just checked, and Grant was not at the briefing!

 

I always did wonder who came along first and instituted these changes in planetary societies. This episode, and Return of the Archons, feature worlds controlled by machines bent on maintaining balance. Sounds like a sort of reverse-prime directive of someone's at work!

Yeah, did that one village constitute the entire planets' population?!

 

Right. Putting writers in the service of actors nearly got us Star Trek IV: Eddie Murphy Saves the Whales. That almost happened.

At least Martha Landon was a TOS woman ahead of her time, dishing out karate kicks and even flipping a native with some kind of judo move. Celeste mentioned in an interview somewhere that she was really happy to be fighting along with the guys rather than playing a girl who gets rescued.

 

Yeah, opportunities like that were rare for actresses then. Still are to a degree, but not as badly. Ripley in Alien was possibly the turning point.

I was watching the first season of Adventures of Superman (c. 1952) the last few days, and Lois (Phyllis Coates) mostly just screams a lot and gets rescued. Phyllis could scream really well.

 

Yeah, she kicked ass.

 

"The Galileo Seven" is another offender. Great episode all around, but that ending where everyone starts laughing hysterically feels so out of place.

 

They set that poor guy up!

 

Horrible, scotty laughed himself literally to tears---"too bad about those 3 what were their names?"

 

"Latimer... Gaetano... oh yeah, Boma. Too bad he made it back."