Anyone Else Love "Whom Gods Destroy"?

[scotpens]

I love how Garth's metamorphoses were accomplished by simply throwing the whole picture out of and back into focus. Even watching the episode back in 1969, I thought, "Boy, that looks cheap!"

[Timo]

On the other hand, it could attest to the exact way he achieves it all: by making the audience lose mental focus!

He doesn't appear to be a physical shapeshifter as such: when he creates the extremely detailed illusion of one of his ring jewels falling off, there's no physical continuity of the jewel staying fallen, and it's back on his ring in the next shot again. On the other hand, he's not as skilled an illusionist as the Salt Vampire, either, as everybody around him appears to see one and the same illusion, rather than personally tailored ones. Being the Unclear Man is a nicely customized superpower for him...

Timo Saloniemi

[BoredShipCapt'n]

Timo wrote:

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On the other hand, it could attest to the exact way he achieves it all: by making the audience lose mental focus!

He doesn't appear to be a physical shapeshifter as such: when he creates the extremely detailed illusion of one of his ring jewels falling off, there's no physical continuity of the jewel staying fallen, and it's back on his ring in the next shot again. On the other hand, he's not as skilled an illusionist as the Salt Vampire, either, as everybody around him appears to see one and the same illusion, rather than personally tailored ones. Being the Unclear Man is a nicely customized superpower for him...

Timo Saloniemi

Looks like a dyslexic version of Nuclear Man!

[BoredShipCapt'n]

plynch wrote:

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"Madman" also has found the time and talent to modify the neural neutralizer into a painomatic chair.

Rehabilitation chair, I think it was called. The Tristan Adams one was the neural neutralizer. Could have been the same props, though, for all I know.


And forgot to mention, I love this episode. But part of my love for TOS is definitely its occasional forays into full-on camp.

[Timo]

Looks like a dyslexic version of Nuclear Man!

Yup. I think either Mad Magazine or National Lampoon introduced the Unclear Man when I was but a wee thing...

Timo Saloniemi

[SiddFinch1]

Not a great.episode
Not terrible.either
Would have.liked.to see more.Garth..a character .with potential and. Yvonne Craig..yummy

[Gary7]

I would have loved to see a "before he lost it" episode, where Garth is a functioning and talented captain of a starship. Inhat could definitely have pulled it off.

This episode is one I enjoy a lot for a number of reasons, but it's not my favorite for quite a few more. There are some seriously flawed aspects and terrible SFX is leveraged as well. But the good points still make it worth watching. I just try to ignore the rest.

[Greg Cox]

TREK_GOD_1 wrote:

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We don't not know that--all we know is that Craig was the one cast as Batgirl, and her less-than-heroic performance, and not a shred of believability as one who could stand up to villains killed the series. Whatever was poor or retread coming out of season two was no longer a factor, as the dynamic of the series drastically changed with Craig's laughing, stubby joke of a superhero.

Come on, she was slowly delivering high kicks a guy using crutches could avoid, and without being rich (never implied on the show) exactly how did Barbara Gordon build all of her gadgets and that motorcycle, which was ouftitted with more than a few then-high tech devices?

At least with Bruce Wayne & Dick Grayson, the argument could be made that with their millions, they could pay for the elements which made their car, computers, etc., but Barbara Gordon did not have that resource (she was a librarian).

Honestly, I don't think anybody worried about that sort of thing when it came to the old BATMAN tv series. It wasn't supposed to be realistic or plausible.

I can't imagine that anybody actually quit watching because they found Batgirl more unbelievable than, say, the freezing rays and wacky deathtraps. It wasn't that kind of show.

Ten-year-olds back in the 1960s didn't worry about how superheros paid their bills--and most adults saw the show as a campy comedy spoof. Nobody expected it to be plausible or believable.

Getting back OT: "Whom Gods Destroy" is fun and colorful, but undeniably campy. As a kid, I always liked it because of all the cool-looking aliens: An Andorian! A Tellarite! A green girl!

They probably should have cut the whole super-explosive bit, though, as it's just silly and doesn't add anything to the story. An insane, shape-changing supervillain was menace enough without giving him some sort of super-TNT that never really poses much of a threat.

[Timo]

Well, the super-TNT need not really be worried about. After all, there was nothing "super" about it as shown, and surely a lunatic is entitled to some lunatic ranting about things that are utterly unreal?

Indeed, odds are that basically nothing about Garth's court was for real. Garth's description of the new specs of the therapy chair, or the role of his genius in modifying it, is pretty dubious. His assessment of the characteristics of his wine is probably just about as reliable as his assessment of the events at Antos IV! I have serious doubts about Marta really being Orion, too...

Timo Saloniemi

[ChristopherPike]

I used to hate it. "Plato's Stepchildren" too. Probably more so that one, due to cringe factor.

I've grown to appreciate "Whom Gods Destroy". There are parts that are a little too rich but on the whole, there's a good story idea at the heart of it all.

Plus I like the potential of Garth's madness, as a tragic and comedic figure who can turn on the spot, capable of being truly terrifying. Any story featuring him, needs to show him decades before, and why he's such a respected legend - his exploits as a great explorer, required reading at the Academy. He was out there doing a lot of good, before he became mentally ill. It's only touched on in the dialogue and Kirk's reactions, that of earnest hero worship. Even in an asylum, he's managing to hold court over his own little distorted Federation council.

Heresy to suggest that he's actually more interesting than Khan... but somebody could certainly make a case for it. One is a two-dimensional despot, who only got interesting when on a quest for vengeance. The other had the potential to be more of an equal. The flip side of a Starfleet credit. There but for the grace of god goes James T Kirk...