The Cloud Minders: So Much Weird!

Yes (e.g.). But think about it. If you're a linguist, what needs to be especially keen at sensing things more than the other, your ears or your mouth? I don't believe that precise articulation and exceptional enunciation are best described by "sensitivity."

 

"Oral sensitivity" makes no sense contextually. So, you have a sensitive mouth... how does that relate to your work?

 

I thought the innocent half of its double meaning was that she did a good job of speaking alien words.

The next time, I will try to watch that scene with fresh eyes and see if I can see it the clean way. But who uses the word aural without knowing that it sounds like oral? And regardless, I'm never going to like the JJ-Trek Spock/Uhura deal.

 

I think it is an intended double entendre that actually becomes a triple entendre!

That is, Saldana was told to muddle the pronunciation of "aural" (her first vowel is very short there) for the amusing sexual connotations, or at least the writer assumed that the audience would hear it that way - but since hearing it "wrong" is a case of poor aural sensitivity, the pun goes around full circle...

Timo Saloniemi

 

There's really no direct synonym for "aural", and English is full of homophones, so why pick on this one?

 

"Pick"? I'm about 87% sure the innuendo was deliberate, is all. Otherwise why use the nonsense term "aural sensitivity" at all?

Timo Saloniemi

 

I agree with Timo, only more so.

And a good, no-sex-joke synonym would be auditory.

 

Good point! Maybe the mating cycle is not a secret, only the crazyness it can drive them to if they try to ignore it. After all, I doubt this is a problem for Vulcans living on Vulcan, only ones far away on assignment. Maybe the Vulcans wanted to reserve that knowlege as it could be used against them for recieving those kind of assignments. (for their own good, don't cha know , no prejudice and all that.)

That's very logical, so it may be so. Or at least some what so, with maybe 100 to 200 mated pairs and other specialists that are not otherwise mated.

Actually, there really is not big deal about the cycle itself, it was Mr. Spock's trying to ignore it that caused the problem. All Vulcan doesn't go crazy every seven years. And I doubt the offical story is that a Selat brings the Vulcan baby in it's mouth from the "place where babies come from" so they must know the basics. I could certainly sympathize with the idea of hiding the fact that if you don't get home for a hook up you can start smashing up the place. Just take your leave at the right time and no one really needs to bother.

 

On a Vulcan ship, if commanded/staffed at the outset by Vulcans, just assess your crew for where they are in their cycle before you leave. Staff accordingly based on length of mission.

 

Kinkiness Under the Surface

I like how Kirk said he had been here once before but didn't have time to look around. It gave the feeling the the UFP is a huge country and they were looking at some feat of engineering like a tall building in Malaysia or something.

She appeared faint as soon as the scene on the transporter pad started. She did says she was feeling the effects of low oxygen in the cave. I thought maybe she was faint to begin with, and Kirk knocked her out as she tried to break up the gas-induced fight. That makes the Enterprise crew pretty insensitive for not going to help her.

How much time happened in this episode? We know she was arrested for trying to take Kirk hostage. They they tied her up in a sexy outfit she was arrested in and tortured her. Later they took the outfit she had been wearing and gave her a skimpier outfit and locked her up. How long was she there? The leader approves of abusive treatment, so I suspect the guards sometimes abuse prisoners with impunity. That's probably one of the perks of a cave dweller becoming a sentinel. On that vein, maybe one of the guards got her pregnant and her faintness was the first sign of it.

I don't think enough time passed for that though.

This episode doesn't seem to know how brutal the cloud dwellers are. They're supposed to be effete and decadent, but then they have a torture scene, which seems inconsistent with their scholarly ways. Are we supposed to imagine that all kind of brutality lies just under the surface, or are they very clean and orderly in their application of brutality? I honestly suspect the writers just wanted to add some kinkiness, but they could only take it so far.

 

He played Tom Chaney in the original "True Grit" movie starring along side of Kim Darby ("Miri"), Glen Campbell, Robert Duval, Dennis Hopper and of course the great John Wayne in perhaps his best role. If you have not seen the movie I highly recommend seeing it.

 

He was also the spokesman for The Shadows in the Babylon 5 season 3 finale episode Za'Ha Dum.