So name a subtle moment in any ST that you thought was well done.

[enterprisecvn65]

So pick a moment where there was a subtle moment that was meant to deliver some kind of theme, comedy, drama, romance....whatever. And could easily be overlooked if you weren't paying attention. And I'm talking about subtle here not things like Khan raging with Moby Dick lines or Sulu saying "Don't call me tiny that were obviously written so they'd be easily noticible and get strong reaction from the crowd.

Mine would be in TWOK where after all the fighting is over and they've laid Spock to rest Kirk is in his quarters going to read and he notices his rare glasses Bones gave him are cracked and he just looks at them and then tosses them on the table without saying a word.

I thought that was great showing how spent Kirk was and it related so well to real life. On a normal day something broken like that would often cause someone to say something like "Shit" and get a pissed for a little while because now they have to deal with fixing it.

But there are those days where something big goes wrong or many other things go wrong and at a later point you notice a little something like something broken or whatever and you are just like "Yep.....that pretty much puts the cherry on top of the Sundae" and you honestly don't care anymore because the other things have just taken away your energy to be upset.

I thought it was great because it showed just how drained Kirk was and was relatable to how we all feel sometimes in a situation like that. Like the other week I had several stressful events hit in a short amount of time, some of which weren't cheap to remedy. Later on I get in my car and the battery is totally dead......in a normal day I'd be like "damnit" because now I have to jump the car, make an appointment to get it a new one, take the time to take it in and pay the money.

But, like Kirk I just sat there and was like. "Well should have expected this, what's another $150 or so...it's just money I guess." Because I was just worn out to even care.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Edit: I remember the episode now. It's VOY's "One Small Step". The crew are playing back the logs of the long-dead Mars astronaut, and they get to the part where he says this:

"...I guess this is John Kelly's last flight. This time, I can't blame it on pilot error."

When Kelly says "pilot error," Tom Paris visibly flinches at this, because that's what got three of his Academy crewmates killed...

 

[EnriqueH]

The very first thing that came to my mind was in "Tomorrow Is Yesterday", a moment that I described in one of my first posts here 6 months ago when I was watching TOS in production order:

Spock and Captain Christopher show up to break out Kirk from incarceration. As soon as they dispatched the security guards, Spock sort of straightens up and looks ahead for a moment as if something occurs to him and goes into the next room without a word.

Christopher than tries to break free from Kirk but Spock is behind Christopher, ready to give him the Nerve Pinch.

Obviously it occurred to Spock that Christopher would try to confront them.

LOVE THAT!

 

[Dexter Remmick]

In Voyager, when Harry encounters Quark on DS9, Caretaker, the look Quark gives when Paris calls him out and blows his scam. So Quark.

When Kelly says "pilot error," Tom Paris visibly flinches at this, because that's what got three of his Academy crewmates killed...

I believe this incident took place after Paris graduated. During his first commission.

 

[Push The Button]

In The Wrath of Khan, when Scotty brings the wounded Peter Preston up to the bridge, the last reaction shot is Spock slowly closing his eyes.

 

[USS Triumphant]

I've always loved the cut back to one of the crew aboard the Grissom when Saavik says "It is Dr. Marcus' opinion that this is -- that the Genesis effect has in some way regenerated -- Captain Spock." and she just has this look on her face of "yeah, okay, what the absolute f*ck?" I'm not sure if "subtle" is quite the right word, but it was just perfect.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I love the bit in STID where Admiral Marcus (in reference to Kirk working with Khan) just goes "Aw, shit, you TALKED to him?!?"

 

[Enterprise1701]

TNG - "Captain's Holiday" when the crew is trying to get Captain Picard to go on vacation, so Troi says that her mother is coming, prompting a look a dread from Picard.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

"Menage a Troi", when Lwaxana is sitting on Picard's lap, prompting him to order this:

"Helm, set course for Betazed - WARP NINE!"

 

[Cyke101]

Not the most subtle, but one of my faves:

About a few years ago, during the 17th or 29th time I watched TUC, I finally saw Spock placing the tracker on Kirk's shoulder. My eye had been trained for years to watch Kirk and Spock's faces as they talk to each other.

I'm also not sure, but I wonder if the standard TV format from a few years ago had something to do with concealing the tracker as well. It's visible and to the left in widescreen, but still sneaky.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

In In The Pale Moonlight there's a lot of subtext in the exchange between Sisko and Quark when he's trying to get him not to press charges. Quark knows Sisko well enough to know that if Sisko is willing to deal with him this way, he is really serious, and he WILL get what he wants one way or another. Quark knows he has to just get out of Sisko's way on this one, but he also knows that he can get something from the exchange so long as he doesn't push his luck. So in that conversation he feels Sisko out and figures out exactly how much he can get without incurring his wrath.

 

[enterprisecvn65]

Another great one from TWOK was when Khan was recounting everything to Chekov and Terrell and the forboding music was playing. It was all Horner's original score but for 2 or three seconds there a part which is essentially a series of notes playing up and down that was often played during moments of great tension in TOS.

I thought it was awesome because it was a nod to TOS and one that only big fans of the series would notice and even then it was easy to miss if you weren't really playing attention.

Also even though it was obvious Khan had really bad intentions, it just reinforced the "Uh oh.....some really bad things are about to happen." Because something bad always happened or was about to happen when you heard it on TOS.

 

[enterprisecvn65]

Another was in TSFS when Styles runs into Scotty as he's getting in the turbolift and Styles smugly comments how he's looking forward to breaking the Enterprise's speed records tomorrow.

Scotty does a forced laugh and says "Yes sir" and "Good night". He's not overtly rude or sarcastic but he says them with just enough of an edge that you can tell he really wants to tell Styles what he and his fancy new ship can go do to themselves.


As far as quantity I think Gul Dukat is tops. He had too many good moments, where he said or did something that very subtly implied something else was about to happen, for me to count.

 

[Lance]

Caught this during my recent rewatch of TNG Season 5 on Blu-Ray:

There's a subtle moment in "Ensign Ro" where the crew are on the bridge discussing the situation, and there's a three shot of Riker, Crusher and Ro standing in the horse-shoe circle (Crusher to the right of screen, Riker and Ro to the left, with Riker standing behind Ro). The moment comes as Crusher is saying something, but if you're actually looking at Riker and Ro instead of at Crusher, you'll see Will briefly checks out Ro's ass, and then quickly looks away when Ro turns her head slightly.

It's such a funny moment, one you could easily miss if you blink, but even more interesting given the events of "Conundrum" later on.

 

[Vger23]

In TMP, the look on Spock's face as the camera lingers there right after McCoy says "So help me, I'm actually pleased to see you." It was a great acting choice. It sort of conveys pain and annoyance...almost like "seriously, I'm already tremendously uncomfortable."

A subtle follow-on to this is his blow-off of Uhura when she says "it's how we all feel Mr. Spock," and Nichelle Nichols looks at Kirk and McCoy like "WTF is wrong with him?"

Overall an excellently-acted scene.

 

[Fashion Victim]

In Qpid Q offers to take Picard to the ruins of Tagus III which is of course illegal Patrick Stewart just pauses for about two seconds as if to show that if only for an instant, Picard the avid lover of archeology is actually tempted. It's so subtle and so quick, but I had to rewind and watch that brief pause several times.

 

[Vger23]

Caught this during my recent rewatch of TNG Season 5 on Blu-Ray:

There's a subtle moment in "Ensign Ro" where the crew are on the bridge discussing the situation, and there's a three shot of Riker, Crusher and Ro standing in the horse-shoe circle (Crusher to the right of screen, Riker and Ro to the left, with Riker standing behind Ro). The moment comes as Crusher is saying something, but if you're actually looking at Riker and Ro instead of at Crusher, you'll see Will briefly checks out Ro's ass, and then quickly looks away when Ro turns her head slightly.

It's such a funny moment, one you could easily miss if you blink, but even more interesting given the events of "Conundrum" later on.

Reminds me of the less-subtle scene of the ensign watching Riker's ass in "Encounter at Farpoint"

 

[Vger23]

Another one is the look on Kirk's face in TSFS as Morrow gives him the load of crap about his career and being rational. You can just see the entire plan being hatched in his mind at that moment. Then, he snaps to it with a very fake smile and says "hey, I had to try," and we all know he's bull$hitting, but Morrow is happy the the issue seems dead.

Great piece of subtle acting by Shatner.

 

[Vger23]

Maybe my favorite in the entire franchise: Kirk sits in the command chair in TMP, just before the "take us out" order, and appears calm and cool, but you can seem him ever-so-subtly tapping his fingers nervously on the left arm of the command chair.

Gold.

 

[enterprisecvn65]

Another one is the look on Kirk's face in TSFS as Morrow gives him the load of crap about his career and being rational. You can just see the entire plan being hatched in his mind at that moment. Then, he snaps to it with a very fake smile and says "hey, I had to try," and we all know he's bull$hitting, but Morrow is happy the the issue seems dead.

Great piece of subtle acting by Shatner.

Yeah that is a great one, especially like when you said Kirk is just staring off into space clearly not listening to a word Morrow is saying and planning his next move.

Another couple ones that come shortly is when Styles is buffing his nails when the yellow alert comes through and he's told someone is stealing the Enterprise. He gives pause where you can almost tell he realizes it's Kirk and he's thinking "Oh my God... can't believe he's actually doing this" and is annoyed at how brazen this is.

Then when the Enterprise is approaching the closed spacedoors and Kirk calmly says now to Scotty and Scotty replies he's working on it. The looks on Kirk, Scott and Sulu's face are awesome. Their eyes are getting wider and Kirk's jaw opens slightly as the Enterprise gets closer and closer to the doors.

You can tell they are all thinking "Holy Shit" and how f'ed they are if Scott doesn't get the doors open in the next ten seconds.......But they realize there's nothing they can do. They can't stop in time, they can't turn....so they just sit there wordless looking totally frozen with horror. Even when the doors open you can still see them looking still extremely worried if the Enterprise will fit through and it's only after Sulu says they have cleared the spacedoors do they seem to snap out of it and get back to the business at hand.