Star Trek Continues Ep. 5: "Divided We Stand"...(spoilers)

[sttngfan1701d]

I wouldn't rate them all equally either, but there hasn't been a "miss" in the bunch yet. I have said "Oh god, this sucks" when watching certain episodes of other productions. I haven't felt that way yet about this one. I would rate them:

"Pilgrim of Eternity" - 4.5/5
"Lolani" - 5/5
"Fairest of them All" - 5/5
"The White Iris" - 3/5
"Divided We Stand" - 4/5

 

[Warped9]

I wouldn't rate them all equally either, but there hasn't been a "miss" in the bunch yet.

Agreed. While TWI is the one I think is their weakest that isn't to say it's bad. It just didn't really click for me.

 

[DCR]

Well, I finally managed to watch it, but I'm another who wasn't entirely impressed.

Once again, the production value was staggering, and while they didn't really go "off the ship," they did film off the set so I'm good with that. They did a great job with the re-enactments, especially by keeping the focus tight enough that the small units really gave the feeling of the Civil War.

I was particularly pleased that this episode didn't feel like TNG, too.

Having said that, I found the story was a let down. Part of it is simple, I really dislike the accidental masquerade/impostor story device, so dumping Kirk and Bones in the setting the way they did immediately raised my hackles.

I was also thrown off by the way that Kirk & Bones were able to talk in front of the soldiers as if they were alone. They simply didn't convince me that they were able or even really trying to fit in. I can see how that could work in the greater structure of the story, but it still threw me out of the scene.

I also found it was more a case of the story being used to carry the message, rather than the message being used to drive the story. It sometimes felt like the story stopped for a message break, rather than having the whole thing feel seamless.

All in all, it was a perfectly serviceable, though by no means perfect, execution of a story I didn't particularly like.

 

[Warped9]

McCoy does question their situation in the beginning. So it leaves me wondering if they both didn't suspect, at least subconciously, what they were experiencing wasn't truly real.

 

[DCR]

McCoy does question their situation in the beginning. So it leaves me wondering if they both didn't suspect, at least subconciously, what they were experiencing wasn't truly real.

I can see your point, it just didn't work for me on the screen.

 

[Warped9]

McCoy does question their situation in the beginning. So it leaves me wondering if they both didn't suspect, at least subconciously, what they were experiencing wasn't truly real.

I can see your point, it just didn't work for me on the screen.

No, I understand because even though McCoy raises the question they never discuss it again later.

 

[Treadwell]

Well, Kirk says since they can't be certain, they have to behave as if it's real. There's nothing more for them to discuss, The Kirk has spoken.

 

[Warped9]

Well, Kirk says since they can't be certain, they have to behave as if it's real. There's nothing more for them to discuss, The Kirk has spoken.

It could have been raised again. When McCoy and Kirk talk about the coming battle the next morning it could have been raised again then.

"If this isn't real then nothing we do here really matters."

What happened to Kirk and McCoy was essentially what happens to all of us when we sleep. Our brains construct some form of narrative from whatever random associations we might be making while unconscious and we experience that as dreams. In this scenario they were both experiencing the same narrative simultaneously and in concert. While we dream it seems to make a sort of sense, but if we remember the dreams when we awaken then that's when we can recognize things that are nonsensical.

Speaking for myself--and I suspect others have experienced the same--there have been occasions when while dreaming part of my mind recognizes what is happening and the thought can even occur to me while dreaming. "This isn't really happening." even as I go with the flow. Maybe that's why I rarely feel fear or strong emotional reactons while dreaming.

 

[Zaminhon]

They could have discussed whether or not it was real a dozen times, but that wouldn't have changed the fact that they didn't know, so they had to act as if it was real and do as little damage to the timeline as possible. Besides, losing the leg was about as real as anything Kirk has experienced. I don't think he had many second thoughts about what was real or not after that.

 

[Amaris]

Fantastic episode! I'm loving Chuck Huber as McCoy, Todd Haberkorn continues to serve up a reliable Spock, and Vic Mignogna once again nails the role of Kirk. The ship looks great, the effects look great, the story was engaging, and I couldn't wait to see how things unfolded.

I also have to give props to the civil war re-enactors. Their efforts were solid, and in the scene where Kirk is asking the little old man about Billy, I was enthralled by the little old man's words. It was almost as if he really was there, and really did see that act of heroism. It was so very well done.

Sometimes it's difficult for me to believe this is a fan episode. In this case, the outside sets, the uniforms, the story itself, the actors, and most importantly the little details, all add up to a high quality production. This is something I would have watched on television, and would have enjoyed immensely.

To put it another way: when I first logged in to the board to talk about the episode, I went to the TOS forum first, and then I remembered that it wasn't an episode of the original series, and had to hightail it over here.

So kudos to the STC team!

 

[SeerSGB]

It was a good episode, but their weakest so far--for me.

 

[Phantom]

I liked this better than "The White Iris", but only marginally.

First, a purely "mechanical" issue: the playback was sped up. You could tell by the slightly high pitch of the music and dialogue tracks, which also gives away old eps that have been time compressed for syndication. I mentioned this on their FB page, so maybe they'll fix it.

My next issue was one of scene construction. For all they knew, they really were in the past, yet they repeatedly discussed the ship, Spock, etc with "natives" within easy ear-shot. The scene in the field with the injured Sargent is the worst offender. The injured man is less than 3 feet from them, and his squad is maybe 4-6 feet behind them.

Next up: parts of the computer core are eject-able? Since when? At the very least beam it out instead. Then there's the prosthetic arm? Ship's phasers? Really? A Phaser I would have sufficed.

Someone asked upthread about why the arm had to still be attached. Well, considering where the nanos came from (and don't tell me they didn't, given how they acted) it would only make sense they'd prefer a cyber-organic interface that was actually interfacing with organic tissue.

Ok, 800lb gorilla in the room. Yes, it's entirely in keeping with the simplistic homilies of 60s-era Trek, but the shallow "Yay North! Rah!" attidue Kirk displayed most of the episode offensive. Yeah, I know: Lincoln worshipper, as previously established.

I did like the scene where he emphasized: "The people on the other side of this are your brothers, and when this is over they will be your brothers again." I would have liked to see more of that, and less cheer-leading for the Union.

On the plus side: I think the Trio are settling nicely into their parts. Their performances were much more relaxed and natural. Special props to Huber's McCoy.

It was also nice to see a significant part of the ep spent "off the ship". Kudos also for the well-done action scenes, including a daring use of pyro I haven't really seen a fanfilm attempt before.

Final score from me: 2.5 out of 5, making it my fourth favorite of the five eps out so far.

 

[Firebird]

There was a cool moment for me during the nighttime scene around the campfire - at one point, when they were on a closeup of Mignogna as he was either delivering one of his lines, or a reaction shot, it suddenly hit me - Vic IS Kirk in my eyes now. In that simple shot, he managed to embody Kirk to the point that I have no problem seeing him or Shatner in the role. YMMV, of course, but that was a great personal revelation.

 

[Barbreader]

Although I'm not a big fan of PragerU, this video of a Professor from West Point summarizes why the South attempted to leave the Union. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcy7qV-BGF4 (5:50). I don't see how Kirk, who so admires Lincoln could take any position except that which he takes in this episode. Furthermore, there were soldiers fighting for the North from every state in the Union except South Carolina. This is not an insult to all Southerners.

The South had no interest in State's rights when those rights pertained to a State which wished to keep slavery outside of its borders. When that State's rights were at stake, the South strongly supported the Fugitive Slave Act which abolished that state's rights.

 

[WisTrekFan]

Wow! Star Trek and the Civil War. What more can a Star Trek fan and a history buff ask for!

 

[Duane]

I stopped at the 20 minute mark and hope to get back to it soon. The shot at the end of the teaser was a real highlight. The lack of sufficient actors in the battle scenes was a low point (costumes cost money, I know) as is the preachyness.

Sound quality is amazing. Does anyone know how they manage that?

Once again I'm the odd man out. "The White Iris" is my favorite so far, with Episode 1 being the weakest.

Production values are no issue at all. These guys have it nailed.

 

[Zaminhon]

So what came first, the Borg or the Nanites? I'm not saying these are Borg-type nanites but they may be distant cousins. I'd like to know what the writers had in mind.

 

[Zaminhon]

I stopped at the 20 minute mark and hope to get back to it soon. The shot at the end of the teaser was a real highlight. The lack of sufficient actors in the battle scenes was a low point (costumes cost money, I know) as is the preachyness.

Sound quality is amazing. Does anyone know how they manage that?

Once again I'm the odd man out. "The White Iris" is my favorite so far, with Episode 1 being the weakest.

Production values are no issue at all. These guys have it nailed.

I'm not sure where you stopped, but there are some scenes that show full out battles with more than sufficient numbers of soldiers, including calvary and cannon fire. I have no doubt that the reenactors provided their own uniforms, guns, horses, tents and cannon.

Preachy? Not any more than Omega Glory and many other TOS episodes.

 

[Phantom]

Although I'm not a big fan of PragerU, this video of a Professor from West Point summarizes why the South attempted to leave the Union. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcy7qV-BGF4 (5:50). I don't see how Kirk, who so admires Lincoln could take any position except that which he takes in this episode. Furthermore, there were soldiers fighting for the North from every state in the Union except South Carolina. This is not an insult to all Southerners.

There were plenty of soldiers from the North that went south to fight for the Confederacy as well.

The South had no interest in State's rights when those rights pertained to a State which wished to keep slavery outside of its borders. When that State's rights were at stake, the South strongly supported the Fugitive Slave Act which abolished that state's rights.

So did the North, which obeyed it, and SCOTUS ratified it.

Without re-fighting the War here, all I am saying is that the more conciliatory words Kirk spoke earlier in the episode were more in keeping with what I would expect from the "real" Kirk, not simplistic North boostering.

 

[Duane]

Hi Zaminhon,

The war footage from the 02:30 mark until 02:45 was outstanding. As is the footage from 03:56-04:04. The best I've ever scene in an independent Trek production.

The footage around the 04:05-04:10 mark lacks sufficient actors and this threw me out of the story a bit. It may be a simple framing issue.