I suppose, but maybe the unnamed woman's specialty is a different task.
Agency of Female Characters
- Thread starter Pauln6
- Start date
I think the problem for me is that every crewman is trained to use and repair the ship's systems. It's one thing to ask if she's the best person to reroute systems but she must surely be perfectly qualified to assist someone else to do that. Similarly, Chekov is a command officer and a scientist rather than an engineer so his level of training is going to be, at best, equal to, and more likely inferior to a crewman who is actually assigned to engineering.
Spectre of the Gun was yesterday's treat. I sort of like this one, although Scotty and McCoy's presence on the landing party is dubious and Chekov is really just there as a love interest, the poor slab of meat.
Nothing here for the ladies really. This is one of those cases where the presence of a yeoman would have made more sense than the chief engineer - it's a diplomatic mission. It might have been fun if Yeoman Rand was recast in the guise of one of the Claytons: "Do I look like a Billy to you?"
As it is, all we get is Uhura on the bridge.
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Or a woman-of-the-week diplomacy/protocol officer.
Yes - lol. I prefer to imagine if they'd re-used existing characters. So Helen Noel would have been a good pick for And the Children Shall Lead.
I watched Day of the Dove today. Mara starts off ok. She clearly has authority and technical knowledge but she falls apart a bit once Chekov gets his hands on her. It's an unpleasant moment and I really wish she'd been a TNG Klingon so she could have totally handed him his ass.
I know she's also being controlled but I'm disappointed that she fails to make any scientific deductions when presented with the evidence or even to plan her escape. She just hangs around waiting for death like a sack of potatoes in klingon hotpants.
It's also disappointing that Uhura is merely decorative in this one. When the lads are throwing their wobbler, she mysteriously disappears from the bridge (i assume she needed to pee) and turns up again just sitting in her chair when it's all over. It would have been nice if she'd been picked to accompany Sulu to the auxiliary circuits or contribute in a meaningful way.
This could have been a fun one for Yeoman Rand going nuts again. I bet she has some Valkyrie armour in her closet for cosplay night in the Rec Room.
Every woman on the ship throwing themselves at Kirk? This isn't nuTrek! Still, 15 minutes should cover it.If only THIS SIDE OF PARADISE had a huge budget, 15 minutes more screen time and about 100 additional actresses, all the Enterprise women could have gone equally nuts. Sadly we don't get much besides Sulu, DeSalle and the hoe.
Let us not forget that not all TOS Klingons were tough and brave! Anyone remember Kras?
JB
Just watched the Tholian Web. Even if the Web itself if a bit useless (may interspace interference was delaying implementation) I rather like this one. It's a decent sci fi episode for the supporting cast, improved by Shatner's absence.
If Rand had still been around, I would have expected her to be the one spraying Kirk with mace when he popped up in her quarters unannounced rather than Uhura but it's nice for her to get some more air time.
It has Chapel following McCoy's lead on the research. It would have been nice if some of the research dialogue could have been attributed to her.
For the World is Hollow... Despite sporting eyelashes that could slit a man's throat, Natira is a pretty decent leader. I love her outlook on life and despite her unhealthy crush on McCoy, she remains quite rational and logical throughout. She's my new favourite. Why McCoy would Ditch her for Kirk is a mystery. At least she didn't die in the final scene.
It would have been nice if Chapel had been tasked with removing the chip from McCoy's brain rather than Spock.
I'm not clear why they needed warp speed to track missiles travelling at sub light but that sort of weirdness is nothing new.
If Rand had still been around, I would have expected her to be the one spraying Kirk with mace when he popped up in her quarters unannounced rather than Uhura but it's nice for her to get some more air time.
It has Chapel following McCoy's lead on the research. It would have been nice if some of the research dialogue could have been attributed to her.
For the World is Hollow... Despite sporting eyelashes that could slit a man's throat, Natira is a pretty decent leader. I love her outlook on life and despite her unhealthy crush on McCoy, she remains quite rational and logical throughout. She's my new favourite. Why McCoy would Ditch her for Kirk is a mystery. At least she didn't die in the final scene.
It would have been nice if Chapel had been tasked with removing the chip from McCoy's brain rather than Spock.
I'm not clear why they needed warp speed to track missiles travelling at sub light but that sort of weirdness is nothing new.
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I like that scene
Maybe the sex is better
I don't imagine Kirk spends much time in cuddle mode. He's all about destroying yet another intelligent femputer with logic.
Landing party on Discovery had...
3 Women and 2 Men in a Landing Party (and none of the women were a yeoman)
Yah Discovery
Yah Discovery
Plato's Stepchildren has a lot of filler but it does have some nice moments. I like the Platonians self assured arrogance and, of course Alexander but some parts of it are painfully slow. Plus if Parmen had the strength to keep a starship in orbit, he could have crushed Kirk like a grape.
Yet again, the women are transported down as prisoners and do little to help. They don't get dosed with kironide and Chapel again gets no scientific dialogue.
Yet again, the women are transported down as prisoners and do little to help. They don't get dosed with kironide and Chapel again gets no scientific dialogue.
Watched Wink of an Eye today. Deela makes a very engaging villain, although again, the poor love is at the mercy of her hormones. I do feel sorry for all these women in power who really just want a man. At least Deela was quite rational in her desires. She was only guilty of underestimating Kirk's love for himself over and above any woman.
As a woman with agency, she isn't too bad. Now that I've watched most of the show close together I can see that the alien guest women do get a fair bit more agency than the female crew but any authority they have is diluted significantly by their desire for Kirk, Spock, and/or McCoy, not necessarily in that order. Oh well, at least Lenore Karidian was nuts and was playing Kirk at his own game.
The science and the plot are bonkers but I loved this one as a kid, so I have a soft spot for it. Chapel actually gets to participate in the research in this one, finally making use of her medical research skills to input Spock's data into the computer and read off the results. That university degree really holds her in good stead at last. You go girl..
As a woman with agency, she isn't too bad. Now that I've watched most of the show close together I can see that the alien guest women do get a fair bit more agency than the female crew but any authority they have is diluted significantly by their desire for Kirk, Spock, and/or McCoy, not necessarily in that order. Oh well, at least Lenore Karidian was nuts and was playing Kirk at his own game.
The science and the plot are bonkers but I loved this one as a kid, so I have a soft spot for it. Chapel actually gets to participate in the research in this one, finally making use of her medical research skills to input Spock's data into the computer and read off the results. That university degree really holds her in good stead at last. You go girl..
My impression is that Deela is sick of it all (sick of all the killing and struggling for survival) and that's one of the the reasons she lets Kirk talk to Spock, sabotage the machine etc. He's also a fun diversion. I don't she has any great desire for Kirk, she likes him sure but its a relief to her to go back to her boyfriend.
The one redeeming feature about TOS in regards to women IMO is that the alien women hardly ever fall for Kirk's charm and willingly betray their people. Even Karain Spock's Brain resists Kirk's charms.
Chapel was good in this episode. Very professional. Unlike her actions in "Plato's Stepchildren". In most episodes I see Chapel I cringe. She is so pathetic, Have a bit of dignity woman.
Deela confesses that she enjoys Kirk misbehaving because he reminds her of Rael so in some ways she was self-defeating but it was partly arrogance because she thought they were so fast that the humans could do nothing to stop them.
I've watched the Empath and Elaan of Troyus now. The Empath is one of my least favourite episodes and unsurprisingly, I fell asleep. The episode hinges on the agency of Gem but I find her appearance and exaggerated miming to be tiresome. Maybe if she'd been a lizard or simian or something, I'd have liked her more rather than someone who had raided Barbara Streisand' s closet.
Elaan on the other hand is probably the most complex and intriguing woman in the series run. I feel quite a bit of sympathy for her, being forced to marry against her will, and nobody on the Enterprise, while obviously they have to follow orders, even comments that this form of slavery is rather distasteful in the 23rd century.
I think she is a great example of an alien culture that is not a bland monoculture or where the eccentricities have to be explained, apart from her tears.
That said, she clearly manipulates Kirk ruthlessly. Her so called love for him doesn't ring true at all. She's using him to protect herself and even tries to persuade him to wipe out her enemies.
Chapel almost appears to be an active participant in the research this time. You almost feel they might have got there in the end if she'd featured in a few more episodes.
Uhura gets a bit of action in that she is involved in something important to the plot but the secondary characters only provide minor support. I thought Scotty's characterisation was bit clumsy. I can almost see Simon Pegg in this episode.
The writers and effects guys clearly haven't grasped that warp speed is faster than light so the final battle makes no sense. It was interesting that the impulse engines alone can't power phasers or shields for long but in the end they use photon torpedoes that don't rely on warp power to win the fight so... The suggestion is that the torpedoes have no guidance systems and that the ship can only aim effectively at warp speed? I'm not sure I get it.
This is another episode that could have used Yeoman Rand quite effectively.
I have a sneaking regard for Elaan. I like the way she rebels against her fate and have a sympathy for her much more than T'Pring who was in a similar situation. I'm on her side. Elaan has a certain amount of agency. Its certainly her decision to stab the ambassador but its a juvenile action.
Kirk dismisses the slavery aspect by implying she has a choice to give up her current lifestyle,.Sigh. In the end I sort of wished she'd stowed a diamond covered dagger in her wedding dress just in case.
I hate the way the camera angles up and down her body all the time like they did with Troi in the early days of TNG.
Kirk dismisses the slavery aspect by implying she has a choice to give up her current lifestyle,.Sigh. In the end I sort of wished she'd stowed a diamond covered dagger in her wedding dress just in case.
I hate the way the camera angles up and down her body all the time like they did with Troi in the early days of TNG.
Speaking of drinks, remember the scene where Kirk and crew had dinner with Khan as the honored guest. The one where Khan said, "We offered the world order!" That was a great scene.
I also noticed something else about that scene. I counted 12 people in the dining room, 8 men and 4 women. All the men were seated, but half of the women were standing and pouring drinks for those seated. Only McGivers and Uhuru had the privilege of sitting with the men.
And speaking of Rand, who was it that brought Sulu's meal to him in the botany room in "The Man Trap". It was none other than Rand.
I guess domestic work on the Enterprise was reserved for the women.
Why else would they need women on a starship? Robert Wise described them as geisha girls. But if Rand was on duty when delivering Sulu's space celery, she needs a reprimand for scoffing it..
