Wolf in the Fold

[Timo]

"Hengist" is such a great character name. It sounds close enough to "heinous" that it immediately gives you a squirrely feeling.

It's basically the old German equivalent of using "Hartigan" or "Roarke" as a character name - the key element being a raw animal sound chosen for its onomatopoetic effect of masculinity. In this case, the neigh of the stallion it stands for...

I wonder if Trek ever has managed to apply a character name that is without an Earthly precedent of some fame? Plenty of important Odos around, say.

I always thought that the pscho tricorder would read Scotty's memories and be able to play them back for others to experience.

In that case, wouldn't the heroes use it? I mean, Scotty didn't bash it into pieces or anything.

There would probably be "others" around Scotty during the use, then, too, instead of this privacy.

Not having such an ability meshes better anyway with the lack of such an ability in all the other eps where truth serums or mind melds are required instead.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Phaser Two]

All I got from the psychotricorder is that it would tell if Scotty was lying or not about having amnesia, by showing that he did or didn't have amnesia. That's what the ship's computer is later able to do, and clearly the tricorder would not exceed the computer's capabilities.

 

[UnknownSample]

It's best not to dwell too long on the psycho-tricorder. Whatever it does, it's just too handy, would solve too many plot points too soon... If it actually replayed memories, that's so advanced that it would cancel out many plots. Actual mind reading and mind recording changes everything!

 

[Phaser Two]

Exactly. That's why I believe that it was only intended to verify that Scotty was or wasn't lying about his amnesia. Unfortunately, despite the excellence of the dialogue in the episode as a whole, the lines delivered on Argelius concerning the purported capabilities of *both* the tricorder and the computer indicate more of a mindreading ability. Additionally, when they do get to the ship, the computer (unsurprisingly) can't and doesn't do anything of the kind, causing an internal inconsistency.

Since I absolutely love the episode, I've never bothered to be troubled by this. But it can be handwaved away by suggesting that Kirk and McCoy are deliberately exaggerating the tricorder/computer's abilities in order to sway Jaris and gain some control over the situation.

 

[mb22]

Redjac and Pennywise the Dancing Clown are basically the same entity. Stephen King is a Trekkie?

Or a Robert Bloch fan. Bloch originally used the Jack the Ripper as evil entity 24 years earlier in his story "Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper" in 1943.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

If it actually replayed memories, that's so advanced that it would cancel out many plots. Actual mind reading and mind recording changes everything!

Could it stimulate the nerves where Scotty's new memories are stored and cause him to believe they're happening now?

 

[Timo]

Well, is that "psycho"?

The very name of the device could be used as further evidence that it is a tool for medical diagnostics (and possibly but not necessarily therapy - tricorders otherwise are just sensors, or then it takes a tech wizard to use them as lockpicks or whatnot). Forensics ain't medical without further specifying...

I don't see the "we will find out what happened and whodunnit" potential in the machine or the associated dialogue. Whodunnit is implied in the seance, which is a step up from what they were doing before (which in turn is why everybody agrees to having the seance instead of retrying the tricorder or preemptively executing poor Scotty).

Our heroes probably know how to deal wirh crime, also within their own ranks. The ep just does a good job of showing them having to tread softly, and OTOH them not realizing how serious and exotic the situation really is.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[johnnybear]

Pennywise devours those children, bone by bone where as Redjac uses other beings to instill fear into his intended victims and then when he has fed upon that emotion allows his tool to kill the prey with savagery! A bit of a difference I'd say!
JB

 

[UnknownSample]

Did someone suggest that it was a therapy device? It seems to gather information.

 

[Phaser Two]

Pennywise devours those children, bone by bone where as Redjac uses other beings to instill fear into his intended victims and then when he has fed upon that emotion allows his tool to kill the prey with savagery! A bit of a difference I'd say!
JB

Got to admit I'm not seeing the connection either, JB!

 

[MAGolding]

"Hengist" is such a great character name. It sounds close enough to "heinous" that it immediately gives you a squirrely feeling.

hmmmm.

It's basically the old German equivalent of using "Hartigan" or "Roarke" as a character name - the key element being a raw animal sound chosen for its onomatopoetic effect of masculinity. In this case, the neigh of the stallion it stands for...

I wonder if Trek ever has managed to apply a character name that is without an Earthly precedent of some fame? Plenty of important Odos around, say.
Timo Saloniemi

hmmmm.

I, on the other hand, always wondered if Robert Bloch chose Hengist because it seemed like the appropriate name for a tough character hired by peaceful and defenseless people to protect them, who betrays and attacks them.

 

[johnnybear]

Wasn't Hengist the name of one of the primitive people in England in Carry On Cleo? Wonder if he was also Redjac and passed the entity on through his children's line?
JB

 

[gottacook]

Watching second-season (remastered) episodes in recent weeks on H&I (while working; it's not as if I need to see the TV screen any longer), I noticed an oddity shared by this episode and "By Any Other Name": the rather extreme disjunction between the first and second half. The first half of both episodes involves the cruel murder of one or more women; in the second half, levity is prominent (in "Wolf," the crew laughs because of the euphoric drug administered to everyone, and we viewers laugh because Hengist is truly funny as the drugged Ripper saying "Die, die, everybody die!"; in "By Any," it's the "apology" scenes and of course the drinking scenes featuring Scott). At the end of each episode, the murdered women are long forgotten (unlike, say, "Catspaw" where Kirk's final words are "Jackson is dead").

 

[johnnybear]

Good point there, Gotta! I used to feel that also at the end of BAON, that Kirk is willing to make friends with the leader of a hostile alien race who has just murdered an innocent young woman at the beginning of the episode for no other purpose than to teach Kirk a lesson! Yet in the bigger picture you have to think about the entire galaxy which was under threat from the Kelvans and with Rojan on your side you can stop these many tentacled monsters from turning everyone into cubes and crushing them three hundred years into the future! Wouldn't that be a great idea for a new Trek series!!! Starfleet picks up an enormous Kelvan spacefleet coming through the barrier with intentions to invade the galaxy!
Doubt they'll do it though...
JB

 

[Phaser Two]

Watching second-season (remastered) episodes in recent weeks on H&I (while working; it's not as if I need to see the TV screen any longer), I noticed an oddity shared by this episode and "By Any Other Name": the rather extreme disjunction between the first and second half. The first half of both episodes involves the cruel murder of one or more women; in the second half, levity is prominent (in "Wolf," the crew laughs because of the euphoric drug administered to everyone, and we viewers laugh because Hengist is truly funny as the drugged Ripper saying "Die, die, everybody die!"; in "By Any," it's the "apology" scenes and of course the drinking scenes featuring Scott). At the end of each episode, the murdered women are long forgotten (unlike, say, "Catspaw" where Kirk's final words are "Jackson is dead").

Good, in fact really good, observation. The somewhat goofy end of WIF is a little jarring, but the mystery and horror of the rest resonates with me so well that it doesn't bother me too much. (Actually two of my top 5 faves, WIF and Wink of an Eye, are frequently criticized by many other fans for their flaws, for whatever that's worth. Different strokes, etc. )

However, I swear, if given the power to fix just one thing about any episode of TOS, it might be having Rojan tried for the brutal murder of Yeoman Thompson. That really bugs me in an episode I otherwise quite enjoy.

 

[johnnybear]

It's like today's world though! An ambassador murders a woman in your country but your government is not allowed to try him for that crime due to diplomatic immunity and his country might be a good ally in dealing with less than friendly neighbours, Phase! Not good I know but that's how it works!
JB

 

[2takesfrakes]

What is up with Scotty's having problems getting women? Does he have a basket like Will Decker's? Does he lack endurance? Just what's his malfunction, exactly?

 

[Phaser Two]

It's like today's world though! An ambassador murders a woman in your country but your government is not allowed to try him for that crime due to diplomatic immunity and his country might be a good ally in dealing with less than friendly neighbours, Phase! Not good I know but that's how it works!
JB

True, JB. I think I've posted here before about how much that bothers me and talked about how Kirk might have reported her death to that young woman's family, and someone pointed out that most likely he portrayed her as a hero who made a needed sacrifice to stop invaders. Still, though, in my revision there would be a quick mention how once Starfleet figured out how to neutralize the paralyzer, about 30 ships would show up at the Kelvans' new place and arrest Rojan for trial.

Most other crew deaths are avenged in-episode. (The Scalosians, for example, were left to die; Redjac was destroyed or rendered inert.) Not hers.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Wasn't Hengist the name of one of the primitive people in England in Carry On Cleo? Wonder if he was also Redjac and passed the entity on through his children's line?
JB

Hengist was an Anglo-Saxon king who was invited to Britain by King Vortigern to aid him in fighting the Picts. He then turned of Vortigern and helped push the Britons out of Britain setting the stage for it's transformation into England. That's probably what MAGolding was referring to.

 

[Timo]

What is up with Scotty's having problems getting women?

I think the technical term is "starship".

That is, being isolated in a tin can in the middle of vacuum, with all forays to the outside supervised by a man who gets dibs by decree. It's not as if any other male character would fare better. And never mind the women, who get desperate enough to thaw frozen monsters with best-before dates from another millennium...

Timo Saloniemi