WTF moments in TOS & TAS....

[Warped9]

We all love Star Trek (in this forum and context referring to TOS), but as much as we enjoy it we can still hit a moment in a story where we feel doused with cold water and suspension of disbelief suddenly falls apart. At that point we either cringe involuntarily, shake our head in disbelief or laugh ourselves silly.

It might be a line like, "Brain and brain! What is brain?" It might be seeing a pink tribble. It could be anything.

So share your WTF moments from TOS and/or TAS.

 

[Tosk]

Giant Spock plant thing duplicate still roaming the galaxy.

 

[1001001]

 

[Henoch]

"The Captain's coming; quick, look busy!"

 

[Delta Vega]

Spock asking Janice Rand if she might have found some of the qualities of Evil Kirk appealing in "The Enemy Within"
You know, the Evil Kirk who tried to ravish her.

 

[Kor]

When an area appears to be empty then people suddenly start walking into camera view from all directions.

Kor

 

[Henoch]

When an area appears to be empty then people suddenly start walking into camera view from all directions.

Kor

Again, "The Captain's coming; quick, look busy!"

 

[johnnybear]

Thing is Kirk probably knew those tricks from when he was a lowly ensign years before!
JB

 

[gakelly]

Spock saying "My legs, they are broken" with no emotion.

 

[erastus25]

Laughing like crazy at the end of The Galileo 7 after crew members died.

 

[Pauln6]

Starfleet having a General Order to devastate civilian targets.

Also, I'm with Rand. What the hell was Lenore wearing ?

 

[Henoch]

Starfleet having a General Order to devastate civilian targets.

This was back in the good old days when you don't mess with Starfleet, and the planet's government was guilty of capital crimes against the Federation. At least GO24 gives the offending party a way out; capitulation. A couple of episodes later we meet the real bad guys, the Klingons, who won't even give them that choice.

 

[MAGolding]

Starfleet having a General Order to devastate civilian targets.

Also, I'm with Rand. What the hell was Lenore wearing ?

This was back in the good old days when you don't mess with Starfleet, and the planet's government was guilty of capital crimes against the Federation. At least GO24 gives the offending party a way out; capitulation. A couple of episodes later we meet the real bad guys, the Klingons, who won't even give them that choice.

Technically General Order 24 is to destroy a planet, or possibly merely to devastate it and destroy all life on its surface. Such an order might be given to destroy a lifeless planet or asteroid before it impacts on a planet with life, or to destroy a lifeless planet in order to destroy an enemy military base on it, or to destroy a planet with lifeforms if one of those lifeforms is a deadly virus or if the planet is inhabited by xenomorphs from Alien. And maybe General Order 24 would also be given in warfare to destroy all life on an inhabited planet.

An example of ordering the extermination of all life on a planet with only two known intelligent beings on its surface, considered to be as deadly as plague or xenomorphs, is in "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

KIRK: When Mister Spock recovers, you'll both transport up immediately to the Enterprise.
PIPER: But Captain
KIRK: If you have not received a signal from me within twelve hours, you'll proceed at maximum warp to the nearest Earth base with my recommendation that this entire planet be subjected to a lethal concentration of neutron radiation. No protest on this, Mark. That's an order.

http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/2.htm

An example of the possible extermination of all life on an enemy inhabited planet is in "Errand of Mercy".

KIRK: How to handle their interstellar relations! We have the right
AYELBORNE: To wage war, Captain? To kill millions of innocent people? To destroy life on a planetary scale? Is that what you're defending?
KIRK: Well, no one wants war. But there are proper channels. People have a right to handle their own affairs. Eventually, we will have
AYELBORNE: Oh, eventually you will have peace, but only after millions of people have died. It is true that in the future, you and the Klingons will become fast friends. You will work together.
KOR: Never!

http://www.chakoteya.net/StarTrek/27.htm

And it has been suggested by some that General Order 24 in "A Taste of Armageddon" actually is an order to bluff someone with threats of destruction.

 

[wayne66]

I hope that General Order 24 is a bluff. I remember Uhura's reaction to hearing it. She seemed like she never heard it before and was shocked by it. Now Scotty seemed aware of it. But maybe top command officers like Kirk, Spock and Scotty are the only one who would know about this bluff. The rest of the crew would not need to know about it. Just speculation by me.

 

[Henoch]

And it has been suggested by some that General Order 24 in "A Taste of Armageddon" actually is an order to bluff someone with threats of destruction.

It was no bluff. Scott and Kirk were deadly serious. Anon believed them deadly serious. Remember, those bozos already killed the crew on the Valiant 50 years ago, plus are responsible for the thousands of killed space travelers in the area. Upon arrival, they attempted to destroy the Enterprise. Maybe regulations say that when GO24 is invoked, being the "good guys", you must inform them of your intentions. Give them one last chance. That's only fair.

 

[Pauln6]

It was no bluff. Scott and Kirk were deadly serious. Anon believed them deadly serious. Remember, those bozos already killed the crew on the Valiant 50 years ago, plus are responsible for the thousands of killed space travelers in the area. Upon arrival, they attempted to destroy the Enterprise. Maybe regulations say that when GO24 is invoked, being the "good guys", you must inform them of your intentions. Give them one last chance. That's only fair.

But the issue here is rather that the Enterprise ignored warnings to enter their territory and breached their laws (by refusing execution). If this went to arbitration, who would win?

Further, the civilian population is entirely innocent. It's a war crime to target civilians. Why does a general order even exist that is a war crime?

 

[Henoch]

But the issue here is rather that the Enterprise ignored warnings to enter their territory and breached their laws (by refusing execution). If this went to arbitration, who would win?

It looks like I'm the only one willing to defend GO24, so be it. The Enterprise didn't ignore any warnings.They came in with shields up and messages of friendship. They were under Federation Orders to open contact with this planet at all costs for some good reason. The reason was given:

FOX: Captain, in the past twenty years, thousands of lives have been lost in this quadrant. Lives that could have been saved if the Federation had a treaty port here. We mean to have that port and I'm here to get it.​

It is noted that Fox was not coming in not as a bully, rather, he was bending over with the offer of friendship. Firstly, there is no intergalactic arbitrator. If there was one, the closest thing would be the Federation. Who would win in arbitration? Easy answer after the fact: the winner.

Further, the civilian population is entirely innocent. It's a war crime to target civilians. Why does a general order even exist that is a war crime?

After they attacked the Enterprise and took the representative of the Federation (Kirk) hostage, technically, a state of war existed with the Federation. The Allies during WWII bombed civilian populations into the stone age. Followed on in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. Sad fact is, it is the only way to remove/change ruthless governments, most times. Kirk determined that we have two ruthless governments murdering millions of their own people each year for 500 years, and killing anyone who gets within their space. Time for regime change. Should Kirk have the authority to make these decisions for the Federation? Yep, he does.

 

[F. King Daniel]

"The Magicks of Megas Tu"

All of it. All of it.

 

[Maurice]

The whole “Armageddon” premise is preposterous. The Eminians could just radio every incoming ship with the warning “we are at war and any ships that enter our territory are subject to being targeted and those aboard killed. Put up marker buoys or whatever you want to prevent unneeded casualties, but stay the fuck out.”

 

[Pauln6]

It looks like I'm the only one willing to defend GO24, so be it. The Enterprise didn't ignore any warnings.They came in with shields up and messages of friendship. They were under Federation Orders to open contact with this planet at all costs for some good reason. The reason was given:

FOX: Captain, in the past twenty years, thousands of lives have been lost in this quadrant. Lives that could have been saved if the Federation had a treaty port here. We mean to have that port and I'm here to get it.​

It is noted that Fox was not coming in not as a bully, rather, he was bending over with the offer of friendship. Firstly, there is no intergalactic arbitrator. If there was one, the closest thing would be the Federation. Who would win in arbitration? Easy answer after the fact: the winner.

After they attacked the Enterprise and took the representative of the Federation (Kirk) hostage, technically, a state of war existed with the Federation. The Allies during WWII bombed civilian populations into the stone age. Followed on in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. Sad fact is, it is the only way to remove/change ruthless governments, most times. Kirk determined that we have two ruthless governments murdering millions of their own people each year for 500 years, and killing anyone who gets within their space. Time for regime change. Should Kirk have the authority to make these decisions for the Federation? Yep, he does.

If you try to measure 23rd century morality as comparable to 20th century morality you'd find that Kirk and his crew would have been wiped out half a dozen times throughout TOS. Humanity is meant to have evolved beyond our more barbaric instincts (much of what you describe in WWII is thought to be barbaric even by those who carried out the orders at the time and the Syrian regime is viewed as being morally bankrupt for destroying civilian infrastructure). Kirk repeatedly uses the argument that humanity, while not perfect, is better than it used to be to talk his way out of extermination by all-powerful aliens of the week. Hard to say that with conviction if it isn't true.

So, my counterpoint:
The Federation wanting a friendly port smacks of self interest.
The natives have declined contact. Their wishes are ignored.
The ship is 'damaged' by the enemy in the war. Local laws dictate that all those declared dead must die. The locals take steps to enforce their laws.
The Federation refuses to obey local laws and threatens to murder civilians and destroy infrastructure if the regime doesn't do what they want.

So maybe Mara is actually right and Klingon propaganda is more accurate than Kirk would have us believe!