Hi Folks, First time posting, and I don't mean to nick pick too much TWOK scene when the Enterprise lowed the Reliant's shields and fired back. Jochaim's damage report to Khan was "they damaged the photon controls, and the warp drive, we must withdrawal." Later on Jochaim's updated report to Khan..."impulse power restored." That last repair update I think made more sense. From the prior counter-attack scene w/Enterprise (clearing showing the Reliant's upper impulse drive section taking a hit). As for the photon controls phrase, that was most likely the weapons console system.
That script was put together in by Meyer in a hurry. I don't think he was really poring over technical manuals when they wrote it. It sounded starship enough and they ran with it. In some case the cast would help out to fix a line from their own prior experience when there was something that didn't make sense, but i doubt anyone gave too much thought about it in that case.
Could've been that impulse power was operating below 100%, and Joachim saying it's restored was meant to imply that it was now fully operational at 100%, which would have been more than a match for poor Enterprise
Also, Joachim's original report to Khan that "We can't fire sir! They've damaged the photon controls and the warp drive..." is meant to imply that phasers were also offline, since it is established in TMP that the Refit Enterprise's phaser energy relies on the warp drive energy. Spock/Sulu knew exactly where to hit them. The impulse drive was obviously damaged in the attack (since we see the entire impulse deflection crystal exploding), but Joachim didn't include this in his original report since he was responding directly to Khan's order to fire and not giving a complete list of systems affected.
Pointing at a screen with blinking lights and saying "They knew exactly where to hit us" is pretty useless as a "report." I believe @JonnyQuest037 commented further on this in another thread. Kor
Not when both Kirk and Spock knew what they were looking at... Kirk only needed to say "Who knew?"...
Agreed that the point of the scene was the shock value that they both understood the significance of being hit in those locations. It's sort of bizarre, though, that that should come as a surprise: they were attacked by a Federation starship. Of course the Reliant crew would know where to hit them!
I think we're meant to assume that Kirk knows how to read the diagram and know what those flashing lights mean and that Spock is "answering" him by indicating particular ones. If you ask "where are they?" and I point at a map I'm still answering you. This is drama, not an excuse for technobabble. Scotty sums up how dire it is moments later anyway.
No worries. Nitpicking is pretty much mandatory on Trekbbs. More than anything else, it seems like a stretch to think that Khan's "crew" could have successfully piloted a starship in so short a time. Okay, they possess the "superior intellect" but what experience do they have regarding starship operations and technical ability?
Well, Khan had made a thorough study of 23rd-century starship specs when he was a guest on the Enterprise. Kor
They could have given Kirk a better line, then. If he had asked "How bad is it?" or something like that maybe, but a report is specific information. If Kirk could just read the display as well as Spock, it's right there, why ask for a report? If a navy boss had asked for a report and I had just pointed at a chart, he would have taken a minute to make me consider whether my birth had been an offense to all humanity, or just my direct ancestors.
It actually makes sense for Spock to deliver the status report to Kirk in this manner. The greatest danger to the ship at that moment was the very real potential for panic on the bridge and a breakdown in the chain of command. The ship was crewed not by seasoned officers accustomed to functioning in a crisis but by untried cadets that were grossly unprepared for this line of situation. Scotty even had cadets abandoning their posts. Spock needed to quickly convey the seriousness of their situation to Kirk while keeping other cadets on the bridge focused on their jobs. Note how softly Spock said the line “he knew exactly where to hit us.” The cadets were barely holding it together as it is. Verbally calling attention to the severity of their situation would have further fueled their fears like pouring gasoline on a flame. It may not have been the standard protocol, it was probably the right call.