Omega IV & Independence Day

Omega IV, July 4... coincidence?

Anyway, looking at the scripts the Constitution as mangled by the Yangs doesn't start "E Plebnista," as fans often say/write, but is written out sans L as "Ee’d pebnista nordor formor pur fektunun…”



I still think this episode feels like the Bird trying to slap a Serling on the end of an otherwise unremarkable episode. And I still maintain that this left turn sort of undermines the entire script (which is not great to begin with) as it makes you forget the whole Prime Directive story because all you remember is the jingoism.

I have my own thoughts on how the episode could/should have gone. Does anyone like it as is, warts and all? Or have a opinion on what would have made it better fo them?

...I mean, besides junking it for a wholly better script.

 

Yeah, sorry, thinking of the date I crossed my signals when typing.

 

I don't have a source, but I remember hearing (long ago) that "Omega Glory" was one of the original story ideas that Roddenberry came up with to frame the show, like "Corbomite Maneuver", "Mudd's Women" etc.

I can't say the episode is a favorite. (The story meanders all over the place.) But, since the world seems to be dealing with the aftermath of an apparently genetically engineered virus run wild, maybe there's something to it.

 

I used to complain about how massively unlikely it was that an alien society would evolve exact word-for-word copies of the Constitution, and the U.S. flag, but I buy the novelverse's explanation for it. Specifically, the explanation propounded by @Christopher in his "Department of Temporal Investigations" novels (can't remember which one, specifically):

Spoiler

The copies of the Constitution and the flag were actually left behind by a passing Earth freighter, the ECS Philadelphia. The crew took notice of the struggle between the Yangs and Kohms, and intentionally gave the Yangs the flag and the Constitution to inspire them in their fight for freedom. The Yangs incorporated those items into their own mythology, and eventually forgot where they came from.

Besides, it seems clear that those copies of the flag and the Constitution couldn't literally be as old as the Yangs say they are, anyway. The documents would have crumbled into dust long ago.

 

I just rewatched this episode for the Twitter live tweet watch (#TOSSatNight). The episode hits differently than it used to now with the rise of aggressive, global nationalism. It's still poorly written.

As I said on my TrekRanks appearance, it's Roddenberry striving for Rod Serling and missing spectacularly. But I think there's something in the concept that could be mined in a redo, reboot, reimagining... whatever.

My page one rewrite would focus on the theme of national pride becoming a religion onto itself, and how that could destroy civilization. The false god or false flag, if you will, of nationalism.

I'd also keep the cut lines where it's suggested that the Yangs and Kohms were a lost Earth colony.

Maybe make it more subtle. Roddenberry hangs a fucking huge lantern on it at the end. But then again subtlety isn't a Roddenberry strong suit.

Or I'd lean into it more than Roddenberry. Amplify the stupidity of it all. Maybe in a "Piece of the Action" comedic way.

 

I do. Definitely not perfect (rising nationalism here in the US does ruin it a bit in the here and now), but an overall fun watch.

 

I’m glad that GR didn’t throw in the US national anthem to get butchered....

 

Not Roseanne quality, perhaps, but it was not one of Fred Steiner’s signature moments.

 

Was it Roddenberry doing Rod Serling or Vice Versa?
"The Omega Glory" was broadcast in 1968.
Nobody saw Rod Serling do "Planet of the Apes" until a year later.

As for a recent "Rise of Nationalism" some folks are talking about, in America, we've got the Political Left and Political Right both protesting against the Government. I don't know what you call it, but when both sides are against the Government, that's not any "Nationalism" I've ever heard of.

But, if you want to talk about parallels between "The Omega Glory" and our current state of world affairs, take a look at a civilization that wasn't destroyed by "Nationalism" but by what increasingly more scientists are saying is a bioengineered virus.

 

I think the comment is more about twist endings Serling was fond of.

 

I liked it when I was a kid. Still do. We are emotional animals with a thin patina of reason on our cerebral cortex, like thin frosting on a cake. Who can explain why we like something?

(Of course we ourselves try to justify our likes and dislikes with reasons often far afield from what's really going on underneath.)

Anyway: yes, it's an episode that exists just to get to a twist ending.

Along the way it makes a point about meddling in other people's affairs even when it seems to make sense to do so.

But, I just liked it cuz it was cool.

 

I thought it a 1960's look at the good USA vs. the evil "Communist World", and even with global warfare (in this case, biological/germ warfare), the good USA will win out in the end because... "might makes right"?)

Roddenberry's secondary story line: the world needs to almost destroy itself with biological warfare in order to gain extremely extended life spans and no overpopulation. Agree with your second point, still poorly written.

 

Say it with me: Twilight Zone

Yep.

 

In an Apples to Apples comparison of twist endings, "Plant of the Apes" is closer to "Omega Glory" than it was to say "Probe 7, Over and Out."

(And if you don't like the American Flag twist in "Omega Glory", you'll hate the biblical twist in "Probe 7.")

 

Why?

 

Colonel Adam Cook and Eve Norda. Well, Adam and Eve, time to start procreating! Have fun!

 

Yes, basically:
Instead of: Astronauts marooned on strange planet find out it's actually Earth,
the story is Astronauts marooned on strange planet, turn out to be Adam and Eve meeting in Eden.

Writers sometimes refer to this plot as a "Shaggy God Story."

 

Oh for sure it's Roddenberry trying too hard to comment on USA's brand of democracy and China's brand of communism. Just sayin' that with recent world events, the episode takes on a different light for me.

Also we already did the bio warfare stuff better in "Miri." He should just stuck to the PD dilemma and his lame-ass attempt at political commentary.