A Piece of the Action ("Ending Issue")

[Omega-Trekker]

There has been one TOS episode that has been driving me nuts for decades. View the short clip below, and then tell me what you think. I'm of the belief that with 1920's technology there is no bloody way they could tear apart a 21st century cellphone and figure out how to reverse engineer it, let alone figure out how to manufacture the components, and it would be even harder with 23rd century technology. So while it makes a cute ending, and a closeup for Shatner, I give this ending a fail, because both Kirk and Spock would recognize the basic fact of reality.

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[Timo]

Well, a civilization at "the beginnings of industrialization" couldn't have remade a whole planet in the image of fake 1930s Chicago, either. So the basic assumption here is that the Iotians are advanced and capable folks who just love to LARP, and were LARPing "the Beginnings of Industrialization" when the Horizon came, but are LARPing "the Height of Chicago Mobs of the Thirties" when the Enterprise does.

So when Sulu in the Excelsior pays a visit in the 2310s, there's no telling whether he'll find "Heyday of the Federation" or perhaps "Kings and Castles of Bavaria" or possibly "Interdimensional Portal Metropolises of Utopia III", depending on whether Kirk's was the last visit, or whether somebody else also came...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Vger23]

They never found McCoy's communicator. It fell down between the cushions of the sofa in Krako's game room, and he had them thrown out in favor of some more comfortable pieces.

 

[Ssosmcin]

According to Peter David in his DC Comics story "The Trial of James T. Kirk," they found it and hung onto it, waiting for the Feds to come collect their cut so they could return it. They didn't wanna rock the boat, so they left it alone. Or something.

This ranks at near the very bottom of Star Trek episodes for me.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I'm of the belief that with 1920's technology there is no bloody way they could tear apart a 21st century cellphone and figure out how to reverse engineer it, let alone figure out how to manufacture the components, and it would be even harder with 23rd century technology

They apparently figured out the internal combustion engine and the tommy gun from one book about the Chicago mobs of the 1920s, so I wouldn't it put past them. As Spock says in the teaser, they were "extremely intelligent and somewhat imitative."

Honestly, when I watch that episode now I mainly find it odd that after all the talk in the preceding 50 minutes about cultural contamination, the Enterprise doesn't immediately turn around back to Sigma Iotia to retrieve McCoy's communicator. But there is truly no one more blasé than Jim Kirk one minute before the end of an episode.

According to Peter David in his DC Comics story "The Trial of James T. Kirk," they found it and hung onto it, waiting for the Feds to come collect their cut so they could return it. They didn't wanna rock the boat, so they left it alone.

I remember that. That was cute.

 

[BK613]

They apparently figured out the internal combustion engine and the tommy gun from one book about the Chicago mobs of the 1920s,

Not exactly:

KIRK: Did they leave any other books?
OXMYX: Sure. Some text books on how to make radio sets and stuff like that,​

 

[fireproof78]

They apparently figured out the internal combustion engine and the tommy gun from one book about the Chicago mobs of the 1920s, so I wouldn't it put past them. As Spock says in the teaser, they were "extremely intelligent and somewhat imitative."

Honestly, when I watch that episode now I mainly find it odd that after all the talk in the preceding 50 minutes about cultural contamination, the Enterprise doesn't immediately turn around back to Sigma Iotia to retrieve McCoy's communicator. But there is truly no one more blasé than Jim Kirk one minute before the end of an episode.

I remember that. That was cute.

I enjoyed that comic a lot. Oxmyx's comments were fun. Also, Kirk and Spock seemed more like they were busting McCoy's balls a little over it than any true concern.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Not exactly:

KIRK: Did they leave any other books?
OXMYX: Sure. Some text books on how to make radio sets and stuff like that,​

Thanks. I was forgetting that line.

 

[BK613]

Thanks. I was forgetting that line.

Doesn't invalidate your point about them figuring out the communicator. Of course, the interesting take would be if Krako or Tepo found it and used the gained knowledge to overthrow Bela.

 

[Phaser Two]

I always figured that immediately after the episode cut away at the end, Kirk smilingly ordered a course back to Sigma Iotia, whereupon they located the communicator (a handy piece of equipment if you need to track something) and beamed it back on board. Also, given how often the Starfleet landing parties lose their equipment, I'm pretty sure they have a protocol for this.

Another possibility: immediately after the episode cut away, Kirk told Spock and McCoy that he ordered the transporter chief to scan for and beam aboard all Starfleet devices before leaving orbit, and produced the communicator with a trademark Shatner Smile.

 

[IMC Headquarters]

God forbid McCoy leave a hypo of cordrazine behind.

 

[Kor]

Apparently Kirk and Spock thought it was plausible that the Iotians could reverse engineer their technology:
SPOCK: Captain. If the Iotians, who are very bright and imitative people, should take that communicator apart
KIRK: They will, they will. And they'll find out how the transtator works.

I would imagine that Starfleet has some division dedicated to cleaning up all the messes left behind by captains out on exploration missions. Perhaps after the events of APOTA, Starfleet deployed a team of experts including sociologists to Sigma Iotia, similar to "Return of the Archons." Yes, sociologists. Sociology had somewhat of a resurgence in the 1960s, so it made perfect sense that something trendy at that time would be a vital part of Starfleet operations three hundred years later.

Kor

 

[XCV330]

Apparently Kirk and Spock thought it was plausible that the Iotians could reverse engineer their technology:
SPOCK: Captain. If the Iotians, who are very bright and imitative people, should take that communicator apart
KIRK: They will, they will. And they'll find out how the transtator works.

I would imagine that Starfleet has some division dedicated to cleaning up all the messes left behind by captains out on exploration missions. Perhaps after the events of APOTA, Starfleet deployed a team of experts including sociologists to Sigma Iotia, similar to "Return of the Archons." Yes, sociologists. Sociology had somewhat of a resurgence in the 1960s, so it made perfect sense that something trendy at that time would be a vital part of Starfleet operations three hundred years later.

Kor

they probably send the Cerritos there now and then

 

[Spock's Barber]

Godfather Kirk would make them an offer they couldn’t refuse....

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[JonnyQuest037]

I always figured that immediately after the episode cut away at the end, Kirk smilingly ordered a course back to Sigma Iotia, whereupon they located the communicator (a handy piece of equipment if you need to track something) and beamed it back on board.

Yes. I'm sure that the Enterprise would have a way of detecting communicators from orbit, and they could very likely lock on to one and just beam it back to the ship. But at the end of the day, it was a cute ending and it probably shouldn't be analyzed any more than that.

Also, given how often the Starfleet landing parties lose their equipment, I'm pretty sure they have a protocol for this.

Also a logical assumption.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I always assumed Kirk and Spock were joking about the Iotians' capabilities, to razz McCoy. But they should definitely swing back and beam up the communicator.

I like Timo's non-canon idea that the Iotians are further along than they're letting on, and they were LARPing.

 

[thribs]

The new Picard novel goes into the Iotians in more detail if you want to know more about them.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I like Timo's non-canon idea that the Iotians are further along than they're letting on, and they were LARPing.

Yet another idea that directly contradicts what the episode tells us.

 

[Timo]

Well, it generally can't be helped that the writing on this cheapo 1960s show was fundamentally shitty.

However, there's no harm in being charitable. And with fictional worlds, no writer can ever hope to cover all the bases - so the concept of "error" sort of ceases to exist, to be replaced by "interesting fictional feature". And Star Trek is definitely far more interesting than its writers ever imagined!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Phoenix219]

Lol, when I was a kid, like really young, possibly elementary school (definitely no later than middle school), I wrote a fan fic where the TNG crew comes back and finds the place revamped as a 23rd century starbase or something. There was still some kind of war between factions but I don't remember the details. That story would have worked better if it was a tricorder left behind, not a communicator. I wasn't nitpicking at that level yet....