Star Trek TOS Re-Watch
- Thread starter Commander Troi
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I took it as he saw her worth on the landing party as she was able to provide vital information before Khan starting seizing up. I agree, he did redeem himself in that scene. It's a great scene, too.
Next up for me: Balance of Terror. I might be able to get the Hubby to watch it with me because it's his favorite TOS episode.
There's that, and the simple fact that exceptional people and standouts are the ones who get remembered at all.
I must read the wrong books.
Anyone remember Shatner giving John Winston's character of Lt.Kyle a new name or at least his version of the name in The Immunity Syndrome?
I mean most of the cast called him Lieutenant Kyle and why? Because that was his name. Leonard Nimoy and James Doohan both interact with Winston in the series and both call him that in their scenes so why does Shatner call him Kowl? And I have no idea what exactly he calls Ltr.O'Herlihy in Arena??
JB
Balance of Terror by Paul Schneider
There's a reason this episode is usually in Top Ten TOS Episodes lists! It's a tight thriller with plenty of tension and character development. Props to director Vincent McEveety for keeping and ramping up the mood throughout.
I watched this with The Hubby because it's his favorite episode, and I feel I got as much out of his reactions as my own.
The opening scene with the wedding, and perhaps several other scenes with Martine and Tomlinson, was edited out when I saw it as a kid. The episode is so much richer with them! I love that Martine works phaser control, but I can see why they later went with direct firing from the bridge later.
The paralells between Kirk and Spock/McCoy and the Commander and Centurian are wonderful and add a real depth to what could have easily been a very black and white situation.
Mark Lenard and Bill Shatner both shine in this episode as they struggle with questions of Duty and Conscience. As McCoy succinctly puts it, "Do you want a galactic war on your conscience?"
The tension is kept ramped up and definitely reminded me of submarine warfare, especially in the beginning when neither knows notjing about the other, including what they look like. Discovering they look like Spock gives the writer a good excuse to comment on bigotry with the character of Lt. Stiles. (I was reminded of The Simpsons episode where Homer's homophobia is dispelled by John Waters saving his life.)
The cat-and-mouse of this episode works well due to Kirk and the Commander being equally clever and smart. In fact, the only dumb character is Decius! When he goaded the Commander into attacking against his judgement, I literally said, "So, he gets them all killed."
Amusing: Kirk says right at the beginning, "...my command orders on this subject are precise and inviolable. No act, no provocation will be considered sufficient reason to violate the zone. We may defend ourselves, but if necessary to avoid interspace war, both these outposts and this vessel will be considered expendable." Then later he's willing to enter the Neutral Zone.
Cringeworthy: Rand putting herself into Kirk's arms when they think they're going to die.
Awesome: Martine firing phasers and Uhura taking over a navigation.
Tbe ending is lovely and bittersweet. The Romulan Commander destroys his ship rather than be taken prisoner. Tomlinson dies and Kirk comforts Martine. When she says she's alright, the look on Kirk's face tells us he isn't. In my headcanon, Kirk immediately headed for a drink with Bones.
There's a reason this episode is usually in Top Ten TOS Episodes lists! It's a tight thriller with plenty of tension and character development. Props to director Vincent McEveety for keeping and ramping up the mood throughout.
I watched this with The Hubby because it's his favorite episode, and I feel I got as much out of his reactions as my own.
The opening scene with the wedding, and perhaps several other scenes with Martine and Tomlinson, was edited out when I saw it as a kid. The episode is so much richer with them! I love that Martine works phaser control, but I can see why they later went with direct firing from the bridge later.
The paralells between Kirk and Spock/McCoy and the Commander and Centurian are wonderful and add a real depth to what could have easily been a very black and white situation.
Mark Lenard and Bill Shatner both shine in this episode as they struggle with questions of Duty and Conscience. As McCoy succinctly puts it, "Do you want a galactic war on your conscience?"
The tension is kept ramped up and definitely reminded me of submarine warfare, especially in the beginning when neither knows notjing about the other, including what they look like. Discovering they look like Spock gives the writer a good excuse to comment on bigotry with the character of Lt. Stiles. (I was reminded of The Simpsons episode where Homer's homophobia is dispelled by John Waters saving his life.)
The cat-and-mouse of this episode works well due to Kirk and the Commander being equally clever and smart. In fact, the only dumb character is Decius! When he goaded the Commander into attacking against his judgement, I literally said, "So, he gets them all killed."
Amusing: Kirk says right at the beginning, "...my command orders on this subject are precise and inviolable. No act, no provocation will be considered sufficient reason to violate the zone. We may defend ourselves, but if necessary to avoid interspace war, both these outposts and this vessel will be considered expendable." Then later he's willing to enter the Neutral Zone.
Cringeworthy: Rand putting herself into Kirk's arms when they think they're going to die.
Awesome: Martine firing phasers and Uhura taking over a navigation.
Tbe ending is lovely and bittersweet. The Romulan Commander destroys his ship rather than be taken prisoner. Tomlinson dies and Kirk comforts Martine. When she says she's alright, the look on Kirk's face tells us he isn't. In my headcanon, Kirk immediately headed for a drink with Bones.
LOL! True!
Given the difference in Rand and Kirk's ranks it was still inappropriate and cringe to me.
I worked with the Australian Army in the 90s. There's no way any enlisted woman would jump into the arms of any male officer in work time. In my years of work no-one was every cuddling or full body hugging anyone. OK there's no life and death situation at my work but that happened all the time on the Enterprise. Would it be OK for random yeomen to hug the nearest male officer every time the ship was in danger. In Space Seed I can't remember if there were any women aside from Uhura on the bridge when Khan gassed them and they thought they were going to die there were no final hugs.
I know the scene was there to show of the repressed relationship between Kirk and Rand but I just thought it made Rand and Kirk look unprofessional.
That final long shot of Kirk striding along the corridor, getting back to business with determination, yet suffering inside at the loss of a crewman, and ultimately having to handle it all alone... just a brilliant moment of character building without a word of dialog.
Kirk meant it was worth a man's life to save the ship, or beyond that, to protect Federation space from an invasion that could kill millions.
I finished the first season in production order. It’s been a great ride revisiting my favorite show in this strict regimen.
This Side of Paradise *** - this one used to annoy me but now it landed as well as it’s going to. Jill Ireland and that damned overused “Ruth” theme still grate, but not as badly. Nimoy and Shatner (on FIRE in the third act) really make this work.
The Devil in the Dark *** - the union guys from New Jersey still kill me but it’s a decent episode with some really great work by Nimoy and Kelley (“by golly Jim, I’m beginning to think I can cure a rainy day!” makes me laugh).
Errand of Mercy **** - more Gene Coon world building in one of his best screenplays. John Colicos and Shatner have amazing scenes together. Great Twilight Zone style ending. Solid.,
The City on the Edge of Forever **** - if this were a two part episode – and it should have been - it would be my favorite episode. As it is, it feels a bit rushed. Bad dialog looping and the third use of the Mayberry location drag this down a bit. Also Keeler’s dialog is obvious. I wish more of Ellison’s poetry survived, but – again – Shatner and Nimoy make this one great.
Operation—Annihilate! *** - much better than I remember. Kirk is hit over and over by tragedy. Aurelan screaming to death is horrifying. What they don’t need to layer Spock’s jeopardy onto it. Kirk’s nephew and the population of Deneva meeting the same fate is more than enough. Kirk’s loss of Sam and his wife don’t have time to land. I do give them credit for keeping this one dead freaking serious until the very end. The aliens are creepy and a nice change for the show.
and because I didn't start with it but should have:
The Cage: ***** Amazing pilot, one of the best in the franchise. Full of imagination, chills, excitement and romance. A bittersweet ending.
All in all, the series was great from the very beginning. It faltered as Coon found his way but rebounded and ended on higher note but, for me, rarely captured the amazing greatness of the first half of the season.
As it stands, taking my averages, this is a 4 star season out of 5.
This Side of Paradise *** - this one used to annoy me but now it landed as well as it’s going to. Jill Ireland and that damned overused “Ruth” theme still grate, but not as badly. Nimoy and Shatner (on FIRE in the third act) really make this work.
The Devil in the Dark *** - the union guys from New Jersey still kill me but it’s a decent episode with some really great work by Nimoy and Kelley (“by golly Jim, I’m beginning to think I can cure a rainy day!” makes me laugh).
Errand of Mercy **** - more Gene Coon world building in one of his best screenplays. John Colicos and Shatner have amazing scenes together. Great Twilight Zone style ending. Solid.,
The City on the Edge of Forever **** - if this were a two part episode – and it should have been - it would be my favorite episode. As it is, it feels a bit rushed. Bad dialog looping and the third use of the Mayberry location drag this down a bit. Also Keeler’s dialog is obvious. I wish more of Ellison’s poetry survived, but – again – Shatner and Nimoy make this one great.
Operation—Annihilate! *** - much better than I remember. Kirk is hit over and over by tragedy. Aurelan screaming to death is horrifying. What they don’t need to layer Spock’s jeopardy onto it. Kirk’s nephew and the population of Deneva meeting the same fate is more than enough. Kirk’s loss of Sam and his wife don’t have time to land. I do give them credit for keeping this one dead freaking serious until the very end. The aliens are creepy and a nice change for the show.
and because I didn't start with it but should have:
The Cage: ***** Amazing pilot, one of the best in the franchise. Full of imagination, chills, excitement and romance. A bittersweet ending.
All in all, the series was great from the very beginning. It faltered as Coon found his way but rebounded and ended on higher note but, for me, rarely captured the amazing greatness of the first half of the season.
As it stands, taking my averages, this is a 4 star season out of 5.
It's always interesting what people get out of episodes. I don't think I would have made the same summary to any of the episodes listed.
Oh I rarely agree with people when it comes to TV and movies. I find popular favorites to be overrated and the unpopular unappreciated.
Talk about different readings on episodes. I’ve been following the guys on Youtube called Target Audience as they review TOS. They’re deep into the third season and they just reviewed “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.”
Their overall take was they both really enjoyed the episode and many aspects of it. They also felt the episode possibly works better today than when it first aired.
Indeed their general opinion of Season 3 seems more favourable than what a lot of fans think.
Their overall take was they both really enjoyed the episode and many aspects of it. They also felt the episode possibly works better today than when it first aired.
Indeed their general opinion of Season 3 seems more favourable than what a lot of fans think.
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Oh it doesn't have to do with popularity, it just means you picked out different things to mention than I would have.
I'm just going to pop this in here, even if it's out of order. Hubby and I watched the first episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series this week, "Beyond the Farthest Star". I don't think I've seen this (or any TAS) since I was a little kid, but I *instantly* recognized the TAS "danger music", which was a nice surprise! I was 5 years old when this first aired - I can't find any information on if they re-ran these or not, but I think they did, so I may have been a little older when I saw them. Or not.
There's a compilation of the music Ray Ellis composed for TAS on YouTube that always takes me back to those Saturday morning viewings of my childhood.
A lot of fans like myself used to dislike This Side of Paradise back in the day! No monsters, no alien baddies or spaceships, just a group of old floppy plants that spew out spores which pacify their victims and make them nice, healthy and friendly! And Kirk had to go and spoil that!!!
Nowadays I love this episode and find that this was probably the closest that the Trek version of humanity ever got to a real Utopia!
JB
Nowadays I love this episode and find that this was probably the closest that the Trek version of humanity ever got to a real Utopia!
JB
A real utopia inspired by alien spores?A lot of fans like myself used to dislike This Side of Paradise back in the day! No monsters, no alien baddies or spaceships, just a group of old floppy plants that spew out spores which pacify their victims and make them nice, healthy and friendly! And Kirk had to go and spoil that!!!
Nowadays I love this episode and find that this was probably the closest that the Trek version of humanity ever got to a real Utopia!
JB
And Kirk had to beat up Spock for it. Which says something I'm sure...something something not meant for paradise...
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