A lot of early technobabble in this one. I remember thinking, oh yeah, Sulu does know his stuff. I think Spock is a dick because every time a woman is at the helm it reminds him of all the heart attacks Ortegas gave him back in the day.
Star Trek TOS Re-Watch
- Thread starter Commander Troi
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A: Any third-year episode which yanks Kirk from Spock is an automatic plus for me, particularly in the third year. Week after week of watching the ''terrific trio'' beaming down in the first ten seconds became a major eye-roller for me. So SURVIVES is finally one less beach party for Kirkspockandmccoy, the Samanderic* of sc-fi. (*Pardon the Lord of the Flies reference.)
B: Spock's in charge now. He'd naturally expect 100 percent efficiency from those who can wake up on their own without excessive slapping from humans. While he did go overboard with Uhura, he was right to remind Rhada to wait for the order. Kirk did the same thing with Bailey in CORBOMITE. But.....thank you anyway, Mr. Scott.
C: Objection sustained.
D: You might say he panicked, but Scotty refrained from wussying up his voice as he did in ZETAR, PLATO and CHILDREN SHALL LEAD. I also enjoyed his laughing off Spock's final lecture.
E: The same is true for D'Amato. Losira could have justifiably replied ''@#$%ing duhHUH!'' on both those occasions. Third-year-writing?
F: Twice to boot. Third-year-writing.
G: I doubt he could.
H: Amazing! A solitary security guard saves the day! But in fairness, the room was quite bare, so where else could the computer have been?
This wasn't listed as a point off for me, just an observation that they've dipped into this well a few times this season.
At the same time, he's been around the block with these people and is a little overly snarky for my taste. I have no problem with him giving Rhada the icy cold stare for wanting to eject Scotty before orders, but he's ridiculously picky if he's bitching about someone rounding numbers when simply forming a theory. He did it to Kirk as a rib, but he's dickish to the Jr Officer.
Maybe not panicky but certainly more excitable. Fan films never get Scotty right anyway.
I did address this, D'Amato made the connection more quickly and I felt a delay was warranted for reasons. But I felt his was just long enough (or just about at the unrealistic barrier). Sulu was really slow on the uptake.
Granted and conceded. Still, where were the landing party's phasers? Only Kirk lost his.
All in all, not a bad episode really. Just need another pass through the typewriter.
Yeah, I won't ever consider this the same continuity as SNW (which makes me enjoy SNW on its own merits), but have at it.
The Mantrap
Star Trek premieres with an episode where a scientist despairs over the treatment of Buffalo, an extinct species. He tries to protect a similar species but unfortunately it can't keep from killing people.
The franchise starts its social commentary early, with the wastefulness of man.
Sadly, Kirk has to kill the creature because the script writes them into a corner. Really sloppy for a commentary. Or was it the studio that needed a monster and phaser fire? The end result is the same, a story that probably leaves viewers with mixed emotions.
The performances are good, minus the 60s melodramatic style, there's real integrity for something that could have come off as silly.
I'll have to grade for the attempt and for the terrible misfire.
4 out of 10
Star Trek premieres with an episode where a scientist despairs over the treatment of Buffalo, an extinct species. He tries to protect a similar species but unfortunately it can't keep from killing people.
The franchise starts its social commentary early, with the wastefulness of man.
Sadly, Kirk has to kill the creature because the script writes them into a corner. Really sloppy for a commentary. Or was it the studio that needed a monster and phaser fire? The end result is the same, a story that probably leaves viewers with mixed emotions.
The performances are good, minus the 60s melodramatic style, there's real integrity for something that could have come off as silly.
I'll have to grade for the attempt and for the terrible misfire.
4 out of 10
Reading many of the threads here has made me realize how much I've forgotten. So last night, I decided to start re-watching TOS. I honestly have no idea when the last time was I saw these! Bad fan! No collectibles!
I'm going to be doing these in airing order because that's how Paramount+ has them and I'm lazy.This is mostly for me to keep my own thoughts in order, but feel free to follow along and comment.
The Man Trap. Damn. It's so good! A few things I noticed:
- I know this wasn't the first post-Cage ep filmed (looks like it was 6th), but the world already feels lived in.
- Kirk teases McCoy when they first beam down and apologizes after he snaps at him - very believably friends and comrades.
- Uhura is teasing and flirting with Spock, even putting her hand on his arm (he seems to find his collar a bit tight there!). Even when she gets mad at him, there's a familiarity.
- Janice and Sulu seem to be friends/friendly. She even handles the catcalling jerks like she's used to it.
- The first redshirt to die is wearing blue!
- Lesson: Never follow the hot blonde.
- It's not sickbay yet, it's the dispensary.
- The ruins on the planet look vaguely Aztec but the statue in front of the Crater's home looks a bit Assyrian.
- The actor playing Green did a great job lusting after that salt shaker.
- I had completely forgotten about the plant Janice likes. In fact, I'd forgotten that whole scene! I think the bit at the end, where she says she's afraid one of the plants will grab her someday, was cut when I saw it on TV as a kid.
- I have to wonder how much I never saw because of that practice. I confirmed with my husband that we have the videotape (seriously) of Balance of Terror because he once mentioned the wedding at the beginning and I had never seen it.
- All the actors were awesome, especially De. I was very impressed with him playing "Nancy"-pretending-to-be-McCoy. Nichelle and Grace had some great scenes too.
- I see that the writer, George Clayton Johnson, also wrote several episodes of The Twilight Zone. I think it shows.
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Kirk does, eh? I seem to recall McCoy pulling the trigger to save Kirk from the creature?
Now, I'll agree the commentary is muddled, at best, especially since the creature is seated at the table, yet only Crater offers a measure of defense. We don't see much except the creature deliberately fooling and killing.
That Which Survives
There's something melancholy and reflective about this episode that goes beyond face value.
The AI hologram is very simple, not dynamic in reaction but it does have a modicum of Losira's sadness, sense of duty, responsibility and regret at killing. It's a step above the portrayal of AIs as 1 dimensional dunces. Still, Kirk and Co do win the day with some fancy footwork.
The artificial planet is a marvel of science. We don't see technology on this scale very often. Losira's culture is impressive. We also see Starfleet exposed to holograms even though they're not shown using it themselves.
The lonely lost outpost story is a tried and true trope, and I enjoy them.
Some of the science is loopy, even for in-universe, and the usual 60s problems rear their heads in dialogue but they don't overshadow this one too much.
8 out of 10
There's something melancholy and reflective about this episode that goes beyond face value.
The AI hologram is very simple, not dynamic in reaction but it does have a modicum of Losira's sadness, sense of duty, responsibility and regret at killing. It's a step above the portrayal of AIs as 1 dimensional dunces. Still, Kirk and Co do win the day with some fancy footwork.
The artificial planet is a marvel of science. We don't see technology on this scale very often. Losira's culture is impressive. We also see Starfleet exposed to holograms even though they're not shown using it themselves.
The lonely lost outpost story is a tried and true trope, and I enjoy them.
Some of the science is loopy, even for in-universe, and the usual 60s problems rear their heads in dialogue but they don't overshadow this one too much.
8 out of 10
I meant in the sense that he's forced to order to kill it. I think that decision was made twice. He didn't to the physical killing. The responsibility is Kirk's.
The creature that has been cutting a bloody swath through the crew is obviously killing Kirk and you think McCoy is thinking "I don't want to, but hey, the Captain gave this order a few hours ago, so bombs away"?
The Creature is given adequate sustenance. It will be getting the same salt rations it had been using to coexist with Crater before. It's cover will stay intact. But mmmmm. Those Enterprise crew are finger licking good.
The creature had access to a ship with sodium on it. Crater could have said: I got this creature here, it needs salt, it's the last of its kind and intelligent. It needs protection of some kind. Planet is off limits. They could either deliver salt there or re-locate it.
Nope, the crew had to be in peril. So yes, it was killing crewmen, but it was written into that corner. Like I said, sloppy.
Another way to write it is to have creature go crazy briefly, capture it, rehabilitate it, and still keep the message intact. They have sedatives, stun settings etc.
So, that puts the responsibility on Crater, not Kirk, who was protecting his crew based on the information given, which was deliberately misleading, disingenuous and not argued very well.
Not my favorite episode by a long shot, but hardly a lesser one either.
So were Norman Bates, Hanibal Lecter, and Darth Vader.
Kirk figured it out later, he could have changed tack, but he didn't. In fact there are other episodes Kirk made this specific choice later on.
If all Trek episodes were written this way the franchise would be very different today.
I don't know who is saying Kirk was responsible for the Salt Vampire's death in "THE MAN TRAP", but I don't see how.
Crater was hiding the fact his 'wife' was the creature. And because of this, it started going on a killing spree. 4 members of his crew... and nearly got Uhura, had she not responded to the intercom. Would have killed Spock had he not been half Vulcan. And later killed Crater.
Kirk was in the process of getting killed when McCoy fired. It was an unfortunate necessity at that time, but the one responsible was Crater for misleading everyone from the first moment he appears until his death.
Crater was hiding the fact his 'wife' was the creature. And because of this, it started going on a killing spree. 4 members of his crew... and nearly got Uhura, had she not responded to the intercom. Would have killed Spock had he not been half Vulcan. And later killed Crater.
Kirk was in the process of getting killed when McCoy fired. It was an unfortunate necessity at that time, but the one responsible was Crater for misleading everyone from the first moment he appears until his death.
I Don't think gene Coon wrote that script...
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I don't think he wrote The Man Trap either.
George Clayton Johnson wrote "THE MAN TRAP".
He also wrote multiple episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE (1959), and I believe he co-wrote LOGAN'S RUN.
You say that as if the character was unmotivated. But Crater started the episode hoping to preserve his secret life with a sexually available shape shifter. "No meddling, please! There's nothing to see here!" So he didn't tell Kirk about the creature at the start of the story.
Then, as soon as "Nancy" started impersonating crewman Green, Crater knew he himself was an accessory to murder, and he kept up the deception in a desperate hope that the mystery would go unsolved. It wasn't lazy writing, it was spot-on psychological reality within a way-out, sci-fi context.
That said, "The Man Trap" is not a favorite of mine. I might like it better if it weren't for the atypical, weird music score. Gene Roddenberry used to tell lecture audiences that when the NBC premiere ended, his father went up and down the block apologizing to the neighbors. It's funny, but I also suspect GR was telling the truth.
That is one of the reasons I love this episode. The music, while not the most enjoyable on our treasured CDs, is stark and desolate, like the planet. It is cold, barren and lonely. It perfectly captures this episode and elevates the story higher. It also gives Star Trek that early episode dead serious "space" feel that served the show greatly, long before Mullendore recorded his "humor" music that the latter half of the year leaned on. It's grim. I know Roddenberry hated it, but he - as you said - disliked this episode in full and I never understood that hate. This episode is fine. It's uneven, but it's well thought out and isn't a "monster" episode. The actual creature has like a minute of screen time.
Most of the inconsistencies stem from "early series wierdness" which is one of my favorite attributes of these shows. Spock repeatedly slugging Nancy is a gem, the off kilter sound effects are great and the episode premieres the series with the entire cast - and I mean everybody but Scotty - with a lot of memorable scenes. Hell, the main focus of this episode isn't even in the opening credits until season two.
Only real downer was Gertrude. That glove plant was a laugh when I was 5.
I love this one. Weird and off-putting. I adore pre-Gene Coon Star Trek. It's a totally different feel and felt less like an action adventure and more like hard SF series.
I was just using a Trek writer as an example for the spurious comparison made.
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