Scott was definitely the guinea pig of the surviving four, though I don't remember any specific targeting of the high-quality buttock, nor which direction it preferred. Blish MAY have used the gas in the published version.
Star Trek TOS Re-Watch
- Thread starter Commander Troi
- Start date
Couldn't they have shot it into his arm and have him complain something about "the size of the mosquitos on this planet"?
"Day of the Dove" by Jerome Bixby
This has always been one of my favorite episodes. Yes, I would listen to Michael Ansara read a technical manual.
This one throws you right in the action! Kirk, Chekov, McCoy, and a redshirt beam down to a planet. They've received a distress call, but there's no sign of a colony every having been there. Klingons beam down and capture them. Apparently, they also got a distress call and their ship has been horribly damaged. Chekov attacks, claiming Klingons killed his brother. Kang, the leader, tortures Chekov until Kirk agrees to beam them all up to Enterprise. However, he signaled Spock so the landing party beams up first. They Klingons are taken prisoner. They beam over the remaining Klingons from their ship, including Kang's wife and science officer, Mara. Then they destroy to damaged Klingon ship.
Nobody notices the spinning ball of light.
Uhura can't contact the Federation and the ship starts moving at Warp 9 towards the edge of the galaxy. "The entity then traps 392 members of the Enterprise's crew below decks by closing bulkheads and making them impenetrable. The 38 remaining members of the crew are equal in numbers to the Klingons. With tempers high – and spurred on by the sudden materialization of swords and other antique hand weapons – they begin to fight."
We find out from Sulu that Chekov is an only child. Tensions - and racism are high. Everyone is effected eventually, even Spock. Chekov attempts to sexually assault Mara at one point and it's a disturbing scene. I imagine as a child I didn't get the full horror of it.
Spock figures out there's an alien aboard manipulating them all. It appears to "feed" on hostility and war. Dying crew are suddenly fine. Kirk realizes the entity means for them to be fighting each other forever. He convinces Mara it isn't a trick and they use (dangerous) intraship beaming to get to Kang in Engineering. Kirk and Kang fight, but eventually Kirk tosses his weapon and gets Kang to see the entity and what it's doing to them. I have always loved the ending of laughing the damn thing off the ship.
A really good episode with a lot of tension and danger. I loved how Mara is afraid of being taken prisoner and her comments about the Klingons needing to expand to survive. It was good to see their point of view (even if it's propaganda). Ansara is terrific as Kang and Chekov, McCoy, and Scotty all get some nice scenes.
This has always been one of my favorite episodes. Yes, I would listen to Michael Ansara read a technical manual.
This one throws you right in the action! Kirk, Chekov, McCoy, and a redshirt beam down to a planet. They've received a distress call, but there's no sign of a colony every having been there. Klingons beam down and capture them. Apparently, they also got a distress call and their ship has been horribly damaged. Chekov attacks, claiming Klingons killed his brother. Kang, the leader, tortures Chekov until Kirk agrees to beam them all up to Enterprise. However, he signaled Spock so the landing party beams up first. They Klingons are taken prisoner. They beam over the remaining Klingons from their ship, including Kang's wife and science officer, Mara. Then they destroy to damaged Klingon ship.
Nobody notices the spinning ball of light.
Uhura can't contact the Federation and the ship starts moving at Warp 9 towards the edge of the galaxy. "The entity then traps 392 members of the Enterprise's crew below decks by closing bulkheads and making them impenetrable. The 38 remaining members of the crew are equal in numbers to the Klingons. With tempers high – and spurred on by the sudden materialization of swords and other antique hand weapons – they begin to fight."
We find out from Sulu that Chekov is an only child. Tensions - and racism are high. Everyone is effected eventually, even Spock. Chekov attempts to sexually assault Mara at one point and it's a disturbing scene. I imagine as a child I didn't get the full horror of it.
Spock figures out there's an alien aboard manipulating them all. It appears to "feed" on hostility and war. Dying crew are suddenly fine. Kirk realizes the entity means for them to be fighting each other forever. He convinces Mara it isn't a trick and they use (dangerous) intraship beaming to get to Kang in Engineering. Kirk and Kang fight, but eventually Kirk tosses his weapon and gets Kang to see the entity and what it's doing to them. I have always loved the ending of laughing the damn thing off the ship.
A really good episode with a lot of tension and danger. I loved how Mara is afraid of being taken prisoner and her comments about the Klingons needing to expand to survive. It was good to see their point of view (even if it's propaganda). Ansara is terrific as Kang and Chekov, McCoy, and Scotty all get some nice scenes.
I'm pretty sure this is best episode of season 3. (Checks.) Savage Curtain is up there.
Ah, the plight of two immortal crews at each other's throats for the amusement of some alien entity. It would move me to tears. If I still had tears to shed.
To think that when Michael Ansara replaced Henry Silva as Kane on Buck Rogers that I complained!
Kang is the only TOS Klingon who is a noble warrior serving a questionable regime. Sorry Kor and Koloth: You guys were bastards on the verge of genocide. You make me think less of Dax.
Ah, the plight of two immortal crews at each other's throats for the amusement of some alien entity. It would move me to tears. If I still had tears to shed.
To think that when Michael Ansara replaced Henry Silva as Kane on Buck Rogers that I complained!
Kang is the only TOS Klingon who is a noble warrior serving a questionable regime. Sorry Kor and Koloth: You guys were bastards on the verge of genocide. You make me think less of Dax.
Bottle shows are awesome! Corbomite Maneuver, Balance of Terror, The Doomsday Machine, The Ultimate Computer, (mostly) Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan!
Totally, it’s just there are quite a few in the back half of S3 that are not quite as good as DotD.
That's just because they're not good. Setting them outside would not have helped.
*swoon*
Love this one too. The concept is very interesting, a deeper look at Klingon culture, ANSARA (yes!), and a first look at how the Organian prophecy about the Empire and the Federation having the possibility of becoming allies in the future might work out.
"Day of the Dove" shows one of the best senses of "ship awareness" on the part of TPTB in not just S3 - which has a lot of shipboard action - but the entire series. The creators really put a lot of thought into where each part of the ship was, and with only a few inconsistencies. It's also an extremely effective "Enterprise takeover" episode, second only to "Wink of an Eye" in realism.
Great episode. Just outstanding. The acting!!!
Great episode. Just outstanding. The acting!!!
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Season 3 isn’t nearly as bad as so many make it out to be. Easily half the season is good-to-excellent. A quarter of it is okay. The remaining quarter is…disappointing, but at least not boring.
Interestingly a lot of younger first-time viewers sharing their reactions on Youtube tend to be more favourable toward Season 3 than a lot of long time fans.
Interestingly a lot of younger first-time viewers sharing their reactions on Youtube tend to be more favourable toward Season 3 than a lot of long time fans.
That doesn't surprise me. A lot of the Star Trek "tropes" (esp. Kirk having a Girl of the Week) come from season 3. So this was the show they were expecting to watch.
Don't you mean Act 3?
What I concluded from this episode on ship layout:
- The Klingons control Deck 6 and starboard Deck 7; they started in the Crew Lounge suggesting this was on Deck 6 or 7; Kirk escapes and takes a turbolift to Sickbay suggesting Sickbay in not on that deck. (Other episodes suggest Sickbay is on Deck 5.)
- The majority of the crew are trapped below decks, suggesting Decks 8 and below which completely includes the Engineering Hull. I assumed the Entity influenced the crew to go to these lower levels prior to sealing the bulkheads. If true, then Main Engineering is not in the Engineering Hull, rather it is in the Saucer. (Unless there are two Engineering Rooms that look the same, one in the Saucer and one in the Engineering Hull.)
- Mara leaves main Engineering to go to the main life-support couplings on Deck 6; this suggests that Main Engineering is not on Deck 6. Coupled with the above statement that the Klingons control Deck 6 and part of Deck 7, so, I conclude that Main Engineering (two story set) is on Deck 7 (with the upper level extending into Deck 6). To further confuse the issue, at the end of the episode, the Entity leaves Main Engineering and seems to directly exit the ship from the fore middle level of the Engineering Hull, so, did the Entity trip and fall down a turboshaft from the saucer into the Engineering Hull on the way out?
- Kirk used the Transporter Room to beam into Main Engineering. If we are to believe that the Klingons really control Deck 6 and starboard Deck 7, then the Transporter Room has to be on Deck 5 or above, or on the port side of Deck 7. Of course, there's the old argument for multiple Transporter Rooms... I prefer two Transporter Rooms both on Deck 7 (one on the port side and one on the starboard side, but that's just my opinion.
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I've always assumed that Main Engineering is in the secondary hull, as implied by the entity's exit here. The Writers Guide refers to the engineering hull as the "cigar-shaped" part where the hangar is. And the set of main Engineering is described there as "Int. Engineering Deck". Also, shouldn't this part be connected to the nacelles through the pylons to have warp drive?
The impulse engines, however, are in the saucer. But there's one episode ("The Doomsday Machine"?) where Scotty is working on the impulse engines, and it looks just as a reused set for main Engineering. I guess one of those examples where one needs to use the imagination and ignore budget restraints...
"For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" by Rik Vollaerts
The Enterprise is being attacked by archaic missiles and easily dispatches them. Tracing their origin leads to a gigantic ship disguised as a large asteroid, which happens to be on a collision course with an inhabited planet.
Meanwhile, Chapel is upset. McCoy has an incurable disease and has a year to live. He asks Kirk to keep it to himself.
Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to the ship. Sensors find no life forms, but then they're attacked. High Priestess Natira welcomes them to the "world of Yonada" and has them taken before the Oracle. It shows its power by administering a powerful electric shock to our heroes.
McCoy is having trouble recovering. Kirk tells Spock about his diagnosis. An old man comes in and gives them something to help with recovery. He tells them he climbed the mountains once and touched the sky. His temple glows red and he seems to be in pain, then he collapses, dead.
Natira says they are now to be treated as guests. She's taken a shine to McCoy and they talk while Kirk and Spock explore. Spock notes that the writing on the Oracle room walls resembles that of the Fabrini, a race that was destroyed by a supernova 10,000 years ago. The people of Yonada are their descendants, unaware of the nature of their world. They have been told they are going to a new world, however, so this doesn't make a lot of sense.
Natira wants McCoy to stay with her. He tells her about his condition, but she wants to marry him anyway. Spock and Kirk are discovered in the Oracle room and zapped again. They are to die for sacrilege, but McCoy convinces Natira to let them return to the ship.
McCoy and Natira marry and "an instrument of obedience" is put in his temple. Natira shows him their Sacred Book, which they are to read when they get to the Promised Land. He figures there's important stuff in there and calls Kirk. But the pain in his temple gets to him and he collapses. Kirk and Spock beam back down and remove the implant. Kirk tries to explain the true nature of Yonada to Natira. Her temple starts to hurt and she runs to the Oracle to find out the truth. Our Heroes remove her implant and find the book. The Oracle tries to kill them with a Phoenix August day's heat. Spock is able to use the book to access the control room (behind the altar, of course) and they are able to shift Yonada's course back to where it should be. Spock also finds the records of all Fabrini knowledge and uses it to cure McCoy. Natira stays with her people, but she and McCoy hope to see each other again when Yonada reaches its destination.
Some of the dialogue is clunky and some of the director's choices are weird. Natira is exactly the kind of strong, decent, principled woman I can buy McCoy falling for. Kelley does a terrific job throughout the episode, facing a terminal diagnosis with dignity and refusing to feel sorry for himself. The episode has more than a few things in common with The Paradise Syndrome. Shoutout to the set designers for making the Fabrini writing fascinating and plausible.
A good, middle-of-the-road episode with an interesting premise.
The Enterprise is being attacked by archaic missiles and easily dispatches them. Tracing their origin leads to a gigantic ship disguised as a large asteroid, which happens to be on a collision course with an inhabited planet.
Meanwhile, Chapel is upset. McCoy has an incurable disease and has a year to live. He asks Kirk to keep it to himself.
Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to the ship. Sensors find no life forms, but then they're attacked. High Priestess Natira welcomes them to the "world of Yonada" and has them taken before the Oracle. It shows its power by administering a powerful electric shock to our heroes.
McCoy is having trouble recovering. Kirk tells Spock about his diagnosis. An old man comes in and gives them something to help with recovery. He tells them he climbed the mountains once and touched the sky. His temple glows red and he seems to be in pain, then he collapses, dead.
Natira says they are now to be treated as guests. She's taken a shine to McCoy and they talk while Kirk and Spock explore. Spock notes that the writing on the Oracle room walls resembles that of the Fabrini, a race that was destroyed by a supernova 10,000 years ago. The people of Yonada are their descendants, unaware of the nature of their world. They have been told they are going to a new world, however, so this doesn't make a lot of sense.
Natira wants McCoy to stay with her. He tells her about his condition, but she wants to marry him anyway. Spock and Kirk are discovered in the Oracle room and zapped again. They are to die for sacrilege, but McCoy convinces Natira to let them return to the ship.
McCoy and Natira marry and "an instrument of obedience" is put in his temple. Natira shows him their Sacred Book, which they are to read when they get to the Promised Land. He figures there's important stuff in there and calls Kirk. But the pain in his temple gets to him and he collapses. Kirk and Spock beam back down and remove the implant. Kirk tries to explain the true nature of Yonada to Natira. Her temple starts to hurt and she runs to the Oracle to find out the truth. Our Heroes remove her implant and find the book. The Oracle tries to kill them with a Phoenix August day's heat. Spock is able to use the book to access the control room (behind the altar, of course) and they are able to shift Yonada's course back to where it should be. Spock also finds the records of all Fabrini knowledge and uses it to cure McCoy. Natira stays with her people, but she and McCoy hope to see each other again when Yonada reaches its destination.
Some of the dialogue is clunky and some of the director's choices are weird. Natira is exactly the kind of strong, decent, principled woman I can buy McCoy falling for. Kelley does a terrific job throughout the episode, facing a terminal diagnosis with dignity and refusing to feel sorry for himself. The episode has more than a few things in common with The Paradise Syndrome. Shoutout to the set designers for making the Fabrini writing fascinating and plausible.
A good, middle-of-the-road episode with an interesting premise.
As a kid in the 70's I used to be amazed that everything about an entire culture could be stored in a computer. Decades later I realized we do have that. We call it the internet.
It does seem a little uncool for McCoy to be like "I'm dying so sure I'll marry you. What? I'm cured? See ya!"
It does seem a little uncool for McCoy to be like "I'm dying so sure I'll marry you. What? I'm cured? See ya!"
Yes, although Christopher Bennett does a good job making sense of this (and a few other underdeveloped aspects of this episode) in the novel Ex Machina, if tie-in novels are your bag.
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