Cerritos strong!
Star Trek TOS Re-Watch
- Thread starter Commander Troi
- Start date
But we don't know how long, on our clocks, the Scalosians can live. They'll need hip replacements and early bird specials before Scotty can yank the warp drive starter cord.
True. In general, though.
The transporter issue isn't a plothople - Scotty clearly indicates it's unreliable and "only got three of 'em working and I'm not sure of those" or some such. So if the unit can't be relied upon to do routine transports, doing "wide field" transports or "two to a pad" isn't going to be a solution or any safer. The thing was wonky and after Scotty got three of them aboard, they lost the ability to get Kirk. After after they left the affected space, they had trouble bringing Kirk back. Nothing indicates either that each pad has a frequency. It's probably just safer to beam yourself onto your own pad. Or really, do you want to be that close your co-worker every time you take a trip?Another one of the very few standout episodes in the rather lackluster TOS third season. It's also in my top 10 of TOS episodes. (And yes, the bit with the Transporter is a big plothole since in Day Of The Dove they could set the thing to 'wide field' and beam up everyone in an area; yet here, suddenly - each Pad has it's own unique frequency <-- ah YATI (Yet Another Trek Inconsistency)
I'm unsatisfied by it because Kirk is clearly hiding the cure Spock brought and allows Deela to believe Kirk is going to sit up there with Spock in orbit until they all die. I would have thought that offering Deela the cure, saying that it may or may not work for them but is a starting point, would be a much more hopeful and satisfying conclusion.
The Federation's favorite brand of tortilla chips.
As to the life span of the Scalosians, I suspect that it is much longer than the humans that are accelerated:
Deela seems to outlive those that are accelerated. Perhaps she, being born into the accelerated state, has a much longer life span than those newly/artificially accelerated whom she calls "temporary".
Deela tells Kirk that they have tried to de-accelerate, but it proved fatal to them. I have no reason to believe that their scientists don't fully understand their medical condition. Either being Scalosian or being born accelerated is not curable while artificially accelerated humans can be cured (but there may be failure rate that makes repetitive uses dangerous). YMMV
"The Empath" by Joyce Muskat
The Enterprise has come to a planet of a star that's going nova. A research station was established to study the star and the Enterprise has been ordered to evacuate the station before the planet becomes uninhabitable. They've not been able to contact the members of the station.
Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down. They find a record tape that shows the scientists being disabled by a loud sound then disappearing. The same thing happens to the landing party. They find themselves being held by the Vians, an extremely advanced race, along with a beautiful mute woman in a fabulous outfit that McCoy calls "Gem." The Vians injure Kirk and it turns out that Gem is an empath, able to feel the emotions of others and to heal them by taking their injuries into herself and then dispelling them.
The four search the area and find the research team dead, looking like they died painfully. The party escapes the cavern and see Scotty and 2 redshirts waiting for them. However, they are an illusion.
The Vians torture (shirtless) Kirk, but seem to have no information they want. They return him to the others, where Gem again heals him. The Vians come back and ask Kirk to choose whether they will interrogate McCoy or Spock next. McCoy knocks Kirk out with a hypo, then does the same to Spock. He is then tortured (his shirt is ripped but still on).
Spock manages to use one of the Vians devices to get to McCoy, who is dying. The Vians explain that Gem as a representative of her people: if she is willing to sacrifice her life for that of another, the Vians, who can save only one race from the coming supernova, will choose hers.
Gem tries to help McCoy, but falls back after a certain amount of healing. She is to have learned from Our Heroes. And she does! She tries again to heal McCoy, but he pushes her away. Trapped in a force field, Spock realizes it weakens if they suppress their emotions and they do so, escaping it.
Kirk pleads that Gem has proven her willingness to sacrifice herself, and accuses the aliens of lacking compassion. The Vians, apparently in agreement, return McCoy to full health, and promise to save Gem's people.
This is a very stark episode, with a dark set and very few props. Kathryn Hays is amazing as Gem. With no speech, she manages to convey a great deal with her movement and facial expressions alone. The Kirk/Spock/McCoy trio is at its best here, filled with compassion, friendship, and self-sacrifice. I remember being very effected by this episode as a child, so perhaps I learned the same lessons as Gem.
The Enterprise has come to a planet of a star that's going nova. A research station was established to study the star and the Enterprise has been ordered to evacuate the station before the planet becomes uninhabitable. They've not been able to contact the members of the station.
Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down. They find a record tape that shows the scientists being disabled by a loud sound then disappearing. The same thing happens to the landing party. They find themselves being held by the Vians, an extremely advanced race, along with a beautiful mute woman in a fabulous outfit that McCoy calls "Gem." The Vians injure Kirk and it turns out that Gem is an empath, able to feel the emotions of others and to heal them by taking their injuries into herself and then dispelling them.
The four search the area and find the research team dead, looking like they died painfully. The party escapes the cavern and see Scotty and 2 redshirts waiting for them. However, they are an illusion.
The Vians torture (shirtless) Kirk, but seem to have no information they want. They return him to the others, where Gem again heals him. The Vians come back and ask Kirk to choose whether they will interrogate McCoy or Spock next. McCoy knocks Kirk out with a hypo, then does the same to Spock. He is then tortured (his shirt is ripped but still on).
Spock manages to use one of the Vians devices to get to McCoy, who is dying. The Vians explain that Gem as a representative of her people: if she is willing to sacrifice her life for that of another, the Vians, who can save only one race from the coming supernova, will choose hers.
Gem tries to help McCoy, but falls back after a certain amount of healing. She is to have learned from Our Heroes. And she does! She tries again to heal McCoy, but he pushes her away. Trapped in a force field, Spock realizes it weakens if they suppress their emotions and they do so, escaping it.
Kirk pleads that Gem has proven her willingness to sacrifice herself, and accuses the aliens of lacking compassion. The Vians, apparently in agreement, return McCoy to full health, and promise to save Gem's people.
This is a very stark episode, with a dark set and very few props. Kathryn Hays is amazing as Gem. With no speech, she manages to convey a great deal with her movement and facial expressions alone. The Kirk/Spock/McCoy trio is at its best here, filled with compassion, friendship, and self-sacrifice. I remember being very effected by this episode as a child, so perhaps I learned the same lessons as Gem.
"THE EMPATH"... I don't think there's a finer example of the bond between the trio than here. That alone makes it a good episode.
But adding in a great performance for Gem, the sets, and the horror element? One of my favorites of season 3.
But adding in a great performance for Gem, the sets, and the horror element? One of my favorites of season 3.
This is another one that I found absolutely boring as a kid watching the syndicated stuff in the 70s, but again age brings wisdom. I like the minimalism, Gem, and the focus on the Kirk-Spock-McCoy dynamic. As @Farscape One stated, probably the best example of the latter in the entire series. Gonna throw a plug in for ST:V The Final Frontier in there for that as well.
Never liked this one. And what if Jem did fail the test? Then the aliens will just leave all three worlds to die?"The Empath" by Joyce Muskat
The Enterprise has come to a planet of a star that's going nova. A research station was established to study the star and the Enterprise has been ordered to evacuate the station before the planet becomes uninhabitable. They've not been able to contact the members of the station.
Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down. They find a record tape that shows the scientists being disabled by a loud sound then disappearing. The same thing happens to the landing party. They find themselves being held by the Vians, an extremely advanced race, along with a beautiful mute woman in a fabulous outfit that McCoy calls "Gem." The Vians injure Kirk and it turns out that Gem is an empath, able to feel the emotions of others and to heal them by taking their injuries into herself and then dispelling them.
The four search the area and find the research team dead, looking like they died painfully. The party escapes the cavern and see Scotty and 2 redshirts waiting for them. However, they are an illusion.
The Vians torture (shirtless) Kirk, but seem to have no information they want. They return him to the others, where Gem again heals him. The Vians come back and ask Kirk to choose whether they will interrogate McCoy or Spock next. McCoy knocks Kirk out with a hypo, then does the same to Spock. He is then tortured (his shirt is ripped but still on).
Spock manages to use one of the Vians devices to get to McCoy, who is dying. The Vians explain that Gem as a representative of her people: if she is willing to sacrifice her life for that of another, the Vians, who can save only one race from the coming supernova, will choose hers.
Gem tries to help McCoy, but falls back after a certain amount of healing. She is to have learned from Our Heroes. And she does! She tries again to heal McCoy, but he pushes her away. Trapped in a force field, Spock realizes it weakens if they suppress their emotions and they do so, escaping it.
Kirk pleads that Gem has proven her willingness to sacrifice herself, and accuses the aliens of lacking compassion. The Vians, apparently in agreement, return McCoy to full health, and promise to save Gem's people.
This is a very stark episode, with a dark set and very few props. Kathryn Hays is amazing as Gem. With no speech, she manages to convey a great deal with her movement and facial expressions alone. The Kirk/Spock/McCoy trio is at its best here, filled with compassion, friendship, and self-sacrifice. I remember being very effected by this episode as a child, so perhaps I learned the same lessons as Gem.
Also I heard they saved set design prop money because they bought some old LIS props cheap.
The Jupiter 2 freezing tubes. I'm pretty sure Star Trek would have just rented them, after Fox sold them to a prop rental house.
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I'd love to know if other productions "around town" used the tubes after "The Empath" did.
You know you're cutting costs when you borrow items from Irwin Allen.
As for THE EMPATH...........I know which two bastards in the story I'd like to torture.
The bottom portion of Admiral Nelson's "video cabinet" from the Seaview is in the Vian lab as well. All the way to the right
Between being tortured to the point of near death and developing a(n ultimately not) terminal illness, poor McCoy has had it awfully rough in season 3, medically speaking.
Considering "THE EMPATH" was produced before "FOR THE WORLD IS HOLLOW AND I HAVE TOUCHED THE SKY", I have always wondered if what the Vians did to him precipitated McCoy's disease.
Possible. Along this idea that something from a previous episode could have trigger McCoy's disease, it is also possible that the disease could have been precipitated when his brain was plugged into the Teacher during Spock's Brain...
McCoy caught a computer virus and it gave him space cancer?
"Elaan of Troyius" was written and directed by John Meredyth Lucas
Ah, the old "arranged marriage for peace" story. With a few twists. I'm pretty sure, even as a kid, I got the "Helen of Troy" joke. (For those who don't, Helen was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world. She was given as a trophy to the Trojan, Paris, for choosing Aphrodite as the Fairest in a contest of Goddesses. Helen was already married and her husband raised an army of Greeks to get her back, leading to the decade-long Trojan War.) However, I don't think I was old enough to realize this steals quite a bit from The Taming of the Shrew.
The Enterprise picks up Elaan, the Dohlman of Elas, to take her to Troyius, where she is to be married to their king in order to stop the two peoples from killing each other. Ambassador Petri of Troyius is along to teach her Troyius' culture. She is haughty and imperious and it's obvious she really doesn't want this. She has 3 guards with her, the lead of which is Kryton. The Enterprise travels at slow impulse to give the Ambassador time to do his job.
A Klingon ship is following, but doesn't appear to want to attack. No one knows why they would want this system.
Petri is having a hard time dealing with Elaan. After Kirk gives him bad advice, Elaan stabs Petri, who survives but wants nothing to do with the Dohlman now. Kirk takes over as her teacher. She throws a "why does nobody like me" fit and cries, which Kirk wipes away. Elasian women's tears have a biochemical that acts like a super love potion on men. Kirk falls for her quickly.
Meanwhile, Kryton sabotages the warp engines and contacts the Klingon ship. When captured, he kills himself. Elaan says that he was in love with her and against the marriage. It turns out Kryton rigged the ship to blow up if it went to warp. The dilithium crystals are burnt out and so the Enterprise has no warp and no weapons as the Klingons attack. Elaan appears on the bridge, but Kirk sends her to Sickbay as it's the safest area of the ship.
In Sickbay, Ambassador Petri begs Elaan to accept a necklace of Troyian royal jewels. Elaan accepts and goes back to the bridge. Spock detects strange energy readings from some of the jewels; Elaan describes them as common stones. The stones are actually dilithium crystals, which explains the Klingons interest in this star system. Scotty and Spock jury-rig the necklace into the warp drive. Enterprise manages to shoot photon torpedoes at the Klingon ship, damaging it and driving it away.
Elaan leaves for Troyius, giving Kirk a dagger as a memento. McCoy finds an antidote to the tears, but "The Enterprise infected the Captain long before the Dohlman did."
Elaan may be a spoiled brat, but I totally understand her not wanting to be used as "a bribe to stop a war." I'm undecided if she cried on purpose to manipulate Kirk or if she was just crying from frustration and infected him. She seems genuinely sad to leave him in the end.
60s Sexism: "Mister Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That's the only planet in this galaxy that can make that claim."
I liked that Uhura gave up her quarters for Elaan. The set dresser did a nice job of having various African objects around the room.
Shatner does a nice job this episode, especially when he's being vulnerable with Elaan and when he's struggling to not be distracted by her. France Nuyen does a great job playing our "shrew". Character actor Jay Robinson is excellent as Petri.
Costuming: I like the initial purple outfit. I wonder if Perez was inspired by it when drawing Starfire's original costume in the comics. The silver outfit does nothing for her. The marigold dress is quite nice, but the blue wedding dress (completely open on the sides) is a stunner.
Ah, the old "arranged marriage for peace" story. With a few twists. I'm pretty sure, even as a kid, I got the "Helen of Troy" joke. (For those who don't, Helen was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world. She was given as a trophy to the Trojan, Paris, for choosing Aphrodite as the Fairest in a contest of Goddesses. Helen was already married and her husband raised an army of Greeks to get her back, leading to the decade-long Trojan War.) However, I don't think I was old enough to realize this steals quite a bit from The Taming of the Shrew.
The Enterprise picks up Elaan, the Dohlman of Elas, to take her to Troyius, where she is to be married to their king in order to stop the two peoples from killing each other. Ambassador Petri of Troyius is along to teach her Troyius' culture. She is haughty and imperious and it's obvious she really doesn't want this. She has 3 guards with her, the lead of which is Kryton. The Enterprise travels at slow impulse to give the Ambassador time to do his job.
A Klingon ship is following, but doesn't appear to want to attack. No one knows why they would want this system.
Petri is having a hard time dealing with Elaan. After Kirk gives him bad advice, Elaan stabs Petri, who survives but wants nothing to do with the Dohlman now. Kirk takes over as her teacher. She throws a "why does nobody like me" fit and cries, which Kirk wipes away. Elasian women's tears have a biochemical that acts like a super love potion on men. Kirk falls for her quickly.
Meanwhile, Kryton sabotages the warp engines and contacts the Klingon ship. When captured, he kills himself. Elaan says that he was in love with her and against the marriage. It turns out Kryton rigged the ship to blow up if it went to warp. The dilithium crystals are burnt out and so the Enterprise has no warp and no weapons as the Klingons attack. Elaan appears on the bridge, but Kirk sends her to Sickbay as it's the safest area of the ship.
In Sickbay, Ambassador Petri begs Elaan to accept a necklace of Troyian royal jewels. Elaan accepts and goes back to the bridge. Spock detects strange energy readings from some of the jewels; Elaan describes them as common stones. The stones are actually dilithium crystals, which explains the Klingons interest in this star system. Scotty and Spock jury-rig the necklace into the warp drive. Enterprise manages to shoot photon torpedoes at the Klingon ship, damaging it and driving it away.
Elaan leaves for Troyius, giving Kirk a dagger as a memento. McCoy finds an antidote to the tears, but "The Enterprise infected the Captain long before the Dohlman did."
Elaan may be a spoiled brat, but I totally understand her not wanting to be used as "a bribe to stop a war." I'm undecided if she cried on purpose to manipulate Kirk or if she was just crying from frustration and infected him. She seems genuinely sad to leave him in the end.
60s Sexism: "Mister Spock, the women on your planet are logical. That's the only planet in this galaxy that can make that claim."
I liked that Uhura gave up her quarters for Elaan. The set dresser did a nice job of having various African objects around the room.
Shatner does a nice job this episode, especially when he's being vulnerable with Elaan and when he's struggling to not be distracted by her. France Nuyen does a great job playing our "shrew". Character actor Jay Robinson is excellent as Petri.
Costuming: I like the initial purple outfit. I wonder if Perez was inspired by it when drawing Starfire's original costume in the comics. The silver outfit does nothing for her. The marigold dress is quite nice, but the blue wedding dress (completely open on the sides) is a stunner.
"Whom Gods Destroy" by Lee Erwin (based on a story by Lee Erwin and Jerry Sohl)
"The Enterprise is orbiting Elba Two, a planet with a poisonous atmosphere where the Federation maintains an asylum for the few remaining incorrigible criminally insane of the galaxy. We are bringing a revolutionary new medicine to them, a medicine with which the Federation hopes to eliminate mental illness for all time. I am transporting down with Mister Spock, and we're delivering the medicine to Doctor Donald Cory, the governor of the colony."
Except the governor isn't the governor! He's really insane ex-Starfleet Fleet Captain Garth, a hero of Kirk's, who learned shapshifting (!). He and the other 14 inmates, including Marta, an Orion, an Andorian and a Tellurite, have taken over the asylum and want the Enterprise so they can go conquer the galaxy. Garth shapeshifts into Kirk and tries to beam up. However, Scotty asks him for a countersign, which he doesn't have. Garth then spends most of the rest of the episode trying to get it, including by pretending to be Spock. Scotty and McCoy keep trying and failing to get past the forcefield on the planet.
Is the logo on Cory's uniform the same as the logo from Dagger of the Mind? It looks like it to me.
Eventually, Spock has to decide which of 2 Kirks is the real one and logically guesses right. McCoy helps Cory give the medicine to the remaining inmates. Garth, his memory of being insane gone, "meets" Kirk and Spock.
Steve Ihnat is marvelous as Garth, alternately charming and tempestuous, absolutely convinced by his own megalomania that he deserves to be "Master of the Universe." The gorgeous Yvonne Craig is both seductive and murderous. She was a trained dancer and shows it in the banquet scene. Her outfit shows off her fabulous legs well. I also felt for her when she gets taken out into the poisonous atmosphere and then gets blown up. Shatner does a great job of Garth-as-Kirk in 2 scenes, one of which involves a terrific temper tantrum. This is definitely an episode made better by the actors.
"The Enterprise is orbiting Elba Two, a planet with a poisonous atmosphere where the Federation maintains an asylum for the few remaining incorrigible criminally insane of the galaxy. We are bringing a revolutionary new medicine to them, a medicine with which the Federation hopes to eliminate mental illness for all time. I am transporting down with Mister Spock, and we're delivering the medicine to Doctor Donald Cory, the governor of the colony."
Except the governor isn't the governor! He's really insane ex-Starfleet Fleet Captain Garth, a hero of Kirk's, who learned shapshifting (!). He and the other 14 inmates, including Marta, an Orion, an Andorian and a Tellurite, have taken over the asylum and want the Enterprise so they can go conquer the galaxy. Garth shapeshifts into Kirk and tries to beam up. However, Scotty asks him for a countersign, which he doesn't have. Garth then spends most of the rest of the episode trying to get it, including by pretending to be Spock. Scotty and McCoy keep trying and failing to get past the forcefield on the planet.
Is the logo on Cory's uniform the same as the logo from Dagger of the Mind? It looks like it to me.
Eventually, Spock has to decide which of 2 Kirks is the real one and logically guesses right. McCoy helps Cory give the medicine to the remaining inmates. Garth, his memory of being insane gone, "meets" Kirk and Spock.
Steve Ihnat is marvelous as Garth, alternately charming and tempestuous, absolutely convinced by his own megalomania that he deserves to be "Master of the Universe." The gorgeous Yvonne Craig is both seductive and murderous. She was a trained dancer and shows it in the banquet scene. Her outfit shows off her fabulous legs well. I also felt for her when she gets taken out into the poisonous atmosphere and then gets blown up. Shatner does a great job of Garth-as-Kirk in 2 scenes, one of which involves a terrific temper tantrum. This is definitely an episode made better by the actors.
Thanks for these synopses. Nimoy evidently wrote an internal memo blasting the fact that what had (apparently) been a scene in which Spock logically deduces who is the real Kirk had been replaced with a fight scene. I would love to see what the original dialogue was but I doubt it still exists (it's not in the Blish adaptation and I have never seen it anywhere else).
Nevertheless, I have a soft spot for this episode. Craig and especially Ihnat are fantastic.
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