Classic episodes now considered "lame" - ?!

[korblborp]

Remember, "The Menagerie" was only halfway through the first season of TOS. IIRC, Spock had done all of two mind melds at that point, in "Dagger of the Mind" and "Return of the Archons." In "Dagger," It was painted as a highly risky procedure, and in "Archons," it was unsuccessful. It wasn't the go-to move that it would become by the second season.

tbf, vulcans aren't the only telepaths in the federation. WNMHGB heavily implies that there are human espers, for example, and iirc that the reason mitchell and dehner are affected is because thay're latent ones..

 

[CorporalCaptain]

WNMHGB heavily implies that there are human espers

It explicitly states it [tanscript]:

DEHNER: It is a fact that some people can sense future happenings, read the backs of playing cards and so on, but the esper capacity is always quite limited.​

​

[...]​

​

DEHNER: Espers are simply people with flashes of insight.​

SPOCK: Are there not also those who seem to see through solid objects, cause fires to start spontaneously?​

DEHNER: There's nothing about it that could possibly make a person dangerous.​

SPOCK: Doctor Dehner is speaking of normal ESP power.​

 

[korblborp]

explicitly stating is EXTREMELY heavily implying things XD



possibly imploding them.

 

[suarezguy]

In a society where there are literal telepaths serving in Starfleet, the idea that the best they could manage was a yes or no flashing light was absurd.

Not that many, pretty far from common to be expected.

the idea that the best they could manage was a yes or no flashing light was absurd.

I find just one light for yes, two lights for no still at least pretty believable and poignant.

 

[The Salt Umpire]

It explicitly states it [tanscript]:

DEHNER: It is a fact that some people can sense future happenings, read the backs of playing cards and so on, but the esper capacity is always quite limited.​

​

[...]​

​

DEHNER: Espers are simply people with flashes of insight.​

SPOCK: Are there not also those who seem to see through solid objects, cause fires to start spontaneously?​

DEHNER: There's nothing about it that could possibly make a person dangerous.​

SPOCK: Doctor Dehner is speaking of normal ESP power.​

That's back around the time all the UFO and supernatural critter nonsense was taking off in popular culture. 'Chariots of the Gods', bigfoot tracking, the Loch Ness Monster and so on were big then. ESP was becoming huge alongside them and would stay that way for a long time.

 

[Daddy Todd]

ESP was becoming huge

ESP had been huge in science fiction (well, in Astounding, anyway) since at least the 1940's. Again, Trek was ransacking the science fiction zeitgeist a couple decades on.

 

[Vger23]

I may be super-biased, but the only episodes of TOS that I find to be relatively unworthy of repeat viewing are:

Mudd's Women
Turnabout Intruder
Plato's Stepchildren
Miri

 

[Moopsy]

I may be super-biased, but the only episodes of TOS that I find to be relatively unworthy of repeat viewing are:

Mudd's Women
Turnabout Intruder
Plato's Stepchildren
Miri

At least Turnabout Intruder (last TOS episode ever) and Plato's Stepchildren ("the kiss") have historic import--that's the only reason I watch them.

 

[Ssosmcin]

ESP had been huge in science fiction (well, in Astounding, anyway) since at least the 1940's. Again, Trek was ransacking the science fiction zeitgeist a couple decades on.

Which is fine since very few other TV series were bringing these things to the living rooms of John Q. Public's families. Literary SF didn't reach the same numbers as TV.

 

[Takeru]

I find just one light for yes, two lights for no still at least pretty believable and poignant.

No way. I understand it was the 60s and they probably didn't foresee people being able to control a computer via eye movements but they did make him turn the light on and off using a neural link which is pretty advanced so just "Yes" and "No" is not believable. Pike could have used Morse Code with the blinking light they gave him or if they wanted to be a bit more ambitious, let the neural link differentiate 26 signals so that Pike could spell out words easier. The chair could have converted that into speech.

 

[Ssosmcin]

No way. I understand it was the 60s and they probably didn't foresee people being able to control a computer via eye movements but they did make him turn the light on and off using a neural link which is pretty advanced so just "Yes" and "No" is not believable. Pike could have used Morse Code with the blinking light they gave him or if they wanted to be a bit more ambitious, let the neural link differentiate 26 signals so that Pike could spell out words easier. The chair could have converted that into speech.

We don't know the science behind it. All we know is

MENDEZ: His wheel chair is constructed to respond to his brain waves. Oh, he can turn it, move it forwards, or backwards slightly.
PIPER: With the flashing light, he can say yes or no.

There could be any dozens of reasons why he can't articulate his thoughts. Don't assume it's capable of complex translation of mental commands. They kept it vague because it's fantasy science. As for Morse Code, it was long outdated by then (as mentioned in Space Seed), Pike wouldn't be cracking it out to order dinner or say Spock is gonna kidnap him. This chair was the best they could do and it could very well be brand new, experimental technology.

The bigger question why didn't Kirk or McCoy suggest Spock do the "ancient technique of the joining of two minds" that he did on Van Gelder to find out what was agitating Pike? "Dagger of the Mind" took place before these events in airdate, production and stardate order.

(Answer: 60's episodic TV)