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..
Classic episodes now considered "lame" - ?!
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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.
Not that many, pretty far from common to be expected.
I find just one light for yes, two lights for no still at least pretty believable and poignant.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
Is it possible that Pike may be capable of more than he's letting on, and is concealing this to avoid being pressed for details so that nothing stops him from being taken back to Talos IV?
Then why would he be repeatedly signaling "NO"?
I think we have a tendency as fans to be very protective of sacred cows, when in fact some people just have a different viewpoint.
This could come down to age, cultural background, gender or any number of other factors.
I grew up watching archive stuff with my Dad. In fact, my first deep voyage into science fiction TV was Doctor Who, with which I watched the 80s seasons contemporaneously whilst collecting video tapes of 60s/70s stories.
Not everyone has that background though and not everyone approaches media like that and… well, so what?
I like TOS. If someone else doesn’t, that’s valid and we are equally unlikely to be able to change each others minds so… let it be. Let it go. Who cares?
This could come down to age, cultural background, gender or any number of other factors.
I grew up watching archive stuff with my Dad. In fact, my first deep voyage into science fiction TV was Doctor Who, with which I watched the 80s seasons contemporaneously whilst collecting video tapes of 60s/70s stories.
Not everyone has that background though and not everyone approaches media like that and… well, so what?
I like TOS. If someone else doesn’t, that’s valid and we are equally unlikely to be able to change each others minds so… let it be. Let it go. Who cares?
Absolutely agree with this except for Voyager. I can't exactly explain why—although I think it has to do with the care that VOY put into production design and set dressing, including the general look of the ship—but it does not look dated to me at all, whereas TNG and especially DS9 do.
But I'm with you—TOS has a transcendental quality that does the reverse of "taking you out of the story." The story takes you in. For me, it's the same as watching "Casablanca" and not being annoyed that Rick and Ilsa aren't whipping out their cells to text each other.
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I agree Voyager definitely looks the most appealing from a production point of view, but I was referring more to just the general quality/writing of the episodes.
I agree with that too. I was a little more clear in my edit.
Love or hate the Berman era, you cannot deny that there were a ton of talented production people in those days who took great pride at getting all the little details right. I think TNG, DS9, and Voyager all had great production values. (I know I'm in the minority, but to this day I love the bright lighting of TNG and the warm, inviting colors more than the darker approaches of DS9 and Voyager.)
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