The Mark of Gideon question

[Soullessblackeyes]

Hello guys!
I am a new fan and I am making my way through all the seasons and have come across season 3 episode 16 "The Mark of Gideon".
I have a potentially niche question about Spock.
I am watching on Paramount Plus and at the scene where Spock beams down to Gideon on the 'fake enterprise' (beginning at mark 43:29), there is a voice over of Spock looking around while he is logging something with the ship's log (taking a mental note?).
ANYWAY I will get to the point here , the strangest thing I cannot figure out is what he says at 43:47. It looks like he mouths the word "phasers" or something, as the voice over continues.
Anyone notice this?

 

[Just a Bill]

Not sure if I ever noticed that before, but I just watched and it looks to me that as the ship's-log VO is saying "warn him," Spock's comment to himself is "fascinating."

 

[Phaser Two]

@Just a Bill has it right I believe—it's "fascinating." And thanks for a question about an episode I quite like and has a lot of thought-provoking discussion points.

 

[Methuselah Flint]

I noticed this before. My guess is maybe they added the voice over as they felt the scene itself wasn't enough? Hence Spock's on-screen comment still being visible.

 

[Moopsy]

@Just a Bill has it right I believe—it's "fascinating." And thanks for a question about an episode I quite like and has a lot of thought-provoking discussion points.

Also, Kirk and Odona were a cute couple IMHO.

 

[Phaser Two]

Also, Kirk and Odona were a cute couple IMHO.

I agree 100%, even though she was lying to him the whole time. (He didn't seem to hold her responsible at all.) I thought Sharon Acker was absolutely charming and acted her part very well.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I noticed this before. My guess is maybe they added the voice over as they felt the scene itself wasn't enough? Hence Spock's on-screen comment still being visible.

There was an idea that you had to be nice to people who got home late, or watched a sitcom first, and then the second half of Star Trek. The usual Captain's Log entries were all about that problem.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Not sure if I ever noticed that before, but I just watched and it looks to me that as the ship's-log VO is saying "warn him," Spock's comment to himself is "fascinating."

Yup I'll make it unanimous. It's definitely "fascinating."

There was an idea that you had to be nice to people who got home late, or watched a sitcom first, and then the second half of Star Trek. The usual Captain's Log entries were all about that problem.

There's like 8 minutes left in that episode. If this were the act 3 intro, I'd be with you, but if you're joining this late, you're shit out of luck.

I noticed this before. My guess is maybe they added the voice over as they felt the scene itself wasn't enough? Hence Spock's on-screen comment still being visible.

I can absolutely see them in the editing bay going "this scene is just Spock walking around. We need to fill it! Singer! Write a log entry!"

 

[Phaser Two]

I can absolutely see them in the editing bay going "this scene is just Spock walking around. We need to fill it! Singer! Write a log entry!"

Possibly. It's a very, very dialogue-heavy episode, and then suddenly, Spock beams into an empty "Enterprise" with no one to talk to—although he does then have a chat with Scotty. Frankly, Spock's decision to beam down to the switched coordinates (and by himself, no less) is not flawlessly logical, but the alternatives weren't terrific either. (Also, why didn't Kirk have a communicator with him as Spock did? Sure, the Gideons would have taken it or disabled it, but its absence is glaring.)

I can't really believe they thought the audience needed a catch-up at this late point (although I distinctly remember being quite confused as a kid, so perhaps at least some of the audience did ). Maybe they just thought the scene was too duplicative of what happened to Kirk.

 

[Ssosmcin]

My favorite part as a kid, the spooky floating faces notwithstanding, was the guy Spock tosses after nerve pinching his partner. He blocks a punch, flips the guy and he wriggles on the floor and goes to sleep.

 

[Maurice]

There was an idea that you had to be nice to people who got home late, or watched a sitcom first, and then the second half of Star Trek. The usual Captain's Log entries were all about that problem.

Niceness had nothing to do with it. Log entries were purely "Nielsens are recorded for every quarter hour, so we need to hook people who change channels from Gomer Pyle during the commercial break."

 

[Just a Bill]

My favorite part as a kid, the spooky floating faces notwithstanding, was the guy Spock tosses after nerve pinching his partner. He blocks a punch, flips the guy and he wriggles on the floor and goes to sleep.

That really is one of the best tosses of a nobody in the whole series. Props to Jay Jones for that great post-impact wriggling, as well as the bored sneer he gives just before Spock goes into action.

 

[Ssosmcin]

That really is one of the best tosses of a nobody in the whole series. Props to Jay Jones for that great post-impact wriggling, as well as the bored sneer he gives just before Spock goes into action.

The sneer! Yes! I was like "oh cool he's acting not just waiting for his cue."

There's always fun to be had in Star Trek's 3rd season.

 

[Just a Bill]

The sneer! Yes! I was like "oh cool he's acting not just waiting for his cue."

The other (unknown) performer is no slouch either, with his fun reaction to the neck pinch.

There's a brief frame or three where both of these dudes give a dead-ass stare right into the camera. I don't know if that was deliberate on the part of the director; it's so fleeting, and Jones almost immediately seems to look away quickly like "oh crap, we're rolling." Either way, both stunt men seem to be having fun with this scene, and I love this frame of two bored thugs seconds before they get their butts kicked:

And speaking of butts, another favorite stunt toss (which I've mentioned once before), is in By Any Other Name, where Paul Baxley literally destroys a 3D checkers game with the gluteal hammer*.

* I kinda wanted to call it the Baxley Butt Blast, but that would've been just asking for trouble.

 

[Nerys Myk]

The other (unknown) performer is no slouch either, with his fun reaction to the neck pinch.

There's a brief frame or three where both of these dudes give a dead-ass stare right into the camera. I don't know if that was deliberate on the part of the director; it's so fleeting, and Jones almost immediately seems to look away quickly like "oh crap, we're rolling." Either way, both stunt men seem to be having fun with this scene, and I love this frame of two bored thugs seconds before they get their butts kicked:

And speaking of butts, another favorite stunt toss (which I've mentioned once before), is in By Any Other Name, where Paul Baxley literally destroys a 3D checkers game in the rec room with the gluteal hammer*.

* I kinda wanted to call it the Baxley Butt Blast, but that was just asking for trouble.

It's good to see Mummenschanz branch out.

 

[Maurice]

There's a brief frame or three where both of these dudes give a dead-ass stare right into the camera.

Nah, they're both looking just to the side of the lens.