By any other name...awesome

[ClayHefner]

Man I hate those aliens-take-over-the-ship episodes. On ENT and TNG they have become really annoying. Yet when I saw BAON running on the sci-fi channel recently
, I decided to give it a chance after not watching it for what seems forever.

... and I must say it imo easily trumps most if not all of the later "genre episodes". It makes it even more clear that when people got tired of those kinds of stories being reused again and again, a big part of it was that they were weak stories. BAON was not.

- TWO nice continuity moments, one of Kirk suggesting Spock distract the guard like in "A Taste of Armageddon", the other of reusing the galactic barrier. Also great things for possible future stories like the Andromeda galaxy being eradiated.
- The Aliens were actually interesting. What we heard of their real existence, the problems they had in adjusting to their human bodies. Miles better than in "Power Play". I cared about those aliens and their cause.
Did I care about those religious fanatics in "chosen realm" or those prisoners in "Power Play" or those stupid Ferengi or that Trill that wants the Dx symbiont? Nope
- The Aliens were actually SMART. They knew what Kirk was up to when entering the galactc force field. They weren't haplessly sitting around whie the crew was working under their noses pushing buttons to sabotage them eventually. What brought them down was a weakness they couldn't have anticipated.
- Also no "The captains finds an Ally among the aliens to sabotage them" as it happened TWICE on ENT, the Trill episode on DS9 and several other occasions. Ok Kirk seduced that chick. But it was never about getting her to help her stop Rojan.
- The chick was actually HOT.
- The way of overcoming the Aliens was very classic sci fi, intersting to watch and believable. No technobabble bullshit of stopping them, no excessive fighting or catching them in force fields or whatever. No stupid fooling them like in "Acquisition" or "Rascals". There were a few cool moments of Scotty and Spock trying to crack their generator- without success- and it was good those scenes were in there, to show the crew was not going to outsmart them that way. Excellent.

Well lol I don't know what the purpose of the thread is except that TOS was pretty awesome and I shall watch it again beyond the token "best of" eps.

 

[Hambone]

Don't forget the scene where the two redshirts are reduced to polyhedrons; one is crushed and the other spared. If you watch closely, when Rojan picks them up and handles them, there is a classic opportunity for a continuity error. But they got it right!

Plus, it's a shocker (or at least it probably was in the 1960's) that the cute yeoman gets crushed, not the burly security guy.

 

[ClayHefner]

Don't forget the scene where the two redshirts are reduced to polyhedrons; one is crushed and the other spared. If you watch closely, when Rojan picks them up and handles them, there is a classic opportunity for a continuity error. But they got it right!

The scene where Rojan crushes her was cut from the version I watched
but interesting!

Plus, it's a shocker (or at least it probably was in the 1960's) that the cute yeoman gets crushed, not the burly security guy.

Yeah I noticed that too. Pretty cool. On ENT or VOY this would also have meant the 'death sentence' for Rojan in the end. Not here.

I was also reminded by this episode why fist fights worked on TOS but not on ENT.

 

[Jeri]

Not mentioned is perhaps the most important aspect of this episode: it's hilarious. There are many funny moments, and the aliens themselves are comic. One of the best known comedic lines in Trek is "It's...green!"

(I think the comedic element is why Rojan doesn't get the ax. That would kind of kill the buzz.)

 

[gottacook]

In addition to what others here have commented about, one of my favorite moments in the whole original series occurs just after the Enterprise breaks through the barrier:

CHEKOV: Ve...

(0.8-second shot of the Enterprise dashing off to the Andromeda galaxy, visible for the first time; no other stars around)

CHEKOV: ...made it!

 

[ToddPence]

There was a nice bit of continuity where Spock gives the reading on the energy barrier. He says "Radiation negative, energy negative, density negative" or something like that. It was the exact same lines he spoke in "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

The Kelvans say that they are uncomfortable living in open spaces and prefer the confines of a spaceship. So why are they searching for planets to conquer?

Also, Rojan claims that he intends to propogate descendants to complete the Kelvin's mission, but he doesn't even know how to kiss a woman.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It's a fun show. And Warren Stevens is always a delight.

While it may avoid a minor continuity error, it introduces one of my all-time favorite "canon reset buttons:" the Kelvans can make starships go at warp 300, they agree to stay with us and be our pals, and we never hear or see any evidence whatever of either of those occurrences ever again.

All the foolish "let's-make-up-a-fanon-explanation" stuff about the Kelvans becoming hermits or their technology being the basis for "transwarp experiments" does nothing to mitigate the massive implausibility of it all.

I'm old. I miss 60s TV. And damn it, Jim, Cronkite's dead too.

Plus, it's a shocker (or at least it probably was in the 1960's) that the cute yeoman gets crushed, not the burly security guy.

Yeah, but when I first saw it I thought it was also a little mean-spirited - Kirk shows clear disappointment that the young woman was the one killed, and we're meant to share that.

 

[ClayHefner]

It's a fun show. And Warren Stevens is always a delight.

While it may avoid a minor continuity error, it introduces one of my all-time favorite "canon reset buttons:" the Kelvans can make starships go at warp 300, they agree to stay with us and be our pals, and we never hear or see any evidence whatever of either of those occurrences ever again.

All the foolish "let's-make-up-a-fanon-explanation" stuff about the Kelvans becoming hermits or their technology being the basis for "transwarp experiments" does nothing to mitigate the massive implausibility of it all.

Yeah, the only explanation that would make sense was if the Kelvans indeed became "hermits", setting up their own little Kelvan colony to make preliminary negotiations and exploration.
I mean at the end of the episode they weren't really beaten, they still had the upper hand, they just realized Kirk was right and that would be the best for achieving their precious mission.
And that could mean giving away the technology was out of the question for them until they knew how their people would react to the proposals.
Maybe they put their super-duper generator on the unmanned vessel that was supposed to bring the proposal home.



But there's two more things about the episode I also wondered about.

1. Why did Scotty have to drink the Kelvan under the table? If the idea was to take him out (cause he was the one to watch over them specifically), why not use one of the bottles to knock it over the dude's head?

2. How on Earth could Kirk kiss the ultra-horny girl for what appears to be hours, without ever ripping that top off her? It was just waiting to fall off on its own as it was.
That is simply not believable, sorry.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

1. Why did Scotty have to drink the Kelvan under the table? If the idea was to take him out (cause he was the one to watch over them specifically), why not use one of the bottles to knock it over the dude's head?

Really. Considering that the entire galaxy might have been enslaved just because Scotty was passed out drunk on the floor of his quarters...

 

[Grant]

C- episode to me.

The Kelvins are so easily duped after appearing so formidable at the beginning.

Superb weapons, impervious to mind melds, ruducing the enitre crew (but 4) to cubes and they manage to get totally suckered by idiotic things like letting themselves BE INJECTED by the people they are enslaving!! It's like they wrote themselves into a dramatic corner and decided to let it turn into a comedy where the enemy turns bufoonish.

We inject this guy with drugs
get this guy drunk
bang the chick to make her switch sides and
the leader will turn into a jealous fool


300 year mission abandoned in less than 300 minutes exposure to humans.

 

[ClayHefner]

C- episode to me.

The Kelvins are so easily duped after appearing so formidable at the beginning.

Superb weapons, impervious to mind melds, ruducing the enitre crew (but 4) to cubes and they manage to get totally suckered by idiotic things like letting themselves BE INJECTED by the people they are enslaving!! It's like they wrote themselves into a dramatic corner and decided to let it turn into a comedy where the enemy turns bufoonish.

We inject this guy with drugs
get this guy drunk
bang the chick to make her switch sides and
the leader will turn into a jealous fool


300 year mission abandoned in less than 300 minutes exposure to humans.

That's harsh lol.
I still think it worked if you accept the aliens had made sure the humans could not take back the ship- and which was never Kirk's plan anyway. Like they did not have any reason to fear any of their their actions.

The question of course is whether the crew's failing to take over the alien generator and turning the crew into cubes was enough to really convince us the Kelvans had everything worked out (or if the writers even thought about that aspect)

like for example it would have been cool to say the crew couldn't just take the devices and turn the cubes into humans again, so trapping or killing them Kelvans would simply not work.
The fact that the "solution" was about human nature and not pushing knobs or a crew member working against them undetected or something was kinda refreshing.


They folded because they learned they probably would not be able to complete their vital mission- because Kirk was right from the beginning.
After all it was just a demonstration of things that could become even more poignant during the 300 year multi-generation voyage.
Their human offspring could just decide to turn around due to their "Neanderthal" nature, they could end up fighting each other et cetera.
Would you trust a bunch of cavemen to deliver a highly important message in 300 years?

Sure it was kind of a stretch that those cold-hearted invaders would be convinced so easily and become so nice in a matter of seconds.
Sure the henchman guy should have been more cautious.
But I don't think people exposed to an unknown level of femotions and sensual perception could be overwhelmed by them.

And why not use cryo chambers?

 

[DevilEyes]

- Also no "The captains finds an Ally among the aliens to sabotage them" as it happened TWICE on ENT, the Trill episode on DS9 and several other occasions. Ok Kirk seduced that chick. But it was never about getting her to help her stop Rojan.
- The chick was actually HOT.
- The way of overcoming the Aliens was very classic sci fi, intersting to watch and believable. No technobabble bullshit of stopping them, no excessive fighting or catching them in force fields or whatever. No stupid fooling them like in "Acquisition" or "Rascals". There were a few cool moments of Scotty and Spock trying to crack their generator- without success- and it was good those scenes were in there, to show the crew was not going to outsmart them that way. Excellent.

Well, actually, to be fair, the chick had never been kissed before, so her enjoying Kirk's kisses might not have been so much the result of Kirk's irresistable charm, as of the fact that the chick just realized lip kissing were kinda pleasant. It does confirm that Kirk was most probably a good kisser, but that's all. She doesn't fall in love with him, and in the end, she still prefers "her guy" who didn't have a clue what kissing was.

 

[Cakes488]

C- episode to me.

The Kelvins are so easily duped after appearing so formidable at the beginning.

Superb weapons, impervious to mind melds, ruducing the enitre crew (but 4) to cubes and they manage to get totally suckered by idiotic things like letting themselves BE INJECTED by the people they are enslaving!! It's like they wrote themselves into a dramatic corner and decided to let it turn into a comedy where the enemy turns bufoonish.

We inject this guy with drugs
get this guy drunk
bang the chick to make her switch sides and
the leader will turn into a jealous fool


300 year mission abandoned in less than 300 minutes exposure to humans.

The Kel's were not used to human forms/feelings/sensations etc....they were formidible but easily manipulated by Kirk & co. because of this weakness. Rojan got jealous after all.....you men with your testoterone...gets you in trouble every time!

 

[Cakes488]

There was a nice bit of continuity where Spock gives the reading on the energy barrier. He says "Radiation negative, energy negative, density negative" or something like that. It was the exact same lines he spoke in "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

The Kelvans say that they are uncomfortable living in open spaces and prefer the confines of a spaceship. So why are they searching for planets to conquer?

Also, Rojan claims that he intends to propogate descendants to complete the Kelvin's mission, but he doesn't even know how to kiss a woman.

Ohhhhh there are different ways of "propogating" my friend...oh yes indeedy...so who is to know how the Kelvan's do it? Actually that's a good question being posed to the perfect board since you're all sexual deviants anyway....how do the Kel's do it?

And PS that's right honey mama didn't know how to kiss ...proving, in fact , that they............. and I'll try to be eloquent here...fuck in a different way.

 

[EEE]

...

 

[Tan Ru]

Anyone else ever get By Any Other Name and Wink of an Eye mixed up in their head and remember things incorrectly?

Love both these episodes, seen 'em for years but still get them confused sometimes......

Just me??

 

[kissthestar]

I like this ep too. It gives Doohan a chance to act. It solves the problem without killing the aliens. Humor is always good. There's a lot to like.

 

[Bones]

Anyone else ever get By Any Other Name and Wink of an Eye mixed up in their head and remember things incorrectly?

Love both these episodes, seen 'em for years but still get them confused sometimes......

Just me??

I keep them straight by thinking "that great season two episode vs the weak, derivative episode from season 3".

I recall as an eight or nine year old seeing "Wink of an Eye" for the first time and thinking I'd already seen it. It took a while for my preteen mind to distinguish it from By Any Other Name. Especially without the aid of VHS.

In fact recalling a bit further it took until the publication of BJO Trimble's Star Trek Concordance for me to completely figure it out. Such is the mind of a preteen.

 

[Bones]

Don't forget the scene where the two redshirts are reduced to polyhedrons; one is crushed and the other spared. If you watch closely, when Rojan picks them up and handles them, there is a classic opportunity for a continuity error. But they got it right!

Plus, it's a shocker (or at least it probably was in the 1960's) that the cute yeoman gets crushed, not the burly security guy.

I found the polyhedrons especially chilling. The yeoman getting crushed was a surprise.

 

[Bones]

<snip>
bang the chick to make her switch sides and
the leader will turn into a jealous fool

That strategy is as "vintage Kirk" as "I hate to lose" and "I changed the rules". They just didn't carry it on through the more politically correct eras of the 80's and 90's.