WTF moments in TOS...
- Thread starter Warped9
- Start date
I think it was in "The Alternative Factor" when Dr. McCoy was supposed to be caring for Lazarus and Kirk asks where he is. McCoy practically shrugs it off, says, "I dunno, it's a big ship. I'm just a simple country doctor." WTF? A mysterious humanoid who may have something to do with the entire universe nearly winking out and McCoy is supposed to be watching him... and he lets the guy go wandering around the ship? And when Kirk asks where he is he essensially tells Kirk, "beats the fuck outta me. What do I know anyway?"
^Makes about as much sense as anything else in "The Alternative Factor." That whole episode is a WTF.
It's kind of an interesting idea, but then it's hard for me to watch it without thinking about how much better "Mirror, Mirror" is.
Or, better yet, why not get a Vulcan to mind meld with him? If Pike's mind was still as active as Commodore Mendez said (and how would they know that, BTW, if Pike couldn't communicate except through beeps?), then a mind meld would surely have been possible.
Back in the 1960s, the "Mind active, body only allows beeps" thing would have sounded like cheesy but acceptable scifi. Back in the 1960s, the interpretation "Mind active but only allows yes and no" would not have sounded realistic, even in scifi terms.
However, today it is fairly common knowledge (partly thanks to the abundance of sick porn, aka hospital/medical shows) that a perfectly well-working mind may be deprived of the ability to use language altogether. Pike might understand speech perfectly well, and be capable of forming an intelligent response, but be incapable of turning that response into a string of words. Even if he were given a voice synthesizer, all that he could manage to express through it might be "Yeah yeah yeah" or "Nono badbad nono notwanna"...
Timo Saloniemi
However, today it is fairly common knowledge (partly thanks to the abundance of sick porn, aka hospital/medical shows) that a perfectly well-working mind may be deprived of the ability to use language altogether. Pike might understand speech perfectly well, and be capable of forming an intelligent response, but be incapable of turning that response into a string of words. Even if he were given a voice synthesizer, all that he could manage to express through it might be "Yeah yeah yeah" or "Nono badbad nono notwanna"...
Timo Saloniemi
How is "Space Central" any cheesier than "Star Fleet" or "Starfleet Command" or "United Federation of Planets?"
kitsune
Captain
1) Space has no meaningful center
2) If it did, it wouldn't be in the Milky Way galaxy
3) The name doesn't give any clue whatsoever as to the organization's purpose
4) It's pretentious
^Okay, you're taking "Space Central" way too literally there. It refers to the organizational center of the institution in charge of space travel. Surely you've heard of organizations with central offices? Or the Central Dispatch centers that cities have for answering 911 calls? Those aren't called "central" because of their physical location, but because of their central role in the structure of the organizations. Space Central would be the central headquarters of the space fleet, the place that every ship reports to and gets its orders from.
I love it - he redefines "overacting" - just what's missing in modern Trek IMO
Maybe in some ways. But I certainly don't miss it. On the other hand, he kicked some ass in Boston Legal.
kitsune
Captain
Yes, the authority in charge of all of space everywhere, and it's probably never mentioned again.
The name just stands out as too generic. It would be right at home in an episode of Captain Proton, though.
Again, you're being too literal. It's the authority in charge of the space agency or the space fleet.
Do you have this much trouble with the name of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Johnson Space Center in Houston? Or the Centers for Disease Control? Or since you're apparently Canadian, how about Credit Union Central of Canada or the Central Fund of Canada or the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety?
kitsune
Captain
The examples you just gave are completely different because they are qualified. Space Central isn't--it's generic, like a noun missing its adjective.
I'm not Canadian in terms of citizenship, only by residence. Not that it matters.
^Ever heard of a nickname? Maybe "Space Central" is shorthand the characters were using for something like "United Earth Space Probe Agency Central Headquarters." It's not like you saw it printed on a sign somewhere, it was just something a character mentioned in dialogue.
kitsune
Captain
I'll concede that that's plausible.
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