"Way To Eden" always seems to get a bad rap

[Dusty Ayres]

No, I think it's just as bad as people claim.

If the old "Star Trek is like sex" adage is true, then WtE is that time you woke up with a dude.

No, Way To Eden is much, much worse than that. It's like waking up with a nasty STD (blue balls, crabs, chlamydia, VD) from the sex you had last night without a condom, and then having to go to your city's version of the Hassle Free Clinic to get it treated.

 

[QuasarVM]

No, I think it's just as bad as people claim.

If the old "Star Trek is like sex" adage is true, then WtE is that time you woke up with a dude.

No, Way To Eden is much, much worse than that. It's like waking up with a nasty STD (blue balls, crabs, chlamydia, VD) from the sex you had last night without a condom, and then having to go to your city's version of the Hassle Free Clinic to get it treated.

But it IS (like most TOS) still watchable...

Cheesy, but watchable...

 

[Captain Pike]

I like it. You could do worse. Like watch And the Children Shall Lead for instance...

 

[DrTaylor]

It makes more sense in light of Star Trek 5, and it makes Star Trek 5 better.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

I reach this thread brother, I really reach it. It's now. Real now.

 

[Nerys Myk]

It gave Carl Spock a face, so it cant be all bad.

 

[Chrisisall]

It gave Carl Spock a face, so it cant be all bad.

OMG! Make me choke why dontcha!!!

 

[siskokid888]

I remember reading that Walter Koenig felt this ep showed how the makers of the show didn't give a crap anymore, especially where the character of Chekov was involved. According to him, Chekov was supposed to be the "hip" younger character as compared to Kirk, Spock and the others, and here he is portrayed as an uptight establishment type, and Spock is the "hip" one. I guess he felt Chekov should have been connecting with the "hippies", not Spock.

That's odd, because Chekov never struck me as "hip," not even a little bit. Young does not equal hip. He always seemed to me to be conscientious, eager and a bit of a Eagle Scout, none of which are bad things to be but that most definitely are not hip. Maybe they should be, but they aren't.

Other people in this thread have mentioned that one of the things that bothers them about the episode was how out-of-character Chekov acts, and maybe this is so. All I can say is that he seems perfectly in character to me. Maybe I have an overdeveloped Herbert-dar?

I'm trying to remember all the Chekov scenes, but my memory ain't what it used to be. I remember him making out with the blonde yeoman in "The Apple", but other than that it's hard to remember him doing something that would make his actions here seem out of character. Koenig felt it was, though, enough that he pointed it out.

 

[MikeH92467]

I remember reading that Walter Koenig felt this ep showed how the makers of the show didn't give a crap anymore, especially where the character of Chekov was involved. According to him, Chekov was supposed to be the "hip" younger character as compared to Kirk, Spock and the others, and here he is portrayed as an uptight establishment type, and Spock is the "hip" one. I guess he felt Chekov should have been connecting with the "hippies", not Spock.

That's odd, because Chekov never struck me as "hip," not even a little bit. Young does not equal hip. He always seemed to me to be conscientious, eager and a bit of a Eagle Scout, none of which are bad things to be but that most definitely are not hip. Maybe they should be, but they aren't.

Other people in this thread have mentioned that one of the things that bothers them about the episode was how out-of-character Chekov acts, and maybe this is so. All I can say is that he seems perfectly in character to me. Maybe I have an overdeveloped Herbert-dar?

I'm trying to remember all the Chekov scenes, but my memory ain't what it used to be. I remember him making out with the blonde yeoman in "The Apple", but other than that it's hard to remember him doing something that would make his actions here seem out of character. Koenig felt it was, though, enough that he pointed it out.

I think the problem was that Koenig felt Chekov was too easily distracted by a pretty girl while on duty. I would agree that hitting on the yeoman on the landing party was a lot more of a screwup. If you remmeber Kirlk's kecture about landing party discipline to Marla McGivers in "Space Seed" that would be a much serious matter than inadvertently giving up information that was gleaned from an innocent conversation. Other than that, I think he just let the bad taste over the 3rd season color his memory of Way to Eden.

 

[JustKate]

That's a good point, Mike. I wonder, too, if in thinking that Chekov was supposed to be hip, Koenig is simply remembering what he wishes were true rather than what actually was the case. I mean, I watched TOS back in the day, and I never once thought of Chekov as "hip." Not even for an instant. Maybe he seemed hip to Gene Roddenbury or to Koenig. But GR was, let's face it, middle aged, and Koenig was 30 or so when he was on TOS, and while 30 seems pretty young to me these days, 30-year-olds were not the arbiters of hip in the 1960s any more than they are now. So their definition of hip quite possibly didn't really fit in with that of actual hip young people of the day. Not that I was one of them - I was too young to be hip. But I knew people were hip - heck, I knew actual hippies - and Chekov was never associated in my mind with any of them.

But then again, as I've mentioned before, I was always a Spock girl. Always. Spock is hip even though he never even tries to be.

Koenig, after all, was supposed to be a bubblegum sex symbol to us young female Trek watchers, and I don't think that worked out all that well either, though there were no doubt girls whose prepubescent hearts he sent all a-flutter. All I can say is that in my case, it didn't work that way. Maybe because of the "Spock girl" factor I mentioned earlier?

 

[QuasarVM]

I was and ever shall be --Tragically Hip.

 

[ToddPence]

In "And The Children Shall Lead", it was revealed that Chekhov's deepest fear was that he would disobey an order. How "hip" is that?

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

In "And The Children Shall Lead", it was revealed that Chekhov's deepest fear was that he would disobey an order. How "hip" is that?

I so want to make a George Takei joke here, but it would probably get me a warning.

 

[siskokid888]

That's a good point, Mike. I wonder, too, if in thinking that Chekov was supposed to be hip, Koenig is simply remembering what he wishes were true rather than what actually was the case. I mean, I watched TOS back in the day, and I never once thought of Chekov as "hip." Not even for an instant. Maybe he seemed hip to Gene Roddenbury or to Koenig. But GR was, let's face it, middle aged, and Koenig was 30 or so when he was on TOS, and while 30 seems pretty young to me these days, 30-year-olds were not the arbiters of hip in the 1960s any more than they are now. So their definition of hip quite possibly didn't really fit in with that of actual hip young people of the day. Not that I was one of them - I was too young to be hip. But I knew people were hip - heck, I knew actual hippies - and Chekov was never associated in my mind with any of them.

But then again, as I've mentioned before, I was always a Spock girl. Always. Spock is hip even though he never even tries to be.

Koenig, after all, was supposed to be a bubblegum sex symbol to us young female Trek watchers, and I don't think that worked out all that well either, though there were no doubt girls whose prepubescent hearts he sent all a-flutter. All I can say is that in my case, it didn't work that way. Maybe because of the "Spock girl" factor I mentioned earlier?

That's true. Maybe Roddenberry told Koenig he was the "hip" one, and Walter believed it, despite the evidence to the contrary. And, as stated prior, his overall dislike of Freiberger and the 3rd season crew colored his judgement of this episode.

 

[Chrisisall]

Spock is hip even though he never even tries to be.

Spock is hip because he never tries to be.

 

[JustKate]

^ That, too.

Edit: That's actually almost certainly the reason behind his sex appeal as well.

 

[GeorgeKirk]

How funny is it that logical, unemotional Spock is cast as the hippie sympathizer while Jim "Free Love" Kirk is the Herbert?

Also, Irina's "Russian accent" is even worse than Chekov's.

 

[JustKate]

I think this just goes to show that there's more to being hip than merely having sex with any passably attractive female who'll agree to it. Lots of Herberts would do that if they could, after all.

 

[bbailey861]

Not any more. I'm married.

 

[ahkyahnan]

Ugh.. Space Hippies.

This is probably the only TOS episode that feels dated to me.

What's funny is I watched it in 1971 or 1972, when a few hippies were still floating around, and it felt real dated even back then.

I think those parts were dated the night it first aired! Even the hippies probably cringed. Mainly because it was pretty much another corporate suit attempt to 'connect' with these young 60's kids they just couldn't figure out. That 'cringe' happened almost everytime a TV show of the day tried to portray hippies, bikers and 60's youth in general. Mod Squad (though that was a fun show), Adam-12, a bunch of others. Compared to the music they made up for some of those shows, the stuff in Way To Eden is actually pretty good...at least they're real songs.

At any given time the only people that really know what's 'cool' to young kids are young kids, and until the internet came along they generally weren't in a position to produce their own TV shows, so we got a bunch of 'square' adults trying to come up with something hip. Rarely worked.

I like 'Eden' though.

Mark