The Enemy Within - Question

[BolianAuthor]

I am just wondering why in "The Enemy Within" nobody used any of the shuttlecraft to bring the away teams back onto the ship? I mean, they would have still had the problem of re-integrating Captain Kirk, so nothing in the story would have suffered that much if the away team was saved via shuttle, and even if they could not use shuttles due to some conditions with the planet, it would have been nice to at least hear the shuttle option discussed.

 

[scotpens]

I am just wondering why in “The Enemy Within” nobody used any of the shuttlecraft to bring the away teams back onto the ship?

Real-world explanation: The shuttlecraft mockup, interior set and miniatures hadn't been built yet. The shuttlecraft wasn't seen or even mentioned until “The Galileo Seven.”

In-universe explanation: Whatever strikes your fancy.

BTW, there were no “away teams” in Trek TOS. There were landing parties -- a good, traditional naval term. “Away team” makes me think of high school football.

 

[Christopher]

I like the explanation that the winds were too intense to allow the shuttles to be used safely. Given that shuttlecraft are more or less designed to crash at the drop of a hat, it has the ring of truth to it.

 

[kkozoriz1]

How many times did the shuttle crash or otherwise be lost during TOS? The only one I recall was the Galileo and it originally made a successful, albeit rough, landing before being lost during re-entry.

 

[Warped9]

I like the explanation that the winds were too intense to allow the shuttles to be used safely. Given that shuttlecraft are more or less designed to crash at the drop of a hat, it has the ring of truth to it.

Something along those lines does seem to be the most likely rationale.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

How many times did the shuttle crash or otherwise be lost during TOS? The only one I recall was the Galileo and it originally made a successful, albeit rough, landing before being lost during re-entry.

Don't forget "Metamorphosis" where it's dragged off course by the Companion.

 

[Baldus885]

I am just wondering why in "The Enemy Within" nobody used any of the shuttlecraft to bring the away teams back onto the ship? I mean, they would have still had the problem of re-integrating Captain Kirk, so nothing in the story would have suffered that much if the away team was saved via shuttle, and even if they could not use shuttles due to some conditions with the planet, it would have been nice to at least hear the shuttle option discussed.

There was a big blob of Plot in the way.

 

[kkozoriz1]

How many times did the shuttle crash or otherwise be lost during TOS? The only one I recall was the Galileo and it originally made a successful, albeit rough, landing before being lost during re-entry.

Don't forget "Metamorphosis" where it's dragged off course by the Companion.

But it didn't crash in that case either. The companion simply didn't allow them to leave. To use Christopher's words, only one hat dropped during TOS.

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

But it didn't crash in that case either. The companion simply didn't allow them to leave. To use Christopher's words, only one hat dropped during TOS.

My misunderstanding. You said "otherwise be lost" which being dragged off course and forced to land on an alien planetoid to me would qualify.

 

[kkozoriz1]

But it wasn't lost as they could still fly it away. I meant lost as in no longer useable due to damage or otherwise not being available.

 

[Captain Robert April]

The shuttlecraft weren't due to be delivered until Tuesday.

 

[Silvercrest]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just beam up the landing party anyway? Grab all the doubles as soon as they materialize, throw them in the brig, and figure out how to re-integrate them at leisure. At least they're alive and better off than they were on the surface.

 

[scotpens]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just beam up the landing party anyway? Grab all the doubles as soon as they materialize, throw them in the brig, and figure out how to re-integrate them at leisure. At least they're alive and better off than they were on the surface.

The splitting of Kirk into two physical beings could have been an incredible fluke. No one could predict what would happen if they tried to beam up anyone else. For all they knew, the next time they tried using the transporter, it could have turned the people inside out like Seth Brundle's baboon. And they had no idea that re-integrating Jekyll-Kirk and Hyde-Kirk was even possible until the transporter was repaired (remember evil-Kirk's phaser blast that destroyed crucial transporter circuits?).

 

[Silvercrest]

It did happen to the dog too, which would give a fair idea that it was repeatable. As for not knowing whether reintegration was possible, I imagine that some of the landing party would have preferred to try it anyway, rather than freeze to death. At least they should have had the choice. (Before the circuits got damaged, anyway).

 

[BolianAuthor]

Thanks for the answers, folks. It was just something that stood out glaringly to me, when I watched the episode... I mean, granted even if we don't SEE the shuttles in the episode, I was thinking that from a writing standpoint, the situation on the planet was dire enough to at least mention the use of shuttles in the script. I mean, even if the mock-up did not exist yet, the shuttles ARE described in the Writers/Directors guide, so yeah... there could have at least been mention made. IDK... as a writer, it was just something that irked me a bit... that they kinda overlooked that.

 

[scotpens]

It did happen to the dog too, which would give a fair idea that it was repeatable.

Oops, forgot about the dog. Brain fart.

 

[Christopher]

Is there a reason why they couldn't just beam up the landing party anyway?

When Kirk and Spock hunted the "impostor" in main engineering, the latter was just about to shoot Good Kirk when Spock neck-pinched him. The phaser beam went astray and hit a panel instead. Later, Scotty reported that the phaser hit had damaged the main transporter circuits, making it impossible to beam anyone up until they were repaired.

 

[Silvercrest]

Right, but they should have already been considering it as an option. As far as I recall, there was plenty of time between when they figured out that the transporter was creating evil doubles, and when Evil Kirk started shooting up the place. Wasn't there?

 

[GSchnitzer]

Right, but they should have already been considering it as an option. As far as I recall, there was plenty of time between when they figured out that the transporter was creating evil doubles, and when Evil Kirk started shooting up the place. Wasn't there?

Transporter was found to be duplicating things in the middle of Act I. Evil Kirk damaged the transporter even more in the middle of Act II. So, not too much time--especially for a captain whose decision-making and whose power of command is starting to elude him.

I always wondered why they didn't use the ship's phasers to warm up an acre or two of ground and have the landing party crawl over onto the warmed-up patch.

 

[Silvercrest]

Okay, I haven't studied the time frame lately. And I suspect that having them stand on newly phasered ground would've given them a serious hotfoot.

You've got me wondering about other uses of the phasers. Like continuously firing in a really fast circle around the landing party, or blanketing the whole area on the "Warm" setting, both of which sound impractical or impossible.