Revisiting Star Trek TOS/TAS...

[RAMA]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Have to say, honestly, I like the old shot better. The old shot says the Enterprise is the star of the scene... in the new one the Enterprise almost seems incidental. YMMV.

I think it's the composition of the space shots that are lacking in TOS-R.

This is not even remotely credible.

Interestingly, I looked back at reaction to the D7 in the episode in question online a few days ago and the only two places I saw negative reviews were here and on Trekmovie. Almost every review site, blog, media story gave the FX and Klingon ship in the episode high marks. So again I have to chalk up the result here to bias.

RAMA

You really do have a tough time with the concept of personal opinion, don't you? I'll never understand your need to run out and find others that agree with you. If the new effects had been universally panned, would you then think they weren't any good? Make your argument based on what you see on the screen not what other people think.

Some of the new effects work (mainly the matte extensions), some don't (a lot of the space shots)... in my opinion. People here are sharing their opinions on the work. We're all different and we all have differing expectations.

Live with it.

I don't have a problem with personal opinion, but the new shots I posted were so much better even a 2 year old would have been able to notice.

RAMA

 

[BillJ]

Fixed... had to learn how to use Photobucket on the fly.

Now with purdy pictures...

 

[Jonas Grumby]

I don't have a problem with personal opinion, but the new shots I posted were so much better even a 2 year old would have been able to notice.

Again with the insults just because someone doesn't agree with you. What is it with you, man?

 

[Warped9]

I'm not interested in trying to convince RAMA of anything. If he likes the new f/x better then good for him, but it's unfair to dismiss a dissenting view as just bias.

Anyway...


“Plato’s Stepchildren” ****

The Enterprise crew encounter a small colony of telekinetic beings.

I know I'm likely to hit a wave of dissent here, but I've always rather liked this episode. It's grown on me over the years and I appreciate it more now than when I first saw it. And this despite all the criticism that's been dumped on it all the while.

The idea in this episode harkens back all the way to TOS' second pilot episode: unlimited power can corrupt anyone. And here we see it laid bare as the Platonians are so arrogant, so corrupt and sadistic that they recognize and value nothing but their own selfish whims. Also, and increasingly more so as I've grown in age and experience, it a sharp allegory of many of the very powerful and influential in the world and throughout history.

I really like Alexander, and more than just because he is the ideal example of the ordinary and disadvantaged that can be willfully exploited and easily pushed around. He is a sensitive and very likable character. I can easily imagine his joy moving about the Enterprise crew and being treated with friendliness, fairness and dignity. Alexander represents perhaps the most disadvantaged in our society (within context of the story), but anyone without means and influence is disadvantaged in relation to the truly powerful, and that means many of us regular folks.

This episode isn't perfect and there are some awkward moments, but I can bear those because I really like the rest of it. Many fans over the years have expressed varying discomfort and even disapproval at seeing our heroes so abused, and well they should though not for the reasons they might think, but because that is exactly the point of the story---that our heroes (who are not perfect) who strive to do what they can could still be so casually mistreated by the corrupt should disturb you. It's a sharp representation of the good people in the world who can be casually brutalized if they stand in the way of those with their own agendas.

Some might think I may be reading too much into this episode. But for some reason this episode has long spoken to me, and evermore so over the years.

 

[BillJ]

“Plato’s Stepchildren” ****

The Enterprise crew encounter a small colony of telekinetic beings.

It's a solid '****' if I'm watching by myself, '**' if someone else is there with me.

 

[Warped9]

“Plato’s Stepchildren” ****

The Enterprise crew encounter a small colony of telekinetic beings.

It's a solid '****' if I'm watching by myself, '**' if someone else is there with me.

Over the years I've had long "discussions" with friends over the value of this episode. And I never backed down...even when they might have thought I was crazy.

 

[HarryM]

This one just doesn't do it for me. Like a lot of 3rd season episodes the idea is not bad, and has some good moments but falls flat in the execution, and just too many laughable moments to really take seriously.

 

[Warped9]

This one just doesn't do it for me. Like a lot of 3rd season episodes the idea is not bad, and has some good moments but falls flat in the execution, and just too many laughable moments to really take seriously.

To each his/her own.

That said I can see some of the episodes left to come, but I'd rather not prejudge them. I will say that watching third season in production order has shown me that at this season's midpoint Season 3 is on par with the overall ratings of Season 2. It means that as TOS went into it's third (and final) season it didn't really see a noticeable drop off from what it had managed to do earlier even with a more constrained budget and prospective cancellation hanging over their heads.

Now it remains to be seen how the last dozen episodes fare...

 

[Vance]

It's a solid '****' if I'm watching by myself, '**' if someone else is there with me.

I always felt that the story cuts were pretty bad in this episode, resulting in some scenes going longer than they should (such as the abuse scene) and others wind up rushed (like our friendly servant Dr. Loveless's take on everything). As a result I felt that the abuse comes off more like bad comedy than for us feeling anguish over the crew's plight. I know the intention of the story, but the edits and pacing completely undermine it for me.

 

[Warped9]

“Wink Of An Eye” *

A small band of aliens intend to put the entire Enterprise crew into suspended animation.

There is a potentially interesting story here, but it just doesn't come off. The episode is fine for about the first ten minutes or so and then it just starts falling apart.

The first thing that annoyed me was the whole "acceleration" idea, the notion that a human body could be "accelerated" to a faster level of existence beyond normal perception. I'm no scientist, but I found all this patent bullshit going way beyond bad science. I don't know which is dumber: this or TNG's "The Next Phase." Nah, they're both equally stupid. The human body simply couldn't cope with such an accelerated activity as it seems to be depicted here---flesh and bone and everything else wouldn't be able to take it. Hell, even our nerve impulses can only go so fast. And then there would be the friction of the air and the fabric of our clothes against our skin when we moved.

The next stupid thing was watching Deela casually sidestep Kirk's phaser beam! Excuse me, but even if the energy beam is moving somewhat slower than light there's no way in hell she's going to sidestep it particularly at what is effectively point blank range! Give me a fucking break! And note that Kirk is accelerated and not his phaser---how come no one on the bridge noticed a phaser beam coming out of nowhere???

Now crewman Compton dies of accelerated aging because he suffered cell damage. Okay, then why doesn't the same thing happen to Kirk when he almost freezes his hands on the alien device? Doesn't almost freezing your skin cause cell damage even if in a limited way? And if Kirk really had sex with Deela then there's more potential for cell damage since it's easy to get carried away in such a situation.

If by some manner a human could be accelerated to a faster level of existence then the ship's turbolifts would be brutally slow. It would be far faster and easier to get from deck to deck by ladders, companionways and service shafts, what Kirk probably had to do to get to the transporter room to sabotage it. Knowing the ship probably gave him a lead over Deela pursuing him.

Deela is the final element of stupidity in this episode. I thought her to be a scrawny and annoying twit with next to no appeal whatsoever.

This just doesn't work. And what a disappointment after the generally decent run of the previous dozen episodes of the season.

 

[Green Shirt]

For some reason they're not working in Chrome. Weird.

Hardly anything works on Chrome.

 

[Jonas Grumby]

Hardly anything works on Chrome.

With all the crappy applets and pop-ups and stuff you run into on some web pages these days, I'm not sure if that's a fault or a benefit!

 

[Warped9]

The links wouldn't work with Safari either which is what I have on my eMac. But I do have Firefox as a backup browser.

 

[MANT!]

I find that "Plato's Stepchildren" has enough cringe worthy moments to only give it a
"meh" on my official fun meter... Yes it was under the influence of superior telekenetics but I really hate having the crew act so out of character..with the silly poems and songs..it just hurts to watch...

I find that "Wink of an Eye" a bit more entertaining to me..perhaps it's how the story avoids having our crew acting out of character..enough that I get the classic "suspension of disbelief" and let the story carry me along...

 

[Warped9]

A character can credibly be "out of character" if they're being unduly influenced by an outside force.

But I won't try to persuade anyone else. It works for me and that's all I need to know.

"Wink Of An Eye" is far more embarrassing in my eyes because of all the poor thinking in it. "Spock's Brain" is more interesting even with its own missteps.

 

[RAMA]

Wow, I found myself gazing over this several time, this is my single fav shot of the D7 from the TOS-R or TOS for that matter.

Shouldn't this be in the cgi thread?

Sorry, but those look intentional to me..not incomplete. I see a lot more detail on the new cgi models yet they maintain the simplicity of the originals. I have no doubts they could do something like this: http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/D5_class But that wasn't the goal at all.

 

[Vance]

"Wink Of An Eye" is far more embarrassing in my eyes because of all the poor thinking in it. "Spock's Brain" is more interesting even with its own missteps.

It's also a rip of a Wild Wild West episode, right down to the magic potion. Honestly... Still, the story itself could be salvaged with a little bit of technobabble cleanup so that it didn't run smack-dab into REAL physics so quickly.

 

[MANT!]

A character can credibly be "out of character" if they're being unduly influenced by an outside force.

But I won't try to persuade anyone else. It works for me and that's all I need to know.

"Wink Of An Eye" is far more embarrassing in my eyes because of all the poor thinking in it. "Spock's Brain" is more interesting even with its own missteps.

Gotcha... one can agree to disagree, as long as it doesn't get heated into the classic..Nerd's Standoff...

 

[Warped9]

Sorry, but those look intentional to me..not incomplete. I see a lot more detail on the new cgi models yet they maintain the simplicity of the originals. I have no doubts they could do something like this: http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/D5_class But that wasn't the goal at all.

RAMA

And so they deliberately distort or change the look of the original design, a design that has become iconic? That's even worse than sloppy work.

You call others biased because they have a differing viewpoint, but you won't accept evidence when it's right in front of you.

 

[RAMA]

“Plato’s Stepchildren” ****

The Enterprise crew encounter a small colony of telekinetic
Some might think I may be reading too much into this episode. But for some reason this episode has long spoken to me, and evermore so over the years.

I've never liked this episode, not when I was 12 and not now. Its a mish mash of superior episodes from past TOS and does nothing well. Not even the vaunted interracial kiss is really a kiss, or even done voluntarily. It includes all the negative stereotypes of Star Trek throughout the years. I'd probably vote this episode as the least likely I would ever show a non-fan. Just horrible. It almost feels like Roddenberry--basically as a puppet executive producer--is thumbing his nose at NBC saying, "If you think this show is crap, I'll show you crap!" * star

RAMA