The least disliked episode 2021 - TOS Season Three

It was a reference to Herb Solow; an inside joke among the Star Trek staff.

 

I thought it had to be something like that.

I take it Herb Solow was a difficult person?

 

He actually went to great lengths to support TOS against the studio and network. Bob Justman was responsible for purposely putting his name on Balok’s head during the closing credits.

 

So it's true what they say: "There are no accidents".

 

Who knows? Maybe Herb Solow really did look like Balok.

 

I always thought Herbert had more of an underlying meaning than just a quickie throwaway allegory, even for season 3's standards:

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/o-herbert-herbert-wherefore-art-thou-herbert.302405/#post-13197884

But it could be solely about Solow if "Herbert" is literal, or some other bureaucratic person? The point about Tongo being high on the food chain could be coincidental, or maybe not. Either way, IMHO, it's a story loaded with missed opportunities, of which few satisfy.

Except the song:

 

Spock knows where it comes from....

 

That's interesting about the dimensional shift. Also I've always wondered if the Scalosian condition was not the result of a natural disaster but the result of their own technology experiments harming them.

Deela was not necessarily telling the truth about what changed her and her people. Then again her ancestors might not have told their descendants the truth either.

 

Yeah I agree with you here. I like the ending as well since we can speculate about it. There is dark, different and thought provoking stuff here as well as Deela saying things like "Come Captain it's time to leave your pretty ship" or Spock "I found it an accelerating experience."

I've always believed the Federation returned with help. I've also always liked to believe about this story that while the Scalosians really were dying off there were more on the planet beyond what Deela and her (Enterprise raiding) party would have us believe.

This episode is also one of my top TOS favorites.

 

I like that idea about the Scalosians possibly harming themselves. Rael's "We all die, even on Scalos" line has always intrigued me. He - and to a far, far lesser extent Deela - show a bit of racial pride (bigotry?) that doesn't necessarily follow from the hyperacceleration. It's also interesting that all five of the Scalosians are Nordic types, as opposed to the Kelvans or Khan's people (at least in Space Seed).

I buy that Deela believes the volcanic activity theory, but yes, she might have been lied to. If so, Rael might know the truth. His relationship with Deela is yet another intriguing aspect of the story.

I like it when people can get past the acceleration issue and appreciate this one for the many, many things it has to offer. I'm reasonably sure that as a kid I was drawn to it for one set of reasons, but over the years I've uncovered so many more. My experience with Wolf in the Fold is similar.

It never even occurred to me that there might truly be more than just the five Scalosians. Bravo! Yes, given the nature of the science/raiding team and the presumed need for the presence of the Queen (who could also do whatever she wanted), it's entirely plausible that this was simply the "welcoming party." Spock's dialogue on the planet's surface supports that a bit.

 

I figured that by the time anyone would return, all the Scalosians would have died of hyper-accelerated old age. Deep freezing the crew was not just for the current Scalosians, but for their future offspring, too. If there were more women on the planet, then all the men would have been snapped up. Since all the other men were to be frozen, this suggests that there were only the two women left. By the way, were the women crew members needed, or was this a males only affair?

 

Good questions. What I always wondered about was the freezing plan. If Kirk and Spock hadn't foiled it how was it supposed to work?

How long before a search mission for the Enterprise would have gotten there? How long could the Enterprise have stayed in orbit with no crew operating it? I always thought the Scalosians would remove more crew after Kirk and then destroy the ship to keep Starfleet from looking too hard for answers about its demise.

 

The big flaw of that episode is that they couldn't keep the time flow between the two "universes" consistent. Normally, given how fast time goes in the Scalosian world, they should all die of old age in a few weeks at most.

 

You know, I've always hated, "Let That be your last Battlefield."

It's preachy, it's holier-than-thou, the plot really starts nowhere, goes nowhere and ends nowhere.

But, I think I may have go look at it again the next time it rolls around on the H&I Cable station.
I don't imagine for a moment that I'll change my mind about it, but given that it came out at the time of riots and hatred that it did, I wonder if I can appreciate it as a period piece with insight into today?

 

What I found the most irritating is the half-white-half-black faces... It's just stupid.I mean they could have made them blue or red or whatever... There was no need for these clown faces.

 

Even Bob Justman hated it. That says something when a TOS production staffer professes his antipathy for the episode.

 

It's supposed to be absurd. They are saying that racism is absurd.

 

But people like that are impossible unless half of them always walk with the sun at their left and the other half with the sun at their right...

 

Blowing away the audience's suspension of disbelief only undermines any message the story may have had.

Possibly the only good thing about the episode is it's the only one I can think of in TOS where they don't win. They come across an unwinnable situation and have to walk away.

 

IIRC, Justman read the script as part of his pre-production duties and thought it was too much talk/not enough action. In other words, boring!