50th Anniversary Rewatch Thread

[2takesfrakes]

Though Kirk did so with Good Intentions, he still managed to hurl quite a number of stinging insults at Spock, on the fly, that one would have to assume Spock wouldn't find easy to forget ... even after being freed from spore influence. Then Kirk tops it off with, "... and you have the gall to make love to that girl!" That last zinger always seemed tainted with jealousy to me. Not only did Spock get The Girl, she was hot. And the only one around of note, for that episode. Again, one could only imagine that Spock had to wonder whether some of Kirk's insulting remarks were heartfelt, or not ...

 

[UnknownSample]

It felt like Eden because they were brainwashed, once the spores are gone they do the whole "We haven't done anything" speech, realizing the failures of their system.

If it were like that, it would not be a difficult issue. What they're giving up is paradise. The music is the cue. The feeling is not presented as the slightest bit fake. In the face of total happiness, rather than some ordinary false drug high (which doesn't require alien mind spores), how do you justify saying no to it? Can you?
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An ordinary person might look at it as a lack of accomplishment, but in the state (or for many people without such a state), with unending joy, of what use are "accomplishments"?
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The Space:1999 version "The Guardians of Piri", is more like what you describe. They show the state as visibly pathetic and disturbing to an outside observer, with contented people just lying around, oblivious to their surroundings, not even seeing to their basic physical needs.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Drugs or alien spores, they were "under the influence"...their "paradise" was based on having their minds altered to feel happy.

 

[dahj]

What they're giving up is paradise.

I don't think that's what the episode went for. To the outsiders(Enterprise crew) it doesn't look like paradise, it looks strange and suspicious, and the colonists themselves realize it's a disaster once they're off the high.

The only person shown actually giving up something by leaving there was Spock, and that's giving up a license to express his feelings, but even then the message is that he is not Spock when he's like that.

 

[UnknownSample]

Dodge-- What happens is that once they're off the spores, they can't look at things or feel the same way anymore. Appreciation of the state they were in now has become impossible. That perspective is gone. They're back to being "practical" beings with ideas about having to get "business" done, that being the point of life, forgetting that the ultimate goal is just that kind of serenity and contentment, and they were given a sort of miraculous shortcut.
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What you're saying is the side the episode comes down on, ultimately. I'm just saying it was a difficult choice, involving a very hard trade-off. If it weren't for Spock's case, we might all see it exactly as you do... just a sort of creepy alien control, a false high. We're let in on what it feels like, through Spock.

 

[dahj]

"The Devil in the Dark", Episode 25, March 9th

Tonight's Episode: It's close to midnight, and something evil's lurking in the dark of a mining colony on Janus VI. Responding to their distress call, the Enterprise's away team will behold an eerie sight, as monsters from the deep begin to rise and suddenly to their surprise... they do the pidgin.

 

[Tallguy]

I'm going to have to make sure I watch this tonight. I think when someone says "classic Star Trek" or "definitive Star Trek" there is a 50/50 chance that the claim is nonsense. This is not nonsense.

This is pretty much text book Star Trek. It follows the "The monster isn't really the monster" rule book without being stupid. The Horta isn't a straw man and the miners aren't slack jawed yokels. (Well, not too much.) Everyone has a side with a compelling motivation and actual compromise is reached. (You want to hear to opposite of this? Wait until we get to Errand of Mercy!)

Oh, and this is one of the better examples of MONEY IN STAR TREK!

 

[dahj]

Wait until we get to Errand of Mercy!

That's literally the next episode.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

Everyone has a side with a compelling motivation

No bad guys, just a misunderstanding. Refreshing and tragic.

 

[The Old Mixer]

"Your orders are shoot to kill."
"At least, no life as we know it."
One can almost hear a song being written....

In addition to its general status as a series-defining Top-10er, this one has plenty of great bits in it. I'd say that we get the definitive mind meld sequence, as well as the best "I'm a doctor..." line. (In general, McCoy is in classic form in the last act.) We also get nice bits of business like the Phaser I / Phaser II distinction being spelled out, and an actual, credibly cast security chief whom I wish could have been at least a recurring guest. (Though you can't blame Giotto for moving on given how annoyed Kirk acted at his questions.) And the switch in attitudes toward the Horta between Kirk and Spock is good stuff.

But how could the Horta have known enough about human technology to take that pump specifically? And if it burns through rock like people walking through air, why not just destroy it? And how can it call itself the Horta when it doesn't appear to have any vocal capabilities? Perhaps it was a Vulcan term that best describes how the Horta sees itself conceptually? (Wouldn't be surprised if somebody already speculated something like that.)

Phaser I didn't work against it...but now we've got clubs! "Mr. Vanderberg and his men are here, and they're pretty ugly."

Next Thursday: Shore leave for everyone, the Enterprise is taking another week off.

 

[NickintheATL]

My thoughts on this top notch episode. I can't add enough praise for this show. Just a great episode all the way around.

Next Thursday: Shore leave for everyone, the Enterprise is taking another week off.

To be exact, NBC showed highlights of the 1967 Ringling Bros./Barnum & Bailey Circus instead.

Two weeks from tonight... the Klingons arrive!

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[The Old Mixer]

Other 50th anniversary viewing scheduled for me this week:

The Green Hornet
"Invasion from Outer Space: Part I"
Originally aired March 10, 1967

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
"The Hot Number Affair"
Originally aired March 10, 1967

The Avengers
"The Correct Way to Kill"
Originally aired March 11, 1967 (UK)

I've started doing reviews of the other shows in The Classic/Retro TV Thread. (No "new" episodes of The Saint or Mission: Impossible this week.)

Planning to add Batman and Tarzan next season, by which point my H&I recordings of those shows will be synced up (and TGH will be but a memory).

 

[scotpens]

. . . "Mr. Vanderberg and his men are here, and they're pretty ugly."

"Dammit, I'm a general practitioner, not a plastic surgeon!"

 

[Saintpat]

Well, I'm behind the curve but I started this week with the idea of one episode per day, where possible, via Netflix (although my brother for Christmas threw in his used box set of the entire TOS on DVD since he got a new one -- this was in addition to another gift -- he credits me for turning him onto Trek).

I've quickly accelerated into not-quite-binge mode but I now there will be days where I don't get to view one. Started with the Cage (been a LONG time since I'd see that) and now I'm through Naked Time.

Fun to relive and see the early growing pains with uniform color choices and styles, not-quite-settled cast, etc.

But I'm impressed with so many things that I'd forgotten or failed to fully appreciate -- like Shatner's acting in the dual roles, for instance, being so spot-on. Yes, he's prone to overacting, but in this case the over-the-top 'Bad Kirk' and under-subdued 'Good Kirk' were really, really perfect IMO.

Gonna be a fun ride.

 

[Saintpat]

Well, I'm behind the curve but I started this week with the idea of one episode per day, where possible, via Netflix (although my brother for Christmas threw in his used box set of the entire TOS on DVD since he got a new one -- this was in addition to another gift -- he credits me for turning him onto Trek).

I've quickly accelerated into not-quite-binge mode but I now there will be days where I don't get to view one. Started with the Cage (been a LONG time since I'd see that) and now I'm through Naked Time.

Fun to relive and see the early growing pains with uniform color choices and styles, not-quite-settled cast, etc.

But I'm impressed with so many things that I'd forgotten or failed to fully appreciate -- like Shatner's acting in the dual roles, for instance, being so spot-on. Yes, he's prone to overacting, but in this case the over-the-top 'Bad Kirk' and under-subdued 'Good Kirk' were really, really perfect IMO.

Gonna be a fun ride.

OK, can't figure out how to edit my own post -- obviously I'm through The Enemy Within, not Naked Time (which I watched fully clothed).

 

[dahj]

Yep, pretty much one of the best episodes, a nice SF concept used with silicon based life, a nice horror movie atmosphere, a nice showcasing of improvisational skills in their professions by both Scotty and McCoy, a nice twist, nice use of a mind meld, a nice compassionate resolution, and nice banter at the end. Overall, very nice.

If I had to pick on something it would be that evolutionary speaking that's a silly and utterly unsafe way to reproduce, to have just one individual responsible for the wellbeing of millions...

credibly cast security chief whom I wish could have been at least a recurring guest

"Look behind you" *thwack*
Yep, that's just the kind of thing Worf would fall for as well.

And how can it call itself the Horta

It has another name... but you wouldn't be able to pronounce it.

Oh, and this is one of the better examples of MONEY IN STAR TREK!

What money, nobody mentioned money?
Kirk just said this would make them rich, you know, rich with good feelings for being able to provide so much vital minerals and stuff to so many colonies in need...

 

[The Old Mixer]

50 years ago this week:

March 12

• The Indonesian State Assembly takes all presidential powers from Sukarno and names Suharto as acting president (Suharto resigned in 1998).
• The Velvet Underground's groundbreaking first album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, is released in the United States. It is initially a commercial failure but receives widespread critical and commercial acclaim in later years.

"I'm Waiting for the Man," The Velvet Underground

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(#159 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)

March 13 – Moise Tshombe, ex-prime minister of Congo, is sentenced to death in absentia.
March 14

• The body of U.S. President John F. Kennedy is moved to a permanent burial place at Arlington National Cemetery.
• Nine executives of the German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal are charged for breaking German drug laws because of thalidomide.

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jfks-body-moved-to-permanent-gravesite

March 16 – In the Aspida case in Greece, 15 officers are sentenced to 2–18 years in prison, accused of treason and intentions of staging a coup.
March 18

• Torrey Canyon oil spill: The supertanker SS Torrey Canyon runs aground between Land's End and the Scilly Isles off the coast of Britain.
• The classic Pirates of the Caribbean attraction opens at Disneyland, California.

New on the U.S. charts:

"Friday on My Mind," The Easybeats

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(#16 US; #6 UK)

"At the Zoo," Simon & Garfunkel

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(#16 US)

"On a Carousel," The Hollies

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(#11 US; #4 UK)

"Somethin' Stupid," Frank & Nancy Sinatra

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(#1 US the weeks of Apr. 15 through May 6; #1 AC; #1 UK)

As for Thursday night...apparently the circus was in town. But I'll have these to keep me company:

The Green Hornet
"Invasion from Outer Space: Part II"
Originally aired March 17, 1967

The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
"The When in Roma Affair"
Originally aired March 17, 1967

Mission: Impossible
"The Train"
Originally aired March 18, 1967

The Avengers
"Never, Never Say Die"
Originally aired March 18, 1967 (UK)

Last week's 50th Anniversary Viewings post.

 

[wayne66]

The Devil in the Dark is a very good episode. It is William Shatner's favorite episode. I like the scene with Kirk and Spock discussing whether to kill the Horta or not. Kirk does not want Spock down there since he does not think he will kill the creature. So Kirk tries to give Spock some busy work to keep him out of the way. Kirk gives him a story about how they both must not be in danger. Spock then proceeds to give Kirk some astronomical odds on the chances of both of them getting killed. Kirk just can't win. Spock is going no matter what. Funny scene.

 

[dahj]

As for Thursday night...apparently the circus was in town.

Hmm... circus.
I might jump a few decades ahead, I think I have Killer Klowns from Outer Space on the DVR...

I like the scene with Kirk and Spock discussing whether to kill the Horta or not.

The episode goes against the "cold logical emotionless Spock" trope in that regard, at first Spock advocates trying to preserve the creatures life, but when his friend Jim is next to it, even though he says it's not threatening, he almost panicky urges him to kill it immediately.

 

[RAMA]

The Devil in the Dark is a very good episode. It is William Shatner's favorite episode. I like the scene with Kirk and Spock discussing whether to kill the Horta or not. Kirk does not want Spock down there since he does not think he will kill the creature. So Kirk tries to give Spock some busy work to keep him out of the way. Kirk gives him a story about how they both must not be in danger. Spock then proceeds to give Kirk some astronomical odds on the chances of both of them getting killed. Kirk just can't win. Spock is going no matter what. Funny scene.

Depending on what week you catch Shatner..if he remembers the show at all.

I find this episode interesting because we are so enamored with the Goldilocks Zone in astronomy and what it means for life, but if anything, we've seen the universe is more varied and strange than we ever expected, and I feel lifeforms will be the same. Far from strange in my book, a Horta might be the rule.