Day of the Dove (unresolved ending)

[Marsden]

Maybe it was due to the alien's influence but I found Kang remarkably dishonorable. He is taken prisoner, after threatening Kirk and his men with torture and death, has his wife and surviving crew rescued and quartered by Kirk...and yet he immediately sets out to wrest the ship from him and "put Kirk's stuffed head on a wall."

You mean, he acted like a Klingon.

I often wondered if the Beratis, Kesla, Redjack, Piglet, whatever alien and * were similar or even the same. One possessed a body and lived on fear, the other seemed to be quite a bit more dangerous and lived on hate. Maybe it was an exiled Orgainian that liked pissing things off, the opposite of the rest of them being disturbed by strong emotion. Maybe
Trelane without a body, he could change things. I'm just thinking about the nature of * I don't really think it was one of those others, but it has some aspects of the others, too.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

I think it would have been cool if the * had returned in another series. Kirk did say something about "maybe you've caused a lot of pain and suffering" or something like that. Imagine if it had shown up on Enterprise. Heck, they wouldn't had to even have known it was there!

 

[Captrek]

In my personal canon I consider this stardate-less episode to be the conclusion of TOS because it has an optimistic outlook for Klingon-Federation relations.

The only mention of Stardate in the episode is a Captain's Log dated "Stardate: Armageddon," which is fitting for a series finale. It also has thematic parallels with TUC, the TOS film series finale. Finally, it ends with Shatner and Kelley looking straight into the camera and saying, as if to the viewer, "You're done here, we won't perform for your entertainment anymore."

 

[Melakon]

In defense of Bob the Discount Klingon, at least he had some personality. The one in "A Private Little War" is completely forgettable, he may as well have had a personal cloaking device. I won't even count Generic Klingon on Viewscreen from "Elaan of Troyius", his role was so tiny.

Comparing Kras with Krel or the one in Elaan of Troyius is almost like comparing Lieutenant Kyle and Lieutenant Hadley. Kras had a full episode and the two others had two minutes on screen.

And Tige Andrews, as Kras, had a good time on the show. It was his first film work where he got to wear a real costume instead of regular clothes. I'd guess the outdoor work was fun too, just getting away from the studio.

"This is fantasy!" - Nyota Uhura

"This is no fantasy!" - Jor-El

 

[Nebusj]

See was that so hard? Awesome!

Sounds like it was part of the script which was cut for running-time. Does anyone know for sure?

Blish, I've noticed, was very much a 'stick to the script' kind of novelizer. In the rare occasions when he did add something of his own, it was to clarify character motivation or pave over a plot hole. Except for the (obvious) cases when he was working from an earlier pre-shooting version of the script, my general gut feeling is if it's in his story and not in the episode itself, it's a deleted scene.

I feel the need to point out that Blish, after the first four collections, wrote pretty much nothing but the introductions. He was suffering from a severe writer's block (ironically, as this was the first time in his life that his writing income was enough to let him do the work full-time) and his wife (Judith Ann Lawrence) and mother-in-law were ghostwriting the books after that point.

My recollection is that the adaptations in the first four books are the ones that most vary from the aired episodes. Whether that reflects the change in actual writers (perhaps Lawrence and her mother were less confident they could get away with changing scripts) or reflects being able to get more nearly final-draft scripts, or finally getting to even see the series (Blish lived in England at the time) I cannot say.

 

[Maurice]

Consider Chekov's racist joke about the Klingons in the trouble with tribbles...

"Close enough to _____" is not exactly an uncommon metaphor, as in "Hunting season is so close you can smell it," or "Christmas is so close I can taste it." If he'd said, "I can smell them from the next quadrant, yeah, that'd be a slur.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I think "close enough to smell them" in Tribbles was absolutely a racist play on words.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Maybe this is what you're looking for. From the James Blish novelization...

The command chair was a place again where a man could relax. For a moment, anyway. Kirk leaned back in his seat.
"Ahead, Mr. Sulu. Warp Factor One." He turned to Kang and Mara. "We'll reach a neutral planet by tomorrow. You'll be dropped there. No war, this time."
He eyed Mara. A real woman, that one. If she hadn't been Kang's wife ... if there had been time. Ah well, no man could accommodate all opportunities...
Kang was saying, "Why do you humans so revere peace? It is the weakling's way. There's a whole galaxy out there to be taken, Kirk, with all its riches!"
Spock looked up. "Two animals may fight over a bone, Commander - or they can pool their abilities, hunt together more efficiently and share justly. Curiously, it works out about the same."
Kang turned. "One animal must trust the other animal."
"Agreed," Kirk said. "Cooperate... or fight uselessly throughout eternity. A universal rule you Klingons had better start learning." He paused. "We did."
Had it got through? Maybe. At any rate, Kang's face seemed unusually thoughtful.

Great stuff; Blish's adaptations usually added more color / character to the filmed scripts (in other words, the novels were not reprinting scripts with a few descriptions added).

 

[plynch]

Sounds like it was part of the script which was cut for running-time. Does anyone know for sure?

Blish, I've noticed, was very much a 'stick to the script' kind of novelizer. In the rare occasions when he did add something of his own, it was to clarify character motivation or pave over a plot hole. Except for the (obvious) cases when he was working from an earlier pre-shooting version of the script, my general gut feeling is if it's in his story and not in the episode itself, it's a deleted scene.

I feel the need to point out that Blish, after the first four collections, wrote pretty much nothing but the introductions. He was suffering from a severe writer's block (ironically, as this was the first time in his life that his writing income was enough to let him do the work full-time) and his wife (Judith Ann Lawrence) and mother-in-law were ghostwriting the books after that point.

My recollection is that the adaptations in the first four books are the ones that most vary from the aired episodes. Whether that reflects the change in actual writers (perhaps Lawrence and her mother were less confident they could get away with changing scripts) or reflects being able to get more nearly final-draft scripts, or finally getting to even see the series (Blish lived in England at the time) I cannot say.

I did not know this. Thanks.

 

[Robert Comsol]

I think "close enough to smell them" in Tribbles was absolutely a racist play on words.

KOLOTH: Captain, we Klingons are not as luxury-minded as you Earthers. We do not equip our ships with, how shall I say it, non-essentials.

Given the proability that the entire crew (approx. 440 according to Kang in "Day of the Dove") of a Klingon Battlecruiser occupies its forward main section, conditions inside may rather resemble those of a submarine with bunk beds shared by crew members of different shifts.

For all we know, even on the Klingon homeworlds crew members returning from away missions may be identified by their "smell" among their own people. Heck, it might even be something Klingon crews are proud of as it distincts "warriors" from others.

Bob

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I think "close enough to smell them" in Tribbles was absolutely a racist play on words.

KOLOTH: Captain, we Klingons are not as luxury-minded as you Earthers. We do not equip our ships with, how shall I say it, non-essentials.

That's a good catch.

 

[Ithekro]

Worf did seem to react disagreeably to bathing, in the 24th century.

 

[Maurice]

...Heck, it might even be something Klingon crews are proud of as it distincts "warriors" from others.

I'm afraid "distincts" isn't an English word. You mean "distinguishes".

 

[Armored Saint]

In defense of Bob the Discount Klingon, at least he had some personality. The one in "A Private Little War" is completely forgettable, he may as well have had a personal cloaking device. I won't even count Generic Klingon on Viewscreen from "Elaan of Troyius", his role was so tiny.

Comparing Kras with Krel or the one in Elaan of Troyius is almost like comparing Lieutenant Kyle and Lieutenant Hadley. Kras had a full episode and the two others had two minutes on screen.

And Tige Andrews, as Kras, had a good time on the show. It was his first film work where he got to wear a real costume instead of regular clothes. I'd guess the outdoor work was fun too, just getting away from the studio.

And Tige Andrews was born TIGER because tigers are strong and Klingons are strong.

I don't see what's the problem with Kras. Of course, he looks more like one of those plumbers in Errand of Mercy than Genghis Kor, but he has more charisma than Genghis Kor's plumbers and he's not supposed to be a big shot like Genghis Kor. He's surely a respected agent (and officer) since the Klingon Empire wouldn't have send a janitor to obtain mining rightss, especially since the Federation didn't either send a janitor. I mean, Kor's lieutenant wasn't a monument of bravery.

 

[Greg Cox]

I think it would have been cool if the * had returned in another series. Kirk did say something about "maybe you've caused a lot of pain and suffering" or something like that. Imagine if it had shown up on Enterprise. Heck, they wouldn't had to even have known it was there!

Okay, I can't resist mentioning that the * shows up again in a story I wrote for the Tales of the Dominion War anthology. Needless to say, it fed well during that particular conflict . . . .

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

I think it would have been cool if the * had returned in another series. Kirk did say something about "maybe you've caused a lot of pain and suffering" or something like that. Imagine if it had shown up on Enterprise. Heck, they wouldn't had to even have known it was there!

Okay, I can't resist mentioning that the * shows up again in a story I wrote for the Tales of the Dominion War anthology. Needless to say, it fed well during that particular conflict . . . .

Glad you did mention it, Mr. C! I did not know!

Maybe that's something I should read!

 

[Avro Arrow]

Unrelated "Day of the Dove" question, but since this thread already exists, I figured I'd just ask it here.

Could anyone who has a copy of the original shooting script please check and see if the the planet "Piotr" was killed on was spelled "Arcanis" or "Archanis"? I've seen both spellings over the years, and I was just wondering what the original one was.

Yeah, I know, no big deal, but I was just curious!

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Archanis.

Worf did seem to react disagreeably to bathing, in the 24th century.

Or perhaps Klingons just like to take sonic showers instead of baths. They still get clean, but they do it in a completely no-frills manner.
Hell, I sympathize with them if that's the case. I don't take baths either (mostly because I'm too tall, I can't fit in a tub!), I just shower. No reason the Klingons couldn't do the same.

In any case, a line like "close enough to smell them" is probably racist when applied to humans (although I don't think Chekov meant it that way - just a metaphor. Getting close enough, you can smell anything!), but not necessarily Klingons. We know from at least one DS9 episode that Klingons really do have a unique smell. How can a line be racist if it's TRUE?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

How can a line be racist if it's TRUE?

Well, it's not true that you can smell them across a parsec of space, which is even the point of the very next line from Spock.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Point taken.