Don't get smart, Tiny.

Well, Original Series Trek had a lot of that. Seemed like Kirk was always fighting someone anyway.

 

Agreed. Also, I thought it was poorly executed. I didn't get the escalation from what Sulu asked, but the show must go on and McCoy is in place and the director can get into what he was really interested in. The stealing of the Enterprise... which was 20 years old.

 

I don’t understand the negativity towards the sequence. The big security guard was yawning and Sulu jabbed him with a wise ass remark. Like someone saying “bankers hours?” to someone leaving the office 5 minutes early. The guard was either just a dick or was fed up with people thinking they’re funny. Or maybe he has a hate on for Starfleet bureaucrats and wanted to establish who the big fish in the little pond was.

It worked for me and it was a well received moment in 1984.

 

This. It's a person talking big on anothers turf. The guard had no reason to tolerate Sulu's sarcasm.

Same with the Excelsior's captain not tolerating Kirk's actions.

 

In isolation, the scene is splendid. It's just that ST3:TSfS is a prime example of trying to make the heroes look good by making everybody else a dick, and preferably a limp one to boot.

ST3 is cheap. Every single adversary of our heroes is a pushover who's better dead anyway, every single supporter useless or worse. The only way forward is to kick all bystanders in the groin so that the "heroes" can parade through the crowd unimpeded.

ST4 is sort of the exact opposite. Starfleet is competent and supports Kirk at every turn. Playing mutineer is ultimately unnecessary, and indeed Kirk and pals come to this conclusion early on, seeing the error of their earlier ways. Adversaries like Taylor's boss or USN/USMC servicemen or even ill-defined spooks mean well. Even the barbaric ancient medicine men aren't assholes, but merely lacking in competence for no fault of their own. The only character written to "look bad" is the punk in the bus, in a scene that goes out of its way to make the heroes look like bumbling idiots, to nobody's detriment.

Mr. Don't Get Smart is cool. Mr. Adventure is cool. Mr. Vulcan Mumbo Jumbo is cool. The three stooges together make J.T.Esteban look good, which wasn't the intent. And so ST3 falls short of an epic failure, but only because it generally fails on the epic part.

Timo Saloniemi

 

I think that in the end the guard was in the way and was going to have to be neutralized without permanent injury. Having him act like a D-bag and get knocked around by Mr. Sulu was as good a way as any.

 

That guard went on to become President, telling other intergalactic powers, "Don't get smart, tiny's!"

 

The funny farm and fruity nut cake lines really seem ugly now, in light of how much people have pushed back against mental health stigmas and it's only 2020. Of course mores change.

 

Oh my God, it just occurred to me that the universe might split open with glory if we went back and retconned Sulu's line to, "Don't call me 'Tiny'... Cupcake."

 

This is truly something I am amazed by, even working inside the industry.

 

Things were different in 1983. I t just felt odd hearing such in the Trek universe.

I can't watch the DS9 eps with the stereotype "crazies." me sad because my mom had mental illness probs. And the portrayals are pretty cringey regardless.

 

"[...] in our century we've learned not to fear words."

 

A Trek lesson that could bear repeating today.

 

I figured he was just a security guard or cop with a bad attitude. The personality that's great for putting up with bullshit from drunken cadets needing to sleep it off, but not for making new friends.