One of the best of the whole series. Nguyen's attitude, her drag, and those steamy (for the 60's) Shatner scenes are classic camp Nirvana.
Elaan of Troyius
- Thread starter lordsofelsewhen
- Start date
Kryton was one of the coolest bad guys on ST. This was my favorite episode!
No one wore dinner mats quite like he did!
Episodes like this prove you don't need a fancy CGI fleet of 600 Federation starships to have a good a battle scene. I like how Kirk explains his battle strategy step by step to Sulu and Sulu gives him the feedback on the sluggish controls. It's a lot more understandable than Picard/Sisko/Janeway's evasive pattern delta.
Not sure if this qualifies, but in "Wink Of An Eye," Kirk is sitting on the edge of his bed, putting on his boot while Deela is brushing her hair in front of his mirror. For the late '60's, this was as close to telling an audience 'they just had sex' as the NBC sensors ("Broadcast Standards") would allow.
Eddie Murphy has a comedy bit about the alien women of ST. Unfortunately, I can't quote it here because it is a typical Murphy graphic joke.
I was surprised to find, on last viewing, that it was made absolutely certain Kirk had just had sex in Bread and Circuses, because the Roman official had provided Kirk with female companionship before he went to his certain death, because Kirk was a real man, in his opinion, as opposed to Captain Whatever. They didn't say flat out, but didn't need to.
Anyway, if you watch Trek as a space adventure, this is probably a good episode. If you need science fiction to be at the heart of a story, probably not.
Anyway, if you watch Trek as a space adventure, this is probably a good episode. If you need science fiction to be at the heart of a story, probably not.
Of course, Kirk in "Bread" would have had it in his interests not to have sex with the slave. For one, it's what his enemies wanted, and him giving it to them would mean betraying his own word from the previous scene. Also, he didn't think for a second that this would be his last night alive. Nor would it be his last chance to have sex, or even a particularly good chance to have it. And ultimately, it would be thrice as fun to teach chess to the slave, talk about her family and the contrasts between Roman and Vulcan philosophy, and sing a funny song about space sailors, then go to sleep - all the time knowing that the enemies watched through their peepholes, grinding their teeth in frustration.
Kirk having sex with Drusilla would make him a wimp. Kirk thumbing his nose at his enemies is the real Kirk.
Timo Saloniemi
Kirk having sex with Drusilla would make him a wimp. Kirk thumbing his nose at his enemies is the real Kirk.
Timo Saloniemi
And yet, he appears to have done it. They seem to be indicating that it happened. What's His Name the Roman official seems convinced he did, and someone was probably keeping track of what was going on. The information we the viewers seem to be intended to receive is that it happened.
I think Kirk being absolutely convinced that he was "bulletproof", that he'd survive no matter what, and live to have sex another day, is more of a TV viewer expectation. The mood of the story at that point seems to be that there's just no way out. Kirk, Spock and McCoy are going to die.
I think Kirk being absolutely convinced that he was "bulletproof", that he'd survive no matter what, and live to have sex another day, is more of a TV viewer expectation. The mood of the story at that point seems to be that there's just no way out. Kirk, Spock and McCoy are going to die.
Kirk liked the gals it's that simple!
JB
JB
... I knew Kirk was a Man of my stripe.
...and the girls like Kirk, too. I want to be like Kirk when I grow up.
Especially if you can have the exact same gals that he did! 
JB
JB
But that is only because they are being polite and withholding their divine powers. If things did get dire, there would always be the option of disappearing into thin air, or making the enemies disappear, or perhaps turning the entire planet into slag and rubble. The tension only comes from Scotty picking the proper velvet gloves out of his sizable drawer before saving the day.
Actual "oh, no, we're going to die!" moments are incredibly rare in Trek. And when those do happen, everybody just turns to face Kirk, trusting he will sort it out...
Timo Saloniemi
Of course, Kirk in "Bread" would have had it in his interests not to have sex with the slave. For one, it's what his enemies wanted, and him giving it to them would mean betraying his own word from the previous scene. Also, he didn't think for a second that this would be his last night alive. Nor would it be his last chance to have sex, or even a particularly good chance to have it. And ultimately, it would be thrice as fun to teach chess to the slave, talk about her family and the contrasts between Roman and Vulcan philosophy, and sing a funny song about space sailors, then go to sleep - all the time knowing that the enemies watched through their peepholes, grinding their teeth in frustration.
Kirk having sex with Drusilla would make him a wimp. Kirk thumbing his nose at his enemies is the real Kirk.
Timo Saloniemi
Agreed. I might be best advised to review, in toto, Kirk's amorous adventures, but it seems to me that for the most part, they represented him just having to take one for the team. My impression is that usually, such opportunities were calculated ploys to gain information about an enemy, stall for time to think through a tactic to be used, or simply just, uh, influence his partner to help him and his buddies escape from a perilous situation. Of course, that's not to say that such encounters didn't also happen in non-adversarial situations, with Helen Noel for instance (no synthehol available for the party of course). I don't think any of the above listed possibilities were at play during his interlude with Drusilla, so no advantage as he usually viewed it to pitch some woo. It may have seemed more advisable to get a good night's sleep for the trial he was going to face on the morrow.
By the way, Memory Alpha doesn't reference when synthehol was developed. Anyone with that information?
There's no notion of it in TOS, TMP, TWOK, TSFS, or TVH (1986), and it's taken for granted in TNG (1987). So that's the point where it came in.
Another indication that the 3rd season costume budget was slashed by the studio bean counters.
Similar threads
