Episode of the Week : Is There in Truth No Beauty?
- Thread starter Botany Bay
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10. Seriously.
I love the story, I love the music, I love the characters, I love the fisheye cinematography.
The spirit of the 1960s is displayed for us here, and right in the title. Never mind the hippie episode, which deconstructs the 60s, this one tells us what it was about: Love everyone, no matter if they're ugly, blind, unemotional, young, old, or incorporeal. Infinite diversity in infinite combinations brings meaning and beauty to life.
I love the story, I love the music, I love the characters, I love the fisheye cinematography.
The spirit of the 1960s is displayed for us here, and right in the title. Never mind the hippie episode, which deconstructs the 60s, this one tells us what it was about: Love everyone, no matter if they're ugly, blind, unemotional, young, old, or incorporeal. Infinite diversity in infinite combinations brings meaning and beauty to life.
The first few times that I viewed this episode I really didn't like it, but gradually I came to understand the philosophy behind the story. I thought David Frankham did an excellent job as Larry Marvick, as did Diana Muldaur as Dr. Jones. I rate it at an 7.
"We mustn't sleep! They come in your dreams! That's the worst! They suffocate in your dreams!"
5. Not great, not terrible. A good example of what Bob Justman referred to when he talked about the "radio shows" of the third season. Undoubtedly Star Trek's most melodramatic episode.... It does contain one of my favorite (original, not remastered) SFX shots, that being the Enterprise hanging in space outside the galactic barrier.
5. Not great, not terrible. A good example of what Bob Justman referred to when he talked about the "radio shows" of the third season. Undoubtedly Star Trek's most melodramatic episode.... It does contain one of my favorite (original, not remastered) SFX shots, that being the Enterprise hanging in space outside the galactic barrier.
"Don't love her!!! DON'T LOVE HER!!! She'll kill you if you love her!!!! I love you, Miranda. Ughhhhhhhhhhhh......"
I don't get the appeal of this one. This is the one where our enlightened characters ("Alexander, where I come from, size, shape, or color makes no difference..." [Plato's Stepchildren] start saying things like, "You're young, attractive and human. Sooner or later, no matter how beautiful their minds are, you're going to yearn for someone who looks like yourself, someone who isn't ugly."
And the way they all fawn over Miranda is a joke. "How can one so beautiful condemn herself to look upon ugliness the rest of her life? Will we allow it, gentlemen?". And also this exchange:
KIRK: I can't understand why they let you go with Kollos.
MIRANDA: They, Captain?
KIRK: The male population of the Federation. Didn't someone try and talk you out of it?
MIRANDA: Now that you ask, yes.
KIRK: Well, I'm glad he didn't succeed. Otherwise, I wouldn't have met you.
The episode is so poorly handled dramatically that the revelation (SPOILER ALERT!) of Miranda's blindness is completely out of left field. There's no set up for it.
And the fisheye lens and music annoy me. I much prefer Duning's score to "The Empath".
For some reason I gave this a 2. I suppose it's slightly better than "The Alternative Factor" (which is certainly a 1).
Neil
And the way they all fawn over Miranda is a joke. "How can one so beautiful condemn herself to look upon ugliness the rest of her life? Will we allow it, gentlemen?". And also this exchange:
KIRK: I can't understand why they let you go with Kollos.
MIRANDA: They, Captain?
KIRK: The male population of the Federation. Didn't someone try and talk you out of it?
MIRANDA: Now that you ask, yes.
KIRK: Well, I'm glad he didn't succeed. Otherwise, I wouldn't have met you.
The episode is so poorly handled dramatically that the revelation (SPOILER ALERT!) of Miranda's blindness is completely out of left field. There's no set up for it.
And the fisheye lens and music annoy me. I much prefer Duning's score to "The Empath".
For some reason I gave this a 2. I suppose it's slightly better than "The Alternative Factor" (which is certainly a 1).
Neil
I would say an average 5 for this one. Some nice elements to it, and it was good to see Diane Muldaur guest again.
Dr. Jones' sensor web dress was a cool idea.
Spock : "Evidently a highly sophisticated sensor web. My compliments to your dressmaker."
Spock : "Evidently a highly sophisticated sensor web. My compliments to your dressmaker."
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This is Star Trek.
Love it.
I have no trouble with the ugliness thing. We're biological beings programmed by evolution to find some things more pleasing to view. But note our flawed human heroes aboard the good ship Enterprose acknowledge it and move on and appreciate the Medusan for the unique voice he brings to the song of life.
This might be my favorite.
Love it.
I have no trouble with the ugliness thing. We're biological beings programmed by evolution to find some things more pleasing to view. But note our flawed human heroes aboard the good ship Enterprose acknowledge it and move on and appreciate the Medusan for the unique voice he brings to the song of life.
This might be my favorite.
I really enjoyed the cinematography and directing. One of the few things that the third season got consistently right was breaking away from the formulaic, seemingly western-inspired look of the first two seasons. I think it captured the best elements of the '60s and '70s.
A 6 here.There are some pretty neat things and some pretty cringeworthy things, and when you net them all out you end up with a 6.
That's where I landed and why.
Diana Muldaur is great. I like Nimoy's big soliloquy on the bridge ("How compact your bodies are..."). I like the music. Having Kollos hidden in a box gives the show an Outer Limits feeling, a strong misterioso sci-fi vibe. I like seeing the Enterprise get something to do (flying out of control), as it's one of my favorite characters.
With the fullness of time and repeated viewings, the seams start to show: the low budget and limited staging, the off bits in the writing here and there. I accept it.
The director's own write-up is very good reading:
http://senensky.com/is-there-in-truth-no-beauty/
I only gave it an eight as it's not one of my favourites as such! I'm friends with David Frankham on FB, I'll have to ask him something about this one sometime!
JB
JB
Plus why did we never get a definitive answer about the barrier? This isn't the same barrier at the edge of the galaxy yet it looks like it and it's still considered to be the Enterprises third encounter with the galactic barrier in an old book from the seventies that I possess! (I could have said own but that didn't sound vulcan enough) 
JB
JB
This is their third (or actually fourth and fifth) encounter with the barrier, even if it's a fleeting one - they get out, and then get back in, and there's no doing that unless they go through the barrier both ways!
But whether that purple swirl is the barrier... Nope, the dialogue excludes that possibility. Or, rather, Spock thinks they are far outside the galaxy, in the intergalactic void, but he could be wrong, as he admits to having no way of knowing where they really are, and by sheer (and slim) chance they might be inside the barrier.
As for the visuals, they are similar - but they are not identical. It's no recycled footage from "Where No Man", it's an all-new effect. And of course TOS-R does an even more dissimilar effect there, removing any visual connection.
Timo Saloniemi
But whether that purple swirl is the barrier... Nope, the dialogue excludes that possibility. Or, rather, Spock thinks they are far outside the galaxy, in the intergalactic void, but he could be wrong, as he admits to having no way of knowing where they really are, and by sheer (and slim) chance they might be inside the barrier.
As for the visuals, they are similar - but they are not identical. It's no recycled footage from "Where No Man", it's an all-new effect. And of course TOS-R does an even more dissimilar effect there, removing any visual connection.
Timo Saloniemi
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