Mine, too. I tried it one time when I went to the dentist, and as it turns out ... I'm not Vulcan. Oh, well.
Episode of the Week : Operation: Annihilate!
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Mine, too. I tried it one time when I went to the dentist, and as it turns out ... I'm not Vulcan. Oh, well.
Mine, too. I tried it one time when I went to the dentist, and as it turns out ... I'm not Vulcan. Oh, well.
Without saying too much, it has really helped me a few times I had some severe pain happening, like when my appendix burst. Actually, it helped too much, I should have went to the hospital sooner.
Wow. That's impressive.
Heh, we're talking past each other on several levels here - which is sort of the point. The writing has several levels to it, and we can dismiss the writers' lack of scientific competence as fairly irrelevant because even high levels of competence wouldn't really show in the end product.
Do the characters as written appear scientifically incompetent? No, not really. Everything they do or say is reasonable as such, given the premises they themselves specify in the dialogue. It's those premises that are weird to the extreme, though, and cast doubt on the characters' overall competence or sanity.
Why, when confronted with this threat, does Kirk decide there is a hurry? The pancakes supposedly only propagate via hijacked spaceships, and Kirk can shoot down those with ease. And Aurelan claims the necessary ships are not even built yet! Also, the people down below aren't dying or even growing worse AFAWK, unless they attempt rebellion or something equally suicidal (which is probably what killed Sam).
Why does Spock speak of sensitivity to a stimulus he likens to ultrasound? Well, actually, he may be hitting the nail in the head. Remember that these creatures, once having been inserted by the pancakes, are inside the victims - deep inside. Ultraviolet light shouldn't even reach them, any more than visible light, certainly not before it fries the host. What UV would do is hit the eyes of the victim, creating a neural stimulus that drives out the evil spirit cum invasive lifeform.
This even makes plotwise sense. The creatures control their victims through pain, supposedly transmitted through the victims' own nerves. Using fire to fight fire sounds like a promising approach - but since the critters are masters of pain, the counter-pain needs to be of a specific sort, too. Remember that McCoy specifically directed the intense light at Spock's eyes, was worried about his optic nerves, etc. It all fits: he's not trying to fry these creatures (if phasers can't do it, then UV light cannot, either) but to shock them to death or dimensional departure or whatnot.
Timo Saloniemi
Do the characters as written appear scientifically incompetent? No, not really. Everything they do or say is reasonable as such, given the premises they themselves specify in the dialogue. It's those premises that are weird to the extreme, though, and cast doubt on the characters' overall competence or sanity.
Why, when confronted with this threat, does Kirk decide there is a hurry? The pancakes supposedly only propagate via hijacked spaceships, and Kirk can shoot down those with ease. And Aurelan claims the necessary ships are not even built yet! Also, the people down below aren't dying or even growing worse AFAWK, unless they attempt rebellion or something equally suicidal (which is probably what killed Sam).
Why does Spock speak of sensitivity to a stimulus he likens to ultrasound? Well, actually, he may be hitting the nail in the head. Remember that these creatures, once having been inserted by the pancakes, are inside the victims - deep inside. Ultraviolet light shouldn't even reach them, any more than visible light, certainly not before it fries the host. What UV would do is hit the eyes of the victim, creating a neural stimulus that drives out the evil spirit cum invasive lifeform.
This even makes plotwise sense. The creatures control their victims through pain, supposedly transmitted through the victims' own nerves. Using fire to fight fire sounds like a promising approach - but since the critters are masters of pain, the counter-pain needs to be of a specific sort, too. Remember that McCoy specifically directed the intense light at Spock's eyes, was worried about his optic nerves, etc. It all fits: he's not trying to fry these creatures (if phasers can't do it, then UV light cannot, either) but to shock them to death or dimensional departure or whatnot.
Timo Saloniemi
A couple of, admittedly, personal observations...
David Gerrold noted in his "Making of...Tribbles" he had some brief concern his fuzzballs may have been inspired by Robert Heinein's "Martian Flat Cats" described in "The Rolling Stones" (no relation to the famed musical group). Whatever the details, if there was concern over that rather tenuous similarity, there should have been far more consideration that the "neural parasites" looked and behaved almost exactly like Heinlein's "Puppet Masters". Biggest difference, Trek's critters didn't need to remain attached to the body, "stinging" a victim got the job done. I wonder what happened 'behind the scenes" when developing this one? Did the staff contact Heinlein for "feedback" as they supposedly did for "...Tribbles"? Obviously, there is no on screen credit as there was for Frederick Brown's "Arena". Do any documents exist addressing this uncanny, ahem, "parallel" with Heinlein's material?
Second, the inner eyelid schtick. Yeah, that was a dramatic "cheat" second only to Spock's "death" when "The Search for Spock" got greenlighted. But it could have been so easily avoided. I think I may have posted this in a past thread. If so, here it is (possibly again), but for any new readers.
During the sequence of the suicide run, when the one-man ship plunges into the Denevan sun, we see the bridge crew watch in horrified fascination. They're all flinching and squinting from the brightness on the screen. (Hey, guys, you ever hear of "brightness controls"? Visual display devices had them as early as the mid 20th century!) Ahem, anyway, we see them shield or outright close their eyes as the tortured soul takes a desperate chance. They should have showed Spock keenly watching, unblinking, not squinting, apparently without physical discomfort! Maybe have Kirk take a brief glance at the Vulcan officer and look quizzled as to why Spock seems unphased. THEN, when Spock "reveals" the nature of his inner eye, Kirk makes the connection. It doesn't even have to be lengthy exposition, just a short, "Wait! On the bridge, when we tried to save that ship! That's why you didn't blink!" It might not even need that line, just the "dawn of realization" on Kirk's face.
Some might argue it's still "toying" with the viewers' sympathies, but it would not have been AS manipulative.
Sincerely,
Bill
David Gerrold noted in his "Making of...Tribbles" he had some brief concern his fuzzballs may have been inspired by Robert Heinein's "Martian Flat Cats" described in "The Rolling Stones" (no relation to the famed musical group). Whatever the details, if there was concern over that rather tenuous similarity, there should have been far more consideration that the "neural parasites" looked and behaved almost exactly like Heinlein's "Puppet Masters". Biggest difference, Trek's critters didn't need to remain attached to the body, "stinging" a victim got the job done. I wonder what happened 'behind the scenes" when developing this one? Did the staff contact Heinlein for "feedback" as they supposedly did for "...Tribbles"? Obviously, there is no on screen credit as there was for Frederick Brown's "Arena". Do any documents exist addressing this uncanny, ahem, "parallel" with Heinlein's material?
Second, the inner eyelid schtick. Yeah, that was a dramatic "cheat" second only to Spock's "death" when "The Search for Spock" got greenlighted. But it could have been so easily avoided. I think I may have posted this in a past thread. If so, here it is (possibly again), but for any new readers.
During the sequence of the suicide run, when the one-man ship plunges into the Denevan sun, we see the bridge crew watch in horrified fascination. They're all flinching and squinting from the brightness on the screen. (Hey, guys, you ever hear of "brightness controls"? Visual display devices had them as early as the mid 20th century!) Ahem, anyway, we see them shield or outright close their eyes as the tortured soul takes a desperate chance. They should have showed Spock keenly watching, unblinking, not squinting, apparently without physical discomfort! Maybe have Kirk take a brief glance at the Vulcan officer and look quizzled as to why Spock seems unphased. THEN, when Spock "reveals" the nature of his inner eye, Kirk makes the connection. It doesn't even have to be lengthy exposition, just a short, "Wait! On the bridge, when we tried to save that ship! That's why you didn't blink!" It might not even need that line, just the "dawn of realization" on Kirk's face.
Some might argue it's still "toying" with the viewers' sympathies, but it would not have been AS manipulative.
Sincerely,
Bill
Most unintentionally funny line, which throws suspension of disbelief right out the window, was given to the lovely Maurishka as Yeoman Zahra: "Captain, it doesn't even look real!"
Best blooper is when the flying vomit stagehand guides it straight onto Spock's ass instead of his back.
Best blooper is when the flying vomit stagehand guides it straight onto Spock's ass instead of his back.
That's an excellent idea! I wish they had done that.
Don't forget, though, that they were making these things in a blinding hurry, everybody was working insane hours, and this episode came at the END of the marathon that was the first season. Given how little time they had to make these episodes, how much they were still making everything up as they went along, and how incredibly exhausted everyone was by this point in the process, the miracle is that the episode is as good as it was.
Plus, they'd just made "The City on the Edge of Forever," which took longer than usual to film, went dramatically over budget, and exhausted everyone even more than usual. It's to everyone's credit that they managed to make this episode, even though no one had anything left in the tank.
Still, coolest idea ever. Spock being subtly alien is always a good thing, and this would have added to his character. Later he pretends he's notOOOOOOGGGH! in that muchAAARGHH! pain; the stoic stare into the sun might initially be interpreted as similar "Vulcan bravado"...
Timo Saloniemi
Timo Saloniemi
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