Episode of the Week : The Cloud Minders

[scotpens]

I can't believe Spock falling for a scrawny waif like Droxine.

She was hardly scrawny.

I'd say Diana Ewing was thin, but not unhealthy looking.

BTW, does anyone know why she stopped acting? Maybe she turned sideways and disappeared!

 

[kkt]

My impression is that in TOS, the Federation was a political alliance of individual societies, not a society in and of itself. And its standards for joining may have been less strict in those Cold War-reflecting days than in TNG's time. If you're with us instead of the Klingons, welcome aboard!

Yes, this. In the 1960s, the United States found itself allied with all sorts of unpleasant regimes for no better reason than the regime's opponents were supported by the USSR or China.

 

[CrazyMatt]

Jeff Corey is always great. Glad he was in an OS episode, even this one.

Just watched him in True Grit, which proved to be more of a highlight for him in the 68-69 timeframe... at least when compared to this snorefest.

 

[Marsden]

Also, in the 23rd century, the United Federation of Planets hadn't transformed into it's 24th century configuration, The United Federation of Pompous Asses That Come To Your World and Tell You Why You Are Wrong.

 

[Timo]

They're only halfway there, I guess. Or four-fifths the way or whatever. "This Side of Paradise", "The Apple", "A Taste of Armageddon", "Patterns of Force", "A Private Little War" and "Return of the Archons" are balanced out by Exhibit A here, but also "Bread and Circuses" and... Well, that's about it.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Nyotarules]

Also, in the 23rd century, the United Federation of Planets hadn't transformed into it's 24th century configuration, The United Federation of Pompous Asses That Come To Your World and Tell You Why You Are Wrong.

No wonder the Dominion wanted to sock it to em!

 

[J.T.B.]

Just watched him in True Grit, which proved to be more of a highlight for him in the 68-69 timeframe... at least when compared to this snorefest.

Along with Miri, of course. Corey managed to be in two of the great Westerns of 1969, True Grit and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Strother Martin outdid him, though, appearing in The Wild Bunch as well.

 

[KevinGrem]

8. Kirk is awesome in this episode. He kicks the miner's ass in the beginning, and then towards the end he kicks even more ass as he escapes captivity and forces the girl to dig. I love that scene : D

Mainly though, it's a very great ethical and original story about rich vs. poor, powerful vs. the oppressed, it really made me think a lot about how we ought to view those who are economically disadvantaged. There is an irony there, in that the supposedly "good" people are really the evil people, and vice versa.

Other highlights include the miner committing suicide by jumping off cloud city, and the torture scene.