Episode of the Week : The Omega Glory
- Thread starter Botany Bay
- Start date
I like the first two-thirds. The America BS at the end is too much of a coincidence to be believable. I do like that Spock shows an other element to his telepathy with the "suggestion" business. I also like that Sulu comes off very professional and identifies himself to Kirk over the com channel as "lieutenant Sulu" and not simply "Mister". I don't know why I like that, just thought is was a nice detail. I also like how Lt Galloway gets killed, only to show up in later episodes as Lt Johnson.
Coincidentally, I just re-watched this one tonight. It was even worse than I remembered.
Jingoistic? Check. Racist overtones? Check. Arbitrary plot devices that can't even be sustained for fifty minutes? Check. A parallel planet that defies logical explanation? Check.
There are a couple of lighthearted moments between Kirk, Spock, and/or McCoy that are effective, and Morgan Woodword is a joy as Captain Tracey...even if Tracey's motivation rapidly becomes nonexistent.
2/10 - Sorry, BillJ, this is one of the low points of the series.
Jingoistic? Check. Racist overtones? Check. Arbitrary plot devices that can't even be sustained for fifty minutes? Check. A parallel planet that defies logical explanation? Check.
There are a couple of lighthearted moments between Kirk, Spock, and/or McCoy that are effective, and Morgan Woodword is a joy as Captain Tracey...even if Tracey's motivation rapidly becomes nonexistent.
2/10 - Sorry, BillJ, this is one of the low points of the series.
Perhaps 5, possibly 6. The "coincidence" is at the heart of what Star Trek is: conceits to be ignored. The writing once again excels in what TOS does best: unintentional tragedy, unintentional humor, unintentional message, villains who outshine heroes. And all of it gets wrapped in a package that despite every expectation doesn't look cheap or confining, but rather sets up an entire universe extending far beyond the boundaries of the set. We get global epic married with the most intimate personal, which is good scifi...
...When applied in moderation. It's a blessing that this "failed pilot" was scraped from the bottom of the barrel relatively late in the show, rather than used as a template. It stands out as bold and interesting as the result.
Okay, 6 it is. Both for not being bold enough, and for omitting the "bigoted time traveler from Earth did it" one-liners that would have properly integrated the story with already aired Trek.
Timo Saloniemi
...When applied in moderation. It's a blessing that this "failed pilot" was scraped from the bottom of the barrel relatively late in the show, rather than used as a template. It stands out as bold and interesting as the result.
Okay, 6 it is. Both for not being bold enough, and for omitting the "bigoted time traveler from Earth did it" one-liners that would have properly integrated the story with already aired Trek.
Timo Saloniemi
Mere speculation, I know, but I think this episode suggests what TOS would have been like without the efforts of Fontana, Coon, Black, and the rest. Justman and Solow's story about St. Gene personally submitting this for Emmy consideration is dis-something.
The battle of wills between Kirk and Tracey (masterfully played by Morgan Woodward), is worth watching, though. I always appreciated the banter between Spock and Kirk as they plan their escape.
And even though it's jingoistic and Murican-centric, Kirk's reading of the E Pleb Neesta and the US Constitution is always a YouTube favorite on US Holidays.
4
The battle of wills between Kirk and Tracey (masterfully played by Morgan Woodward), is worth watching, though. I always appreciated the banter between Spock and Kirk as they plan their escape.
And even though it's jingoistic and Murican-centric, Kirk's reading of the E Pleb Neesta and the US Constitution is always a YouTube favorite on US Holidays.
4
I was 17 when this first aired, and when the flag showed up at the end of the third act, I couldn't believe it. Nowadays, I just concentrate on the performances.
I suppose part of the problem is this had its origins as one of the stories for the second pilot, because it pushes the parallel civilization concept to an extreme more unbelievable than Miri's planet. Either Omega had originally been a human colony, or there must have been major cultural contamination over three hundred years.
I suppose part of the problem is this had its origins as one of the stories for the second pilot, because it pushes the parallel civilization concept to an extreme more unbelievable than Miri's planet. Either Omega had originally been a human colony, or there must have been major cultural contamination over three hundred years.
One of the hardest of all for me to find anything redeeming in. I'm not crazy about Earth-parallel stories in the first place, and this one takes it past the absurd. A fountain of youth motivation... so weak. The whole thing feels like it's on the level of a Fantasy Island episode or something. And as much as I love old Western regular Morgan Woodward, even he can only bring this mess up to a 3.
7. It has more going for it than against it.
Loved seeing another starship and crew members from it. Loved seeing the uniforms from another starship.
Loved seeing the part with the reading of the preamble of the U.S. Constitution--well written and exceptionally well performed by Shatner.
Hated the parallel world development shtick... how many times is this... Miri, then Bread And Circuses, then... I've lost count. This worn out plot point is even more tiresome than "Kirk talks the computer to death."
Hated seeing yet another starship captain go crazy/bad--is Kirk the only one of the twelve who passed all of his psychological tests?
Loved seeing another starship and crew members from it. Loved seeing the uniforms from another starship.
Loved seeing the part with the reading of the preamble of the U.S. Constitution--well written and exceptionally well performed by Shatner.
Hated the parallel world development shtick... how many times is this... Miri, then Bread And Circuses, then... I've lost count. This worn out plot point is even more tiresome than "Kirk talks the computer to death."
Hated seeing yet another starship captain go crazy/bad--is Kirk the only one of the twelve who passed all of his psychological tests?
Spot on. I'd add that the quasi-horror movie set up with the desiccated bodies is cool. But then it just totally falls apart for all the reasons you mention.
I suspect you're correct. GR had some good ideas but he 100% needed the rest of the team to make the show great. In hindsight, we were so very lucky they went with WNMHGB for the second pilot instead of this or Mudd's Women.
I gave this episode a 1. Aside from the general premise -- a lost ship, a CO gone mad, cultural contamination -- there is little of redeeming value in the final execution. The Yangs and Coms are ridiculous caricatures and the show just completely goes over the deep end when the US flag is hauled and we're treated to Shatner's hammy reading of the Constitution.
Whoever did this poster deserves a medal. Somehow it conjures up The Manchurian Candidate or Seven Days in May. Thematically inapposite to the source episode, perhaps, but suggestive of a whiz-bang political thriller.
In other words, it's good design work on its own terms.
He plays it too big, but it's fairly convincing for someone who wasn't a U.S. citizen.
Well written indeed, but alas, no credit for Gouverneur Morris.
For anyone complaining about the presense of a parallel American culture, all that needs to be said is--
Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development. The brilliant explanation for similar cultures ("Bread and Circuses") is no hand wave, but a sensible way of addressing the notion of earth-like cultures springing from more than one seed, so to speak. Add The Preservers influence from "The Paradise Syndrome," and you have offered yet another likely explanation for the earth mirror, that--frankly--no fan of ST should dismiss, since this is the same franchise where transporters turn humans into insects, a cybernetic race roams the galaxy assimilating hapless cultures, Q, Hortas and a mirror universes where counterparts are somehow all evil.
Star Trek demands nothing--except its viewers to ride with the fantasy and speculation. All examples above are more than enough for someone to dismiss episodes, or an entire series (and have, from some critical pieces i've read on ST), but in the end, they are accepted--usually thanks to the overall message of a story, and its basic execution.
On that note, I maintain what I've always said about "The Omega Glory"--
1. The teaser and 1st act: utterly grim, and once again, we see how vulnerable Starfleet ships are (in a season which saw the demise of the Constellation and Intrepid up to that point). The landing party's mood sold the horror of that dangerous with the best of any ST series dealing with crew deaths.
2. Actors returning for more: the measure of a great actor is to be able to create memorable characters completely dissimilar to his other roles. It is a rare talent, and was seen few and far between in the annals of TV or movie history. Woodward's Tracey does not evoke any part of Van Gelder, and is just as strong a captain (in presence) as Kirk.
Moreover, Tracey was a perfect "evil" counter as a Starfleet captain every ounce as formidable (if not more so) than Kirk. In a way, that made him more dangerous than Kor, Khan, Rojan or anyone else, as he had a real "inside line" on his opponent (and far beyond anything Merik would be able to tell Proconsul Marcus).
3. Believable to the heroes: Heroes cannot win every fight, or--obviously--there's no conflict (beyond the moral conflict between Tracey & Kirk). Tracey's early physical victory shows that Starfleet just did not invest in "Kirk-Fu," but turned more than a few dangerous officers (e.g. also think of Matt Decker taking out a security guard trained for battle).
The heroes suffered throughout the episode: Kirk knocked out by Tracey and Cloud William, while Tracey's Phasering the communications device right next to Spock let us know he did not care how much pain he inflicted on our heroes. Then, there's the matter with the axe...
4. Kirk and the Holy Words: Only Shatner could pull that off---and you feel--really feel he believes every word he's saying. That is how an actor is successful and not just another head shot mouthing the script of the week.
Parallel earth complaints or not, The Omega Glory was a tense chapter in TOS (certainly one the darkest of season 2), and a well-produced 52 minutes of science/horror (the Exeter's crew), personal threats (Tracey matching fellow Starfleet officers), and a clonflict not easily resolved--even after Cloud William's promise.
Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development. The brilliant explanation for similar cultures ("Bread and Circuses") is no hand wave, but a sensible way of addressing the notion of earth-like cultures springing from more than one seed, so to speak. Add The Preservers influence from "The Paradise Syndrome," and you have offered yet another likely explanation for the earth mirror, that--frankly--no fan of ST should dismiss, since this is the same franchise where transporters turn humans into insects, a cybernetic race roams the galaxy assimilating hapless cultures, Q, Hortas and a mirror universes where counterparts are somehow all evil.
Star Trek demands nothing--except its viewers to ride with the fantasy and speculation. All examples above are more than enough for someone to dismiss episodes, or an entire series (and have, from some critical pieces i've read on ST), but in the end, they are accepted--usually thanks to the overall message of a story, and its basic execution.
On that note, I maintain what I've always said about "The Omega Glory"--
1. The teaser and 1st act: utterly grim, and once again, we see how vulnerable Starfleet ships are (in a season which saw the demise of the Constellation and Intrepid up to that point). The landing party's mood sold the horror of that dangerous with the best of any ST series dealing with crew deaths.
2. Actors returning for more: the measure of a great actor is to be able to create memorable characters completely dissimilar to his other roles. It is a rare talent, and was seen few and far between in the annals of TV or movie history. Woodward's Tracey does not evoke any part of Van Gelder, and is just as strong a captain (in presence) as Kirk.
Moreover, Tracey was a perfect "evil" counter as a Starfleet captain every ounce as formidable (if not more so) than Kirk. In a way, that made him more dangerous than Kor, Khan, Rojan or anyone else, as he had a real "inside line" on his opponent (and far beyond anything Merik would be able to tell Proconsul Marcus).
3. Believable to the heroes: Heroes cannot win every fight, or--obviously--there's no conflict (beyond the moral conflict between Tracey & Kirk). Tracey's early physical victory shows that Starfleet just did not invest in "Kirk-Fu," but turned more than a few dangerous officers (e.g. also think of Matt Decker taking out a security guard trained for battle).
The heroes suffered throughout the episode: Kirk knocked out by Tracey and Cloud William, while Tracey's Phasering the communications device right next to Spock let us know he did not care how much pain he inflicted on our heroes. Then, there's the matter with the axe...
4. Kirk and the Holy Words: Only Shatner could pull that off---and you feel--really feel he believes every word he's saying. That is how an actor is successful and not just another head shot mouthing the script of the week.
Parallel earth complaints or not, The Omega Glory was a tense chapter in TOS (certainly one the darkest of season 2), and a well-produced 52 minutes of science/horror (the Exeter's crew), personal threats (Tracey matching fellow Starfleet officers), and a clonflict not easily resolved--even after Cloud William's promise.
I always figured an Earth ship with some American trinkets crashed on Omega IV sometime in the prior century or two. The Yangs, took them as their own as they were similar to their own values.
Their culture had been obliterated, they adopted ours.
I like that a lot. Really. I wish they'd done it that way.
That would have made a great teaser... Some historians chatting in the crew lounge, then the ship lurches, power fails, and we hear a VO "This is Captain Tracey; all hands abandon ship. This is not a drill!"
Cut to the theme, and then Act I begins with Kirk's Captain's Log noting that the Enterprise is entering a sector that hasn't been visited since the science vessel Exeter disappeared 100 years ago.
They make their way to Omega IV, where they find a war weary people destroyed by cultural contamination on the part of Tracey -- the lone survivor of the Exeter disaster -- and one of his descendants becomes the antagonist.
A much neater setup.
We know all that now, of course. But there wasn't a lot of information out there in 1968. When I first saw "The Omega Glory", "Bread and Circuses", which brings up Hodgkins, was about two weeks away, "The Paradise Syndrome" was far off in the third season, and The Making of Star Trek wasn't even out yet.
It was the stone age.
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"Parallel development" is the one thing we don't have to accept as being part of Trek, really. "Corrupting influences from Earth" is the easy way to go, as Earth has had starflight for at least a few thousand years at that point (foreign starflight, that is - Platonians and Greek gods and whatnot). And we already got "Patterns of Force" where corrupting elements from Earth were deliberately introduced. It's just a different flag this time around, but the outcome is the same: the original meddler doesn't survive, and somebody else gets to reap the obvious profits.
It's a good premise overall, and worth repeating. Makes us grudgingly accept there might be something to this Prime Directive business after all...
Timo Saloniemi
It's a good premise overall, and worth repeating. Makes us grudgingly accept there might be something to this Prime Directive business after all...
Timo Saloniemi
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