Has anybody followed up on "The Enemy Within"?

[F. King Daniel]

At a guess, I'd say it's a combination of not having seen the episode recently (or forming the belief back in the pre-streaming, pre-DVD days when any given episode was catch-as-catch-can) so the memory has a chance to play tricks, along with reading between the lines (or taking the episode seriously but not literally, to coin a phrase), seeing what the episode was able to communicate in a 1960s family-hour TV slot and extrapolating it out into the "real world" of Star Trek that wasn't limited by those constraints, seeing the literal events of the episode as a sort of visual euphemism that the adults would understand without scarring the kids.

Exactly. Peter David saw what the episode implied might have happened but not been shown due to the constraints of 1960's television and ran with it. It's not "wishing" it had happened, it was seeing a potential thread and running with it.

I found it nowhere near as objectionable as the Voyager Homecoming duology, which still angers me to this day. As it should anyone who's ever known victims of sexual abuse.

 

[Christopher]

Exactly. Peter David saw what the episode implied might have happened but not been shown due to the constraints of 1960's television and ran with it. It's not "wishing" it had happened, it was seeing a potential thread and running with it.

Again, there is absolutely nothing in The Captain's Daughter to imply that Rand's child was conceived through rape. What the text implied was that Rand and the real Kirk had a consensual affair and that Rand left when she got pregnant because she didn't want to sidetrack the "greater destiny" she saw in his future.

The post you were responding to was a speculation about why fans might misread "The Enemy Within." Nobody ever said Peter David did the same.

 

[Therin of Andor]

At a guess, I'd say it's a combination of not having seen the episode recently (or forming the belief back in the pre-streaming, pre-DVD days when any given episode was catch-as-catch-can) so the memory has a chance to play tricks, along with reading between the lines (or taking the episode seriously but not literally, to coin a phrase)...

Of course, the K/S fanfic writers took many liberties with the canonical evidence to give their own versions of "Amok Time", and may have been some fans' first exposure to certain episodes. I assume other episodes were as inspirational for K/S zines. (eg. I know of one fan who knew "The Enterprise Incident" episode only through the two "Phoenix" novels and a very controversial K/S zine called "Courts of Honor". She had never seen the actual episode until I showed it to her in the 80s.)

Also, as revealed by the shooting script of "Who Mourns for Adonais" (and, more recently, the "Roddenberry Vault" Blu-ray set), a dropped plot deviation involving a rape was actually referred to, and was even followed up by Peter David in "New Frontier" novel.

 

[Christopher]

Also, as revealed by the shooting script of "Who Mourns for Adonais" (and, more recently, the "Roddenberry Vault" Blu-ray set), a dropped plot deviation involving a rape was actually referred to, and was even followed up by Peter David in "New Frontier" novel.

I wouldn't say it was dropped. Apollo's assault on Palamas is still there in the episode -- of course they don't show it, but anyone who knows a thing about Greek mythology knows exactly what must have happened after the scene cut away. The only thing that was dropped was the subsequent line about Palamas being pregnant, but that doesn't rule out the possibility that she was. So there's no contradiction in that case.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

And as I recall, it was not dropped from Blish's adaptation.

 

[Christopher]

And as I recall, it was not dropped from Blish's adaptation.

Correct. The scene is included.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

Hmm. On the one hand, Palamas didn't act, uh, violated (maybe a little dazed), but on the other hand, she certainly wasn't singing arias from Naughty Marietta.

 

[Christopher]

On the one hand, Palamas didn't act, uh, violated (maybe a little dazed)

Well, obviously they weren't going to be explicit about it in 1960s commercial television. And the culture then (or at least male TV writers) had less understanding of rape as a traumatizing violent assault. It was perceived more as just the result of a man's passion getting the better of him and causing him to take liberties that were inappropriately forward but not malicious. You can see this in Rand's sickbay scene in "The Enemy Within," where she's written as understanding and absolving toward her attempted rapist, and at the end where Spock jokes with her about the rape attempt in a way that's horrific to modern eyes. And, of course, you can see it in the Young Frankenstein scenes you allude to, whose humor has aged very poorly.

 

[dupersuper]

I wouldn't say it was dropped. Apollo's assault on Palamas is still there in the episode -- of course they don't show it, but anyone who knows a thing about Greek mythology knows exactly what must have happened after the scene cut away. The only thing that was dropped was the subsequent line about Palamas being pregnant, but that doesn't rule out the possibility that she was. So there's no contradiction in that case.

And as I recall, it was not dropped from Blish's adaptation.

Of course, the K/S fanfic writers took many liberties with the canonical evidence to give their own versions of "Amok Time", and may have been some fans' first exposure to certain episodes. I assume other episodes were as inspirational for K/S zines. (eg. I know of one fan who knew "The Enterprise Incident" episode only through the two "Phoenix" novels and a very controversial K/S zine called "Courts of Honor". She had never seen the actual episode until I showed it to her in the 80s.)

Also, as revealed by the shooting script of "Who Mourns for Adonais" (and, more recently, the "Roddenberry Vault" Blu-ray set), a dropped plot deviation involving a rape was actually referred to, and was even followed up by Peter David in "New Frontier" novel.

It was also in a John Byrne photonovel and fits ok with the Apollo Star Trek Continues episode.

 

[Christopher]

It was also in a John Byrne photonovel and fits ok with the Apollo Star Trek Continues episode.

I'd prefer it if it hadn't been followed up on. A woman having to bear her rapist's child is not just some routine bit of Trek continuity nerdery, it's a cruel fate to consign her to.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

When a rape victim is denied the right to choose abortion, she is raped twice.

But why are we even talking about rape, when I thought I was asking about TrekLit (since Claire Gabriel's "Ni Var") following up on the physics of the "alfacite ore" (as Claire Gabirel called it) transporter phenomenon?

 

[Christopher]

But why are we even talking about rape

I honestly don't know. Therin brought up The Captain's Daughter out of the erroneous belief that its mention of Rand's deceased daughter implied a possible connection to "The Enemy Within," which it absolutely did not, as I've been stressing all along. I find it strange and regrettable that anyone ever misread the book in such a distasteful way, but all my attempts to shoot down the misconception have just led to more people talking about it.

 

[hbquikcomjamesl]

I find it strange and regrettable that anyone ever misread the book in such a distasteful way,

That makes two of us. And I've now openly said enough about what specifically I would like to see somebody follow up on that I'll probably never get my wish. And it's not as if technology-centric stories are entirely foreign to Star Trek. Or stories that attempt to make sense out of a scientific absurdity previously established in canon.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I honestly don't know. Therin brought up The Captain's Daughter out of the erroneous belief...

Not MY belief. But one I had seen mentioned quite often.

Sometimes I should just shut up.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

As we seem to all be in agreement regarding how Annie can't possibly be the child of Evil Kirk...I've edited the Memory Beta page (on Annie) to that effect

That said, if CaptainMike comes along and removes the edit...don't be surprised.

 

[Pauln6]

Again, there is absolutely nothing in The Captain's Daughter to imply that Rand's child was conceived through rape. What the text implied was that Rand and the real Kirk had a consensual affair and that Rand left when she got pregnant because she didn't want to sidetrack the "greater destiny" she saw in his future.

The post you were responding to was a speculation about why fans might misread "The Enemy Within." Nobody ever said Peter David did the same.

The text merely implied that Kirk could fit the bill as the possible father of her child but Rand's off camera life is a huge blank slate. Grace was 36 in TOS, apocryphal non-canon details about her age notwithstanding, so there would have been plenty of time to have a child before TOS. That could even have been her motivation to go into space.

Far more interesting would be the transporter using epigenetics to affect people's personalities. A sort of transporter coup.