I just noticed Kirk got kicked in the balls by Finnegan.

[johnnybear]

I've always wondered what happened to the androids or whatever they were after the Enterprise departed?
JB

 

[SpyOne]

When I was growing up, a man handled a bully on his own.

My older brother has a story from Elementary School in the late 1960s: another boy kept putting slush into my brother's boots and he reported this to the teacher, who suggested he try to solve this on his own. "You won't like my solution," my brother said.
So the next time that boy put slush in his boots, my brother slammed him face-first ito a concrete wall hard enough to break his nose and loose teeth.
And when the teacher tried to express outrage, my brother simply said "I told you you wouldn't like my solution. Bet he never does that again."
My brother was a weird kid, but he never had much trouble with bullies.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

It's not the sort of scene you'd see play out today because it emphasizes the Irish hothead stereotype and fosters the idea that fighting is a healthy "boys will be boys" flavor of masculinity.

"If there's one theme that we're seeing in Star Trek so far, it's that the Irish are idiots." - One of my favorite quotes about TOS from the Mission Log podcast, citing Kevin Riley and Finnegan as examples.

They weren't wrong.

Fun stuff, and interesting how Gold Key became more canon-conscious (meaning using characters seen or mentioned on TOS) toward the end of their run with the property.

That's because Trek fans like Len Wein started writing the series towards the end.

 

[Warped9]

And don 't forget that Ruth was exactly the woman that Kirk remembered from his Academy days, not the woman she would've been in the present day.

"Ruth, how can it be you? How could you possibly be here? You haven't aged. It's been fifteen years."

Funny thing is I never thought Ruth looked a young girl in her late teens or early twenties. Maybe Cadet Kirk was dating an older women?

 

[Kor]

Actress Shirley Bonne (Ruth) was 33 at the time, and Bruce Mars (Finnegan) was 32. Cadet Kirk was way out of his league!

Kor

 

[hifijohn]

The thing with Finnegan that always bothered me was, why didn't Kirk report him to the Academy brass?

Granted, Kirk couldn't have actually fought back, but surely he could have filed a report with the superintendent or something. (Especially if Finnegan's constant harassment was making it difficult for Kirk to complete his studies.) I mean, there had to have been plenty of opportunities for Kirk to slip away unnoticed and visit the superintendent's office - it's not like Finnegan was watching Kirk 24/7, amirite?

So Kirk files a complaint, at best is reassigned another roommate (or at worst, Finnegan is put on suspension or even expelled). That should have been the end of it.

This isn't the bloody VMI or anything like that. Finnegan's antics aren't supposed to be standard for Academy plebes. There should have been a way for somebody to stop him.

Thats not the way men thought back then, being picked on was suppose to make you stronger.

 

[hifijohn]

Great episode but that fight scene goes on for far too long.One rumor I have always heard is that shatner with his ego wanted to show off his manlyness so he wanted the fight scene to go on as much as possible.

 

[Green]

That sounds 100% made up.

 

[Jayson1]

That sounds 100% made up.

Yet 100% plausible.

Jason

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Actress Shirley Bonne (Ruth) was 33 at the time, and Bruce Mars (Finnegan) was 32. Cadet Kirk was way out of his league!

I'm sure they very intentionally cast a baby-faced but age-appropriate actress opposite Shatner. It would've looked too odd to see him suddenly macking on a girl in her late teens or early twenties!

I have seen a couple novels that have interpreted Ruth as being an "older woman" to young Jim Kirk, though.

 

[Kor]

I'm sure they very intentionally cast a baby-faced but age-appropriate actress opposite Shatner. It would've looked too odd to see him suddenly macking on a girl in her late teens or early twenties!

I have seen a couple novels that have interpreted Ruth as being an "older woman" to young Jim Kirk, though.

On the other hand, there was Lenore Karidian.

Kor

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I wonder if it took the image of what Kirk thought Ruth might look like today from his mind and created that. Can't be the first time he's wondered how she's changed since he saw her last.

I wonder if Ruth might be the woman Mitchell steered him towards. If she was older when Kirk knew her, could it be Mitchell chose her because she was about the age young Kirk was acting, but more fun?

 

[mos6507]

Great episode but that fight scene goes on for far too long.One rumor I have always heard is that shatner with his ego wanted to show off his manlyness so he wanted the fight scene to go on as much as possible.

I like it in a The Live sort fo way. It made it funnier.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I wonder if it took the image of what Kirk thought Ruth might look like today from his mind and created that. Can't be the first time he's wondered how she's changed since he saw her last.

I wonder if Ruth might be the woman Mitchell steered him towards. If she was older when Kirk knew her, could it be Mitchell chose her because she was about the age young Kirk was acting, but more fun?

Could be.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I wonder if Ruth might be the woman Mitchell steered him towards. If she was older when Kirk knew her, could it be Mitchell chose her because she was about the age young Kirk was acting, but more fun?

The generally held view is that Janet Wallace ("The Deadly Years") or Carol Marcus (The Wrath of Khan) was the little blonde lab technician.

There can't be a third blonde woman scientist romance, or it gets to be like, "How many Jans are in one man's life?" Rand, Lester, Wallace...

 

[Tosk]

You then cut to Kirk react in pain but you never see the kick land or show the power part of his body. When they then cut to the longshot his foot is basically in that area. Granted they wouldn't show that on tv in the 60's so it's implied but I think it's true.

They still wouldn't show it during the '90s either, for some reason. There a Mirror Universe ep of DS9 where The Intendant gives Maihar'du a smack in the plums, and they do the same "cut away from the actual impact" style there too. I guess Trek just doesn't like portraying testicular violence.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I wonder if it took the image of what Kirk thought Ruth might look like today from his mind and created that. Can't be the first time he's wondered how she's changed since he saw her last.

"Ruth, how can it be you? How could you possibly be here? You haven't aged. It's been fifteen years."

I wonder if Ruth might be the woman Mitchell steered him towards.

Certainly possible. The only thing we know for sure about Ruth is that Kirk was seeing her 15 years before, presumably around the same time he was dealing with Finnegan (which is why his thoughts turned towards her in the first place).

 

[Nyotarules]

The generally held view is that Janet Wallace ("The Deadly Years") or Carol Marcus (The Wrath of Khan) was the little blonde lab technician.

There can't be a third blonde woman scientist romance, or it gets to be like, "How many Jans are in one man's life?" Rand, Lester, Wallace...

Maybe young Kirk had 'I only date blondes' phase (be they fake or real), a bit like Rod Stewart only dating blonde models.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Maybe young Kirk had 'I only date blondes' phase (be they fake or real), a bit like Rod Stewart only dating blonde models.

"If you like my body and you think I'm sexy, come on Baby earn your post-graduate degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, bleach your hair, and let me know..."

 

[Nyotarules]

"If you like my body and you think I'm sexy, come on Baby earn your post-graduate degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics, bleach your hair, and let me know..."

You would think in a diverse Federation a human having blonde hair would be no big deal lol