Is There No Truth In Beauty? Commentary

[UnknownSample]

If the ship were simply sitting in intergalactic space outside out galaxy, then navigating back would pose no problem in of itself.

This is something we can't know. I'm starting to feel we aren't getting enough information here to know much of anything really, but isn't it great that we have so much to chew over, confusing though it is?
----------------------
Your post gets me wondering... do they mention the galactic Barrier? I really only acknowledge the unremastered original, not the one that eliminated that amazing Barrier effect in favor of an excessively literal and nitpicky interpretation of the dialogue that they seemed to think conflicted with what was onscreen, even though the ep was made by responsible adults who know their Trek.... For me, since in the original it LOOKS like the galactic Barrier they're stuck in, it IS. Slips of tongues happen.
------------------------
I think a brief mention of the Barrier does happen, and is part of the dialogue that caused the remasterers to show the Ent punching through it in a nanosecond, only to appear in a boring secondary "void" with some purple clouds in it, instead.
--------------------------
You made me wonder if it doesn't have to be the galactic Barrier at ALL. If they don't say they're heading out of the "galaxy" but instead the "universe" or the "space time continuum" or whatever....?
--------------------------
Could they have been scatter-brained enough to reuse the Barrier effect (in the original) for a completely different place? How would they get to some other universe though, just by a couple minutes of fast driving?
---------------------------
I always thought it made enough sense that they were leaving the galaxy yet still lost IN the Barrier.and that it could be so vast on impulse that getting stuck meant having no way to direct the ship out, and if you picked the wrong direction you might go so far in a wrong direction you might end up hopelessly deep into it. At warp you could make a much bigger mistake. It could have spatial peculiarities making it a world and void unto itself unless you know just how to cross in the "narrowest" direction.

 

[Timo]

Do they mention "the Galactic Barrier"? No. They mention "the Barrier" instead, exactly once. Is it the same thing? The word is way too generic for us to tell, and Spock uses it in a phrase where he expects the listeners to already know what he is talking about. The thing is, the in-universe listeners (and the longterm fans in the audience) have knowledge of at least two sorts of barrier here: the "WNMHGB" one and the supposed plot-specific (even if ill-defined) one between safety and oblivion.

Do they leave the galaxy or the universe or both? "Universe" is only ever mentioned by the crazy Marvick, but he also uses "galaxy": he thinks they are "at the boundaries" of the former and "beyond the boundaries" of the latter. And did I mention he's crazy?

When Kirk talks with the madman, he says they need "speed - speed to the next galaxy". Either he's just sprouting motivational nonsense, or then he perhaps thinks that being outside galaxies is bad and any galaxy is good for safety (the exact opposite of what Marvick is shouting - but did I mention he's crazy?).

When calmer heads prevail, though, Kirk dictates a log stating their position "in relation to the galaxy" cannot be determined, and Spock gives his expert opinion that the ship is "far outside our own galaxy". The latter belief makes one wonder whether Spock thinks the good old Galactic Barrier extends far outside Milky Way (and is where the ship resides), or whether Spock sees nothing in common between the Galactic Barrier and the purple mists outside... "Far" could cover both scenarios, and I agree that the one where Spock just thinks the ship is inside the Galactic Barrier is an appealing one.

This still leaves the logic wanting. Warping isn't said to be dangerous: it's just said to make sensory distortions worse. So the heroes could warp in a random direction until they are free of the Galactic Barrier one way or another, and never mind navigation or Kollos. And then fly straight through if they find themselves on the wrong side; this is a feat they have accomplished twice already, in "By Any Other Name".

Timo Saloniemi

 

[UnknownSample]

Thanks, Timo. Despite all the differing specifics, there seems to be enough accumulated info, eventually, to say they're crossing that same Barrier, especially since it looked the same, that is until Remastered, and their Literalism Gone Wild... I really think a random direction would be likely to get you deeper in, in a warped-space way. Or if you just went even vaguely in a lengthwise direction...

 

[A beaker full of death]

One slight correction: The name of the episode is "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" Although it really doesn't matter -- you can mix up the words and it still sounds OK.

The title, of course, is a reference to the Keats poem.
Someone should discuss the characters and plot in that light.