Lack of shuttles in "The Enemy Within"
- Thread starter EJA
- Start date
Every Trek geek knows the real-world explanation is that the full-size Galileo mockup, the filming model, and the miniature hangar deck hadn't been built yet.
So I assume we're talking about retconning an in-universe explanation. Perhaps an ion storm (what exactly is an ion storm, anyway?) prevented shuttles from being launched. Or maybe all the shuttles were undergoing their regular 200-million-mile service?
What makes less sense is why the Enterprise didn't beam down some portable heaters, or material to make crude shelters, or even a pot of hot coffee (as per Sulu's request). Even with the transporter malfunction, what's the worst that could happen? Would the landing party end up with one pot of weak-but-good coffee and another pot of strong-but-evil coffee? Who cares, as long as it's hot!
So I assume we're talking about retconning an in-universe explanation. Perhaps an ion storm (what exactly is an ion storm, anyway?) prevented shuttles from being launched. Or maybe all the shuttles were undergoing their regular 200-million-mile service?
What makes less sense is why the Enterprise didn't beam down some portable heaters, or material to make crude shelters, or even a pot of hot coffee (as per Sulu's request). Even with the transporter malfunction, what's the worst that could happen? Would the landing party end up with one pot of weak-but-good coffee and another pot of strong-but-evil coffee? Who cares, as long as it's hot!
Yeah, I would agree...inanimate non-living things, beam 'em down!!
Coffee, blankets, tents, shelters, heaters, whatever.
Only thing I can think of is that it had to be shut down in order to diagnose and repair the problem. And even then, leave it up and running and defective in order to get the lifesaving stuff down to the landing party. Take it offline and repair it after?
Whatever.
Coffee, blankets, tents, shelters, heaters, whatever.
Only thing I can think of is that it had to be shut down in order to diagnose and repair the problem. And even then, leave it up and running and defective in order to get the lifesaving stuff down to the landing party. Take it offline and repair it after?
Whatever.
Actually I think there is a line of dialogue in the episode that says they tried to beam done heaters, but the duplicated and then didn't work. 
Yeah, it's a logic flaw, but the rest of the story is so good you tend to overlook it.
Maybe the hangar doors were damaged somehow and they couldn't be opened.
Yeah, it's a logic flaw, but the rest of the story is so good you tend to overlook it.
Maybe the hangar doors were damaged somehow and they couldn't be opened.
Hush hush, voices carry.
I like to think the shuttlecrafts were being upgraded or replaced at some starbase while the Enterprise continues on it's mission without them, believing they won't need them. Suprise, suprise! The one time they really need them, they don't have them.
Another one I like is that some scientific mumbojumbo in the atmosphere prevents the shuttlecrafts from functioning properly. It's like using your cellphone in a dead zone. Totally useless in that one spot.
Another one I like is that some scientific mumbojumbo in the atmosphere prevents the shuttlecrafts from functioning properly. It's like using your cellphone in a dead zone. Totally useless in that one spot.
I've always wondered what the full complement of shuttlecraft was supposed to be, anyway. I think one of the crewmen searching a deserted starship in "The Omega Glory" said something about "all 4" shuttlecraft being on the deck.
Yeah, the Constitution class Exeter was said to carry "all four" shuttlecraft, so I always assumed the same for Enterprise. I further assumed them to be designated Shuttlecrafts 1/3/5 and 7. And they were named Galileo, Columbus, and probably Copernicus and something else.
But then again, I also like TAS idea of different shuttles, the aqua-shuttle, the long range version, and so on. So I guess there would be more than four. What the hell do I know??
But then again, I also like TAS idea of different shuttles, the aqua-shuttle, the long range version, and so on. So I guess there would be more than four. What the hell do I know??
I gave this a lot of thought when drawing up my shuttlecraft plans. Considering their optimum size (about 26ft. L.O.A.) then four is the best you can do. I wonder if MJ thought the same thing even though TMoST refers to seven being the actual compliment. When in doubt I tend to go with the onscreen evidence.
The TAS shuttles are intriguing, but totally impossible as shown to be standard fare aboard ship.
The TAS shuttles are intriguing, but totally impossible as shown to be standard fare aboard ship.
I always chalked it up to something in the atmosphere that prevented the shuttles from functioning properly, like particulates that somehow foul the engines or something.
I dunno, evil coffee might give you the runs and then you are in a much worse spot
The reason why shuttles couldn't be used could be devastatingly simple: high winds. After all, that's what the matte painting of the skies above the planet seems to show... It's an impressive piece of work, evoking feelings of a Tibetan high plateau, and the clouds in the sky look as if being torn to shreds by jetstreams. Elsewhere in Trek, high winds are consistently portrayed as a negative indicator for shuttlecraft use (and as a common cause for the ubiquitous shuttlecraft crashes).
As for the failure of the starship crew to do more to help the landing party, I don't think there are any gaps of logic there. The landing party wasn't lacking in things like clothing or fuel - they were shown having those aplenty, heating rocks with phasers and huddling under a comfy blanket. Initially, the landing party wasn't even in much trouble. That, and the problems the split Kirk was having with decisionmaking, meant that the jeopardy could gradually escalate - and the indecisive Kirk would always be one step behind.
At the last stage where transporters were still working (evil Kirk hadn't shot them to hell yet), things like blankets would not have done an ounce of good for the landing party. It was stated that the planet was going to go to minus seventy soon, and to minus 120 eventually. At such extreme conditions, the landing party would be dead, dead, dead, even if Kirk beamed down log cabins complete with fireplaces for them. The only thing that could even theoretically have saved them would have been high tech protection such as spacesuits - and the transporter couldn't handle those, not even before being phasered to bits.
Timo Saloniemi
As for the failure of the starship crew to do more to help the landing party, I don't think there are any gaps of logic there. The landing party wasn't lacking in things like clothing or fuel - they were shown having those aplenty, heating rocks with phasers and huddling under a comfy blanket. Initially, the landing party wasn't even in much trouble. That, and the problems the split Kirk was having with decisionmaking, meant that the jeopardy could gradually escalate - and the indecisive Kirk would always be one step behind.
At the last stage where transporters were still working (evil Kirk hadn't shot them to hell yet), things like blankets would not have done an ounce of good for the landing party. It was stated that the planet was going to go to minus seventy soon, and to minus 120 eventually. At such extreme conditions, the landing party would be dead, dead, dead, even if Kirk beamed down log cabins complete with fireplaces for them. The only thing that could even theoretically have saved them would have been high tech protection such as spacesuits - and the transporter couldn't handle those, not even before being phasered to bits.
Timo Saloniemi
I dunno, evil coffee might give you the runs and then you are in a much worse spot
Well, not really. The steam from their runs could help keep them warm for a few minutes before it freezes up.
That was always my thought as well - although it's not incompatible with Timo's theory, either.
Years ago I when I was compiling a timeline I described said particles as "anti-nimbic". Anyone care to take a stab a the meaning behind such techno-babble?
By virtue of it being minus 120 out there. Even if that's Farenheit, no blanket would "function" at such low temperatures, not for the entire night the landing party had to spend down there.
Blankets, fires, parkas, hot chokolate or tents would merely add insult to injury, as they'd be of no practical help. They might have been nice back when it was only minus fifty or minus seventy, but the split Kirk didn't make that decision. Which is just as well as this would have had no real effect on the survival of the party.
Timo Saloniemi
Blankets, fires, parkas, hot chokolate or tents would merely add insult to injury, as they'd be of no practical help. They might have been nice back when it was only minus fifty or minus seventy, but the split Kirk didn't make that decision. Which is just as well as this would have had no real effect on the survival of the party.
Timo Saloniemi
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