life and death TREK

[RobertScorpio]

What episodes of trek stand out to you where you really felt as if they really faced a life and death situation...maybe because of the serious tone, or the way it was directed..but it stood out to you really being raw.

For example..as Adonis's hand is squeezing the ship, I never felt as if it was really life or death. But when the Apple god was shooting its dragon eyes at the ship? I felt that was very well done..

Here's a kicker; I never felt the crew as going to die in BEST OF BOTH WORLDS..though it was a great episode. But at the end of Q WHO, when the Borg are about to destroy them, I thought that was more life and death.

What are some that stand out to you?

Rob

 

[Chrisisall]

What are some that stand out to you?

Doomsday Machine- even though I knew Kirk couldn't actually buy the farm, it *felt* real to me.

And of course, Miramanee effed with me bigtime. Although I conjure that's not exactly per the topic.

 

[RobertScorpio]

What are some that stand out to you?

Doomsday Machine- even though I knew Kirk couldn't actually buy the farm, it *felt* real to me.

And of course, Miramanee effed with me bigtime. Although I conjure that's not exactly per the topic.

Any thing you can conjure up is good enough for me..

Its funny you mention Doomsday. We were just watching that about two weeks ago, and my five-year old son really got nervous at the end of the episode when it looked like Kirk was gonna go down with the ship...so yeah, that is a good pick!

And any time anyone can throw in a mention of the episode that stars Bill Shatner as Kirok, it a time for wine and song!

Rob

 

[Yeoman Randi]

When i was a kid watching TOS i didn't know about the "stars" never dying. I specifically remember being on the edge of my seat everytime they broke to commercial thinking Kirk was going to die by the time we got back to the show. I remember asking my dad, "IS HE GOING TO DIE???" and stuff like that. I was 10 at the time so i wasnt savvy about the leads always living to fight the next fight.

 

[RobertScorpio]

When i was a kid watching TOS i didn't know about the "stars" never dying. I specifically remember being on the edge of my seat everytime they broke to commercial thinking Kirk was going to die by the time we got back to the show. I remember asking my dad, "IS HE GOING TO DIE???" and stuff like that. I was 10 at the time so i wasnt savvy about the leads always living to fight the next fight.

Shatner really knew how to make the tension show on his face just before the commercial break..I remember being at a convention and Michael Dorn made fun of shatner's doing that, and I thought to myself...Michael who??? oh yeah..that Romulan dude.

Rob

 

[Deckerd]

The tension builders were completely lost on us. The BBC screened Star Trek and they have no commercials. We grew up with US imports (not just Star Trek) which had a close up of a tortured face, a musical climax, a black screen and then the scene replayed again before continuing. It baffled me all my childhood.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

<snip>
Shatner really knew how to make the tension show on his face just before the commercial break..I remember being at a convention and Michael Dorn made fun of shatner's doing that, and I thought to myself...Michael who??? oh yeah..that Romulan dude.

Rob

 

[apenpaap]

Azati Prime's end was done very well. I actually believed the ship was going to blow up. The Siege of AR-558 is another episode that feels very dangerous.

The least threatening situation is, IMO, Kirk's fight with the Gorn in Arena. I laughed my ass off at it.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Azati Prime's end was done very well. I actually believed the ship was going to blow up. The Siege of AR-558 is another episode that feels very dangerous.

The least threatening situation is, IMO, Kirk's fight with the Gorn in Arena. I laughed my ass off at it.

Not my son..he was captivated.

But I agree with you on AR-558! That was a real raw episode. Only one quite like that in all of STAR TREK I think.

Rob

 

[Fedaykin]

Ar-558 is a good one, but also for DS9 "The Changing Face of Evil", I guess with the unexpected way the Defiant was destroyed, but I was on the edge of my seat.

 

[Too Much Fun]

It sounds silly now knowing how things turn out, but I really felt that the "Star Trek" episode I've seen that conveyed the most palpable sense of life-threatening danger was "The Corbomite Manuever". That 'alien' on the screen just seemed so unwaveringly menacing and dangerous.

I was really in suspense about how the hell Kirk would talk his way out of being executed by that stubborn, merciless, unshakable bastard. I really couldn't imagine a way out of the threat from such a seemingly insistent foe, so I was very impressed by Kirk's solution. I thought his Corbomite story was a brilliant and completely satisfying ploy.

 

[Warp Coil]

I would say the closest would be the Defiant's destruction in "The Changing Face of Evil". But to be honest, Trek didn't do life-or-death situations very well. The bottom line is that TPTB never had the guts to kill off a major character or really just do something awful, unless the actor was leaving the show. The only major Trek characters to get killed - Tasha Yar and Jadzia Dax - were done poorly, and because the actresses had quit. There were no other moments where I really thought that the crew was in jeopardy.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

The tension builders were completely lost on us. The BBC screened Star Trek and they have no commercials. We grew up with US imports (not just Star Trek) which had a close up of a tortured face, a musical climax, a black screen and then the scene replayed again before continuing. It baffled me all my childhood.

well that bites!

It sounds silly now knowing how things turn out, but I really felt that the "Star Trek" episode I've seen that conveyed the most palpable sense of life-threatening danger was "The Corbomite Manuever". That 'alien' on the screen just seemed so unwaveringly menacing and dangerous.

I was really in suspense about how the hell Kirk would talk his way out of being executed by that stubborn, merciless, unshakable bastard. I really couldn't imagine a way out of the threat from such a seemingly insistent foe, so I was very impressed by Kirk's solution. I thought his Corbomite story was a brilliant and completely satisfying ploy.

Hence, he was (and is) the Master of his Domain.

I remember being scared bloody hell at that alien face too. We were so easily thrilled back in those days!

 

[Too Much Fun]

I remember being scared bloody hell at that alien face too. We were so easily thrilled back in those days!

I still think it's a very effective design, even though I've heard people say that (especially looking at it from a modern perspective) it should have been obvious all along that it was just a puppet. There's a great moment at the end of the "Futurama" commentary for their Star Trek episode where everyone laughs as the writer of the episode and exec producer admit that as kids they used to turn away from the screen during Star Trek's closing credits because they were so scared of it.

 

[RobertScorpio]

I remember being scared bloody hell at that alien face too. We were so easily thrilled back in those days!

I still think it's a very effective design, even though I've heard people say that (especially looking at it from a modern perspective) it should have been obvious all along that it was just a puppet. There's a great moment at the end of the "Futurama" commentary for their Star Trek episode where everyone laughs as the writer of the episode and exec producer admit that as kids they used to turn away from the screen during Star Trek's closing credits because they were so scared of it.

I think its the passage of time that lessons it. I also saw that episode when i was a kid, and it scared the crap out of me, puppet or not. It just had that look!!!

Rob

 

[USS Triumphant]

I think its the passage of time that lessons it.

That, and the show was really good at getting you to suspend disbelief - when you consider how silly some of the things looked back then that really were threats, that alien just fit right in.

 

[pureTREKKER]

Perhaps EQUINOX

When Voyager was getting attack by the aliens/fuel

 

[RobertScorpio]

Perhaps EQUINOX

When Voyager was getting attack by the aliens/fuel

I thought of another one, maybe already mentioned. But the one called, I think, Prototype when Belana saves that Robot, and then they kidnap her to make her show them how they could repair themselves...

Rob

 

[SilentP]

Perhaps EQUINOX

When Voyager was getting attack by the aliens/fuel

Ditto, there was something quite menacing about the threat of aliens appearing literally out of thin air.

I'll also chip in my vote for AR-558 as well, that had quite a dangerous feel too it.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Perhaps EQUINOX

When Voyager was getting attack by the aliens/fuel

Ditto, there was something quite menacing about the threat of aliens appearing literally out of thin air.

I'll also chip in my vote for AR-558 as well, that had quite a dangerous feel too it.

AR-558 is so good at feeling real, that I avoid it. Its a great episode, but having just left the military a few years ago, and having lost a few friends over the past two decades due to the wars we have been in, its hard to watch. These friends of mine were Marines and, well, I know that for one of them, he was scared to back the second time and didn't come back. AR-558 really captures that feeling.

Rob