Production Order Group Viewing 2018
- Thread starter Archivist13
- Start date
The planet in the series Earth II or G889 was some twenty two light years from Earth and in the show took twenty two years to reach was obviously not in our solar system either! So Dramia II being of a similar distance perhaps may not have been readily reachable by Dramian science especially after the plague and they're rebuilding their society either!
JB
JB
I went back and forth a lot about whether the planet Dramia is in the same solar system as Dramia-II as there is information in the episode suggesting both!
Hence, I lean towards Dramia-II being in a different solar system.
- Whilst still in orbit of Dramia, Spock brings up their limited information about the plague, saying "The historical records of this solar system are spotty, at best, going back nineteen years." If he were referring to another solar system he ought to said "that" instead of "this" which implies the technical data, meteor showers, auroras, radiation reports all relate to the system they are currently in.
- Once Kirk states they are underway to Dramia-II, Sulu announces a journey time of 4 hours. At 1/4 lightspeed this would put the orbit of Dramia-II at around that of Jupiter, yet the planet still seems M-Class
- Kirk orders an increase to Warp 6 - we've seen that warp speed within a solar system is often slow as molasses, so this would seem pointless. However, 4 hours or less to journey to a nearby star is consistent with the high speeds we've seen elsewhere in TAS (i.e.The Lorelai Signal)
- When Demos is captured sneaking on board he says Kirk has no authority "to conduct an investigation in our star system." Is he chastising Kirk for what he's currently doing (the journey could be seen as part of the investigation)? But whether the Enterprise is currently in interstellar space or not, Dramia-II is definitely under Dramian rule so he may be just talking in the future tense.
- Taking the direct route back to Dramia the Enterprise flies straight through one of the auroras Spock mentioned earlier. This phenomenon is so virulent that it causes "plague" within hours, despite not making physical contact with the crew - just as with the planet Dramia-II 10 years previously.
Hence, I lean towards Dramia-II being in a different solar system.
There's a good chance that the Dramian Star System is a binary star based on real astrological observations of other stars, so, technically, Dramia-II could be orbiting another star and that both stars together are the Dramian Star System, too.
And why didn't Dramian ships go to Dramia II after the plague? Scared, spent years rebuilding their technology or couldn't be bothered? 
JB
JB
The Pirates of Penzance...er...Orion
I don't remember this one, but the title sounds cool.
Hm, a new Academy of Science on Deneb V. In Star Trek, the Deneb system is like the Rigel system with having a lot of activity there:
Deneb II--where Redjac once killed a number of women.
Deneb IV--Kirk and Gary Mitchell have a history there. Picard will be assigned to go there to see Farpoint Station and end up meeting Q. Also the home of the Denebian slime devil Kirk was compared to.
Deneb V--our crew's current destination where the inhabitants once offered Harry Mudd his choice of a number of interesting modes of execution. Maybe they should have invited Harry to come along.
Choriocytosis. They do a good job coming up with disease names in this show.
Another disease on board? They just had a plague last week!
The front view we get of the Enterprise is pretty cool.
All those episodes (like last week and when he gave the blood-drinking cloud indigestion in Obsession) where Spock's Vulcan physiology gives him immunity, but this time he's the only one affected.
So the Potemkin is to get the strobolin and give it to a freighter. Gee, I wonder if the captain of the Potemkin will stop to investigate a quasar-like entity (Galileo 7) or fight with a gas cloud (Obsession) before he delivers the medicine. Shoe's on the other foot now, eh, Kirk?
That's a funky looking freighter. Interesting to see another crew at work.
GAH! McCoy calls the bridge from Sickbay to have Spock sent down but when we see Kirk in the command chair, McCoy is standing right next to him! And then he disappears again! What manner of wizardry is this???
Wow, Nichelle and Majel are BOTH in this episode. In the past they've had either one or the other and the one they've had had to do the voices for all female characters in the episode.
You'd think freighters would travel with escorts or at least have better defensive capabilities.
McCoy: "I'll have to put a respirator on him to help him breathe soon. " GAH! Spock has coronavirus!
Okay what is up with this pronunciation of Orion? I would say Oh-RYE-on, but everyone this episode is saying OR-ee-on. Didn't they say Oh-RYE-on on TOS?
Kirk: "OR-ee-on's neutrality has been in dispute ever since the affair regarding the Coridan planets and the Babel Conference of stardate 3850.3. Yesterday, a Federation freighter was attacked in this quadrant, its cargo hijacked. As the first alien ship encountered, we require you to submit to search, as per Babel Resolution A12. Reply. " Nice callback to JTB. And now I remember the attacking ship in JTB was Oh-RYE-on.
Does Kirk have the authority to give away a shipment of dilithium? Doesn't matter, I know Kirk would do anything for Spock.
Why aren't these OR-ee-ons green? Did they catch last week's plague and turn blue?
The OR-ee-on captain and his lieutenant kick around technical solutions like any Starfleet crew we've seen do.
Is it my imagination or are there more voice actors this episode than in others we've seen? Were they able to splurge since there's only six episodes this season?
McCoy: "If we don't have that drug in twenty hours, he'll die. " Star Trek once again giving us an exact to-the-minute countdown for a biological process. How can McCoy know to the minute when Spock will die? Who says it won't be in 16 hours or 36?
A good episode. I liked it. Good action, good story.
Alien Watch! Hm, we've seen Oh-RYE-ons before, so they're not new aliens. But these guys are blue and called OR-ee-ons. New species? Decisions, decisions...
Season One
The Glommer
Arex*
Retlaw Plant
Agmar and his Phylosian posse
Swoopers
Yellow winged bird guy (Aleek)
Spock's teddy bear with fangs (sehlat)
Green cat thing that sounds like Godzilla (le-matya)
300 million year old alien on viewscreen log
Green energy Redjac wannabe
The Vendorian
Lt. M'Ress
Remarkably human-looking Taureans.
The planet-eating, Majel Roddenberry-voiced cloud from another galaxy.
Alien miners of Arcadia
Rigelian hypnoid
Giant rock creatures
Remarkably human-looking (when they want to be except for that rebel Lucien guy) Megans
Assorted heretofore unseen aliens on the Delta Triangle's ruling council
The Kzinti (whom no one will mistake for Mensa candidates)
Aquans, both stogy elders and rebellious kids.
Sur-snake of Argo
The scardy Bug Guy
The Vedalian
The...remarkably human-looking alien (?) Lara
The not-a-Gorn lizard guy.
Translucent gossamer mice!
Glowing halo fish!
The red beastie in the lake on Lactra Seven
The dinosaur beastie that fell on McCoy on Lactra Seven
The flying purple people eating dragons on Lactra Seven that look suspiciously like other flying purple people eating dragons we've seen.
The telepathic slugs of Lactra Seven.
Assorted aliens captured by the slugs of Lactra Seven.
Season Two
Bem the Annoying, a Pandronian.
The lizard people of Delta Theta Three who are not Gorns nor are they of Sord's people.
The lizard people's Entity/Companion/Goddess
Dramians of the planet Dramia in the Dramian star system
The mysterious blue-skinned OR-ee-ons
*by request
I don't remember this one, but the title sounds cool.
Hm, a new Academy of Science on Deneb V. In Star Trek, the Deneb system is like the Rigel system with having a lot of activity there:
Deneb II--where Redjac once killed a number of women.
Deneb IV--Kirk and Gary Mitchell have a history there. Picard will be assigned to go there to see Farpoint Station and end up meeting Q. Also the home of the Denebian slime devil Kirk was compared to.
Deneb V--our crew's current destination where the inhabitants once offered Harry Mudd his choice of a number of interesting modes of execution. Maybe they should have invited Harry to come along.
Choriocytosis. They do a good job coming up with disease names in this show.
Another disease on board? They just had a plague last week!
The front view we get of the Enterprise is pretty cool.
All those episodes (like last week and when he gave the blood-drinking cloud indigestion in Obsession) where Spock's Vulcan physiology gives him immunity, but this time he's the only one affected.
So the Potemkin is to get the strobolin and give it to a freighter. Gee, I wonder if the captain of the Potemkin will stop to investigate a quasar-like entity (Galileo 7) or fight with a gas cloud (Obsession) before he delivers the medicine. Shoe's on the other foot now, eh, Kirk?
That's a funky looking freighter. Interesting to see another crew at work.
GAH! McCoy calls the bridge from Sickbay to have Spock sent down but when we see Kirk in the command chair, McCoy is standing right next to him! And then he disappears again! What manner of wizardry is this???
Wow, Nichelle and Majel are BOTH in this episode. In the past they've had either one or the other and the one they've had had to do the voices for all female characters in the episode.
You'd think freighters would travel with escorts or at least have better defensive capabilities.
McCoy: "I'll have to put a respirator on him to help him breathe soon. " GAH! Spock has coronavirus!
Okay what is up with this pronunciation of Orion? I would say Oh-RYE-on, but everyone this episode is saying OR-ee-on. Didn't they say Oh-RYE-on on TOS?
Kirk: "OR-ee-on's neutrality has been in dispute ever since the affair regarding the Coridan planets and the Babel Conference of stardate 3850.3. Yesterday, a Federation freighter was attacked in this quadrant, its cargo hijacked. As the first alien ship encountered, we require you to submit to search, as per Babel Resolution A12. Reply. " Nice callback to JTB. And now I remember the attacking ship in JTB was Oh-RYE-on.
Does Kirk have the authority to give away a shipment of dilithium? Doesn't matter, I know Kirk would do anything for Spock.
Why aren't these OR-ee-ons green? Did they catch last week's plague and turn blue?
The OR-ee-on captain and his lieutenant kick around technical solutions like any Starfleet crew we've seen do.
Is it my imagination or are there more voice actors this episode than in others we've seen? Were they able to splurge since there's only six episodes this season?
McCoy: "If we don't have that drug in twenty hours, he'll die. " Star Trek once again giving us an exact to-the-minute countdown for a biological process. How can McCoy know to the minute when Spock will die? Who says it won't be in 16 hours or 36?
A good episode. I liked it. Good action, good story.
Alien Watch! Hm, we've seen Oh-RYE-ons before, so they're not new aliens. But these guys are blue and called OR-ee-ons. New species? Decisions, decisions...
Season One
The Glommer
Arex*
Retlaw Plant
Agmar and his Phylosian posse
Swoopers
Yellow winged bird guy (Aleek)
Spock's teddy bear with fangs (sehlat)
Green cat thing that sounds like Godzilla (le-matya)
300 million year old alien on viewscreen log
Green energy Redjac wannabe
The Vendorian
Lt. M'Ress
Remarkably human-looking Taureans.
The planet-eating, Majel Roddenberry-voiced cloud from another galaxy.
Alien miners of Arcadia
Rigelian hypnoid
Giant rock creatures
Remarkably human-looking (when they want to be except for that rebel Lucien guy) Megans
Assorted heretofore unseen aliens on the Delta Triangle's ruling council
The Kzinti (whom no one will mistake for Mensa candidates)
Aquans, both stogy elders and rebellious kids.
Sur-snake of Argo
The scardy Bug Guy
The Vedalian
The...remarkably human-looking alien (?) Lara
The not-a-Gorn lizard guy.
Translucent gossamer mice!
Glowing halo fish!
The red beastie in the lake on Lactra Seven
The dinosaur beastie that fell on McCoy on Lactra Seven
The flying purple people eating dragons on Lactra Seven that look suspiciously like other flying purple people eating dragons we've seen.
The telepathic slugs of Lactra Seven.
Assorted aliens captured by the slugs of Lactra Seven.
Season Two
Bem the Annoying, a Pandronian.
The lizard people of Delta Theta Three who are not Gorns nor are they of Sord's people.
The lizard people's Entity/Companion/Goddess
Dramians of the planet Dramia in the Dramian star system
The mysterious blue-skinned OR-ee-ons
*by request
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THE PIRATES OF ORION
This is your classic Trek adventure – there’s a clear objective, new space hardware, personal sacrifice, the crew banding together and Kirk even gets a fight scene. Good, solid stuff.
There’s also useful and ACCURATE educational information conveyed - choriocytosis affects Vulcans much more severely than humans. That’s what happens when a virus jumps species, kids!
We also get a nice graphic of how the disease affects Spock’s blood cells
Still more knowledge is dropped in how Spock’s body builds up an immunity to the synthetic drug. This is why we shouldn’t medicate unnecessarily!
Our final lesson is that sometimes suicide is NOT the answer – who knew?
In-universe, it's very odd. Are they Orions or Oree-ons? Kirk suggests they (the species that the space pirates belong to) were connected with the incident during Journey To Babel but while those were the Orions, everyone in this episode consistently says Oree-ons.
Is this Vulcan/Vulcanian thing?
NEW SHIPS
A double treat this week!
TREK LORE
Kirk says that McCoy’s been a doctor for 25 years. Depending on when he qualified, that would put his age at around 50
OTHER THOUGHTS:
This excellent episode is rounded out with some DECENT Spock/McCoy banter – actually stemming organically from the story this week! It’s easy to see why Howard Weinstein went on to have such a successful career in writing (even returning to Trek) and the writer of last week’s Albatross drifted off into obscurity. Weinstein actually understands the subject matter he’s writing about, even when produced for a kids TV show.
This is your classic Trek adventure – there’s a clear objective, new space hardware, personal sacrifice, the crew banding together and Kirk even gets a fight scene. Good, solid stuff.
There’s also useful and ACCURATE educational information conveyed - choriocytosis affects Vulcans much more severely than humans. That’s what happens when a virus jumps species, kids!
We also get a nice graphic of how the disease affects Spock’s blood cells
Still more knowledge is dropped in how Spock’s body builds up an immunity to the synthetic drug. This is why we shouldn’t medicate unnecessarily!
Our final lesson is that sometimes suicide is NOT the answer – who knew?
Apparently this odd pronunciation also confused Howard Weinstein (the writer of the episode) when he saw the finished product!
In-universe, it's very odd. Are they Orions or Oree-ons? Kirk suggests they (the species that the space pirates belong to) were connected with the incident during Journey To Babel but while those were the Orions, everyone in this episode consistently says Oree-ons.
Is this Vulcan/Vulcanian thing?
NEW SHIPS
A double treat this week!
- The cargo SS Huron looks very well designed for its purpose, having a large cargo hold. Its Bridge is also new and suitably compact for this type of vessel.
- The Orion ship is beautifully weird and alien in design! The Orions themselves are somewhat more conventional in appearance, but (assuming they are related to the Orion slave girl species) they had to conform to pre-existing Trek core.
TREK LORE
Kirk says that McCoy’s been a doctor for 25 years. Depending on when he qualified, that would put his age at around 50
OTHER THOUGHTS:
- It seems that last week’s sloppy attitudes to quarantine haven’t improved, as the entire crew has just recovered from an outbreak of choriocytosis. No wonder Starfleet eventually built a bio-filter into the transporter – Starfleet personnel are clearly rubbish at preventing this sort of thing!
- For once, the Enterprise is NOT the only ship in the quadrant! As a result, effective use can be made of the entire Starfleet support network with several ships involved in transferring the vital medicine.
- At one point puts himself into a state of deep meditation while on the Bridge, in order to conserve energy. If things are this desperate, why is he still on duty at all? Get him to stay in Sickbay or at the very least his quarters!
- Mr Arex doubles as science officer, just like Chekov sometimes did in TOS. Are all navigators required to be multi-disciplined?
- Kirk goes out alone on the landing party, but this time it’s somewhat justified due to the circumstances. In addition, he actually takes precautionary measures, which come in very handy!
- The Orion pirates are prepared to kill themselves just to maintain neutrality? Wow, these guys really play hardball!
- The Orion captain beams down with an “explosive device” but later Scotty picks up signs of dilithium. Is that because dilithium is seen as a power source in this episode? Perhaps an energy magnifier? It’s been used as both in TOS, depending on the episode.
This excellent episode is rounded out with some DECENT Spock/McCoy banter – actually stemming organically from the story this week! It’s easy to see why Howard Weinstein went on to have such a successful career in writing (even returning to Trek) and the writer of last week’s Albatross drifted off into obscurity. Weinstein actually understands the subject matter he’s writing about, even when produced for a kids TV show.
That Oree-On nonsense and Babbell instead of Orr-Ion and Bay-Bell from the original series are two of the annoying parts of the cartoon series! It's weird that Shatner says them and so do the rest of the cast so it's not Bill being awkward as such but who told them to pronounce it that way considering they were different in the live action series?
JB
JB
Six years ago...I assume someone phonetically wrote out the word on the scripts who was ignorant of Trek, and the cast literally were just phoning in the dialog.
Well we know that in Encounter at Farpoint McCoy is 137 in the year 2364, so that seems like a good guess.
I think we're missing a few years... McCoy's Farpoint age puts his birthday in 2227. The Trek Lore period would have to be set at 2277 for a 50 year old McCoy. If the episode was set in 2274, then he was only 22 years old when made a doctor (47 years old minus 25 years); okay. But, we all assume that the period was in the original five year mission, so probably the year is closer to 2270 at the latest, making McCoy only 18 when made doctor. Was he another Doogie Howser?
Fixed that for you, unless you meant Dramia and Dramia-II are Geminis.
Perhaps Kirk is backdating his statement to when McCoy first started doing anything remotely medical? It would track with McCoy's exasperation that he feels useless without his full doctorate and bag of tricks, whereas Kirk is trying to reassure him that it goes deeper than that.
From this we can infer that McCoy was a "healer" of some sort since his mid teens.
Maybe?
The Practical Joker
I remember things about this episode unlike many others we've seen this rewatch. Apparently this episode was of great importance to me as a child. Like finding out that Kirk is, in fact, a jerk.
Captain's Log:"The cruise has been uneventful and we are now approaching the final asteroid in our assigned sector"
Spock: "Romulans, Captain. They were apparently lying in wait on the far side of that asteroid. "
It's always the last asteroid you have to worry about.
So they're charting asteroids near the Romulan Neutral Zone. Methinks they've also been assigned to keep an eye on the Romulans while they're there.
Cool to see Romulans again. I'd like to see them in their Bird of Prey ships however.
What are the Romulans thinking though? They are going to get a quick kill of a Federation starship and then what? Go to war with the Federation?
Wonder why the Romulans didn't just go around the energy field and meet the Enterprise on the other side.
Arex in the command chair! Don't tell me he outranks Uhura too.
I would not have put on a shirt that said "Kirk is a Jerk" on it. I would find some alternative if I had to wear a yeoman's miniskirt.
It's neat in this episode how we get to see again what the crew do when they're not on duty. Chillin' in the dining room having a meal, enjoying the holodeck.
And here we do see Star Trek's first holodeck. I remember watching TNG and it dawning on me that I'd seen a holodeck before.
But here, the holodeck is introduced so that it can be a source of danger. You'd think there would be a safety mechanism, but I suppose the computer would have deactivated it.
Spock: "Affirmative. The dysfunction is more severe than I thought. Question. Are you deliberately holding our missing crewmembers prisoner? "
Computer: "I'll never tell. "
Kirk: "Let me try." Because if anyone can talk a computer into doing what he wants, it's Kirk. He's chomping at the bit to take down another computer. First, as usual, he starts to set a Logic Trap:
Kirk:"This is Captain James T Kirk speaking. You are programmed to obey any direct order I may give, correct? "
Computer: "Correct"
Oh, he's got her. Now he just needs to land the knockout blow and have the computer's head spinning...
Kirk:"Very well. I order you to release crewmembers McCoy, Sulu and Uhura immediately. " BAM! But...
Computer: "Say please." IT DOESN'T WORK!!!!!! Kirk's vaunted talking a computer to death FAILS! She does what Landru, Nomad, M-5 couldn't: beat Kirk's Logic Trap. With sass. That's the problem. The other computers couldn't do sass.
And there is precedent for it. Such as when the inhabitants of Cygnet Fourteen gave the computer a female personality complete with giggling.
Sulu: "The temperature must be twenty below and its still dropping." And he knows what that feels like. Poor Sulu, in another situation where he has to survive very low subzero temperatures. Like I said in my review of The Naked Time, though, it really seems overblown and unnecessary to use such a low temperature. Surely saying it was in the single digits would suffice. I don't think they would manage as well as they did and recover as fast as they did if it was really 20 below.
Huh. Does Starfleet use Farenheit or Celsius?
This is another episode with a lot of voice actors. Nichelle and Majel are both in the episode and others play the Romulans. It's also another episode where we see both M'ress and Arex.
Why would the Enterprise have a giant balloon replica of itself in the shuttle bay? How did the computer create that?
Don't the Romulans have sensors to know it's just a balloon?
You mean all you have to do to beat Romulans is make them feel foolish?
It doesn't necessarily follow that going through the energy field again would fix everything. I would think it would just make things worse.
The Enterprise wasn't in danger of breaking up in the energy field, but the Romulan ships were. Romulan ships are cheaply constructed.
I enjoyed the episode. It was fun to see the crew in their off hours again, the mystery of what was going on was interesting, and seeing the first appearance of a holodeck was cool. And it's always cool to see TOS-era Romulans.
Alien Watch! No new aliens this week.
Season One
The Glommer
Arex*
Retlaw Plant
Agmar and his Phylosian posse
Swoopers
Yellow winged bird guy (Aleek)
Spock's teddy bear with fangs (sehlat)
Green cat thing that sounds like Godzilla (le-matya)
300 million year old alien on viewscreen log
Green energy Redjac wannabe
The Vendorian
Lt. M'Ress
Remarkably human-looking Taureans.
The planet-eating, Majel Roddenberry-voiced cloud from another galaxy.
Alien miners of Arcadia
Rigelian hypnoid
Giant rock creatures
Remarkably human-looking (when they want to be except for that rebel Lucien guy) Megans
Assorted heretofore unseen aliens on the Delta Triangle's ruling council
The Kzinti (whom no one will mistake for Mensa candidates)
Aquans, both stogy elders and rebellious kids.
Sur-snake of Argo
The scardy Bug Guy
The Vedalian
The...remarkably human-looking alien (?) Lara
The not-a-Gorn lizard guy.
Translucent gossamer mice!
Glowing halo fish!
The red beastie in the lake on Lactra Seven
The dinosaur beastie that fell on McCoy on Lactra Seven
The flying purple people eating dragons on Lactra Seven that look suspiciously like other flying purple people eating dragons we've seen.
The telepathic slugs of Lactra Seven.
Assorted aliens captured by the slugs of Lactra Seven.
Season Two
Bem the Annoying, a Pandronian.
The lizard people of Delta Theta Three who are not Gorns nor are they of Sord's people.
The lizard people's Entity/Companion/Goddess
Dramians of the planet Dramia in the Dramian star system
The mysterious blue-skinned OR-ee-ons
*by request
I remember things about this episode unlike many others we've seen this rewatch. Apparently this episode was of great importance to me as a child. Like finding out that Kirk is, in fact, a jerk.
Captain's Log:"The cruise has been uneventful and we are now approaching the final asteroid in our assigned sector"
Spock: "Romulans, Captain. They were apparently lying in wait on the far side of that asteroid. "
It's always the last asteroid you have to worry about.
So they're charting asteroids near the Romulan Neutral Zone. Methinks they've also been assigned to keep an eye on the Romulans while they're there.
Cool to see Romulans again. I'd like to see them in their Bird of Prey ships however.
What are the Romulans thinking though? They are going to get a quick kill of a Federation starship and then what? Go to war with the Federation?
Wonder why the Romulans didn't just go around the energy field and meet the Enterprise on the other side.
Arex in the command chair! Don't tell me he outranks Uhura too.
I would not have put on a shirt that said "Kirk is a Jerk" on it. I would find some alternative if I had to wear a yeoman's miniskirt.
It's neat in this episode how we get to see again what the crew do when they're not on duty. Chillin' in the dining room having a meal, enjoying the holodeck.
And here we do see Star Trek's first holodeck. I remember watching TNG and it dawning on me that I'd seen a holodeck before.
But here, the holodeck is introduced so that it can be a source of danger. You'd think there would be a safety mechanism, but I suppose the computer would have deactivated it.
Spock: "Affirmative. The dysfunction is more severe than I thought. Question. Are you deliberately holding our missing crewmembers prisoner? "
Computer: "I'll never tell. "
Kirk: "Let me try." Because if anyone can talk a computer into doing what he wants, it's Kirk. He's chomping at the bit to take down another computer. First, as usual, he starts to set a Logic Trap:
Kirk:"This is Captain James T Kirk speaking. You are programmed to obey any direct order I may give, correct? "
Computer: "Correct"
Oh, he's got her. Now he just needs to land the knockout blow and have the computer's head spinning...
Kirk:"Very well. I order you to release crewmembers McCoy, Sulu and Uhura immediately. " BAM! But...
Computer: "Say please." IT DOESN'T WORK!!!!!! Kirk's vaunted talking a computer to death FAILS! She does what Landru, Nomad, M-5 couldn't: beat Kirk's Logic Trap. With sass. That's the problem. The other computers couldn't do sass.
And there is precedent for it. Such as when the inhabitants of Cygnet Fourteen gave the computer a female personality complete with giggling.
Sulu: "The temperature must be twenty below and its still dropping." And he knows what that feels like. Poor Sulu, in another situation where he has to survive very low subzero temperatures. Like I said in my review of The Naked Time, though, it really seems overblown and unnecessary to use such a low temperature. Surely saying it was in the single digits would suffice. I don't think they would manage as well as they did and recover as fast as they did if it was really 20 below.
Huh. Does Starfleet use Farenheit or Celsius?
This is another episode with a lot of voice actors. Nichelle and Majel are both in the episode and others play the Romulans. It's also another episode where we see both M'ress and Arex.
Why would the Enterprise have a giant balloon replica of itself in the shuttle bay? How did the computer create that?
Don't the Romulans have sensors to know it's just a balloon?
You mean all you have to do to beat Romulans is make them feel foolish?
It doesn't necessarily follow that going through the energy field again would fix everything. I would think it would just make things worse.
The Enterprise wasn't in danger of breaking up in the energy field, but the Romulan ships were. Romulan ships are cheaply constructed.
I enjoyed the episode. It was fun to see the crew in their off hours again, the mystery of what was going on was interesting, and seeing the first appearance of a holodeck was cool. And it's always cool to see TOS-era Romulans.
Alien Watch! No new aliens this week.
Season One
The Glommer
Arex*
Retlaw Plant
Agmar and his Phylosian posse
Swoopers
Yellow winged bird guy (Aleek)
Spock's teddy bear with fangs (sehlat)
Green cat thing that sounds like Godzilla (le-matya)
300 million year old alien on viewscreen log
Green energy Redjac wannabe
The Vendorian
Lt. M'Ress
Remarkably human-looking Taureans.
The planet-eating, Majel Roddenberry-voiced cloud from another galaxy.
Alien miners of Arcadia
Rigelian hypnoid
Giant rock creatures
Remarkably human-looking (when they want to be except for that rebel Lucien guy) Megans
Assorted heretofore unseen aliens on the Delta Triangle's ruling council
The Kzinti (whom no one will mistake for Mensa candidates)
Aquans, both stogy elders and rebellious kids.
Sur-snake of Argo
The scardy Bug Guy
The Vedalian
The...remarkably human-looking alien (?) Lara
The not-a-Gorn lizard guy.
Translucent gossamer mice!
Glowing halo fish!
The red beastie in the lake on Lactra Seven
The dinosaur beastie that fell on McCoy on Lactra Seven
The flying purple people eating dragons on Lactra Seven that look suspiciously like other flying purple people eating dragons we've seen.
The telepathic slugs of Lactra Seven.
Assorted aliens captured by the slugs of Lactra Seven.
Season Two
Bem the Annoying, a Pandronian.
The lizard people of Delta Theta Three who are not Gorns nor are they of Sord's people.
The lizard people's Entity/Companion/Goddess
Dramians of the planet Dramia in the Dramian star system
The mysterious blue-skinned OR-ee-ons
*by request
Last edited:
THE PRACTICAL JOKER
This episode begins with a nice, routine mission of surveying asteroids. But then they encounter Romulans! Still using Klingon designs I see, albeit with a bit of fresh paint in certain areas = very snazzy!
Seeking refuge from the triad of troublesome trespassers, the Enterprise hides in a nearby nebula, picking up an unwanted energy being along the way. This plot element was later recycled into an early TNG episode (Lonely Among Us), although at least here the Enterprise has a justifiable reason for flying into an unknown phenomenon with such abandon.
The rest of the episode consists of gags with different levels of comedic success, devolving quickly into a “technology run amuck” story. As a “comedy” episode it’s not too bad and because the antagonist is the Enterprise herself, the threat to our heroes is at least fairly compelling.
Eventually Kirk does his “frightened” face and a bit of bluffing to save the day. This is as good a solution as any to a silly and reasonably entertaining episode, so long as you ignore the logical and scientific abysses.
The final “joke” that was played on the Romulans is just a variation of the classic “no Tribble at all” gag but quite at home here.
THE JOKES
The focus on the jokes leads to numerous inconsistencies in the plot and characters
The senior staff are so please with themselves for evading the Romulans that they all sit down for a banquet together, which Scotty confirms is their lunch. But he’s also in a later scene with Arex and M’Ress having their lunch. Is this Scotty’s second lunch or is it the following day? Exactly how long was the Enterprise on “layover” for repairs?
Also, is it really necessary for the majority of the Bridge crew to dine together? Who’s keeping watch, Mr Arex? Probably, he’s proving to be a dab hand at everything else!
Also in that dining scene it’s implied that the food synthesizers themselves seem to be responsible for constructing the glasses as well as delivering the food itself.
However, later the food slot just spits out various foodstuffs onto Scotty in a manner which suggests that everything is stored there, intact, waiting to be delivered. So which is it?
Mr Spock seeing an unknown instrument on his console and shoving his eyes against it anyway seems reckless and not at all like him
Then there’s the giant, inflatable Enterprise which conveniently the Romulans didn’t bother to do any more than basic scans of. How convenient!
Leaving aside where this monstrosity came from (industrial fabricators could be repurposed after all), this is featured in the SAME EPISODE that utilises ultra-sophisticated holographic projections. The dots are all there, the plot just doesn’t bother to connect them
TREK TECH
The Rec Room is nothing short of amazing! Has it been here the whole time?
It’s also HUGE! Is this what got retrofitted into the Cargo Deck in TMP?
Still, given Uhura’s suggestion that they just walk until they hit a wall it doesn’t seem like there’s much in the way of “treadmilling” going on so perhaps the large space is essential?
Then again, the tech could be brand new and Uhura is just guessing on a solution.
Overall, an excellent addition, so long as the concept isn’t overused…
OTHER THOUGHTS:
This episode begins with a nice, routine mission of surveying asteroids. But then they encounter Romulans! Still using Klingon designs I see, albeit with a bit of fresh paint in certain areas = very snazzy!
Seeking refuge from the triad of troublesome trespassers, the Enterprise hides in a nearby nebula, picking up an unwanted energy being along the way. This plot element was later recycled into an early TNG episode (Lonely Among Us), although at least here the Enterprise has a justifiable reason for flying into an unknown phenomenon with such abandon.
The rest of the episode consists of gags with different levels of comedic success, devolving quickly into a “technology run amuck” story. As a “comedy” episode it’s not too bad and because the antagonist is the Enterprise herself, the threat to our heroes is at least fairly compelling.
Eventually Kirk does his “frightened” face and a bit of bluffing to save the day. This is as good a solution as any to a silly and reasonably entertaining episode, so long as you ignore the logical and scientific abysses.
The final “joke” that was played on the Romulans is just a variation of the classic “no Tribble at all” gag but quite at home here.
THE JOKES
The focus on the jokes leads to numerous inconsistencies in the plot and characters
The senior staff are so please with themselves for evading the Romulans that they all sit down for a banquet together, which Scotty confirms is their lunch. But he’s also in a later scene with Arex and M’Ress having their lunch. Is this Scotty’s second lunch or is it the following day? Exactly how long was the Enterprise on “layover” for repairs?
Also, is it really necessary for the majority of the Bridge crew to dine together? Who’s keeping watch, Mr Arex? Probably, he’s proving to be a dab hand at everything else!
Also in that dining scene it’s implied that the food synthesizers themselves seem to be responsible for constructing the glasses as well as delivering the food itself.
However, later the food slot just spits out various foodstuffs onto Scotty in a manner which suggests that everything is stored there, intact, waiting to be delivered. So which is it?
Mr Spock seeing an unknown instrument on his console and shoving his eyes against it anyway seems reckless and not at all like him
Then there’s the giant, inflatable Enterprise which conveniently the Romulans didn’t bother to do any more than basic scans of. How convenient!
Leaving aside where this monstrosity came from (industrial fabricators could be repurposed after all), this is featured in the SAME EPISODE that utilises ultra-sophisticated holographic projections. The dots are all there, the plot just doesn’t bother to connect them
TREK TECH
The Rec Room is nothing short of amazing! Has it been here the whole time?
It’s also HUGE! Is this what got retrofitted into the Cargo Deck in TMP?
Still, given Uhura’s suggestion that they just walk until they hit a wall it doesn’t seem like there’s much in the way of “treadmilling” going on so perhaps the large space is essential?
Then again, the tech could be brand new and Uhura is just guessing on a solution.
Overall, an excellent addition, so long as the concept isn’t overused…
OTHER THOUGHTS:
- I just love the sinister eyebrow that the Romulan commander raises when he says “We had no choice but to defend ourselves”
- Then there’s his claim that the Enterprise has violated the Neutral Zone. Does the RNZ run down the middle of this asteroid field? Or if new, can territory borders really change so rapidly? Kirk never denies the Romulan Commander’s claim – but whether that’s because it’s true or because he just ignores such a blatantly false statement is never made clear.
- TAS continues to dumb down future tech with McCoy remarking that an odd noise might simply be the audio tapes rewinding. REALLY???
- Apparently recalling the events of Once Upon A Planet, Kirk orders Scott down to the Computer Room on the first sign of trouble, although fortunately there’s nothing dodgy being constructed there this time. If this is the same “Computer Bay” as that episode then we get to see a lot more of it – although sadly it’s yet another variation on the “engine room” background plate.
- Poor McCoy is almost frozen to death in a blizzard, just like in All Our Yesterdays. This is getting to be a bit of a habit!
The hole in the holo-rec-deck sure seems to use force fields plus holograms in order to trap the guys. It seems to only affect the actual area of the rec room with the visual "horizon" extended only via 3D hologram, i.e. as you say: no treadmill force fields.The Rec Room is nothing short of amazing! Has it been here the whole time?
It’s also HUGE! Is this what got retrofitted into the Cargo Deck in TMP?
Still, given Uhura’s suggestion that they just walk until they hit a wall it doesn’t seem like there’s much in the way of “treadmilling” going on so perhaps the large space is essential?
Then again, the tech could be brand new and Uhura is just guessing on a solution.
Overall, an excellent addition, so long as the concept isn’t overused…
How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth
As I sit down on Easter Sunday to watch TAS and celebrate the resurrection of our lord...Kukulkan?
I was going to ask where the title came from but they explain it. It's Shakepeare complaining about ungrateful children.
It's an exciting open. Kirk describes a probe scanning Earth and beaming a signal of what it found, and now someone's coming!
Mr. Walking Bear? I see we needed a Native American character this episode.
Very cool when the ship transforms into the likeness of Kukulkan.
And so Star Trek reminds us that apparently every character in Earth's myths or legends actually existed and was an alien come to live on Earth for a while. From Apollo to Lucifer to Kukulkan. I can't wait until they go to the North Pole planet and find Santa Claus. "Ho ho ho, hundreds of years ago I came to your planet, but you were just children then, so I gave you presents! Now you will stay with me forever and help me make toys!"
You mean to tell me that no one in ancient times could figure out how to turn four mirrors to reflect the sun to the top of a pyramid that Kirk figures out in like 5 minutes? And that's all it took for Kukulkan to be happy?
And Kukulkan is a poor teacher. If your students aren't getting the lesson how about returning on your own to help them out?
I see Kukulkan has his creatures hooked up to the Matrix.
According to wiki, the Capellan power cat is from Capella IV, setting of Friday's Child. It makes sense McCoy would recognize it since he spent time on Capella IV. But how in the heck do the Capellans deal with those things armed only with kligats? And as is common for beings from Capella, it usually likes to sing without music...
I like Spock figuring out how to escape the energy bubble. As I've said before, if this was TNG it would have been some explanation about how if they use the warp core to reverse polarity of a stream of tachyon particles they could render the bubble out of phase and blah blah blah. Here, Spock is going to use the tractor beam to simultaneously pull and push on the bubble rendering it brittle so it breaks and they are flung free. Simple. No technobabble necessary.
I don't think I buy that Kirk could get close to the power cat and hypo it without getting killed. I don't think I buy that one hypo would be enough to calm the cat, but okay, it's strong stuff.
Spock: "Not legends, Doctor. Fact. Vulcan was visited by alien beings. They left much wiser. " Ha!
Kukulkan seems to have been more prolific than Apollo, influencing cultures around the world while Apollo sat around watching sheep and drinking ambrosia and hitting on women.
I know nothing about Mayan mythology except that we were all supposed to die in 2012*, but Kukulkan is pretty badass.
*(I understand that's not exactly what the Mayan beliefs said.)
Here's another artist's rendition:
Guess who's here? (It ain't the Easter Bunny).
A multicolored winged giant snake. Badass.
So Kukulkan wants to lecture Kirk about his using weapons and when Kirk reminds him he attacked first, Kukulkan comes back with "well, I'm the god, I can do what I want."
I liked it. I like mythology, so an episode making me think about Mayan mythology was interesting to me. But we've seen this before. This was Who Mourns for Adonais Part II. Ancient alien was on Earth thousands of years ago and now wants to relive the good old days, just expecting humans to drop everything and worship him again only to learn like Apollo, the Talosians, and the giant slugs of Lactra Seven that Humans Can Not Be Contained!
Alien Watch! There's an m-fing snake on my m-fing plane!
Season One
The Glommer
Arex*
Retlaw Plant
Agmar and his Phylosian posse
Swoopers
Yellow winged bird guy (Aleek)
Spock's teddy bear with fangs (sehlat)
Green cat thing that sounds like Godzilla (le-matya)
300 million year old alien on viewscreen log
Green energy Redjac wannabe
The Vendorian
Lt. M'Ress
Remarkably human-looking Taureans.
The planet-eating, Majel Roddenberry-voiced cloud from another galaxy.
Alien miners of Arcadia
Rigelian hypnoid
Giant rock creatures
Remarkably human-looking (when they want to be except for that rebel Lucien guy) Megans
Assorted heretofore unseen aliens on the Delta Triangle's ruling council
The Kzinti (whom no one will mistake for Mensa candidates)
Aquans, both stogy elders and rebellious kids.
Sur-snake of Argo
The scardy Bug Guy
The Vedalian
The...remarkably human-looking alien (?) Lara
The not-a-Gorn lizard guy.
Translucent gossamer mice!
Glowing halo fish!
The red beastie in the lake on Lactra Seven
The dinosaur beastie that fell on McCoy on Lactra Seven
The flying purple people eating dragons on Lactra Seven that look suspiciously like other flying purple people eating dragons we've seen.
The telepathic slugs of Lactra Seven.
Assorted aliens captured by the slugs of Lactra Seven.
Season Two
Bem the Annoying, a Pandronian.
The lizard people of Delta Theta Three who are not Gorns nor are they of Sord's people.
The lizard people's Entity/Companion/Goddess
Dramians of the planet Dramia in the Dramian star system
The mysterious blue-skinned OR-ee-ons
Kukulkan the Badass
Capellan power cat
Assorted creatures in Kukulkan's menagerie
*by request
As I sit down on Easter Sunday to watch TAS and celebrate the resurrection of our lord...Kukulkan?
I was going to ask where the title came from but they explain it. It's Shakepeare complaining about ungrateful children.
It's an exciting open. Kirk describes a probe scanning Earth and beaming a signal of what it found, and now someone's coming!
Mr. Walking Bear? I see we needed a Native American character this episode.
Very cool when the ship transforms into the likeness of Kukulkan.
And so Star Trek reminds us that apparently every character in Earth's myths or legends actually existed and was an alien come to live on Earth for a while. From Apollo to Lucifer to Kukulkan. I can't wait until they go to the North Pole planet and find Santa Claus. "Ho ho ho, hundreds of years ago I came to your planet, but you were just children then, so I gave you presents! Now you will stay with me forever and help me make toys!"
You mean to tell me that no one in ancient times could figure out how to turn four mirrors to reflect the sun to the top of a pyramid that Kirk figures out in like 5 minutes? And that's all it took for Kukulkan to be happy?
And Kukulkan is a poor teacher. If your students aren't getting the lesson how about returning on your own to help them out?
I see Kukulkan has his creatures hooked up to the Matrix.
According to wiki, the Capellan power cat is from Capella IV, setting of Friday's Child. It makes sense McCoy would recognize it since he spent time on Capella IV. But how in the heck do the Capellans deal with those things armed only with kligats? And as is common for beings from Capella, it usually likes to sing without music...
I like Spock figuring out how to escape the energy bubble. As I've said before, if this was TNG it would have been some explanation about how if they use the warp core to reverse polarity of a stream of tachyon particles they could render the bubble out of phase and blah blah blah. Here, Spock is going to use the tractor beam to simultaneously pull and push on the bubble rendering it brittle so it breaks and they are flung free. Simple. No technobabble necessary.
I don't think I buy that Kirk could get close to the power cat and hypo it without getting killed. I don't think I buy that one hypo would be enough to calm the cat, but okay, it's strong stuff.
Spock: "Not legends, Doctor. Fact. Vulcan was visited by alien beings. They left much wiser. " Ha!
Kukulkan seems to have been more prolific than Apollo, influencing cultures around the world while Apollo sat around watching sheep and drinking ambrosia and hitting on women.
I know nothing about Mayan mythology except that we were all supposed to die in 2012*, but Kukulkan is pretty badass.
*(I understand that's not exactly what the Mayan beliefs said.)
Here's another artist's rendition:
Guess who's here? (It ain't the Easter Bunny).
A multicolored winged giant snake. Badass.
So Kukulkan wants to lecture Kirk about his using weapons and when Kirk reminds him he attacked first, Kukulkan comes back with "well, I'm the god, I can do what I want."
I liked it. I like mythology, so an episode making me think about Mayan mythology was interesting to me. But we've seen this before. This was Who Mourns for Adonais Part II. Ancient alien was on Earth thousands of years ago and now wants to relive the good old days, just expecting humans to drop everything and worship him again only to learn like Apollo, the Talosians, and the giant slugs of Lactra Seven that Humans Can Not Be Contained!
Alien Watch! There's an m-fing snake on my m-fing plane!
Season One
The Glommer
Arex*
Retlaw Plant
Agmar and his Phylosian posse
Swoopers
Yellow winged bird guy (Aleek)
Spock's teddy bear with fangs (sehlat)
Green cat thing that sounds like Godzilla (le-matya)
300 million year old alien on viewscreen log
Green energy Redjac wannabe
The Vendorian
Lt. M'Ress
Remarkably human-looking Taureans.
The planet-eating, Majel Roddenberry-voiced cloud from another galaxy.
Alien miners of Arcadia
Rigelian hypnoid
Giant rock creatures
Remarkably human-looking (when they want to be except for that rebel Lucien guy) Megans
Assorted heretofore unseen aliens on the Delta Triangle's ruling council
The Kzinti (whom no one will mistake for Mensa candidates)
Aquans, both stogy elders and rebellious kids.
Sur-snake of Argo
The scardy Bug Guy
The Vedalian
The...remarkably human-looking alien (?) Lara
The not-a-Gorn lizard guy.
Translucent gossamer mice!
Glowing halo fish!
The red beastie in the lake on Lactra Seven
The dinosaur beastie that fell on McCoy on Lactra Seven
The flying purple people eating dragons on Lactra Seven that look suspiciously like other flying purple people eating dragons we've seen.
The telepathic slugs of Lactra Seven.
Assorted aliens captured by the slugs of Lactra Seven.
Season Two
Bem the Annoying, a Pandronian.
The lizard people of Delta Theta Three who are not Gorns nor are they of Sord's people.
The lizard people's Entity/Companion/Goddess
Dramians of the planet Dramia in the Dramian star system
The mysterious blue-skinned OR-ee-ons
Kukulkan the Badass
Capellan power cat
Assorted creatures in Kukulkan's menagerie
*by request
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