Production Order Group Viewing 2018

Discussion in 'Star Trek - The Original & Animated Series' started by Archivist13, May 8, 2018.

  1. ZapBrannigan

    ZapBrannigan Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    My take: Kodos wasn't "the governor" as a publicly known elected official. He was a man on Tarsus IV who concealed his identity, took the nomme de guerre "Kodos", built an armed following, and launched a successful coup against the real Governor. Then Kodos declared himself Governor, and his followers did his bidding. When things went bad, he faked his own death, left a burned body behind, and took the name Karidian as he got off the planet posing as a refugee.
     
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  2. Maurice

    Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

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    I knew I should have double-checked that, but I wasn't in a place where I could look it up. Thanks for straightening that out.
     
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  3. Shawnster

    Shawnster Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Hmmmm

    KARIDIAN: (reading) The revolution is successful, but survival depends on drastic measures. Your continued existence represents a threat to the well-being of society. (stops looking at the paper) Your lives means slow death to the more valued members of the colony. Therefore I have no alternative but to sentence you to death. Your execution is so ordered. Signed, Kodos, governor of Tarsus Four.

    Maybe you are onto something. This would make eyewitnesses more important.
     
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  4. Laura Cynthia Chambers

    Laura Cynthia Chambers Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Honestly, he could be some outsider who saw the chance to "take over this town", had been scouting it for a while from afar, noting who was sick and weak, who would be more likely to resist his takeover, etc, and earmarked them for death.
     
  5. Phaser Two

    Phaser Two Commodore Premium Member

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    Perhaps Kodos was careful to include among the 50% of the colonists that he ordered killed almost anyone who could identify him on sight. However, at one point during the ep Kirk looks at a photo of Kodos, so it's not really clear why it's so difficult to ID him by visual means as the episode pretty much demands that the viewer accept from the opening scene.

    OTOH, Spock speaks of Kodos' body being burned beyond recognition, and it's implied that Leighton had something horrible happen to his face - perhaps also burns. Maybe nearly everyone on the colony died in the attacks by the "Earth forces," or better yet, perhaps the remaining colonists (those not killed in the purge) rebelled and attacked Kodos and his forces, resulting in the loss of life of nearly everyone on the colony. I really wish they had explained this better. These plot holes and Lenore's overacting (when she suddenly goes mad) detract from what is otherwise a fine episode. The gentleman playing Karidian/Kodos is beyond outstanding.
     
  6. Mytran

    Mytran Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    There's got to be something else going on with replicators and even the Transporter system than converting matter to energy, because that's what the Warp Engines do and they are a big, complicated deal. If a desktop sized replicator can convert matter to energy like a warp core, what's so special about the warp core? Just get your energy from the replicator!

    On to Conscience Of The King...
    Man oh man, the first season had some excellently written dialogue scenes! Bereft of space battles or direct threats to the crew, this episode instead focuses on character interactions and especially Kirk. After all, if he didn't bring the actors on board none of this week's adventure would have happened! Kirk in mainstream pop culture has a reputation for acting independently or not following orders. However, this is the very first time (in his whole career, apparently) that he’s gone off on his own whims and he berates himself accordingly.

    Not just knows people, but is apparently really close friends with some such as Tom Leighton and his wife. There's also John Daily of the Astral Queen, who owes him “a dozen” favours. What sort of adventures have Kirk & Daily had in the past? We may never know, but it adds so much texture and world building.

    New set this week - sort of. The ship's theatre is of course a redress of the Engine Room, but if you look closely behind the audience seats you can spot those weight lifting bars that Sam was using back in Charlie X - in other words, the crew of the Enterprise put their plays on in the gymnasium, just like in my old high school! :techman:
    The curved corridor appears in its complete from from end to end; both when Spock and McCoy have their clandestine midnight chat, as well as when the security is searching the ship for Lt Riley.

    According to Memory Alpha and Memory Beta, Arcturus was mentioned in the novelisation of the episode as the solar system where Planet-Q was located (where Kirk sees the play). Although it is a human colony, I guess the residents now all consider themselves "Arcturans" and as such Kirk is just making the assumption that the actor is one of the colonists.

    The galaxy feels really big in this episode. Aside from planets so remote that they are in danger of starving to death (and Tom Leighton's fake discovery of an amazing synthetic food to end famine) the issue of the Enterprise deviating first 3 light years and later 8 light years off their route is significant and must be justified to HQ.

    We also finally know what to call these future astronauts: Kirk specifically references "Star Service Lieutenant Riley". This matches up nicely with the other references to "the service" that we've had in earlier episodes. And the organisation is the United Earth Space Probe Agency (UESPA), so that's all established and will never, ever, ever change :whistle:

    As usual in TOS not every little detail is spelled out, so there is certainly plenty of scope for this interpretation of events. It also accounts for the lack of finger prints, identification documents, medical history and so forth for the man known as "Kodos".

    The issue is not that anyone needs proof that Kodos committed the atrocities - it's whether Anton Karidian and he are the same man. There's a photo of Kodos in the ship's memory banks - but even Kirk can't be sure after 2 decades. They have a voice recording of Kodos, but Anton Karidian was not a perfect match for that either (perhaps due to his Power Of Acting, perhaps because people's voices naturally change as they age). Did the 9 witnesses see Kodos actually give the orders?
    Either way, eye witness testimony is considered one of the least reliable forms of evidence in court due to the extreme fallibility of human memory and how it can be manipulated over time. Lenore's mental disorder probably escalated the power of the 9 people in her mind to a far greater threat level than it really was.


    They definitely have "taped" entertainment on board (Kirk offers them to the captain of the Antares in Charlie X) but there's just no beating a live Nichelle Nichols performance! And it might be cool, but WHY does Uhura have the Vulcan lyre at all? Spending some personal time with Mr Spock, are we...:adore:

    Nah, that “toilet door” is a closet, just like in the deleted scene from Corbomite Manoeuvre :devil:

    He's probably still annoyed that Kirk managed to one-up him by somehow knowing that they'd be contacted by the Karidian Players.
    -SPOCK: How did you know this lady was coming aboard?
    -KIRK: I'm the Captain.
    Kirk's grin when he says this conveys exactly how much he's enjoying this rare moment.

    In the case of Kirk and the SP (space paper) he is apparently jotting down Kodos' original words, recalling them from memory no less! Is there really no record of what he said in the history banks? However, the use of SP is a convenient way to play the scene with Anton. What is unacceptable is the use of SP for the voice analysis results - just way too imprecise, especially when they had electronic voice analysis in Mudd’s Women.

    It's the 3rd week in a row where Spock and McCoy work together as a very tight team, despite their verbal sparing (which is excellent). They are both true professionals.

    Yeah, that's a really poor show from McCoy as he's recording his log. Riley is RIGHT THERE, there's not even a door between them!!! He really needs a separate office for this kind of work. Maybe he’ll get one in Season Two...

    It's a bit weird that she was allowed to beam onto the ship before requesting permission to come aboard, although since the Transporter Room is an entry point, perhaps it serves as a staging area for visitors? It does seem that security was stepped up a notch after the exploding phaser incident – hence why Riley had to break into that weapons locker on “H Deck”
    Yep - it says PRESSURE VENT DISPOSAL but it's location outside Kirk's cabin is certainly very convenient. Are these facilities scattered all over the ship? Just how often to the crew need to flush things out into space? Is this why we never see a toilet?

    Well Kirk does say that the crew has “been on patrol a long time”. Perhaps non-stop since the series began. Are they so jaded by all the monotony that they're just bewildered at anything they don't expect? And after the shenanigans with Lenore, the crew don’t even get to see the whole play! Never mind, I expect they’ll be due some shore leave before long…

    As the episode ends, Kirk is back talking to his helmsman. And Connors AKA Rand gets renamed to Mr Leslie, which Kirk says 3 times in the space of 20 seconds!!! OK Shatner, we get it; you named him after your daughter. Can you drop it now? :rommie:
     
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  7. Laura Cynthia Chambers

    Laura Cynthia Chambers Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I could easily imagine Spock loaning it to her because she plays beautifully, though he'd hide it by saying, "It is only logical that such an instrument be regularly played to keep it in tune. As you are both proficient with such instruments and have a good ear, given your chosen field, I can think of no one better qualified to aid me in this endeavor."
     
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  8. Mytran

    Mytran Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    You won me over, that was lovely!
     
  9. Shawnster

    Shawnster Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    It's clear they have a special relationship. I don't get a romance vibe but she likes to playfully freestyle a song about him. Spock willingly went along with it in Charlie X by playing the music she sang to. This week we see Uhura borrow his harp. We have the playful banter about Vulcan's moon
     
  10. Mytran

    Mytran Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    In all seriousness, I do not see a romance angle between them either; more like colleagues who also connect on a personal level. The moon banter is more like teasing between friends and they clearly share a love of music.

    I'm relishing these character moments from Season One, because I know that they will be dialled back in future episodes :wah:
     
  11. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I agree. Uhura's teasing banter with Spock is that of a work colleague much like Kirk and McCoy rib him occasionally (or every episode). It does suggest that she is a senior officer though. I can't see Rand or Chekov having the stones to tease him like that and Sulu is just too professional and a bit of a nerd.
     
  12. Mytran

    Mytran Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    She's head of her department, a specialist in her field and comfortable enough in her role to give the First Officer a bit of a ribbing. Good stuff :techman:
     
  13. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Was it stated that as she was head of a department or are we making that assumption based on the fact that she is the one most often on duty? Cryptography was stated to be a separate department in Balance of Terror.
     
  14. Poltargyst

    Poltargyst Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    And if she was head of a department I might expect her to be a Lt. Commander.
     
  15. ZapBrannigan

    ZapBrannigan Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Offhand, the only time I can recall Uhura giving an order was in "The Man Trap" when she asked a crewman to fix a rattle in her cabin door. Like Sulu, Chekov, and Rand, she never seemed to have subordinates. That was the province of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty.
     
  16. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Kirk does occasionally invite department heads to a meeting but I don't think the writers were very consistent as to who should attend. In Corbomite, she looked like she was there to take notes.

    It might be interesting to keep an eye out for what 'departments' there actually are. Obviously we have engineering, security, and science divisions. Life Sciences is mentioned as a separate department although I don't recall there being a separate corresponding department for Physical, Space, Planetary, and Social sciences. In a crew of 430, entire disciplines may be represented by a single officer. Some disciplines are cited as having a laboratory, but does that correspond to a department?

    Communications, Cryptography, and Physics spring to mind.

    Presumably a department with only one officer and some technicians isn't treated as a department. Only a department with multiple officers of the same rank needs a 'chief' officer?
     
  17. Mytran

    Mytran Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Fair enough - I based my interpretation mainly from behind the scenes sources.
    So far in the rewatch we've seen evidence that she is a highly accomplished technician, qualified not just to monitor communications but also maintain the mechanics of the station (her comment in Charlie X after the panel blows and also her entire rewiring of it in next season's Who Mourns For Adonais). She's also a trained navigator (The Man Trap, The Naked Time). She's a lot more proactive than the other people we've seen manning the communication station who act far more like literal telephone operators
     
  18. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I think we had a CPO at communications in the Cage but everyone after that was a Lieutenant. It seems unlikely that a ship with only 430 crew would have that many senior officers for the same position but I suppose it has to be manned on every shift and the others could be Lt(jg)?

    I suppose realistically the comms bay would be manned by specialists (PO) supervised by a CPO, with a couple of technicians (crewmen) to work on maintenance and repair while the officer in charge mans the bridge station. Maybe the CPO mans the bridge station if the officer on duty has reason to be elsewhere. So maybe Uhura's department consists of two Lt(jg), three CPO, six PO, and three technicians?

    Cryptography is more of a part time department. Probably an ensign, PO, and Technician would be enough?
     
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  19. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    I would think Cryptography would be a full time job on a space ship exploring the unknown.
     
  20. Pauln6

    Pauln6 Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I dunno, I suppose it depends on their remit. The communications team monitors and triages incoming signals. The computer does most of the hard work with code cracking I would have thought. Generally the team is just monitoring and tweaking algorithms, plus other members of the communications team or Spock can be drafted in to help.