Revisiting Star Trek TOS/TAS...

[Warped9]

"The Man Trap" ****

A creature able to change its appearance stalks the crew of the Enterprise.

Before Jaws, before Alien, before Odo and the various shape changing lifeforms found throughout Trek there was Star Trek's Salt Vampire. TOS took the hoary old story of the alien monster killing everyone and turns it on its head. They make an effort to get us to try to understand and even feel a measure of sympathy for the creature. And it's a decently told story.

The biggest question here is: what ability did the creature actually have? The evidence onscreen doesn't suggest an actual shape-changing being because it's able to appear differently to different people at the same time. So it must be something hypnotic as well as the ability to create convincing illusion.

I also liked seeing the secondary characters getting something extra to do beyond their usual routines. I liked Uhura's somewhat flirtatious exchange with Spock. I liked seeing other little crew interactions besides those of the main crew. I liked seeing the life and movement of other people aboard. It was these little brief details, particularly early on, that allowed Star Trek to convey a convincing setting. We also saw Uhura at Navigation in the opening scene.

This isn't an awesome effort, but I think it's better than average.

 

[SchwEnt]

Yes I agree. The Salt Vampire must have been some illusionist or hypnotic mind-control creature rather than a plain shape-shifter.

But the Big Question for me in that eps is "Why?"
The Salt Vampire evidently was a sentient being, yes?
And so was Professor Crater. So WHY all the stalking and murdering simply to get salt? Why not just ask for it and receive it from Kirk and crew? Must it kill to survive?

 

[BillJ]

The Salt Vampire evidently was a sentient being, yes?
And so was Professor Crater.

Do we truly know if it was sentient? Why would it continue to try to bleed Kirk dry of salt when it saw another with a weapon pointed at it?

It seemed to be working mainly off instinct in the episode.

 

[Warped9]

It's possible that when alone with Crater it was able to control itself because it knew the food supply was limited. When the Enterprise showed up all of a sudden it had a plentiful supply and could no longer resist it's natural impulses.

The hypnotic/illusionary ability could be how it developed a means to stalk and capture its prey.

If there is one real flaw in the story (for me) is that they give away too much too soon. I'm thinking in particular about the scene where she appears as three different people to McCoy, Kirk and Darnell---too much too soon. And that's a good trick to look like two or more illusions. I would think the creature has some measure of telepathic ability that enhances what someone perhaps expects to see. In Darnell's case it's possible at that moment he had been thinking on where he'd rather be and with whom rather than on a boring medical visit on some dry and dusty planet, and the creature somehow tapped in on that so that's what Darnell sees. Kirk expected to see an older woman and that's what he saw. McCoy only had his memories of a more youthful Nancy he was thinking about and so that's what he saw initially.

It's the only sense I can make of it.

 

[BillJ]

The Man Trap definitely leaves the viewer with an abundance of questions at its' conclusion.

 

[Warped9]

The Man Trap definitely leaves the viewer with an abundance of questions at its' conclusion.

That's not a bad thing. Not everything needs to be tied up neat-and-tidy like would be seen in later series.

 

[BillJ]

The Man Trap definitely leaves the viewer with an abundance of questions at its' conclusion.

That's not a bad thing. Not everything needs to be tied up neat-and-tidy like would be seen in later series.

 

[Warped9]

^^ And from that springs forth countless discussions and speculation.

 

[Warped9]

"The Naked Time" *****

While studying an unstable planet a virus causing mental instability spreads rapidly through the crew.

Cool! An awesome story that uses a virus to show us glimpses of our characters' inner selves. One of the beautiful things about Star Trek in these early days was their attention to detail---so many little things tossed in seemingly casually yet helping to paint this convincing sense of a working starship in deep space. The characterizations and performances are wonderful. And this story is a neat mixture of humour amidst real jeopardy. Hard to believe the early TNG writers thought they could even match this with their version.

And once again a superb soundtrack to augment what unfolds onscreen. We also get our first glimpse of Kirk's attachment to his ship. I also have to add how much I like the way Scotty is portrayed in the first season. There's little of the "excitable" engineer we'll see down the road.

There's also a little neat science bit near the end that gives us a glimpse into the workings of the Star Trek universe. No mention is ever made in TOS of how exactly warp drive works, but we can deduce that the ship doesn't do FTL in normal space...because if they were they'd be going backwards in time. And so warp drive must take the ship out of normal space and thus avoid the reverse time problem. And it won't be until TNG that the idea of subspace is linked to warp drive. In TOS subspace is only mentioned in relation to communications. Cool.


"Charlie X" ****

An orphaned seventeen year old boy with an unusual ability wreaks havoc aboard the Enterprise.

I can't say with certainty this is first, but this episode is among my earliest recollections of seeing Star Trek on television. And over the years I've heard a lot of people dump on this episode, but whenever I watch I find myself liking it on some levels.

Firstly there's early TOS' execution which is often quite good. The performances are also usually there. And perhaps on some level I can identify just enough with Charlie because I was about eleven years old when I first saw this. Even after all these years I find this is one story with a youth in it that doesn't make me cringe and gag.

That said if there's anything that really dates this story it's seeing the Enterprise crew struggle with trying to explain the facts of life to young Charlie---it's very much of its time since this was a subject matter that was dicey to dance around on television of that era.

It would be easy to play it safe and just give this a fair rating, but in all honesty I find myself liking it a little more than that.

Note that ST09 may have gotten a bit more encouragement here regarding a Spock/Uhura relationship because of the apparent glances between the two in the recreation room and Uhura's flirtatious manner. That said I still think Abrams blew it all out of proportion.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Charlie X:

Nice reuse of uniforms from Where No Man Has Gone Before, for both Charlie and the crew of the Antares. This sort of rich detailing makes the universe feel more realistic. Other unusual uniforms, these as far as I know seen only here, include the Enterprise karate gi, gymnastics tights, and chef attire. Charlie wears a brown wraparound from a pattern similar to Kirk's green one.

Kirk's advice, "There's no right way to hit a woman," still widely needs to be learned today, and therefore is ahead of its time.

Spock's observation

"Charlie's very existence proves in fact there must be some intelligent form of life on Thasus. He could not possibly have survived alone."
​

is an example of a well written logical argument, which makes Spock a realistic character.

The episode's climax

CHARLIE: "I want to stay [stay, stay, stay, ...]."
UHURA: Charlie's back on board the Thasian ship, sir.
​

is among my favorite in TOS.

This is another episode that is easy to make fun of. But it has strengths of the best of TOS, and is therefore, I believe, one of the underrated episodes.

 

[BillJ]

Note that ST09 may have gotten a bit more encouragement here regarding a Spock/Uhura relationship because of the apparent glances between the two in the recreation room and Uhura's flirtatious manner. That said I still think Abrams blew it all out of proportion.

Well, I think between The Man Trap and Charlie X they were definitely onto something pairing up Spock and Uhura. It was just the execution of the idea that sucked.

 

[Warped9]

The thing is Uhura looks like she's just teasing him. But in Nimoy's case I'm wondering if he just hadn't nailed down Spock's character yet, something that he does over the next few episodes.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Nimoy has said several times that he never really got a handle on Spock until "The Naked Time", and I suspect even after that there was still a bit of a learning curve.

 

[Harvey]

And I think the sexism goes a little further than just making Kirk a sex object. After Kirk's double has attempted to rape Rand, how is it at all appropriate for Spock to quip that the double "had some interesting qualities" to her?

In regard to Kirk topless my observation is meant to be humorous. In regard to Spock's remark---yes, it is wrong and I did acknowledge it being wrong and inappropriate and out of place.

And then gave the episode five stars anyways. I just think you're being a little kind to the series you love and a little harsh to the series you don't (TNG), in your other thread.

I like "The Man Trap" quite a bit for the smaller details you mentioned--it gives the secondary characters a chance to shine for a minute or two in way that the series wouldn't always allow.

"The Naked Time" is great. Outside of the mannequin seen at the beginning (which really looks bad in HD) I can't find anything wrong with it. Your jab at the TNG writers is amusing, though, since the three writers responsible for "The Naked Now" (which, I agree, is awful) are John D.F. Black, D.C. Fontana, and Gene Roddenberry--all writers who wrote for the original series, and all early on, too.

 

[Duncan MacLeod]

I think Spock's remark might have been more about the fact that Rand now knew Kirk was attracted to her, rather than an insinuation that Rand wanted to be raped by him.

Just my take on it.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

"The Naked Time" is great. Outside of the mannequin seen at the beginning (which really looks bad in HD) I can't find anything wrong with it. Your jab at the TNG writers is amusing, though, since the three writers responsible for "The Naked Now" (which, I agree, is awful) are John D.F. Black, D.C. Fontana, and Gene Roddenberry--all writers who wrote for the original series, and all early on, too.

According to the Memory Alpha page on John D. F. Black:

Black got screen credit for "The Naked Now" only for his story, originally pitched for The Original Series, dated 12 May, 1967 on which the episode was based.

This is backed up by citing the teleplay for The Naked Now, whose writing credits are:

Teleplay by
D.C. Fontana

Story by
D.C. Fontana
and
Gene Roddenberry

Based on a story by John D.F. Black
(May 12, 1967)

Furthermore, according to the Memory Alpha article on The Naked Now,

John D.F. Black had written the original episode, while "J. Michael Bingham" is a pseudonym for D.C. Fontana. Fontana asked for her name to be removed after rewrites changed the episode significantly from her original intent. (Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission)

IMDb confirms the writings credits as

Gene Roddenberry (creator)

D.C. Fontana (teleplay) (as J. Michael Bingham)

John D.F. Black (story) and
D.C. Fontana (story) (as J. Michael Bingham)

So, Black doesn't get the blame on any score for "The Naked Now", and Fontana didn't want it. Who's left?

 

[Warped9]

And I think the sexism goes a little further than just making Kirk a sex object. After Kirk's double has attempted to rape Rand, how is it at all appropriate for Spock to quip that the double "had some interesting qualities" to her?

In regard to Kirk topless my observation is meant to be humorous. In regard to Spock's remark---yes, it is wrong and I did acknowledge it being wrong and inappropriate and out of place.

And then gave the episode five stars anyways. I just think you're being a little kind to the series you love and a little harsh to the series you don't (TNG), in your other thread.

I like "The Man Trap" quite a bit for the smaller details you mentioned--it gives the secondary characters a chance to shine for a minute or two in way that the series wouldn't always allow.

"The Naked Time" is great. Outside of the mannequin seen at the beginning (which really looks bad in HD) I can't find anything wrong with it. Your jab at the TNG writers is amusing, though, since the three writers responsible for "The Naked Now" (which, I agree, is awful) are John D.F. Black, D.C. Fontana, and Gene Roddenberry--all writers who wrote for the original series, and all early on, too.

I don't think Spock's remark totally trashes what is otherwise an excellent episode whereas you obviously think it does. But then you've also been raising the sexism issue since the get-go whereas I can put the show within the context of when it was made, which you've also made clear isn't good enough for you.

I make no bones about preferring TOS and nowhere did I say I hate TNG. And I've also already said there that TNG (at least during the first four seasons so far) is generally better than I remember, but I'm also not going to apologize for my what I like to see in a science fiction space adventure series. I also don't buy the excuse that TNG isn't a space adventure (as some proclaim) because that is what it damn well advertises itself as at the opening of every single episode in the opening credits.

I welcome your viewpoint, particularly if it's on a point I might have overlooked or not mentioned, but don't dismiss me simply because we don't come to the same conclusions or have the same viewpoint. If you think you'd grade an episode different than say so and why (as has been done in the other thread), but don't berate me for not agreeing with you.

It doesn't matter who wrote "The Naked Now" as they still did a poor job of it. Which only proves that anyone can have a bad day.

The ultimate justification for a rating depends on what you get out of a story and how it's executed. You can have a soft spot for something even it's not that well done. And you can be unmoved by something even if technically they hit pretty much all the right points.

I will say one more thing on this point. There is one thing that TOS had in abundance that TNG rarely had: energy. There was a dynamic to TOS that was wonderful and the stories were often well paced. TNG at its best could have this, but it still was rarely the same. And after Season 3 TNG seemed to be challenged to have anywhere near that kind of dynamic. Near everything about how they came to regularly put a TNG episode together from Season 4 onward appeared to serve to sap the energy out of a story. Characters would often just stand in one spot saying their lines and they hardly ever seemed to move about or gesture. The music became atrocious and could act like a wet blanket to the events unfolding onscreen. For the first three to four seasons TNG was still recognizable as space adventure SF, but from within Season 5 onward that seems to become harder to see.

 

[Warped9]

"Balance Of Terror" *****

Outposts are destroyed and the Enterprise is challenged by an invisible enemy.

Candidly I could nitpick this one on certain technical details, but the episodes' strengths far outweigh whatever little gripes I might have. This is a science fiction retelling of the '50s era film The Enemy Below and it's a good retelling. That said it might not work for some younger viewers, those weaned on Star Wars like space battles with spaceships buzzing about like fighter aircraft, and that includes a lot of contemporary Trek as well. But this is space combat told more from the perspective of feeling like you're actually there aboard ship with the characters. You get to see what and how things are unfolding from their perspective. Another strength of this story is allowing us to see the Romulan's perspective and by not painting them broadly as just villains.

Watching TOS you get to understand that its creators understood theatre because often there is a theatrical and cinematic sense to how they executed their stories. And they often did it well.

Regarding my nitpicks. When the Enterprise is first fired upon Kirk orders full reverse, but not evasive maneuvers---they might have been able to dodge out of the Romulan weapon's path. When phasers are out there's no mention of photon torpedoes as a recourse (a similar omission happens in "The Doomsday Machine"). When the Enterprise's phasers are brought up to full power then why are we hearing the engines accelerating? In the opening scene in the ship's chapel I think it would have been a nice touch to have had the bride dressed a little bit more appropriately---less formal and underlining the sense of community and personal time aboard ship. I also dislike hearing the photon torpedo sound effect when Kirk has ordered phaser fire. In The Making Of Star Trek it's stated that the phasers can be fired in a burst mode. As such I prefer the silent phaser bursts as originally filmed rather than hearing the wrong sound f/x added when the episodes were first remastered.

Stiles' open bigotry after Kirk had already warned him was out of place in a professional and an officer and Spock should rightly have dressed him down for it.

 

[Hambone]

Another strength of this story is allowing us to see the Romulan's perspective and by not painting them broadly as just villains.

This has always been my favorite aspect of this episode. The Romulans don't come off as "bad guys"; they are good soldiers following orders (sometimes willfully, sometimes not). Although they are naturally the episode's protagonists, the skillful writing and acting makes the viewer care about what happens to them.

 

[Warped9]

^^ There were moments I actually worried about the Romulan Commander's safety at the hands of his own crew. I wondered if it were at all possible some of them might have seized control just to launch a headlong attack as opposed to the Commander's more reasoned out approach.