They made a novel...
Revist of UNfavorite Episodes
- Thread starter Ssosmcin
- Start date
They made a novel...
Back on course, I watched “Miri” last night, which was never a favorite of mine.
I can hear @ZapBrannigan now: “whaaaat???!!!!”
Last night, I decided to go the @Neopeius route and made a version with 1966 commercials and even added a network announcement to watch Bonanza over the end credits. I wanted to watch this one with fresher eyes.
Well damn, I liked it more this way.
“Another Earth” sets up a nifty mystery that is never looked into. It was really just a hook and an unnecessary one. But it’s enough to explain why the place looks like dilapidated Mayberry with stables and signs written in English. There’s a great sense of dread as the landing party explores the town. The mutated "teen" ("mine! mine!") is still creepy and a great moment of unexpected horror
I love how Kirk passes the tricycle to Spock, who visibly doesn’t give a shit about it and almost shoves it at Bones. A very subtle character moment.
Janice has a very good running style.
While Kirk’s charming of Miri really hasn’t aged well, I can see why he does it and it does bring Kim Darby out. She’s excellent in this. There’s really not a bad performance in the lot. The “nyahh nyahh” stuff is a little grating, but you know what? I was in a charitable mood and realized the Onlies are still socially 5 years old. Even Jahn. Michael J. Pollard is really sinister and looks like he stinks. I mean, kids hate baths so the place must reek.
Fun observation about the scene where Louise jumps out: she appears, Kirk and Miri see her. Then we get a medium/wide shot of all the kids running around them. Back to the closeup of Kirk and Miri as Miri screams as she sees Louise, even though she saw her before (Shatner’s startled reaction looks genuine). When Louise attacks, all the kids are gone. Looks like they added the kid’s rampage to make the scene more exciting. You can cut the kids out and just leave Louise and Miri’s scream makes more sense.
Anyway…
A few nits: I find it hard to believe that absolutely everybody would leave their communicators just lying around and not Velcroed to their trousers. The guards didn’t have any? Janice def only had a tricorder, but that was a little bit of a stretch.
There’s no reason to believe McCoy won’t find a cure, they’re all coming back next week, but it’s played so well, I got into it. As a kid, we used to laugh at Janice's "look at my legs" bit, but now I really get it. Janice went from "I've been trying to attract you" to "look what this disease has done to me." It's really powerful in a way I never appreciated before. The only thing I find that stretches credibility is that there’s a “down to the second” deadline where they’ll all die (or pass the point of no return). Everyone’s body is different. It should have been made clearer that they have 7 days before the first of them loses their shit and succumbs.
Nichelle had the week off. Was Jim Goodwin cheaper? Pretty sure he was a friend of John D.F. Black. And either the communicators beep or you heard Farrell’s voice. Was this the first episode where we saw McCoy had a communicator which flipped all the way back? His had a habit of doing that more than most people.
So, okay, I gotta tell ya, I’ve changed my mind about this one. Solid dip into horror and suspense with a more interesting look into puberty than we got from “Charlie X.” I like "pre-Coon" Star Trek when it was mostly grim dread and seriousness. Good stuff here.
I can hear @ZapBrannigan now: “whaaaat???!!!!”
Last night, I decided to go the @Neopeius route and made a version with 1966 commercials and even added a network announcement to watch Bonanza over the end credits. I wanted to watch this one with fresher eyes.
Well damn, I liked it more this way.
“Another Earth” sets up a nifty mystery that is never looked into. It was really just a hook and an unnecessary one. But it’s enough to explain why the place looks like dilapidated Mayberry with stables and signs written in English. There’s a great sense of dread as the landing party explores the town. The mutated "teen" ("mine! mine!") is still creepy and a great moment of unexpected horror
I love how Kirk passes the tricycle to Spock, who visibly doesn’t give a shit about it and almost shoves it at Bones. A very subtle character moment.
Janice has a very good running style.
While Kirk’s charming of Miri really hasn’t aged well, I can see why he does it and it does bring Kim Darby out. She’s excellent in this. There’s really not a bad performance in the lot. The “nyahh nyahh” stuff is a little grating, but you know what? I was in a charitable mood and realized the Onlies are still socially 5 years old. Even Jahn. Michael J. Pollard is really sinister and looks like he stinks. I mean, kids hate baths so the place must reek.
Fun observation about the scene where Louise jumps out: she appears, Kirk and Miri see her. Then we get a medium/wide shot of all the kids running around them. Back to the closeup of Kirk and Miri as Miri screams as she sees Louise, even though she saw her before (Shatner’s startled reaction looks genuine). When Louise attacks, all the kids are gone. Looks like they added the kid’s rampage to make the scene more exciting. You can cut the kids out and just leave Louise and Miri’s scream makes more sense.
Anyway…
A few nits: I find it hard to believe that absolutely everybody would leave their communicators just lying around and not Velcroed to their trousers. The guards didn’t have any? Janice def only had a tricorder, but that was a little bit of a stretch.
There’s no reason to believe McCoy won’t find a cure, they’re all coming back next week, but it’s played so well, I got into it. As a kid, we used to laugh at Janice's "look at my legs" bit, but now I really get it. Janice went from "I've been trying to attract you" to "look what this disease has done to me." It's really powerful in a way I never appreciated before. The only thing I find that stretches credibility is that there’s a “down to the second” deadline where they’ll all die (or pass the point of no return). Everyone’s body is different. It should have been made clearer that they have 7 days before the first of them loses their shit and succumbs.
Nichelle had the week off. Was Jim Goodwin cheaper? Pretty sure he was a friend of John D.F. Black. And either the communicators beep or you heard Farrell’s voice. Was this the first episode where we saw McCoy had a communicator which flipped all the way back? His had a habit of doing that more than most people.
So, okay, I gotta tell ya, I’ve changed my mind about this one. Solid dip into horror and suspense with a more interesting look into puberty than we got from “Charlie X.” I like "pre-Coon" Star Trek when it was mostly grim dread and seriousness. Good stuff here.
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You have made me happier than you can know.
Thank you!(And yeah, it is a good episode. Flawed, but good.)
It's funny how I hate sitting through commercials and ads today. Always have. But when I pop them into an old Star Trek, it changes the feel. I know you've made this point yourself on your rewatch thread, but I didn't notice it before. Usually I would do it for nostalgia or as a broadcast anniversary. This time, I just did the easy way and dropped in random 1966 commercials and it really made a difference. The climaxes at the act breaks landed better. I may do this for more as I bop around randomly.You have made me happier than you can know.
(And yeah, it is a good episode. Flawed, but good.)
I'm thinking: when you watch it with period commercials, the historical context shines a light on how futuristic and bright Star Trek is. The show is no longer a self-contained attempt to envision the future, an attempt that ages compared to our world. Now it has its aesthetic context back and it looks incredible again.
Please feel welcome to join us, too. You get to watch Dragnet 67! (big draw, I know...)
There is definitely that. Trek is consistent unto itself, whereas the ads are very much of their time (though it is interesting how many products survive today.)
It’s one of the reasons I love TOS more than any of the other incarnations. I’m in it for sci-fi adventure on the frontier…not to learn about the social/political/economical bullshit in a made-up future.
THANK YOU! I've tried to put this into words, but you just did it *perfectly*. We can just copy & paste this whenever it comes up in the future.
I can't put 1966 commercials in, but yes, watching with breaks where they would've been (no extra ones - thanks Paramount+!) really does help with the flow.
Exactly. Leave the future predictions out of it.
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