Star Trek-RM: The Mark of Gideon… Grading/Discussion

[Timo]

They could just select another young person to take Odona's place since she took Kirk's and then the plan is back on track.

Please explain. The plan is already back on track by virtue of Odona carrying the disease that will help slaughter the populance. But since Odona won't die, the part where she sets an example doesn't work any more. A random youngster dying for the cause would not have the political impact of the Head Honcho's daughter volunteering...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Jack Bauer]

The only thing holding my interest when I watch this is my pervy thoughts about boning Odona. Otherwise this episode reeks of underwear worn for 2 straight weeks.

 

[cooleddie74]

When even "Catspaw" makes more logical sense and has fewer loopholes, you KNOW you're in for one humungoid stinker.

 

[Jono]

They could just select another young person to take Odona's place since she took Kirk's and then the plan is back on track.

Please explain. The plan is already back on track by virtue of Odona carrying the disease that will help slaughter the populance. But since Odona won't die, the part where she sets an example doesn't work any more. A random youngster dying for the cause would not have the political impact of the Head Honcho's daughter volunteering...

Timo Saloniemi

Hodin said that the one of the main effects of Odona dying was because she was so young, that it would show that the life cycle of the Gideons could be changed.

Hodin wasn't the head honcho, he mentions a Prime minister and I think he is referred to as an ambassador.

 

[Timo]

Ah, right. Good point! (They'd probably still have to find a youngster with some prominence and recognizability, and one volunteering for the treatment, to have the desired impact.)

One wonders if Hodin acted with or without his government's blessing on this. I mean, if he could build that fake starship at all in those conditions, he could probably have had it built in secrecy.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Jono]

The Prime Minister of Gideon was the one who got the details on Kirk for them to find out his had whatever virus when he was younger...or at least that's what Hodin tell us and he isn't exactly a bastion of truth.

You also have to wonder how they figured out that this particular disease or virus would be effective? Maybe because of its very short duration from infected to dead, it doesn't give whatever their regenerative abilities are the time to do their thing.

 

[Timo]

...Perhaps the Prime Minister provided prime proof of the lethality of the disease on Gideonites, but unfortunately his compatriots were not clever enough not to quarantine him during his final moments. So they had to try Kirk a second time.

The big mystery here is why a starship captain was their only possible vector. Did they not have interstellar travel by which they could have purchased the disease from somewhere else? Actually, that's quite possible - it might be one of their religious quirks, or then just the result of the need to allocate the resources elsewhere. A reasonably accurate fake of the interiors of a starship, yes - a functional one, no.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Jono]

^ That would work if the PM was old enough that death was not terribly uncommon from the inability to regenerate. They might have then tried to use it as evidence that their life cycle could be changed but the populous didn't believe them, so they decided that a young person would be needed.

Still the easiest thing would be for someone like Hodin to get the disease, then request the cure from the Federation and then use him to fulfil their plan. That way you don't have to worry about the whole fake Enterprise, holding a person hostage thing.