STC Ep. 6: "Come Not Between The Dragons" grading and discussion....(possible spoilers)

[urbandefault]

Seems like I read some time ago that Walter based his accent on an immigrant relative. Not Russian, as I remember, but maybe from a Soviet Bloc country. I wish I could remember the source.

Anton Yelchin, on the other hand, was born in Leningrad. He struggled with aping Koenig's accent because it was "foreign" to him. I think that bit of background makes the "Wictor Wictor" line hilarious.

 

[Maurice]

Lithuanian, I think he said.

 

[urbandefault]

Lithuanian, I think he said.

Thanks.

 

[Maurice]

Back to the script: sadly, most fanfilm writing is plot sequence focused and what "theme" there is gets applied with a trowel on the surface as opposed to being the grout holding everything together and giving the plot events meaning.

 

[Zaminhon]

I certainly liked it a lot and was impressed with the production values.
It failed for me somewhat thematically though. It's a prominent element of the story that our emotions are basically a chemical situation that we can't control. It seems hypocritical when Kirk is only able to be a good person with the aid of a medical machine yet expects some alien creature to rise above its emotions.
Maybe there was some metaphor about psychopharmacology that went over my head?
Anyway it seemed a little scattered in its moral approach.
Still a lot to like though! Too much to list.

Nothing chemical was even alluded to, imo, it was more in-line with the many telepathic aliens that we've already seen in the franchise, like " Redjac in "A Wolf in the Fold" or the energy being in "Day of the Dove" that can influence the mind.

What was a little confusing to me is what the role that alcohol played in this. It was alluded to from beginning to end and obviously alcohol abuse is a contributing factor to child abuse. I get the metaphor of Scotty's drunkenness on the job and how it effected his behavior, but not so much the point of the women meeting up in the rec room for a drink before and after. I wasn't sure how it applies to the theme, Maybe I'm missing a connection there? Is it supposed to compare social drinking with alcohol abuse? They don't need to hit us over the head with it , but the message should be consistent. Maybe in this case, the women might have changed their minds about having an alcoholic drink after the events and ordered something else, or the entire set up should have been avoided to begin with.

 

[Maurice]

"Vodka martini" is pretty now, too.

 

[Zaminhon]

what do you mean ... Shaken but not Stirred!

 

[9gs]

Nothing chemical was even alluded to, imo, it was more in-line with the many telepathic aliens that we've already seen in the franchise, like " Redjac in "A Wolf in the Fold" or the energy being in "Day of the Dove" that can influence the mind.

What was a little confusing to me is what the role that alcohol played in this. It was alluded to from beginning to end and obviously alcohol abuse is a contributing factor to child abuse. I get the metaphor of Scotty's drunkenness on the job and how it effected his behavior, but not so much the point of the women meeting up in the rec room for a drink before and after. I wasn't sure how it applies to the theme, Maybe I'm missing a connection there? Is it supposed to compare social drinking with alcohol abuse? They don't need to hit us over the head with it , but the message should be consistent. Maybe in this case, the women might have changed their minds about having an alcoholic drink after the events and ordered something else, or the entire set up should have been avoided to begin with.

Maybe just me, I did not take the alcohol as having anything to do with the abuse part of the story. I thought the affect on Scotty was just him being himself and when questioned by Kirk the anger boils up and he acts out on it. However, looking back I can see how people might make a connection and think that was put in there as part of the whole story.

 

[Warped9]

I didn't make that connection until seeing it discussed here.

 

[Zaminhon]

For people whom that resonates with, and whose abuse was a result of alcoholism, then I believe that is an oversight by the scriptwriters to have those references to alcohol included but not linked into the story (abuse theme).

 

[mos6507]

I wrote a new score, but Vic had "temp love" in a few spots and opted to use library cues. So in fact, there are plenty of TOS library cues used or edited (not by me) with my cues. As far as a "jazz influence" is concerned, I wrote this more in the Kaplan style but occasionally went in the Duning direction and rearranged a Duning cue from "Is there In Truth No Beauty?". I believe that my credentials show that I am more of a jazz musician than Fried, Kaplan, or Steiner ever where.

You did a fantastic job matching the orchestration and recording quality of the new material with the old. It all felt like one unified piece.

 

[mos6507]

Koenig's Pavel Chekov expression of Russian English wasn't correct in the 1st place

Ah, but it's a 23rd century Russian Accent

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

For people who that resonates with, and whose abuse was a result of alcoholism, then I believe that is an oversight by the scriptwriters to have those references to alcohol included but not linked into the story (abuse theme).

Scotty's drinking seems to tie in somehow. Not sure whether it would be an implication that parental abuse drove him to drink, or maybe a suggestion that Usdi's dad excessively consumes some cosmozoan equivalent of alcohol.

Come to think of it, maybe McKennah and Smith's drinking plans actually do tie in, if Eliza was already being influenced by Usdi and her response to her dad's drinking used to be hiding in her bed (cf. "My bed's calling me"). McKennah and Smith do seem to find her behavior a bit odd in that scene.

 

[feek61]

So you took my comment literally then...really?

RAMA

I was kidding, hence the "lol" behind my comment. I actually found the comment funny; that's all.

 

[Zaminhon]

Scotty's drinking seems to tie in somehow. Not sure whether it would be an implication that parental abuse drove him to drink, or maybe a suggestion that Usdi's dad excessively consumes some cosmozoan equivalent of alcohol.

Come to think of it, maybe McKennah and Smith's drinking plans actually do tie in, if Eliza was already being influenced by Usdi and her response to her dad's drinking used to be hiding in her bed (cf. "My bed's calling me"). McKennah and Smith do seem to find her behavior a bit odd in that scene.

Interesting take on it, Eliza did seem affected right away, Usdi "chose" her.

I was actually thinking that McKennah and Smith started drinking in the rec room when the wave hits and then McKennah starts a classic bar brawl - (that would have been hilarious to see the fight that caused her "fat lip"), but that doesn't fit the timing - they never made it to the rec room, or with the ending - let's go have those drinks that we never had.

I look at it more as a missed opportunity to tie everything together, but it doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the episode.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

Interesting take on it, Eliza did seem affected right away, Usdi "chose" her.

I was actually thinking that McKennah and Smith started drinking in the rec room when the wave hits and then McKennah starts a classic bar brawl - (that would have been hilarious to see the fight that caused her "fat lip"), but that doesn't fit the timing - they never made it to the rec room, or with the ending - let's go have those drinks that we never had.

I look at it more as a missed opportunity to tie everything together, but it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the episode.

Well, I could be doing that human thing of seeing patterns that aren't there!

 

[Maurice]

Thinking back on it, Eliza avoiding going out for a drink with them seems like a perfect hint of that, but as she agrees to the drink later it's probably unintentional.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

Thinking back on it, Eliza avoiding going out for a drink with them seems like a perfect hint of that, but as she agrees to the drink later it's probably unintentional.

Or she was back to normal because she was no longer under Usdi's influence.

 

[Zaminhon]

OT, or maybe not, but I wonder if the private donor that came through funded enough to finance the completion of the remaining 6.5 episodes plus stretch goals (planet set, rent, overhead, etc... ), so no matter what comes down from CBS/Paramount regarding crowdfunding, it's already a done deal. Some have suggested that Rod Roddenberry's influence is minimal, but I think you underestimate it - since he's on board, I think we'll see the completion of this series.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

OT, or maybe not, but I wonder if the private donor that came through funded enough to finance the completion of the remaining 6.5 episodes plus stretch goals (planet set, rent, overhead, etc... ), so no matter what comes down from CBS/Paramount regarding crowdfunding, it's already a done deal. Some have suggested that Rod Roddenberry's influence is minimal, but I think you underestimate it - since he's on board, I think we'll see the completion of this series.

From some of the public statements I gather that they only reached the original $350,000 goal, and it was multiple private donations.