The Cloud Minders

[T'Girl]

The Klingon transporter looked different too (and was silent), they all might work on the same basic theory ... independently discovered.

 

[Timo]

Was zenite indeed being routinely shipped? if so, couldn't Starfleet have obtained it from one of the customers?

It might just as well be that Ardana is a known source of zenite, and the only one, but there is no market for the substance, save for what Stratos uses domestically. And it might not be known why exactly Stratos uses the stuff, and how. But one of the known qualities of the substance is its potency against this specific type of plague, which is why Starfleet for this rare once bothers Stratos for a barrelful.

Possibly the anti-plague quality is as incidental to the local mineral industry as the high density of uranium for kinetic-kill weapons is to uranium mining in general...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[diankra]

Didn't Asimov use a more or less similar setup of a sky city surrounded by a rather compact settlement of repressed masses in one of his early books? Currents of Space? The Stars, Like Dust?
Timo Saloniemi

Not sure about Asimov, but in "Lord of Light" Roger Zelazny created a society where crew members were able to use their technology to turn themselves into de facto gods while leaving the colonists to scratch out a rugged living. Not exactly parallel but somewhat similar.

This sounds suprisingly like Leela's homeworld on Doctor Who, as well.

Not that surprising, Chris Boucher's starting point on his Who/B7 scripts was to think of sf he'd read as a kid and try to work out a way of doing the key idea on tv.

 

[Push The Button]

I just watched this episode tonight. It contains a few elements that indicate how the show was maturing in its third season, and hints at what later seasons may have looked like:

1. Interesting camera angles: There are a series of shots, early in the episode on the primary Stratos location, that we see from far away, almost looking through some works of art in the foreground. Later, in the transporter room during the videoconference with Plasus, we see Kirk, Spock and McCoy from an unusual angle, sort of from below and underneath the viewscreen; we actually see the edge of something (a bulkhead? the viewscreen?) along the top of this POV.

2. Spock evolving: Spock is clearly attracted to Droxine, and not just her beautiful mind. This shows growth in the character, perhaps he was starting to finally feel comfortable with his human half, allowing himself to indulge his emotions just a little bit.

3. Spock's voiceover: Spock has an opportunity to fill in a few blanks for the audience with his short voiceover monologue, which contained a montage of the characters and events that he was describing.

4. Kirk aging: Kirk has put on a few pounds since WNMHGB, and is letting his hair grow out a bit (though still regulation, I'm sure). Makes you wonder what the producers would have allowed him to look like in a fourth or fifth season.

New and unusual things like this were being tried in other third season episodes also, of course, but having not viewed this episode in quite a while, these things sort of popped.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

3. Spock's voiceover: Spock has an opportunity to fill in a few blanks for the audience with his short voiceover monologue, which contained a montage of the characters and events that he was describing.

I can definitely see where you're coming from with your observations. I singled out your no. 3 point because it reminded me a bit of that scene from The Mark of Gideon, where Spock is walking around examining the fake bridge, accompanied by a voice-over. The only word he is seen to utter in the shot (unheard, of course) was "Fascinating" as he seemed to finish up analyzing the situation. It was pretty neat.

But definitely a bit of a change in the story-telling ways, as you say.

 

[CrazyMatt]

This is one of my favs of the entire series and a episode that Star Trek seems to be communicating a political theme as the episode seems to be a satire of a culture probably a third world country of some sort (India, Vietnam)? In this episode the Troglytes are treated very poorly and inhumanly by the intellectual Stratos dwellers. The leadership of the planet (I agree with Spock) is run very poorly. Even in our culture such tactics and leadership is not used. Everyone is given an equal chance, however the rich have an easier time getting into high profile schools which often helps secure a high paying job, but regardless those not rich can still attend school, just it will be harder for them, but at least they can do that, unlike the opportunities the Troglytes had.

The acting was decent and its a shame that Jeff Corey nor Diana Ewing appeared in any other episodes, nor in any Twilight Zone episodes. I do not understand why numerous times good actors only appear in one episode, however these actors in my POV are not as good as the actors in the Requiem for Methuselah episode however James Daly was in the episode A Stop at Willoughby which I plan to watch again.

It might be one of the better episodes of the third season, but that's not saying much.

"The Cloud Minders" likely would be considered one of the worst episodes of the first or second seasons had it been produced then.

 

[JT Perfecthair]

Not Twilight Zone but Jeff Corey did do one episode of Outer Limits. In looking that up I find he was also a highly respected photographer in World War 2, just mentioned out of interest:

"In October 1945 he received a citation from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal and Captain Edward Steichen with the following commendation, "His sequence of a Kamikaze attempt on the Carrier Yorktown, done in the face of grave danger, is one of the great picture sequences of the war in the Pacific, and reflects the highest credit upon Corey and the U.S. Navy Photographic Service."