Over the course of our adventures, we've come to appreciate Spock's talents a great deal. The brilliant insights he routinely provides have already carried the crew through many a tight spot they might not otherwise have escaped. Kudos to the writers, then, for setting out to explore the potential limits of Spock's problem solving. In The Galileo Seven, his logical approach is ultimately vindicated, but only after it accounts for the emotions in others. As made perfectly clear at the end of the episode, Spock will be no less rigid in his own embrace of logic, but when addressing situations with emotional actors, one cannot ignore the effects of their emotions on the situation itself. Had Spock assumed that Kirk would continue with his mission as logic dictates, they'd all have forfeited what proved to be a successful chance at survival for a few extra minutes of orbit. This revelation does not come without costs, as attributing logical responses to the inhabitants of Taurus II cost the life of another crewman and nearly prevented the shuttle's departure. Spock doesn't need any more confirmation than that; brilliant man that he is, he accounts for the possibility that Kirk may be acting emotionally out of attachment to his crew rather than following the logical course out of the area. Remove either Kirk's emotion or Spock's logic from the equation, and that shuttle never makes it back. Despite its rocky start, Spock's first command ends in success. Great episode.
The Galileo Seven
- Thread starter Mendon
- Start date
Agreed. I just watched it again a couple of nights ago and realized that it may well be one of my favorite episodes of all time for any series.
Hmmm... I'm yet to be convinced. It's entertaining, yes, but I'm still not sure what it is that irritates me about this one. It could be the fact that Spock - despite years of service and having reached the fairly lofty heights of Commander - has only just been his first command (Pffft! Yeah, right!) or Lt. Boma's constant insubordination and atagonistic behaviour toward his superior officer (even a Vulcan - or, more precisely, especially a Vulcan would have noted and addressed this matter immediately...).
Orcus, yours are valid points, and I think they do well to summarize the episode's main weakness. Spock is the man, right? He's the best science officer in the fleet, a complete genius, and Kirk's right-hand man. He's been serving among illogical humans aboard the Enterprise for over a decade. It's maybe a little hard to swallow that this little revelation never dawned on him sometime prior to this episode.
Nevertheless, because it is a good story told well, I am more willing to overlook such mechanical issues than I would otherwise be.
Nevertheless, because it is a good story told well, I am more willing to overlook such mechanical issues than I would otherwise be.
I agree with both of you: after Spock, Scotty was always my favourite and always has been...
yeah, scotty was very professional, and i laughed when he snapped at mr. boma. but i have to admit, if i was in the others' position, i would have been very frustrated with and pissed at spock for being so "logical" in a dire situation.
One thing this episode did that seemed to set a pattern in Trek right up to Enterprise was play up a certain level of antagonism humans seem to have for Vulcans. One message here that has been played out several times since is that perhaps Vulcans are unsuited to commanding humans because humans cannot appreciate their decision making ability. Even in the TNG episode Redemption I thought Data was kind of a stand in for the idea of Vulcan's in command.
I for one find Boma's behavior very realistic and expected. Apart from our main heroes, the people present in the shuttlecraft were probably all experts on the esoteric issue of mini-quasars. Highly skilled scientists, argumentative doubters of established fact - and, only incidentally, also Starfleet officers.
A scientist who isn't insubordinate wouldn't be justified to carry the title and collect the pay. Boma must be able to argue down Spock whenever the Vulcan is wrong about a scientific fact. Not gently suggest, not politely correct, but downright denounce his superiors when they don't see the truth of the matter. Boma just applied his training on an issue that wasn't what his training was meant for.
It would be nice to know what sort of training Latimer and Gaetano had. Neither of them wore a red shirt. Probably both had last held a phaser in basic training...
Timo Saloniemi
A scientist who isn't insubordinate wouldn't be justified to carry the title and collect the pay. Boma must be able to argue down Spock whenever the Vulcan is wrong about a scientific fact. Not gently suggest, not politely correct, but downright denounce his superiors when they don't see the truth of the matter. Boma just applied his training on an issue that wasn't what his training was meant for.
It would be nice to know what sort of training Latimer and Gaetano had. Neither of them wore a red shirt. Probably both had last held a phaser in basic training...
Timo Saloniemi
That's nice - thank you for sharing but were talking about the episode...
Sorry. I'll get me coat...
That's nice - thank you for sharing but were talking about the episode...
Sorry. I'll get me coat...
Oh the epsisode! Sorry, I digressed...
That's nice - thank you for sharing but were talking about the episode...
Sorry. I'll get me coat...
Oh the epsisode! Sorry, I digressed...
A silly question perhaps, but was the "Seven" in the episode title refering to the name of the shuttle or indicative of the number of missing crewmen?
I liked this alot more than I remembered. The giants were quite well done. Did living in a quasar cause them to become giants?
I liked this alot more than I remembered. The giants were quite well done. Did living in a quasar cause them to become giants?
This is one of those episodes chock full of great character bits and memorable moments and a story whose premise and execution makes no sense at all.
How did an officer with so little command experience ever become first officer of one of the biggest ships in the fleet, anyway?
How did an officer with so little command experience ever become first officer of one of the biggest ships in the fleet, anyway?
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