I was probably too much drawn into the story and have overlooked a thing or two, but...
Margaret Armen's usage of other than 'THE BIG THREE' is an inspired and delightful change to freshen up the show with.
She definitely gets the McCoy/Spock dynamic, and I believe is the first to have coined the phrase "Are you out of your Vulcan mind!" - a wordplay, not unlike "Look at up in your Funk and Wagnalls" as that little tidbit, introduced in "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In", was designed to tickle the censors as "Funk" could be misheard as something that matches up to the first syllable if "Vulcan" were pronounced differently. Quip aside, her take on the big three characters is just as engaging and iconic as Fontana's or Coon's.
Two dozen light years vs what transpired later -- the goal was following a trail, per the Spock/McCoy banter about pursuing wild aquatic fowl. Plus, neither Scotty nor Spock are 100% wrong (or 100% right) about double-checking the systems, since Spock already had Scotty doing that at the story's start. Then again, Spock didn't need to bring up that earlier scene, suggesting he was doing so because Scotty was nagging Spock about not checking everything thoroughly and Scotty clearly had. Spock should have retorted a different way, but their scenes do sell a tale of a different sort.
Also, having "the guy" do yeoman duties while Spock was having Scotty doublecheck to be sure (not a dig on him but to make doubly sure given the lives of three people) is a nice small touch.
The costuming in this is great, with Tamoon and Lars getting the best and most detailed. Indeed, Lars was the answer to any critics of "miniskirts" at the time. Looks great, I don't see any problem with it.
The assault of Uhura was meant to be disturbing as to how gruesome life on Triskeleon is - it holds up well. Indeed, Chekov too also doesn't like being hit on, though the scene is meant to be more jokey. A joke that simply can't land either which way, because sexual assault isn't funny and I think Armen was aiming for that more than "the joke".
The camerawork in this story is really great at times.
And the invitable action scenes are generally really well done.
Also, when the collars light up, MUG THE CAMERA!!!
Only the Shahna/Kirk double act is allowed to be more than unwanted advances. These scenes do start to get into the "cheesy laughably bad" territory, but Armen knows how to get out of "cheese mode" and do something genuinely productive, as later scenes set up a bigger "show vs tell" regarding Shahna against Kirk. More on that in a moment.
That said, how come we have Galt telling Kirk "it's a shame", implying Kirk is going to die for a commercial break, yet at the start of the next scene the impetus whiplashes from that to the vending process. A minor rewrite was needed. Keeping in mind that Kirk had stepped in for punishment, citing that he is responsible for the actions of his crew, when Uhura is more defiant -- and he just glares at (the direction where she and Shahna were in). It does leave me scratching my head as to how many possible things he was thinking about. Maybe a moment of wordless disciplinary reaction?
Remember how, early in the story, Kirk quips "Top sargeant" to Shahna? He knows her intelligence and abilities. I'm headcanoning his rejection of her request (for asylum) and implores her to learn what the Providers teach. She could still have been of value to the Federation, but my headcanon thinks she instinctively knows how to be a leader and has more value on Triskeleon. That's my inference, incorrect or otherwise.
Indeed, Kirk's ripping off the collar alone exemplifies about 40 minutes of the story condensed into 4 seconds.
Plus, Doohan seems to be voicing all 3 of the Providers. He was goooooooooooooood.
Nitpicks aside and I didn't mention them all, Margaret was focusing on different and arguably more important ideas for display and to me, they all stand out wonderfully - just like the bulk of character interactions. IMHO, she's an unsung credit to TOS.
8/10 for me, with ease.
Margaret Armen's usage of other than 'THE BIG THREE' is an inspired and delightful change to freshen up the show with.
She definitely gets the McCoy/Spock dynamic, and I believe is the first to have coined the phrase "Are you out of your Vulcan mind!" - a wordplay, not unlike "Look at up in your Funk and Wagnalls" as that little tidbit, introduced in "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In", was designed to tickle the censors as "Funk" could be misheard as something that matches up to the first syllable if "Vulcan" were pronounced differently. Quip aside, her take on the big three characters is just as engaging and iconic as Fontana's or Coon's.
Two dozen light years vs what transpired later -- the goal was following a trail, per the Spock/McCoy banter about pursuing wild aquatic fowl. Plus, neither Scotty nor Spock are 100% wrong (or 100% right) about double-checking the systems, since Spock already had Scotty doing that at the story's start. Then again, Spock didn't need to bring up that earlier scene, suggesting he was doing so because Scotty was nagging Spock about not checking everything thoroughly and Scotty clearly had. Spock should have retorted a different way, but their scenes do sell a tale of a different sort.
Also, having "the guy" do yeoman duties while Spock was having Scotty doublecheck to be sure (not a dig on him but to make doubly sure given the lives of three people) is a nice small touch.
The costuming in this is great, with Tamoon and Lars getting the best and most detailed. Indeed, Lars was the answer to any critics of "miniskirts" at the time. Looks great, I don't see any problem with it.
The assault of Uhura was meant to be disturbing as to how gruesome life on Triskeleon is - it holds up well. Indeed, Chekov too also doesn't like being hit on, though the scene is meant to be more jokey. A joke that simply can't land either which way, because sexual assault isn't funny and I think Armen was aiming for that more than "the joke".
The camerawork in this story is really great at times.
And the invitable action scenes are generally really well done.
Also, when the collars light up, MUG THE CAMERA!!!
Only the Shahna/Kirk double act is allowed to be more than unwanted advances. These scenes do start to get into the "cheesy laughably bad" territory, but Armen knows how to get out of "cheese mode" and do something genuinely productive, as later scenes set up a bigger "show vs tell" regarding Shahna against Kirk. More on that in a moment.
That said, how come we have Galt telling Kirk "it's a shame", implying Kirk is going to die for a commercial break, yet at the start of the next scene the impetus whiplashes from that to the vending process. A minor rewrite was needed. Keeping in mind that Kirk had stepped in for punishment, citing that he is responsible for the actions of his crew, when Uhura is more defiant -- and he just glares at (the direction where she and Shahna were in). It does leave me scratching my head as to how many possible things he was thinking about. Maybe a moment of wordless disciplinary reaction?
Remember how, early in the story, Kirk quips "Top sargeant" to Shahna? He knows her intelligence and abilities. I'm headcanoning his rejection of her request (for asylum) and implores her to learn what the Providers teach. She could still have been of value to the Federation, but my headcanon thinks she instinctively knows how to be a leader and has more value on Triskeleon. That's my inference, incorrect or otherwise.
Indeed, Kirk's ripping off the collar alone exemplifies about 40 minutes of the story condensed into 4 seconds.
Plus, Doohan seems to be voicing all 3 of the Providers. He was goooooooooooooood.
Nitpicks aside and I didn't mention them all, Margaret was focusing on different and arguably more important ideas for display and to me, they all stand out wonderfully - just like the bulk of character interactions. IMHO, she's an unsung credit to TOS.
8/10 for me, with ease.
