The Great Chronological Run-Through
- Thread starter Deranged Nasat
- Start date
^Which isn't so different from their standard designation (in the Concordance and Memory Alpha, for instance) as the M-113 creatures. Although it sounds oddly Borg-influenced.
I could see the Federation adopting that sort of designation system for dangerous and relatively unknown life-forms. After all, the Borg designation the Federation uses most frequently is Species 8472. They don't know what the 8472s call themselves (ignoring STO's "Undine", and given that in the prime timeline they haven't heard the "Groundskeepers" label), so they are pretty much the only species that the Federation knows primarily by its Borg designation. Since the Federation's understanding of the species is generally limited to "mysterious, powerful, DO NOT PROVOKE", I could see some of the Threat Analyst types in Starfleet Tactical adopting the "Species (X)" system for mysterious boogiemen beings as yet unknown diplomatically. Place of origin rather than number, apparently, but there you go...
^But given how much death and destruction the Borg have caused (especially in the novelverse), the Federation adopting their nomenclature would be kind of like us adopting Nazi nomenclature. I'd think the Borg associations would poison such usages in most minds.
Besides, "Species Planet-Name" makes no sense, since planets, as a rule, have more than one species on them! I guess it could be shorthand for a fuller designation, but still, it's a strange usage.
Besides, "Species Planet-Name" makes no sense, since planets, as a rule, have more than one species on them! I guess it could be shorthand for a fuller designation, but still, it's a strange usage.
I don't mean to suggest that they're thinking in terms of Borg use, or that they're deliberately following the Borg's example at all. It just seems to me that the Groundskeepers are known to most of the Federation analysts as "Species 8472". Since the species occupies a very exclusive category as a poorly-understood, highly dangerous threat force (looking at them from a certain perspective, I mean, talking here about those people in certain branches of Starfleet who talk about Big Threats From Beyond, not the Federation as a whole), it seems to me that we could speculate that a habit forms of using convenient shorthand of this type when categorizing the more exotic and "difficult" aliens. Possibly the precedent is set? Species X. In theory, the fact that the label "Species 8472" comes from the Borg isn't necessarily relevant - that's what Federation records list them as. Maybe three hundred years from now they'll still be thought of/referred to as Species 8472, and many won't even care that the label originated among the Borg? Assuming relations with Fluidic Space haven't normalized, of course.
Well, in this scenario, it wouldn't be every species that gets a designation, far from it. Only the scary, dangerous, sapient ones that the Federation hasn't yet really built ties with and doesn't have a means to communicate with reliably, the species that the more hawkish members of Starfleet Tactical, etc., review in terms of threat. There's only one species on M-113 that's of interest in those terms.
Of course, since STO isn't part of the continuity I'm dealing with here, it doesn't matter either way. I just felt like speculating.
But such a system is already in use: Andoria(ns), Vulcan(s), Romulus/Romulans -> single species named for planet.
Even in real life, when we talk about Terrans we refer to Humans only. A dog is technically Terran, but only the dominant species of a planet is actually named after the planet.
Of course, the point that the label "Species 8472" is problematic to some in that it's a (for want of a better word) dehumanizing label assigned by a force that saw the Groundskeepers in terms of how it could utilize them and not as anything to be respected for its own autonomy, is a valid one. I can certainly understand why the idea of the Federation borrowing Borg-style designation systems would appear problematic. In terms of realism, though, I imagine it's inescapable that at least some of those within the Federation system would adopt that form of usage in certain scenarios. The Federation as a whole would presumably try to relate to a given species as its own species, but I'd still expect certain branches and services to be trading terms that, from another perspective, are uncomfortable. For example, referring to a given foe as "Species X", even though it does come from a similar place - to some degree - as the Borg system; that is, evaluating a species by its relationship to your own culture's interests.
But I don't think that's quite the same as calling us "Species Earth." A label like "Terran" or "Vulcan" is really used more like an indicator of nationality (a demonym) than one of biology, although Trek does tend to treat those as interchangeable.
"The Naked Time"
I like this one quite a bit; it's got a lot going for it. A nice unfolding medical mystery, genuinely funny humour (it’s really quite amusing watching Sulu and Riley wander around being silly), and plenty of emotional drama, none of it overblown. We also get yet more insight into the multi-functional role of a starship. Here, it's scientific research and response to unusual or dangerous phenomena, as well as another look at Starfleet's role in the oversight of outlying stations and facilities. Despite the inevitable unfolding crisis, this one really does feel like a routine mission, and that's true of a lot of these recent (early TOS season one) episodes. After the Enterprise era, in which the open-ended mission was either "fly around and see where Archer wants to stick his fingers today", or in the later seasons, periodic response to high-level diplomatic dilemmas or military objectives, it's important that we get a sense of how the (by now long-established) Federation Starfleet functions and what it's used for.
I also quite like these early log entries, in which Kirk often summarises events in hindsight, and we’re treated to a report from after the fact, rather than the linear commentary and exposition they later become (although entries like that do crop up here as well). In terms of the wider universe – since Archer followed the "record blandly as you go" model - I just chalk this one up to Kirk’s idiosyncratic style, which is quite a welcome detail. I mean, why not make your reports a story of sorts? I guess Kirk relates to events that affect his ship and crew as a emotionally-charged narrative that he must later reflect over. He's a contemplative person. The impact of events is affecting him after the fact, leading to a more evaluative and personal feel to the logs, not just dry reports for the archives or for whomever pours over them back at command. It further conveys that sense that a starship captain in this era is rather alone and burdened by the almost unhealthy responsibility of their post (That’s going to be essential for several later episodes, where we see captains break under the stress).
Continuity
Decontamination can now take place in the transporter pad behind forcefield containment, meaning that the decon chamber of Enterprise is no longer in use. Sulu will take off his clothes anyway.
The Psi 2000 incident is far more important to the metastory than it might seem. That time travel incident at the end will become essential to explaining Enterprise’s later time travel adventures, as detailed in Forgotten History, and therefore serves as the catalyst for Federation experimentation and research into the subject. Before long, we’ll have the Department of Temporal Investigations, the slingshot time warp, and all that results from their creation. Psi 2000 saved the whales, and therefore Earth. You didn't die in vain, Joe. On a far lesser note, the disease encountered here will of course come back somehow in 2364.
Those cold-weather environment suits make it look like they’re dressed in Tholian costumes. I like to think that’s deliberate, that some joker back at design headquarters has decided that if they keep you warm…
Next Time: "Charlie X"
I like this one quite a bit; it's got a lot going for it. A nice unfolding medical mystery, genuinely funny humour (it’s really quite amusing watching Sulu and Riley wander around being silly), and plenty of emotional drama, none of it overblown. We also get yet more insight into the multi-functional role of a starship. Here, it's scientific research and response to unusual or dangerous phenomena, as well as another look at Starfleet's role in the oversight of outlying stations and facilities. Despite the inevitable unfolding crisis, this one really does feel like a routine mission, and that's true of a lot of these recent (early TOS season one) episodes. After the Enterprise era, in which the open-ended mission was either "fly around and see where Archer wants to stick his fingers today", or in the later seasons, periodic response to high-level diplomatic dilemmas or military objectives, it's important that we get a sense of how the (by now long-established) Federation Starfleet functions and what it's used for.
I also quite like these early log entries, in which Kirk often summarises events in hindsight, and we’re treated to a report from after the fact, rather than the linear commentary and exposition they later become (although entries like that do crop up here as well). In terms of the wider universe – since Archer followed the "record blandly as you go" model - I just chalk this one up to Kirk’s idiosyncratic style, which is quite a welcome detail. I mean, why not make your reports a story of sorts? I guess Kirk relates to events that affect his ship and crew as a emotionally-charged narrative that he must later reflect over. He's a contemplative person. The impact of events is affecting him after the fact, leading to a more evaluative and personal feel to the logs, not just dry reports for the archives or for whomever pours over them back at command. It further conveys that sense that a starship captain in this era is rather alone and burdened by the almost unhealthy responsibility of their post (That’s going to be essential for several later episodes, where we see captains break under the stress).
Continuity
Decontamination can now take place in the transporter pad behind forcefield containment, meaning that the decon chamber of Enterprise is no longer in use. Sulu will take off his clothes anyway.
The Psi 2000 incident is far more important to the metastory than it might seem. That time travel incident at the end will become essential to explaining Enterprise’s later time travel adventures, as detailed in Forgotten History, and therefore serves as the catalyst for Federation experimentation and research into the subject. Before long, we’ll have the Department of Temporal Investigations, the slingshot time warp, and all that results from their creation. Psi 2000 saved the whales, and therefore Earth. You didn't die in vain, Joe. On a far lesser note, the disease encountered here will of course come back somehow in 2364.
Those cold-weather environment suits make it look like they’re dressed in Tholian costumes. I like to think that’s deliberate, that some joker back at design headquarters has decided that if they keep you warm…
Next Time: "Charlie X"
Of course, without that later context, the time-travel ending is totally random and pointless. It was meant to lead into "Tomorrow is Yesterday," but when Roddenberry decided against that, they should've just dropped the time-travel angle from this one.
Indeed. But since you did fix that in terms of making this a coherent universe, all is well.
I propose a formal dance in the bowling alley, and ice cream.
It may not be part of this chronological run-through, but The Janus Gate trilogy bills itself as coming right after "The Naked Time". I need to get around to reading it.
Sorry for the delay. Life has been busy. I'll try to get back into the swing of things this week. Much Trek to go!
^Err, that was Enterprise1701 who posted just before you.
"Charlie X"
I was unusual, it seems, in my poor opinion of "The Enemy Within". This episode has some similar ideas (vaguely floating around the same ballpark, anyway) but is, I think, a lot better. I found it engaging and very enjoyable. Charlie was a great villain/guest and the actor was fantastic. He was endearing and sympathetic, and menacing in the perfectly alarming way of someone who doesn't intend to be. No posturing or ill-intent beyond the momentary frustrated tantrums, just sociopathy. Whereas I had issues with Evil Kirk because he didn't actually exist - those psychological traits he represented wouldn't exist in isolation anyway, so I didn't see what insights we were actually getting into Kirk's character beyond basics about integrated aggression and the like that were handled with far more success and subtlety in the pilot - this is a genuine character piece that has a lot to say about how people work. Charlie hasn't been socialized, he can't function among other humans. He desperately needs and desires to, as he openly pleads at the end, because the Thasians can't provide the stimulus a human needs, but absent any process of interaction growing up, and more importantly crippled by his powers which leave him no incentive to actually learn and submit to the various unspoken rules, he has no hope of gaining what he needs. The Thasians saved him and helped him live, but they've also doomed him to isolation and, I'm pretty certain, insanity.
Much like Charlie himself, who is very pleasant and sympathetic much of the time while being genuinely menacing, the Thasians therefore have a whiff of horror about them despite being a benevolent presence. Their empathy and assistance carries a steep price tag, and its great to have a sense of peaceable contact between species that carries with it the potential for things to go horribly wrong or wind up warped simply as an accidental side-effect. The whole affair is a tragedy (and I'm not using that word in its technical sense, because no-one brought it about, it's just a terrible situation). As our first "omnipotent trickster" episode, it's great that the focus is actually on mundane matters that are rendered insurmountable by the magic powers and not in fact on the chaos those powers are causing.
I also like the sense of friendship and community in the episode; Uhura's friendly send-up of Spock in the mess, and everyone's enjoyment of it (including Spock's) was genuinely funny and very heartening.
Spock and McCoy's enjoyable back and forth regarding Thasus near the beginning is interesting too, not only for their relationship but for the sense that Starfleet now has a lengthy history of exploration and has charted many worlds and systems, but many of these are still nonetheless mysteries. Thasus is a known location (either Starfleet has been there or has records from those who have) and its vanished civilization is a matter of common enough knowledge, but there's clearly no in-depth analysis or regular visits to the planet.
Continuity
The Antares uniform sports the hoof insignia of the Tellar Space Administration branch of Starfleet; Kirk references a report to UESPA headquarters.
Next Time: A novel again! Remember way back when Archer and co discovered the remnants of an ancient civilization and learned about superweapons in boxes? Well, the first of these is discovered in The Brave and the Bold, book one, "The First Artefact".
I was unusual, it seems, in my poor opinion of "The Enemy Within". This episode has some similar ideas (vaguely floating around the same ballpark, anyway) but is, I think, a lot better. I found it engaging and very enjoyable. Charlie was a great villain/guest and the actor was fantastic. He was endearing and sympathetic, and menacing in the perfectly alarming way of someone who doesn't intend to be. No posturing or ill-intent beyond the momentary frustrated tantrums, just sociopathy. Whereas I had issues with Evil Kirk because he didn't actually exist - those psychological traits he represented wouldn't exist in isolation anyway, so I didn't see what insights we were actually getting into Kirk's character beyond basics about integrated aggression and the like that were handled with far more success and subtlety in the pilot - this is a genuine character piece that has a lot to say about how people work. Charlie hasn't been socialized, he can't function among other humans. He desperately needs and desires to, as he openly pleads at the end, because the Thasians can't provide the stimulus a human needs, but absent any process of interaction growing up, and more importantly crippled by his powers which leave him no incentive to actually learn and submit to the various unspoken rules, he has no hope of gaining what he needs. The Thasians saved him and helped him live, but they've also doomed him to isolation and, I'm pretty certain, insanity.
Much like Charlie himself, who is very pleasant and sympathetic much of the time while being genuinely menacing, the Thasians therefore have a whiff of horror about them despite being a benevolent presence. Their empathy and assistance carries a steep price tag, and its great to have a sense of peaceable contact between species that carries with it the potential for things to go horribly wrong or wind up warped simply as an accidental side-effect. The whole affair is a tragedy (and I'm not using that word in its technical sense, because no-one brought it about, it's just a terrible situation). As our first "omnipotent trickster" episode, it's great that the focus is actually on mundane matters that are rendered insurmountable by the magic powers and not in fact on the chaos those powers are causing.
I also like the sense of friendship and community in the episode; Uhura's friendly send-up of Spock in the mess, and everyone's enjoyment of it (including Spock's) was genuinely funny and very heartening.
Spock and McCoy's enjoyable back and forth regarding Thasus near the beginning is interesting too, not only for their relationship but for the sense that Starfleet now has a lengthy history of exploration and has charted many worlds and systems, but many of these are still nonetheless mysteries. Thasus is a known location (either Starfleet has been there or has records from those who have) and its vanished civilization is a matter of common enough knowledge, but there's clearly no in-depth analysis or regular visits to the planet.
Continuity
The Antares uniform sports the hoof insignia of the Tellar Space Administration branch of Starfleet; Kirk references a report to UESPA headquarters.
Next Time: A novel again! Remember way back when Archer and co discovered the remnants of an ancient civilization and learned about superweapons in boxes? Well, the first of these is discovered in The Brave and the Bold, book one, "The First Artefact".
The Brave and the Bold: The First Artefact
AKA, a very bad day in the life of a small town, with Kirk playing both the Federation stuffed suit and the military dictator, to his general discomfort - while Decker is on hand to be the maverick (yet demonstrates how complex Kirk is by not being at all antagonistic to the current necessities of those roles).
It's an interesting sign of how expansive the Federation has become that its constituent worlds have colonies well-established enough to be functional independent members in their own right. Vega and Alpha Centauri, etc., are different; they were already established when the Federation formed; here we visit a planet that was founded from the Federation. Settled less than a century ago, Alpha Proxima II has a population of over a million and is a full member of the UFP with Council representation. In spite of this, it still retains a sense of distance from the core populations. It comes across as a relative backwater that is nonetheless large and prosperous enough to give a sense of how far the Federation has progressed. Colonization pushes have left societies a million strong scattered happily across the general region, no big deal.
I like the sense of a - how shall I put this? - "small town" setting to the story, not only in terms of the planet itself but in the mundane nature of the characters we encounter here. The villain of the piece being simply a disturbed civil servant who was pushed over the edge by Malkus' sweet telepathic nothings and hasn't any plan or purpose beyond opportunistic strikes; the chief of police who finds herself running the planet, and just does the best she can. The resistance to martial law is also a nice touch; we see that the people of the Federation, perhaps especially on the newer worlds that form this intriguing band between "vulnerable frontier outpost" and "heavily settled core world", distrust the imposition of Starfleet and resist its heavy hand even when that hand is very arguably far less ambiguous in its implications or necessity than the Starfleeters themselves are making it out to be (they take their responsibilities almost over-seriously, which is better than the alternative, one assumes they reason). We've seen Starfleet-colonist tensions in Vanguard, but those are small, newly settled colonies in a hostile and politically unstable region; this is implicitly the quiet, prosperous back reaches of known Federation territory, and the colony is well-established. The sense of resistance to overbearing central authority in balance with the need to cohesion and oversight is a theme that resonates throughout the 23rd Century stories, I find. After all, the setting is the (final) frontier. Seeing as the main protagonists tend to be officers charged with great potential freedom and equally great responsibility, often clashing with by-the-book, officious representatives spat out to the outer sectors by that distant and apparently quite rigid Federation core, the overall sense is of a large and layered civilization that encompasses all manner of social experience and expectations. The Federation is not a homogenous mass by any means, and I'm glad the stories explore this.
First Appearances of Things That Are Important
Willard Decker, who appears briefly interacting with his father, and is made the subject of conversation on several other occasions. We met Matthew Decker previously in Harbinger, very briefly (he was mould-scraping out in the Taurus Reach), and here he and his crew get their day in the sun. Establishing him as a fleshed-out character here should add greater impact to his impending death, and that of his crew. I look forward to seeing how that works out.
There are several other details that are mentioned here for the first time in this chronology. Chapel's lost fiancé and her history writing with him on the topic of historical/archaeological medicine is revealed, as is McCoy's history on Capella IV, a planet which we'll visit soon enough.
Also, of course, immortal Zalkatian genius Aidulac makes her first appearance; along with the boxes themselves and the "starship team up" idea, she'll be one of the threads stringing these stories together. In the same sense as the colonist characters and this instalment's villain, there's something charmingly small-scale about her in spite of her being an immortal scientific genius - she hasn't got any grand plan, and can do little but back off once her initial effort to retrieve the artefact fails.
Continuity
Again, we have the pleasing and logical reminder that Kirk isn't yet a Starfleet legend; more talk of "Enterprise - that's Pike, right?".
I believe this is the first time that the number of Constitution-class ships in service has been confirmed as 12. I might be wrong though.
Next Time: "Balance of Terror". Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutant! BUT IN SPACE!
AKA, a very bad day in the life of a small town, with Kirk playing both the Federation stuffed suit and the military dictator, to his general discomfort - while Decker is on hand to be the maverick (yet demonstrates how complex Kirk is by not being at all antagonistic to the current necessities of those roles).
It's an interesting sign of how expansive the Federation has become that its constituent worlds have colonies well-established enough to be functional independent members in their own right. Vega and Alpha Centauri, etc., are different; they were already established when the Federation formed; here we visit a planet that was founded from the Federation. Settled less than a century ago, Alpha Proxima II has a population of over a million and is a full member of the UFP with Council representation. In spite of this, it still retains a sense of distance from the core populations. It comes across as a relative backwater that is nonetheless large and prosperous enough to give a sense of how far the Federation has progressed. Colonization pushes have left societies a million strong scattered happily across the general region, no big deal.
I like the sense of a - how shall I put this? - "small town" setting to the story, not only in terms of the planet itself but in the mundane nature of the characters we encounter here. The villain of the piece being simply a disturbed civil servant who was pushed over the edge by Malkus' sweet telepathic nothings and hasn't any plan or purpose beyond opportunistic strikes; the chief of police who finds herself running the planet, and just does the best she can. The resistance to martial law is also a nice touch; we see that the people of the Federation, perhaps especially on the newer worlds that form this intriguing band between "vulnerable frontier outpost" and "heavily settled core world", distrust the imposition of Starfleet and resist its heavy hand even when that hand is very arguably far less ambiguous in its implications or necessity than the Starfleeters themselves are making it out to be (they take their responsibilities almost over-seriously, which is better than the alternative, one assumes they reason). We've seen Starfleet-colonist tensions in Vanguard, but those are small, newly settled colonies in a hostile and politically unstable region; this is implicitly the quiet, prosperous back reaches of known Federation territory, and the colony is well-established. The sense of resistance to overbearing central authority in balance with the need to cohesion and oversight is a theme that resonates throughout the 23rd Century stories, I find. After all, the setting is the (final) frontier. Seeing as the main protagonists tend to be officers charged with great potential freedom and equally great responsibility, often clashing with by-the-book, officious representatives spat out to the outer sectors by that distant and apparently quite rigid Federation core, the overall sense is of a large and layered civilization that encompasses all manner of social experience and expectations. The Federation is not a homogenous mass by any means, and I'm glad the stories explore this.
First Appearances of Things That Are Important
Willard Decker, who appears briefly interacting with his father, and is made the subject of conversation on several other occasions. We met Matthew Decker previously in Harbinger, very briefly (he was mould-scraping out in the Taurus Reach), and here he and his crew get their day in the sun. Establishing him as a fleshed-out character here should add greater impact to his impending death, and that of his crew. I look forward to seeing how that works out.
There are several other details that are mentioned here for the first time in this chronology. Chapel's lost fiancé and her history writing with him on the topic of historical/archaeological medicine is revealed, as is McCoy's history on Capella IV, a planet which we'll visit soon enough.
Also, of course, immortal Zalkatian genius Aidulac makes her first appearance; along with the boxes themselves and the "starship team up" idea, she'll be one of the threads stringing these stories together. In the same sense as the colonist characters and this instalment's villain, there's something charmingly small-scale about her in spite of her being an immortal scientific genius - she hasn't got any grand plan, and can do little but back off once her initial effort to retrieve the artefact fails.
Continuity
Again, we have the pleasing and logical reminder that Kirk isn't yet a Starfleet legend; more talk of "Enterprise - that's Pike, right?".
I believe this is the first time that the number of Constitution-class ships in service has been confirmed as 12. I might be wrong though.
Next Time: "Balance of Terror". Ave Caesar! Morituri te salutant! BUT IN SPACE!
What timing. On Memory Beta, the latest edit relates to this story.
I hereby appoint you Official KRAD Baseball Reference Investigator for the remainder of the thread. I have a feeling your services will be required....
I didn't know that, Mr. Laser Beam.
I hereby appoint you Official KRAD Baseball Reference Investigator for the remainder of the thread. I have a feeling your services will be required....Similar threads
