The world is long since over, and the nuStone age people are still trying to "win". The name makes sense to me. Along the lines of The Omega Man.
The Omega Glory...
- Thread starter Riker'sMailbox
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Same here! I loved the contrast between Kirk and Tracey, the actors played the characters well, and I felt this incident was the straw that broke the camel's back for Capt. Tracey. I found the character very interesting and wondered what lead to him falling down that rabbit hole?I loved this episode. One of my favorites.
I think Captain Tracy is one of the best TOS villains, definitely.
The planet was Omega IV
I'm in the camp that enjoys this episode. It has a Twilight Zone opening, with the collapsed uniforms, and the video log playback culminating in its direct relation to the doctor's remains. Captain Tracy is a great character. There's lots of action with excellent music. You get some outdoor scenes with sunlight and distance instead of Stage 10.
Toward the end, there's one of the best Communicator close-ups of the series (it was Kappa, as we now call it). And Shatner delivers a rousing soliloquy with the Preamble and that "One Man with a Vision" Alexander Courage library music I love so much. So theatrical, so over the top... right in Shatner's wheelhouse even if he is a Canadian.
Toward the end, there's one of the best Communicator close-ups of the series (it was Kappa, as we now call it). And Shatner delivers a rousing soliloquy with the Preamble and that "One Man with a Vision" Alexander Courage library music I love so much. So theatrical, so over the top... right in Shatner's wheelhouse even if he is a Canadian.
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Yeah, but why? Particularly when that's not a sensible or astronomically correct name for a planetary system.
Morgan Woodward was great in both his guest appearances.
I like this episode, a lot, and I think this is one if not the best "Prime Directive for non-interference" episodes, ever.
THIS is what they meant, not stupid things that came later about letting people get wiped out because they aren't advanced enough. Tracey set himself up really good as the defender of the Kohms and eventual "bringer of the secret of incredibly long life" to the universe. He was looking out for number one and didn't care how many Yangs had to bite the dust for it to happen. I don't think this episode is a clunker at all.
I like this episode, a lot, and I think this is one if not the best "Prime Directive for non-interference" episodes, ever.
THIS is what they meant, not stupid things that came later about letting people get wiped out because they aren't advanced enough. Tracey set himself up really good as the defender of the Kohms and eventual "bringer of the secret of incredibly long life" to the universe. He was looking out for number one and didn't care how many Yangs had to bite the dust for it to happen. I don't think this episode is a clunker at all.
No worse than Psi 2000, Alpha 3, or Delta Vega.
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BTW, I hope certain posters are not Americans, because the Pledge of Allegiance, U S Constitution, and Old Testament are referenced documents in this episode but the Declaration of Independence is not.
That's right. I would say a lot of planet names are un-official, basically nicknames, and some star names as well, and they originated when private interests went out and did their own scouting in the hopes of acquiring property. "We got here first, we can name the place whatever we like. Guys, can we call this one Sherman's Planet, after my strictly Platonic girlfriend Holly Sherman?"
I'm sure Delta Vega was named by the Galactic Mining Company (a division of 3M).
And then there's the catalogs. Look at Holberg 917G (Flint's hideout, also in the "Omega" solar system). Holberg is likely a private-sector catalog of known habitable planets (because all known exo-planets planets detected by astronomers might number in the billions by Star Trek's time). It's not a government or military naming scheme.
There's little doubt that Captain Tracy's "Omega IV" also had a Holberg designation, probably in the 900s. Another obvious catalog name is planet M113 in "The Man Trap." That might just be shorthand for Holberg 113, with the whole catalog being Class M planets.
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Yeah, but . . . "The Earth Glory." "The Capella IV Child." "The Ardana Minders." "The Sigma Draconis Brain."
It's a severely underrated episode with a terrible name.
It's a severely underrated episode with a terrible name.
Shatner reciting the "We The People" is one of my favourite things of all Trek. Its just such a gloriously over the top performance, but also has a raw power behind it I find alluring. The message that these important words could have their meaning and intent distorted or outright forgotten over centuries or milennia feels astonishly relevant in the politically partisan 21st century, where the foundation stones of American society are constantly debated and interpreted by people who could not possibly have understood or known the intent of those founders. It takes a Canadian actor to point this out, of course. 
I also love the concept of Captain Ron Tracey. He's the proof in the pudding that, in Kirk's time at least, humans are not so 'evolved' as to be beyond greed and other such things. He punctures the utopian myth, and brings Star Trek back into the realm of how real people really act. Also, another really powerful reflection of Kirk: here is another great and glorious Starfleet Captain, a Captain of a constitution class vessel no less, potentially Kirk's equal in literally every way, but corrupted, and Kirk's disappointment at that is profound. Them fighting it out at the end brings us back to raw humanity at its worst, a fight for survival.
I really love "The Omega Glory".
I also love the concept of Captain Ron Tracey. He's the proof in the pudding that, in Kirk's time at least, humans are not so 'evolved' as to be beyond greed and other such things. He punctures the utopian myth, and brings Star Trek back into the realm of how real people really act. Also, another really powerful reflection of Kirk: here is another great and glorious Starfleet Captain, a Captain of a constitution class vessel no less, potentially Kirk's equal in literally every way, but corrupted, and Kirk's disappointment at that is profound. Them fighting it out at the end brings us back to raw humanity at its worst, a fight for survival.
I really love "The Omega Glory".
Shatner reciting the "We The People" is one of my favourite things of all Trek. Its just such a gloriously over the top performance, but also has a raw power behind it I find alluring. The message that these important words could have their meaning and intent distorted or outright forgotten over centuries or milennia feels astonishly relevant in the politically partisan 21st century, where the foundation stones of American society are constantly debated and interpreted by people who could not possibly have understood or known the intent of those founders. It takes a Canadian actor to point this out, of course.
I also love the concept of Captain Ron Tracey. He's the proof in the pudding that, in Kirk's time at least, humans are not so 'evolved' as to be beyond greed and other such things. He punctures the utopian myth, and brings Star Trek back into the realm of how real people really act. Also, another really powerful reflection of Kirk: here is another great and glorious Starfleet Captain, a Captain of a constitution class vessel no less, potentially Kirk's equal in literally every way, but corrupted, and Kirk's disappointment at that is profound. Them fighting it out at the end brings us back to raw humanity at its worst, a fight for survival.
I really love "The Omega Glory".
Tracy is a really nasty adversary for all those reasons and more. One of my favorites. He makes me grit my teeth every time he's on the screen.
And, Omega Glory has one of my favorite all-time McCoy lines:
"I've found that evil usually triumphs....unless good is very, VERY careful." So simple....but so profoundly true.
That is a great line, and it's true in real life. But it runs contrary to every episode of Star Trek where Kirk (or Janeway or Archer...) plunge into danger without a thought, and then triumph against long odds due to an insane stroke of luck. So McCoy couldn't have learned this lesson from the show he's on.
He doesn't watch much science fiction. He prefers reality shows and crime proceduralsThat is a great line, and it's true in real life. But it runs contrary to every episode of Star Trek where Kirk (or Janeway or Archer...) plunge into danger without a thought, and then triumph against long odds due to an insane stroke of luck. So McCoy couldn't have learned this lesson from the show he's on.
How real people really act in your neck of woods may be more like Tracey and I hope you find a path to getting away from that. TBH I believe people are reaching for utopia more in their normal life than the wickedness of a few, and Tracey doesn't puncture the utopian myth, its a belief, and a lifestyle like other faiths. You either have it, like my American forefathers for example, or you don't, but there's no need for such cynicism on a concept, human beings should be reaching beyond themselves... even when we fail, it's closer to what Star Trek truly is. Utopia is not a bad thing to believe in or hope people can achieve.Shatner reciting the "We The People" is one of my favourite things of all Trek. Its just such a gloriously over the top performance, but also has a raw power behind it I find alluring. The message that these important words could have their meaning and intent distorted or outright forgotten over centuries or milennia feels astonishly relevant in the politically partisan 21st century, where the foundation stones of American society are constantly debated and interpreted by people who could not possibly have understood or known the intent of those founders. It takes a Canadian actor to point this out, of course.
I also love the concept of Captain Ron Tracey. He's the proof in the pudding that, in Kirk's time at least, humans are not so 'evolved' as to be beyond greed and other such things. He punctures the utopian myth, and brings Star Trek back into the realm of how real people really act. Also, another really powerful reflection of Kirk: here is another great and glorious Starfleet Captain, a Captain of a constitution class vessel no less, potentially Kirk's equal in literally every way, but corrupted, and Kirk's disappointment at that is profound. Them fighting it out at the end brings us back to raw humanity at its worst, a fight for survival.
I really love "The Omega Glory".
I hear you. Star Trek is aspirational. That's a good thing, and certainly, the idealism is what makes it unique (even today, most sci-fi still veers towards dystopia). But Tracey represents another aspect of the human condition that is important not to lose: that humans are still flawed, humans still make errors, humans can still be driven under the wrong circumstances towards the bad path. Captain Tracey, Lord Garth, Captain Maxwell, Cadet Locarno, Admiral Dougherty, these characters are necessary in Star Trek so that humanity is not painted as a single homogeneous species, that even after enlightenment we are capable of being fallen angels. Each of them, crucially, believes in the rightness of their own convictions, even if they're literally insane. And they're an important contrast to the lead characters, the heroes. In order for the majority of Earth humans to be inherently good, there need to be a few who aren't. As long as they aren't lead characters... that would, fundamentally, but antiethical to the Star Trek spirit, co-operating, reaching for the stars, etc. Earth in Star Trek's future is a better society. But it shouldn't be mistaken for a perfect society. Or at least, there should always be room for improvement.
However Captain Tracey probably had a very good record before this and probably would have continued doing a good job if this incident hadn't happened.
What I don't get is this "greed" thing. When and how did Tracey display such a trait?
If he just wanted the secret of eternal life for himself, he could have gone the easy route. He could see the Yangs were winning. He looked like a Yang himself. He could have joined them at any time. And when the flag was marched out, he would have been as quick as Kirk to catch on and exploit the situation.
Instead, he locked destinies with the doomed Kohms, defending them to the very last. This seriously endangered any plans he had on living till the next sunrise, let alone forever. And the Kohms had nothing to offer that he couldn't have gotten from the Yangs - except civilization of the sort he was accustomed to defending.
It's fun to see Kirk facing a villain who is such a mirror image of himself: similarly trained in Kirk-Fu, a mean phaserslinger and no klutz with the knife, either, ruthless and resourceful, quick to take advantage of his environs and the most recent plot twist. Battling Decker might also have been like this if that villain weren't having an off day (he did make short work of that security guard, though, in a competent fight worthy of a starship captain). No "real" villain ever came close: aliens might have been meaner, or physically or intellectually more than the match of Kirk, but they never fought like Kirk did. Not even Klingons, although it would have been glorious...
Timo Saloniemi
If he just wanted the secret of eternal life for himself, he could have gone the easy route. He could see the Yangs were winning. He looked like a Yang himself. He could have joined them at any time. And when the flag was marched out, he would have been as quick as Kirk to catch on and exploit the situation.
Instead, he locked destinies with the doomed Kohms, defending them to the very last. This seriously endangered any plans he had on living till the next sunrise, let alone forever. And the Kohms had nothing to offer that he couldn't have gotten from the Yangs - except civilization of the sort he was accustomed to defending.
It's fun to see Kirk facing a villain who is such a mirror image of himself: similarly trained in Kirk-Fu, a mean phaserslinger and no klutz with the knife, either, ruthless and resourceful, quick to take advantage of his environs and the most recent plot twist. Battling Decker might also have been like this if that villain weren't having an off day (he did make short work of that security guard, though, in a competent fight worthy of a starship captain). No "real" villain ever came close: aliens might have been meaner, or physically or intellectually more than the match of Kirk, but they never fought like Kirk did. Not even Klingons, although it would have been glorious...
Timo Saloniemi
I should have waited until Spock's Brain.
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