TheGodBen Revisits Star Trek

[Pauln6]

I love many of the first dozen episodes of TOS more than those that come later, although there are some corkers in seasons 2 and 3. Part of that comes from the slightly more ensemble feel that was diluted later on in favour of the Big Three and part of that was due to the loss of Rand before she had the chance to develop.

Considering she was the female lead, she was not well used overall but it's only really Spock and Rand that have an identifiable arc in these early shows. Issues behind the scenes aside, her problem was that she was not allowed to come out the other side and move on from her feelings for Kirk. In some ways, Dagger of the Mind could have worked better with Rand. As people have pointed out, Noel's qualification as a psychiatrist has less impact on the story than that Xmas party and it would have been the best opportunity to show Kirk and Rand working together as a team in an action setting. It would also have been a good opportunity for the characters to say out loud to each other, yeah, brain drain or not, this unspoken thing we have is really never going to work out, we have to make a conscious effort to move past it, and then they could have legitimately written stories for them both to move on.

I also, however, love Noel as a character, she's one of the better female characters in the show, being allowed to have a bit of agency, but I can't help feel that Rand was robbed of what would have been her best espisode, unless you believe that Harlan Ellison would really have left her in charge of the security team battling space pirates in City on the Edge of Forever... but we all know she would more likely have been left to make coffee for Lieutenant Redshirt.

People often comment that they don't know why Rand (or any of the other yeomen), who is essentially a secretary goes down on landing parties but, while this is a valid query, it's equally true of Kirk in most cases (as the M5 brutally points out to much drama), Spock (he is a physicist but often beams down in preference to a geologist, botanist, ecologist, archaeologist, or anthropologist), and McCoy (if there is no medical emergency he should be on board and a field medic, most likely a security guard should be part of each landing party).

The women overall are not well used. Chapel, who is a scientist and biological researcher, still plays second fiddle to McCoy, who is a surgeon, during any medical research episodes and in her big intro episode she does almost nothing to help. Ann Mulhall, who appears to be both an engineer and an astrobiologist, spends most of her episode possessed by an emotional housewife.

 

[TheGodBen]

So, I respectfully ask you to reconsider, if only a tiny bit, this otherwise negligible representative of the Trek ethos. Michael J. Pollard!!

I don't know. Michael J Fox, maybe. He's dreamy. But Michael J Pollard? When I imagine myself kissing him all I can think is "I wish he were Michael J Fox. " You know what I'm saying?

Because I'm not sure that I do.

Considering she was the female lead, she was not well used overall but it's only really Spock and Rand that have an identifiable arc in these early shows. Issues behind the scenes aside, her problem was that she was not allowed to come out the other side and move on from her feelings for Kirk.

The problem is that Rand was created specifically to have some romantic tension with Kirk, so if you get rid of that, which I absolutely agree needed to be done, then what's the purpose of her character? It could absolutely work, but they'd pretty much have to create Rand 2.0. And given how poorly depicted women often are in TOS, there's no guarantee that Rand 2.0 would be better than the original iteration.

It's a good point about you made about the ensemble, though. I have noticed that Uhura and Sulu are playing a bigger role than I remembered in these early episodes, and maybe Rand diluting the triumvirate is part of the reason. If keeping her around had allowed the show to develop a proper ensemble then it was a missed opportunity.


The Conscience of the King (***½)

As I've said before, during my first time viewing TOS I had a really difficult time getting into the show. The 60s style, the basic-looking sets, the dated visual effects, and other such differences from the more modern Trek series presented a barrier to entry that made it difficult to enjoy for me. The Conscience of the King was the first episode to break down that barrier. I don't know why, but this was the first episode to engross me in the world and the characters of this show. Perhaps it's because it's not high-concept science fiction, it's a story about characters, their pasts, and the choices they must make in the present. For whatever reason, this was the first episode of TOS I truly enjoyed and that made it easier to appreciate the episodes which came after.

Rewatching it again, it doesn't hold up quite so well as my memory of it. It's a bit slow, and some plot elements don't quite make sense. And the use of Shakespeare comes across as a little pretentious. The episode also has some oddities from a 21st century perspective. There's no discussion of using DNA evidence either on the burned body everyone thought was Kodos, or on Karidian. And the fact that there's no computer record of Karidian for the first 30 or so years of his life would be a red flag even today, in the 23rd century it's probably criminal in itself.

But still, I feel that this was a solid Kirk episode. It shows us his strengths, his weaknesses, his ruthlessness, and his compassion. His need to discover the truth about Karidian leads him down a dark path, one where he uses Riley as a pawn, and where he coldly sets out to seduce Lenore. But he doesn't let his lust for vengeance overcome him, and even when he reaches the point where Karidian is proved to be Kodos beyond all reasonable doubt, Kirk still tries to find excuses for him. I also liked the way Kodos was depicted in this episode, feeling sorrow for those who died yet still defending his actions. He's a villain, perhaps even a monster, but he's still human.

James T Flirt: 3½
Inform the Men: 0

 

[Pauln6]

The problem is that Rand was created specifically to have some romantic tension with Kirk, so if you get rid of that, which I absolutely agree needed to be done, then what's the purpose of her character? It could absolutely work, but they'd pretty much have to create Rand 2.0. And given how poorly depicted women often are in TOS, there's no guarantee that Rand 2.0 would be better than the original iteration.

It's a good point about you made about the ensemble, though. I have noticed that Uhura and Sulu are playing a bigger role than I remembered in these early episodes, and maybe Rand diluting the triumvirate is part of the reason. If keeping her around had allowed the show to develop a proper ensemble then it was a missed opportunity.

It's actually very rare to have any female character in TOS who isn't some kind of vague love interest for someone. If Uhura stands out because the censors had qualms about her getting involved in a mixed race relationship then her character is all the better for this. And what is the first thing they did with her character in the reboot? La plus ca change...

Miranda Jones stands out because she was one of the few female characters who has absolutely no interest in hooking up with a man despite everybody telling her she should be. You go girl.

But as far as Rand goes, I agree that there would have been no appetite to develop the character beyond, 'she's in love with her boss' - it was her raison s'etre and was very limiting. I find that very frustrating for her as a character. Even if they had just taken the yeoman's role to its logical conclusion, she could have been involved with diplomatic negotiations, computer operations, record checking, and in a lot of exposition, especially if she had been allowed to function more independently, like in Charlie X.

Probably a third of what Spock does could logically (no pun intended) sit squarely in the skill sets of other characters (he is essentially an astrophysicist and computer science/programming expert). It's not just a problem for Rand - her departure was partly due to personal issues of the actress - but for most of the cast except Scotty. Spock was just so popular if there was a way to get him solving a technical problem, the writers did so.

 

[TheGodBen]

The Galileo Seven (****)

The Enterprise's shuttles arrive back from their beer run with the most annoying High Commissioner in the galaxy onboard. To get away from him, Spock makes up some BS excuse about having to scan a quasar in a shuttle, which is clearly nonsense as there are no quasars in our galaxy. With him are McCoy, Scotty, not-Rand, two redshirts wearing incorrect uniforms, and the luckiest black guest character in the history of genre television. But things don't go as planned as the shuttle ends up crashing on a planet of fur coat-wearing sumo wrestlers. Still better than being stuck on the Enterprise with High Commissioner Arsehole.

The set up is an excuse to have a Spock-centric episode and an examination of his purely logical leadership style. When viewed from that angle, there are a few scenes where this episode's seams are on show. The insubordination among the lower ranked officers to Spock's choices borders on unbelievable at times. But otherwise, this is a really strong episode not only for Spock, but also as an exploration of the human condition, which is what nerds on the internet keep telling me this show is really about. Spock has to learn that pure logic isn't always the best answer, especially not when dealing with an emotional crew, culminating in Spock's “logical” decision to commit what is arguably an illogical act.

I was tempted to rate this episode just a little bit higher, but some of the arguments on the planet felt unnatural, and High Commissioner Arsehole was depicted as the worst diplomat in the galaxy. But as far as shuttle crash episodes go, I can't recall any better than this.

 

[Seven of Five]

The Conscience of the King is a weird one for me. I think there are strong moments throughout, I just find it hard to get into. I was happy to see Riley again, and wondered why he never popped up again.

Now, The Galileo Seven is one I love, even with the idiotic Commissioner. I think Commissioners, Admirals and Commodores should all be banned from travelling on the Enterprise as thee usually end up being a jerk.

I enjoyed seeing Spock trying to use logic to get out of the mess they were in, and he really got a verbal beat-down from some of the crew. Eventually they escape, which is a brilliant scene. A totally illogical act, but it was the right one.

 

[Pauln6]

I think Galileo 7 could be a great episode if tweaked so that the humans are emotionally stressed instead of grossly insubordinate and if the make-up of the shuttle crew made more sense. Two pilots, a sensor expert, a shuttle engineer, a medic, and two astrophysicists would have made most sense and they should all have got to showcase their skills.

 

[ItIsGreen]

I never thought much of The Galileo Seven to be honest, I thought it suffered from the same thing you slammed Miri for - namely, making no fucking sense.

I'd written a paragraph about how it was ridiculous the Enterprise never bothered to keep the shuttle on their sensors up until the accident happened, but I just refreshed my memory on the episode and the nebula/quasar/thing disrupts the sensors so I'll give them a pass on that one. Although the shuttle seems to get into trouble only seconds after leaving the ship so you'd think they'd have some sensor data to work from. But still:

McCoy needles Spock that this is his "chance for command", now this might be Bones just joking around but Spock doesn't correct him. He makes some comment about not desiring command, but doesn't refute the implication that this is his first command. The guy is the First Officer of a starship as well as Chief Science Officer, he's served on the ship for at least eleven years and he's never commanded a mission before?

The crew of the shuttle descends into insubordination and potentially even mutiny incredibly quickly after the crash. Much is made about their disagreement with his logical approach to command, but at the end of the day they're a bunch of junior officers and he's their freaking First Officer. When they get back to the ship the ones that didn't get killed by oversized polystyrene spears are going to be on latrine duty for the remainder of the five-year mission. I did like how Bones went from his usual jibey/borderline racist banter with Spock to taking on the advisor role he usually takes with Kirk though.

What happened to the fuel on the shuttle? Scotty remarks that there's barely enough to get off the planet and maintain an orbit, and then Spock burns what little is left in order to attract the Enterprise's attention. Where did it all go? It's not like the shuttle travelled any great distance in this episode, unlike Kirk and Mendez's shuttle in The Menagerie, when they're chasing after the Enterprise and run out of fuel. Did they tear the gas pipe in the crash? What does it run on anyway?

And I don't think High Commissioner Arsehole was actually that bad, he could have been politer but from his point of view there was a much more pressing emergency which Kirk was willfully ignoring in searching for the missing shuttle. There's a plague going on, presumably people dying by the minute and the Enterprise has the medical supplies. I'd be pretty grouchy too - at the end of the day, thousands or even millions of lives are at stake, versus seven crew members on the shuttle, only two (possibly three) of which Kirk is actually interested in saving in the first place. If it were a shuttle full of redshirts Kirk would have been out of there before you can say "He's dead, Jim". As Spock himself would later say: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few".

I get what the episode was trying to say, but it just did it in such a hamfisted way, it ended up being just a 'meh' episode for me. I'd give it 2 stars at most.

 

[Drone]

I kind of liked Commissioner Ferris. I found him authoritative without being too boorish and I loved him sticking it to Kirk at all of just the wrong moments. I also thought he was less officious than some of the others we've seen (Ambassador Fox anyone). Aside from which, he was portrayed by John Crawford, who was quite the prodigious genre actor.

As for those very respectful few on Galileo, I'm glad everyone here seems to be justly calling them out. As I recall, a recent thread found some supporters of the behavior, needless to say, particularly Boma's.

 

[Marsden]

As I've said before, during my first time viewing TOS I had a really difficult time getting into the show. The 60s style, the basic-looking sets, the dated visual effects, and other such differences from the more modern Trek series presented a barrier to entry that made it difficult to enjoy for me. The Conscience of the King was the first episode to break down that barrier. I don't know why, but this was the first episode to engross me in the world and the characters of this show. Perhaps it's because it's not high-concept science fiction, it's a story about characters, their pasts, and the choices they must make in the present. For whatever reason, this was the first episode of TOS I truly enjoyed and that made it easier to appreciate the episodes which came after.

That's something that never bothered me. I always thought the sets and effects were fine and I think they hold up better 50 years later than the spinoffs from the 80s and 90s which look much more dated to me now.

Rewatching it again, it doesn't hold up quite so well as my memory of it. It's a bit slow, and some plot elements don't quite make sense. And the use of Shakespeare comes across as a little pretentious. The episode also has some oddities from a 21st century perspective. There's no discussion of using DNA evidence either on the burned body everyone thought was Kodos, or on Karidian. And the fact that there's no computer record of Karidian for the first 30 or so years of his life would be a red flag even today, in the 23rd century it's probably criminal in itself.

I see what you are saying, but DNA was not well known and even if the writer mentioned it they would have to spend some time explaining what the hell is DNA anyway.

 

[J.T.B.]

The episode also has some oddities from a 21st century perspective. There's no discussion of using DNA evidence either on the burned body everyone thought was Kodos, or on Karidian. And the fact that there's no computer record of Karidian for the first 30 or so years of his life would be a red flag even today, in the 23rd century it's probably criminal in itself.

Yeah. The episode is basically a lifted Western plot, with the heavy trying to outrun his past out on the frontier, and the means of identification are pretty much stuck at the level of wanted posters and the telegraph. It's never bothered me, though, just part of the charm.

 

[TheGodBen]

And I don't think High Commissioner Arsehole was actually that bad, he could have been politer but from his point of view there was a much more pressing emergency which Kirk was willfully ignoring in searching for the missing shuttle. There's a plague going on, presumably people dying by the minute and the Enterprise has the medical supplies.

The High Commissioner had a reasonable point, but he went about expressing it in a needlessly antagonistic way. Instead of expressing sympathy to Kirk for the loss of his friends, instead of offering to help in some way, all he did was show up on the bridge every few hours and reminded Kirk that the clock was ticking. Maybe the High Commissioner had spent much of his career dealing with Klingons and was having trouble readjusting to Human politeness once again.

That's something that never bothered me. I always thought the sets and effects were fine and I think they hold up better 50 years later than the spinoffs from the 80s and 90s which look much more dated to me now.

I genuinely can't understand why you think that. Yes, there are certainly elements of the production design of TNG+ that have dated badly, but a majority of the production side of TOS is dated. The show's core, the characters and the stories, still hold up very well (except for the sexism), but the sets and the effects look extremely dated to me.


Court Martial (***)

In the space exploration system, officers are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the captains who command the ships, and the JAG officers who make out with them.
These are their stories.​

Following a suspicious number of deaths among his crew, the finally named Starfleet decides to investigate just what the hell is happening on Kirk's ship. It seems that an old friend of his, Finney, died in a suspicious accident, and the computer records show that Kirk is to blame. It turns out that he may have pressed the “launch pod” button instead of the “red alert” button on his arm rest. Quite frankly, that is a very easy mistake to make, the person who designed his seat is the one who should be put on trial. I mean, come on, the bridge crew is constantly being flung around the room, it would be very easy for Kirk to accidentally hit that button and launch some poor fucker out into space.

The first of many courtroom dramas in the Trek franchise, this episode benefits from its world-building aspects, expanding on the structure of Starfleet and its justice system in particular. And there's some more character development for Kirk as he chooses to stand and fight for his good name rather than be brought down by the bureaucracy. The trial itself is generally well done, but the story surrounding the trial is more of a mixed bag.

Spock discovers that the Enterprise's computer records have been tampered with because it forgot how to play chess properly, or something. Kirk's lawyer gives an unnecessary speech about the conflict between man and machine, which makes him sound like a grumpy old man, and then they discover that Finney is really alive. What his long term plan was, I have no idea. It seems like he would have been trapped on the Enterprise for the rest of his life, living in the Jefferies tubes like a hobo. So Kirk and Finney fight it out in Engineering, Kirk saves the ship from its decaying orbit, and then he kisses the pretty girl. The rushed ending concludes the episode on a weak note, but the first half was strong enough to leave me with a slightly positive impression overall.

Captain Redshirt: 3
James T Flirt: 4½
Inform the Men: 0

 

[Neopeius]

The rushed ending concludes the episode on a weak note

"Beaten and sobbing, Finney listened while I finished the episode with a Captain's Log."

This episode lays a lot of cannon foundation, and watching it back to back with Menagerie is pretty cool (Stardate order).

 

[Seven of Five]

I think a 3 is pretty fair. It's a pretty good episode, as I was certainly pulled into the proceedings. I think the drama surrounding Kirk is more interesting than what actually happened with Finney. I thought Cogley was an intriguing character though who demanded a better episode. He was very charismatic.

McCoy using the microphone to turn off the heartbeats one by one was nicely played.

 

[TheGodBen]

I thought Cogley was an intriguing character though who demanded a better episode. He was very charismatic.

I agree. The problem with Cogley is that he's introduced as a brilliant lawyer, but the resolution to Kirk's problem doesn't require a legal mind, it needs technological know-how and some good old fashioned brawling. So to justify his character's reputation they gave him a big speech about rights and justice, and it felt overblown. In a different episode his character could have thrived.


The Menagerie, Part 1 (***½)

How do I review an episode like The Menagerie, considering the fact that I reviewed a good chunk of it already? This episode is just The Cage with a framing device, and yet I cannot hold that fact against it considering this two-parter aired on television many years before the standalone pilot did. And from a production standpoint, this episode was really clever, it provided a “free” episode and also a means for Roddenberry to get his original Star Trek story on television. But it's hard not to get a little bored when watching scenes that you had already seen a few weeks before. So I'll primarily focus on the new material that this episode brings.

The Enterprise, fresh from leaving Starbase 11, arrives at Starbase 11. I guess this is one of those situations where airdate order makes more sense. Once there, Spock goes nuts, hijacks the Enterprise, kidnaps a disabled man, and sets course for a forbidden planet. That's quite a hook right there. Kirk and Commodore Not-actually-real chase after Spock in a shuttle, leading to an exciting... court martial. Again. Damn you, production order! But this court martial is different from the one in the previous episode, with its discussion of the accused's character, an exploration of the nature of command, and the dope beats of the heart-rate monitor. In contrast, Spock's court martial takes the form of watching home movies. Then the episode turns into The Cage. To be continued...

The framing story is good and sets up an intriguing mystery, but the exciting pace of the first half of the episode is dragged down by the slow pace of the trial. But the trial is what this episode is really all about, so, yeah, it's really hard to judge. The only major qualm I have with all this is General Order 7, the only remaining death penalty on the books. Maybe it's because I'm an enlightened European [superior sniff], but the death penalty still being in use in the 23rd century doesn't sit well with me, especially not for such a minor crime. It was an unnecessary attempt to inject deadly consequences into a story that didn't need it, the mystery of why Spock has gone mad is enough to hold viewers' attention.

 

[Seven of Five]

Yep, it's more court martial fun with The Menagerie! The Cage was interesting, but I find it hard to watch it without the characters that I love in it. Using the first pilot as evidence in a new episode was a stroke of genius, as they do a pretty good job of ramping up the tension in the framing story. Spock's loyalty to Kirk was always admirable, but here he is showing the same dutiful side towards Pike, and it's great.

I realise you haven't reviewed the second part but I love the ending. The Talosians are in on the act, and help Pike to have a new life with Vina.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

The biggest problem that I had with the episode is this:

I can't believe in a Starfleet General Order they would list "Half Vulcan Science Officer Spock" instead of just Science Officer Spock or Lieutenant Commander Spock. I know, I'm nitpicking.

 

[scotpens]

I can't believe in a Starfleet General Order they would list "Half Vulcan Science Officer Spock" instead of just Science Officer Spock or Lieutenant Commander Spock. I know, I'm nitpicking.

I think the "Half-Vulcan Science Officer Spock" was meant as an in-joke, echoing Commodore Mendez' line. No one thought fans would be freeze-framing that shot and actually reading it decades later.

 

[Kor]

Was that even legible on TV sets of the time?

And maybe being half-Vulcan was considered a special kind of qualification for the sciences.

That's something that never bothered me. I always thought the sets and effects were fine and I think they hold up better 50 years later than the spinoffs from the 80s and 90s which look much more dated to me now.

I agree with this. I love the minimalist interior design of that time period, in general. TOS fits in with that aesthetic very well.

Kor

 

[Marsden]

When I look at the bridge of the original Enterprise, I believe I'm looking at the bridge of that model they show in the scene breaks.

When I look at the bridge of the spinoff Enterprise, it looks like a set in someone's living room, like a lounge where it would be good to have Norm and Cliff over to watch the Superbowl.

 

[TheGodBen]

I can't believe in a Starfleet General Order they would list "Half Vulcan Science Officer Spock" instead of just Science Officer Spock or Lieutenant Commander Spock. I know, I'm nitpicking.

Yeah, I had some fun with that odd phrasing in my review for that DS9 Risa episode. Just another example of early instalment weirdness.


The Menagerie, Part 2 (*½)

And now the conclusion... where our heroes sit down and watch television for an hour. Just like in part 1, I'm going to focus on the new material in this episode, and there's not much. There's only 4 or 5 scenes, and they all more or less boil down to Spock saying “Wait, wait, the good bit is coming up soon, I promise.”

I strongly disliked the ending, where it was revealed that Commodore Mendez was Bruce Willis all along, because it doesn't make any sense and calls the nice tidy ending into question. It implies that the Talosians' illusion power can reach all the way to Starbase 11, so why didn't they just fake orders dispatching Pike to Talos? Why did Mendez vote to find Spock guilty if it was necessary to keep the trial going in order to distract Kirk? How do we know that the orders Kirk receives from Starbase 11 at the end of the episode are real and not just another illusion? Things would have made a lot more sense had Mendez been real, but I guess they wanted Kirk to be the one to make the ultimate decision at the end, and I feel that hurt the episode a great deal.

Maybe it's a little harsh to focus so much on that point considering it was a minor element of the episode as a whole. But when you strip out the material from The Cage, there's not much else to focus on.