And not only is THAT not canon, it's also not a...cannon.
What Exactly Is 'The Pod' In "Court Martial"?
- Thread starter The Parting Glass
- Start date
Here's the old Officer's Manual take on it, from one of the many other threads on this subject
EDIT: Darn, beaten to it by seconds!
Although I still have no idea what an iod pod is or does, I wish they'd gone with the old Star Fleet Officer's Manual's idea of what and where the ion pod was, rather than some random part in one side of the ship:
EDIT: Darn, beaten to it by seconds!
But that blueprint is certainly not considered more canon than where Paul Newitt (whose lead Remastered followed) placed it. And I say that fully believing that arguments about what is canon and what is not in a fictional universe are just plain silly (hence my lighthearted take on the matter).
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...Although that takes us to the argument of where Engineering really lies. Perhaps it's right next to the lower dome of the saucer? Or in the aft nacelle?
Muddy writer intent here creates a contradiction that irritates the audience a least subconsciously, making the Ion Pod Issue disproportionate to its intended significance. In a storm, Finney is climbing to the crow's nest - a nicely nautical analogue we can easily grasp. But suddenly the crow's nest is jettisonable on Kirk's command? Why does Horatio Hornblower have a sailor with a big axe ready to send his eyes-on-the-mast to a watery death?
A more modern analogue readily offers itself, that of the tornado hunter. But while largely anachronistic to the sixties, it also shares a weakness: why is the tornado sensor they are dropping into the storm a crewed one?
Hence the effort to rationalize. Neither writer intent nor modern experience offers a fully satisfying analogue to what's going on here. And in such a case, the writer should do the work for us - just like in scifi whodunnits where the writer absolutely must tell in advance and in detail why the existence of frammistats or the future practice of washing one's hands before flying to Mars is crucial to whodunnit. This is a whodunnit, after all.
Timo Saloniemi
Muddy writer intent here creates a contradiction that irritates the audience a least subconsciously, making the Ion Pod Issue disproportionate to its intended significance. In a storm, Finney is climbing to the crow's nest - a nicely nautical analogue we can easily grasp. But suddenly the crow's nest is jettisonable on Kirk's command? Why does Horatio Hornblower have a sailor with a big axe ready to send his eyes-on-the-mast to a watery death?
A more modern analogue readily offers itself, that of the tornado hunter. But while largely anachronistic to the sixties, it also shares a weakness: why is the tornado sensor they are dropping into the storm a crewed one?
Hence the effort to rationalize. Neither writer intent nor modern experience offers a fully satisfying analogue to what's going on here. And in such a case, the writer should do the work for us - just like in scifi whodunnits where the writer absolutely must tell in advance and in detail why the existence of frammistats or the future practice of washing one's hands before flying to Mars is crucial to whodunnit. This is a whodunnit, after all.
Timo Saloniemi
From the episode, engineering is high.
KIRK; Localise that.
SPOCK: B deck, in or near Engineering.
KIRK: Seal off B deck, sections 18Y through 23D.
Yet, from "The Enemy Within" Engineering is low.
KIRK: The lower levels. The Engineering deck.
The engines are attached to the secondary hull.
KIRK; Localise that.
SPOCK: B deck, in or near Engineering.
KIRK: Seal off B deck, sections 18Y through 23D.
Yet, from "The Enemy Within" Engineering is low.
KIRK: The lower levels. The Engineering deck.
The engines are attached to the secondary hull.
I wonder if the writers possibly considered the entire lower section of the ship "B Deck." That would make this exchange jibe with "The Enemy Within."
"Hal, open the pod bay doors."
Kirk said "jettison," making me think the pod was attached to the exterior of the ship, and not something that was inside the ship that had to travel outward through doors.
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This extract from the original script would seem to support the notion that the Ion Pod was attached externally:
"The pod is outside the ship, attached to the skin. One of our missions is to get radiation readings in abnormal
conditions, including ion storms. This can only be done by direct exposure of the necessary instruments in a plastic pod. However, in a major storm, the pod rapidly picks up a charge of its own that becomes a danger to the rest of the ship, and we have to get rid of it."
"The pod is outside the ship, attached to the skin. One of our missions is to get radiation readings in abnormal
conditions, including ion storms. This can only be done by direct exposure of the necessary instruments in a plastic pod. However, in a major storm, the pod rapidly picks up a charge of its own that becomes a danger to the rest of the ship, and we have to get rid of it."
Given the order in which Spock drops the facts on our laps, it's unlikely that "B deck" would be something internal to Engineering; the opposite is likelier. And "Sections 18Y through 23D" would be delightfully consistent with the idea that a Section number starts out with Deck number, much as with the cabin door plates where the key officers would appear to reside on Deck 3.
It's a bit odd that something spanning six Decks would itself be called a Deck. Unless it's perpendicular to Decks 18 through 23? Hence letters rather than numbers, too...
Timo Saloniemi
Here it is on the remastered edition.
And me likes, because
1) looks jettisonable
2) looks nicely sized for a single person, does not allow for helping hands
3) is located where nobody ever resides during alerts
4) is located close to where the ship already has things that get launched or jettisoned or whatever
5) is located near the engineering maze
6) looks like nothing else (this would be a stupid place for a navigating light, say)
But all that has been covered many times in past discussions.
Timo Saloniemi
1) looks jettisonable
2) looks nicely sized for a single person, does not allow for helping hands
3) is located where nobody ever resides during alerts
4) is located close to where the ship already has things that get launched or jettisoned or whatever
5) is located near the engineering maze
6) looks like nothing else (this would be a stupid place for a navigating light, say)
But all that has been covered many times in past discussions.
Timo Saloniemi
Am I the only one that doesn't think this makes a lick of sense?
What you propose sounds confusing.
The sound is on B deck (comma, separating the thought) in or near Engineering. B deck is not in Engineering. Rather, Engineering is on B deck. Kirk orders to seal off B deck (comma, separating the though) and then gives the specific sections to seal off.
You propose the letters Y and D also denote decks. Now, for sake of math, let me point out the distance between B and Y is much more than 6, so I don't know where you came up with the number 6. Further you are stating that Kirk ordered them to seal off DECK, section DECK, section DECK.
Basic rules of grammar apply. Its clear that Y is a subset of Section 18 and D is a subsection of Section 23. Both are subsections of Deck B.
Wow, that is a load of blather. I'm sure the reference to sections 18Y through 23D of "B deck" was nothing more than an effort to make the ship seem expansive. Trying to figure out where the Ion pod is is enough of a waste of time without trying to also reconcile it with a throwaway line of dialog.
As far as I'm concerned, we know where it is. It's where remastered showed it to be. That's the version of Trek people have been watching for 10 years, and will be watching probably for decades to come. It was based on a perfectly reasonable supposition, and not left-brain word fetishism.
As far as I'm concerned, we know where it is. It's where remastered showed it to be. That's the version of Trek people have been watching for 10 years, and will be watching probably for decades to come. It was based on a perfectly reasonable supposition, and not left-brain word fetishism.
Well, apparently, because you interpreted every single bit of it the exact opposite of what I meant. Sorree...
Yes.
No. I propose 18Y is on Deck 18, and 23D is on Deck 23. Just like McCoy's cabin 3F127 would be on Deck 3.
Yes.
Timo Saloniemi
Huh? I mean nothing beyond what I said - that 18 and 23 are deck numbers, found in the lower hull and nicely bracketing Engineering so that Finney cannot escape if all those sections above, below, left, right, forward and aft of him are sealed.
"B Deck" is apparently something much expansive than any of the numbered decks, and probably also bigger than Engineering. Otherwise there would be no ambiguity that would be "clarified" by Spock further stating "in or near Engineering" (and Spock should instead go "In or near Engineering, more specifically on B Deck").
Perhaps B Deck thus means "any deck in the lower part of the ship", as opposed to A Deck which is a category for "any deck in the saucer of the ship"? Much like JonnyQuest037 suggested.
Timo Saloniemi
"B Deck" is apparently something much expansive than any of the numbered decks, and probably also bigger than Engineering. Otherwise there would be no ambiguity that would be "clarified" by Spock further stating "in or near Engineering" (and Spock should instead go "In or near Engineering, more specifically on B Deck").
Perhaps B Deck thus means "any deck in the lower part of the ship", as opposed to A Deck which is a category for "any deck in the saucer of the ship"? Much like JonnyQuest037 suggested.
Timo Saloniemi
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