What is up with 'The Omega Glory'?
- Thread starter Bones_McCoy21
- Start date
I beg to differ. I may be alone in criticizing other aspects of this episode, but there are still some issues that I have a bone to pick with here.
Maybe I'm being harsh and nit-picky, but I really dislike how this ep casts Captain Tracey as a villain. This guy is supposed to be one of the most experienced captains in Starfleet. Whatever that means, he comes across more like a Klingon than a member of the Federation star service. (Keep in mind that in "Court Martial", it was put forth that Starfleet is such an exceptional organization that no starship captain has ever been successfully prosecuted.) While others in this thread may disagree, it never sat well with me that Tracey-as-a-starshi-captain-turned-villain was used as a plot device in "The Omega Glory".
(See my posts upthread about how it was unnecessary to make Tracey the bad guy, and how it could have been handled differently.)
Perhaps not surprising, the Exeter is yet another Federation starship (joining the Excalibur, the Constellation, and the Valiant; to be joined the following year by the Defiant) that falls victim to some catastrophe where either the ship is lost or the crew winds up dead. That trend was even implausible than the carnage of the red shirts.
Maybe I'm being harsh and nit-picky, but I really dislike how this ep casts Captain Tracey as a villain. This guy is supposed to be one of the most experienced captains in Starfleet. Whatever that means, he comes across more like a Klingon than a member of the Federation star service. (Keep in mind that in "Court Martial", it was put forth that Starfleet is such an exceptional organization that no starship captain has ever been successfully prosecuted.) While others in this thread may disagree, it never sat well with me that Tracey-as-a-starshi-captain-turned-villain was used as a plot device in "The Omega Glory".
(See my posts upthread about how it was unnecessary to make Tracey the bad guy, and how it could have been handled differently.)
Perhaps not surprising, the Exeter is yet another Federation starship (joining the Excalibur, the Constellation, and the Valiant; to be joined the following year by the Defiant) that falls victim to some catastrophe where either the ship is lost or the crew winds up dead. That trend was even implausible than the carnage of the red shirts.
I never really saw Tracey as a villain. I saw him as a man who was stranded and kicked into survivor mode. By the time the Enterprise arrives, he has lived on Omega IV for several months alone, a stranger in a strange land. I also think that he has an affection for the Kohms as he continues to try to protect them from the Yangs even after he finds out there's no serum.
No offense, but your idea above to 'fix' the episode simply sucks all the fun out of it. I watch TV first and foremost to be entertained and The Omega Glory entertains me.
No offense, but your idea above to 'fix' the episode simply sucks all the fun out of it. I watch TV first and foremost to be entertained and The Omega Glory entertains me.
My explanation is that the disease affected Tracey's brain, turning him into a madman. This was discovered after he was shipped off to a Federation Medical facility and further studies were performed prior to his court martial
The Valiant? Are you talking about the S.S.Valiant that was lost a few hundred years before? I wouldn't really count that. Maybe you were referring to the Intrepid which you left off the list? The one with all those smart Vulcans that were eaten by the space amoeba?
Which jibes well with the idea that starship captains are untouchable psychopaths all. Kirk, Tracey and Decker certainly fit the profile, with the same autocratic attitude to life, the universe and everything: how could rules touch them when they don't even acknowledge their existence, not when it really matters?
Tracey a villain? He's just being Kirk. And true to form, he almost defeats Kirk with Kirk-like cunning and ruthlessness - he recognizes openings and possibilities in a split second (such as with "See his ears?"), expertly maneuvers people until he has their undying or dying loyalty, and when everything else fails, he puts himself in the line and uses personal physical violence as the last resort for defending his cause.
It's just that he's somewhat disadvantaged by having his starship, crew and recently also his tribe taken from him...
Also, I never felt the flag-and-e-neeb-pleesta thing was central to the episode, or the only thing to remember it by. Two manically ruthless lead characters slugging it out, both for the right and just cause, already make this a memorable one.
Timo Saloniemi
