WTF, Kirk?

[Bixby]

I LOVE ST classic, I do. But sometimes things happen within an episode that just make you go: ''WTF?''

I was re-watching THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER recently, the part soon after McCoy has fled down to the Gateway planet. Now McCoy is out of his mind from a chemical 'overdose' and naturally Kirk is beaming down to the planet to rescue him. The planet is of unknown risk at this point.

So Kirk leads a landing party to the surface- of course Kirk would be there, he's the boss plus Bones is his good friend. He brings Spock along, good idea you need a science officer to analyze whatever unknown thing could be there.

There's two security guards, they might be useful to restrain McCoy if he becomes violent, or if there's some dangerous beastie to zap into nothingness.

And then we have...the Chief engineer and the head of communications?!?

I really fail to see how their specific skills would have been useful for a rescue mission on an almost-deserted planet.

Yes I know, they are the main actors and they were needed to say the lines assigned to the crewmen that had to stay behind, but forgetting all that one has to wonder what's up with Kirk? No wonder the M-5 gave him such a hard time if he makes such bizarre command decisions...

He didn't bring another doctor or even a nurse along...

What the hell, Kirk?

 

[Bixby]

Staying with THE CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER, here's another beaut:

So Kirk and crew beam down to the Gateway planet to rescue McCoy, and he's out of his mind with a mega-shot of what's basically an hallucinogenic.

They discover the big Gateway thingamagig, and it tells them it can transport them through time. Then McCoy appears and he's all looneytunes, being chased by Scottie and the two security guys. Spock pinches him unconscious while he's restrained by the redshirt squad.

So what does Kirk do? His buddy Bones is trippin' on LSD, he should quickly beam him back up to the Enterprise and to Sick Bay, right?

Well, no! he says let's go back in time instead...?!?

All his boy needed was sleep and some chicken soup to get better (which Edith later gives him...). Is that what they teach future Captains over at Starfleet, find the most complicated solution to any problem?

What the hell, Kirk?

 

[Captain Robert April]

Well, Scotty was probably brought along to help figure out what was causing the time ripples in the first place. After all, Spock's good, but he's not an engineer.

And Uhura was probably along because Kirk got sick and tired of her bitching about always being left behind while Kirk, Spock and the other boys got to have all the fun.

 

[SchwEnt]

Yes, if nothing else beside the Chief Engineer and Chief Comm Officer, you'd think some medical personnel because the crisis at hand is an OD'd drugged crewmember. But no...

Not unlike the WTF? Galileo Seven selections for a quasar scientific investigation. The Chief Engineer and CMO? I guess we can't pin that one on Kirk, though.

Really, it's just a production issue of casting the main actors into the plot.

 

[BillJ]

The Alternative Factor, Lazarus says he's going to take the dilithium and does so twice. Yet there's never a security guard posted in engineering.

Too quote the Monday Night Countdown crew, "c'mon man"!

 

[KirksStuntMan]

Starfleet Command Memo

To: Captain James T. Kirk

From: Admiral Benjamin Finney

Star Date: 6784.2

Effective immediately, you are hereby forbidden from making any more double-dumb-ass decisions while exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations. So get with it, mister, and stop going boldly where no man has gone before.

 

[Saxman1]

The Alternative Factor, Lazarus says he's going to take the dilithium and does so twice. Yet there's never a security guard posted in engineering.

Too quote the Monday Night Countdown crew, "c'mon man"!

One reason among many that I will never watch that ep again. Truly one of the few subpar eps of the first season. What a bounty of riches it is!

 

[xortex]

Uhura was there to coordinate the search team chasing McCoy. She had the thing amigjig in her ear for the wild goose chase. There may just be a reason for everything and a cure for a rainy day though stupidity does cover alot of ground just not here.

 

[jep]

The Enemy Within

If the transporter was busted, why didn't they just send down a freaking shuttle to retrieve Sulu and his posse?


.

 

[omnirad]

I always assumed Scotty and Uhura came along because they were friends of McCoy, who could help calm him down from his dilerium.

 

[Neutral Zone]

Personally I think Scotty and Uhura went along because its the nearest thing they get to shore leave.

 

[WRStone]

Well, the real reason Scotty and Uhura went along was because GR had been telling the recurring cast that he'd use them more, and this was an opportunity to give the actors some work.

As others have pointed out, there's some marginal explanation for Scotty. There's nothing for Uhura to do that some redshirt couldn't have done.

But then, she is technically a redshirt. Given Kirk's record with them, it's a wonder that both Scotty and Uhura survived the episode ...

 

[DrBashir]

Well, for a while they were the only ones in the entire fleet who did survive.

 

[Captain Robert April]

The Enemy Within

If the transporter was busted, why didn't they just send down a freaking shuttle to retrieve Sulu and his posse?


.

You wanna try landing a shuttlecraft in a blizzard with Category 3 hurricane force winds, be my guest. Just be sure to leave the name of your next of kin.

 

[RAMA]

COTEOF: An engineer would be useful if the technology causing time disruptions needed to be examined. If the disruptions caused communications problems a communication officer might be useful. Too bad we rarely saw Uhura used as an expert in her field.

 

[FormerLurker]

When we did, she usually kicked ass, though, didn't she?

 

[Anwar]

The Enemy Within

If the transporter was busted, why didn't they just send down a freaking shuttle to retrieve Sulu and his posse?


.

You wanna try landing a shuttlecraft in a blizzard with Category 3 hurricane force winds, be my guest. Just be sure to leave the name of your next of kin.

Well, if the hull is strong enough to not be affected by the vacuum of space and the engines are strong enough to take a ship into space against the pull of gravity...

 

[Captain Robert April]

Nope, sorry, not good enough.

 

[MarsWeeps]

I don't think the weather conditions were that bad when the transporter first went out. They could have sent a shuttle before conditions got worse.

It's been awhile since I saw the episode so I'm just going off of what I remember.

 

[Timo]

We did see a rather "Himalayan" setting, with a cloud matte that could indicate really high winds. And shuttles don't fly well in bad weather in any incarnation of Trek.

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Timo Saloniemi