WTF moments in TOS...

[Mytran]

Or faking it...

Very finely worded! I'll have to watch it again with that in mind, see how it gels.

One thought though - Spock's mind meld at the end, "...forget..." If Kirk was not distraught over the fembot but merely feeling sorry for Flint, why would Spock need to do this?

 

[Timo]

Why would there be a distinction? Kirk was severly distraught at having ruined Flint's life - he needed to forget about this in order to function adequately as a starship captain. So Spock helped him out. Isn't it a bit homophobic to claim that only the fembot would have warranted such a treatment?

Key bits of dialogue:

Kirk: "A very old and lonely man. And a young and lonely man. We put on a pretty poor show, didn't we? If only I could forget."

That's all that Kirk has to say about the conclusion of the events. His distress is over two men: himself, and Flint.

McCoy: "Well, I guess that's all. I can tell Jim later or you can. Considering his opponent's longevity, truly an eternal triangle. You wouldn't understand that, would you, Spock? You see, I feel sorrier for you than I do for him because you'll never know the things that love can drive a man to. The ecstasies, the miseries, the broken rules, the desperate chances, the glorious failures, the glorious victories. All of these things you'll never know simply because the word love isn't written into your book. Goodnight, Spock."

This was the speech that motivated Spock into action. It comes after McCoy has spoken long and hard about Flint the dying immortal - never having mentioned the fembot in any way! It deals with things such as Spock's inability to feel manly love, as opposed to the two other men of note here. More specifically, it deals with the male side of the love triangle here: Rayna never broke rules or took desperate chances.

McCoy: "I do wish he could forget her."

McCoy's parting line. Now which "he" is he talking about? Judging by the preceding dialogue, it would almost have to be Flint. But Spock probably misunderstands. Or then understands better than McCoy. The doctor isn't proposing a memory wipe; he probably doesn't even know those are possible (Nomad notwithstanding). But Spock knows better, and comes to the conclusion that Kirk, too, would be better off forgetting about Rayna, and more importantly, forgetting about what he did to Flint via Rayna.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Mytran]

Honestly - it never seemed to me that Kirk was all that cut up about Flint. But you've certainly opened my mind to a new POV about the episode, which can be no bad thing

 

[Christopher]

I'm partial to the interpretation that Rayna gave off some kind of pheromone that made Kirk fall intensely in love. Some have speculated that Flint did this on purpose as part of the way he steered Kirk toward Rayna in order to awaken her passions. Or maybe it was just something Flint equipped her with to make her more ideal for himself, and the effect on Kirk was stronger than he anticipated.

 

[Mytran]

I'm partial to the interpretation that Rayna gave off some kind of pheromone that made Kirk fall intensely in love...

I knew it - she is a Fembot!

 

[T'Girl]

^No, "A Piece of the Action" made it pretty clear that the whole planet was ruled by these various mobs.

KIRK: They call you The Boss, Mister Oxmyx. The boss of what?
OXMYX: The boss of my territory. I got the biggest in the world. You know, there's one thing wrong with having the biggest. There's always some punk trying to cut you out. That's why you can't be too careful.
KIRK: You're the government here?
OXMYX: What government? Look, I told you. I got the territory and I run it. That's all.
KIRK: But there are other bosses, other territories?
OXMYX: Yeah, sure. Maybe a dozen or so, not counting the small fry, but then they get burned anyway soon as I get around to it.

Okmyx statement makes the various bosses territories sound the size of countries.

It seems pretty obvious that both Bela Okmyx and Jojo Krako, two of the biggest bosses are located in the same city. Kirk and Spock are able to drive from Okmyx's headquarters to Karko's headquarters by car in a reasonable time period. From Okmyx office they're able to contact all the biggest bosses by telephone, 1920's american phone system wasn't capable of world wide calling.

While Okmyx might deny the existance of a government, the conversation with the two women on the street show his orgainization does provides direct city services.

 

[Christopher]

Okmyx statement makes the various bosses territories sound the size of countries.

It seems pretty obvious that both Bela Okmyx and Jojo Krako, two of the biggest bosses are located in the same city. Kirk and Spock are able to drive from Okmyx's headquarters to Karko's headquarters by car in a reasonable time period.

You can drive from Paris, France to Brussels, Belgium in 3 hours. National capitals aren't necessarily far apart.

From Okmyx office they're able to contact all the biggest bosses by telephone, 1920's american phone system wasn't capable of world wide calling.

Surely the Iotians didn't get the specifications for telephone technology from the book Chicago Mobs of the Twenties, but from the other references that the Horizon left them, the "textbooks on how to make radio sets and stuff like that." Those textbooks were probably considerably more modern than 1920s level, given that they were included among the resources of a 2160s warp vessel. And the Iotians would've had a hundred years to refine the technology.

While Okmyx might deny the existance of a government, the conversation with the two women on the street show his orgainization does provides direct city services.

Yes, exactly. His organization is effectively the government of his nation, but he rules it like a warlord. He doesn't use the word "government" because in 1920s Chicago, the local government was essentially powerless and subordinate to the gangs and the federal government was antagonistic toward them. Therefore it's not a label that a leader basing his ruling ideology on Chicago gangsterism would seek to embrace, even if it is the job he's actually doing.

 

[Timo]

Surely the Iotians didn't get the specifications for telephone technology from the book Chicago Mobs of the Twenties, but from the other references that the Horizon left them, the "textbooks on how to make radio sets and stuff like that." Those textbooks were probably considerably more modern than 1920s level, given that they were included among the resources of a 2160s warp vessel. And the Iotians would've had a hundred years to refine the technology.

Or, alternately, the Iotians were technologically highly advanced, which enabled them to play these planetwide charades in the first place. They did seem to know a thing or two about the practical aspects of transporter technology, for example...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Kaziarl]

Something I thought about in regards to Miri's earth. People seem to be saying that Starfleet would in no way move a colony in, even though they could, because the planet should belong to the children. However, I think they should. I'm not saying take over, but they need someone there to help these kids grow up and become self sufficient. By which point it would likely be a member world, but I think Starfleet morals are more likely to say "We can't leave them on their own, even if they are 300 years old."

 

[Mytran]

Didn't they leave some schoolteachers and similar personel at the end of the episode anyway?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Yep.

 

[Kaziarl]

Didn't they leave some schoolteachers and similar personel at the end of the episode anyway?

^ Yep.

Actually I think they said teachers and caregivers were on the way, but I can't imagine they were left alone in the mean time.

CBS.com has the episodes available to watch, so I'll go check.

EDIT: I just skipped ahead and watched the last scene. Rand makes a comment about leaving them there with just a medical team, to which Kirk tells her that he contacted space central to have them send teachers, etc.

 

[Timo]

...On a barely related note, "Miri" is one of the few TOS episodes where stardates overlap with another ep, "Dagger of the Mind" - Kirk's last "Miri" planetside log has Stardate 2717.3, whereas "Dagger" opens with 2715.1.

Now, we could well argue that Kirk misspeaks in "Miri" under pressure, because his previous dates have progressed at a more sedate rate, from 2713.5 through 2713.6 to this final one. So he probably swapped the last two digits in his final log. But we still have a reason to make him hurry to his next destination to make the stardate ends meet...

Thus, I'd personally prefer to think that Kirk didn't loiter. Of course, that doesn't mean he couldn't have left behind some sort of a caretaker team until the backup forces arrived.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Joel_Kirk]

There is one WTF moment I was amused by:

I forget the episode, but Kirk walks out of the turbolift onto the bridge, and a crewmember with a prominent Afro is walking right behind him....

It's interesting because the show takes place in the future, but that crewman's hairstyle obviously tells the audience (no matter the decade they watch the episode in) what era that classic series came from.

Not that it's a bad thing; it's a minor, fun nitpick.

 

[Hober Mallow]

EDIT: I just skipped ahead and watched the last scene. Rand makes a comment about leaving them there with just a medical team, to which Kirk tells her that he contacted space central--

Snicker.

Or, alternately, the Iotians were technologically highly advanced, which enabled them to play these planetwide charades in the first place.

That was always my impression. How else could they have duplicated things so exactly?

...On a barely related note, "Miri"--

Speaking of Miri... Hold on a sec... cough... okay...

"NO MORE BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!"

And since I'm already shouting...

"WHEN I CAME ABOARD!!!"

 

[Botany Bay]

Start of "Cloud Minders" where Kirk shouts at someone without actually opening his mouth!

 

[Christopher]

I forget the episode, but Kirk walks out of the turbolift onto the bridge, and a crewmember with a prominent Afro is walking right behind him....

It's interesting because the show takes place in the future, but that crewman's hairstyle obviously tells the audience (no matter the decade they watch the episode in) what era that classic series came from.

Not necessarily. I think Afros have been making something of a comeback in recent years. Fashion is cyclical; who knows what might be fashionable 250 years from now?

 

[Hambone]

...who knows what might be fashionable 250 years from now?

Bill Theiss knew.

 

[Joel_Kirk]

I forget the episode, but Kirk walks out of the turbolift onto the bridge, and a crewmember with a prominent Afro is walking right behind him....

It's interesting because the show takes place in the future, but that crewman's hairstyle obviously tells the audience (no matter the decade they watch the episode in) what era that classic series came from.

Not necessarily. I think Afros have been making something of a comeback in recent years. Fashion is cyclical; who knows what might be fashionable 250 years from now?

That is very true.

I actually saw someone wearing an Afro at my school today, and I know someone in Japan (a brutha) who wears an Afro...

Of course, a couple of basketball players wear Afros...so yeah, it might be fashion that is timeless....

...who knows what might be fashionable 250 years from now?

Bill Theiss knew.

Bless Bill Theiss....

 

[Trekker4747]

There is one WTF moment I was amused by:

I forget the episode, but Kirk walks out of the turbolift onto the bridge, and a crewmember with a prominent Afro is walking right behind him....

It's interesting because the show takes place in the future, but that crewman's hairstyle obviously tells the audience (no matter the decade they watch the episode in) what era that classic series came from.

Not that it's a bad thing; it's a minor, fun nitpick.

And the miniskirts, the go-go boots, the bright colors and about a million other things didn't also "date" the series more-so than a single extra with a 'fro?