# Great Star Trek Performances **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 10, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427 "2004-03-10T04:39:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/61 "2004-03-14T01:49:28Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > Speaking of correcting: > > Pssst … the past tense of slay is “slew”. I thought “slew” was the present pentagonal of “slaw”? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/62 "2004-03-14T02:03:10Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > Speaking of correcting: > > Pssst … the past tense of slay is “slew”. LOL so of course I had to go look to see if there was any excusable way to use “slayed” Can anyone explain to me what the “also esp in sense” below means? I couldn’t find anything on m-w to explain it, and even googled the phrase. Guess what, 2 out of the 3 links I came up with referred specifically to the word slayed. 😕 > [@M-W.com](#): > > Main Entry: slay > Pronunciation: 'slA > Function: verb > Inflected Form(s): slew /'slü/; \*\*also esp in sense \*\* 2 slayed; slain /'slAn/; slay·ing > \ > 1 : to kill violently, wantonly, or in great numbers; broadly : to strike down : KILL > 2 : to delight or amuse immensely \ > intransitive senses : KILL, MURDER > synonym see KILL > > - slay·er noun [m-w, slay](http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=slayed) ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/63 "2004-03-14T02:04:12Z")
LOL so then when I submit my post, I see that they actually used the word “slayed” in a sentence. Guess I’m off the hook… still would like to know that “also in esp” means though…? Anyone? \ ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/64 "2004-03-14T02:14:27Z")
esp in sense 2 is refering to definition # 2 So, it could’ve read, “Slayed can be used, especially if using it in the manner of the second definition.” They abbreviate to save space and sometimes seem to almost be using code. But, as an alien studying all of Hoo-mahn languages, I picked up on it rather quickly. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/65 "2004-03-14T02:45:19Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > esp in sense 2 is refering to definition # 2 > > So, it could’ve read, “Slayed can be used, especially if using it in the manner of the second definition.” > > They abbreviate to save space and sometimes seem to almost be using code. But, as an alien studying all of Hoo-mahn languages, I picked up on it rather quickly. :smack: Yes, that makes a helluva lot of sense, now doesn’t it… Thanks **NoClueBoy**. ---
**Author:** ![Ghostwind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Ghostwind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghostwind)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2004, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/66 "2004-03-14T05:59:32Z")
For TOS, one of the scenes that stands out as good acting in my opinion and hasn’t been mentioned yet (that I recall) is the ability of DeForrest Kelly and Leonard Nimoy to create actual physical tension between their characters as they tried to cope with the “death” of Kirk in _The Tholian Web_. I thought it was a defining moment for their characters and it remains one of my favorite episodes. For TNS, Ronny Cox’s role as Captain Jericho in _Chain of Command_ illustrated created a hatred between himself and Riker that you could almost taste. For DS9, during the first season we get a glimpse of Lwaxana Troi that doesn’t happen much. A tender side as she uses her dress to form a makeshift bucket for Odo to de-gel into. It was a good character developing moment. Voyager has a few moments, although arguably the least of any Trek series. I have to give a nod to Kate Mulgrew’s obsessive performance as the admiral in _Endgame_. I thought it showed excellent closure for a character who had been through what she had. I haven’t seen enough of the Enterprise episodes to make an educated judgment. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/67 "2004-03-15T20:44:47Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > Of course you had never thought of it that way before. Because Amanda’s pregnancy was an extremely complicated genetic engineering experiment that required all sorts of Vulcan Science Academy trickery to produce anything even remotely resembling a viable zygote! There’s no way she could have gotten pregnant by Sarek “accidentally.” I remember reading that in one of the books, but as the series makes no mention of it, we have to regard it as noncanonical. So I stand by the “You’re WHAT” explanation of “at the time, it was the logical thing to do”. Realistically, of course, a cross-breeding of a human and a hypothetical Vulcan is absurd even WITH the Vulcan Science Academy support. ---
**Author:** ![Patr100](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@Patr100](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patr100)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/68 "2004-03-16T00:32:28Z")
I quite like the one where Sulu (George Takei) went “bad” and started running after Uhuru (who wouldn’t?) and carrying a sword around the Enterprise. Nice chance for him to ham it up a bit - very amusing to see the difference from his normal sober character. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/69 "2004-03-16T01:49:35Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I remember reading that in one of the books, but as the series makes no mention of it, we have to regard it as noncanonical. So I stand by the “You’re WHAT” explanation of “at the time, it was the logical thing to do”. > > Realistically, of course, a cross-breeding of a human and a hypothetical Vulcan is absurd even WITH the Vulcan Science Academy support. Well, in DS9, in the same episode as she is killed by Dukat, Jadzia mentions offhand that Julian has prepared her to be able to concieve a Trill/Klingon (Krill? Tringon?) child so it’s only logical (:D) to assume that the same sort of procedure would be needed for a Vulcan and Human. > [@Patr100](#): > > I quite like the one where Sulu (George Takei) went “bad” and started running after Uhuru (who wouldn’t?) and carrying a sword around the Enterprise. Nice chance for him to ham it up a bit - very amusing to see the difference from his normal sober character. “Mirror, Mirror” ---
**Author:** ![rdky1997](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c67d28/32.png) [@rdky1997](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rdky1997)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/70 "2004-03-16T04:04:03Z")
I think of of my fave moments is when kirk and landing party find the gaurdian of forever,and mccoy goes through,kirk looks up at the starts also,I forget the name of the episode,but when kirk is on the “egypian” looking object,with his dying wife,miramawneee (probably spelled wrong) also likes the decker moment as well. rich in seattle. ps we cant forget the falling tribbles ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/71 "2004-03-16T04:06:33Z")
I’ve unfortunately been without television for about eight years, so haven’t been able to watch much Trek lately. I’ve seen relatively few episodes of TOS, but my favorite of the episodes I’ve seen was “I, Mudd”. Just because it was funny. But I saw enough episodes to get to know and love the characters. I’ve seen the entire run of TNG, and my favorite overall performance was Stewart in “The Inner Light”. That was great story. But the moment with the most impact for me was the scene between LaForge and Scotty in the episode with the Dyson sphere. Scotty is down in engineering, making all sorts of suggestions, and Geordi is getting irritated. Geordi finally loses his patience and shouts at Scotty: “Look, I’ve got work to do here, and frankly, you’re in my way!” My heart just about stopped when I heard that, and I’ll bet that everybody watching that scene was shocked into silence. It was almost sacrilege for LaForge to say something like that to such a legendary figure! The look on Scotty’s face was perfect: stunned, bewildered hurt. I think what made that scene so powerful was the fact that it was a situation that almost everybody can relate to. It was very much like when you have something that you love doing, and you’re very good at it. It happens to be something that a grandparent used to do, and that grandparent wants to give all sorts of advice. But alas, times have changed, and techniques and equipment have changed with them, and your grandparent is out of date and out of place. And now that I think about it, this is kind of related to what somebody else said about how we “younger” folks can’t appreciate the way TOS was revolutionary for its time. Sure, we appreciate that TOS started this whole thing we love, but to us, it doesn’t compare to TNG or DS9. To us, it’s old, outdated, and primitive. We respect the characters, but more as historical figures than as the heroes they were in their time. And I think Geordi looked at Scotty the same way: honored, but mostly irrelevant. He was willing to humor the old man, but only as long as he didn’t get in the way. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/72 "2004-03-16T04:14:33Z")
That’s “The Paradise Syndrome” and it was Amerindian, not Egyptian. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/73 "2004-03-16T04:19:10Z")
Crap. My last post was in response to **rdky1997** , not **Phase42**. > [@Phase42](#): > > And now that I think about it, this is kind of related to what somebody else said about how we “younger” folks can’t appreciate the way TOS was revolutionary for its time. Sure, we appreciate that TOS started this whole thing we love, but to us, it doesn’t compare to TNG or DS9. To us, it’s old, outdated, and primitive. We respect the characters, but more as historical figures than as the heroes they were in their time. And I think Geordi looked at Scotty the same way: honored, but mostly irrelevant. He was willing to humor the old man, but only as long as he didn’t get in the way. That’s the best way I’ve ever seen it put and sums up my feelings on TOS perfectly. I’m sure it was groundbreaking for its time but I just cannot get into it sans the movies when I have its (much better, in my opinion) spin-offs to watch. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/74 "2004-03-17T02:35:32Z")
> [@Patr100](#): > > I quite like the one where Sulu (George Takei) went “bad” and started running after Uhuru “Uhuru”? You mean [the satellite](http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/uhuru/uhuru.html) will _still_ be orbiting the Earth in the 23rd century?! ---
**Author:** ![Pythagras](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/45deac/32.png) [@Pythagras](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pythagras)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/75 "2004-03-17T02:45:08Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > I also feel that Patrick Stewart did some great acting when the Picard character was made vulnerable. _Chain of Command_ is one of my favorites too. > > Brent Spiner’s work as Data was exceptional throughout the whole series. > > But although the regular cast was good, it was often the guest stars who really put on great performances: > > **David Warner** has been mentioned already. Incidentally, he was also the Evil Genius in _Time Bandits_. > > **Saul Rubinek** was the arts collector who tried to collect Data in _The Most Toys_. Interestingly, he got the role on short notice. It was to have been played by David Rappaport, who committed suicide shortly before shooting the episode. > > I always enjoyed **Dwight Schultz** as Lt. Barclay. > > **Matt Frewer** , aka Max Headroom, was great as a bogus inventor in _A Matter of Time_. I’m ashamed to have to go halfway down the third page to see Brent Spiner’s name mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Nichol\_storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Nichol\_storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nichol_storm)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2004, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427/76 "2004-03-17T04:28:18Z")
Mark Harelik as Kashyk in Voyager’s “Counterpoint”, the only really exceptional episode that series ever had. He’s one of the most memorable one-shot characters, a villain (or is he?) who is by turns manipulative, superior, complex, conflicted, devious, romantic, sympathetic, and, gosh darn it, sexy. “You made a very tempting offer” indeed. Btw, “Counterpoint” is also Kate Mulgrew’s favorite episode. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-star-trek-performances/233427.md?page=3)