I think Impulse means slower-than-light, but I can’t be sure. Remember on the series pilot episode, “Where No Man* Has Gone Before”, when they ran into the energy barrier at the edge of the galaxy and lost their Warp Drive? They had to limp away “on impulse drive.” It would take the Enterprise thousands of years to get back to Earth if “impulse drive” was slower-than-light!
I have a theory about that. I think the main viewscreen might not be just using light to show a picture of what’s in front of the ship. Spock keeps referring to the ship’s “sensors”. Perhaps the ship’s “sensors” are using some kind of faster-than-light detection method. Instead of just receiving light waves, they’re receiving waves that travel through “Super Space” or “Sub Space” or something.
The fact that the plasma weapon travelled faster than the Enterprise is another hint that “impulse” doesn’t mean slower-than-light. I mean, how can these Romulans make weapons that travel faster-than-light, but not be able to build starships that travel faster-than-light?
*) I’ve always thought that saying “No Man” in the title voiceover was a bit sexist. I mean, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act over 3 years ago! I think they should change it to something more gender neutral, like “No Human” or “No Humanoid” or even “No Person”.
Good episode! I liked seeing the Enterprise actually being a warship, and Kirk functioning as a tough, smart military commander. (I like Kirk, but if I were writing the show I’d be almost tempted to make him two characters – an older, seasoned, veteran commander and a younger XO, or whatever they’d call him, who could be a bit rash and kind of a skirtchaser.)
It does seem a little improbable that somebody as disciplined and intelligent as Spock would just accidentally make a noise at precisely the wrong time – do you think it’s possible he’s really a Romulan agent, or else a sympathizer? Maybe they could play with that idea. The Romulan commander was a great character; I liked his relationship with his second in command; the junior officers seemed thoroughly indoctrinated in a militaristic code, while the two senior officers were more philosophical.
I’ve been a little confused about the “impulse” and “warp” stuff, but I think they’re separate propulsion systems, one for sublight and one for hyperspace. Wait a minute – they call it “subspace”, right?.
The subplot about bigotry seemed a little heavy-handed, but you can hardly ignore that in the world today, can you? How many other shows even have a Black and an Oriental in prominent roles?
And, as I do every episode, I must give special thanks for the female crew uniforms. It’s nice to think that in the future, even with all that Women’s Lib stuff, the ladies will still like to look good for their men. Yowsa!
Looks that way, but it’s interesting that they’re not giving us too much detail. Kinda letting us imagine that yes, one is faster than the other but we don’t know how much, and we don’t know exactly how they work. They just do, and really, it would diminish the enjoyment if we had to publish reams of technical papers on something that is, after all, imaginary. (And what kind of fool would pay for a ream of technical papers on an imaginary ship?)
I think the writers may be also making a point, that sometimes you may find an enemy that you may think has “inferior” equipment but may have a surprise up his sleeve, and that he may be smart enough to hurt you bad. You listenin’, LBJ?
Oh, and about Spock breaking “silent running”? I got an explanation: when he trips the circuit, there is a surge in the wiring and of course that creates a distinct “noise” detectable on radio – like when a car drives by and your TV acts all funny?
Well they did say that cloaking device took up a lot of energy. Perhaps Scotty was refering to their drive speed while cloaked, or mistook the slowness for being a simple impulse engine ship.
If there was an earlier Romulan Earth war then it seems improbable that one side with a speed advantage could not have simply pasted the other. The Earth vessels would need Faster than light travel to get to Romulous and Romuli (At least that’s what it said on the viewscreen) so if the Romulan’s were without Warp then it is unlikely they would have been any real threat.
/2005/ I made a mistake refering to the Federation. As of this episode no mention of a UFP exists. The Star bases are actyally denoted as Earth outposts /2005/
Why did Kirk have to go and hug that blonde girl when the weapon was being fired at them? Maybe they’ll be an item later but I don’t know that a commanding officer should be so cozy with his subordinates. I dunno, she seems sorta vapid. But she’s very pretty.
I hope Lenard hasn’t settled permanently in CA, I’d like to see him onstage live here in NY. The movies probably won’t know what to do with a guy like that, never mind TV.