Week Five of Star Trek.
This week’s episode The Enemy Within
A recap of the rules
No one can user later undiscussed episodes.
The movies are a no no.
Later Star Trek series are out of bounds as well. We’ll treat this as Star Trek Year Zero.
New Episodes Air Tuesday Nights at 8pm on NBC
If you have that Alberta station you may post 1 day early but you must use spoiler boxes.
You may treat this as it were the sixties on the grounds that the discussion sticks to the show. Each new episode is a new episode
Another fairly interesting episode. A Transporter accident creates a Good Kirk and an Evil Kirk. In the balance crew members trapped on a planet that is becoming unbearably cold.
Boy if the Enterprise only uses Transporters to move the crew around I can see a lot of cases where this could be used as a plot crutch.
“We’d bring you back to the ship but the Transporter is out, again.”
Maybe some form of smaller landing craft could be also used in these emergencies?
What was that Spock did to incapacitate Evil Kirk?? That was nifty! An interesting way to pacify an enemy rather than the old-fashioned slug out.
So Spock says he is half human and half “alien”. I think this backs my theory that he has lived on earth and his ancestor was Vulcanian. He doesn’t see himself as Vulcanian but human. He just admits he’s incapable of having emotions.
Sulu, (I checked the credits this week he is listed as Sulu not Solo) gets another interesting part as the tough as nails guy roughing it on the planet. “Can you send down a cup of coffee on a rope”
I’m still unsure of the Doctor’s relationship with Kirk, it almost seems friendly (He calls the Captain Jim) but there are moments of antagonism too.
Oh and Rand is becoming my favourite character! But what was with Spock’s question to her at the end saying the evil Kirk “Had interesting Qualities” What a creep, she was almost raped and he says that?!
What’s almost as bad as Spock’s comment is Rand herself saying that she would have kept quiet about it to protect the Captain’s career, or something like that.
I liked this episode by Richard Matheson, and hope to see more.
That Geologist Fischer guy was the geologist on the old pilot that GR showed in Cleveland.
Sir Rhosis
[2005]Has anybody read Grace Lee Whitney’s bio? She tells of being forced by an exec to perform oral sex on them just shortly before being fired. From her descriptions–tall, powereful, large slender hands, a hobbyist who works with gemstones (I forget the title), it is easy to imagine she is talking of Roddenberry.[/2005]
You could really tell Shatner (or maybe the director) had theatrical training/experience in that opening shot. Backing into a scene, then quickly turning forward to start your lines is a guaranteed way to focus the audience’s attention on you regardless of the continuing action/dialogue going on elsewhere on stage. In fact, all through this episode, Shatner seemed to act a little bit over the top (just like many stage actors sem to). While it worked for the story of this episode, I sincerely hope he doesn’t continue to use that style of acting. Could become a cliche if not reined in.
An interesting part was the writers making the ability to give command descisions come from the bad/dark side of our psyche. Was that trying to say that we as a society must put up with leaders as a neccesary evil? Or that good and bad must co-exist in order for good to exist at all? Sounds a little like that oriental stuff that I’ve seen popping up with all the longhairs and their eastern religions.
As for Rand and the Bad Kirk, it looked like she liked him that way. I’ve heard stories, you know…
The ads for the show in my local newspaper say “Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Grace Lee Whitney” but the program credits only give Shatner top billing.
There was one bit that snapped suspension of disbelief a bit – a throwaway line that they’d tried beaming down some heaters but they came down duplicated and didn’t work. If the transporter malfunction caused something as simple as a space heater to quit, wouldn’t the two Kirks have materialized dead?
This was a pretty good episode, talking about the balance of forces in the mind, played against the tough choices the captain must face with his marooned men freezing on the surface, etc.
But JEEZE! That first scene, just before the credits when the “bad” captain “beamed” aboard, learing and looking shiftily from side to side? What a ham that guy is!
On the other hand, when Spock used that special move on the evil Kirk, the guy who had to “sell” that move was Kirk, not Spock. It helped that William Shatner acts as though he’s trying to sell it to people in the nose-bleed section of a theater - that grab and Kirk’s huge reaction looked really convincing!
Good episode, and an interesting premise, but once again I’m left wondering just how intelligent and observant the crew of this ship really are.
As with the ‘card tricks’ in Charlie X, Evil Kirk’s behaviour should have been over-the-top enough to cause the Doctor and maybe some others to think that something was up. The drinking, the attack on Rand… surely not normal behaviour for the Captain!
And then they see the duplicate dog, and find out about the weird ore on Fischer’s suit… and STILL don’t put it together.
I think this episode would’ve been cooler if that pointy eared guy had gotten split instead of the captain. He and his race are all so cold and aloof, just imagine what’d it be like to see him be more devious and cunning? I’d really like to see that.
Oh, and it looks like the Asiatic helmsman guy is going to be the main action hero of this series. Every big mission to a planet, every big fight, he’s going to be leading the way, and the guys in the red shirts are going to be his sidekicks who help him win every time. This show is really taking a chance with the ratings by doing that, but admittedly not as big a chance with an Asiatic as they would with a Negro.
So, does this Asian guy have any sort of martial arts skill at all? I haven’t seen him throw a single karate chop so far.
We did see him prancing about with a sword, but it was rapier rather than a Bushido blade. He was also likened to D’Artagnan, instead of to a ninja, a samurai or a Shaolin monk.
Yeah, they’re taking a big chance by having this guy on the ship. I’m not sure the public is ready for that yet.
I’ve heard rumors there’s going to be a TV series about the Green Hornet, using some Asian guy to do all the karate fighting as well as be the chauffeur (wonder what GH is gonna do?). Maybe Star Trek wanted him but had to settle for this guy instead, except he can’t do karate.
Haven’t we seen him play a Japanese prison guard in some war movies or something? Maybe on that Twilight Zone episode where the American guy is suddenly wearing a Japanese uniform?
^^^Nah, he wasn’t in that one, but he was on the Twilight Zone in one called The Encounter. He encountered Neville Brand (you know, that guy with hair even greasier than Jerry Lewis, Elvis and Buddy Holly combined). They argued over who was to blame for WWII, then both jumped out a window, or something like that.
Pretty good episode. What exactly are a yeoman’s duties aboard a starship? I’m glad the network lets them get away with having the female crew members wear miniskirts. I’m all for women’s lib and everything, but it’s nice to think a broad will still look like a broad.
The fistfight seemed like it didn’t really belong – like they’ve got a perfectly good philosophical idea they can explore using science fiction, but they feel they have to throw in a fistfight to keep it exciting. I’m sure they’ll figure out soon they don’t really need to do that.