# TOS: Catspaw **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 10, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425 "2017-10-10T01:00:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/41 "2017-10-11T01:45:58Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > I figured the incongruity was just to emphasize how elaborate the illusion had been. I dislike agreeing with you, but, yes. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/42 "2017-10-11T01:58:19Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Kirk killed plenty of people personally. Even in “Arena.” He did, after all, handle the mortar with Spock. Those weren’t people, they were Gorn. :dubious: Nasty, stinky, ugly lizards. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/43 "2017-10-11T01:59:47Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I dislike agreeing with you, but, yes. Well, it wasn’t _all_ illusion. Jackson is dead. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/44 "2017-10-11T02:04:06Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > That’s pretty much what I always thought, I was just poking the bear ( **terentii** ). 😉 That’s one way of looking at it, fer sure. I just think it’s easier to assume the production company fucked up. As for Kirk killing others, sure: at long range, in the heat of battle, must have. Face-to-face, with a phaser or any other weapon, I don’t recall he did. He could easily have zapped Gary Mitchell, but it was actually the landslide that got him. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/45 "2017-10-11T02:10:00Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > That’s pretty much what I always thought, I was just poking the bear ( **terentii** ). 😉 It’s been a long day–I should have said, “…poking the _sehlat_.” I’ll try to do better. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/46 "2017-10-11T02:11:39Z")
Duplicate post ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/47 "2017-10-11T02:13:47Z")
Tarentii wrote: “He could easily have zapped Gary Mitchell, but it was actually the landslide that got him.” The landslide brought him down? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/48 "2017-10-11T02:15:52Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Tarentii wrote: “He could easily have zapped Gary Mitchell, but it was actually the landslide that got him.” > > The landslide brought him down? The landslide started by the phaser blast knocked him into the grave and crushed him. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/49 "2017-10-11T02:33:25Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I don’t think he ever personally killed someone, did he? Even when he had the chance to finish off the Gorn, he refused to do it. > > Ordering your WO to destroy an enemy vessel with hundreds of crew aboard isn’t the same as zapping them yourself. Going over the list of TOS episodes: -Kirk placed the anti-matter bomb that killed the blood-eating cloud in “Obsession” -if that’s not visceral enough for you, he spears a guy to death (probably) in “The Gamesters of Triskelion” -he possibly inflicted normally-lethal injuries to various Klingons in “Day of the Dove”, but the alien entity was causing everyone to heal rapidly …and that’s about it, as far as I can tell. I’m assuming there isn’t any personal killing in the animated series, but he does kick Kruge into lava in _The Search for Spock_ and that was pretty unambiguous even if clearly in self-defense. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/50 "2017-10-11T02:36:48Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > The landslide started by the phaser blast knocked him into the grave and crushed him. Whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/51 "2017-10-11T02:38:06Z")
I have always enjoyed _Catspaw_. It’s got its cheesy moments, but it was a fun episode. And I can aver that, on the televisions of the day, you didn’t see strings. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/52 "2017-10-11T02:52:41Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Going over the list of TOS episodes: > > -Kirk placed the anti-matter bomb that killed the blood-eating cloud in “Obsession” > > -if that’s not visceral enough for you, he spears a guy to death (probably) in “The Gamesters of Triskelion” > > -he possibly inflicted normally-lethal injuries to various Klingons in “Day of the Dove”, but the alien entity was causing everyone to heal rapidly > > …and that’s about it, as far as I can tell. I’m assuming there isn’t any personal killing in the animated series, but he does kick Kruge into lava in _The Search for Spock_ and that was pretty unambiguous even if clearly in self-defense. I think of killing the Vampire Cloud the same way I think of planting the anti-matter bomb in the Space Amoeba: pest control. Klingons probably also died when Kirk and Spock blew up the ammo dump on Organia. Again, however, that was an impersonal act during time of war. I know Kloog got a spear in the gut on Triskelion, but Kirk was forced to fight to save himself and his ship. I’m talking about face-to-face killing for more personal reasons, like the time he tried to skewer Trelane on Gothos (and was again prevented from doing so). I think he may have killed Colonel Green with his bare hands on Excalbia. But he wouldn’t shoot Wyatt Earp on Melkot, even when he could have blown his head off. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/53 "2017-10-11T03:45:44Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Going over the list of TOS episodes: > > -Kirk placed the anti-matter bomb that killed the blood-eating cloud in “Obsession” > > -if that’s not visceral enough for you, he spears a guy to death (probably) in “The Gamesters of Triskelion” > > -he possibly inflicted normally-lethal injuries to various Klingons in “Day of the Dove”, but the alien entity was causing everyone to heal rapidly > > …and that’s about it, as far as I can tell. I’m assuming there isn’t any personal killing in the animated series, but he does kick Kruge into lava in _The Search for Spock_ and that was pretty unambiguous even if clearly in self-defense. In the same movie he blasts a Klingon across the yard. I’ve always maintained that was Stun at maximum setting, but others disagree. McCoy of all people guns down the Salt Monster (first ep!) and a Mugatu. Also is often seen with his phaser drawn. That’s how i like my doctors!! ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/54 "2017-10-11T12:32:06Z")
In one episode Kirk and Spock shoot a Klingon with stun, and he falls out of a tower, presumably to his death. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/55 "2017-10-11T13:52:30Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > In one episode Kirk and Spock shoot a Klingon with stun, and he falls out of a tower, presumably to his death. Again, on Organia. Actually, the Organians say “No one has died here for hundreds [or thousands] of years” at the end of the episode. I’ve always wondered if that extended to the Klingons as well. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/56 "2017-10-11T14:33:55Z")
I’ll just point out that the Gorn captain lived. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/57 "2017-10-11T16:39:03Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Chekov’s “Beatles” wig. It must have been designed by the same person who did Janice Rand’s beehive hairdo. :eek: > > If I’m not mistaken, he wore it three times: in “Catspaw,” “Friday’s Child,” and “Who Mourns for Adonais?” Before _ **Trek** _, Koenig had been doing shows like _ **Combat!** _ and _ **Jericho** _.\* His hair must have been as short as Shatner’s was at the beginning. It took a while before he started to look like Davey Jones, which was the intent. They wanted someone who could draw in the teenage audience. > > \*A CBS series about Resistance fighters in WWII. There’s a quick moment at the very end of “The Deadly Years” where you see Koenig’s real hair and his wig in successive shots. They must have inserted an earlier bit of film for some reason. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/58 "2017-10-11T18:26:48Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Chekov’s “Beatles” wig. It must have been designed by the same person who did Janice Rand’s beehive hairdo. :eek: Well, yeah, but I was jokingly referencing that thing [Antoinette Bower](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Antoinette_Bower) was wearing and, less blatantly, Shatner’s own Turbo 2000. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/59 "2017-10-11T19:08:22Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, yeah, but I was jokingly referencing that thing [Antoinette Bower](http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Antoinette_Bower) was wearing and, less blatantly, Shatner’s own Turbo 2000. There is a perhaps apocryphal story that Shatner asked the blonde in _The Gamesters of Triskelon_ out, and she later did not recognize him without his studio hair. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425/60 "2017-10-11T19:16:49Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > There is a perhaps apocryphal story that Shatner asked the blonde in _The Gamesters of Triskelon_ out, and she later did not recognize him without his studio hair. Her studio hair was green! 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tos-catspaw/798425.md?page=4)