# Watching TOS "Journey to Babel" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 31, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289 "2016-10-31T19:32:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**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 31, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289/1 "2016-10-31T19:32:42Z")
How did the Tantalus Field device get into McCoy’s office?!? :dubious: 😕 ---
**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 31, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289/2 "2016-10-31T19:42:55Z")
Do you mean why does the Tantalus Field prop from “By Any Other Name” appear in this episode? If so, I assume for budgetary reasons. If not, then I ask for more context. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289/3 "2016-10-31T19:57:19Z")
Probably the same way that the Romulan cloaking device ended up being made of parts of Nomad combined with the globe that held Sargon’s consciousness. That is, a wizard did it. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289/4 "2016-10-31T20:11:25Z")
Yep, when you mainly use physical props and sets, you really don’t want them to be single-use. ---
**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 31, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289/5 "2016-10-31T23:21:27Z")
[Existing Trek TOS thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=805523) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289/6 "2016-10-31T23:35:39Z")
Why wouldn’t this merit its own thread? It’s a question about a specific Star Trek episode, and I’m sure **terentii** is well aware of the existence of the other thread. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289/7 "2016-11-01T01:10:18Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Probably the same way that the Romulan cloaking device ended up being made of parts of Nomad combined with the globe that held Sargon’s consciousness. Or how the salt vampire ended up in Trelaine’s home… ---
**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:** [November 1, 2016, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289/8 "2016-11-01T01:18:34Z")
That’s the episode with Kirk’s patented “Flying Butt Block”. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LSHCNTELFI8/hqdefault.jpg "Best Kirk Fight Moves - The Wall of Destruction") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSHCNTELFI8) ---
**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:** [November 1, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289/9 "2016-11-01T01:39:22Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Do you mean why does the Tantalus Field prop from “By Any Other Name” appear in this episode? > > If so, I assume for budgetary reasons. > > If not, then I ask for more context. “Mirror, Mirror,” not “By Any Other Name.” Budgetary reasons is the obvious explanation. But you gotta admit, it’s a weird thing to have in a doctor’s office. \* “Doctor, this crewman’s been infected with an unknown disease that could kill everyone on the ship!” “Uhhhhh … just give me a minute alone, Nurse. I need to … uhm … consult some reference materials in my office. Yes, that’s it! Consult. Reference materials.”\* I’d swear I noticed the same thing in Kirk’s quarters earlier in the episode. What, that thing was all over the ship?!? How did I ever miss this before? :smack: ---
**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:** [November 1, 2016, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289/10 "2016-11-01T02:05:47Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “Mirror, Mirror,” not “By Any Other Name.” Yes, of course. I stand corrected. > [@](#): > > Budgetary reasons is the obvious explanation. But you gotta admit, it’s a weird thing to have in a doctor’s office. Well, we have identical-looking _people_ in each universe fulfilling different functions, why not identical-looking machines? The premise is already pretty shaky, suggesting as it does some kind of “fate” element, i.e. no matter what past event caused that universe’s history to diverge from the more familiar “mainstream” one, it was somehow inevitable that Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura and Marlena Moreau would all be assigned to a starship named _Enterprise_ which itself would be assigned at a particular time to a mission to a planet occupied by a race known as the Halkans. Was “mainstream” Kirk chosen by Starfleet Command to be the captain of the USS \* Enterprise\*, or was their decision forced because “mirror” Kirk seized command of the ISS _Enterprise_? Or did the mirror-Kirk seize power _because_ his counterpart had been assigned? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/watching-tos-journey-to-babel/770289/11 "2016-11-01T02:13:52Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The premise is already pretty shaky, suggesting as it does some kind of “fate” element, i.e. no matter what past event caused that universe’s history to diverge from the more familiar “mainstream” one, it was somehow inevitable that Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, Uhura and Marlena Moreau would all be assigned to a starship named _Enterprise_ which itself would be assigned at a particular time to a mission to a planet occupied by a race known as the Halkans. Was “mainstream” Kirk chosen by Starfleet Command to be the captain of the USS \* > Enterprise\*, or was their decision forced because “mirror” Kirk seized command of the ISS _Enterprise_? Or did the mirror-Kirk seize power _because_ his counterpart had been assigned? I figured that the exchange required finding two very similar universes out of all the quadrillions of universes that exist. No fate required - it’s just that an exchange will only happen between universes that happen to have an Enterprise, a Kirk, a Spock, a Scotty, an Uhura, etc. transporting from Halkan at the same time.