"The Naked Time"
Season One, Episode Four
Stardate 1704.2
"Space still contains infinite unknowns."
--Commander Spock
*While I am pretty much a walking Star Trek Encyclopedia on my own, I do not have absolute knowledge of Star Trek. So note that I use the real Star Trek Encyclopedia, written by Michael and Denise Okuda, and Memory Alpha for supplemental information regarding behind-the-scenes info and trivia.
Synopsis
Planet Psi 2000's orbit is decaying, leading to the planet disintegrating. The Enterprise has been dispatched to pick up the science crew that was stationed there before the planet is gone. However, all is not well. Spock and Joe Tormolen beam down to investigate, finding the science crew and all the equipment frozen. That's not the most bizarre thing: the engineer is frozen as if he didn't care what was happening around him. A lieutenant has been strangled, and a crewman was taking a shower fully-clothed. Tormolen winds up accidentally infected by a mysterious substance, and then Spock and he are beamed back up to the ship. Although they were decontaminated and looked over by Dr. McCoy, nothing out of the ordinary was discovered. Kirk wants to investigate the decomposition of the planet closer, so he takes the ship in to a tighter orbit, with the order that Scotty must get the ship underway at a moment's notice. However, Tormolen soon starts acting strangely. In the mess hall, he acts rudely toward Lts. Sulu and Riley, and then threatens them with a knife. Tormolen turns the knife on himself, and Sulu and Riley try to prevent him from stabbing himself. In the scuffle, Tormolen ends up with a knife wound to his abdomen, and Sulu and Riley have been infected by the virus that Tormolen brought back to the ship. Tormolen is taken to Sickbay where McCoy operates on him. Despite the fact that his injuries were not severe, Tormolen dies. McCoy surmises that Tormolen died because he simply didn't want to live. Sulu and Riley soon start acting strangely, with Sulu believing himself to be a Musketeer and chasing crew members with a fencing foil, and Riley taking over engineering, locking Scotty out. Sulu is eventually overpowered and taken to Sickbay where McCoy finally discovers what is causing the strange behavior. The water on Psi 2000 had mutated and was now acting like alcohol, lowering the inhibitions of all infected. With that knowledge, McCoy synthesizes an antidote. Scotty manages to break back into engineering and Riley is overpowered, but he had turned the engines completely off. With just eight minutes left until the planet disintegrates with the ship, they don't have the 30 minutes necessary to restart the engines. Only one thing is left: they must use an experimental mix ratio that accounts for time and antimatter in order to jumpstart the engines. The jumpstart is successful, but due to the temporal nature of the mix, the ship is propelled three days into the past. With three days to live over, the Enterprise moves on to its next assignment.
Themes:
The main theme in this episode is about emotion vs. logic (which is a popular theme among The Original Series, since Spock embodies logic, McCoy embodies emotion, and Kirk is the balance between the two). Even Spock, who is coldly logical, becomes infected by the virus. His emotions start pushing themselves to the surface and he cries at the prospect of knowing that he could never love Nurse Chapel in the way she needs him to after she confesses that she is in love with him (though also under the influence of the virus at the time). Logic is a necessary balance to emotion because under the emotional influence of the virus, no one wanted to get any work done and no one was interested in saving the ship.
Grade: A-
This is a really good episode, and it never really feels like it slows down at all. It's probably one of TOS' best episodes, although it inspired one of TNG's worst episodes. I gave this an A- because really, Tormolen must have skipped the day at Starfleet Academy in which his instructor told him not to take his gloves off in a potentially contaminated area. Lo and behold, when Tormolen took off his glove to scratch his nose (and who would make EVA suits without a neck seal, anyway?), he ended up becoming infected with the virus that nearly destroyed the ship (and he also ended up dying). And even afterward, when Spock said not to expose himself to anything, Tormolen didn't tell Spock what just happened to him. Even after they beam up, he tries to step off the transporter pad before the contamination. Spock has to hold him back.
But there are a number of good elements. The scene where Spock breaks down emotionally was great, and very well acted by Nimoy. Riley's crooning over the loudspeaker to make an already tense situation even worse was a nice touch.
"The Naked Time"
Directed by: Marc Daniels
Written by: John D.F. Black
Starring:
William Shatner as James Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy
Also starring:
George Takei as Sulu
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
James Doohan as Montgomery Scott
Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand
Majel Barrett as Christine Chapel
Stewart Moss as Joe Tormolen
Bruce Hyde as Lieutenant Kevin Thomas Riley
Frank Da Vinci as Lieutenant Brent
Eddie Paskey as Lieutenant Ryan
Trivia:
-This episode was originally going to be the first of a two-part episode, in which the Enterprise is thrown back in time to 20th century Earth.. The second part eventually became an independent story, "Tomorrow is Yesterday."
-The first regular episode of The Next Generation, "The Naked Now", is a sequel of sorts to this episode.
-This episode was Nurse Chapel's first appearance.
-Tormolen and Riley were being considered as series regulars during this episode. Instead, Tormolen died in this episode and Riley would make just one more appearance, in the episode "Conscience of the King."
-This was the first episode to establish that the Enterprise is propelled by a combination of matter with anti-matter that results in a controlled explosion.
-This was the first episode where the tricorder was used.
-This was the first episode in which we see how decontamination works. The transporter has a device which decontaminates the crew while they stay standing on the transporter pad. In Star Trek: Enterprise, we learn that decontamination in the 22nd century is done by sitting in an isolated room and rubbing gel on your body. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, we learn that the transporter has a decontamination protocol built in to the transportation process, itself, that removes harmful microbes from a person's body before rematerializing them.
-This is the only episode in which the three primary female characters (Uhura, Rand, and Chapel) appear together. The next time they all appear together is in the first feature film.
-This is the first episode in which we see Sulu as navigator, working at the conn. We also learn he has botany and fencing among his interests.
-We also learn that the Enterprise has a bowling alley in this episode.
-We get Scotty's first utterance of his recurring phrase "I canna change the law of physics."
We also get our first glimpse of the following planet:
1) Psi 2000 -- a desolate planet that is disintegrating. Spock does inform us that Psi 2000 was remarkably similar to Earth before its sun went dark. A Federation science station was stationed here, but all crew members on the station died after contracting a mysterious virus. The water on Psi 2000 mutated and created that virus. The Psi 2000 virus works like the AIDS virus. The AIDS virus doesn't kill a person outright, it lowers the effectiveness of the host's immune system, causing the host to be more susceptible to other illnesses. In this case, the Psi 2000 virus acts like alcohol, causing the host to lose inhibitions and engage in hazardous behavior. The virus is spread through perspiration and contact.
"The Enemy Within"
Season One, Episode Five
Stardate 1672.1
"He's like an animal. A thoughtless, brutal animal. And yet it's me."
--Captain Kirk
Synopsis
On a survey mission to planet Alfa 177, Geological Technician Fisher takes a spill down a hill. He scratches up his hand and gets a yellow magnetic ore on his clothes. Kirk orders him to teleport up and see Dr. McCoy. A few minutes later, Kirk also beams up. However, unbeknownst to him, Scotty, or Transporter Technician Wilson, a duplicate of Kirk materializes on the transporter pad. Kirk has been split into two opposite halves: a positive, good half, and a negative, bad half. The negative Kirk roughs up McCoy and orders him to give him some Saurian brandy, before breaking into Yeoman Rand's quarters and sexually assaulting her. Scotty calls Kirk's good half and Spock to the transporter room. He had beamed an animal up from the surface that was split into two halves: a docile half and a ferocious half. Scotty takes the transporter off-line until it can be repaired, leaving four crewmen, including Lieutenant Sulu, stranded on the planet's surface in increasingly frigid temperatures. Rand reports Negative Kirk's attack to McCoy, who calls Positive Kirk and Spock down to Sickbay to listen to her testimony, and that of a witness, Geological Technician Fisher. Rand had scratched Negative Kirk in the scuffle, but Positive Kirk shows her that he has no scratches. However, her testimony confirms Spock's fear: Kirk, also, has been duplicated. Spock and Kirk search for the duplicate Kirk and ultimately subdue him, taking him to Sickbay. The situation is even worse, in that the duplication process weakened both Kirks: it physically weakened the Negative Kirk, who is now dying, and due to Positive Kirk missing his more negative aspects, he finds himself increasingly unable to make command decisions. The two must be reunited. If one dies, the other will, too. Later Scott discovers what is wrong with the transporter and attempts to fix it, sending both animals through the transporter in an attempt to reverse the process. The animal's halves are reunited but unfortunately the animal doesn't survive the recombining. McCoy insists on doing an autopsy on the animal before Kirk makes an attempt, but Spock argues that the animal was terrified and didn't understand what was happening to it. Kirk's higher intelligence will help him survive the recombining. With time running out for the crewmen on the planet, Kirk and his duplicate undergo the recombining, which is successful. Scott beams the other crewmen aboard before they freeze to death.
Themes:
There are two main themes in this episode, though the first is explored much more deeply than the second. The first theme is the internal struggle between good and evil. We all have good and we all have evil within us that are warring. The negative aspects of Kirk's personality are what enable him to make command decisions, but his positive aspects such as compassion and reason, temper his negative side so that he can channel those negative aspects into positive actions.
The second theme is a problem in philosophy of mind: namely, which Kirk that materializes is the real Kirk? Did Kirk actually die during the transport and two duplicates arise? Or is the first Kirk the real Kirk, albeit missing essential aspects of his personality, and the second a mere duplicate, a different being altogether than the first? (This is, of course, ignoring the more fundamental issue of whether or not anyone actually survives a transport, or if the person dies and the person who materializes elsewhere is a duplicate.) The episode seems to take the stance that the first Kirk is the "real" one, and the second is a duplicate. The second one even realizes that the recombining will result in his death, which makes him unwilling to go through the process.
Grade: A-
Another good story, though this one does drag a bit due to its length. I gave this one an A- because like the last one, there's a pretty glaring plothole, despite how good the episode is. Why is there only one way to retrieve the landing party? Is there only one transporter room on the whole ship? That doesn't seem likely. At the very least, no explanation is given as to why another transporter room couldn't be used. Also, we know that the ship has shuttlecraft, as seen later in the show. By this point in the series that wouldn't have been an issue, but as we know the ship does have shuttles, why couldn't the landing party be rescued? It just seems inexplicable why there couldn't be an alternate method of rescuing a stranded landing party in an emergency situation in case the transporter breaks down. Although, according to the Memory Alpha page (see the second bullet point under the "story and production" heading), Matheson's original script didn't have the B-story because he thinks B-stories slow down the main story. The subplot was added in staff re-writes.
"The Enemy Within"
Directed by: Leo Penn
Written by: Richard Matheson
Starring:
William Shatner as James Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy
Also starring:
George Takei as Sulu
James Doohan as Montgomery Scott
Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand
Edward Madden as Geological Technician Fisher
Garland Thompson as Transporter Technician Wilson
Jim Goodwin as Lieutenant John Farrell
Eddie Paskey as Connors
Trivia:
-Uhura did not appear in this episode, but she can be heard over the loudspeaker.
-This episode marks the first use of Spock's Vulcan nerve pinch (sometimes referred to as the Vulcan neck pinch, such as in the movie Spaceballs). The original script called for Spock to knock Negative Kirk out over the head. Leonard Nimoy objected to this and improvized the Vulcan nerve pinch, which the director liked.
-This episode also marks the first use of McCoy's phrase "He's dead, Jim." This phrase would be uttered again in different iterations throughout the show.
-We also see the first instance of Saurian brandy on the show. Saurian brandy was stored in distinctive amber bottles with curved necks. It was enjoyed in four other episodes of TOS, one episode of TNG, and two episodes of DS9.
We also get our first glimpse at the following planet:
Alfa 177 -- A Class-M planet that gets very cold at night, with temperatures dropping down to 120 degrees below zero. The landing party that was stranded there survived by using blankets, huddling together for warmth, and using their phasers to heat rocks. There is a yellow, metallic ore that exists there. There was also an animal that was with them, a canine creature with a horn. It wasn't mentioned whether or not the animal was indigenous to the planet, but I can't see any other reason the animal would have joined the landing party.
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Movie Review: Deadpool 2
Disclaimer: This review will contain spoilers. Don't read it unless you've already watched the movie or unless you don't care about being spoiled. I like to analyze movies, and I can't really do that unless I spoil the movie. You have been warned.
Still disclaimer: Again, I'm serious. This review will spoil some major plot points from the movie. Unless you don't care about spoilers, don't read this until you've seen the movie.
Deadpool has been successfully superheroing for a couple of years now, slaughtering a number of human traffickers. However, on his and his girlfriend, Vanessa's, anniversary, one of his targets he failed to kill shows up and kills Vanessa. After killing the target in revenge, Deadpool tries to blow himself up in despair over his girlfriend's death. His body is blown into pieces but he survives, found by Colossus. Recovering at the X-Mansion, he starts training to become part of the team, but he winds up in prison. In this prison, he befriends a young, plus-sized mutant named Firefist. It turns out that a sequence of events will lead Firefist to become a murderous mutant in the future who will kill the wife and child of Cable. Cable comes to the present from the future with a mission of killing Firefist before he becomes a villain, leading Deadpool to try and talk Firefist out of it before Cable gets his hands on him.
This is a very fun film, like the first one. Like the first film, it is also not suitable for kids. There is far less sexual content in this one. You do get a glimpse of Juggernaut's CGI backside and jokes about Deadpool's tiny but growing back genitalia after he is ripped in half by Juggernaut. Also, several references to Deadpool's pansexuality are made.
But harsh profanities abound, and the violence is still extreme. There is still loads of humor (and most of it lands, while some of it is a bit forced), and it is surprisingly a more emotional outing. The first film was Deadpool's origin story. Now that we know Deadpool and the rules of the universe he lives in (including all the fourth-wall breaking), the writers can do something more with the character. And they have done so. There are surprising turns in the story, such as the murder of Vanessa which serves at the catalyst for the events that spur the plot along. Even more surprising is that most of the X-Force teammates that Deadpool recruits die almost immediately after beginning their mission, leaving Deadpool, Domino, Cable, and Firefist as the only surviving members of X-Force.
And coming off of Avengers: Infinity War playing supervillain Thanos, Josh Brolin plays Cable to perfection here (and has signed a four-film deal to portray the character).
Themes:
The main theme running through this film is one of family (which, of course, is pretty much an overdone theme in movies and television). Deadpool and Cable share a motivation to stop the bad guys -- people they care about are murdered. Deadpool realizes that Firefist has been abused by the people raising him in the orphanage, so Firefist really is not a bad guy. He just had a difficult past. So Deadpool takes it upon himself to try and talk Firefist out of committing his first murder, which will lead to others, because he believes he can get through to him (which, of course, is the old "nature vs. nurture" theme).
Grade: A
Again, this was a very fun movie, if you can overlook the language and excessive violence. I couldn't give it an A+ because of the language and violence being so gratuitous. But it is definitely a well-made movie, well-acted, very funny and even successfully emotional when it needs to be.
Deadpool 2
(Cameo spoilers below)
Directed by: David Leitch
Written by: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ryan Reynolds
Starring:
Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool
Morena Baccarin as Vanessa
Josh Brolin as Cable
Julian Dennison as Russell Collins/Firefist
Zazie Beetz as Domino
T.J. Miller as Weasel
Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead
Jack Kesy as Black Tom Cassidy
Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Juggernaut
Stefan Kapicic as the voice of Colossus
Leslie Uggams as Blind Al
Karan Soni as Dopinder
Terry Crews as Bedlam
Lewis Tan as Shatterstar
Bill Skarsgard as Zeitgeist
Rob Delaney as Peter
Brad Pitt as Vanisher (in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo)
James McAvoy as Professor X (cameo)
Nicholas Hoult as Beast (cameo)
Evan Peters as Quicksilver (cameo)
Tye Sheridan as Cyclops (cameo)
Alexandra Shipp as Storm (cameo)
Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler (cameo)
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine (archival footage)
Alan Tudyk and Matt Damon as "rednecks" (cameo)
Still disclaimer: Again, I'm serious. This review will spoil some major plot points from the movie. Unless you don't care about spoilers, don't read this until you've seen the movie.
This is a very fun film, like the first one. Like the first film, it is also not suitable for kids. There is far less sexual content in this one. You do get a glimpse of Juggernaut's CGI backside and jokes about Deadpool's tiny but growing back genitalia after he is ripped in half by Juggernaut. Also, several references to Deadpool's pansexuality are made.
But harsh profanities abound, and the violence is still extreme. There is still loads of humor (and most of it lands, while some of it is a bit forced), and it is surprisingly a more emotional outing. The first film was Deadpool's origin story. Now that we know Deadpool and the rules of the universe he lives in (including all the fourth-wall breaking), the writers can do something more with the character. And they have done so. There are surprising turns in the story, such as the murder of Vanessa which serves at the catalyst for the events that spur the plot along. Even more surprising is that most of the X-Force teammates that Deadpool recruits die almost immediately after beginning their mission, leaving Deadpool, Domino, Cable, and Firefist as the only surviving members of X-Force.
And coming off of Avengers: Infinity War playing supervillain Thanos, Josh Brolin plays Cable to perfection here (and has signed a four-film deal to portray the character).
Themes:
The main theme running through this film is one of family (which, of course, is pretty much an overdone theme in movies and television). Deadpool and Cable share a motivation to stop the bad guys -- people they care about are murdered. Deadpool realizes that Firefist has been abused by the people raising him in the orphanage, so Firefist really is not a bad guy. He just had a difficult past. So Deadpool takes it upon himself to try and talk Firefist out of committing his first murder, which will lead to others, because he believes he can get through to him (which, of course, is the old "nature vs. nurture" theme).
Grade: A
Again, this was a very fun movie, if you can overlook the language and excessive violence. I couldn't give it an A+ because of the language and violence being so gratuitous. But it is definitely a well-made movie, well-acted, very funny and even successfully emotional when it needs to be.
Deadpool 2
(Cameo spoilers below)
Directed by: David Leitch
Written by: Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ryan Reynolds
Starring:
Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson/Deadpool
Morena Baccarin as Vanessa
Josh Brolin as Cable
Julian Dennison as Russell Collins/Firefist
Zazie Beetz as Domino
T.J. Miller as Weasel
Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead
Jack Kesy as Black Tom Cassidy
Ryan Reynolds as the voice of Juggernaut
Stefan Kapicic as the voice of Colossus
Leslie Uggams as Blind Al
Karan Soni as Dopinder
Terry Crews as Bedlam
Lewis Tan as Shatterstar
Bill Skarsgard as Zeitgeist
Rob Delaney as Peter
Brad Pitt as Vanisher (in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo)
James McAvoy as Professor X (cameo)
Nicholas Hoult as Beast (cameo)
Evan Peters as Quicksilver (cameo)
Tye Sheridan as Cyclops (cameo)
Alexandra Shipp as Storm (cameo)
Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler (cameo)
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine (archival footage)
Alan Tudyk and Matt Damon as "rednecks" (cameo)
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Star Trek Review: "Charlie X" & "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
"Charlie X"
Season One, Episode Two
Stardate 1533.6
"He's a boy in a man's body, trying to be an adult with the adolescence in him getting in the way."
--James Kirk
*While I am pretty much a walking Star Trek Encyclopedia on my own, I do not have absolute knowledge of Star Trek. So note that I use the real Star Trek Encyclopedia, written by Michael and Denise Okuda, and Memory Alpha for supplemental information regarding behind-the-scenes info and trivia.
Synopsis
A 17-year-old boy, Charles Evans, is transferred to the Enterprise from the U.S.S. Antares. Charlie was the lone survivor of a transport crash on the planet Thasus in 2252, only three years old at the time. He was raised by the Thasians, thought to be only a legend by Starfleet. The Enterprise is transporting Charlie to the Alpha V settlement, on which his closest living relatives reside. En route, Charlie tells Dr. McCoy that he survived on the food in the supply stores but once that ran out, began to eat whatever he could find growing on the planet. He learned to talk by interacting with the ship's memory banks. Unfortunately Charlie has trouble fitting in with the crew of the Enterprise, which is only compounded when it is soon revealed that the Thasians gave Charlie extraordinary mental powers, which Charlie used to destroy the Antares and all 20 crew members aboard the ship, make several of the Enterprise crew disappear, and wreak havoc in other ways when he felt threatened. He took over the Enterprise when Kirk tried to stop him so that they wouldn't deviate from their voyage to Alpha V. Kirk eventually realizes that Charlie's powers have a limit and concocts a plan to sedate Charlie while distracting him by turning on every system on the ship. In the middle of his plan, however, the Thasians show up, apologize for Charlie's misbehavior, and set everything on the Enterprise back to how it was before Charlie showed up. Unfortunately, they were unable to restore the Antares. Despite Charlie wishing to remain with the crew and be taken home, the Thasians ultimately took him back to Thasus with them, realizing that his powers would always pose a danger to humanity -- either he would destroy them all, or they would be forced to kill Charlie to prevent human extinction.
Themes
This episode is basically a teenage melodrama set in space. Charlie is a boy who grew up isolated from his own people, in the company of a non-corporeal race who couldn't teach him how to be human (he couldn't touch them, they can't love, etc.). Charlie was rescued by the Antares and transferred to the Enterprise, but his not having had the benefit of growing up in society and watching others interact with each other put him at an extreme disadvantage when it came to interacting with the crews of both ships. Having the extraordinary mental powers granted him by the Thasians only made matters worse, and alienated him all the more.
Grade: B
Reason for grade: This one was another one that kind of drags, for the most part. They really take a lot of time showing us how alienated Charlie is from other humans, and they wait until the last 12 minutes of the episode before Charlie finally takes over the ship. This is a good concept for the episode, but the main issue I have with most episodes of the original series is that they're just too long. They're roughly eight minutes longer than the later Star Trek series', due to not having as many commercials, but even then they feel really long. I tend to enjoy The Animated Series more, and I've been thinking that episodes of the original series would likely be better if it was a half-hour show, rather than an hour long.
"Charlie X"
Directed by: Lawrence Dobkin
Written by: D.C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry
Starring:
William Shatner as James Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy
Also starring:
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand
Robert Walker, Jr. as Charles Evans
Charles J. Stewart as Captain Ramart
Dallas Mitchell as Tom Nellis
Patricia McNulty as Yeoman Tina Lawton
Beau Vandenecker as Sam (Sam's last name is unofficially Ellis, from a non-canonical novelization)
Trivia (if of no interest to you, skip down to the next episode):
1) We learn that the Enterprise has a crew complement of 428 people.
2) We learn here that Spock plays the Vulcan lute, as well as Uhura's ability to sing.
3) We first see Kirk and Spock engage in a game of three-dimensional chess.
4) Gene Roddenberry does the voice of the galley chef, his only on-screen role in the entire franchise.
We also get our first glimpse of the following planets:
1) Alpha V -- nothing is revealed about this planet other than the fact there is a Federation settlement there, where Charlie Evans' closest living relatives resided.
2) Thasus -- A planet where Charlie Evans grew up and home to the Thasians, a non-corporeal species with extraordinary mental powers. They had evolved beyond their need for physical bodies, existing as pure mental energy. The Thasians were thought to be a legend by the Federation, until Spock realized that Charlie couldn't have survived so long on Thasus without help from the natives. The Thasians also showed up to help put everything back to how it was before Charlie's arrival.
"Where No Man Has Gone Before"
Season One, Episode Three
Stardate: 1312.4
"Man cannot survive if a race of true espers is born."
--Gary Mitchell
Synopsis
The Enterprise has traveled to the edge of the galaxy, on a mission to explore what lies beyond. Before they reach the edge, they discover a recorder from an older vessel, the S.S. Valiant, which tried to cross the barrier at the edge of the galaxy but turned back before they could breach it completely. The ship was destroyed when the captain activated the self-destruct for mysterious reasons. As the Enterprise attempts to cross the barrier, a sequence of events occurs that mirrors the events recorded from the Valiant. Two crewmembers, Dr. Elizabeth Dehner and Kirk's friend, Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell, are zapped by some kind of electrical force, and the ship is damaged beyond their ability to repair. They must turn back before completely breaching the forcefield. They can only fly at impulse, meaning that the closest starbase is years away. They soon discover that they don't have that kind of time to wait, as Commander Mitchell, who has a high ESP rating, starts to become superhuman, able to control material things with his mind. As his power grows, Kirk and Spock recognize the danger he is to the ship and to the universe, at large. They are approaching a planet that could have the supplies necessary to repair the ship's warp engines, but if they are unsuccessful they wouldn't have enough power to leave the planet's orbit. Spock convinces Kirk to give it a try by giving him an ultimatum: either Kirk needs to kill Mitchell now or take the ship into orbit of Delta Vega and maroon Gary Mitchell there. Unwilling to kill his friend, Kirk takes the ship to the planet. Kirk and Spock manage to render Mitchell unconscious and force him down to the planet. The crew successfully repair the ship's engines, but Mitchell has grown too powerful for the crew to contain. Everyone except for Kirk returns to the ship and Kirk leaves to track down Mitchell. He discovers that Dehner, also, has developed superhuman abilities. Mitchell is seducing her with power but Kirk convinces her to help him stop Mitchell. With the help of Dr. Dehner, Kirk is able to kill Gary Mitchell. Unfortunately, Dehner, too, dies in the attempt. Once Kirk is safely back aboard the Enterprise, Kirk records that Dehner and Mitchell gave their lives in the performance of their duties.
Themes:
The major theme of this episode is one that has been done repeatedly in literature: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Mitchell was a good Starfleet officer, but when he got zapped by the barrier at the edge of the galaxy, as his power grew his desire to rule a planet grew, as well. In the end, Kirk had to stop him, otherwise because he was still human and had his human frailties to contend with, there would be no end to the malevolence that Gary Mitchell would cause to the universe.
There is also a theme of rationality ruling over the emotions, a personal favorite theme of mine. Mitchell was Kirk's friend. Kirk didn't want to kill or maroon his friend, even scolding Spock for not being able to feel anything about Mitchell and his plight. In the end, however, Kirk knew that Spock was right, and he had to maroon, and ultimately kill, Mitchell on the planet below.
Grade: A-
Reason for grade: This was a worthy second pilot for Star Trek. It was an interesting episode, even if the theme had been done often before. As most Star Trek episodes do, it tended to slow down a bit in the middle. I really think Star Trek would have been better as a half-hour show (but then again, the hour format allowed the later shows to be an hour long, so I'm not really complaining).
"Where No One Has Gone Before"
Directed by: James Goldstone
Written by: Samuel A. Peeples
Starring:
William Shatner as James Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
Also starring:
George Takei as Sulu
James Doohan as Montgomery Scott
Paul Fix as Doctor Mark Piper
Gary Lockwood as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell
Sally Kellerman as Doctor Elizabeth Dehner
Paul Carr as Lieutenant Lee Kelso
Lloyd Hanes as Lieutenant Alden
Andrea Dromm as Yeoman Smith
Eddie Paskey as Mr. Leslie
Trivia:
-"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the second pilot episode for Star Trek, and the episode that convinced NBC to buy Star Trek as a weekly series. The only crew member to return from the original pilot was Spock. Even though this was the pilot for the new Star Trek show, it was aired as the third episode of the series.
-This episode saw the first usage of the tractor beam and of red alert.
-We learn that Spock has humans in his ancestry.
-This is Mr. Scott's first appearance. Neither McCoy nor Uhura appear in this episode.
-As mentioned, Dr. McCoy is not in this episode. Another doctor, Doctor Mark Piper, is the chief medical officer of the Enterprise, marking at least two doctors the Enterprise had before McCoy, Doctor Piper and Doctor Boyce from the first pilot. This also marks something of a continuity error, since McCoy was in the two episodes prior to this one (which, of course, was unintentional due to the order of episodes that were aired versus the order they were actually filmed in).
-Crewman Darnell was the first crewmember killed in Star Trek, if we go by airdate order. However, if we go by production order, then Lieutenant Kelso has the dubious distinction of being the first crewman killed in Star Trek. Mitchell and Dehner also died in this episode.
-We learn that there's an energy barrier at the edge of our galaxy. The Enterprise suffers heavy damage and is forced to turn around in this episode. However, in Star Trek V, the Enterprise-A manages to pass completely through the barrier, even in a compromised state. Presumably what Kirk and crew learned in this episode was put to good use in getting the ship through the barrier in the fifth feature film.
-Sulu was a physicist in this episode instead of being assigned to the conn, as he is in future episodes.
-It is established in this episode that Vulcans don't feel emotions like humans do. In later episodes, this is clarified that Vulcans do have emotions, they just go through a ritual known as the Kolinahr to suppress them.
-This is the first appearance of the phaser rifle.
-There is another continuity error. When Mitchell creates a gravestone for Captain Kirk, it lists his name as James R. Kirk. However, later his middle name was established as Tiberius.
We also get our first glimpse of the following planets:
1) Aldebaran -- A star system on which a Starfleet colony has been established. Doctor Dehner joined the Enterprise crew from this colony.
2) Deneb IV -- A class-M planet. The star Deneb is part of the constellation Cygnus (the swan) visible from Earth.
3) Canopus planet -- A planet where Phineas Tarbolde wrote "The Nightingale Woman," considered one of the most passionate love sonnets written in the past two centuries. The star Canopus, also known as Alpha Carinae, is a red supergiant visible from Earth.
4) Delta Vega -- A class-M planet, slightly smaller than Earth. It is completely uninhabited and desolate, rich in crystalline minerals. It is the planet Kirk attempted to maroon Gary Mitchell on, eventually forcing him to kill Commander Mitchell. It is the final resting place of Mitchell and Dehner, and possibly Lieutenant Kelso (it was not revealed if he was buried there or taken back to the ship).
5) Dimorus -- A planet Kirk and Mitchell once visited before their time on the Enterprise. This planet has an indigenous rodent which can shoot poison darts. Mitchell saved Kirk's life by blocking one, almost dying as a result.
Season One, Episode Two
Stardate 1533.6
"He's a boy in a man's body, trying to be an adult with the adolescence in him getting in the way."
--James Kirk
*While I am pretty much a walking Star Trek Encyclopedia on my own, I do not have absolute knowledge of Star Trek. So note that I use the real Star Trek Encyclopedia, written by Michael and Denise Okuda, and Memory Alpha for supplemental information regarding behind-the-scenes info and trivia.
Synopsis
A 17-year-old boy, Charles Evans, is transferred to the Enterprise from the U.S.S. Antares. Charlie was the lone survivor of a transport crash on the planet Thasus in 2252, only three years old at the time. He was raised by the Thasians, thought to be only a legend by Starfleet. The Enterprise is transporting Charlie to the Alpha V settlement, on which his closest living relatives reside. En route, Charlie tells Dr. McCoy that he survived on the food in the supply stores but once that ran out, began to eat whatever he could find growing on the planet. He learned to talk by interacting with the ship's memory banks. Unfortunately Charlie has trouble fitting in with the crew of the Enterprise, which is only compounded when it is soon revealed that the Thasians gave Charlie extraordinary mental powers, which Charlie used to destroy the Antares and all 20 crew members aboard the ship, make several of the Enterprise crew disappear, and wreak havoc in other ways when he felt threatened. He took over the Enterprise when Kirk tried to stop him so that they wouldn't deviate from their voyage to Alpha V. Kirk eventually realizes that Charlie's powers have a limit and concocts a plan to sedate Charlie while distracting him by turning on every system on the ship. In the middle of his plan, however, the Thasians show up, apologize for Charlie's misbehavior, and set everything on the Enterprise back to how it was before Charlie showed up. Unfortunately, they were unable to restore the Antares. Despite Charlie wishing to remain with the crew and be taken home, the Thasians ultimately took him back to Thasus with them, realizing that his powers would always pose a danger to humanity -- either he would destroy them all, or they would be forced to kill Charlie to prevent human extinction.
Themes
This episode is basically a teenage melodrama set in space. Charlie is a boy who grew up isolated from his own people, in the company of a non-corporeal race who couldn't teach him how to be human (he couldn't touch them, they can't love, etc.). Charlie was rescued by the Antares and transferred to the Enterprise, but his not having had the benefit of growing up in society and watching others interact with each other put him at an extreme disadvantage when it came to interacting with the crews of both ships. Having the extraordinary mental powers granted him by the Thasians only made matters worse, and alienated him all the more.
Grade: B
Reason for grade: This one was another one that kind of drags, for the most part. They really take a lot of time showing us how alienated Charlie is from other humans, and they wait until the last 12 minutes of the episode before Charlie finally takes over the ship. This is a good concept for the episode, but the main issue I have with most episodes of the original series is that they're just too long. They're roughly eight minutes longer than the later Star Trek series', due to not having as many commercials, but even then they feel really long. I tend to enjoy The Animated Series more, and I've been thinking that episodes of the original series would likely be better if it was a half-hour show, rather than an hour long.
"Charlie X"
Directed by: Lawrence Dobkin
Written by: D.C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry
Starring:
William Shatner as James Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy
Also starring:
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand
Robert Walker, Jr. as Charles Evans
Charles J. Stewart as Captain Ramart
Dallas Mitchell as Tom Nellis
Patricia McNulty as Yeoman Tina Lawton
Beau Vandenecker as Sam (Sam's last name is unofficially Ellis, from a non-canonical novelization)
Trivia (if of no interest to you, skip down to the next episode):
1) We learn that the Enterprise has a crew complement of 428 people.
2) We learn here that Spock plays the Vulcan lute, as well as Uhura's ability to sing.
3) We first see Kirk and Spock engage in a game of three-dimensional chess.
4) Gene Roddenberry does the voice of the galley chef, his only on-screen role in the entire franchise.
We also get our first glimpse of the following planets:
1) Alpha V -- nothing is revealed about this planet other than the fact there is a Federation settlement there, where Charlie Evans' closest living relatives resided.
2) Thasus -- A planet where Charlie Evans grew up and home to the Thasians, a non-corporeal species with extraordinary mental powers. They had evolved beyond their need for physical bodies, existing as pure mental energy. The Thasians were thought to be a legend by the Federation, until Spock realized that Charlie couldn't have survived so long on Thasus without help from the natives. The Thasians also showed up to help put everything back to how it was before Charlie's arrival.
"Where No Man Has Gone Before"
Season One, Episode Three
Stardate: 1312.4
"Man cannot survive if a race of true espers is born."
--Gary Mitchell
Synopsis
The Enterprise has traveled to the edge of the galaxy, on a mission to explore what lies beyond. Before they reach the edge, they discover a recorder from an older vessel, the S.S. Valiant, which tried to cross the barrier at the edge of the galaxy but turned back before they could breach it completely. The ship was destroyed when the captain activated the self-destruct for mysterious reasons. As the Enterprise attempts to cross the barrier, a sequence of events occurs that mirrors the events recorded from the Valiant. Two crewmembers, Dr. Elizabeth Dehner and Kirk's friend, Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell, are zapped by some kind of electrical force, and the ship is damaged beyond their ability to repair. They must turn back before completely breaching the forcefield. They can only fly at impulse, meaning that the closest starbase is years away. They soon discover that they don't have that kind of time to wait, as Commander Mitchell, who has a high ESP rating, starts to become superhuman, able to control material things with his mind. As his power grows, Kirk and Spock recognize the danger he is to the ship and to the universe, at large. They are approaching a planet that could have the supplies necessary to repair the ship's warp engines, but if they are unsuccessful they wouldn't have enough power to leave the planet's orbit. Spock convinces Kirk to give it a try by giving him an ultimatum: either Kirk needs to kill Mitchell now or take the ship into orbit of Delta Vega and maroon Gary Mitchell there. Unwilling to kill his friend, Kirk takes the ship to the planet. Kirk and Spock manage to render Mitchell unconscious and force him down to the planet. The crew successfully repair the ship's engines, but Mitchell has grown too powerful for the crew to contain. Everyone except for Kirk returns to the ship and Kirk leaves to track down Mitchell. He discovers that Dehner, also, has developed superhuman abilities. Mitchell is seducing her with power but Kirk convinces her to help him stop Mitchell. With the help of Dr. Dehner, Kirk is able to kill Gary Mitchell. Unfortunately, Dehner, too, dies in the attempt. Once Kirk is safely back aboard the Enterprise, Kirk records that Dehner and Mitchell gave their lives in the performance of their duties.
Themes:
The major theme of this episode is one that has been done repeatedly in literature: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Mitchell was a good Starfleet officer, but when he got zapped by the barrier at the edge of the galaxy, as his power grew his desire to rule a planet grew, as well. In the end, Kirk had to stop him, otherwise because he was still human and had his human frailties to contend with, there would be no end to the malevolence that Gary Mitchell would cause to the universe.
There is also a theme of rationality ruling over the emotions, a personal favorite theme of mine. Mitchell was Kirk's friend. Kirk didn't want to kill or maroon his friend, even scolding Spock for not being able to feel anything about Mitchell and his plight. In the end, however, Kirk knew that Spock was right, and he had to maroon, and ultimately kill, Mitchell on the planet below.
Grade: A-
Reason for grade: This was a worthy second pilot for Star Trek. It was an interesting episode, even if the theme had been done often before. As most Star Trek episodes do, it tended to slow down a bit in the middle. I really think Star Trek would have been better as a half-hour show (but then again, the hour format allowed the later shows to be an hour long, so I'm not really complaining).
"Where No One Has Gone Before"
Directed by: James Goldstone
Written by: Samuel A. Peeples
Starring:
William Shatner as James Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
Also starring:
George Takei as Sulu
James Doohan as Montgomery Scott
Paul Fix as Doctor Mark Piper
Gary Lockwood as Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell
Sally Kellerman as Doctor Elizabeth Dehner
Paul Carr as Lieutenant Lee Kelso
Lloyd Hanes as Lieutenant Alden
Andrea Dromm as Yeoman Smith
Eddie Paskey as Mr. Leslie
Trivia:
-"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the second pilot episode for Star Trek, and the episode that convinced NBC to buy Star Trek as a weekly series. The only crew member to return from the original pilot was Spock. Even though this was the pilot for the new Star Trek show, it was aired as the third episode of the series.
-This episode saw the first usage of the tractor beam and of red alert.
-We learn that Spock has humans in his ancestry.
-This is Mr. Scott's first appearance. Neither McCoy nor Uhura appear in this episode.
-As mentioned, Dr. McCoy is not in this episode. Another doctor, Doctor Mark Piper, is the chief medical officer of the Enterprise, marking at least two doctors the Enterprise had before McCoy, Doctor Piper and Doctor Boyce from the first pilot. This also marks something of a continuity error, since McCoy was in the two episodes prior to this one (which, of course, was unintentional due to the order of episodes that were aired versus the order they were actually filmed in).
-Crewman Darnell was the first crewmember killed in Star Trek, if we go by airdate order. However, if we go by production order, then Lieutenant Kelso has the dubious distinction of being the first crewman killed in Star Trek. Mitchell and Dehner also died in this episode.
-We learn that there's an energy barrier at the edge of our galaxy. The Enterprise suffers heavy damage and is forced to turn around in this episode. However, in Star Trek V, the Enterprise-A manages to pass completely through the barrier, even in a compromised state. Presumably what Kirk and crew learned in this episode was put to good use in getting the ship through the barrier in the fifth feature film.
-Sulu was a physicist in this episode instead of being assigned to the conn, as he is in future episodes.
-It is established in this episode that Vulcans don't feel emotions like humans do. In later episodes, this is clarified that Vulcans do have emotions, they just go through a ritual known as the Kolinahr to suppress them.
-This is the first appearance of the phaser rifle.
-There is another continuity error. When Mitchell creates a gravestone for Captain Kirk, it lists his name as James R. Kirk. However, later his middle name was established as Tiberius.
We also get our first glimpse of the following planets:
1) Aldebaran -- A star system on which a Starfleet colony has been established. Doctor Dehner joined the Enterprise crew from this colony.
2) Deneb IV -- A class-M planet. The star Deneb is part of the constellation Cygnus (the swan) visible from Earth.
3) Canopus planet -- A planet where Phineas Tarbolde wrote "The Nightingale Woman," considered one of the most passionate love sonnets written in the past two centuries. The star Canopus, also known as Alpha Carinae, is a red supergiant visible from Earth.
4) Delta Vega -- A class-M planet, slightly smaller than Earth. It is completely uninhabited and desolate, rich in crystalline minerals. It is the planet Kirk attempted to maroon Gary Mitchell on, eventually forcing him to kill Commander Mitchell. It is the final resting place of Mitchell and Dehner, and possibly Lieutenant Kelso (it was not revealed if he was buried there or taken back to the ship).
5) Dimorus -- A planet Kirk and Mitchell once visited before their time on the Enterprise. This planet has an indigenous rodent which can shoot poison darts. Mitchell saved Kirk's life by blocking one, almost dying as a result.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)