Star Trek (TOS): Episode By Episode Thread

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Luke The Drifter, Jan 18, 2013.

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  1. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
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    We seemed to be enjoying the discussion of random episodes in the other Star Trek thread, so I though I would try an episode by episode format. I will post comments already made by forum members to get each one started. I will be presenting them in broadcast order. All plot intros and trivia are from IMDB. First up:

    The Man Trap

    In the series premiere, the Enterprise visits planet M-113 where scientist Dr Crater and his wife Nancy, an old girl-friend of Dr McCoy, are studying the remains of an ancient civilization. The Enterprise is charged with resupplying the couple, and Dr McCoy must give them medical exams. Shortly after their arrival, however, crewmen start turning up dead, drained of salt, and left with unusual red marks on their faces. Someone is not who they appear to be, and Kirk and Spock must unravel the clues to discover why, how, and who is responsible.

    This is one of my all-time favorites and a great start to the series. It is practically better known as "The Salt Vampire". This is the 6th episode to be filmed, but 1st to be aired. The strength of this episode in my mind is the acting of DeForest Kelley. He is truly torn. The shape-shifting plot is great science fiction.

    Personal Rating: 5 stars
     
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  2. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
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    The-Man-Trap-star-trek-the-original-series-19286516-694-530.jpg


    Trivia:

    Dr. McCoy's handheld "medical scanners" were actually modified salt and pepper shakers, purchased originally for use in "The Man Trap", in which a character was seen using a salt shaker. They were of Scandinavian design, and on screen were not recognizable as salt shakers; so a few generic salt shakers were borrowed from the studio commissary, and the "futuristic" looking shakers became McCoy's medical instruments.

    When Sulu thanks Rand for lunch with, "May the Great Bird of the Galaxy bless your planet." Gene Roddenberry's nickname was the Great Bird of the Galaxy.

    In a conversation with Uhura, Spock reveals that Vulcan has no moon.

    This is the first time McCoy utters the line, “Dead, Jim.”
     
  3. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
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    Comments from another thread on The Man Trap:

    Apilecole said:

    As to The Man Trap, I admit it's more intriguing in thought than in realization. The episode could have done with more convincing logic, particularly in treatment of the husband. Among other things. What I like are elements of the premise. Pioneering archeologists studying an ancient long-gone civilization on another world, a world people could still live on but no one does anymore - except somehow something survived, just one thing. Which is a predator that eats something of your partner / wife and takes their place as a convincing copy. Something of them and the other world still alive in a horrible package that you could try to help survive... at the risk of others' lives... then put to the test, it kills. Then to see it all destroyed. If done differently, it seems like it could make a good movie.

    Benjaminhuf said:

    I do like the archaeology element of Salt Monster. And as I recall it has a memorable scene where Bones ahs to kill the monster even though he’s fooled into thinking it’s his old lost love. DeForest Kelly shows what a good TV actor can do in that scene, iirc.

    BeatleJWOL said:

    It's often cited as a negative that a "monster of the week" type of show was the first episode of Star Trek to air, but if you're going to start somewhere, "Man Trap" isn't half bad.

    White Wolf said:

    In the episode "The Man Trap" I didn't like them killing the vampire. It was obviously intelligent, although it was a killer. It could have been controlled with salt and learned (not get trained) to live without killing intelligent beings. It certainly could have been a usedfull agent to the Star Fleet version of the CIA. (Is that section 9?)
     
  4. I think that "The Man Trap" was an exceptional "Monster-of-the-Week" episode with emotional resonance--it's well written, tauntly directed and it suggests that the creature has something more than the ability to appear as a loved one--the way it entraps all of its victims suggests that, beyond "appearing" like something else (like the Venus Fly Trap), that it is MORE than visual.

    A well made episode that often gets overlooked and the creature design is brilliant (the make up holds up remarkably well).

    While it certainly is an intelligent creature, it is also predatory and is obviously difficult to control. McCoy kills it (at Spock's urging--someone who would have lamented the loss of the last of a species)only because he has no choice under the circumstances.

    De is brilliant in the episode--in fact ALL of the cast members clearly already have a bit of a "hook" as to who their characters are early on. Although the first aired as many know "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "The Corbomite Maneuver" were both shot before this episode.

    I like the subtle improvements to this episode with the new visual effects--the brief pan of the arid planet surface indicating a once thriving world now dead as a doornail.
     
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  5. Larry Geller

    Larry Geller Surround sound lunatic

    Location:
    Bayside, NY
    The Rocky Racoon episode. "Everyone knew her as Nancy".
     
  6. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    I was there, in front of the TV, on September 8th, 1966, watching a new science-fiction show on NBC's SNEAK PREVIEW week. I'd not seen much in the way of promos or previews over the summer -our family didn't watch much on NBC, so seeing the ad in the TV GUIDE was my only clue that this was even starting. It was scheduled at an awkward time for me - I'd been a huge fan of Elizabeth Montgomery on BEWITCHED, which aired at 9 PM. STAR TREK started at 8:30.

    But, for this Sneak Preview week, BEWITCHED was still in reruns, so I could afford to devote a whole hour to see if this STAR TREK thing was worthy of watching in place of BEWITCHED, and that first episode was "The Man Trap".

    The episode started out with a view of a weird-looking ship orbiting a red-looking planet. We hear a voice-over from a captain, and then view an alien-looking guy sitting in a command chair (according to the voice-over). An African female is at a console, with another normal human-looking guy to screen-right of her. Then we immediately go to an orange-looking planet set, with three more people materializing out of thin air.

    To a newbie, this was all puzzling. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Who was the weird-looking alien guy in command? Why couldn't we see more of the ship before we start messing around on a planet? Who was this captain? Ah, OK, it's William Shatner. I'd seen him in some FUGITIVEs, TWILIGHT ZONEs and OUTER LIMITS episodes. Then we met a doctor and another fellow who gets killed early on. This is a dangerous place, to be sure.

    Then we return to the ship where there seem to be a whole raft of characters to sort out. It was difficult to just sit back and relax and enjoy the story. Getting my bearings seemed difficult, but eventually, within the hour, some things got sorted out. Spock was a Vulcan, so he really wasn't quite human. The salt monster changed shapes, so that was a budget saver to be sure.

    All in all, I thought "The Man Trap" was an odd beginning to a series. Usually first episodes do a better job of introducing the characters and premise of a series. This one just kind of jumped into the middle of things. And it didn't grab me enough to abandon Liz Montgomery over there on ABC. To be sure, I watched "The Man Trap" all the way through, thought it decent, but I wasn't prepared to let BEWITCHED fade into obscurity because of it, especially since it too was going to be in color. So my choice for that year was

    That's not to say that "The Man Trap" was a bad episode - it wasn't. It was just a bit of an odd choice with which to start a series. Given what I know now though, I'm not sure there was a better choice for a first episode. Perhaps "Where No Man Has Gone Before" would have been a better choice, but then it didn't introduce all of the people who'd become regulars. So in hindsight, perhaps "The Man Trap" was a decent choice after all. We did get a decent scenes for underlings Rand, Uhura and Sulu; and McCoy was a featured performer in this one. We got to see the transporter in action, so we instantly got a taste of how we'd get the cast to and from the action. We got to see a substantial number of turbolifts, hallways and decks, so it gave us a quick primer on what the Enterprise looked like. And we met some aliens, both good and bad.

    Still, when faced with the season premiere of BEWITCHED, now in color, the next week, I had to abandon STAR TREK. I'd watch quite a few first half-hours that year. I remember seeing "Charlie X" up to the gymnasium scene and switching over. Quite a few weeks I'd tuned in on the action on the Enterprise, only to wonder how the story would end. But that's the way it was in those days. We didn't have VCRs or DVD sets or streaming or YouTube. You watched it live - or you missed it. You MIGHT get to see a show in a summer rerun, but you couldn't always could on it.

    It wasn't until "City On The Edge Of Forever" that I became an official STAR TREK fan. The evening newspaper review urged any fans of THE TIME TUNNEL to watch STAR TREK that evening. I did, and was hooked - forever. But "The Man Trap" didn't quite do it.

    Harry
     
  7. moople72

    moople72 Forum Resident

    Location:
    KC
    I'd say a top-tier episode-----fitting in that 3rd of all episodes that are either great or very good.
    Seems to my mind that the episodes dealing with love interests not involving Kirk or Spock are weak. But McCoy holds his own here.
    I like DeForest----one of the movie DVDs has Nimoy analyzing his co-stars’ acting------he says DeForest is a ‘classic film actor----incapable of a false moment’------I like that description!

    Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley (even though Shatner and Kelley are often satirized) are very dependable as actors throughout the series----esp Nimoy.
    It’s interesting to see the varying quality of the performances of the others----depending on the script----possibly the director-----and possibly what was had for lunch on the set that day.
     
  8. I don't know "City on the Edge of Forever" is pretty strong. So is "This Side of Paradise".
     
  9. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    Oh, this thread. I think I'll be spending some time here.

    The salt vampire (yes, Mr. Spock, the unidentified lifeform from planet M-113) still creeps me the hell out. Not as much as half-spider Barclay from TNG: Genesis, but still.
    Also worth noting: startrek.com is running the remastered-with-older-effects (and maybe the mono soundtrack too?) versions. Here's the link to the Man Trap: http://www.startrek.com/watch_episode/lRRlMleoSJ9m )

    The cuts in the beginning from young-Nancy to present-Nancy to fantasy-Nancy are quite jarring; very Twilight Zone in their execution. Also of note: a blueshirt is the first to die!
    Interesting; Kirk's "Captain's Log" entries appear here in the past-tense, as opposed to the more in-the-moment tone they would take later in TOS and on future series.
    Here too we have the roots (or remnants) of the Spock-Uhura relationship that the Orci-Kurtzman-Lindelof writing team picked up on for the 2009 film, as well as the "Vulcan has no moon" statement, ignored by the matte painting team for the 1979 film.
     
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  10. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    Note on the startrek.com videos; they appear to be only the dialogue and music. The sound effects are all delightfully missing.

    I should probably ask: are running thoughts or a review as I watch an episode something that people would be bothered by, either posted after a watch or in several posts during a watch?
     
  11. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
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    The monster comes off very well in The Man Trap for me. The lady portraying Nancy does an excellent job showing her panic to her husband about the need for salt. As it was pointed out above that the creature has different ways of luring its victims from sexual to psychological. Finally, as was also said above, the look of the revealed creature is still good (and scary).
     
  12. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    Not surprising, since this episode was written by George Clayton Johnson, who wrote eight stories or teleplays for THE TWILIGHT ZONE. And I agree, the transitions ARE quite creepy, and kept this viewer off-balance for quite awhile in that original telecast.

    Harry
     
  13. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    Great idea for a thread.

    Darryl
     
  14. Larry Geller

    Larry Geller Surround sound lunatic

    Location:
    Bayside, NY
    Go to the Trelane episode & look at the trophies on his wall. There you will see the hide (costume) of a salt monster. Clever re-use of a prop.
     
  15. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
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    It is very effective. The first time you see these, they are very confusing, and they leave the viewer unsettled. Since the creature is this sweet woman, and Dr. McCoy has already spoken for her character, it takes awhile to realize the truth. And then, you still don't imagine how bad it is.
     
  16. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    One other creepy effect in the episode is when Alfred Ryder gets stunned. As he begins telling Kirk and Spock the story, his voice is deepened unnaturally. Then after a minute or so it returns to normal. I always found that very effective - they should have used it more often.

    Harry
     
  17. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    I remember being freaked out as a kid by the salt monster when it finally appeared. I watched it today and found it generally to be a good episode, although the crewmen ogling Yeoman Rand in the hallway was pretty strange. Also, why was she bringing Sulu a tray of food? She's Kirk's servant girl isn't she? I thought the botanical laboratory was interesting, though. Odd that they never used it again, in spite of the plant that was clearly someone's hand in a glove.
     
  18. benjaminhuf

    benjaminhuf Forum Resident

    DeForrest Kelley is great in this episode. What humanity and emotion he could put into something like this. The episode as a whole is only so-so imho, but he's wonderful. And I think of the salt monster every time I have teryiyaki chicken. I have since I was 10 years old and slurped up a little of the sauce my mom had made with this shocking thought: "I'm a salt monster too!!"
     
  19. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    Depends on how they did it, whether it was just with the tape running fast, or with somebody else to dub; most likely it was just too expensive of a trick to repeat.
     
  20. What surprises looking back at "Trek" is how much imagination was put into the direction of each episode with unusual lighting choices, camera angles, performances, etc. Style is something that was lost with some of the more workman-like shows in the 1960's and 1970's but "Trek" has a nice filmquality in terms of the choices for the look of the show for most episodes.

    By the third season much of that imagination was missing (although there were a couple of episodes that compare) with flatter lighting, typical camera set ups, etc.
     
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  21. skisdlimit

    skisdlimit Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bellevue, WA
    This is indeed an excellent idea for a thread! My father, who was an original "Trekkie" (or "Trekker" if you prefer), introduced me to Star Trek when I was a child in the '70s, which makes me a "next generation" fan (pun intended!).

    At that time, the show ran in syndication regularly on weekends at 6pm, so I eventually saw all 79 (I think that's the right total) episodes, and slowly came to realize which season each was from. It was not until much later that I had any concept that "The Man Trap" was, in fact, the first to originally air.

    My recollection is that this was one that I always watched in full when it came on, so it may well be a "top tier" episode for me. In fact, it has stayed with me in a creepy sort of way over the years, particularly in re-watching it, knowing that Nancy is, in fact, the salt monster. Some of the camera angles of her capture downright unsettling facial expressions, which contribute to the tense overall atmosphere. I agree with other posters that DeForest Kelley was superb here, and would add that it seems unfortunate he wasn't utilized more effectively in later episodes (and in the movies), where the character of Dr. McCoy became sort of caricatured.

    Star Trek definitely was a TV series that made you think, and this episode was no exception with its questions of endangered (but dangerous) species, as others have noted. When in doubt as to moral dilemma, it usually seemed best to rely on Mr. Spock's judgment, but that was certainly not always the case.
     
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  22. greelywinger

    greelywinger Osmondia

    Location:
    Dayton, Ohio USA
    Uhura's crewman (played by Vince Howard),
    was also in The Monkees episode 'Monkee See, Monkee Die' playing the Captain.
    His repeated line was 'Yes I Do'

    Darryl
     
  23. ducksdeluxe

    ducksdeluxe A voice in the wilderness.

    Location:
    PNW
    I work with a woman whose husband is Vince Howard's nephew. FWIW. Huge number of credits for him on IMDB.
     
  24. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    Charlie X

    Original Air Date: 9/15/66
    Stardate: 1533.6

    The space vessel Antares rescues Charles Evans from the forbidding surface of the planet Thasus, and then hurriedly hands him off to the Enterprise. Soon, mysterious happenings dog the boy, who cannot seem to learn certain vital lessons of adulthood. Finally the humiliated teen reveals prodigious psionic powers that could even threaten the survival of the Federation. Who is Charlie, really, and where did he get these abilities?

    What really makes this episode for me is the acting of Robert Walker Jr. (Charlie). He plays the insecurities of a teenager who has lived in isolation so well, that I never lose belief in his character. The glare he gives the character when using his powers is perfect. The chess scene and Uhura's song are fantastic. There is a let down at the end. Episodes are always better when the characters can find their own way out, and that does not happen here. It was a nice touch that everything could not be fixed, and Charlie's despair over his fate is well played (the crew's reaction to it is also perfect). Your rating of this episode probably depends on your opinion of the ending, and how much you like Yeomen Rand. I am not very fond of either, but the rest makes up for it.

    Personal Rating: 4 stars
     
  25. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    Charlie X.jpg Robert Walker Jr. chose to remain in his dressing room and not interact with any members of the cast as this would help his characterization of a strange, aloof person.

    Robert Walker Jr. was 26 when he played the 17 year old Charlie Evans.

    Captain Kirk reveals that there are 428 crew aboard the Enterprise.

    William Shatner had his chest shaved for this episode. In the next episode to be aired,Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before, he clearly has a hairy chest, as that episode was filmed a good year before this one.

    Gene Roddenberry: voice of the galley chief who says to Kirk, "Sir, I put meat loaf in the ovens. There's turkeys in there now... real turkeys!"
     
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