Star Trek (TOS): Episode By Episode Thread

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

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  1. apileocole

    apileocole Lush Life Gort

    Rating of Naked Time (all ratings in context to TOS) - 4 1/2 Tribbles.

    That's 1/2 Tribble off for overplayed Riley and that blasted Kirk in torn action shirt cliche. :D
     
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  2. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I had heard that Roddenberry wanted to re-do "The Naked Time" in TNG because he thought that he could make it "racier" in the 80's than he could in the 60's on TOS. I don't remember if it actually worked out that way - I only remember rolling my eyes when Data (I think) discovered the record of the Enterprise encountering the phenomena and the solution to the infection. I was thinking, "Great, we've come all this way for someone to say, 'Hey, I've seen this episode, this is how we solve the problem!'" :laugh:
     
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  3. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
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    Tasha has relations with Data in that episode doesn't she?

    That was pretty risque.

    It pales in comparison to the original Naked Time.
     
  4. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    When Spock refers to Sulu as 'd'Artagnan' as he's being taken away it seems to express an element of sarcasm that's slightly out of character. That line always sticks out to me when I watch this episode.

    I think this is one of the best episodes. The perfect balance of action, drama, and humor. Riley singing over the intercom is a hoot. Lots of fun.
     
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  5. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I thought there was something like that but I wasn't sure. I still think that it perhaps would have been better if they had just re-created the situation of the original episode without referring back to the original for the solution. That just struck me as silly and made the episode seem repetitive rather than an retelling/update of an earlier attempt. There's this bizarre quest for continuity within the Trek universe that seem somewhat misguided to me. It's chaos pretending to be a unified narrative. It perhaps makes it more of a cross-series cultural phenomenon, but it makes some of the series/episodes/movies that it touches less effective as series/episodes/movies.
     
  6. BeatleJWOL

    BeatleJWOL Senior Member

    It's definitely chaotic, but I will say that some of the novels have been wildly successful at stringing various pieces of the universe together; Jeffrey Lang's Immortal Coil is a prime example.
     
  7. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    Speaking of continuity, it is interesting how they have calculated the original stardates into the continuity. From the Star Trek Bible, here are the instructions given to the script writers:

    "We invented "Stardate" to avoid continually mentioning Star Trek's century (actually, about two hundred years from now), and getting into arguments about whether this or that would have developed by then. Pick any combination of four numbers plus a percentage point, use it as your story's stardate. For example, 1313.5 is twelve o'clock noon of one day and 1314.5 would be noon of the next day. Each percentage point is roughly equivalent to one-tenth of one day. The progression of stardates in your script should remain constant but don't worry about whether or not there is a progression from other scripts. Stardates are a mathematical formula which varies depending on location in the galaxy, velocity of travel, and other factors, can vary widely from episode to episode."

    Even though there was little rhyme or reason to it, apparently it does work for the original series. In other words, if you watch them in stardate order, you don't run in to any major continuity problems. Here is how they calculate it:

    http://www.trekguide.com/Stardates.htm
     
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  8. skisdlimit

    skisdlimit Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bellevue, WA
    Ah, "The Naked Time"; this is indeed one of the great Star Trek episodes, as others have noted, and is easily in my top ten, maybe even top five. :righton:

    Here, the disease contaminating the Enterprise acts like a kind of inebriant, which reveals some of the innermost characteristics of the crew (a theme Star Trek often revisited). For example, Riley's comment: "In the future, all female crew members will wear their hair loosely about their shoulders and use restraint in putting on their makeup. Women should not be made up..." seems to anticipate the "Mirror, Mirror" episode where the "id" versions of the characters apparently did just that. Spock, in particular, is shown to be struggling with his Vulcan/human duality when Nurse Christine reveals her affection for him, Sulu has his classic "Richelieu beware!" fencing scene, and Kirk must deal with the psychic responsibilities of being captain (involving resisting Yeoman Rand, who is once again an object of unrequited lust both for Kirk and an affected crew member -- but, of course, his subsequent "romances" with female aliens are all part of his duty). ;)

    The scene where Dr. McCoy rips Kirk's uniform to give him the antidote is a bit over the top, but definitely dramatic. Interestingly, although the disease never seems to infect McCoy, near the beginning of the episode we do see his general disdain for Spock (which I guess he never had cause to hide) in one of my favorite lines of his: "Your blood pressure is practically nonexistent, assuming you call that green stuff in your veins blood." :p

    "The Naked Time" is also notable for the first appearance of the famous "Jefferies tube" engineering crawl space named, I believe, after production designer Walter M. Jefferies, and for the plot device of Enterprise time travel made possible by the mixing of matter and anti-matter with the warp drive (I know, I'm getting excessively geeky here). I actually had a dream once that I was in this episode, not as an actor, but as a crew member on that ice planet, which goes to show how much of an effect it had on me...still, I don't go around wearing orange shower-curtain space suits. :D
     
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  9. Dr. Pepper

    Dr. Pepper What, me worry?

    My ratings and why:

    The Man Trap - 2.5 Quatloos - Feels to me a little too much like a Voyage to Tee Bottom of The Sea creature of the week episode!

    Charlie X - 2 Quatloos - Never liked this one. Extra half point because I liked the wrestling combat tights, when I first saw the episode when I was 7 years old. Used to run around the house in my red long johns and bathrobe pretending I was a crew member in training!

    Where No Man Has Gone Before - 5 Quatloos - Probably my favorite overall episode, two great guest stars, power vs friendship, hard choices of a captain, death of a bridge officer, the eye effect was awesome, both a cerebral and physical episode, and a Phaser Rifle, fun early uniforms! The pilot that sold the show! What's there not to like?

    Naked Time - 3.5 Quatloos - Good episode, held back only by some of the over the top acting.
     
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  10. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    The Enemy Within

    Original Air Date: 10/6/66

    Stardate: 1672.1

    While beaming back aboard the Enterprise, a transporter malfunction results in two vastly different Captain Kirks being beamed aboard. His personality has in effect been split into two. One Captain Kirk is weak and indecisive, fearful of making any kind of decision; the other is a mean-spirited and violent man who likes to swill brandy and force himself on female crew members. Meanwhile, as Scotty struggles to repair the transporter, the landing party is stuck on the planet below with temperatures falling rapidly.

    This episode has always been a favorite of mine. I think Shatner plays the two Kirks very well. The introduction of the Vulcan Nerve Pinch is also great, although viewing audiences already saw it in The Naked Time the week before. However, the episode has SERIOUS plot holes. Why not send down a shuttlecraft to pick up the crewmen trapped on the planet? The real answer is this was only the 3rd episode produced and they had not added the shuttlecraft yet (remember that is the reason for the transporter). Even if one crafts a reason that is not stated in the episode not to send a shuttlecraft, why not send down blankets? A heater? Something to burn? Anyway, it is still a nice tale, and has some interesting thoughts on leadership.

    Personal Rating: 4 stars
     
  11. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    Enemy Within.jpg

    Trivia:

    The original script called for Spock to karate chop Kirk to subdue him. Leonard Nimoy felt that this would be an uncharacteristically violent act for a peace-loving species like the Vulcans so he came up with a pincer-like grasp on the neck that has since become known as the Vulcan Nerve Pinch.

    Kirk's alternate green wrap-around uniform was introduced so that the audience would be able to tell the difference between the good Kirk and the evil Kirk.

    According to Grace Lee Whitney, during filming of the scene in which Rand tells of Kirk's attack, William Shatner suddenly slapped her in order to help Whitney cry during the scene.

    The subplot of Sulu and three crewmembers stranded on the freezing planet was not inRichard Matheson's original script but was added by staff writers. Matheson did not like that this was done.

    This is one of the only episodes in which it can be seen that the middle finger on actorJames Doohan's (Scotty's) right hand is missing. Doohan lost the finger when it was struck by a bullet or shrapnel shortly after the D-Day invasion in 1944. He took great pains to conceal its absence during the series, but his full right hand can be glimpsed briefly when he reaches into the box holding the snarling dog-like creature.
     
  12. skisdlimit

    skisdlimit Forum Resident

    Location:
    Bellevue, WA
    "The Enemy Within" is another stellar "top tier" episode I have long enjoyed when it has aired in syndication. This one seems to pick up where "The Naked Time" left off in its delving ever further into the deep psyche of humanity, specifically Captain Kirk here, and offers up an interesting theory on the nature of "good" and "evil" that has stayed with me over the years.

    The use of the dog creature to illustrate the power of human intelligence "winning over both" as Spock put it, was particularly effective. Scotty's comment that this was not a "duplicate" but an "opposite" set the tone brilliantly. The transporter scene where the dog fails to re-connect with itself was especially harrowing, and added significantly to the tension, plus it provided Dr. McCoy with another chance to say: "He's dead, Jim."

    Like many episodes, there were a few continuity bloopers. One of the funniest is how the scars keep changing from side to side of Kirk's face. While it seems silly that additional blankets couldn't be sent to the planet (no shuttle-craft yet I guess), I recall that there was an attempt to send thermal heaters to those freezing crew members, but that these "duplicated" and became useless.

    For yet another time, we see Yeoman Rand as the victim of uninvited sexual advances (perhaps this was written into her contract?), and yet there appears to be some ambiguity as to whether these were entirely unwanted, particularly when she emotionally describes her encounter with the "imposter" Kirk. One of my favorite lines is right at the end where Spock says to her, "The imposter had some rather interesting qualities, wouldn't you say?" :laugh:

    In fact, I almost wonder whether this episode has had a subliminal effect on my own decision-making capability, and occasional lack thereof as I do tend to over-analyze things :ignore: , but then I'm reminded that making no decision at all could be too costly and so my "bad" side :wantsome:, if you like, promptly gives me a swift kick in the pants. :buttkick:
     
  13. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
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    I believe you are right on the heaters. I think they do try, but do not realize the solution that some simple things that the transporter could not "break" would have been useful (something to burn perhaps?)

    How about using the ship's phasers to heat up nearby boulders to provide heat?
     
  14. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    I think I noticed something today watching the Blu-Ray, but I'm not sure.

    Does the "evil Kirk" have a bit of black eye-liner on? It seems to me that "meek Kirk" doesn't, and "evil Kirk" does. And then at the end, after they're rejoined, it looks like a bit of eyeliner remains.

    Harry
     
  15. Luke The Drifter

    Luke The Drifter Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    United States
    You are correct. To make evil Kirk's look more intense, they put on black eyeliner.
     
  16. Dr. Pepper

    Dr. Pepper What, me worry?

    The Enemy Within - 4.5 Quatloos - Fun episode, cool new tunic for Kirk! Really 3.5, but I give it a bonus point because it is written by legendary writer of I Am Legend and more Twilight Zone episodes than anyone else besides Rod Serling himself including William Shatner's tour-de-force Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, Ricard Matheson!
     
  17. I think the rewriting b.y Roddenberry and Coon (maybe) missed this bit as it would have made sense to me.
     
  18. Dr. Pepper

    Dr. Pepper What, me worry?

    When I watched the new/cancelled series No Harm. I thought it took ideas from this episode of Star Trek even more than Dr. jekyll and Mr. Hyde!
     
  19. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    The Enemy Within - certainly an interesting concept, which is what you would expect from Richard Matheson, and the attack on Yeoman Rand is pretty serious. Very effective episode.

    This is heretical, I'm sure, but I watched an episode the other night with my 16:9 TV zoomed in because I'd forgotten to reset it from a widescreen movie I'd watched the day before. Just spaced out, wasn't thinking. I didn't even realize until the episode was over. I've tried this with several episodes since, and the composition/framing has worked well in every instance. Makes for an interesting viewing experience.
     
  20. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    In Japan, the HD versions are 16:9 with the new effects. In fact, the new effects were also done 16:9 and we are seeing a cropped version in 4:3.
     
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  21. Solaris

    Solaris a bullet in flight

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA
    Does this mean it's this way on the blu-ray?
     
  22. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    Not on the domestic US copy. I don't know about the Japanese one.
     
  23. apileocole

    apileocole Lush Life Gort

    Thankfully the blurays are 4x3 so we don't lose a chunk off the top and/or bottom of the picture. Since some older tvs had massive overscan I'm sure they composed conservatively, so it's no surprise they could play ok with a lot missing. All the same, I enjoy seeing as much of the picture as possible.

    The Enemy Within: 4 1/2 Tribbles.

    Although often described as "good vs evil," part of its fairly elemental impact is in its refusal to settle for a good vs evil smackdown, instead forcing the characters (and us) to recognize and struggle to live with the divergent aspects of human nature. Ambitious subject matter for the constraints of TV drama at the time. Sometimes it's too simplistic or over the top, but yet again the boldness of TOS also ensures some punch remains however dramatic conventions and mores have changed.
     
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  24. IronWaffle

    IronWaffle It’s all over now, baby blue

    Half a tribble? You monster, that's worse than zooming in to miss part of the image!
     
  25. CusBlues

    CusBlues Fort Wayne’s Favorite Retired Son

    On the Blu Rays, some of the new effects are 16 X 9, but the original footage is all 4X3.
     
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