#spock has used kirks aversion to talking about sex to his advantage (used it to unknowingly make him agree to upgrades to the science wing)

[kinetic-elaboration]

August 6: Star Trek 1x09 The Dagger of the Mind

Today’s episode: The Dagger of the Mind

Lol Kirk is the MOST competent person on the Enterprise, and that’s why he’s the Captain. This is like The Naked Time all over again. Must he does everyone’s job??

Mr. Berkeley, go to your room and do your homework.

But first secure the box!! I swear, no one listens to Kirk. He doesn’t even look like he’s getting a vault number, he looks like he’s just fucking around.

Hey dude, don’t open the box you’re in. Can’t you see it says don’t open on it?

Ah another episode with Jim and his heroes. I love how naive and good he is.

“Dr. Adams? There’s an emergency, but before we get to that, might I fanboy a little, discreetly?”

“When there’s no emotion, there is no motive for violence.” Well you got me there.

Excellent non-violent take-down maneuver by Kirk and Spock.

The Enterprise makes a u-turn.

Kirk just obviously making excuses to stand really close to Spock, and lean over him. “What’s so fascinating?”

“Enlighten me again.”

Spock’s expression this ep omg. Perfect. He doesn’t have a ton to do so he just takes advantage of all of his moments.

TRUST BONES’S GUT.

I love how they use their respective ship’s logs against each other, these regulation loving nerds. “I’ll write it in MY log and then YOU’LL have to answer in YOUR log, so THERE.”

Like honestly who thought ST was an action franchise that needed new actions movies??

Kirk’s man crush is insane.

Bones on Skype!

Spock just really throwing out the “Jim” for no reason today. He was much sluttier about the first name early on. Either that or fandom just misremembers this. Either that or I just misremember this.

Science lab Christmas party lol.

I am 100% certain that Kirk reacts the way he does to Noel (with a really quite extreme aversion and even rudeness that is not like him) because she made a move on him at the party that he didn’t like or thought was inappropriate. Because they aren’t exes, and she made it clear he didn’t cross any lines with her (so no reason to feel guilty) and yet he is ANGRY at her.

Another 1950s sci fi locale. (Correction: ... the same 1950s sci fi locale. Hello Delta Vega.)

Elevator, not turbo lift, I guess.

Oh no, Kirk’s cell doesn’t have service!

Any particular reason they’re drinking lol? Did people in the 60s just literally drink all the time?

They’re not very nice to Dr. Noel. She’s not really.... appearing very smart though... not the best female character on ST lol. Still, stop talking over her, you men!

This device is so hella suspicious on its face. At least Kirk kinda gets that.

This is a pretty good Spock and Bones ep.

We’re already at the introduction of the mind meld! I forgot it was this ep. I did remember how it was introduced as a very special, rare, private, dangerous Vulcan thing that definitely shouldn’t just be used wantonly and at a whim Mr. Spock.

“It’s a hidden, personal thing to the Vulcan people. Part of our private lives.”

...First that makes it sound like a sex thing. And second... I’m intrigued.

(I’ve actually always preferred general touch telepathy to mind melds specifically but.... when you put it like that.)

I think I like this original mind meld hand gesture more than the one they settle on later. It makes it look more like a physical manipulation of the body, which is what Spock describes here. I kind of forgot about that aspect of it (and perhaps everyone else did too lol).

I think this is also the first time they mention touch telepathy or any kind of Vulcan telepathy, in general.

McCoy is so disturbed watching this meld.

“I have no desire to damage my brain.” That’s good lol.

This is absolutely also the sort of thing AOS Kirk would do.

Kirk wanting to raid a kitchen is ADORABLE.

“Now pick some unusual suggestion.” What’s more unusual than the idea he picked her up and carried her off to his quarters, then ravished her like a bad boy?? People remember that scene but not that it was a woman’s fantasy lol. And a fantasy she knew was super fake and that he would recognize as super fake! Because it was!! Super fake!! No one talks like this and certainly not a captain to one of his crew and certainly not literal-opposite-of-a-bad-boy Jim Kirk.

Kirk’s so strong.

Lol she thinks he’s looking at her and he’s looking at the wall.

“Any training in high power voltage?” he asks, as if this were just a thing everyone had.

No? Well up in the air duct you go anyway. Touch the wrong thing and die! Good luck.

And in her defense... she does it and succeeds, so good on her.

Well it’s no Vulcan nerve pinch but Kirk knocks down those guys pretty well.

Spock’s expression when he sees Jim and Noel is just on a New Level omg.. Like “this is too bizarre to cause even me jealousy.”

Spock standing there over Adams’s dead body like “Hmmm, I wonder who turned the power back on? Who would do such a thing?”

So I guess Van Gelder’s okay now and Spock just fixed him lol. Very effective mind meld.

I wonder if Kirk already had a fear of dying alone or if this is what caused it--the “I always knew I would die alone” of ST V.

But then he looks at Spock to make him feel better, and Spock does. And Kirk has emotional security, the end.

Overall... I feel like I didn’t enjoy this ep as much as I remembered? I don’t know, I feel bad saying that. I thought the mind meld stuff was really great, and the story overall was pretty good. I guess a part of me wanted to go in more to this idea of a penal colony and why Adams was doing these experiments and using this machine. Like, obviously he’s making people docile, and then just experimenting like all power hungry people do--but there are two creepy things going on here, the memory erasure, and the memory replacement, and I feel like they got a bit conflated. Idk. I know Star Trek often presents questions rather than answers, but I felt like this one maybe could have gone farther.

Noel was one of those awkward ST female characters, where you can, like, tell they’re trying to be feminist but they just have their inherent limits lol. I didn’t want to find her annoying bu I often did. Also, I am quite convinced she made an inappropriate move, because I can’t imagine any other reason Kirk would be so upset with and about her. But since we never get the holiday party from his pov, it’s all left ambiguous. Her memory is of a pretty standard office party--they dance a little and he’s charming. But he acts as if it were something WAY more awkward. Like she did something that she didn’t think crossed a line, but he did. But tbh I’d be surprised if the intention was to imply a young woman sexually harassed the male captain, which makes me wonder what they were actually going for. That HE thought he crossed a line? Then it’s pretty obnoxious of him to be mad at HER. Plus, they make it canonically crystal clear later that he didn’t do anything inappropriate so.... puzzling.

OMG THE NEXT EP IS THE CORBOMITE MANEUVER ONE OF MY FAVORITES AAAAAAH.