#star trek series review

[boldlyexplorational]

I should make an online quiz like "what kind of Star Trek the original series woman are you?"

The options are:

Sensual "alien"

Cute Yeoman

Professional, but so very horny

Hallucination - scretly an ugly monster/Crazy/ a Robot (I think it's alla one category, like "fake")

I'm open to suggestions for other outcomes

[coffeebookslovegt]

En nuestra raza las emociones están contenidas, en muchos sentidos, más que en los humanos. La lógica ofrece una serenidad que los humanos rara vez experimentan, controlar los sentimientos para que ellos no te controlen a ti.

[boneskullravenriver]

Guys, I'm going to read the homo book. Wish me luck

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 109 (Mar. 14, 1993) - “Move Along Home”

Teleplay by: Frederick Rappaport, Lisa Rich & Jeanne Carrigan-Fauci Written by: Michael Piller Directed by: David Carson

This is the episode where…

Sisko makes first contact with a game-obsessed species, so they make him and his crew hopscotch for their lives, while Quark places bets because it’s his fault. No one thinks this is funny, and it is treated with the utmost seriousness, but also it’s fine for some reason.

The Breakdown

It’s an auspicious day on DS9 as Sisko and his chief staff (Kira, Dax, & Bashir) prepare to make first contact with an official delegation from ‘the Wadi’, a new species from the still-mysterious-and-exciting Gamma Quadrant. Naturally Sisko rolls out the red carpet, but his guests have little interest in diplomatic formality, and ask to be taken directly to Quark’s bar so they can play his games of chance. What could go wrong?

Initially, not as much as you’d think. …Initially.

The Wadi are quite taken with Quark’s Dabo table (essentially, Space roulette), much to Quark’s chagrin, because they keep winning. Since Sisko is also kinda bummed that his new guests seem to have no use for him, he selects Quark for babysitting duty, leaving express instructions to keep the Wadi happy. Unfortunately, Quark is… well, Quark, so he promptly orders his staff to start cheating so he can win his money back. Predictably, the Wadi call bullshit on Quark's scam, and insist that the only way to reconcile their grievance with him is to play “an honest game,” and they’re not talking about monopoly!

…because they’re aliens and that’s a human thing, but they did bring their own board game, called ‘chula’. With the opening of a box, Quark’s Dabo table magically scientifically transforms into another gaming surface [It’s hard to describe so feel free to reference the weird triangle frame, with multiple bridging levels, pictured above]. Basically, the game starts Quark off with four pieces which are placed near the top of the “board,” and then he rolls the space-dice in order to get them safely down to the lowest level, while placing bets. Simple enough, right? If you said yes, then …come on. Really? This is Star Trek, so clearly there’s gonna be a catch.

You see somehow the game has simultaneously transported Sisko, Kira, Dax, and Bashir (who were all asleep in their quarters) into some kind of virtual/alternate plane of existence (it is never explained). It turns out that the pieces on the board are all avatars representing Sisko and the gang, who are made to participate in a series of increasingly difficult (and seemingly dangerous) tasks. Of course all of this is unbeknownst to Quark, who unwittingly chooses the difficulty-and-nature of each new challenge, while placing wagers on their success.

Eventually Odo figures out that something is wrong when Sisko and his team fail to show up for work the following morning. His investigation leads him to Quark, who is finally brought up to speed, but unfortunately it’s too-little-too-late. The Wadi explain that the only way for Quark to get his people back is to safely navigate them to the end of the game. Naturally, this goes poorly, and Bashir is evaporated (he was kind of being annoying though, so honestly no big loss), and the others all fall down a bottomless cave shaft to their doom. Quark loses. The end.

Just kidding.

I mean, Quark does lose, but Sisko and co. are all perfectly fine, and instantly transported back into the bar safe and sound (somehow). Upon Quark’s realization that his friends (using the term loosely here) were never in danger, the Wadi are like “well duh, it’s just a game, man. But also you’re a douche,” and make their exit. Since a major diplomatic scandal has presumably been avoided on the grounds that no one died, the Wadi are free to go; likewise Quark is also off the hook for... reasons, I guess.

The end. For real this time.

The Verdict

There are a not-insubstantial number of fans who would regard this as the worst episode of the series, and I can see why, but I honestly can’t entirely bring myself to hate on it that much either. The main point of contention for most folk seems to be that the Wadi’s game is ultimately revealed to be harmless after 45 minutes of implying the severity of the situation. It’s a fair criticism, and certainly a part of the reason I won’t be giving this one a high rating, but I think the greater sin is that ‘move along home’ is mostly kinda boring.

Some of my favourite Star Trek episodes are also the most ridiculous, and they succeed specifically by leaning into that silliness. As alluded to in the opening paragraph, one of the games Sisko is forced to play does legitimately involve playing a game of hopscotch while reciting a children’s rhyme. Historically speaking, none of that is inherently out-of-place for Star Trek, and a perfect opportunity for some comic relief, but the scene falls flat, and feels kind of cringy, almost as if everyone involved was embarrassed (except Avery Brooks. That guy always commits). The rest of the episode tries to lean more heavily on traditional life-and-death drama, but even that feels stifled by (I’m guessing) budgetary constraints. Likewise, the sequence with the most impressive set piece (the rocky cliff that everyone except Bashir falls over), drags on for way too long, with the aforementioned lack of pay-off.

But it’s not all bad either. We do get a chance to see a little bit of Quark’s humanity (for lack of a better word) shine through when he believes that he’s responsible for the safety of the players. It’s also nice to see the dynamic between Sisko and his officers in an unconventional situation, and there are a handful of other character moments (which I’ll touch on below) that were enjoyable, if not enough to save the episode outright. Ultimately, there’s no denying this is a ‘growing pains’ episode, but there is something to be said for watching the creative process unfold as the show finds it’s legs, even as it stumbles.

Less “Bleh,” and more “Meh.” I’m giving this…

2 stars (out of 5)

Parting Thoughts

Super-Tech: We need to talk about the Wadi’s technology for a second, because these guys seem pretty stacked, and it’s just sort of brushed over. For starters, they activate the “game board” by opening a small box, that instantly replaces/reconstitutes Quarks Dabo table into an entirely different structure (and then returns it to it’s original state, after they’re done). Then we have Ready-player-Sisko and his team, who are all transported from their bedrooms, and into… somewhere. We know their physical bodies are no longer on the station, and that’s about it. Are they in a holodeck of some kind? Has their consciousness been uploaded into a virtual plane? Are they in some sort of alternate quantum-game-realm? At one point Odo tries to beam over into the Wadi’s ship, hoping to find the missing crew, but he’s thwarted by a bright flash of light that just transports him back into Quark’s bar. However the Wadi do what they do, it’s clear they’re technologically advanced enough to give the Federation a run for it’s money. Bearing in mind, we’re only ever shown how these people apply their technology towards recreational games, but it doesn’t take much to imagine some fairly awesome (and potentially horrifying) alternative applications. At the very least, you’d think they would have made a valuable ally against the Dominion (I mean, who?), but this is the last we’ll hear from the Wadi; Well, at least on this show (they make a brief cameo on ‘Lower Decks’).

Diplomatic Cover-up: I feel like Quark would have faced considerably more severe consequences over scamming the Wadi if this had happened on the Enterprise, but upon further consideration it kind of makes sense that Sisko would let this one slide. After all, the Commander did abandon his guests (who he was responsible for establishing good relations with) just because he was bored; worse yet, he left them alone with Quark! Sure, he’s a lying-capitalist-scumbag, but Sisko knew all that when he blackmailed Quark* into staying on the station! So I figure ol’ Benny decided to keep things quiet, in order to avoid having Quark snitching to Starfleet about how their newly appointed Commander shit the bed on his first major diplomatic assignment. [*it happened in the Pilot, although I failed to mention it in my review]

Parental Guidance may be advised: The closest thing this episode has to a B-Plot, is when Sisko finds out that Jake and Nog spend their downtime together, scoping out the young Bajoran ladies. Sisko has misgivings over this, on the grounds that Nog is both a troublemaker and a Ferengi. Interestingly, I’ve seen a few online threads with people arguing that Sisko is being intolerant towards Nog’s cultural upbringing, but I’m more-or-less with him on this one. Amongst other things, the Ferengi tend to be deeply misogynistic (let’s just say, they got problems, as the show will go on to highlight), so I think it’s reasonable for Sisko to express some concerns about his son taking dating advice from a young man who was raised to believe that women shouldn’t have rights (or clothing). This also nicely plants a seed for Sisko’s own relationship with Nog, as that character becomes further developed.

Security Breach: The previous episode introduced us to Lieutenant Primmin, who was brought in as Starfleet’s Chief security officer (but second to Odo as “head of security” under the Bajoran Provisional Government; gotta love Politics). Primmin shows up again in this episode, when Odo goes up to ops in search of Sisko and Kira. Primmin’s main contribution is when he reluctantly (because regulations) beams Odo into the Wadi ship, and then he’s never heard from again. Like, ever. I’m assuming the original intention was for him to return as a recurring foil for Odo, and was then forgotten/dropped in favour of more pertinent characters and storylines. But according to my headcanon, he was quietly fired (aka “transferred”) due to his critical lack of care and initiative over the disappearance of four chief staff. The dude hardly even sat up in his chair when Odo brought the situation to his attention, which is not a great look. So long Primmin! I’d say you’ll be missed, but I’d largely forgotten you existed in the first place.

[startrekucast]

Star Trek 2x08 - "The Changeling" Review

We’re going where NOMAD’S gone before, maman! Cause we're gonna rub nubs with Nomad, a carbon unit-nullifying nuts-and-bolts type. Be careful, maman -- the utopia-seeking, string riding robots might erase your memory for the length of an episode. And then you'll have to listen all over again!

Episode Reviewed: Star Trek 2x08 - "The Changeling"

Hosts: David C. Roberson Effie Ophelders

Note: This episode of Star Trek Universe continues young Effie's first watch of Star Trek in production order. Guiding her on this journey: Dave, a stalwart fan of almost four decades who rewatches along with her, provides trivia, insights and the occasional excitement-stoking minor spoiler. 

Join Us: Site: http://startrekucast.com Apple: http://bit.ly/StuCast Spotify: http://bit.ly/StarTrekUCast Spreaker: http://bit.ly/StuCastSpreaker

[astrodances]

It may not be Starfleet's first contact with Risa, but it is Spock's, and the only way Kirk and McCoy could get him down to the pleasure planet was with the promise of something he'd want to do - in this case, play music.

Happy Winter and Happy January to @longsleevelaceration!! I'm your person for the @startrekwintergiftexchange! I took a twist on your request for Spock playing music - I hope you enjoy, and may you live long and prosper!! 😊🖖🌴✨

Blurred-background version under the cut!

[andorianminingconsortium]

Review of The Wrath Of Khan

(as much spoiler free as I can be)

As you may know, I recently started watching all the old Star Trek movies for the first time. I started with First Contact, per friend's recommendation, then watched the Motion Picture and I'm now watching chronologically. That brings me to Wrath of Khan.

First things first, I really loved it! I think it's my favourite from the ones I've watched so far! The characters were cool! The movie-only characters were cool! They uniforms looked good! Everyone's hair looked good lol

I loved the character Saavik. The fact that this character exists in a movie made so long ago (lol) proves once again how progressive Star Trek is and is a great example of what I love about Star Trek. Also when Kirk is like "you have no problem with self expression" I screeched. That was such a line. Thank you for your support of gender expression, Admiral.

I thought Khan was very well played! (Poor Chekov, man...) Khan was so evil! Great! He had such a clear goal and mindset. Loved that they didn't water him down. Now that I saw the original movie Khan, I realised that Benedict Cumberbatch in the recent movies wasn't just putting up a "slightly weird but cool villain voice". He was mimicking the way the original Khan spoke! And he did it really well! I'm impressed. The almost whispering, drawn out sillables, teeth-clenched talking. Especially Cumberbatch' iconic "I'll walk over your cold corpses" sound so much like the original Khan in my opinion! I just thought it was really neat!

I also liked the parallels between the old and new movie such as Scotty yelling "you'll flood the whole compartment!" In both movies. Great eye for detail from the makers of the new movie!

What really stuck with me was when one of the crewmates died and Scotty came carrying him in and was like "he's the only who stayed at his post" and then the crewmate, with bloody hand, touched the one white part of Kirk's uniform and left a handprint that remained for the next few scenes. That was so good! Such a chilling detail! Beautiful!

I might have forgotten something but these were the things that stuck with me most! I enjoyed it and I might watch it again after I've watched all the other movies.

My ranking so far:

Wrath of Khan - Motion Picture - First Contact

I have also just watched Search for Spock! Will review later :)

Thank you for reading!

[antsinatrenchcoat]

Star Trek The Animated Series Review:

Overall it was good, there were like 3 episodes I think are UN-MISSABLE and necessary. Otherwise they were nice and fun!

I think my favorites were s1e2( baby Spock episode) because we got Spock lore and we got to see baby Spock , s1e4(Uhura saves the men from the sirens)because Uhura got to take a leading roll for a change!, s1e8( the magic alternate universe one)because the art was really really pretty, and s1e10 (the mudd one) because it pissed me off so bad it was ingrained in my psyche. It was so unrealistic fr.

I also liked ( less) S2e3( the ship is pranking them) it was a funny episode in general and it was the introduction of the holo deck and that is my favorite sci fi trope, and s2e6( reverse aging, crew babies episode) because the babies were really cute and the old couples messaging is cute.

3.6/5

Not because it was bad by any means but because I value TOS So much and compared to TOS this was not as amazing. It is a product of its time for sure with campy animation and frequent animation errors but that adds to the charm in my opinion. It’s better than Mid(3.0) though because it had some moments that were genuinely great and improved my understanding of the universe, alongside some great art!

[goofyjelly]

Star Trek TOS : A Private Little War

I love the green blood details like obviously Bad Thing happening but I love continuity ✨

Kirk is so worried :( don't worry he's gonna be fineeee

THE WAY HES SITTING ON THE STRETCHER :((((((

Omfg they beam down and IMMEDIATELY GET MAULED 💀

Oh my god CHAPEL NO YOURE LITERALLY TAKING ADVANTAGE OF HIM DONT HOLD HIS HAND DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS-

Like, chapel, I get that you care about him and that's great but you've gotta know it's one sided, like, you're essentially KISSING HIM while he is unable to protest like w h a t

Love Chapel tho don't get me wrong

Girl, what sort of witch craft is this???

Also William Shatner's acting is so special like no one does it like him WHAT IS HE DOING

GIRL WHAT ARE YOU DOING???

"OUR SOULS HAVE BEEN TOGETHER HE IS MINE NOW" EXCUSE ME???

McCoy is so great tho, like you're awesome, Doc

Friendship :D

Sketchy witch woman

FRIENDSHIP :D

M'Benga love you bestie thank you for being the only responsible one , Spock would be dead without you 🙏

"anything he says?" Chapel I know you're down bad but please, our boy is DYING

Witch girl wants VIOLENCE and honestly I can't blame her much. she's schemeing

Haha firesticks (I am watching this show on a fire stick)

An old custom among my people called : BE GRATEFUL , YOUD BE DEAD WITHOUT ME

Kirk subtly defending his friend, I love it. NO! I SAID I WILL NOT KILL. Kill or be killed but how about no kill? No kill at all please, I'll take that.

I'd like it if there was a normal woman in this show but oh well

OOOOOOOP THE KLINGONS!!!

"I'll make a Klingon of you yet :D" so sweet <3

Hehe Kirk is leaping around I love it he's like a doe

PFFFF ME WHEN MY PHONE GOES OFF IN CLASS 💀

SPOCK NOOOOOOO WAIT .

PFJDSLJFKDKDN WHY ARE WE ALWAYS SLAPPING HIM IN THE FACE

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, WOMAN????" Oh my fucking god, Scotty was just walking by and saw the nurse SLAPPING SPOCK IN THE FACE , HE THOUGHT SHE WENT CRAZY

Spock ✨✨✨

Yes Bones I DO think Kirk's out of his mind.

Oh shit. Okay. Oh.

Bones doesn't know what to do but he knows Kirks plan is shit 💀💀💀

Balance Of Power- KIRK YOU HAVENT EVEN TOLD STARFLEET

SPOCK IS BACK 🎉🎉🎉

Kirk please don't fall for the witchcra- ah fuck too late. DUDE NOT W YOUR FRIENDS WIFE; HES GOT A GUN NOW OH NO OH- OH?

She IS the drama

Murder is wrong™

OOOOOOOO PLEASE CAN SHE DIE?

Nope NVM just stealing

This barbie craves violence- THIS BARBIE IS A TRAITOR???

This barbie is dead 💀

"you can't kill a computer" -> Bones is happy Spock didn't die

THATS IT???? THATS FUCKING IT????

WHAT????

KIRK JUST FUCKED SHIT UP EVEN MORE AND THEN FUCKING LEFT 💀💀💀 AND NOW THEY ARENT EVEN DOING THE WHOLE BALANCE OF POWER THING!!!

they were asking how long it would take to bring more weapons, ya know, to do their whole balance of power plan, and KIRK JUST BACKTRACKED

So I guess his friend is dying, then-

I am living for the Spock Angst tho, I love that. It's so funny that Spock gets slapped in the face so much in so many different episodes.

If I do a rewatch I literally might just watch all of the Spock scenes cus that's my take away from this-

This rants pictures have been taken from this star trek website ✨✨✨

[quarkspeed]

Reading Killing Time now!!! Three chapters in and I honest to God wondered if I wasn’t just reading some juicy ass Spirk fanfic. It’s fantastic.

[annafromuni]

Cosy Sci-Fi with Becky Chambers The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet

With cosy fantasy becoming more popular and sought after, I have started to label things as “cosy” within their respective genres. Becky Chambers’s The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet is one of those books that radiates good vibes and feels like a cosy sci-fi – something I find very difficult to pull off. If you’re a fan of Star Trek, Firefly, or any space-based adventure series full of…

[coffeebookslovegt]

El miedo a la muerte es lo que nos mantiene con vida.

[lostinaflashforward]

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY - Recensione 5x03 "Jinaal" e 5x04 "Face the Strange"

Fra simbionti e anomalie temporali, la stagione conclusiva di Star Trek: Discovery prosegue dando importanza tanto alla trama quanto ai suoi personaggi...

RECENSIONE 5x03/04

[episodicnostalgia]

Star Trek, 105 (Oct. 6, 1966) - “The Enemy Within” [Production order #05]

Written by: Richard Matheson Directed by: Leo Penn [TRIGGER WARNING: Some discussion of attempted SA is necessarily touched upon in my review of this episode.]

This is the Episode Where…

The time-honoured tradition of transporter accidents begins! Kirk is split into two versions of himself, one positive, the other negative. Naturally the good Kirk is an intelligent-but-emotionally-timid-cuck, and the evil Kirk is a raging psychopath sex-crazed-bad-boy. Along the way, Spock imparts his hilariously troubling views about the human psyche.

The Breakdown

The crux of this episode’s conflict stems from two key talking points, so let’s start with the transporter B-Plot, before we tackle the significantly more problematic A-Plot.

Let the transporter shenanigans begin: The Enterprise crew are surveying one of the many styrofoam-desert-planets scattered across the alpha quadrant, when their geologist sustains an injury from a rockslide that subsequently covers him with a yellow powdered-ore that fucks up the transporters after he gets beamed to the ship for medical treatment. Shortly thereafter, Kirk also beams back up, but he arrives with some dizziness and a somewhat lethargic demeanor. Since even the slightest frailty is so unlike the incredible specimen-that-is-Kirk, Scotty escorts him into the corridor (leaving the room unattended), when the transporter pad fires up again on it’s own, and spits out a second kirk; except this one is FUCKING INSANE!

While the Good-Kirk/Bad-Kirk debacle carries on over in the A-Plot, Scotty is hard at work establishing his reputation as a miracle worker. You see, after Kirk’s literal-split personality disorder starts up, the survey team (now led by Sulu) sends up an indigenous alien unicorn-dog they found (essentially just a normal dog in a cute little horned onesie), which also splits into calm-v-rabid duplicates. Scotty quickly figures out that the yellow ore is the problem, meaning that until he can fix it, he doesn’t dare beam anyone else back up without risking a transpo-splitting fiasco, leaving the landing party stranded. The problem is that night is fast approaching down on styro-firma, where the temperatures drop well below freezing as the sun goes down, meaning poor Scotty’s working against the clock. Classic!

Now, thankfully Scotty whips up a way to reverse the splitting process on the unicorn-dog, but the shock of being re-merged into one pup tragically kills it. Naturally, Spock recklessly proposes that the two Kirks give the transporters a whirl next, despite the risks, because the story needs to keep moving. And speaking of the two Kirks, lets switch over to the A-plot!

Seeing Double: Yeah, so Kirk gets split in two. Here’s the basic expository low-down from Spock’s own mouth; Good-Kirk is compassionate and intelligent, and Bad-Kirk rageful and willful. This means (according to some incredibly tenuous logic) that while the good Kirk is more pleasant, his ability to take decisive action is significantly diminished, compromising his ability to command. Likewise, Bad-Kirk is capable of making decisions very quickly, but he’s a sexual predator, so… ‘nuff said.

Oh, and in case you thought I was exaggerating, Bad-Kirk’s first impulse is legitimately to straight up enter his Yeoman’s (Janice Rand’s) quarters and force himself on her. Thankfully she manages to call for help before things become tragic, but not before getting deeply uncomfortable to watch. Naturally everyone doubts her story about Kirk’s attempted assault (because that’s so implausible…), but after Scotty fills them in about the unicorn-dog, Spock figures out what’s going on.

The rest of the episode carries on with the standard cat-and-mouse hijinks one might expect from an episode like this, as Bad-Kirk lunges around like a cocaine fueled maniac, and Good-Kirk essentially does what ever Spock suggests. Of course, it’s all made unnecessarily complicated by the fact that none of the crew are aware of the situation, since filling them in (according to some more impeccable logic by Spock) would cause the crew to doubt their captain. You see, Captains aren’t allowed the luxury of weakness, and anything short of absolute perfection would compromise Kirk’s rank and status… which is to be protected at all costs, apparently. Consequently, this upkeep of deception stretches out the episode’s runtime until the last few minutes, at which point Spock and co. corral the two Kirk’s into the transporter to be rejoined, which works perfectly.

Oh yeah, and Sulu’s landing party gets to come home now too, so it all works out!

The Verdict

I’m not going to waste time explaining how the pop psychology of a nearly-60-year-old show is wildly flawed. Obviously the will to act is no more inherently tied to our rage and carnal desires, than intelligence is inherently tied to compassion and emotional frailty. The show needed an excuse to pit Kirk against himself, and the writers used their limited understanding of a medical field that was still in its infancy. The various assertions this episode makes about masculinity and psychology, is clearly tied to biases that would have been remarkably common for that era, to the point where I’d have been genuinely surprised if it wasn’t prevalent throughout the series. Some of Spock’s advice sounds not unlike something that Roger from ‘Mad Men’ might say, while downing an old fashioned and ogling his secretary; it’s so brazenly wrong that I can’t help but find it funny.

Which brings us to Janice.

After escaping Kirk’s attack, Janice heads straight to Sickbay, which is a good call. Using all of his tact and consideration as a medical professional, McCoy (with Spock) responds by summoning her alleged attacker while she’s still in the room. It’s obviously the good Kirk that arrives, but at this point no one is aware there’s two of them, and that’s when things start to get… icky. For starters, there is a distinct undercurrent within the scene that Kirk's reputation, and the preserving of it, is a higher priority than Janice's wellbeing. Even though she's visibly shaken, and disheveled, the three men all stand over her domineeringly as Kirk tests her stories for inconsistencies. Janice goes on to explain that normally she wouldn’t have resisted (he is the captain after all), but that she was just so surprised. Oh yeah, and there's also the fact that he was harming her that she didn’t care for either. Thankfully a crewmember with a penis, who actually witnessed the event (Bad-Kirk bludgeoned him for intervening), is able to set the record straight that someone with Kirk’s face definitely did attack her. With that cleared up, everyone quickly moves on because Janice’s trauma no longer drives the plot forward.

But the real kicker is in the final scene. With Kirk restored, Janice let’s him know that he’s off the hook, given the circumstances. It’s certainly not like he owes her a profuse apology for the 50% of him that evidently wants to take-and-possess her like an object, right? Because I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that Spock and McCoy each hold to the principle that both Kirks are equally necessary parts of his collective psyche. So, while Kirk “innocently” carries on with his captaining, Spock leans over to Janice and playfully insinuates that she probably kinda liked the attention Bad-Kirk gave her. Isn’t that neat? [Haha! The world is a nightmare.] Janice simply responds with a glowering look, which normally I would assume is her politely telling Spock to get Pon Farred. Unfortunately, context clues bring me to infer that she’s conveying embarrassment, indicating that Spock is meant to be partially correct, according to whoever wrote/signed off on this poorly conceived scene (official credit goes to Richard Matheson, but I’m not letting Gene Roddenberry off the hook either).

Again, I’m not surprised by the troubling views being expressed here, but in the case of Janice’s role within this story, it goes beyond what I can ignore. Barring that particular topic, I won’t deny the rest of the episode is otherwise somewhat entertaining, in a predominantly cringy sort of way. There are also some creative elements at play that would go on to become franchise staples, the most notable being ‘the transporter accident’ trope. I likely would have given this something closer to a 3 star rating if it didn’t take such a glib stance on sexual assault, but the excuse that this was a ‘product of it’s time’ doesn’t count towards a pass either.

1.5 stars (out of 5)

Parting Thoughts

Even a broken clock…: One thing I do agree with, is that fear is often the driving force behind anger. At one point, McCoy points out that while Good-Kirk is highly emotional and regularly distraught, he’s not ever overwhelmed by fear, conversely the Bad-Kirk regularly is. I suppose this is where I’ll admit that there is some credence behind the idea that if you simply remove one part of yourself, even a negative part, that it would likely impact the parts of you that are positive, to the extent that it may even change you fundamentally. What I disagree with is the idea that sexual desire is innately tied to compulsive behaviors beyond our control, at least insofar as it is depicted in this episode, written by a team of creatives that clearly held some inherently misogynistic biases.

Pacifist Vulcan Violence: In addition to transporter shenanigans, this episode also introduces us to the ‘Vulcan nerve pinch.’ The story goes that Leonard Nimoy felt brute force would be uncharacteristic of an advanced progressive anti-emotion society, and offered the now-famous nerve pinch as an alternative. I find it interesting, because the moment barely registers today, since that move is such a casually iconic staple of the franchise. But I can only imagine this would have been such a novel concept when it first aired, especially for younger viewers.

The unicorn-dog is dead, Jim: I believe this might also be the show’s first use (according to production order) of McCoy’s famous line, “He’s dead, Jim.” Fitting that it was for a dog, the universal best friend of humankind, be it horned or otherwise. Good boy unicorn-dog. Good boy.

Medical Binge Drinking: So, I guess McCoy has a liquor cabinet in sickbay. Immediately after Bad-Kirk emerges, he heads straight for sickbay and demands a drink. He even goes so far as to shake McCoy until he surrenders an entire bottle of booze, and then proceeds to chug it like a frat-boy on a bender, stumbling down a corridor. I realize drinking on the job was more socially acceptable in the 60’s, but it does seem odd that a doctor would have enough drinking alcohol to stock a small bar, for the purpose of serving it to patients. I guess the 23rd century is so progressive that my feeble 21st century mind just wouldn’t understand. Yeah, that must be it.

[startrekucast]

Gather, ye subjects and pledge purpose to his royal Mudd the first! The non-human Norman done hijacked the Enterprise, maman! He took us to a world of safety, technology beyond imagination and of course endless unaging android ass! Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers that smell bad, and this episode of Star Trek Universe is a review of Star Trek 2x12, “I, Mudd”, maman!

Episode Reviewed: Star Trek 2x12 - "I, Mudd"

Hosts: David C. Roberson Effie Ophelders

Note: This episode of Star Trek Universe continues young Effie's first watch of Star Trek in production order. Guiding her on this journey: Dave, a stalwart fan of almost four decades who rewatches along with her, provides trivia, insights and the occasional excitement-stoking minor spoiler. 

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