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Science Fiction » alt.startrek » Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List
| Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #165983] |
Mi, 16 November 2005 04:05 |
|
SPOCK'S BRAIN: Stupid, but fun. Best to watch this with a group of
people, so you can
laugh at it.
Grade: B-
THE ENTERPRISE INCIDENT: So Vulcans have sex through their fingers...
Grade: A-
THE PARADISE SYNDROME: Really good. But that Indian chick Kirk fell in
love was no Edith Keeler. When she died, I just thought, "eh".
Grade: B+
AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD: Nice clothes, you little twerp. That's
famous tort attorney Melvin Belli as the Gorgon. He's better in the
Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter".
Grade: D+
IS THERE IN TRUTH NO BEAUTY?: The worst incidental music in the entire
TOS. And even sexual harraser Kirk wouldn't make a public toast to "the
most beautiful scientist in the galaxy". The Medusa was a good idea,
though.
Grade: C+
SPECTRE OF THE GUN: TOS' "Twilight Zone" episode, and a good one. Also,
great photography by Jack Finnerman (zeroing in on Spock's badge, the
diagonal shot of the landing crew standing next to each other.)
Grade: B+
DAY OF THE DOVE: Only bad thing about this one was the wimpy female
Klingon. She needed a little more fire in her performance.
Grade: A-
FOR THE WORLD IS HOLLOW AND I HAVE TOUCHED THE SKY: Interesting for
being a Bones episode.
Grade: B
THE THOLIAN WEB: I didn't like this one at first, because it seemed
inconceivable that Bones would think Spock wanted to see Kirk dead to
take the captaincy. But I guess that might have been a result of
whatever disease was infecting the ship. Excellent episode.
Grade: A-
PLATO'S STEPCHILDREN: I really wanted Alexander or somebody to
bitch-slap the smirk off
Parmen's wife's face.
Grade: B+
WINK OF AN EYE: A nymphomaniac in space.
Grade: B
THE EMPATH: Fans usually hate or love this one. It's a variation on
"The Cage" episode, but an excellent variation. A non-existent budget
and a wordless guest-starring role creates what I think is a minor
masterpiece.
Grade: A-
ELAAN OF TROYIUS: This is an underrated episode. It's kind of like a
junior
version of "Journey To Babel", and is solidly paced, with multiple plot
lines that mesh well together. The ending on the bridge was a inventive
change-of-pace from the usual "Kirk-Spock-McCoy" bantering. France
Nuyen actually does too good a job of playing the spoiled brat Elaan;
the viewer wants to see her dead..
Grade: B+
WHOM GOD'S DESTROY: Lame until Marta gets blown up. Then comes a good
double Kirk scene. Together, they save the episode.
Grade: B-
LET THAT BE YOUR LAST BATTLEFIELD: This gets upgraded a notch simply
for having Frank Gorshin.
Grade: B
THE MARK OF GIDEON: Grade: D
THAT WHICH SURVIVES: The tragedy of this episode is that it's actually
well-directed and exciting, as well as featuring a neat idea by having
different programs targeting different crew members. The problem is the
asinine rendering of Spock as an exacting, petty tyrant of a commander.
Not only does it make Spock a thoroughly unlikable character, it
ignores 2 1/2 seasons of Spock developing his people and
leadership skills. Wasn't it just a few episodes ago that Spock did
such a great job commanding the Enterprise during "The Tholian Web"?
What an insult to the viewer and the franchise.
Grade: C+
THE LIGHTS OF ZETAR: How many times can a junior officer of Starfleet
be referred to as "the girl"? Still, a good episode.
Grade: B
REQUIEM FOR METHUSELAH: Kirk falls in love with and agonizes over an
android when he's supposed to be concerned with getting the stuff
needed to save a planet. This might be the dumbest of all TOS episodes.
Grade: D
THE WAY TO EDEN: Stupid, but fun. I can get into Spock jamming with the
space hippies, Herbert. (BTW, nice women's leggings, Adam.You and the
dork from "And The Children Shall Lead" shop at the same place?.)
Grade: B-
THE CLOUD MINDERS: Solid. Not bad.
Grade: B
THE SAVAGE CURTAIN: Abraham Lincoln uses Special Forces tactics against
a Klingon and his buddies. Roddenberry shooting his own franchise in
the foot.
Grade: C-
ALL OUR YESTERDAYS: Has some of the gravitas of "The City On The Edge
Of Forever". Probably season three's best episode.
Grade: A-
TURNABOUT INTRUDER: C'mon, Kirk - you're not going to see if your
woman's body has what it takes to punch out the phony male Kirk? Great
scene-chewing performance by Shatner.
Grade: B
So, to sum up the best episodes of TOS, seasons 1, 2, and 3:
THE 'A' LIST:
A+: "The City On the Edge Of Forever"
A: "Balance Of Terror" (upgraded from A-)
"Mirror, Mirror"
"The Doomsday Machine"
"Journey To Babel"
A-: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (upgraded)
"The Enemy Within"
"The Corbomite Maneuver" (upgraded)
"The Menagerie, I and II"
"Space Seed"
"The Devil In The Dark"
"The Trouble With Tribbles"
"Return To Tomorrow" (upgraded)
"The Ultimate Computer"
"Assignment: Earth"
"The Immunity Syndrome" (upgraded two notches)
"The Enterprise Incident"
"Day Of The Dove"
"The Tholian Web"
"The Empath"
"All Our Yesterdays"
(Formerly A- but downgraded to B+: "The Galileo Seven", "A Piece Of The
Action")
Shnaggletooth
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #165984 ] |
Mi, 16 November 2005 05:22 |
|
<shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132110356.336870.197920 [at] g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> SPOCK'S BRAIN: Stupid, but fun.
You are half right.
> THE ENTERPRISE INCIDENT: So Vulcans have sex through their fingers...
> Grade: A-
So THAT's why they do that salute. It keeps their fingers in condition.
> THE PARADISE SYNDROME: Really good. But that Indian chick Kirk fell in
> love was no Edith Keeler. When she died, I just thought, "eh".
> Grade: B+
Miramanee could kick Edith Keeler's butt.
> AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD: Nice clothes, you little twerp. That's
> famous tort attorney Melvin Belli as the Gorgon. He's better in the
> Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter".
> Grade: D+
If they had shown a lawyer dying an agonizing death, this episode would have
been worth it, but we don't even get that satisfaction.
> IS THERE IN TRUTH NO BEAUTY?: The worst incidental music in the entire
> TOS. And even sexual harraser Kirk wouldn't make a public toast to "the
> most beautiful scientist in the galaxy". The Medusa was a good idea,
> though.
> Grade: C+
What would Denny Crane have said?
> SPECTRE OF THE GUN: TOS' "Twilight Zone" episode, and a good one. Also,
> great photography by Jack Finnerman (zeroing in on Spock's badge, the
> diagonal shot of the landing crew standing next to each other.)
> Grade: B+
Looks like a paint-by-numbers episode.
> DAY OF THE DOVE: Only bad thing about this one was the wimpy female
> Klingon. She needed a little more fire in her performance.
> Grade: A-
Miramanee could kick her butt also.
> FOR THE WORLD IS HOLLOW AND I HAVE TOUCHED THE SKY: Interesting for
> being a Bones episode.
> Grade: B
I liked it. I wish they had followed up in one of the films and had McCoy
reunite with Natira. Or perhaps I should say, unite with her in the first
place (if you know what I mean).
> THE THOLIAN WEB: I didn't like this one at first, because it seemed
> inconceivable that Bones would think Spock wanted to see Kirk dead to
> take the captaincy. But I guess that might have been a result of
> whatever disease was infecting the ship. Excellent episode.
> Grade: A-
I'm curious about the behind-the-scenes story of this episode. Did Shatner
want to take a break for one episode?
> PLATO'S STEPCHILDREN: I really wanted Alexander or somebody to
> bitch-slap the smirk off
> Parmen's wife's face.
> Grade: B+
You must have taken a valium before watching this episode to give it such a
high grade. This is probably the most embarassing of the Star Trek episodes.
> WINK OF AN EYE: A nymphomaniac in space.
>
But enough about Kirk ...
> THE EMPATH: Fans usually hate or love this one. It's a variation on
> "The Cage" episode, but an excellent variation. A non-existent budget
> and a wordless guest-starring role creates what I think is a minor
> masterpiece.
> Grade: A-
The valium came through again.
> ELAAN OF TROYIUS: This is an underrated episode. It's kind of like a
> junior
> version of "Journey To Babel", and is solidly paced, with multiple plot
> lines that mesh well together. The ending on the bridge was a inventive
> change-of-pace from the usual "Kirk-Spock-McCoy" bantering. France
> Nuyen actually does too good a job of playing the spoiled brat Elaan;
> the viewer wants to see her dead..
> Grade: B+
Liked it. Agree with your comments (except about Nuyen; I thought she was
cute).
Incidently, years before, Shatner was a supporting player in the play "The
World of Suzie Wong", starring Nuyen. I heard she was quite the spoiled
prima donna at the time. It must have been humbling for her to play this
supporting role in this episode. I wonder if Shatner rubbed it in.
> WHOM GOD'S DESTROY: Lame until Marta gets blown up. Then comes a good
> double Kirk scene. Together, they save the episode.
> Grade: B-
Why does the Federation have so many rogue officers/diplomats/scientists?
> LET THAT BE YOUR LAST BATTLEFIELD: This gets upgraded a notch simply
> for having Frank Gorshin.
I would have prefered Julie Newmar.
> THE MARK OF GIDEON: Grade: D
Run out of valium?
> THAT WHICH SURVIVES: The tragedy of this episode is that it's actually
> well-directed and exciting, as well as featuring a neat idea by having
> different programs targeting different crew members. The problem is the
> asinine rendering of Spock as an exacting, petty tyrant of a commander.
> Not only does it make Spock a thoroughly unlikable character, it
> ignores 2 1/2 seasons of Spock developing his people and
> leadership skills. Wasn't it just a few episodes ago that Spock did
> such a great job commanding the Enterprise during "The Tholian Web"?
> What an insult to the viewer and the franchise.
Seems like an extremely inefficient defence mechanism. An invading army
would overrun the place, and lose only 4 - 5 solders.
>
> THE LIGHTS OF ZETAR: How many times can a junior officer of Starfleet
> be referred to as "the girl"? Still, a good episode.
> Grade: B
(Sigh) poor Scotty.
> REQUIEM FOR METHUSELAH: Kirk falls in love with and agonizes over an
> android when he's supposed to be concerned with getting the stuff
> needed to save a planet. This might be the dumbest of all TOS episodes.
Beats the heck out of an inflatable girl doll.
> THE WAY TO EDEN: Stupid, but fun. I can get into Spock jamming with the
> space hippies, Herbert. (BTW, nice women's leggings, Adam.You and the
> dork from "And The Children Shall Lead" shop at the same place?.)
> Grade: B-
Ouch. Double dose of valium this time.
> THE CLOUD MINDERS: Solid. Not bad.
> Grade: B
Not bad.
> THE SAVAGE CURTAIN: Abraham Lincoln uses Special Forces tactics against
> a Klingon and his buddies. Roddenberry shooting his own franchise in
> the foot.
Bad.
> ALL OUR YESTERDAYS: Has some of the gravitas of "The City On The Edge
> Of Forever". Probably season three's best episode.
(yawn) another time travel episode.
> TURNABOUT INTRUDER: C'mon, Kirk - you're not going to see if your
> woman's body has what it takes to punch out the phony male Kirk? Great
> scene-chewing performance by Shatner.
Kirk should have fondled himself while he had the chance.
|
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #165986 ] |
Mi, 16 November 2005 07:14 |
|
Marcovaldo wrote:
(snip)
> > THE PARADISE SYNDROME: Really good. But that Indian chick Kirk fell in
> > love was no Edith Keeler. When she died, I just thought, "eh".
> > Grade: B+
>
> Miramanee could kick Edith Keeler's butt.
In that fake-looking wig? Not for me. Edith Keeler, on the other hand,
is the kind of woman every guy wants. (Or, uh, at least what this guy
would want...)
>
> > THE THOLIAN WEB: I didn't like this one at first, because it seemed
> > inconceivable that Bones would think Spock wanted to see Kirk dead to
> > take the captaincy. But I guess that might have been a result of
> > whatever disease was infecting the ship. Excellent episode.
> > Grade: A-
>
> I'm curious about the behind-the-scenes story of this episode. Did Shatner
> want to take a break for one episode?
This might have been the episode where Shatner walked off the set.
Story goes that Harlan Ellison was on the set, and played a prank on
Shatner by having a lighting guy put a hook on the end of a lighting
pole. While Kirk was in the middle of some dramatic speech, Ellison
snagged onto Shatner's toupee and yanked it off. Everybody burst a gut,
and Shatner stormed off the set. But I don't know if that story is
true; Ellison is the one who tells it.
> > PLATO'S STEPCHILDREN: I really wanted Alexander or somebody to
> > bitch-slap the smirk off
> > Parmen's wife's face.
> > Grade: B+
>
> You must have taken a valium before watching this episode to give it such a
> high grade.
Just Lexapro. And an occasional glass of wine.
> > THE EMPATH: Fans usually hate or love this one. It's a variation on
> > "The Cage" episode, but an excellent variation. A non-existent budget
> > and a wordless guest-starring role creates what I think is a minor
> > masterpiece.
> > Grade: A-
>
> The valium came through again.
I recommend for you Ritalin. Pay greater attention to this episode.
It's a good one.
> > LET THAT BE YOUR LAST BATTLEFIELD: This gets upgraded a notch simply
> > for having Frank Gorshin.
>
> I would have prefered Julie Newmar.
Adam West and William Shatner together would have made a fun TV series
duo.
Shnaggletooth
|
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #165987 ] |
Mi, 16 November 2005 07:18 |
|
shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com wrote:
(snip)
>
> So, to sum up the best episodes of TOS, seasons 1, 2, and 3:
>
> THE 'A' LIST:
(snip)
Plus two others I forgot to include to the 'A-' category:
"Errand Of Mercy"
"A Private Little War"
Which makes my final 'A List' as follows:
THE 'A' LIST:
A+: "The City On the Edge Of Forever"
A: "Balance Of Terror" (upgraded from A-)
"Mirror, Mirror"
"The Doomsday Machine"
"Journey To Babel"
A-: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" (upgraded)
"The Enemy Within"
"The Corbomite Maneuver" (upgraded)
"The Menagerie, I and II"
"Space Seed"
"The Devil In The Dark"
"The Trouble With Tribbles"
"Return To Tomorrow" (upgraded)
"The Ultimate Computer"
"Assignment: Earth"
"The Immunity Syndrome" (upgraded two notches)
"The Enterprise Incident"
"Day Of The Dove"
"The Tholian Web"
"The Empath"
"All Our Yesterdays"
"Errand Of Mercy"
"A Private Little War"
Shnaggletooth
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #165998 ] |
Mi, 16 November 2005 20:27 |
|
shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com wrote:
> SPOCK'S BRAIN: Stupid, but fun. Best to watch this with a group of
> people, so you can
> laugh at it.
> Grade: B-
>
Stupid, but dumb. Best to watch this while passed out so that you
don't actually remember it. This atrocity set the "What is brain??"
tone for the Turd Season.
http://agonybooth.com/extras/trek/spocks_brain/
> THE ENTERPRISE INCIDENT: So Vulcans have sex through their fingers...
> Grade: A-
>
Decent espionage story, though how could the Romulans ever build an
empire with Commanders that thick? And what ever happened to the
Cloaking Device Kirk grabbed?
> THE PARADISE SYNDROME: Really good. But that Indian chick Kirk fell in
> love was no Edith Keeler. When she died, I just thought, "eh".
> Grade: B+
>
This is one of the higher points for Season 3 (and no, I don't mean
that as faint praise). Cool sci fi ideas, good Spock/McCoy scenes and
I really think Kirk's wife was as good (simply not as famous) an
actress as Joan Collins. Also, it had everyone yelling "MIRAMANEE!!"
at the end of the penultimate act of Vger's "Memorial."
> AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD: Nice clothes, you little twerp. That's
> famous tort attorney Melvin Belli as the Gorgon. He's better in the
> Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter".
> Grade: D+
>
An irredeemable suckfest.
http://agonybooth.com/extras/trek/and_the_children/
> IS THERE IN TRUTH NO BEAUTY?: The worst incidental music in the entire
> TOS. And even sexual harraser Kirk wouldn't make a public toast to "the
> most beautiful scientist in the galaxy". The Medusa was a good idea,
> though.
> Grade: C+
>
The best of Season 3. Good sci fi concepts (even if they did retcon
the Barrier a bit). I agree about the Medusan; I've always had a soft
spot for non-humanoid aliens. I thought the music was quite
appropriate.
> SPECTRE OF THE GUN: TOS' "Twilight Zone" episode, and a good one. Also,
> great photography by Jack Finnerman (zeroing in on Spock's badge, the
> diagonal shot of the landing crew standing next to each other.)
> Grade: B+
>
Did you mean the most recent "Twilight Zone" attempt on UPN? Agreed on
the photography, but even it couldn't save this piece of suckage.
Dali's "Persistence of Memory" is surrealistic. "Surrealism" has been
corrupted to include poorly-thought-out, incoherent drivel posing as a
shooting script.
> DAY OF THE DOVE: Only bad thing about this one was the wimpy female
> Klingon. She needed a little more fire in her performance.
> Grade: A-
>
Agreed.
> FOR THE WORLD IS HOLLOW AND I HAVE TOUCHED THE SKY: Interesting for
> being a Bones episode.
> Grade: B
>
And interesting for the Generation Ship concept. And interesting
because Kirk didn't talk the supercomputer into self-destructing.
> THE THOLIAN WEB: I didn't like this one at first, because it seemed
> inconceivable that Bones would think Spock wanted to see Kirk dead to
> take the captaincy. But I guess that might have been a result of
> whatever disease was infecting the ship. Excellent episode.
> Grade: A-
>
Second-best of the season; one of the few Season 3 eps I still watch in
reruns.
> PLATO'S STEPCHILDREN: I really wanted Alexander or somebody to
> bitch-slap the smirk off
> Parmen's wife's face.
> Grade: B+
>
BDSM... in spaaaaaaaace!!! Dr. Loveless was wasted in this crap.
> WINK OF AN EYE: A nymphomaniac in space.
> Grade: B
>
Cool sci fi idea but not thought out quite enough; highly recommend
Clarke's short story "All the Time in the World."
> THE EMPATH: Fans usually hate or love this one. It's a variation on
> "The Cage" episode, but an excellent variation. A non-existent budget
> and a wordless guest-starring role creates what I think is a minor
> masterpiece.
> Grade: A-
>
Definitely under-rated; the minimalist approach helps to focus on the
drama. As a young Alter Boy I once heard a priest give a sermon based
on the surface moral of the story, about how with all their advanced
science and tech it was *compassion* that the Vians chose as the
criteria for which races would live or die.
> ELAAN OF TROYIUS: This is an underrated episode. It's kind of like a
> junior
> version of "Journey To Babel", and is solidly paced, with multiple plot
> lines that mesh well together. The ending on the bridge was a inventive
> change-of-pace from the usual "Kirk-Spock-McCoy" bantering. France
> Nuyen actually does too good a job of playing the spoiled brat Elaan;
> the viewer wants to see her dead..
> Grade: B+
>
Nuyen was good, yes. The ep was so-so.
> WHOM GOD'S DESTROY: Lame until Marta gets blown up. Then comes a good
> double Kirk scene. Together, they save the episode.
> Grade: B-
>
I wonder when/if Starfleet will ever consider psych screenings, at
least for Command-level officers?
> LET THAT BE YOUR LAST BATTLEFIELD: This gets upgraded a notch simply
> for having Frank Gorshin.
> Grade: B
>
"Riddle me this, Kirk: Can we make the moral any more
sledgehammer-obvious?"
> THE MARK OF GIDEON: Grade: D
>
The early stages of the Voyager Syndrome: Potentially interesting idea
ruined by idiotic production. A non-Federation world can make a
replica of the Big E so detailed that it fools Kirk? A planet so
overpopulated even has room to build such a life-size model? Maybe
this is where Boorman got the "gift of death" idea for "Zardoz?"
> THAT WHICH SURVIVES: The tragedy of this episode is that it's actually
> well-directed and exciting, as well as featuring a neat idea by having
> different programs targeting different crew members. The problem is the
> asinine rendering of Spock as an exacting, petty tyrant of a commander.
> Not only does it make Spock a thoroughly unlikable character, it
> ignores 2 1/2 seasons of Spock developing his people and
> leadership skills. Wasn't it just a few episodes ago that Spock did
> such a great job commanding the Enterprise during "The Tholian Web"?
> What an insult to the viewer and the franchise.
> Grade: C+
>
One of the high points for the season; cool sci fi and a sympathetic
antagonist played just right by Meriwether. The CO's job isn't to be
everyone's bestest buddy, it's to *lead* them. I don't recall anything
"petty" about Spock's command here- it's certainly infinitely better
than his command style in "Galileo Seven."
> THE LIGHTS OF ZETAR: How many times can a junior officer of Starfleet
> be referred to as "the girl"? Still, a good episode.
> Grade: B
>
Decent ep; most rumors have it that Shari Lewis wrote it as a Mary Sue,
hoping to play Lt. Romaine. I can just imagine Lamb Chop playing the
Zetarans.
> REQUIEM FOR METHUSELAH: Kirk falls in love with and agonizes over an
> android when he's supposed to be concerned with getting the stuff
> needed to save a planet. This might be the dumbest of all TOS episodes.
> Grade: D
>
This one is often underrated. Cool idea about the Immortal (did he
leave Earth to keep his head LOL?) and the final scene is one of the
most human in the entire Trek franchise.
> THE WAY TO EDEN: Stupid, but fun. I can get into Spock jamming with the
> space hippies, Herbert. (BTW, nice women's leggings, Adam.You and the
> dork from "And The Children Shall Lead" shop at the same place?.)
> Grade: B-
>
Gonna crack my knuckles and jump for joy
This '60s camp really starts to cloy
Gonna jump up and down and dance in place
They ripped the space hippies from "Lost in Space"
Gonna hold the bucket and try not to be sick
Freddie Freiburger is really a dick
> THE CLOUD MINDERS: Solid. Not bad.
> Grade: B
>
Another hyper-advanced civilization with all sorts of magic tech... and
the only way they can mine is with slaves using hand tools??????? The
same suspension of disbelief that crashed and burned on this one was
able to take me all the way through the whole first year of
"Space:1999."
> THE SAVAGE CURTAIN: Abraham Lincoln uses Special Forces tactics against
> a Klingon and his buddies. Roddenberry shooting his own franchise in
> the foot.
> Grade: C-
>
Silly premise *further* destroyed by ridiculous production.
> ALL OUR YESTERDAYS: Has some of the gravitas of "The City On The Edge
> Of Forever". Probably season three's best episode.
> Grade: A-
>
A good one, but kept wondering why Spock regressed when McCoy didn't?
> TURNABOUT INTRUDER: C'mon, Kirk - you're not going to see if your
> woman's body has what it takes to punch out the phony male Kirk? Great
> scene-chewing performance by Shatner.
> Grade: B
>
Shatner's overacting can't save us from wondering why none of his
friends are seeing how his personality is completely shifted. The
scene in "Farscape's" body-switch ep where Crichton (In Aeryn's body)
opens 'her' tunic to check out the goodies is infinitely better than
this whole episode.
*****
The Joker in the Eeeeeeeeeevil Cabal deck of cards.
"Voyager to alien fleet- Hold your fire! Hold your fire!! I promise
that WASN'T a kamikaze attack; that's the way Chakotay ALWAYS lands his
shuttles!!"
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166032 ] |
Do, 17 November 2005 15:21 |
|
In article <1132108713.541466.159620 [at] o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com said:
> THAT WHICH SURVIVES: The tragedy of this episode is that it's
> actually well-directed and exciting, as well as featuring a neat
> idea by having different programs targeting different crew
> members. The problem is the asinine rendering of Spock as a
> exacting, petty tyrant of a commander: not only does it make Spock
> a thoroughly unlikable character, it ignores 2 1/2 seasons of
> Spock developing and improving his people and leadership
> skills. Wasn't it just a few episodes ago that Spock did such a
> great job commanding the Enterprise during "The Tholian Web"?
> What an insult to the viewer and the franchise.
> Grade: C+
If I recall correctly, he did a good job of talking Scott down from
a state of minor panic when the tool that he had to use Right Now
was malfunctioning.
--
William December Starr <wdstarr [at] panix.com>
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166034 ] |
Do, 17 November 2005 15:58 |
|
"Bozo the Evil Klown" <Evilklowwn [at] aol.com> wrote in message
news:1132169240.735980.158790 [at] g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com wrote:
>
> > THE EMPATH: Fans usually hate or love this one. It's a variation on
> > "The Cage" episode, but an excellent variation. A non-existent budget
> > and a wordless guest-starring role creates what I think is a minor
> > masterpiece.
> > Grade: A-
> >
>
I've always thought the morality of this one is grotesque. The Federation,
aware billions are due to die (don't tell me they don't know how heavily
populated this system is) coolly set up a science station to record the
event, without even attempting to save a single being. The Vians, possessed
of highly advanced technology that can apparently save an entire planet's
complement of inhabitants in the wink of an eye (since they've left it until
the last moment) do nothing for the [months/ years/ decades?] they've known
of the approaching catastrophe, instead choosing to apply an arbitrary test
of "worthiness" based on their own subjective view of worth in order to save
a maximum of one world's inhabitants, all the goats being deemed worthy of
death without remorse. Which is, I agree, a very christian approach.
So the Federation couldn't realistically save all, or even most, of the
doomed, but they have no interest in saving *any* and indeed apparently no
concern whatsoever.
Mind you, this resurfaces in the otherwise compelling All Our Yesterdays
(Zarabeth is one of the great characters of TOS I think, truly tragic
(although why she doesn't go find some of the other people who must exist in
her time, if they have descendents in the future, isn't exactly clear)).
Again, the Feds wander by just before the death of an entire world, just out
of curiosity regarding where all the doomed peeps have gone. They're a
callous bunch in the future*.
Ian
_______________
*But then, it's apparently normal procedure in the future to commit total
genocide if you're pissed off with some planet or other (A Taste Of
Armaggeddon) or you think a planet might be a disease risk to the rest of
the Federation (Operation: Annihilate!), and apparently this is such a minor
decision you don't even need to call a more senior officer and ask
permission.
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166035 ] |
Do, 17 November 2005 16:02 |
|
"Jaxtraw" <jax [at] knickersjaxtrawstudios.com> wrote in message
news:437c998e$0$23279$db0fefd9 [at] news.zen.co.uk...
> "Bozo the Evil Klown" <Evilklowwn [at] aol.com> wrote in message
> news:1132169240.735980.158790 [at] g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> >
> > shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > > THE EMPATH: Fans usually hate or love this one. It's a variation on
> > > "The Cage" episode, but an excellent variation. A non-existent budget
> > > and a wordless guest-starring role creates what I think is a minor
> > > masterpiece.
> > > Grade: A-
> > >
> >
>
>
>
> Mind you, this resurfaces in the otherwise compelling All Our Yesterdays
Just to add, the thing that compels me most every time I watch it is trying
to guess what the heck type of accent the woman Kirk saves, and ends up in
jail with, is trying to do.
Ian
--
www.jaxtrawstudios.com
science fiction with shagging in it
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166037 ] |
Do, 17 November 2005 16:44 |
|
Jaxtraw wrote:
> "Bozo the Evil Klown" <Evilklowwn [at] aol.com> wrote in message
> news:1132169240.735980.158790 [at] g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> >
> > shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > > THE EMPATH: Fans usually hate or love this one. It's a variation on
> > > "The Cage" episode, but an excellent variation. A non-existent budget
> > > and a wordless guest-starring role creates what I think is a minor
> > > masterpiece.
> > > Grade: A-
> > >
> >
>
>
> I've always thought the morality of this one is grotesque. The Federation,
> aware billions are due to die (don't tell me they don't know how heavily
> populated this system is)
I don't recall anything in the dialogue mentioning the Feds knew...
that does put an interesting slant on it.
> coolly set up a science station to record the
> event, without even attempting to save a single being. The Vians, possessed
> of highly advanced technology that can apparently save an entire planet's
> complement of inhabitants in the wink of an eye (since they've left it until
> the last moment) do nothing for the [months/ years/ decades?] they've known
> of the approaching catastrophe, instead choosing to apply an arbitrary test
> of "worthiness" based on their own subjective view of worth in order to save
> a maximum of one world's inhabitants, all the goats being deemed worthy of
> death without remorse. Which is, I agree, a very christian approach.
>
Which is why the Vians demanded Gem to die for their sins. LOL
> So the Federation couldn't realistically save all, or even most, of the
> doomed, but they have no interest in saving *any* and indeed apparently no
> concern whatsoever.
>
> Mind you, this resurfaces in the otherwise compelling All Our Yesterdays
> (Zarabeth is one of the great characters of TOS I think, truly tragic
> (although why she doesn't go find some of the other people who must exist in
> her time, if they have descendents in the future, isn't exactly clear)).
> Again, the Feds wander by just before the death of an entire world, just out
> of curiosity regarding where all the doomed peeps have gone. They're a
> callous bunch in the future*.
>
> Ian
>
> _______________
> *But then, it's apparently normal procedure in the future to commit total
> genocide if you're pissed off with some planet or other (A Taste Of
> Armaggeddon) or you think a planet might be a disease risk to the rest of
> the Federation (Operation: Annihilate!), and apparently this is such a minor
> decision you don't even need to call a more senior officer and ask
> permission.
"Operation: Annihilate" wasn't technically "genocide," since there were
plenty more humans in the galaxy. Kirk did know *for certain* that the
planet-hopping brain parasites did pose a threat to other worlds.
*****
The Joker in the Eeeeeeeeeevil Cabal deck of cards.
"Voyager to alien fleet- Hold your fire! Hold your fire!! I promise
that WASN'T a kamikaze attack; that's the way Chakotay ALWAYS lands his
shuttles!!"
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166040 ] |
Do, 17 November 2005 23:00 |
|
In article <1132242280.579733.316820 [at] z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
"Bozo the Evil Klown" <Evilklowwn [at] aol.com> said:
>> But then, it's apparently normal procedure in the future to
>> commit total genocide if you're pissed off with some planet or
>> other (A Taste Of Armaggeddon) or you think a planet might be a
>> disease risk to the rest of the Federation (Operation:
>> Annihilate!), and apparently this is such a minor decision you
>> don't even need to call a more senior officer and ask permission.
>> [Jaxtraw]
>
> "Operation: Annihilate" wasn't technically "genocide," since there
> were plenty more humans in the galaxy. Kirk did know *for
> certain* that the planet-hopping brain parasites did pose a threat
> to other worlds.
And "A Taste of Armageddon" wasn't genocide either, just a wake-up
call. "Now if you screaming *idiots* want to kill yourselves off
for real, that's your choice."
--
William December Starr <wdstarr [at] panix.com>
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166049 ] |
Fr, 18 November 2005 01:02 |
|
"William December Starr" <wdstarr [at] panix.com> wrote in message
news:dliuhe$po9$1 [at] panix2.panix.com...
> In article <1132242280.579733.316820 [at] z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
> "Bozo the Evil Klown" <Evilklowwn [at] aol.com> said:
>
> >> But then, it's apparently normal procedure in the future to
> >> commit total genocide if you're pissed off with some planet or
> >> other (A Taste Of Armaggeddon) or you think a planet might be a
> >> disease risk to the rest of the Federation (Operation:
> >> Annihilate!), and apparently this is such a minor decision you
> >> don't even need to call a more senior officer and ask permission.
> >> [Jaxtraw]
> >
> > "Operation: Annihilate" wasn't technically "genocide," since there
> > were plenty more humans in the galaxy. Kirk did know *for
> > certain* that the planet-hopping brain parasites did pose a threat
> > to other worlds.
Now they'd been discovered, it would have been easy to quarantine the planet
while a cure was sought. Why the heck was there such a rush? As I said, he
didn't even bother to call Starfleet and ask!
"Well sorry guys, the little labs and the two doctors and single active
science officer on my ship can't figure out a cure in a few days. So you're
fuxx0red. Byeeeeeee!"
> And "A Taste of Armageddon" wasn't genocide either, just a wake-up
> call. "Now if you screaming *idiots* want to kill yourselves off
> for real, that's your choice.
All Kirk did was yell an order number into a communicator. Scotty knew what
that order number meant- it was a standard order for targetting every
population centre on a planet and destroying it. At no point is it anywhere
indicated that this is a bluff- and this is fiction, so if it were a bluff,
they'd say so somewhere. Indeed, doesn't Uhura ask Scotty if he's really
going to do it, and he makes it clear he will?
"What did you do in Starfleet, Grandad?"
"Annihilated 4 billion people in cold blood. Well, their government had
kidnapped the captain! What else could I do?"
Ian
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, [message #166051 ] |
Fr, 18 November 2005 01:09 |
|
in article dliuhe$po9$1 [at] panix2.panix.com, William December Starr at
wdstarr [at] panix.com wrote on 11/17/05 3:00 PM:
> In article <1132242280.579733.316820 [at] z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
> "Bozo the Evil Klown" <Evilklowwn [at] aol.com> said:
>
>>> But then, it's apparently normal procedure in the future to
>>> commit total genocide if you're pissed off with some planet or
>>> other (A Taste Of Armaggeddon) or you think a planet might be a
>>> disease risk to the rest of the Federation (Operation:
>>> Annihilate!), and apparently this is such a minor decision you
>>> don't even need to call a more senior officer and ask permission.
>>> [Jaxtraw]
>>
>> "Operation: Annihilate" wasn't technically "genocide," since there
>> were plenty more humans in the galaxy. Kirk did know *for
>> certain* that the planet-hopping brain parasites did pose a threat
>> to other worlds.
>
> And "A Taste of Armageddon" wasn't genocide either, just a wake-up
> call. "Now if you screaming *idiots* want to kill yourselves off
> for real, that's your choice."
Kirk may well have committed genocide against the plastic vomit monsters
though. In the Blish book, in perhaps the only awesome moment in those
dreadful adaptations, Kirk track the 3 or 4 pounds of tapioca creatures back
to their home planet, and hit it with 'fully armed planet wreckers'
Wow!
--
The "Upward Foundation" in Phoenix AZ, 623-848-9725, are liars and scam
artists. They make junk phone calls often several times a day to the same
number and refuse to remove you from their calling list (they will give you
a non working number to call to be removed, and the contact address on their
website is phony). This has been going on for a decade. Do not deal with
them.
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, [message #166053 ] |
Fr, 18 November 2005 01:21 |
|
in article 437d1902$0$23297$db0fefd9 [at] news.zen.co.uk, Jaxtraw at
jax [at] knickersjaxtrawstudios.com wrote on 11/17/05 5:02 PM:
> "William December Starr" <wdstarr [at] panix.com> wrote in message
> news:dliuhe$po9$1 [at] panix2.panix.com...
>> In article <1132242280.579733.316820 [at] z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com>,
>> "Bozo the Evil Klown" <Evilklowwn [at] aol.com> said:
>>
>>>> But then, it's apparently normal procedure in the future to
>>>> commit total genocide if you're pissed off with some planet or
>>>> other (A Taste Of Armaggeddon) or you think a planet might be a
>>>> disease risk to the rest of the Federation (Operation:
>>>> Annihilate!), and apparently this is such a minor decision you
>>>> don't even need to call a more senior officer and ask permission.
>>>> [Jaxtraw]
>>>
>>> "Operation: Annihilate" wasn't technically "genocide," since there
>>> were plenty more humans in the galaxy. Kirk did know *for
>>> certain* that the planet-hopping brain parasites did pose a threat
>>> to other worlds.
>
> Now they'd been discovered, it would have been easy to quarantine the planet
> while a cure was sought. Why the heck was there such a rush? As I said, he
> didn't even bother to call Starfleet and ask!
In the novelization, and I assume the script, the possessed people were
busily building spaceships and were about to launch.
>
> "Well sorry guys, the little labs and the two doctors and single active
> science officer on my ship can't figure out a cure in a few days. So you're
> fuxx0red. Byeeeeeee!"
>
>> And "A Taste of Armageddon" wasn't genocide either, just a wake-up
>> call. "Now if you screaming *idiots* want to kill yourselves off
>> for real, that's your choice.
>
> All Kirk did was yell an order number into a communicator. Scotty knew what
> that order number meant- it was a standard order for targetting every
> population centre on a planet and destroying it. At no point is it anywhere
> indicated that this is a bluff- and this is fiction, so if it were a bluff,
> they'd say so somewhere. Indeed, doesn't Uhura ask Scotty if he's really
> going to do it, and he makes it clear he will?
>
> "What did you do in Starfleet, Grandad?"
>
> "Annihilated 4 billion people in cold blood. Well, their government had
> kidnapped the captain! What else could I do?"
They'd also murdered another ship full of fed folk, fired on the Enterprise,
and tried to trick the crew down to the planet to be murdered. Seems like
they were at best a menace to navigation. :-)
>
> Ian
>
>
--
The "Upward Foundation" in Phoenix AZ, 623-848-9725, are liars and scam
artists. They make junk phone calls often several times a day to the same
number and refuse to remove you from their calling list (they will give you
a non working number to call to be removed, and the contact address on their
website is phony). This has been going on for a decade. Do not deal with
them.
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166056 ] |
Fr, 18 November 2005 02:22 |
|
Bozo the Evil Klown wrote:
> > WHOM GOD'S DESTROY: Lame until Marta gets blown up. Then comes a good
> > double Kirk scene. Together, they save the episode.
> > Grade: B-
> >
>
>
> I wonder when/if Starfleet will ever consider psych screenings, at
> least for Command-level officers?
Or even for junior officers (Lt.McGivers, Lt.Bailey...)
> > THAT WHICH SURVIVES: The tragedy of this episode is that it's actually
> > well-directed and exciting, as well as featuring a neat idea by having
> > different programs targeting different crew members. The problem is the
> > asinine rendering of Spock as an exacting, petty tyrant of a commander.
> > Not only does it make Spock a thoroughly unlikable character, it
> > ignores 2 1/2 seasons of Spock developing his people and
> > leadership skills. Wasn't it just a few episodes ago that Spock did
> > such a great job commanding the Enterprise during "The Tholian Web"?
> > What an insult to the viewer and the franchise.
> > Grade: C+
> >
>
>
> One of the high points for the season; cool sci fi and a sympathetic
> antagonist played just right by Meriwether. The CO's job isn't to be
> everyone's bestest buddy, it's to *lead* them. I don't recall anything
> "petty" about Spock's command here- it's certainly infinitely better
> than his command style in "Galileo Seven."
>
I didn't recognize the Spock of "That Which Survives". He behaves like
he would have behaved when he entered Starfleet Academy (and which we
saw some glimpses of early in TOS (ie. "The Corbomite Manuver"): trying
to sound as "Vulcan" as possible, as if showing to everyone what a
Vulcan he is.
For example: Uhuru - "Mr.Spock, what happened?"
Spock - "The occipital part of my head seems to
have impacted with the arm of the chair."
Nice snotty answer. Here's more:
"Please, Mr.Scott, restrain your leaps of
illogic..."
Scott: "I'll sit on the warp drive itself."
Spock: "That position, Mr.Scott, would not only be
unavailing, but undignified."
Give me a break! The writers have Spock talking as if he has yet to
learn how to talk and get along with humans (ie. way back in "Galileo
Seven"). By now, 2 1/2 seasons later, we, the viewer have already seen
how much Spock has grown beyond his earlier ineptitude in conversation.
He then goes on to annoy Uhuru some more, and you can see that she
chaffes under it. Then he corrects the helm (a woman, the only time
except for "The Cage" where we see a female at the helm) about not
giving him a number to the complete significant digit (which he
probably didn't need, anyway). He didn't talk like that in "The Tholian
Web". Finally, after Scotty thanks Spock at the end, Spock goes into a
"I really don't understand you humans and your strange need to 'be
thanked', etc." But according to what we've seen in the series, Spock
has grown beyond that kind of petty "I'm a Vulcan who's above that
human type of thing".
You ever known first-year music students at college? A lot of them
begin the first week becoming "classical heads", thumbing their noses
at all popular music. They spend the rest of the year making derogatory
remarks among each other about rock music, artificially turning
themselves into the campus snobs. I imagine Spock and his small group
of fellow Vulcans at Starfleet Academy sitting at lunch together,
making similar comments about humans - then later outgrowing it.
Shnaggletooth
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166057 ] |
Fr, 18 November 2005 02:28 |
|
Jaxtraw wrote:
> "Bozo the Evil Klown" <Evilklowwn [at] aol.com> wrote in message
> news:1132169240.735980.158790 [at] g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> >
> > shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> > > THE EMPATH: Fans usually hate or love this one. It's a variation on
> > > "The Cage" episode, but an excellent variation. A non-existent budget
> > > and a wordless guest-starring role creates what I think is a minor
> > > masterpiece.
> > > Grade: A-
> > >
> >
>
>
> I've always thought the morality of this one is grotesque. The Federation,
> aware billions are due to die (don't tell me they don't know how heavily
> populated this system is) coolly set up a science station to record the
> event, without even attempting to save a single being. The Vians, possessed
> of highly advanced technology that can apparently save an entire planet's
> complement of inhabitants in the wink of an eye (since they've left it until
> the last moment) do nothing for the [months/ years/ decades?] they've known
> of the approaching catastrophe, instead choosing to apply an arbitrary test
> of "worthiness" based on their own subjective view of worth in order to save
> a maximum of one world's inhabitants, all the goats being deemed worthy of
> death without remorse. Which is, I agree, a very christian approach.
>
> So the Federation couldn't realistically save all, or even most, of the
> doomed, but they have no interest in saving *any* and indeed apparently no
> concern whatsoever.
>
> Mind you, this resurfaces in the otherwise compelling All Our Yesterdays
> (Zarabeth is one of the great characters of TOS I think, truly tragic
> (although why she doesn't go find some of the other people who must exist in
> her time, if they have descendents in the future, isn't exactly clear)).
> Again, the Feds wander by just before the death of an entire world, just out
> of curiosity regarding where all the doomed peeps have gone. They're a
> callous bunch in the future*.
>
I imagine that maybe the Federation didn't have the resources or the
time to save the people in either system. As for the Vians - you have a
point there. And Zarabeth really was a tragic character, having to
spend the rest of her life in a frozen Ice Age, completely alone.
Shnaggletooth
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166059 ] |
Fr, 18 November 2005 02:45 |
|
ANIM8Rfsk wrote:
> >
> > All Kirk did was yell an order number into a communicator. Scotty knew what
> > that order number meant- it was a standard order for targetting every
> > population centre on a planet and destroying it. At no point is it anywhere
> > indicated that this is a bluff- and this is fiction, so if it were a bluff,
> > they'd say so somewhere. Indeed, doesn't Uhura ask Scotty if he's really
> > going to do it, and he makes it clear he will?
It was surprising how easily Kirk and his command staff were willing to
blow up the Enterprise to either a) keep the ship out of enemy hands
("The Enterprise Incident", or b) to make some kind of point ("Let That
Be Your Last Battlefield"). The mental drilling at Starfleet Academy is
more hardcore than one would normally imagine.
Shnaggletooth
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166060 ] |
Fr, 18 November 2005 02:53 |
|
--
<shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132276948.710089.92530 [at] o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
>
> Bozo the Evil Klown wrote:
> > > WHOM GOD'S DESTROY: Lame until Marta gets blown up. Then comes a good
> > > double Kirk scene. Together, they save the episode.
> > > Grade: B-
> > >
> >
> >
> > I wonder when/if Starfleet will ever consider psych screenings, at
> > least for Command-level officers?
>
> Or even for junior officers (Lt.McGivers, Lt.Bailey...)
>
> > > THAT WHICH SURVIVES: The tragedy of this episode is that it's actually
> > > well-directed and exciting, as well as featuring a neat idea by having
> > > different programs targeting different crew members. The problem is
the
> > > asinine rendering of Spock as an exacting, petty tyrant of a
commander.
> > > Not only does it make Spock a thoroughly unlikable character, it
> > > ignores 2 1/2 seasons of Spock developing his people and
> > > leadership skills. Wasn't it just a few episodes ago that Spock did
> > > such a great job commanding the Enterprise during "The Tholian Web"?
> > > What an insult to the viewer and the franchise.
> > > Grade: C+
> > >
> >
> >
> > One of the high points for the season; cool sci fi and a sympathetic
> > antagonist played just right by Meriwether. The CO's job isn't to be
> > everyone's bestest buddy, it's to *lead* them. I don't recall anything
> > "petty" about Spock's command here- it's certainly infinitely better
> > than his command style in "Galileo Seven."
> >
>
> I didn't recognize the Spock of "That Which Survives". He behaves like
> he would have behaved when he entered Starfleet Academy (and which we
> saw some glimpses of early in TOS (ie. "The Corbomite Manuver"): trying
> to sound as "Vulcan" as possible, as if showing to everyone what a
> Vulcan he is.
>
> For example: Uhuru - "Mr.Spock, what happened?"
> Spock - "The occipital part of my head seems to
> have impacted with the arm of the chair."
>
> Nice snotty answer. Here's more:
>
> "Please, Mr.Scott, restrain your leaps of
> illogic..."
>
> Scott: "I'll sit on the warp drive itself."
> Spock: "That position, Mr.Scott, would not only be
> unavailing, but undignified."
>
> Give me a break! The writers have Spock talking as if he has yet to
> learn how to talk and get along with humans (ie. way back in "Galileo
> Seven"). By now, 2 1/2 seasons later, we, the viewer have already seen
> how much Spock has grown beyond his earlier ineptitude in conversation.
>
> He then goes on to annoy Uhuru some more, and you can see that she
> chaffes under it. Then he corrects the helm (a woman, the only time
> except for "The Cage" where we see a female at the helm) about not
> giving him a number to the complete significant digit (which he
> probably didn't need, anyway). He didn't talk like that in "The Tholian
> Web". Finally, after Scotty thanks Spock at the end, Spock goes into a
> "I really don't understand you humans and your strange need to 'be
> thanked', etc." But according to what we've seen in the series, Spock
> has grown beyond that kind of petty "I'm a Vulcan who's above that
> human type of thing".
>
> You ever known first-year music students at college? A lot of them
> begin the first week becoming "classical heads", thumbing their noses
> at all popular music. They spend the rest of the year making derogatory
> remarks among each other about rock music, artificially turning
> themselves into the campus snobs. I imagine Spock and his small group
> of fellow Vulcans at Starfleet Academy sitting at lunch together,
> making similar comments about humans - then later outgrowing it.
>
> Shnaggletooth
>
"UhurA"
;)
Ian
--
www.jaxtrawstudios.com
science fiction with shagging in it
|
|
|
| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166066 ] |
Fr, 18 November 2005 03:29 |
|
<shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132278314.326699.177620 [at] o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
>
> ANIM8Rfsk wrote:
> > >
> > > All Kirk did was yell an order number into a communicator. Scotty knew
what
> > > that order number meant- it was a standard order for targetting every
> > > population centre on a planet and destroying it. At no point is it
anywhere
> > > indicated that this is a bluff- and this is fiction, so if it were a
bluff,
> > > they'd say so somewhere. Indeed, doesn't Uhura ask Scotty if he's
really
> > > going to do it, and he makes it clear he will?
>
> It was surprising how easily Kirk and his command staff were willing to
> blow up the Enterprise to either a) keep the ship out of enemy hands
> ("The Enterprise Incident", or b) to make some kind of point ("Let That
> Be Your Last Battlefield"). The mental drilling at Starfleet Academy is
> more hardcore than one would normally imagine.
>
> Shnaggletooth
>
On the other hand, if the command staff are the first to consider blowing it
up, and recommend it to the captain, when the ship is merely going on a
journey to another galaxy to inform the vast tentacled aliens who live there
that the Milky Way is ripe for conquest ("By Any Other Name"), it is
customary for the captain to respond with "Blow up the Enterprise? Are you
MAD?" This is because captains know they can beat the aliens by kissing one.
Blowing it up because you stole it then ineptly lost it to a handful of
scuzzy Klingons is, of course, considered exemplary behaviour. :)
:)
Ian
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166070 ] |
Fr, 18 November 2005 04:58 |
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<shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132276948.710089.92530 [at] o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
>
> You ever known first-year music students at college? A lot of them
> begin the first week becoming "classical heads"
Not at my college.
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166083 ] |
Fr, 18 November 2005 14:41 |
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Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166101 ] |
Sa, 19 November 2005 10:41 |
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<<<<shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com wrote
Subject: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS,
the 'A' List
SPOCK'S BRAIN: Stupid, but fun. Best to watch this with a group of
people, so you can laugh at it. Grade: B- >>>>>>>>>>>>
Some people enjoy the camp value of this episode. I don't. D+
<<<THE ENTERPRISE INCIDENT: So Vulcans have sex through their
fingers...
Grade: A- >>>>>
This is supposed to be one of the 'good' 3d season eps.... somewhat
overrated. B
<<THE PARADISE SYNDROME: Really good. But that Indian chick Kirk fell
in
love was no Edith Keeler. When she died, I just thought, "eh".
Grade: B+ >>>>>>>>
Definitely a change of pace. The "I am Kirok" line drops it to a C.
<<<AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD: Nice clothes, you little twerp. That's
famous tort attorney Melvin Belli as the Gorgon. He's better in the
Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter". Grade: D+ >>>>>>>>
You're too kind. F
<<IS THERE IN TRUTH NO BEAUTY?: The worst incidental music in the
entire
TOS. And even sexual harraser Kirk wouldn't make a public toast to "the
most beautiful scientist in the galaxy". The Medusa was a good idea,
though. Grade: C+ >>>>>>>>>>
Hit and miss. The music is a little....overwrought, shall we say? C
>>SPECTRE OF THE GUN: TOS' "Twilight Zone" episode, and a good one. Also,
great photography by Jack Finnerman (zeroing in on Spock's badge, the
diagonal shot of the landing crew standing next to each other.)
Grade: B+ >>>>>>>
I like it for the Twilight Zone feel you mention. B
<<DAY OF THE DOVE: Only bad thing about this one was the wimpy female
Klingon. She needed a little more fire in her performance. Grade: A-
>>>>>>>>>
A solid effort all around, one of the best Klingon captains. B+
<<<<FOR THE WORLD IS HOLLOW AND I HAVE TOUCHED THE SKY: Interesting for
being a Bones episode. Grade: B>>>>>>>>>
Dialogue was a bit hokey at times....nice for McCoy to get some play
for a change. C+
<<<<<THE THOLIAN WEB: I didn't like this one at first, because it
seemed
inconceivable that Bones would think Spock wanted to see Kirk dead to
take the captaincy. But I guess that might have been a result of
whatever disease was infecting the ship. Excellent episode. Grade:
A- >>>>>>>>
Like this one too. B
<<<<PLATO'S STEPCHILDREN: I really wanted Alexander or somebody to
bitch-slap the smirk off Parmen's wife's face. Grade: B+ >>>>>>>>>
Lots of....amusing stuff in this one. I actually think the camp value
of this one is better than Spock's Brain. Seeing Kirk slapping himself
silly....wow. C-
<<<<WINK OF AN EYE: A nymphomaniac in space. Grade: B >>>>>>>>>
The science is suspect and the solution much too easy. C
<<<<THE EMPATH: Fans usually hate or love this one. It's a variation on
"The Cage" episode, but an excellent variation. A non-existent budget
and a wordless guest-starring role creates what I think is a minor
masterpiece. Grade: A- >>>>>>>>>
This one doesn't pain me quite the way it once did. Not that I'm saying
I like it. C-
<<<<ELAAN OF TROYIUS: This is an underrated episode. It's kind of like
a
junior version of "Journey To Babel", and is solidly paced, with
multiple plot
lines that mesh well together. The ending on the bridge was a inventive
change-of-pace from the usual "Kirk-Spock-McCoy" bantering. France
Nuyen actually does too good a job of playing the spoiled brat Elaan;
the viewer wants to see her dead.. Grade: B+ >>>>>>>>>>>
It's got Klingons amd Kirk doing his thing. B-
<<<WHOM GOD'S DESTROY: Lame until Marta gets blown up. Then comes a
good
double Kirk scene. Together, they save the episode. Grade: B- >>>>>
Some major cheesiness and actors hamming it up all over. Strangely
watchable at times. C
<<<<LET THAT BE YOUR LAST BATTLEFIELD: This gets upgraded a notch
simply
for having Frank Gorshin. Grade: B >>>>>>>>>>>
Ham fisted. C-
<<<<<<<<THE MARK OF GIDEON: Grade: D >>>>>>>
The mark of crap. D
<<THAT WHICH SURVIVES: The tragedy of this episode is that it's
actually
well-directed and exciting, as well as featuring a neat idea by having
different programs targeting different crew members. The problem is the
asinine rendering of Spock as an exacting, petty tyrant of a commander.
Not only does it make Spock a thoroughly unlikable character, it
ignores 2 1/2 seasons of Spock developing his people and
leadership skills. Wasn't it just a few episodes ago that Spock did
such a great job commanding the Enterprise during "The Tholian Web"?
What an insult to the viewer and the franchise. Grade: C+ >>>>>>>>>
C.... not bad....just kinda boring.
<<<<THE LIGHTS OF ZETAR: How many times can a junior officer of
Starfleet
be referred to as "the girl"? Still, a good episode. Grade: B >>>>>>>>
Pretty awful. The Andorian saves it from getting an F.....or was it a
Tellarite? Or both?
>>>>>REQUIEM FOR METHUSELAH: Kirk falls in love with and agonizes over an
android when he's supposed to be concerned with getting the stuff
needed to save a planet. This might be the dumbest of all TOS episodes.
Grade: D >>>>>>
Admittedly, things happen awfully quick for Kirk....falling in love
with the android an all. Still.... I don't hate it. It doesn't suck
like some other 3rd season eps. C
<<<<<<<THE WAY TO EDEN: Stupid, but fun. I can get into Spock jamming
with the
space hippies, Herbert. (BTW, nice women's leggings, Adam.You and the
dork from "And The Children Shall Lead" shop at the same place? Grade:
B- >>>>>>>
The Way over to the other channel maybe.....I hate hippies.
Cringeworthy. D
<<<<<<THE CLOUD MINDERS: Solid. Not bad. Grade: B>>>>>>>>>>>
B-.....never had a big problem with this one.
<<<<THE SAVAGE CURTAIN: Abraham Lincoln uses Special Forces tactics
against
a Klingon and his buddies. Roddenberry shooting his own.........
Grade: C- >>>>>>
Secret Wars? Silly stuff.... I like the Rock creature....and it did
give us Surak and Kahless. C
<<<<<ALL OUR YESTERDAYS: Has some of the gravitas of "The City On The
Edge
Of Forever". Probably season three's best episode. Grade: A- >>>>>>>>
Definitely not an A.....but I dont think it sucks. Love the scene in
the cave where Spock almost kills McCoy.... C+
<<<<<<<<<<TURNABOUT INTRUDER: C'mon, Kirk - you're not going to see if
your
woman's body has what it takes to punch out the phony male Kirk? Great
scene-chewing performance by Shatner. Grade: B>>>>>>>>>>>
Yes, Shat hams it up one last time....and who could blame him? They
didnt need the scenery after this episode. B-
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166151 ] |
So, 20 November 2005 23:25 |
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Led4Aces wrote:
> <<THE PARADISE SYNDROME: Really good. But that Indian chick Kirk fell
> in
> love was no Edith Keeler. When she died, I just thought, "eh".
> Grade: B+ >>>>>>>>
>
> Definitely a change of pace. The "I am Kirok" line drops it to a C.
You guys are showing no mercy for Season Three.
>
> <<<<<<<THE WAY TO EDEN: Stupid, but fun. I can get into Spock jamming
> with the
> space hippies, Herbert. (BTW, nice women's leggings, Adam.You and the
> dork from "And The Children Shall Lead" shop at the same place? Grade:
> B- >>>>>>>
>
> The Way over to the other channel maybe.....I hate hippies.
> Cringeworthy. D
Though this episode actually criticizes hippies. Impressively, months
before the Manson murders occured, here's an episode of Star Trek about
a mad, genocidal, self-styled guru holding sway over a group of young
people, turning them against their priviledged backgrounds and onto his
insane plans to create a utopia.
(BTW, what was going on between Sulu and the hippie chick? Was she
selling him dope?)
>
> <<<<THE SAVAGE CURTAIN: Abraham Lincoln uses Special Forces tactics
> against
> a Klingon and his buddies. Roddenberry shooting his own.........
> Grade: C- >>>>>>
>
> Secret Wars? Silly stuff.... I like the Rock creature....and it did
> give us Surak and Kahless. C
That rock creature probably cost the series more money than it usually
spent on a typical Season Three episode. Maybe because this was a Gene
Roddenberry written ep.
Shnaggletooth
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166152 ] |
So, 20 November 2005 23:30 |
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George Peatty wrote:
> In article <1132121929.581751.185900 [at] f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
> shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com says...
>
> >> THE 'A' LIST:
>
> >(snip)
>
> Excellent choices, all, and eminently defensible. Not my choices, though. I
> think the TOS "A" list is much smaller, and does not include City on the Edge of
> Forever. My "A" list requires at least one episode from each season, and
> includes:
>
> Balance of Terror 1.14
> Errand of Mercy 1.26
> Mirror, Mirror 2.4
> Enterprise Incident 3.2
> The Empath 3.12
>
> I seem to have a definite preference for space opera, because I also like The
> Corbomite Maneuver and Arena. And, I also feel much more kindly disposed to the
> oft-reviled season three. There are a dozen or more episodes I could list as
> very good ones, of course, but these are the best of the best.
I've been noticing sort of fan backlash against "City on the Edge...",
recently. Or as someone else put it, a "reevaluation". But I'll always
think of it as the greatest of all Star Trek episodes.
Shnaggletooth
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166153 ] |
So, 20 November 2005 23:33 |
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Maybe Uhuru could be the name of Uhura and Sulu's lovechild.
Shnaggletooth
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166154 ] |
So, 20 November 2005 23:38 |
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I was almost expecting Scotty call him a "freak" again. ("Then transfer
out - freak!")
Shnaggletooth
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, [message #166156 ] |
Mo, 21 November 2005 00:02 |
|
in article 1132525818.039961.85740 [at] g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com,
shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com at shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com wrote on 11/20/05 3:30
PM:
>
> George Peatty wrote:
>> In article <1132121929.581751.185900 [at] f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
>> shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com says...
>>
>>>> THE 'A' LIST:
>>
>>> (snip)
>>
>> Excellent choices, all, and eminently defensible. Not my choices, though. I
>> think the TOS "A" list is much smaller, and does not include City on the Edge
>> of
>> Forever. My "A" list requires at least one episode from each season, and
>> includes:
>>
>> Balance of Terror 1.14
>> Errand of Mercy 1.26
>> Mirror, Mirror 2.4
>> Enterprise Incident 3.2
>> The Empath 3.12
>>
>> I seem to have a definite preference for space opera, because I also like The
>> Corbomite Maneuver and Arena. And, I also feel much more kindly disposed to
>> the
>> oft-reviled season three. There are a dozen or more episodes I could list as
>> very good ones, of course, but these are the best of the best.
>
> I've been noticing sort of fan backlash against "City on the Edge...",
> recently. Or as someone else put it, a "reevaluation". But I'll always
> think of it as the greatest of all Star Trek episodes.
>
> Shnaggletooth
>
Yeah, it goes along with the joke entries where people claim Empath is good.
--
You Can't Stop the Signal
SERENITY on DVD December 20th
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BW7QWW
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, the 'A' List [message #166163 ] |
Mo, 21 November 2005 03:48 |
|
<shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1132525818.039961.85740 [at] g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
> George Peatty wrote:
> > In article <1132121929.581751.185900 [at] f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
> > shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com says...
> >
> > >> THE 'A' LIST:
> >
> > >(snip)
> >
> > Excellent choices, all, and eminently defensible. Not my choices,
though. I
> > think the TOS "A" list is much smaller, and does not include City on the
Edge of
> > Forever. My "A" list requires at least one episode from each season,
and
> > includes:
> >
> > Balance of Terror 1.14
> > Errand of Mercy 1.26
> > Mirror, Mirror 2.4
> > Enterprise Incident 3.2
> > The Empath 3.12
> >
> > I seem to have a definite preference for space opera, because I also
like The
> > Corbomite Maneuver and Arena. And, I also feel much more kindly
disposed to the
> > oft-reviled season three. There are a dozen or more episodes I could
list as
> > very good ones, of course, but these are the best of the best.
>
> I've been noticing sort of fan backlash against "City on the Edge...",
> recently. Or as someone else put it, a "reevaluation". But I'll always
> think of it as the greatest of all Star Trek episodes.
>
> Shnaggletooth
>
I didn't like it much as a kid, too much romantic goo. But as I got older, I
started to appreciate it. I agree with a summation of it I read on the web a
while ago; words to the effect of "you feel like you're watching a movie".
Indeed. It transcends the medium in a way no other episode does, including
my personal favourites like The Doomsday Machine and Balance Of Terror. You
have good episodes and bad episodes, and then City On The Edge, which
somehow just doesn't feel like an "episode" at all. As such, I rate it as
the "best" even though it's not my favourite (though I like it a lot).
"Let's get the hell out of here". Impeccable.
Ian
www.jaxtrawstudios.com
science fiction with shagging in it
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| Re: Terse letter grades and review for TOS, Season Three...PLUS, [message #171885 ] |
Di, 22 November 2005 17:40 |
|
in article 1132242280.579733.316820 [at] z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com, Bozo the
Evil Klown at Evilklowwn [at] aol.com wrote on 11/17/05 8:44 AM:
>
> Jaxtraw wrote:
>> "Bozo the Evil Klown" <Evilklowwn [at] aol.com> wrote in message
>> news:1132169240.735980.158790 [at] g43g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>>>
>>> shnaggletooth [at] yahoo.com wrote:
>>>
>>>> THE EMPATH: Fans usually hate or love this one. It's a variation on
>>>> "The Cage" episode, but an excellent variation. A non-existent budget
>>>> and a wordless guest-starring role creates what I think is a minor
>>>> masterpiece.
>>>> Grade: A-
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> I've always thought the morality of this one is grotesque. The Federation,
>> aware billions are due to die (don't tell me they don't know how heavily
>> populated this system is)
>
>
> I don't recall anything in the dialogue mentioning the Feds knew...
> that does put an interesting slant on it.
"Captain's log -- star date 5121.5, orbiting the second planet in the
Minarian star system. This star has long given evidence of entering a nova
phase, and six months ago, a research station was established to make
close-up studies of the star as its end approaches. Minara is now entering a
critical period, and the Enterprise has been ordered to evacuate the station
before the planet becomes uninhabitable. Yet our attempts to contact the
station's personnel have been, so far, unsuccessful."
So Starfleet knew. No mention of the Federation.
Spock "Then you also know that the millions of inhabitants on its planets
are doomed."
So they knew there were multiple inhabited planets. Millions, though, not
billions.
>
>> coolly set up a science station to record the
>> event, without even attempting to save a single being. The Vians, possessed
>> of highly advanced technology that can apparently save an entire planet's
>> complement of inhabitants in the wink of an eye (since they've left it until
>> the last moment) do nothing for the [months/ years/ decades?] they've known
>> of the approaching catastrophe, instead choosing to apply an arbitrary test
>> of "worthiness" based on their own subjective view of worth in order to save
>> a maximum of one world's inhabitants, all the goats being deemed worthy of
>> death without remorse. Which is, I agree, a very christian approach.
It's also unclear if they saved anybody at all. They just go away at the
end. Another reason this is the worst Trek of all.
>>
>
>
> Which is why the Vians demanded Gem to die for their sins. LOL
>
>> So the Federation couldn't realistically save all, or even most, of the
>> doomed, but they have no interest in saving *any* and indeed apparently no
>> concern whatsoever.
>>
>> Mind you, this resurfaces in the otherwise compelling All Our Yesterdays
>> (Zarabeth is one of the great characters of TOS I think, truly tragic
>> (although why she doesn't go find some of the other people who must exist in
>> her time, if they have descendents in the future, isn't exactly clear)).
Well, she's in the middle of an ice age. If you stick somebody in a cave at
the South Pole, they aren't exactly going to walk to South America.
>> Again, the Feds wander by just before the death of an entire world, just out
>> of curiosity regarding where all the doomed peeps have gone. They're a
>> callous bunch in the future*.
I consider that a radical interpretation of the text. We have no idea how
long they've know Beta Niobe was gonna blow, or what their intentions in
going there were. There's no indication that the crew of the Big E had any
idea that Sarpeidon was empty until they got there -- they expected to find
non space faring humanoids (which begs the question, aren't they breaking
the Prime Directive just LANDING there?).
>>
>> Ian
>>
>> _______________
>> *But then, it's apparently normal procedure in the future to commit total
>> genocide if you're pissed off with some planet or other (A Taste Of
>> Armaggeddon) or you think a planet might be a disease risk to the rest of
>> the Federation (Operation: Annihilate!), and apparently this is such a minor
>> decision you don't even need to call a more senior officer and ask
>> permission.
>
>
> "Operation: Annihilate" wasn't technically "genocide," since there were
> plenty more humans in the galaxy. Kirk did know *for certain* that the
> planet-hopping brain parasites did pose a threat to other worlds.
>
> *****
>
> The Joker in the Eeeeeeeeeevil Cabal deck of cards.
>
> "Voyager to alien fleet- Hold your fire! Hold your fire!! I promise
> that WASN'T a kamikaze attack; that's the way Chakotay ALWAYS lands his
> shuttles!!"
>
--
You Can't Stop the Signal
SERENITY on DVD December 20th
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BW7QWW
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