Star Peace!
Jun. 20th, 2024 08:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anghraineJust kidding, I've watched a bunch more Star Trek: TOS episodes with my best friend!
7. What Are Little Girls Made Of?
I liked this one! I mean, the phallic stalactite/stalagmite was hilarious, but I actually enjoyed Ruk's design (especially the make-up) and the way the whole episode was shot and lit and everything. I love how vibrant the original series is in general, honestly, but this one stood out. Also, I enjoy how clever and resourceful Kirk is even though he does fuck up at times—he's not just dashing space captain or whatever. Also, the fact that he implants a racist remark to Spock in his android clone as the specific thing that will make it 100% clear that it's not actually him, with the assurance that Spock will understand that He Would Never, is really interesting because it both speaks to what their relationship is like and because Spock (in a very Spock way) asks Kirk to find some other way of signaling problems because it's so distasteful.
I loved Nimoy's projection of doubt.jpeg while behaving entirely correctly around the android clone, but was also rather impressed by Shatner as the clone. I really liked poor Andrea, too. It's ostensibly a Nurse Chapel episode and it feels weird not to even mention her, but the script didn't give her all that much to do except stick to her values while having feelings (admirably but very repetitively). I did love the way the crew is initially so excited for her and Uhura even kisses her, I think! (This is obviously meant to be platonic "yay your man is back" female bonding, but my mind immediately went to Uhura/Chapel, haha.)
8. Miri
J and I talked a lot about this one (a couple of hours, I think!). It is, unfortunately, extremely uncomfortable to watch because Kirk flirting with a barely pubescent girl (played by a 19-y-o actress, but she looks very young and is presented as just entering puberty—I got the impression that she's supposed to be 13 or so). The episode seems pretty clear that he's not actually attracted to her and is simply using her crush on him to save himself and his crew from a horrible death, but even so, it felt framed more as "obviously, I'm not into this kid who barely has a concept of sex, but I can use this" than as something actively unsettling or repugnant but the circumstances are desperate blahblah. And that element is so interwoven that it's very difficult to ignore. Yet it's genuinely a compelling story with a fascinating concept; the horror of a long-lived person being stuck in a child's body for tremendous lengths of time as they intellectually but not physically develop is common enough, but I don't think I've before encountered the specific horror of a grossly protracted childhood where it's actually childhood and they stay emotionally/intellectually at that level while living for so long.
I also read that the original script or plan built up the bond between Miri and whatshisface (the other older child, Jahn?) more and their mutual concern for the younger children, which I think would make it even better, especially since the older children's desperate but intrinsically limited attempts to protect the younger ones becomes so instrumental in the episode as it is. There was an idea that Miri and this other kid would have been childhood sweethearts if they'd been able to grow up naturally and at some level they know that after their hundreds of years of cooperation, but they never matured quite enough to get there. (I also headcanon that Jahn/whatshisface has the early stages of the disease as well as Miri; he seems a bit older in demeanor—even ignoring that he's played by a significantly older actor than Miri's—and his particular costume covers so much of his skin that he could be hiding it. I think it makes sense that this is part of the reason that his fears for the younger children are what ultimately convinces him to help Kirk et al. (Apparently some novels or something make this kid into some kind of villain or whatever, but I don't buy that for the character as written or conceived—let unlikable people struggling with impossible situations not turn out to be awful to the bone, thanks!)
I weirdly like that the initial "puzzle box" aspect of the episode, that the planet is a duplicate of Earth for no apparent reason, turns out to be completely irrelevant to the actual puzzle of the story, the mystery of the disease and the immortal children. J has ranted before about how much he hated what he calls the "Boomer fantasy" of Picard where distrusting the young is narratively validated, so it was interesting to see a scenario in TOS where the reverse happens—the fear of adults/becoming adults has an extremely legitimate basis here. There's a lot of pathos to the first of the onlies they meet, the pubescent boy who is mature enough for the disease to take hold but obviously still child-like in his priorities and thinking as he cries over what I think was a broken bicycle. And the stakes are properly high (life or death for everyone but Spock), Janice Rand actually gets some great moments (the line about how she used to want Kirk to look at her legs is meh as written but acted so well that it becomes kind of heart-breaking), it's a good McCoy episode as well, the redshirts survive, and Spock's realization that he's carrying the disease even though he's immune to the actual symptoms is also really interesting.
Full disclosure, lol: J and I came up with an AU fanfic scenario where the worst happens and the rest of the crew actually does die with only Spock left, stranded among the children, and we speculated about him eventually developing a quiet rapport with them as it becomes clear to them that he's immune from the irrational violence of the disease and is trying to help them survive in the long term, even if he's not an agricultural expert, and he ends up teaching logic and Vulcan traditions and such. We were imagining that by the time the planet is found again in the AU, Spock himself has died (of actual old age!) but the onlies at that point are functionally Vulcans (if immature) and the medical team that finds them is able to refine McCoy's work into an actual cure and they're able to build a functional society. (I was kind of imagining that the Federation team that finds them assumes they would prefer help from fellow humans, but in reality they're more comfortable with Vulcan adults than human ones.)
So obviously, a really interesting and compelling episode in concept and to a large degree in execution (the make-up work was also spectacular, I loved the unsettling crepe-y skin of the diseased kids). If the use of Miri's crush had been just a little different (Shatner is perfectly capable of signaling discomfort without overtly showing it; I think the writers, Roddenberry, etc just didn't think of that being important at the time), I think it'd be far less "uh, what the fuck, 60s" than it sometimes feels to watch it. A good episode that could have been great.
9. Dagger of the Mind
JUSTICE FOR HELEN NOEL!!!
Sorry, but she spends so much of the episode being interrupted by men while being smarter (and hotter, but mostly smarter) than all of them, usually right, and saving the day heroically. God knows why she has a thing for Kirk apart from narrative fiat. I really liked the Spock and McCoy interactions here, that McCoy uses Spock's affection for Kirk to peer pressure him into a very weirdly homoerotic mind-meld with the old guy who snuck onboard, and again, how extremely cool Helen is. The "reformed" criminals becoming blank-eyed therapists was also interesting as a concept, but overall it didn't stick with me nearly as much as "Miri."
Helen truly is fantastic, though. Love her being like "no, my psychology degrees did not teach me how to navigate high-voltage electronics in a mini-skirt, I'll do it anyway" and then actually doing it perfectly and then pretending to collapse only to kick her pursuer into the wiring and getting him electrocuted. Love that she basically has her part of the job under control by the time Spock and the reinforcements show up. Absolute icon who deserves better than Kirk (who I like, but c'mon). I kind of want a Helen icon now, lol.
10. The Corbomite Maneuver
Super fun! I initially described the mystery cube as "the worst d6", but I actually got a kick out of its monolith weirdness, and I love the powerful aliens turning out to be a single creepy tiny person. Not a lot of thoughts otherwise, really. It was genuinely hilarious that they just turn over an annoying and vaguely inadequate crew member to deal with the tiny alien. I think Spock's response to Bailey's kind of racist remark about humans having an adrenaline gland ("Have you considered having it removed?") is one of his genuinely funniest moments so far, and I enjoyed Sulu just responding to Bailey like "lmao were you seriously trying to get one up on Spock, dumbass?"
I also loved Kirk's line about how "there's no such thing as the unknown, only things temporarily hidden."
I've actually watched a few episodes past this one, but I'll put those in a separate post!
7. What Are Little Girls Made Of?
I liked this one! I mean, the phallic stalactite/stalagmite was hilarious, but I actually enjoyed Ruk's design (especially the make-up) and the way the whole episode was shot and lit and everything. I love how vibrant the original series is in general, honestly, but this one stood out. Also, I enjoy how clever and resourceful Kirk is even though he does fuck up at times—he's not just dashing space captain or whatever. Also, the fact that he implants a racist remark to Spock in his android clone as the specific thing that will make it 100% clear that it's not actually him, with the assurance that Spock will understand that He Would Never, is really interesting because it both speaks to what their relationship is like and because Spock (in a very Spock way) asks Kirk to find some other way of signaling problems because it's so distasteful.
I loved Nimoy's projection of doubt.jpeg while behaving entirely correctly around the android clone, but was also rather impressed by Shatner as the clone. I really liked poor Andrea, too. It's ostensibly a Nurse Chapel episode and it feels weird not to even mention her, but the script didn't give her all that much to do except stick to her values while having feelings (admirably but very repetitively). I did love the way the crew is initially so excited for her and Uhura even kisses her, I think! (This is obviously meant to be platonic "yay your man is back" female bonding, but my mind immediately went to Uhura/Chapel, haha.)
8. Miri
J and I talked a lot about this one (a couple of hours, I think!). It is, unfortunately, extremely uncomfortable to watch because Kirk flirting with a barely pubescent girl (played by a 19-y-o actress, but she looks very young and is presented as just entering puberty—I got the impression that she's supposed to be 13 or so). The episode seems pretty clear that he's not actually attracted to her and is simply using her crush on him to save himself and his crew from a horrible death, but even so, it felt framed more as "obviously, I'm not into this kid who barely has a concept of sex, but I can use this" than as something actively unsettling or repugnant but the circumstances are desperate blahblah. And that element is so interwoven that it's very difficult to ignore. Yet it's genuinely a compelling story with a fascinating concept; the horror of a long-lived person being stuck in a child's body for tremendous lengths of time as they intellectually but not physically develop is common enough, but I don't think I've before encountered the specific horror of a grossly protracted childhood where it's actually childhood and they stay emotionally/intellectually at that level while living for so long.
I also read that the original script or plan built up the bond between Miri and whatshisface (the other older child, Jahn?) more and their mutual concern for the younger children, which I think would make it even better, especially since the older children's desperate but intrinsically limited attempts to protect the younger ones becomes so instrumental in the episode as it is. There was an idea that Miri and this other kid would have been childhood sweethearts if they'd been able to grow up naturally and at some level they know that after their hundreds of years of cooperation, but they never matured quite enough to get there. (I also headcanon that Jahn/whatshisface has the early stages of the disease as well as Miri; he seems a bit older in demeanor—even ignoring that he's played by a significantly older actor than Miri's—and his particular costume covers so much of his skin that he could be hiding it. I think it makes sense that this is part of the reason that his fears for the younger children are what ultimately convinces him to help Kirk et al. (Apparently some novels or something make this kid into some kind of villain or whatever, but I don't buy that for the character as written or conceived—let unlikable people struggling with impossible situations not turn out to be awful to the bone, thanks!)
I weirdly like that the initial "puzzle box" aspect of the episode, that the planet is a duplicate of Earth for no apparent reason, turns out to be completely irrelevant to the actual puzzle of the story, the mystery of the disease and the immortal children. J has ranted before about how much he hated what he calls the "Boomer fantasy" of Picard where distrusting the young is narratively validated, so it was interesting to see a scenario in TOS where the reverse happens—the fear of adults/becoming adults has an extremely legitimate basis here. There's a lot of pathos to the first of the onlies they meet, the pubescent boy who is mature enough for the disease to take hold but obviously still child-like in his priorities and thinking as he cries over what I think was a broken bicycle. And the stakes are properly high (life or death for everyone but Spock), Janice Rand actually gets some great moments (the line about how she used to want Kirk to look at her legs is meh as written but acted so well that it becomes kind of heart-breaking), it's a good McCoy episode as well, the redshirts survive, and Spock's realization that he's carrying the disease even though he's immune to the actual symptoms is also really interesting.
Full disclosure, lol: J and I came up with an AU fanfic scenario where the worst happens and the rest of the crew actually does die with only Spock left, stranded among the children, and we speculated about him eventually developing a quiet rapport with them as it becomes clear to them that he's immune from the irrational violence of the disease and is trying to help them survive in the long term, even if he's not an agricultural expert, and he ends up teaching logic and Vulcan traditions and such. We were imagining that by the time the planet is found again in the AU, Spock himself has died (of actual old age!) but the onlies at that point are functionally Vulcans (if immature) and the medical team that finds them is able to refine McCoy's work into an actual cure and they're able to build a functional society. (I was kind of imagining that the Federation team that finds them assumes they would prefer help from fellow humans, but in reality they're more comfortable with Vulcan adults than human ones.)
So obviously, a really interesting and compelling episode in concept and to a large degree in execution (the make-up work was also spectacular, I loved the unsettling crepe-y skin of the diseased kids). If the use of Miri's crush had been just a little different (Shatner is perfectly capable of signaling discomfort without overtly showing it; I think the writers, Roddenberry, etc just didn't think of that being important at the time), I think it'd be far less "uh, what the fuck, 60s" than it sometimes feels to watch it. A good episode that could have been great.
9. Dagger of the Mind
JUSTICE FOR HELEN NOEL!!!
Sorry, but she spends so much of the episode being interrupted by men while being smarter (and hotter, but mostly smarter) than all of them, usually right, and saving the day heroically. God knows why she has a thing for Kirk apart from narrative fiat. I really liked the Spock and McCoy interactions here, that McCoy uses Spock's affection for Kirk to peer pressure him into a very weirdly homoerotic mind-meld with the old guy who snuck onboard, and again, how extremely cool Helen is. The "reformed" criminals becoming blank-eyed therapists was also interesting as a concept, but overall it didn't stick with me nearly as much as "Miri."
Helen truly is fantastic, though. Love her being like "no, my psychology degrees did not teach me how to navigate high-voltage electronics in a mini-skirt, I'll do it anyway" and then actually doing it perfectly and then pretending to collapse only to kick her pursuer into the wiring and getting him electrocuted. Love that she basically has her part of the job under control by the time Spock and the reinforcements show up. Absolute icon who deserves better than Kirk (who I like, but c'mon). I kind of want a Helen icon now, lol.
10. The Corbomite Maneuver
Super fun! I initially described the mystery cube as "the worst d6", but I actually got a kick out of its monolith weirdness, and I love the powerful aliens turning out to be a single creepy tiny person. Not a lot of thoughts otherwise, really. It was genuinely hilarious that they just turn over an annoying and vaguely inadequate crew member to deal with the tiny alien. I think Spock's response to Bailey's kind of racist remark about humans having an adrenaline gland ("Have you considered having it removed?") is one of his genuinely funniest moments so far, and I enjoyed Sulu just responding to Bailey like "lmao were you seriously trying to get one up on Spock, dumbass?"
I also loved Kirk's line about how "there's no such thing as the unknown, only things temporarily hidden."
I've actually watched a few episodes past this one, but I'll put those in a separate post!