What Star Trek Ep/Movie Did you Watch Today?

[DigiFluid]

SD?: Assignment: Earth

So this episode starts with the Enterprise in orbit over 1960s Earth, having travelled back in time in order to conduct historical research. Mr Gary Seven (and his damn cat) beam aboard and scare the crap out of everyone. G7 has been living on a planet hidden from them, even in the 23rd century ('When the Bough Breaks'?).

Besides feeling like Doctor Who meets Star Trek (in a bad way), this isn't a terrible episode. It perfectly fits its time, pointing out the absurdity of Cold War-era international politics. This is why Star Trek is so wonderful, it's a perfect example of a show that does exactly what sci-fi is meant to: place real-life issues into a fantastic setting in order to examine them more closely.

[stargatefan234]

DS9: Tribunal

[Mclean]

I am just about to watch the DS9 episode Cardassians. Garak and Dukat, nothing more needs to be said

[the fifth man]

This evening I watched TNG episode "Silicon Avatar". I had forgotten what a good episode it was.

[katjoy]

so i walk in with a voyager boxset this morning and ask my brother to guess what we are going to watch... keep in mind all the seasons boxes are maroon plastic and you cant tell them apart... so we have 7 seasons and 100+ eps and he says 'shattered'... what are the odds

[DigiFluid]

SD 4768.3: Return to Tomorrow

An episode with colossally powerful ancient aliens, confined to orbs on a dead planet for millions of years. They want to use the crew's bodies temporarily to construct android bodies for themselves to inhabit. OR SO THEY SAY!

Overall a bit so-so, but the episode did have some really nice things in it I thought worth mentioning. Before going down to the planet, Scotty openly objects to having the command staff transport down into what was previously just rock.

This episode was also Diana Muldaur's TOS appearance, long before she'd return to the franchise as Dr Pulaski in TNG. She's....no more likable in TOS than she was in TNG, but it was a bit interesting to see that.

The other moment I thought really well done was that after the away team returned to the ship, they had a great roundtable discussion on whether they should help these aliens. There was disagreement, discussion, apprehension, and finally a really good argument made my Kirk as to why they should help them. Good stuff, that.

[DigiFluid]

SD 4842.6: The Paradise Syndrome

An asteroid is on its way to destroy an idyllic little world with no value beyond its local Native American-esque inhabitants. The Enterprise is on a mission to destroy said asteroid. Unpleasant though the thought may be--isn't that a flagrant violation of the Prime Directive?

All is well until Captain Kirk falls down a hole and gets zapped by some technological doohickey, and for some reason Spock has to explain basic geometry to McCoy using rocks as examples. Don't ask, I have no idea why a Starfleet-trained officer would need such a basic instruction either

Meanwhile back in the hole, the captain has lost his memory. He leaves his phaser and communicator on the ground and wanders back out, only to find himself worshiped by the Natives. In a modern context, this episode really suffers from 1960s perceptions of Native peoples as ignorant and naive: they argue about whether he's a god, and this is proven to them because apparently Kirk knowing mouth-to-mouth and playing with some kid's legs resuscitates him from being drowned. Uh....yeah....

Still, it's a bit of a laugh to see a mind-wiped Kirk thrown into such a bizarrely different situation than we're used to seeing him in. Especially once he's dressed up in full "Indian" getup, and he grows in epic 60s/70s full bushy sideburns (holy cow), and gets married!

This episode also had some absolutely gorgeous new external shots of the Enterprise. I think this is something that more recent Trek incarnations really lacked from--switching away from models to CGI. CGI looks nice, and has come a long bloody way in the last 10-15 years, but it's just not as good as models. A model has an authenticity and realism to it that no CGI has yet been able to match. Plus--the old Constitution class (and refit!) are simply the most gorgeous ships that Trek has ever produced IMO.

Something very, very interesting in this episode though--some powerful alien race brought these Natives to this world ages ago and promised that one day, one 'god' would come to save them from 'the sky being darkened.' I find this fascinating on two levels....first, the idea that an alien race far older than our own might possibly have some temporal ability in establishing this planet--that Kirk would be the prophesied one. Secondly, I seem to remember a late TNG episode with Native peoples who had long-ago been moved to another world by an alien race. And there's also mention of a race of Preservers who seeded the galaxy with endangered races so that they might survive....sounds a little like 'The Chase' in TNG. Coincidences? Or can we fanwank that into something far more epic?

Another amusing sign of the times....Scotty complains to one of his staff that "that Vulcan won't be satisfied till these circuits are a puddle of lead!" Forty years later....we really don't use lead in manufacturing anymore I work at a tech company (integrated circuits R&D and testing) and it's company policy to have all lead-free products.

SG-1 shares a similarity with this episode as well....Kirk is trapped on the idyllic little world for about two months, just living out his life there. Sounds a little like a certain SG-1 episode called 'A Hundred Days', doesn't it? Star Trek continues to be relevant!

So as it turns out, the alien symbols on the obelisk on top of the technological doohickey are musical notes and needed to activate the device which will destroy the incoming asteroid. Awesome--I seem to recall BSG doing something similar

[DigiFluid]

Stardate 4978.5: Mudd's Passion

As Star Trek's "Year Four" comes to a close, we run into Harry Mudd for the third and final time. Harry is trying to peddle love serum to some miners on a distant world, and the crew is looking for Harry for...various charges.

Of course, they interfere with his sale on that world, which doesn't recognize Federation law, so they have to pick him up. More signs of the times though: Harry's love potion is explained as causing love between men and women, and merely good friendship between members of the same sex.

With Harry in custody, the Enterprise moves on to explore an uncharted binary star system with an M-class planet. Harry breaks out and changes the stolen Nurse Chapel ID card he has (ID card??) to have his own picture on it, and tries to steal one of the Enterprise's shuttlecraft. However, in a very forward-thinking moment on the writers' part, Chapel takes charge by attacking Harry and holding him at phaser-point.

As he escapes, the 'love crystals' are sucked into the ship's ventilation. I'm sure you can guess how absurd it gets from there

One thing I really like about TAS is how much more imaginative the aliens can be when not restricted by a live-action budget. Unfortunate that usually the stories don't quite match up to that. Aaaand....I have plenty of that to look forward to in "Year Five" lol

[DigiFluid]

Stardate 5027.3: The Enterprise Incident

And Star Trek "Year 5" opens with a bang! In one of very few episodes to do so, the viewer is left wondering for fully half the episode about what's going on. Kirk has a breakdown, the Enterprise violates first the Romulan Neutral Zone and then Romulan space, and Spock is a turncoat.

Until things become clear: they're on a secret mission to steal a Romulan cloaking device from one of their ships. I'm somewhat amused that the 'Romulan cloaking device' is cobbled together from several previous props including (at least) the consciousness orbs from 'Return to Tomorrow' and the Nomad probe. Finally, the Enterprise makes her escape at extreme warp speed and activates the stolen cloak.

This ep has another very Trek element to it....several years after the network demanded that Number One be removed as second-in-command of the Enterprise before the show could be picked up, we now see a female commander in charge of a Romulan ship--the Romulan flagship, no less.

[A_PophisandhisFran]

I watched "The Way to Eden". Not a great episode (ok, ok, it's terrible, one of the worst), but I can't help but enjoy it.

[DigiFluid]

Oh man, I am not looking forward to getting to that one

[DigiFluid]

SD 5029.5: And the Children Shall Lead

I hate children.

[DigiFluid]

SD 5121.5: The Empath
SD 5143.3: The Survivor (TAS)
SD 5267.2: The Time Trap (TAS)
SD 5275.6: Albatross (TAS)

[the fifth man]

This evening I watched TNG episode "Thine Own Self". Going into it, I remembered practically nothing about the episode. That was nice for a change.

[stargatefan234]

DS9: The Jem'Hadar