“The Enterprise Incident”
Written by D.C. Fontana
Directed by John Meredyth Lucas
Season 3, Episode 2
Production episode: 3×04
Original air date: September 27, 1968
Star date: 5431.4
Mission Summary:
On the bridge of Enterprise, Captain Kirk snaps at Chekov and Spock for no apparent reason. But it’s not just a case of the Mondays–Doctor McCoy explains that Kirk’s been short-tempered and (in scientific terms) acting like a total jackass to just about everyone onboard for days now. There’s no getting around it: Captain Kirk has come down with a severe case of douchebaggery.
Kirk turns to Sulu and orders him to change course.
KIRK: Come about to one eight five, mark three.
SULU: But Sir, that’ll lead us directly into the Romulan Neutral Zone.
Sulu, Chekov, Spock, and Uhura all look around at each other nervously. Mr. Scott and Uhura discuss very loudly that no order has come through from command to take this measure, and Kirk sharply instructs them to shut their pieholes.
But it’s too late. In the Neutral Zone, two–no, three–Klingon-designed Romulan ships appear from the ether, surrounding Enterprise.
The Romulans must have cloaking technology now. The Enterprise crew goes to red alert and they receive a signal from Subcommander Tal, the humorless and smug leader. He takes a curious interest in Spock’s presence, but quickly orders Kirk to surrender or face certain destruction. Kirk has one hour to decide.
Kirk convenes a senior staff meeting to discuss their options, but things are grim: they can fight and be completely destroyed; they can surrender (giving Romulans access to “everything there is to know about a starship”); or they can destroy the Enterprise themselves to keep it from the enemy. When McCoy points out they wouldn’t even be in this situation if Kirk hadn’t gone penis-waving around the Neutral Zone, the captain dismisses him from the meeting.
Back on the bridge, Tal has redialed to tell Kirk that the Commander wants to speak with him personally. He invites Kirk and Spock aboard their ship and agrees to transport two Romulans as hostages in exchange for the meeting. The captain is reluctant, but he agrees.
They beam aboard and are introduced to the Commander: a sexy lady-Romulan in a requisite miniskirt and thigh-high boots. But she’s got a core of steel:
KIRK: Commander. I’m honoured.
COMMANDER: I don’t think so, but we have an important matter to discuss. And your superficial courtesies are an overture to that discussion.
Well, yes! Er, um…
She immediately demands to know why they went into the Neutral Zone, and Kirk offers the fabrication that they had a navigational error. She doesn’t buy it and accuses him of spying. She then brings Spock in for his account.
COMMANDER: There’s a well-known saying, or is it a myth, that Vulcans are incapable of lying?
SPOCK: It is no myth.
COMMANDER: Then tell me truthfully now, by your honour as a Vulcan, what was your mission?
SPOCK: I reserve the privilege of speaking only when it will not violate my honor as a Vulcan.
COMMANDER: It is unworthy of a Vulcan to resort to subterfuge.
SPOCK: You’re being clever, Commander. That is unworthy of a Romulan.
Ouch. Spock lets slip that he is keeping the truth to himself, which delights the Commander. She knows she can’t torture the truth out of Spock, but she can hurt (kill) Kirk–and promises to do so if Spock doesn’t give up his secrets. Spock decides to spill the beans and tell the Commander that Kirk has not been himself lately.
KIRK: That’s a lie!
SPOCK: As you can see, Captain Kirk is a highly sensitive and emotional person. I believe he has lost the capacity for rational decision.
KIRK: Shut up, Spock!
SPOCK: I’m betraying no secrets. The commander’s suspicion that Starfleet ordered the Enterprise into the Neutral Zone is unacceptable. Our rapid capture demonstrates its foolhardiness.
KIRK: You filthy liar!
SPOCK: I am speaking the truth for the benefit of the Enterprise and the Federation. I say now and for the record, that Captain Kirk ordered the Enterprise across the Neutral Zone on his own initiative and his craving for glory.
KIRK: I’ll kill you, you filthy traitor! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!
SPOCK: He is not sane.
And the Understatement of the Year award goes to Mr. Spock! *polite clapping*
The guards drag a raving Kirk out of the room and throw him into the brig. He tries to fling himself through the forcefield (because that always works…), but recoils in pain.
Meanwhile, the Commander is asking Spock the usual first date questions and Spock explains he’s been working in Starfleet for 18 years, Kirk is an OK boss, and he likes logic and 3-D chess. She points out that he should have a command of his own by now, something he seems to feel rather plainly without her help on the matter. The Commander, with an impressive degree of grace and subtlety, makes it clear that if Spock were to reconsider his loyalties the benefits he would reap would be magnificent. More than that, though, she tempts him with the promise of being around his own kind–sort of?–again.
Kirk’s injuries from the forcefield force Dr. McCoy to make a house call to the Romulan flagship.
COMMANDER: Captain Kirk’s condition?
MCCOY: Well, you can see for yourself, he’s mentally depressed, physically weak, disoriented, displays feelings of persecution and rebellion.
COMMANDER: Then by your own standards of normality, this man is not fully competent.
MCCOY: No, not now.
The Commander seizes on this as reason enough to make Spock captain of the Enterprise. Spock gladly accepts the reins, but Kirk won’t go down quietly. He lunges at Spock, and Spock throws his hand out on Kirk’s face, fingers splayed out. Kirk, in obvious pain, falls unconscious to the floor.
MCCOY: What did you do? What did you do?
SPOCK: I was unprepared for his attack. I instinctively used the Vulcan death grip.
MCCOY: Your instincts are still good, Mister Spock. The captain is dead.
In sickbay, Kirk’s dead body lies on a biobed. Nurse Chapel comes in to look at him, but notices the heart monitor pattering. Shocked, she calls Dr. McCoy over, who is angry she violated his prohibition on entering the room. Kirk is not in fact dead–the “Vulcan death grip” was a lie, and a lie that the Romulans didn’t catch on to. Kirk slowly regains consciousness and McCoy explains to Chapel that he didn’t know it was a charade until he was onboard the Romulan ship. Kirk and Spock have kept the entire thing to themselves to ensure that the Federation is off the hook no matter what happens to them.
And now for Phase 2.
Later, on the bridge, Mr. Scott is called down to sickbay. He says he can’t possibly leave the bridge while in command but Dr. McCoy is very insistent that he head down to see something. (This actually makes sense, because historically no matter what it is Bones never actually tells anyone what it is they need to come down for.) Mr. Scott arrives to find Kirk “surgically altered” to appear Romulan, complete with pointy ears and eyebrows.
SCOTT: Well, you look like the devil himself, but as long as you’re alive. What’s it all about?
Kirk asks for one of the Romulan prisoners onboard to spare a uniform and he prepares to beam over to the Romulan flagship. Unfortunately, since Spock hasn’t yet reported in (for some unknown reason, I mean why, we don’t know, could be anything…), Kirk has to beam in blindly with no coordinates. “Just don’t put me inside a bulkhead,” he tells Mr. Scott. Sure enough, Kirk manages to appear smack dab in the middle of a hallway. He quickly dispatches a patrol guard.
Meanwhile, Spock is having an agonizing mission. The Commander has invited him for food (I guess that’s supposed to be food, anyway), and drinks (what looks like wiper fluid, followed by some Tang). She instructs Spock that all he has to do is beam back to the Enterprise with a Romulan landing party and take command of the ship, then haul it to the nearest Romulan base. But she has more to offer than simply the Enterprise:
COMMANDER: Romulan women are not like Vulcan females. We are not dedicated to pure logic and the sterility of non-emotion. Our people are warriors. Often savage. But we are also many other pleasant things.
SPOCK: I was not aware of that aspect of Romulan society.
COMMANDER: As a Vulcan, you would study it. As a human you would find ways to appreciate it.
Best mission ever! She then teases him for not asking her about her first name–which she seductively whispers in his ear. “How rare, and how beautiful. But so incongruous when spoken by a soldier.” She promises to make herself a little less soldier-like and slips out to change into something more comfortable.
At this point Kirk finally manages to get through to Spock and Spock explains that the cloaking device is in a secured area near the Commander’s quarters. Because Spock is “occupied,” Kirk volunteers to get the device himself as long as Spock things he can sneak out alive afterwards. He’s not sure, but tells Kirk to go anyway. Unfortunately, a peon of Subcommander Tal has intercepted the transmission and goes to find the source of the signal.
Just then the Commander returns–in a slinky, over-the-shoulder black-and-white number. She looks less comfortable, actually, but certainly stunning. Spock agrees that this will help “stimulate” the conversation. Staring at one another, they make the Vulcan sign with their hands. Ever so gently, they begin to touch and caress their hands against one another. They touch each other’s faces intimately. And of course, because even that is much too erotic for ’60s television, the doorbell rings.
It’s Subcommander Tal and he has traced the signal to this room. (Surprise!) The Commander immediately snaps back at Spock. She knows exactly what he’s up to and is sure that they’re after the cloaking device. Unfortunately for them, it’s too late, and Kirk has managed to bring it safely to the Enterprise.
COMMANDER: Why would you do this to me? What are you that you could do this?
SPOCK: First officer of the Enterprise.
She then slaps him, and not just for the cloaking device. He takes it stoically but before his execution demands the Right of Statement. Great, a monologue? She assents, turns on a camera, and lets him ramble away about all the ways in which he doesn’t feel guilty. This is good, because it buys time for Enterprise to get the cloaking device working to get the shit-hell out of there. They manage to lock onto Spock, though, and beam him back to the ship–but the Commander latched onto him in the process and came over, too! Kirk is delighted. He contacts Tal to let him know that his Commander on board and he should hold his fire. But she steps into view:
COMMANDER: Destroy this vessel. I gave you a direct command! Tal!
Now that’s a commander.
Scotty, who has been scrambling to get their new toy online, thinks he has finally managed it. He’s very nervous about its stability but Kirk orders him to throw the switch, and just in time! Tal is too late, and Enterprise disappears from view. Relieved, Kirk turns to his new prisoner and asks Spock to escort her to her quarters.
SPOCK: It is regrettable that you were made an unwilling passenger. It was not intentional. All the Federation wanted was the cloaking device.
COMMANDER: The Federation. And what did you want?
SPOCK: It was my only interest when I boarded your vessel.
COMMANDER: And that’s exactly all you came away with.
SPOCK: You underestimate yourself, Commander.
COMMANDER: You realize that very soon we will learn to penetrate the cloaking device you stole.
SPOCK: Obviously. Military secrets are the most fleeting of all. I hope that you and I exchanged something more permanent.
The Commander is visibly moved and she vows to keep their wandering hands “our secret.”
Back on the bridge, Kirk receives a call from Dr. McCoy to return to sickbay and undo his Romulanization.
MCCOY: Well, are you coming, Jim? Or do you want to go through life looking like your First Officer?
KIRK: I’m on my way.
Analysis:
I get the feeling this is sort of like my last meal…
“The Enterprise Incident” is outstanding. It should have led the third season, though I suppose that might have been a misleading indicator of the season’s overall quality. It feels almost like a Cold War Bond flick: sort of silly, but tense, sexy, and exciting regardless.
What really works here is Fontana’s dialogue, and it all centers around the Romulan Commander. When she speaks with Kirk, Scotty, Tal, or any of her subordinates, she is forceful, direct, and ruthless in pursuing her goals. I loved it when she dismissed Scotty’s bravado: “You humans make a brave noise.” When Kirk feeds her lies, she confronts him directly and calls him a spy. And when he of course denies it, she playfully suggests: “Your language has always been most difficult for me, Captain. Perhaps you have another word for it.” Their entire exchange is brilliant, really, as she challenges Kirk to accept his own flimsy explanation: “Captain, if a Romulan vessel ventured far into Federation territory without good explanation, what would a starbase commander do? You see, it works both ways. I hardly believe you are the injured party.” Not even Kirk can argue with that. She is a confident and powerful leader and, in other circumstances, might have made a worthy adversary.
But when she speaks to Spock, her language changes markedly. She has a poetry to her that softens the edges, and you can see how Spock’s presence has upset the balance. At first she demands he attend her at dinner, and then she changes her mind and invites him politely instead. She abandons her previous bluntness and their discussions manage that Austen-like feat of talking around the issues–but you know exactly what they really mean (and they do, too). They play off one another, from their jibes about lying being unworthy to a Vulcan (and Spock’s response that cleverness is unworthy to a Romulan) to Spock asking if the guards are invited to dinner, too.
All that said, I don’t buy that she would have fallen for Spock’s ruse. When Tal informs her that a transmission has come from her room, she knows immediately what it is Spock and Kirk were after and pursues them. Where was that presence of mind before? She says that she is part of a warrior culture, but it’s clear that in this world being a warrior is incompatible with being a woman. She has to remake herself–literally1–into a woman, in order to pursue her, ah, other intentions, with Mr. Spock. The kind of intelligence and leadership we see in the beginning can’t coexist at the same moment as her desire for Spock, and so she winds up conned and humiliated before Tal. And this is why women can’t be in charge.
As noted in the Trivia section, originally Spock and the Commander’s fingerplay was going to be conventional kissing. I really just can’t picture that at all. The gesture they chose to go with was brilliant–perfectly Vulcan in its stoicism, but undeniably intimate (and yes, even erotic). The camera lingers on their hands for several moments and it seems alien, even odd, and yet their desire is compelling and unmistakable. In the end, when the Commander confronts Spock about using her, he makes it clear that his affection was genuine and he will keep the experience with him always. Is that the human side of him?
I found it interesting that like “Balance of Terror” this one broaches suspicion of Spock as a traitor, and from both sides of the equation. McCoy thinks he has sold out the Federation; the Commander thinks he has sold out his people. One of the first questions the Commander asks him is to whom he owes his allegiance. Whose side is he on? Being mixed-race carries with it this assumption that he can’t be trusted. His motives are unclear. He can’t really be Starfleet, he couldn’t possibly, she assumes. When she asks what he is that he could do this, the answer isn’t that he’s Vulcan or human: it’s that he’s the First Officer of the Enterprise. He’s a Starfleet man, with a duty and a mission. It makes the case that the Federation is able transcend race. It is bigger, and greater, and more inclusive and important than that one thing, than any one thing, and that a common ideology can unite all these disparate people and their histories. She may share a heritage, but she’s an enemy to those who share his mission and ideals, and that’s more important. She understands that, too, though. They are doing what they must in the line of duty to queen and country, so to speak.
I know people have pointed to this episode to prove that Vulcans can lie, but I think it’s worth a closer look than that. Spock adheres to his own honor code (“It is not a lie to keep the truth to oneself”), so he does omit information, but I believe that everything else he says is truthful. His admission that he’s considered the lucrative temptation of turning traitor is probably true; his flattery of the Commander is almost certainly sincere. He manages to deflect some questions deftly, like whether or not he will flip sides: “It would be illogical to assume that all conditions remain stable.” But none of those are lies. Can anyone point to something they think Spock lied about?
As for Shatner, I think he delivered a great performance. His behavior in the opening was uncomfortable; his violence in the first act (trying to attack Spock) was outright upsetting. I was sure it was going to be some kind of virus, or mind control, or external stimuli. That Kirk, such a joker!
Final thought: the idea that Kirk’s makeup fooled anyone is deeply disappointing.
Torie’s Rating: Warp 5 (on a scale of 1-6)
Eugene Myers: After last week’s brain wreck, “The Enterprise Incident” comes off as a masterpiece. Actually, it’s a great episode, period. As plodding and humorless as “Spock’s Brain” is, the second episode of the third season is tense, clever, and well paced. Having an interesting plot and fine acting doesn’t hurt either.
Kirk’s aberrant behavior hooks the viewer immediately, especially in conjunction with the ambush by three Klingon cruisers under Romulan command that appear out of nowhere. I imagine the ruse played out by Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock must have fooled or confused some people the first time they saw this; for me, Kirk calling Spock a traitor is always a sign that his surliness is an act, though Starfleet captains are awfully prone to insanity. (Of course, Kirk also easily could have been replaced by an evil counterpart, or been split into two by a transporter, or had his mind swapped out by another consciousness, or simply gone too long without getting some action… I wonder why the rest of the crew didn’t immediately suspect some alien influence given the precedents?)
Their spy mission and the lengths they go to keep their orders a secret seem authentic to me, or at least plausible. This is Cold War espionage in space, complete with prisoner exchanges via transporter, a secret agent who uses sex to get what he wants (Spock, surprisingly), and stolen secrets. In addition to giving us more details on Romulan and Vulcan culture and the schism between their people, it’s great to see how the enemies gather intelligence and try to gain an advantage on each other. The Romulans know Enterprise and that Captain Kirk was “last known to be in command.” Starfleet knew about the Romulan-Klingon alliance and their development of a cloaking device.
This episode marks a rare romance for Spock, one of several we’ll see this season (which I suppose makes his love life not-so-rare). It’s easy to attribute Spock’s interest in the female Romulan commander as mere subterfuge, but there does seem to be genuine mutual attraction. Hard to say when she first became interested in him, but it seemed to be more or less at first sight. Interestingly, before she “invites” Spock to dinner, she tells him, “Attend me,” which is reminiscent of Sarek’s line to Amanda in “Journey to Babel,” also penned by D.C. Fontana: “My wife, attend.”
Having Fontana at the helm for this episode allows for other wonderful bits of continuity, like the reappearance of the Vulcan/Romulan fore(finger)play, which still weirds me out a little. In fact, I was surprised at just how far she and Spock went on their first date—most of their shocking flirtations went over my head the last time I saw this. (Am I the only one who thought the soldier already looked plenty womanly in her uniform?) There’s also that intriguing comment on Spock’s choice to betray the Romulan commander:
SPOCK: It was the only choice possible. You would not respect any other.
COMMANDER: It will be our secret.
“The Enterprise Incident” introduces a few Star Trek firsts. We learn that Vulcans can’t lie, though asking a Vulcan if this is true seems somewhat naïve. We see Romulan ale and those fancy square glasses for the first time, even if the liquor isn’t yet named. And of course there’s the cloaking device, which figures heavily in the movies and later series, and prefigures TNG episodes “The Pegasus” and “Unification.”
I only found a few minor flaws in this episode, such as the fact that Enterprise can hit warp 9 easily when it really has to, completely alien technology can be installed and work perfectly after only fifteen minutes of Scott’s tinkering (and he probably only needed five minutes really), once again they pretend Kirk is dead to get him out of a tight spot, and the Romulans kept their top-secret device “hidden” behind a door lit by red spotlights. Otherwise, this is one of the best episodes of season three. It’s about to get really bad, guys.
Eugene’s Rating: Warp 5
Best Line: MCCOY (in response to the Commander’s request to beam over to the Romulan ship): I don’t make house calls!
Syndication Edits: An establishing shot of the Enterprise surrounded by the Romulans; the Commander disbelieving Kirk’s assertion that an instrument malfunction led them to the Neutral Zone; the Commander asking Spock to dinner; the shot of Kirk’s “dead” body in green light on the biobed; the Commander handing Spock some wiper fluid–I mean Romulan ale–and telling him that she has “other inducements”; her follow-up pour of the Tang and line that Romulan women are “not like Vulcan females. We are not dedicated to pure logic and the sterility of non-emotion. Our people are warriors. Often savage. But we are also many other pleasant things”; a shot of them walking down the corridor; and Chekov telling Kirk that they’ve entered the Neutral Zone on their way back to Federation territory.
Trivia: D.C. Fontana cites the Pueblo Incident as her inspiration for this episode. Just a few months prior to her first outline, a U.S. Navy intelligence ship was captured by North Korea while spying on Soviet communications in contested waters. One man died and the rest of the crew was taken prisoner for nearly a year.
In the original draft, both Kirk and McCoy dress as Romulans to capture the cloaking device, which is merely a prototype and not a functioning part of the ship. The original draft also had Spock shower kisses on the Commander–talk about weird. Both Nimoy and Joanne Linville felt that was too “human” and came up with the hand gesture instead. Either way this angered fans who, because of “Amok Time,” thought Vulcans only had sex every seven years. Fontana argued that the pon farr was a fertility cycle and Vulcans could have sex outside the scope of pon farr whenever they wished. Because this is all very important to Star Trek geeks.
Photographic effects duplicated the model of the Romulo-Klingon ship to create the illusion that there were three surrounding Enterprise.
This is the second (after “Balance of Terror“) and final appearance of Romulan characters in Star Trek. The Romulan symbol that looks like a spoked color wheel is never again seen in any iteration of Star Trek.
The Romulans use Klingon disruptor pistols.
The cloaking device was made from part of NOMAD‘s head and Sargon’s sphere from “Return to Tomorrow.”
Other Notes: Joanne Linville was asked to reprise her role in TNG’s “Face of the Enemy,” but she was unavailable.
Previous Episode: Season 3, Episode 1 – “Spock’s Brain.”
Next Episode: Season 3, Episode 3 – “The Paradise Syndrome.” US residents can watch it for free at the CBS website.
This is a serious contender for the best TOS episode period, not just for the third season (where there is no question). Setting aside Tribbles as a comedy, the major competition would come from the other Romulan episode, Balance of Terror.
Indeed, the real problem with this episode is that it is very hard to snark and so fits poorly in the general style of what you’ve been doing with this rewatch. Later episodes will compensate, but at such a terrible, terrible price. But try not to despair. The number of truly abysmal episodes is only 5 or 6, and we already have one behind us! The rest are no worse than bad episodes from the first 2 seasons.
I’m happy to have less to snark about when the episodes are this good! But snark may be all that we have to sustain us through the dark times ahead. I recall some of the upcoming episodes as being worse than the bad ones from earlier seasons, but time will tell. Possibly they just seem worse because they’re so consistently bad for longer stretches of time.
It seems strange to me that with two such strong Romulan episodes that we didn’t see them again until a pretty bad TNG episode twenty years later. I suppose the Klingon makeup was just easier and cheaper to deal with (even using helmets to cut down on the number of pointy ears) so they became the defacto villains for the rest of the season.
Outstanding episode – maybe the top in the series – and a cogent and funny re-watch, thanks, folks.
I found the Romulan commander by turns exhilarating and infuriating – the conversion from “soldier to woman” most annoying, but her strength and boldness up to that point was fantastic, probably the best role a woman got in the OS (maybe one of Diana Muldaur’s was near the same level). And when she orders Tal to fire on the Enterprise to destroy it, killing herself along with it, I always get shivers.
I tell you, when they run them in order, this show is a welcome respite after the Radio-Controlled Spock and the Eymorgs / Josie and the Pussycats crossover show.
I agree with you on the “feminizing” of the Romulan commander. I thought she was sexier when she was so obviously in control with hesitant overtures for Spock’s affection, although she had a very nice dress. And it was terrific that she wasn’t a young woman, but slightly older and a seasoned soldier.
I had the same frustrations whenever they tried to soften Captain Janeway on Voyager, with her Gothic romance holodeck programs and pink undershirt. She’s a leader and a woman, but somehow they made it seem like an active choice–she couldn’t always be both.
Here, at least, they were dealing with the 60s idea of the career woman who was thought to have to check her femininity (read: getting married and making babies) at the door. (There’s Turnabout Intruder again!)
Voyager had no excuse. They were just reacting badly to fans feeling that Janeway was insufficiently human and all those Bun of Steel jokes. In their situation, she would really have to be a permanent hard-ass, with very little opportunity to just be herself. They could have done a hell of an episode on that theme, but they blew it.
Y’know…just to add another comment here, having just read That Other Rewatch (see what I did there?), I think I’ll be dropping That Other Rewatch now, as I’m finding I’m pretty much full-up on “privileged frat-boys interpret the world” for the moment. I really enjoy the…what, narrative tension, I guess?…between Eugene and Torie’s different approaches here, much more than reading two really-similar guys who just happen, by total coincidence I’m sure, to represent the predominant worldview of popular media.
Thanks, Eugene and Torie. :)
Truth there, about the times being what they were. Which made it all the more galling, when I heard about TNG, to discover that the roles would be:
Leader: Old hetero white guy
Deputy: Younger very hetero white guy
Body-care person: white hetero woman
Mind-care person: white hetero woman
Violent not-talking guy: black hetero man
Asian people: we don’t got none
Gay people: don’t be stupid
The only sop we got was Tasha – who was (admittedly not because the show wanted it that way) pointlessly Stuffed In The Fridge to show how evil the black goo puddle was. Which, to be fair, you’d have to do, because it’s hard to get across Teh Evils when you’re a puddle of black goo.
I mean, geebus…late 80s, 20 years later, and that’s the best you can give us? The care-people are the girls, and the leader-people are the boys, and the black people are the ones who are congenitally violent and don’t talk much? Yeesh.
Of course, then I saw the Abrams reboot, and longed for the halcyon days of TNG’s progressivism.
I was very tempted to give this one a six, but I talked myself down with the reminder that it followed “Spock’s Brain” and anything seems like a brilliant work of staggering genius after that. I’m looking forward to the end of the season, to see how it really rates to the whole series. I wouldn’t be surprised to find I raise my rating.
I really wish they had revisited the Romulans again. TNG’s early Romulan episodes are atrocious–it took so long to get back to the level we see here.
And hey! I thought I managed some good snark despite all else. :)
I know! She is so promising for so long. I love that she and Spock are both using each other. Both are trying to seduce the other in order to get state secrets, and yet both share genuine interest and attraction. Her attempts to make him defect are no less ruthless than his attempts to get at and distract her from the cloaking device. She’s not some pitiful peon being exploited; she’s actually pretty badass, and just as committed to duty and loyalty as he is.
…all the way until her girliness somehow clouds her judgment.
Yeah. She jumps so fast to the obvious conclusion when Tal shows up (and why does he show up? do they not have intercoms on the Romulan ship?) that you wonder what exactly was masking that giant globe-like elephant in the room from her. Maybe hot Vulcan pheromones, as I’m sure I’ve read in a slash somewhere…
Yeah, don’t even get me started on that damn holodeck program. This woman forged an alliance with the Maquis _and_ fought the Borg, but you know, what she really wants is some 18th century romance.
Thank you so much!
This is a serious contender for the best TOS episode period […] the major competition would come from the other Romulan episode, Balance of Terror
Well, they might’ve been contenders, I suppose, but both of ’em become bums when they go up against ‘The City on the Edge of Forever’. No competition.
I hadn’t even realized that. You’re right. Why _does_ he show up??
Also, note that when the Commander goes into the room with the cloaking device (the engine room?) she checks all the wall panels before realizing the huge globe is gone. Really? She didn’t know what it looked like or where it would be?
I was really hoping they would confront the issue head-on and do an episode about that struggle. Yeah right. That’s what we get with Rick Berman.
This was actually the first Star Trek episode I ever saw, and it’s what sold me on the whole concept.
Space drama, intrigue, with a little swashbuckling thrown in. Pure, wonderful fantasy.
Well, it was the comment about Bones calling people down to the sickbay all the time, instead of just telling them what he has to say over the intercom, that got me thinking about it, so you guys did get there first. :)
But yeah – don’t we even see that there are explicitly sentries outside the commander’s office? Why doesn’t Tal just, y’know, tell a guard, for Remus’ sake? Why give the spy a couple of minutes to re-stash the communicator?
Fridge logic, it’ll get you every time.
Tasha is a plus? The woman’s entire “character profile” was that she was from the rape gang planet. Did you know she came from the planet with the rape gangs? She was chased by rape gangs! Rape gangs rape gangs rape gangs! I felt like they would never shut up about that. That’s not characterization!
Geordi was awesome and he’s my favorite.
I have to say that part of what made TNG great was its acknowledgment of and head-on confrontations with the prejudices of the day. They were honest. A great episode is “The Enemy,” where Geordi is stuck on a planet with a Romulan and together they have to find a way to survive. Meanwhile, another Romulan is dying aboard the Enterprise and only Worf’s blood (or tissue or something) can save him. Picard tries desperately to convince Worf to donate the blood and save him, but Worf won’t do it–the Romulan represents to him the people who killed his parents. Picard tries to make the case that THIS Romulan did no such thing.
But Worf won’t do it. His prejudice is too strong. The Romulan dies.
I thought that was honest. They could’ve copped out but they didn’t. It made sense to me and it infuriated me and I think that was the point. I admired that. I liked that their characters constantly had to confront their own prejudices, and sometimes they overcame them and sometimes they didn’t. Not everyone was onboard the progress wagon, and that’s how progress happens. One person at a time.
It is a great episode, and it’s the writing. D C Fontana strikes again.
Hard to add much, but that’s never stopped me before, so:
– Kirk’s adulterated eyebrows are — well, words fail me.
– Scotty hooking that contraption into Enterprise‘s shield system in record time is plainly ridiculous, but, what the hell. (I mean, they stole a box, not a user’s manual — or did they have Jeff Goldblum handy to hack into the Cloaking Device’s built-in Apache Web page and on-line help system?)
– The acting is uniformly outstanding, as has been mentioned. When a cast like this can take utter shite like ‘Spock’s Brain’ and actually make it watchable, it’s a joy to see what they can do with decent material. And — I’m serious here — I don’t want to hear anyone dissin’ the Shatner and his acting chops again.
– The fingerplay between Spock and the Commander is some of the most erotic stuff ever put on TV. (Eugene, if you’re weirded out by it, you need to try it; you’d be surprised.)
– Joanne Linville: oh, my god. Even with the ears. Maybe especially with the ears. I don’t know. I don’t care.
But, yes, the nods they had to make to 1960s sensibilities regarding females in charge were a bit annoying — though, of course, I didn’t notice these quite so much when I was much, much younger. Still, I think the Commander is one of the better characters on Star Trek in this regard: a woman with authority and responsibility, who really acts like she has it, rather than everyone else sort of humouring her. I’m trying to think of other examples offhand: Uhura in her better moments (when she doesn’t become a milquetoast and require the Big Strong Captain’s reassurance); Edith Keeler, of course, who seems every bit a confident, 1930s Depression-era missionary; Areel Shaw, Kirk’s prosecutor in ‘Court Martial’ carries herself pretty well (and seems to have a pretty mature attitude toward Kirk); Vanna from ‘The Cloud Minders’ (haven’t gotten to that one yet) seems tough enough to lead a revolution; and there are probably one or two others.
I’m sure someone will disagree with me on those. But, anyway.
– As we head into the third season, one of my big complaints arises, especially with this episode, which is otherwise so good: the music is just horrible. There’s simply no comparison in the quality of the background themes, especially from the late first and most of the second season, with the crud that’s being spewed in most of the third. A perfect example is the accompaniment to Enterprise‘s escape from the Romulans — dissonant and tinny, with no sense of excitement or grand adventure. Just rubbish.
Okay! As usual, not much to say.
Seconded. They are nonpareil.
The comment system, however, is annoying, in that it’s virtually impossible to tell if anyone has added something new without scanning the entire thread.
It would be so much nicer if new entries were just appended at the bottom, as in The Other Place.
I went through the same thought process and almost gave this one a 6. Then I worried I might be too generous with the 5, but people seem to agree it’s at least that good.
Yeah – truth there too, I was thinking more about the fact that she did go against type somewhat, being kind of a badass in a fight, and not being all caring-sharing huggy Care Bear, as the rest of the women in the show were. Remember I was speaking here of seeing what the roles were going to be; this was from before the show actually started, so all we knew was that the ship had a woman as head of security, and I was pretty jazzed about it.
Then, as you say, the first season came along, and her background was just super-ugh. But she was a hopeful sign, when we were just hearing about what was being filmed.
Geordie became made of awesome, totally, but in that first season, he was Chekov, without the fun of the accent. Eventually he became probably my favourite (and despite me ragging on them about the old white guy running things, Patrick Stewart was fantastic as Picard; it’s the principle, not the player).
@ NomadUK
I turned off threaded comments. Do you like this better? It’s a bit harder to track conversations but does have the advantage you mentioned.
The nice thing about running your own site is being able to tweak whenever you want!
The music was atrocious, I agree. The DUN DUN DUNNNNNN! and overdramatic nonsense actually made me laugh out loud.
Wow – I think it’ll be better next post, but now all the comments are without context, because we were relying on placement to show the path. :)
Is it possible to number the comments, Torie?
That’d make it the easiest to keep threading while not doing it visually by indent. It’s also more accessible for anyone using a reader to follow the blog and comments – better than the threading indents by far – to use a numbering system.
Torie @ ??? : Fantastic! Now, just get them numbered so we can reference them, and it’ll be perfect!
CaitieCait: True, but this brief moment of pain will soon pass, and the world to come will be ever so much better.
We’ll try to have the comments numbered by tonight!
CaitieCait @…
Thanks, Eugene and Torie.
Thank you :)
do they not have intercoms on the Romulan ship?
They had those little earpieces at the communications consoles, which I thought was interesting. Almost like they didn’t want people overhearing their conversations. Strangely paranoid for people who use special lighting to mark an area as off-limits.
@Notmaker
What a great introduction to the series! Other than not having some of the backstory on the characters and customs.
@NomadUK
The fingerplay between Spock and the Commander is some of the most erotic stuff ever put on TV. (Eugene, if you’re weirded out by it, you need to try it; you’d be surprised.)
I was weirded out more by its inclusion in the show. It seems strangely more intimate than actual kissing or even televised sex… But it does look very sensuous, so I’m sure it’s delightful.
Torie asked: “Can anyone point to something they think Spock lied about?”
Spock told two blatant lies in this episode:
– Of Captain Kirk, he told the Romulan Commander, “He is not sane.” At the time Spock said this, he knew it to be objectively false, as he and Kirk were in collusion (on Starfleet orders) to deceive the Romulan Commander on this point.
– After faking the killing of Kirk in the Romulan brig, Spock claims to have used “the Vulcan Death Grip.” Even if such a thing exists, which is doubtful, the fact that Kirk was not actually killed belies Spock’s statement. If the lethal grip had existed and Spock had used it, Kirk would be dead. But Kirk was only stunned, and his death was faked by McCoy. Ergo, because Spock claimed to have employed a tactic that he could not possibly have used, he lied — not by omission but by declaration.
Spock, who self-identifies as Vulcan, was capable of telling lies, and he did so. Ergo, the claim that “Vulcans are incapable of lying” is demonstrably false.
To whether Spock can lie, I have but one response:
“Sir: there is a multi-legged creature on your shoulder.”
*nerve-pinch*
Comment numbering ahoy! Formatting is off for you non-Firefox users, but I’ll fix that later. For now at least we have references.
Re: Spock lying, okay, I’m convinced! I had forgotten all those instances. Do people think he’s lying when he tells the Commander that defection has crossed his mind? I’m inclined to say it’s sincere, but he does seem pretty committed to Starfleet…
I was also kind of surprised to see them go all hoogly-boogly and starstruck over a cloaking device, because yeah, didn’t the Romulans have one of those last time around?
I was very impressed with this episode, which is one of the best of the franchise (though let’s face it, Spock’s Brain is probably better than half of DS9).
Something which I haven’t seen anybody comment on yet is the (progressive!) choice to cast a middle-aged actress (she was born in 1928 — three years older than Nimoy). In a casting decision that would never be echoed today, she’s actually old enough to have earned her high command, with all the corresponding care lines and worry. This gives a seriousness and emotional depth to her scene with Spock that would be lacking otherwise. Imagine how much less meaningful their interactions would be if she were played by, say, Katee Sackhoff, or Sarah Michelle Gellar? This was an excellent decision, says I.
@32 JS
I touched on the commander’s age a little in comment #4, though it may have gotten buried. It was an admirable casting decision.
However, I’ll have to strongly disagree with you on “Spock’s Brain” vs. DS9.
@29 David, @31 Torie
I just figured that Spock would do whatever was required of him if he was under orders. His loyalty to Starfleet and his commanding officer, not to mention his friends, overrides his personal code of ethics–or rather it’s all part of the same package. Whatever logic demands, right? But he definitely can and does lie. We can probably look for loopholes all we want though: whether or not he identifies as Vulcan, which he generally does, he is half human. Does he ever say “I cannot tell a lie”?
@30 CaitieCait
And that is probably the best lie he’s ever told!
Hooray for numbers!
JS@32: Yes, I’d always wondered about the apparent surprise about the cloaking device. I wonder what the background to that was: did Fontana have some other McGuffin in mind originally, and change it to the cloaking device later on, or what? Certainly continuity was lacking in that aspect of the episode. But maybe by that point in the series nobody really cared.
And your comment about Joanne Linville’s age and the casting decision is spot-on; I’d never really thought about that before. Nice catch.
This whole episode rocks my world and when I got season three on Blu-ray it was the first one I watched. Sadly we’re in for a rough ride the rest of the season. “Help Me, Spock!”
to Vulcan lying; Last season Spock told Decker “Vulcan’s never Bluff.” But that’s NOT the same as lying. In this episode the Romulan Commander asks, if it is a myth that Vulcan cannot lie. Spock replied “it is no myth.” I always assumed it was unsaid by Spock “It is a fantasy.” As pointed out by other posters Spock has lied, so that point I consider Star Trek Urban myth. (That is it is a Myth INSIDE the Star trek universe not a myth about the Star Trek Universe.)
On the Romulan Commander: Yes, a great character and a damn attractive female. as far as her falling for Spock’s line, didn’t she make the first overtures? The most dangerous lies are the one we WANT to believe. If she was seriously attracted to Spock– and I think the character was — then getting a positive response could be something too easily accepted because it’s what she wants to have happen. (I seen this happen to guys in real life over and over.) [and yes I am sure it happen to women too, but they generally don’t cry on my shoulders.] So I can accept she made the fatal mistake of trusting him and that makes the tragic ending more tragic when he reveals it wasn’t all lies.
First off, hooray for unnested, numbered comments.
As for the “surprise” at the Romulan cloaking device, I think it’s meant to be deflection on the part of the senior crew. After all, the whole reason for this little adventure is to try to steal that very technology. I think this was simply further plausible deniability for the rest of the crew.
Torie @31, I don’t think he was at all sincere about defection. Vulcan is a founding member of the Federation, his father is a political big wheel in the Federation (and Spock appears to have resolved his “daddy issues”). Not to mention his close friendship with Kirk. Even if he had massive problems with being the only non-human on the ship (and I’ve just realized that Starfleet ships are, by and large, segregated!), he could have easily transferred to a Vulcan ship or resigned his commission and either moved into the sciences or gone into politics. What could possibly tempt him to go over to the Romulans?
@DemetriosX #37 —
What could possibly tempt him to go over to the Romulans?
Hot Romulan chicks. Duh. : )
Although the things you mention about Spock’s being personally very well-placed in the Federation add an interesting shade of incomplete intel to the Commander’s actions. She might give less weight to the possibility of a defection if she knew exactly who she were dealing with.
@EC Myers #34 re: ‘whatever logic requires’ —
One of the weakest things about TOS and the entire Trek universe for me has always been how phenomenally arbitrary Vulcan logic is. We rarely see a Vulcan logic something out; they just announce the conclusion and declare from authority that the conclusion is logically necessary. And they never seem to deal with conflicting logical priorities. If Spock really were logical, he’d be paralyzed in this ep: my commitment to Kantian moral philosphy says I never lie under any circumstances; my commitment to Starfleet may entail lying under specific circumstances; it is not possible to uphold both commitments completely; the internal logic of the commitments fails to provide adequate criteria for decision; all external decision criteria are unstated and must be weighted arbitrarily to be sufficient for a decision. He’d either break down, unable to do anything, or he’d have to pick based on arbitrary i.e. non-logical factors.
I am not really sure whether Vulcan logic is how it is because the writers hadn’t really thought it through enough, or whether it was meant as a subtle criticism of that kind of self-declared “logical” thinking, but it certainly doesn’t work. I mean, Vulcans reject emotions in favor of logic; but that ignores that emotions themselves are logical adaptations from an evolutionary perspective! Rarrwarrwrwrwr . . .
JS@38:
She might give less weight to the possibility of a defection if she knew exactly who she were dealing with.
OTOH, that makes him a much more tempting target. And if she really believes that Vulcans can’t lie, then his vacillating and ambiguous statements make it worth her while to pursue him. Ambassador Sarek’s son giving out pro-Romulan propaganda? What a coup!
As for Spock’s potential analysis paralysis, it wouldn’t be articulated for almost 15 years, but “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one.” But yeah, TOS writers didn’t really have a good grasp of logic and were more motivated by a reaction to a perceived cold inhumanity in science and scientific thought.
“One of the weakest things about TOS and the entire Trek universe for me has always been how phenomenally arbitrary Vulcan logic is.”
Yeah, and that was noted very early on. There was a bit (in one of the Enterprise Incedents, I think) about how “Vulcan Logic” is more a philosophy than pure logic. Obviously, it hews closer to the latter, which is why it gets conflated by humans.
Works for me, YMMV.
@37: he could have easily transferred to a Vulcan ship
Were there more Vulcan ships at that time? We only know of the one, Intrepid, which was et up by Azathoth that giant blobby thing. Were others mentioned in later series? I’m not sure I’ve seen every episode of any of the later series (seen much of them, but not all).
Aw, poop, my
strikethroughdidn’t work. :/@7 Caitiecait
TNG has pretty flat and uninteresting characters all around. So ignoring diversity or lack thereof the shows felt flat. That said it is a shame the producers/writers couldn’t see the potiential in some of the characters. Tasha was such a missed oppurtunity. If you focus on the ‘rape gang’ aspect of her homeworld you miss lots of lovely potiental for an interesting character. (I’ll toot my own honr here. In college for a final project I wrote a teleplay for TNG focusing on Tasha and the sort of soul-wrenching decisions she must have made to end up where she was at. She’s a character who is loyal, but go there most liekly by betraying those closest to her.)
TOS had much better characters because they were allowed to be flawed and to spark with each other. TNG was evloved into boring perfect people.
Re: Vulcan logic, I suppose the philosophical aspect it is more the point, as Church points out. It was the idea that Vulcans take the time to consider the situation and weigh the consequences of the potential outcomes instead of simply reacting or relying on the emotional (ie. human) response. Whether or not you agree with their decision is a different matter. Obviously Vulcans disagree with each other all the time, so there is no one logical answer to any given problem.
@ 35 NomadUK
From what I can tell about the earlier draft, it was always a cloaking device. There’s a definitely difference between this one and prior versions though–if I recall correctly, in “Balance of Terror” the cloaking device only works if you sit still in space. This new or improved version is able to cloak you while moving through space. Does it work at warp?
@ 36 bobsandiego
I don’t really see her “falling” for much. Her mission–to get Spock to defect–is just as dependent on her successfully seducing Spock as his mission–to get her distracted–is dependent on him seducing her. They’re using exactly the same tactics at cross-purposes. It’s certainly sad that in the end they both wound up harboring feelings in addition to those ulterior motives, but I think her main motive for pursuing Spock is duty to country, not her personal attraction to him. The latter was just an added bonus, no?
@ 37 DemetriosX
I can see it as a possibility. He doesn’t really have a “home” either with humans or Vulcans, and while I don’t think he’d ever do it, I can certainly imagine that the thought had crossed his mind at least once or twice. I mean, he would explore all logical possibilities.
@ 43 bobsandiego
I agree with your main points but disagree with your conclusion. The one advantage that TNG had over TOS was continuity. TOS didn’t have many chances for character development over long arcs because of the realities of syndication, whereas the TNG crew (I felt) really grew into their characters. The first season is an unmitigated disaster, but it really did get better and (more interestingly) you got to see individuals grow and change over the course of seven years. But anyway, we’ll get there when we get there. :)
@41 CaitieCait
I don’t know if there was ever a mention of another Vulcan ship, but I assume the Intrepid (an odd name for a Vulcan ship) didn’t exist in a vacuum. Er… ummm, you know what I mean.
Torie@45: The ‘Balance of Terror’ cloaking device worked whilst the Romulan ship was moving; we even get to see that at one point as it glides into invisibility on the viewing screen. I believe the power consumption was so great, though, that it had to become visible to use its (equally power-hungry) weapon, and to use warp drive.
The New-and-Improved cloaking device clearly works in warp, as Enterprise escapes whilst invisible on warp drive.
So maybe that’s why Starfleet was so hot to get ahold of it; the old version was interesting, but not such a big threat. The new one, which consumed less power and worked with warp drive, posed a much more significant problem.
@46 Torie
I stuck with TNG seasons 1-5. by season 6 the show had worn thin for me and I don’t think I wtach much if any of 7. I liked the show, don’t get me worng on that. For awhile I had an agent and did submit script to the series. (nothing came of that as you can tell.) Still the characters were too perfect. Too much Roddenberry’s vision of what humanity should become vs what humanity is for my tastes. TOS remained my true love and definitive Star Trek, warts and all.
@45 Torie
I’m not totally sold on the idea that the seduction was merely the indument to come-over play. If I was out to get a Vulcan to defect I would appeal to cold hard logic. Build case that logic dictates his defection. (Sort of what Kirk attempts at the end of Mirror MIrror.) I think she truly had feelings for Spock from the beginning. Feelings that got the best of her. (It’s massive backsotry inventing, but I could even see an explanation that suggests the Federation learned of her interest in Spock and that’s why Enterprise was even selected for the mission. It’s what I’d do if I have to novelize this one.)
@ 50 bobsandiego
I think she has feelings from the beginning, too, but I also think she’s aware enough to know she can use that to her advantage. But maybe I’m trying too hard to save her from the foolish swooning woman stereotype…
@49 bobsandiego
By season six, the show was wearing thin for the writers too; there’s really no reason to see the seventh, except for a few notable episodes. “Parallels” is one of my favorites, and the two-hour finale “All Good Things…” is better than most of the TNG movies. But as Torie said, we’ll get there… :)
By the time I was into Star Trek, TNG was no longer accepting scripts, but I did write and submit a DS9 script (no agent at the time–I was in junior high) and a Voyager script. I need to dig them out and scan them in sometime.
Torie@51: but I also think she’s aware enough to know she can use that to her advantage.
I think you’re quite right here, but also that she’s clearly fascinated by Spock from the beginning, and is, though clearly making use of him, also clearly working very hard to keep from losing composure — which she obviously would like very much to do. The look on her face when she confronts him for his (to her) treachery (‘Why would you do this to me? What are you that you could do this?’) makes all this absolutely plain, and is masterfully done by Linville.
But maybe I’m trying too hard to save her from the foolish swooning woman stereotype…
Ah, Torie. Even the best of us sometimes swoon….
By the way, you two, any chance we can get a preview before we post, since we can’t edit our entries after the fact? (Or add an edit facility instead?) In your copious spare time, of course!
@47 DemetriosX: I don’t know if there was ever a mention of another Vulcan ship, but I assume the Intrepid (a odd name for a Vulcan ship) didn’t exist in a vacuum. Er… ummm, you know what I mean.
LOL! Well-played, sir. Well-played.
@ 52 Eugene:
My hopeless stories are all sitting in my trunk but a very public trunk on my website. I figure even if just a couple of people a year stumble across and read it’s worth it.
@ 51 Torie:
SI don;t see it as woman swooning, but as something much stronger and deeper. Like humans Romulans are a very emotional race. Where vulcan control their emotions by way of Logic Romulan control it by way of duty. Luckily — or really not so luckily for her — Spock and duty synched. I really feel that there is a qualitative difference in her reaction and bearing than all the Kirk bimbos which do come off as Woman swooning. (for example she never betrays her people or culture ’cause Spock is that hot. At best her judgment is clouded — momentarily — but she remains a strong capable woman and antagonist.
Given the frequent discussions about strong female characters here, people should check this out.
http://graphjam.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/female-character-flowchart.jpg
bobsandiego@57: I’m sure this is really shallow of me, but, god, that’s funny.
@ 52 Eugene
I would definitely like to read those!
@NomadUK
Quite right! But no one makes it less dignifying than some of those Star Trek writers…
I’ll see what I can do about comment editing and/or previews. I toyed around with it today but was having permissions issues. Hopefully I’ll get it sorted out in the next week or so. I’m also working on a feature to let one “subscribe” to comment threads and get e-mail alerts when new comments are added, but mail is being finicky.
Any other feature requests?
@56 bobsandiego
Good point about the Commander. I was so impressed that at the end she told Tal to blow the ship up with her in it! Good job.
And heh, I saw that chart earlier in the week over at Jezebel. Amusing, though not very useful to have like 50+ options. Movies are so formulaic there really shouldn’t be more than ten paths (#10 just being “Meryl Streep.”).
Great job as usual, folks. Excellent analysis of one of the best episodes of the series. The interplay between Spock and the Commander (and their fingerplay) elevates the episode to a 5 for me as well. What a terrific character! It’s a shame she didn’t reprise the role in TNG.
@ 60 Mercurio
Thank you! As for the Commander, given how awful the early Romulan episodes were in TNG, it’s probably for the best. Though if she had shown up later and been instrumental in the reunification arc with Spock… that would have been amazing.
@ All
Good news! Comments now have previews, if you’d like. You may also “subscribe” to threads and receive e-mail alerts when new comments are posted, with a simple interface to manage all subscriptions.
Let me know if anything is broken…
Torie@61: Wow, thanks! All this work for the third season? Surely you two have something else in mind for this site … or, at least, for the underlying code?
NomadUK@62: The movies have always been on the list and in this thread the two of them have hinted that they may just keep going after that. (Look for the smileys.)
I’ve also been thinking about this episode’s alleged connection to the Pueblo incident, and I have to say it seems rather tenuous. It might have inspired DC Fontana, but only in the general sense of a spy mission. The Pueblo crew were captured by the North Koreans, may have allowed classified information to fall into their hands (maybe on purpose), and were ultimately released after almost a year later (they were still being held when this episode was written, filmed, and aired). There was also a death. I’m really not seeing a connection greater than, “What if they were captured, or almost captured, by the Romulans as spies?”
@ NomadUK and @ DemetriosX
Oh god, have we honestly arrived at the point where my emoticons are meant to convey subtle truths?
We certainly plan to finish TOS and the movies. Though we make no promises beyond that (life is crazy and it’s hard to see too far down the line), we are not ruling out the possibility of covering other Treks or even talking about other television.
Re: the Pueblo Incident, Fontana just said it was an inspiration, as in, “What if you were caught spying?” I think that’s pretty much the extent of the connection. Also, who would want to watch Spock and Kirk stuck in a
North KoreanRomulan hard labor camp for a year?@63 DemetriosX
For some reason I always thought this episode was a reference to the U-2 Incident in 1960, possibly because I wrote a report on that in school around the time I saw the episode for the first time, and I hadn’t heard of the Pueblo until, well, this re-watch. It’s nice to know an old dog can still learn new trivia.
Eugene @65
Yeah the Pueblo is pretty well swept under the rug. In fact, the ship is still in NK and is exhibited as a museum piece. Kim dangled it’s repatriation as a negotiating tool a few years ago, but nobody really bit. It’s all a tad strange. The Secretary of the Navy even ordered that the captain and XO not be courtmartialed after their release.
But the whole thing was more direct than the U-2. Powers never should have come close to contact with the Russians, just a simple high-altitude flyover. The Pueblo was in waters claimed by North Korea and contact should have been expected.
On a pointless side note, when I was a kid and into my early teens, Francis Gary Powers flew one of the first telecopters. I lived in the LA area and so saw a lot of his traffic reports. (Nomad probably did too. I think he’s mentioned being from the area and about the same age as I am.) Anyway, he once flew over the area where they displayed the Rose Parade floats for a few days after New Year when a friend and I were there. We jumped around and waved and got a little camera time. All of which means, I have had my picture taken from the air by Francis Gary Powers.
@56 BobSanDiego “At best her judgment is clouded — momentarily — but she remains a strong capable woman and antagonist.”
I don’t think her judgement is clouded. She’s playing Spock as much as Spock is playing her, because the potential payoff (a Vulcan captaining a Starship into Romulus) would be a gigantic win. She’s quick to realize Spock’s ‘betrayal’ precisely because she knows she’s been walking a razor’s edge all along. She simply bet high and lost. (That’s not to downplay the obviously real attraction, which only adds salt to the wound.)
@67 Churchhatestucker
I can see your point, but I can also still disagree. Watch her face when Spock suggests that her would bet better spoken by someone other than a warrior. There’s an expression of real pain. Now that could be taken as the Commander playing acting hurt to pull Spock further along into the honey trap; making the commander, intelligent, tough, and a talent actor. OR The expression is how the Commander really feels. Her judgment — leaving Spock alone and unguarded for a moment — clouded by her desire and powerful emotions.
While the actress could tell us how played it, and DC could tell us how she wrote it, as observes it is up to us to interpret it.
@66 DemestriosX
That’s a much closer brush with history than anything I can claim!
@67 ChurchHatesTucker, @68 bobsandiego
I did get the impression of real disappointment from the Romulan Commander at Spock’s betrayal. She may have been playing him, at least at first, but she didn’t really need him. He would have made capturing Enterprise intact a lot easier, but I think she allowed him to get the better of her precisely because she had genuine feelings for him.
@66 BobSanDiego “Watch her face when Spock suggests that her would bet better spoken by someone other than a warrior.”
Yeah, but he’s a Vulcan (well, self-identifies anyway.) She knows that as well as you do.
@67 Eugene “He would have made capturing Enterprise intact a lot easier, but I think she allowed him to get the better of her precisely because she had genuine feelings for him.”
Oh, I’m sure she did. The prospect of co-opting a member of one of the founding races (and Ambassador Sarek’s son!) must have made him seem that much more desirable, though. And not solely in a romantic way.
Many, many months later…
This is such a great episode and you guys did such a great job covering it. I really wish I’d been around when it had first been posted. Somehow I forgot how powerful the Romulan Commander is, and when you compare it to Turnabout Intruder (which, sadly, I’ve never forgotten) it’s hard to believe that the two episodes were produced in the same show.
@ 71 Toryx
It’s never too late! I thought about this episode a lot after watching “Turnabout Intruder.” I think NomadUK was on to something when he wondered if having such a strong, compelling female character was a way to box her into the commie/enemy/them group. To quote: “I wonder, in fact, whether the Romulan commander was seen in sort of the same light as women in high positions in Communist militaries — it was okay for them to put those women in charge, but, hey, they’re Communists! We freedom-loving democracies keep our women safe in the kitchen. Or something.”
So coming back to this, after seeing Turnabout, you can see a logical narrative thread, even if at first glance they are so different.
Torie @ 72:
The more I think about that, the more disturbed I am. I think you (and NomadUK) are probably right. And that’s just sad.
I just want to know where the square glasses came from. :)
” Yes, I’d always wondered about the apparent surprise about the cloaking device.”
Throwing an extreeemely late two cents in about this… I thought the big deal about this version of the Cloaking device was that the cloaked ship was now undetectable by another ship’s motion sensors as well as their visual scanners.
Remember, in “Balance Of Terror”, while the bird of prey is under power, the Enterprise crew are able to detect it’s motion ( or ‘wake’ , if you will ), at least enough to follow it and take some pretty good pot shots at it. Also, in “BOT”, the use of the cloak makes it difficult for the Romulans to detect the Enterprise. Their sensors are unable to distinguish whether the Enterprise is a genuine vessel, or a “reflection”.
It’s pretty apparent in this episode, that the Enterprise is unaware of the attacking ships untl they become visible, and once the Enterprise is cloaked, the Romulans completely lose track of it.
I’m willing to give this one the benefit of a few doubts. Torie and NomadUK are probably right, but I think the episode stands up fairly well in comparison to a later spy story to which NomadUK’s conjecture definitely applies, the Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me. For all the hype about Barbara Bach’s Russian spy character being an equal to Bond, really she’s portrayed as being inferior to Bond, easily swayed and requiring rescue. (It doesn’t help that Barbara Bach is a weak actress.) The Romulan commander, despite her somewhat embarrassing and damaging flirtation with Spock, makes a much stronger impression overall and even at the very end when she’s a captive she gets in a good one or two jabs.
When I first saw this in my teens I actually thought it quite plausible that Kirk might really have lost it. I didn’t like Kirk as much then as I do now.
Subcommander Tal’s order not to fire until “optimum range” should be attained is…kind of stupid. Ironically it was an earlier episode involving Romulans, the superb “Balance of Terror”, that proved the value of firing blindly if you’ve only got an approximate idea where your enemy is. The payoff from a lucky shot is well worth the investment of time and chance. Another thing I don’t like about the whole scene: it marks Scotty’s transformation from a cool-headed miracle worker to a panicky flake who freaks out over every little thing that might go wrong. Earlier-season Scotty had his unbalanced moments but he got markedly worse in third season and this episode’s a good example.
I’m always amused when people memorize a line of dialogue and assume it’s a true fact without taking the speaker or context into account. Yes, Vulcans CAN lie — or at least, Spock can — because Spock makes some flatly untrue statements in this episode. He says, “I say now and for the record, that Captain Kirk ordered the Enterprise across the Neutral Zone on his own initiative and his craving for glory.” We learn that Spock knows this to be untrue when McCoy tells Chapel, “Jim and Spock were operating under Federation orders.” Spock also flatly says, of Kirk, “He is NOT sane,” and Spock knows damned well that’s a lie.
The “Vulcan cannot lie” thing is a myth, a myth that Spock finds very useful from time to time. :-)