[BlakNo1]

Excellent ep.
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"Blak" sheep of the B7 forum family!

[Ron]

Yes, 'The Corbomite Maneuver' is excellent.

11 The Menagerie - Part I
12 The Menagerie - Part II

This Weeks double episode is ‘The Menagerie - Parts I+II’

Part I – Spock shocks everyone, and his pre-recorded tapes/discs were a surprise, but he had to be in trouble now. Captain Kirk after him in this pursuit ship!

It’s a case of ‘Out of sight, out of mind’ for Part I I’m afraid, as I’m writing this after just watching Part II.

Part II – Good to see “Mrs. Roodenberry” again (after appearing in the pilot ‘The Cage’). It is actually a real pity that she couldn’t have been the first officer in Star Trek, as Gene Roodenberry wanted. It would have made the series even more innovative. As James Doohan explains in his introduction on the 1996 release VHS, on showing the pilot to a test audience, a number of the women viewers remarked “Who the hell does she think she is?” (being in charge) The producers then wouldn’t accept her as first officer. It is hard to believe that such an attitude, and in women(!), was just a relatively short while ago. Watching the scenes that she is in, it would have been very interesting to have seen her as first officer; at least these glimpses remain. I digress. The story gradually revolves more and more around illusions. Captain Pike fighting the armed warrior was a bit violent for the PG rating I felt with the multiple stabbings. This is reused footage from the pilot and the series itself is rarely this violent. Later, one statement by the fellow captive woman, about the mind-dominated aliens, struck me “… When dreams become more important than reality you give up travel, building, creating; you just sit living and reliving other lives…”. I’ll not dwell too long about the relevance of this to me watching shows like Star Trek! Anyway, the illusions get longer, becoming short stories within a story (Spock’s recordings) within the story (the episode) and started to feel hard to relate to Kirk and the others sitting watching it all. I almost had to remind myself this wasn’t a western, with the younger Captain Pike’s illusion of ‘Home Sweet Home’ featuring his old horse that liked sugar lumps. Although Gene Roodenberry himself wrote this one I don’t think it quite works like some of the others for me. It was a good ending line however from the alien to Captain Kirk. “Captain Pike has an illusion and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant as his”, giving a feeling of foreboding but also a kind of general cliffhanger that difficult things lie ahead for Captain Kirk, making me look forward to the continuation.
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Last Watched: The Beginning (compilation), March 2021

[Ron]

13 The Conscience Of The King

This Weeks episode is ‘The Conscience Of The King’

Riley makes another appearance and gets a song from Lieutenant Uhura.

I thought Leonard Nimoy was brilliant in this one, but otherwise it was below average. In particular, I don’t think the daughter would react like that at the end.
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Last Watched: The Beginning (compilation), March 2021

[Ron]

14 Balance of terror

This Weeks episode is ‘Balance of terror’

A bit busy this week with a B7 project I’ve given myself, so just time for this observation : Romulans look very like Vulcans!
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Last Watched: The Beginning (compilation), March 2021

[Ron]

15 Shore Leave

This Weeks episode ‘Shore Leave’. Sounds a bit different this one – all about the crew themselves.
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Last Watched: The Beginning (compilation), March 2021

[Futsie]

[Ron]

16 The Galileo Seven

This Weeks episode is ‘The Galileo Seven’

Spock gets a vehicle and he’s in charge.
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Last Watched: The Beginning (compilation), March 2021

[BlakNo1]

Spock is THE MAN.
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"Blak" sheep of the B7 forum family!

[Ron]

17 The Squire Of Gothos

This Weeks episode is ‘The Squire Of Gothos’

Good first five minutes with Spock being very logical. But it’s left to one of the crew to speculate that if the Squire, Trelayne, has been studying the earth from a distance of 900 light years he has been seeing Earth as it was 900 years ago. There is often some new member of the crew being introduced and shown to be quite expert at something showing what a highly educated crew it is. Just as often their human weaknesses have to be helped by some behavioural ‘education’ from Captain Kirk.

Back to the story. The machine behind the broken mirror, half way through, suggested to me that Trelayne might not be a life form. I found it hard to predict what his real identity would be, only that there was obviously more to him than appeared. The first-time viewer’s suspense is a redeeming feature of what is basically, even when they almost escape, 40 minutes of just something playing games with his captives. Kirk realizes he has to fight Trelayne’s magical physical powers mentally and there’s still quite a lot of suspense at this point. However, when the two beings appear it becomes another of the comical ending ones which, given how silly it was throughout, felt unfortunate. Wasn’t there an opportunity for a sinister evil alien that they just escape in this one? Oh well maybe the younger viewers prefer him turning out to be just a ‘naughty boy’ in the end.
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Last Watched: The Beginning (compilation), March 2021

[Ron]

18 Arena

This Weeks episode is ‘Arena’
Plenty of action and alien landscapes this week. Quite good.


Just before the Metrons send Kirk to The Gorn.
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Last Watched: The Beginning (compilation), March 2021

[BlakNo1]

'Arena' is Trek at it's best.
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"Blak" sheep of the B7 forum family!

[Ron]

19 Tomorrow Is Yesterday

This Weeks episode is ‘Tomorrow Is Yesterday’

Wondered if I’d put a Star Trek tape in when this one started, but in a while things became apparent. There’s a variety of story types in the show at the moment. Returning the Enterprise to the present time as a UFO was topical. The Military were watching everything in the sky back then, as (I’m sure you know) this wasn’t long after the most crucial time during the long ‘cold war’ – the Cuban missile crisis. Interesting, rather than entertaining, episode, but Captain Kirk’s irritation with the way a computer talks (which was repaired on a planet of women) adds a light touch.
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Last Watched: The Beginning (compilation), March 2021

[Ron]

20 Court Martial

This isn't this weeks episode, but life’s too short, so let’s do another one now, without waiting a week!

No Aliens, little action but this is a superb episode. Yet again another different type of story – a kind of legal protocol drama (OK that does happen in ‘The Menagerie’ too). That is quite a tense scene near the start between Kirk and his superior. I used to think Dallas was innovative in using close ups for effect all the time, but here it is in Star Trek with a really good cast too and the right music score to go with it. The computer evidence seems hard to contradict and then with a video recording from the bridge – it really seems hopeless. But then Spock gets an idea! Seems like a great scriptwiter, Don. L. Mankiewitz going by the great dialogue and the very clever twists. Also nice to see Lt. Uhura being given a little to do as they gain control of the ship, but I can see what she meant in the documentary ‘Bring Back Star Trek’ when she said that she “really had very little to say as the show progressed”. I’m often influenced by what I have just seen but, after ‘The Corbomite Maneuver’, this is probably my second favourite so far.
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Last Watched: The Beginning (compilation), March 2021

[Ron]

21 The Return Of The Archons

This Weeks episode is ‘The Return Of The Archons’.

Gene Roodenberry seems to have branched into more technical matters in this story (the previous ones he wrote Charlie X, Mudd’s Women and The Menagerie had quite a lot about relationships), although there are still the scenes at the Carnival to brighten it up!
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Last Watched: The Beginning (compilation), March 2021

[Ron]

22 Space Seed

This Weeks episode is ‘Space Seed’

What with the heat, Wimbledon etc. does anyone else feel like saying anything about this one?
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Last Watched: The Beginning (compilation), March 2021