still boldly going
Jun. 4th, 2009 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitSpoilery discussion of "The Apple," "The Doomsday Machine," "Catspaw," "I, Mudd," "Metamorphosis," and "Journey to Babel."
"The Apple"
Alternative title: Spock's Terrible Horrible No-Good Very Bad Day. Spock goes through so much misery here it's like a fanfic. He's nearly killed by alien plantejaculations thorns, shocked by a forcefield, and hit by lightning. Also, the Valians laugh at his name.
Some good Kirk/Spock stuff as usual. I wonder if Kirk's right that Spock deliberately took a bullet (well, a chestful of poison thorns) for him? Probably. Certainly Spock didn't hesitate to put himself at risk to protect his "Jim" (Spock always uses first names when Kirk's in danger). There's also a great bit when Kirk holds out his hand to help Spock up (after the forcefield incident) and Chekov and his girlfriend exchange grins. Seriously, what can that possibly mean except "awww, they're so cute, they should just admit they're in love"?
This episode has one of my favorite bits of dialogue thus far, when the locals are putting flowery bracelets on Kirk and Spock.
Which actually doesn't look that great on the page, but Nimoy reads the line brilliantly.
The plot is yet another round of "too much happiness is bad for people!" but this episode is unique in allowing that idea to be questioned. And how interesting that Spock, whom one would expect to be all about the importance of effort and the futility of idle pleasure, is the one who voices the objections. Spock is positioned as a cultural relativist here, vs. Kirk and (surprisingly) McCoy as spokesmen for thewestern Federation idea of progress. Spock gets a great, bitter line: "The good doctor was concerned that the Valians attain true human stature. I submit there was no cause for worry. They've taken the first step--they've learned to kill." He continues to take the skeptical position even at the end, where it's drowned out in the usual banter. This makes the banter less cute and more sinister, especially as it focuses on Spock's physical appearance--I don't mind McCoy and Kirk gently teasing him about his pretense of pure logic, but it bugs me when they start in on the ears.
It's never resolved for us whether the loss of Eden will be a fortunate fall or just a fall. The Valians can have love and sex now, but also killing, labor, and deprivation (since they no longer have Val to take care of food, climate, etc.). Oh, and Kirk is too embarrassed to tell them where babies come from, so they'll be delightfully surprised by the pain and danger of childbirth in about nine months. At least in Paradise Lost (which shapes the story in obvious ways) Adam and Eve get some advice from the angel before they're abandoned.
"The Doomsday Machine"
Alternative title: Hey, Kids, H-Bombs Are Bad! (Analogy pointed out twice in the dialogue just in case we couldn't make the connection ourselves.)
I don't have much to say about this episode. It's a decent, tense drama, although the crucial thirty seconds actually last for almost a minute and a half. Not much characterization or anything. I was a bit surprised by the positive view of Decker's suicide attack on the planet eating robot (incidentally, why didn't they just beam him off the shuttle?), and the social relevance message was tacked on.
"Catspaw"
Alternative Title: Scooby-Doo in Space.
It's a very weird mix of crack, Jungian bullshit about racial memory, and stronger-than-usual sexism with the evil!powerful!woman. Kirk seducing her (for great justice!) was kind of fun while I could ignore the misogyny, but it's hard to do that for long.
The fail was almost worth it for this bit, though, when Silvia confronts Kirk (who's got the transmuter, which is shaped like a magic wand):
I admit the sexual innuendo cracked me up. I think it had to be deliberate, considering the "wand" had been called a transmuter up until then. The Doyleist explanation is that the writers wanted to get a little joke past the censors; the Watsonian and therefore much more fun one is that Spock's jealousy is showing.
Oh, and the little puppets were cute, like someone's kindergarten art project made out of pipecleaners. I was sad when they died.
"I, Mudd"
Alternative Title: We're All High!
I almost didn't watch this, because I wasn't looking forward to the return of Harry Mudd. I'm so glad I didn't skip it--this is priceless crack. You haven't lived until you've heard Spock solemnly intone "Logic is a little tweeting bird chirping in a meadow. Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers which smell bad. Are you sure your circuits are registering correctly? Your ears are green." And the dancing. OMG, the dancing. Also, Kirk giving Mudd crap about his weight, which, honey, your house appears to be made of glass so put the stones down. (I need to check production order on these episodes, because I'm suspecting that they broke out the green wraparound top for Shatner to wear when he got too heavy for the gold tunic. He seems to be wearing that green top in all the episodes where he looks chubby.)
Other random things I liked included McCoy apologizing to Spock (first time EVER--apparently he only apologizes when the insult was accidental), Spock suggesting that McCoy's medical treatment is just "beads and rattles," Spock trying to claim that unhappiness is something only humans experience (we know you're lying, sweetie), and Kirk just letting Mudd fall when one of the Alices pushes him.
No love for the stuff about Mudd's wife, though. Please, show, do you really need to include every sexist stereotype ever?
But apart from that, lots of fun. A good time was clearly had by all. Possibly some drugs were had by all, too.
"Metamorphosis"
Alternative Title: The Only Good Female Commissioner is a Dead (and Married) Female Commissioner.
I love how in some episodes they forget that the Enterprise has shuttles, and in other episodes they forget that the Enterprise has transporter beams. Dear writers: think of plots that don't require people to be stranded!
The many ways TOS finds to be boneheaded about gender continue to amaze me. This time it's "the idea of male and female are universal constants." Even in beings of pure energy!
What I do find interesting, though, is Cochrane's reaction on learning that the Companion is in love with him. It's exactly analogous to gay panic. He himself cares about the Companion and enjoys its company, but on learning its interest is romantic he reacts with disgust and rants about immorality and monstrousness. There's a gendered aspect too, I think--he talks about the Companion having been inside him (mentally). So he's all "OMG my friend wants to fuck me. No, wait, has been fucking me." I don't know if the parallel to homophobia is intentional, but it's very clear. And once he sees the Companion in a female body, everything's okay again.
This episode is in some ways the opposite of "The Apple." Here we get a return to Eden, with an Adam and Eve in protected solitude. And their relationship is very Miltonic, as in "He for God only, she for God in him"--in this case, he's for the wonders of the universe, and she'll get to know them through his teaching. I'm trying to assume that they won't have children, because otherwise we get into one of those unmentioned problems of the Genesis story (did Adam and Eve's children marry each other?) and that's just creepy.
"Journey to Babel"
Alternative Title: Kirk Meets the In-Laws
Having been moderately spoiled for this episode, I expected to like Sarek less and Amanda more. And okay, Sarek's a jackass to Spock. But at least he doesn't tell embarrassing childhood stories to Spock's friends! I was totally on Sarek's side in the discussion he had with Amanda about that.
Actually it seems like everyone but Sarek is conspiring to embarrass Spock in this one. Kirk makes ridiculous faux pas that he could've avoided if he'd either bothered to find stuff out in advance or just not made personal comments to Spock in public (wait, these are your parents? oops). And Bones deliberately provokes Amanda to tell the embarrassing stories. On the other hand, it's lovely how Kirk goes to great lengths to make it clear how important Spock is to the Enterprise and to him. Even lovelier when Kirk quietly tries to console Spock in their conversation on the bridge, and then lets it drop when Spock doesn't want to get into it. (Also, Amanda talks to Kirk like Kirk and Spock are married. It's cute!)
So, the position of women on Vulcan is pretty bad. Husbands order their wives about as part of normal behavior ("He is a Vulcan, and I am his wife"), and of course we know from "Amok Time" tha women are considered the property of their husbands. Fanwriters (and the pro novels) mostly seem to ignore this and reimagine the Vulcan they prefer to see, where logic leads to sexual equality. I don't blame them, but I think there could be interesting fic exploring the ways Vulcan culture has these huge areas of illogic hidden within it--the treatment of women, sex, marriage customs. Vulcan culture takes the common association of women with the body (as opposed to the mind) and the emotions (as opposed to reason) and magnifies it into this unmentionable underside of "real" Vulcan behavior, which is coded and understood as male. It's all Stuff Vulcans (i.e. Vulcan men) Don't Talk About. Or at least don't take seriously--although I had problems with Amanda's habit of embarrassing Spock, and especially with her emotional blackmail of him, I really hated how the father-son bonding moment at the end was based on making fun of Amanda for being illogical. Not cool, guys.
Speaking of Vulcan illogic, it makes no sense for Sarek to have concealed his heart condition from Amanda. Logic would dictate that this is a fact she needs to know; Sarek's actions really spring from an illogical desire to protect her. (And what the hell, can't Vulcan medicine fix a simple heart-valve problem? But the choice of this particular ailment is clearly because the show wants to literalize the whole idea of Spock's mixed blood, neither human nor fully Vulcan.)
There's a genuine warmth to Sarek and Amanda's relationship. (Male-female relationships under patriarchy can still be loving, of course. They just can never be egalitarian.) One thing that puzzled me was their touching fingers in public--from fanfic I'd read, and from the way they behaved when alone together, it seemed like a hugely intimate gesture. Yet they also did it in front of Kirk. Huh.
It's odd that the show has given us a lot more about Spock's background than about Kirk's. I suppose Kirk is taken to be normal whereas Spock needs explaining.
Kirk once again risks his own life to save Spock--and not even Spock's life this time, Kirk's just saving him from the guilt he'd experience if he didn't go through with the transfusion. So much love. (Later, I'll bet Amanda pulled him aside to explain, as Kirk turned redder and redder, that same-sex bondings may not be the Vulcan way, but she's delighted, really delighted, that Spock has found someone to love, because frankly she was worried that Spock was taking this more-Vulcan-than-thou thing too far and might never have an intimate relationship. And later still she had the same conversation with Spock, leading Spock to wonder if he could go the next eighteen years without speaking to her).
*****
"The Apple"
Alternative title: Spock's Terrible Horrible No-Good Very Bad Day. Spock goes through so much misery here it's like a fanfic. He's nearly killed by alien plant
Some good Kirk/Spock stuff as usual. I wonder if Kirk's right that Spock deliberately took a bullet (well, a chestful of poison thorns) for him? Probably. Certainly Spock didn't hesitate to put himself at risk to protect his "Jim" (Spock always uses first names when Kirk's in danger). There's also a great bit when Kirk holds out his hand to help Spock up (after the forcefield incident) and Chekov and his girlfriend exchange grins. Seriously, what can that possibly mean except "awww, they're so cute, they should just admit they're in love"?
This episode has one of my favorite bits of dialogue thus far, when the locals are putting flowery bracelets on Kirk and Spock.
Kirk: It does something for you.
Spock: Yes, indeed it does, Captain. It makes me uncomfortable.
Which actually doesn't look that great on the page, but Nimoy reads the line brilliantly.
The plot is yet another round of "too much happiness is bad for people!" but this episode is unique in allowing that idea to be questioned. And how interesting that Spock, whom one would expect to be all about the importance of effort and the futility of idle pleasure, is the one who voices the objections. Spock is positioned as a cultural relativist here, vs. Kirk and (surprisingly) McCoy as spokesmen for the
It's never resolved for us whether the loss of Eden will be a fortunate fall or just a fall. The Valians can have love and sex now, but also killing, labor, and deprivation (since they no longer have Val to take care of food, climate, etc.). Oh, and Kirk is too embarrassed to tell them where babies come from, so they'll be delightfully surprised by the pain and danger of childbirth in about nine months. At least in Paradise Lost (which shapes the story in obvious ways) Adam and Eve get some advice from the angel before they're abandoned.
"The Doomsday Machine"
Alternative title: Hey, Kids, H-Bombs Are Bad! (Analogy pointed out twice in the dialogue just in case we couldn't make the connection ourselves.)
I don't have much to say about this episode. It's a decent, tense drama, although the crucial thirty seconds actually last for almost a minute and a half. Not much characterization or anything. I was a bit surprised by the positive view of Decker's suicide attack on the planet eating robot (incidentally, why didn't they just beam him off the shuttle?), and the social relevance message was tacked on.
"Catspaw"
Alternative Title: Scooby-Doo in Space.
It's a very weird mix of crack, Jungian bullshit about racial memory, and stronger-than-usual sexism with the evil!powerful!woman. Kirk seducing her (for great justice!) was kind of fun while I could ignore the misogyny, but it's hard to do that for long.
The fail was almost worth it for this bit, though, when Silvia confronts Kirk (who's got the transmuter, which is shaped like a magic wand):
Silvia: You're very clever, Captain. More so than I had imagined. Clever, resourceful, and handsome.
Spock: Don't let her touch the wand, Captain.
I admit the sexual innuendo cracked me up. I think it had to be deliberate, considering the "wand" had been called a transmuter up until then. The Doyleist explanation is that the writers wanted to get a little joke past the censors; the Watsonian and therefore much more fun one is that Spock's jealousy is showing.
Oh, and the little puppets were cute, like someone's kindergarten art project made out of pipecleaners. I was sad when they died.
"I, Mudd"
Alternative Title: We're All High!
I almost didn't watch this, because I wasn't looking forward to the return of Harry Mudd. I'm so glad I didn't skip it--this is priceless crack. You haven't lived until you've heard Spock solemnly intone "Logic is a little tweeting bird chirping in a meadow. Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers which smell bad. Are you sure your circuits are registering correctly? Your ears are green." And the dancing. OMG, the dancing. Also, Kirk giving Mudd crap about his weight, which, honey, your house appears to be made of glass so put the stones down. (I need to check production order on these episodes, because I'm suspecting that they broke out the green wraparound top for Shatner to wear when he got too heavy for the gold tunic. He seems to be wearing that green top in all the episodes where he looks chubby.)
Other random things I liked included McCoy apologizing to Spock (first time EVER--apparently he only apologizes when the insult was accidental), Spock suggesting that McCoy's medical treatment is just "beads and rattles," Spock trying to claim that unhappiness is something only humans experience (we know you're lying, sweetie), and Kirk just letting Mudd fall when one of the Alices pushes him.
No love for the stuff about Mudd's wife, though. Please, show, do you really need to include every sexist stereotype ever?
But apart from that, lots of fun. A good time was clearly had by all. Possibly some drugs were had by all, too.
"Metamorphosis"
Alternative Title: The Only Good Female Commissioner is a Dead (and Married) Female Commissioner.
I love how in some episodes they forget that the Enterprise has shuttles, and in other episodes they forget that the Enterprise has transporter beams. Dear writers: think of plots that don't require people to be stranded!
The many ways TOS finds to be boneheaded about gender continue to amaze me. This time it's "the idea of male and female are universal constants." Even in beings of pure energy!
What I do find interesting, though, is Cochrane's reaction on learning that the Companion is in love with him. It's exactly analogous to gay panic. He himself cares about the Companion and enjoys its company, but on learning its interest is romantic he reacts with disgust and rants about immorality and monstrousness. There's a gendered aspect too, I think--he talks about the Companion having been inside him (mentally). So he's all "OMG my friend wants to fuck me. No, wait, has been fucking me." I don't know if the parallel to homophobia is intentional, but it's very clear. And once he sees the Companion in a female body, everything's okay again.
This episode is in some ways the opposite of "The Apple." Here we get a return to Eden, with an Adam and Eve in protected solitude. And their relationship is very Miltonic, as in "He for God only, she for God in him"--in this case, he's for the wonders of the universe, and she'll get to know them through his teaching. I'm trying to assume that they won't have children, because otherwise we get into one of those unmentioned problems of the Genesis story (did Adam and Eve's children marry each other?) and that's just creepy.
"Journey to Babel"
Alternative Title: Kirk Meets the In-Laws
Having been moderately spoiled for this episode, I expected to like Sarek less and Amanda more. And okay, Sarek's a jackass to Spock. But at least he doesn't tell embarrassing childhood stories to Spock's friends! I was totally on Sarek's side in the discussion he had with Amanda about that.
Actually it seems like everyone but Sarek is conspiring to embarrass Spock in this one. Kirk makes ridiculous faux pas that he could've avoided if he'd either bothered to find stuff out in advance or just not made personal comments to Spock in public (wait, these are your parents? oops). And Bones deliberately provokes Amanda to tell the embarrassing stories. On the other hand, it's lovely how Kirk goes to great lengths to make it clear how important Spock is to the Enterprise and to him. Even lovelier when Kirk quietly tries to console Spock in their conversation on the bridge, and then lets it drop when Spock doesn't want to get into it. (Also, Amanda talks to Kirk like Kirk and Spock are married. It's cute!)
So, the position of women on Vulcan is pretty bad. Husbands order their wives about as part of normal behavior ("He is a Vulcan, and I am his wife"), and of course we know from "Amok Time" tha women are considered the property of their husbands. Fanwriters (and the pro novels) mostly seem to ignore this and reimagine the Vulcan they prefer to see, where logic leads to sexual equality. I don't blame them, but I think there could be interesting fic exploring the ways Vulcan culture has these huge areas of illogic hidden within it--the treatment of women, sex, marriage customs. Vulcan culture takes the common association of women with the body (as opposed to the mind) and the emotions (as opposed to reason) and magnifies it into this unmentionable underside of "real" Vulcan behavior, which is coded and understood as male. It's all Stuff Vulcans (i.e. Vulcan men) Don't Talk About. Or at least don't take seriously--although I had problems with Amanda's habit of embarrassing Spock, and especially with her emotional blackmail of him, I really hated how the father-son bonding moment at the end was based on making fun of Amanda for being illogical. Not cool, guys.
Speaking of Vulcan illogic, it makes no sense for Sarek to have concealed his heart condition from Amanda. Logic would dictate that this is a fact she needs to know; Sarek's actions really spring from an illogical desire to protect her. (And what the hell, can't Vulcan medicine fix a simple heart-valve problem? But the choice of this particular ailment is clearly because the show wants to literalize the whole idea of Spock's mixed blood, neither human nor fully Vulcan.)
There's a genuine warmth to Sarek and Amanda's relationship. (Male-female relationships under patriarchy can still be loving, of course. They just can never be egalitarian.) One thing that puzzled me was their touching fingers in public--from fanfic I'd read, and from the way they behaved when alone together, it seemed like a hugely intimate gesture. Yet they also did it in front of Kirk. Huh.
It's odd that the show has given us a lot more about Spock's background than about Kirk's. I suppose Kirk is taken to be normal whereas Spock needs explaining.
Kirk once again risks his own life to save Spock--and not even Spock's life this time, Kirk's just saving him from the guilt he'd experience if he didn't go through with the transfusion. So much love. (Later, I'll bet Amanda pulled him aside to explain, as Kirk turned redder and redder, that same-sex bondings may not be the Vulcan way, but she's delighted, really delighted, that Spock has found someone to love, because frankly she was worried that Spock was taking this more-Vulcan-than-thou thing too far and might never have an intimate relationship. And later still she had the same conversation with Spock, leading Spock to wonder if he could go the next eighteen years without speaking to her).
*****
no subject
Date: 2009-06-05 09:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-06 06:36 am (UTC)