TOS reviews: the final frontier
Aug. 17th, 2009 11:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kindkitI've finished watching TOS. It's a shame S3 wasn't better, because I've slogged through so many slow, pointless episodes that I keep forgetting the show was sometimes good. *sigh*
Anyway, here are my last reviews. Spoilers under the cut for "The Savage Curtain," "All Our Yesterdays," and "Turnabout Intruder."
"The Savage Curtain"
The episode title makes no sense, so I've decided it refers to Surak's outfit:
Clothing aside, Surak is the most interesting aspect of this episode. Because he's not Surak, he's Spock's mental image of Surak, and this sheds a really interesting light on the moment when Spock apologizes for displaying emotion on first seeing him. Surak's reply is condescending: "The cause was more than sufficient. Let us speak no further of it." Basically, fake!Surak is the embodiment of Spock's inferiority complex. He's never Vulcan enough, and the best he can hope for is to have his failure passed over in silence.
We also see Spock actively choosing not to follow Vulcan culture. When Surak goes off to propose peace to the bad guys, Spock stays with Kirk and makes weapons. He tells Surak directly that fighting at Kirk's side is a choice he's made and will keep on making. It was a nice awww moment.
Barry Atwater does a good job of making Surak believable, and Lee Bergere is brilliant as Lincoln. (He has my favorite line in the episode, after a fight scene: "How delightful to discover at my age that I can still wrestle.") Fake!Lincoln could have been absoluely cringe-inducing, but Bergere saves the role. Even when he says "negress" OMGWTF GENE RODDENBERRY JUST STOP IT.
The Lincoln makeup was incredibly bad, though, even considering the terrible standard of makeup throughout S3. I'm inclined to believe the producers made the makeup artists really, really angry at the start of the season and the artists took a slow, painful revenge.
Speaking of unfortunae visuals, Kirk is squeezed so tightly into that dress uniform tunic that I'll bet he couldn't breathe. Shatner has to keep tugging it down, which adds a note of unintentional comedy.
One random quibble to conclude: I think the moment when Scotty, in command, says, "There's nothing we can do, doctor. Nothing but watch them" is highly out of character. When the Enterprise doesn't have enough power for something, Scotty's down in the engine room working miracles, not hanging around saying it's impossible.
"All Our Yesterdays"
This episode seriously fucks up any attempt to see Kirk and Spock as lovers during TOS. It's not Spock falling in instant love with (and having Teh Strongly Implied Sex with) Zarabeth, it's the fact that Spock's response to the possibility that Kirk is trapped and dying in the wrong time is "Eh, whatever." It can be fanwanked as an early sign of Spock's reversion (or, if one were writing a fic, as an indication that something's gone wrong between them, hence their separation at the end of the five year mission), but I still find that stone-cold indifference hard to reconcile with Spock being in love with Kirk. Or even with the closeness they have in canon. Inconsistent writing, thy name is Star Trek.
For Spock/McCoy shippers, though, this episode is full of possibilities. First there's the lovely stuff with Spock half-carrying the hypothermic McCoy, worrying about him while he's unconscious, and randomly caressing his face in a way that's meant to look diagnostic but (considering Spock just used the medical tricorder) isn't.
Then they fight (and this bit made me cheer for reverted!Spock, because as much as I love McCoy, I hate his bullying of Spock for the crime of not being fully human).
Later, they fight some more. With added sexiness and unnecessary clinging.
And in the end Spock goes back not for Kirk's sake, but because McCoy wants to go home and can't do it unless Spock goes too.
The conversation between Spock and McCoy at the very end, although not particularly shippy, is haunting. Spock trying to logic his way out of emotion ("That was 5000 years ago, and she is dead now. Dead and buried, long ago.") will never not break my heart.
Unfortunately, the beautiful Spock-McCoy interactions don't make up for this episode's massive plotholes and science fail. First of all, since we're told that nothing physical has been done to Kirk, Spock, and McCoy (they haven't been "prepared" for time travel), Spock reverting to ancient, emotional, violent Vulcan behavior makes no sense. Second, it makes no sense anyway, because 5000 years is not enough time for evolution to have made modern Vulcans physically different from pre-Surak Vulcans. They could've helped evolution along with genetic engineering, but that makes it even less likely that Spock would revert. Third, why would people being sent back a few hundred or thousand years in time need to have their cell structures changed at all? They might need some extra immunity, but that's small stuff and certainly not enough to kill them if they went back.
Normally I'm very willing to suspect disbelief when watching Star Trek, but this episode was so internally incoherent in its skience that I just couldn't.
The weird scene with Spock eating meat and then freaking out is probably another example of careless and inconsistent writing, but it can be saved by interpreting it as an example of how Vulcan culture is a lot less logical than it claims to be. Or at least that Spock is illogical when it comes to Vulcan culture. If you're in a situation where you need food and the only available food is meat, refusing to eat the meat is illogical. Maintaining a cultural taboo to the possible detriment of one's own survival is about as irrational as you can get. But Spock sees himself as having failed at Vulcanness, yet again, for eating the meat. "I'm behaving disgracefully," he says. "I've eaten animal flesh and I've enjoyed it. What's wrong with me?" Interestingly, this is his last moment of doubt, occurring shortly before he decides to stop worrying and learn to love Zarabeth.
This episode is very well-written in some ways. The dialogue's good, and writer Jean Lisette Aroeste (who also wrote the excellent "Is There In Truth No Beauty?") has a lot of fun with language in the scenes of Kirk in the vaguely 17th century town. Aroeste just gets too tangled in the phlebotinum and can't find her way out of the resulting mess.
"Turnabout Intruder"
Wow. I've long since started taking it for granted that every TOS episode will be sexist, but this is the only episode I can think of that's directly anti-feminist. As in "if you fret your pretty little head about discrimination against women, you will become CRAZY and EVIL and will lose out on the rich life you could have had as a happy contentedStepford wife woman." Any discontent proves that you "hate [your] own womanhood" (and that part's an actual quotation from the episode).
Special bonus fail points to William Shatner for deciding that the universal signifiers for "woman" are playing with one's hair and buffing one's nails. Sometimes Shatner's body language works (I like the moment when Lester!Kirk first sits in the captain's chair with her knees pressed together, the way a woman used to wearing skirts would sit) but being Shatner, he's not content with subtle and ends up bringing in a lot of stereotypes. Plus, Lester!Kirk's utter failure to pass for real!Kirk hits my embarrassment squick really hard. Which isn't the fault of the performances, but it made the episode hard for me to watch.
Sandra Smith is good as Janice Lester (and even more so as Kirk!Lester, when she doesn't have to do maniacal laughter and such). She has a very effective moment that parallels the "sitting in the captain's chair" scene, when Kirk!Lester sits down to testify at the court martial and immediately slides into Kirk's habitual leaning, spread-legged posture.
I kept being frustrated by Kirk!Lester not proving his identity by saying things only Kirk would know. For instance, when he's talking to Chapel, why doesn't he mention Spock flinging the plomeek soup? That kind of stuff is not in mission records, I presume, and Lester wouldn't know it.
The mind meld is a version of that tactic, I suppose. Only more intimate, and I like the way it implies that Kirk and Spock have been in regular telepathic contact. Kirk!Lester telling Spock, "You are closer to the captain than anyone in the universe. You know his thoughts" is rather lovely.
I'm puzzled about why McCoy's psychological tests showed Kirk as being unchanged, since the changes are obvious and Lester is barking mad. Oh show, must you make suspension of disbelief so difficult?
Returning to feminist issues, I choose to believe that what Lester says about Starfleet ("Your world of starship captains doesn't admit women. It isn't fair.") refers to a glass ceiling rather than an actual policy prohibiting women from command. The other option is just too depressing.
Finally, I wanted to comment on a word choice. When Scotty approaches McCoy during the recess to sound him out about the verdict, he says he's never seen Kirk "red-faced with hysteria." In one sense, this is a reasonable description of Lester!Kirk's temper tantrums and generally uncontrolled behavior. But of course "hysteria" is a hugely loaded term, one associated specifically with women and used to dismiss and belittle women's anger. Which pretty well sums up the episode, I'd say.
The first two Star Trek movies are now on their way to me from Netflix. I've been looking forward to watching them, as I want to see more exploration of the characters' relationships and emotions than happened in TOS.
*****
Anyway, here are my last reviews. Spoilers under the cut for "The Savage Curtain," "All Our Yesterdays," and "Turnabout Intruder."
"The Savage Curtain"
The episode title makes no sense, so I've decided it refers to Surak's outfit:
Clothing aside, Surak is the most interesting aspect of this episode. Because he's not Surak, he's Spock's mental image of Surak, and this sheds a really interesting light on the moment when Spock apologizes for displaying emotion on first seeing him. Surak's reply is condescending: "The cause was more than sufficient. Let us speak no further of it." Basically, fake!Surak is the embodiment of Spock's inferiority complex. He's never Vulcan enough, and the best he can hope for is to have his failure passed over in silence.
We also see Spock actively choosing not to follow Vulcan culture. When Surak goes off to propose peace to the bad guys, Spock stays with Kirk and makes weapons. He tells Surak directly that fighting at Kirk's side is a choice he's made and will keep on making. It was a nice awww moment.
Barry Atwater does a good job of making Surak believable, and Lee Bergere is brilliant as Lincoln. (He has my favorite line in the episode, after a fight scene: "How delightful to discover at my age that I can still wrestle.") Fake!Lincoln could have been absoluely cringe-inducing, but Bergere saves the role. Even when he says "negress" OMGWTF GENE RODDENBERRY JUST STOP IT.
The Lincoln makeup was incredibly bad, though, even considering the terrible standard of makeup throughout S3. I'm inclined to believe the producers made the makeup artists really, really angry at the start of the season and the artists took a slow, painful revenge.
Speaking of unfortunae visuals, Kirk is squeezed so tightly into that dress uniform tunic that I'll bet he couldn't breathe. Shatner has to keep tugging it down, which adds a note of unintentional comedy.
One random quibble to conclude: I think the moment when Scotty, in command, says, "There's nothing we can do, doctor. Nothing but watch them" is highly out of character. When the Enterprise doesn't have enough power for something, Scotty's down in the engine room working miracles, not hanging around saying it's impossible.
"All Our Yesterdays"
This episode seriously fucks up any attempt to see Kirk and Spock as lovers during TOS. It's not Spock falling in instant love with (and having Teh Strongly Implied Sex with) Zarabeth, it's the fact that Spock's response to the possibility that Kirk is trapped and dying in the wrong time is "Eh, whatever." It can be fanwanked as an early sign of Spock's reversion (or, if one were writing a fic, as an indication that something's gone wrong between them, hence their separation at the end of the five year mission), but I still find that stone-cold indifference hard to reconcile with Spock being in love with Kirk. Or even with the closeness they have in canon. Inconsistent writing, thy name is Star Trek.
For Spock/McCoy shippers, though, this episode is full of possibilities. First there's the lovely stuff with Spock half-carrying the hypothermic McCoy, worrying about him while he's unconscious, and randomly caressing his face in a way that's meant to look diagnostic but (considering Spock just used the medical tricorder) isn't.
Then they fight (and this bit made me cheer for reverted!Spock, because as much as I love McCoy, I hate his bullying of Spock for the crime of not being fully human).
McCoy: Now you listen to me, you pointed-eared Vulcan!
Spock: (grabs him by the collar) I don't like that! I don't think I ever did, and now I'm sure.
McCoy: What's happening to you, Spock?
Spock: Nothing that shouldn't have happened long ago.
Later, they fight some more. With added sexiness and unnecessary clinging.
McCoy: Are you trying to kill me, Spock? (whispers) Is that what you really want? Think! What are you feeling? Rage, jealousy? Have you ever had those feelings before?
Spock: This is impossible. IMPOSSIBLE.
And in the end Spock goes back not for Kirk's sake, but because McCoy wants to go home and can't do it unless Spock goes too.
The conversation between Spock and McCoy at the very end, although not particularly shippy, is haunting. Spock trying to logic his way out of emotion ("That was 5000 years ago, and she is dead now. Dead and buried, long ago.") will never not break my heart.
Unfortunately, the beautiful Spock-McCoy interactions don't make up for this episode's massive plotholes and science fail. First of all, since we're told that nothing physical has been done to Kirk, Spock, and McCoy (they haven't been "prepared" for time travel), Spock reverting to ancient, emotional, violent Vulcan behavior makes no sense. Second, it makes no sense anyway, because 5000 years is not enough time for evolution to have made modern Vulcans physically different from pre-Surak Vulcans. They could've helped evolution along with genetic engineering, but that makes it even less likely that Spock would revert. Third, why would people being sent back a few hundred or thousand years in time need to have their cell structures changed at all? They might need some extra immunity, but that's small stuff and certainly not enough to kill them if they went back.
Normally I'm very willing to suspect disbelief when watching Star Trek, but this episode was so internally incoherent in its skience that I just couldn't.
The weird scene with Spock eating meat and then freaking out is probably another example of careless and inconsistent writing, but it can be saved by interpreting it as an example of how Vulcan culture is a lot less logical than it claims to be. Or at least that Spock is illogical when it comes to Vulcan culture. If you're in a situation where you need food and the only available food is meat, refusing to eat the meat is illogical. Maintaining a cultural taboo to the possible detriment of one's own survival is about as irrational as you can get. But Spock sees himself as having failed at Vulcanness, yet again, for eating the meat. "I'm behaving disgracefully," he says. "I've eaten animal flesh and I've enjoyed it. What's wrong with me?" Interestingly, this is his last moment of doubt, occurring shortly before he decides to stop worrying and learn to love Zarabeth.
This episode is very well-written in some ways. The dialogue's good, and writer Jean Lisette Aroeste (who also wrote the excellent "Is There In Truth No Beauty?") has a lot of fun with language in the scenes of Kirk in the vaguely 17th century town. Aroeste just gets too tangled in the phlebotinum and can't find her way out of the resulting mess.
"Turnabout Intruder"
Wow. I've long since started taking it for granted that every TOS episode will be sexist, but this is the only episode I can think of that's directly anti-feminist. As in "if you fret your pretty little head about discrimination against women, you will become CRAZY and EVIL and will lose out on the rich life you could have had as a happy contented
Special bonus fail points to William Shatner for deciding that the universal signifiers for "woman" are playing with one's hair and buffing one's nails. Sometimes Shatner's body language works (I like the moment when Lester!Kirk first sits in the captain's chair with her knees pressed together, the way a woman used to wearing skirts would sit) but being Shatner, he's not content with subtle and ends up bringing in a lot of stereotypes. Plus, Lester!Kirk's utter failure to pass for real!Kirk hits my embarrassment squick really hard. Which isn't the fault of the performances, but it made the episode hard for me to watch.
Sandra Smith is good as Janice Lester (and even more so as Kirk!Lester, when she doesn't have to do maniacal laughter and such). She has a very effective moment that parallels the "sitting in the captain's chair" scene, when Kirk!Lester sits down to testify at the court martial and immediately slides into Kirk's habitual leaning, spread-legged posture.
I kept being frustrated by Kirk!Lester not proving his identity by saying things only Kirk would know. For instance, when he's talking to Chapel, why doesn't he mention Spock flinging the plomeek soup? That kind of stuff is not in mission records, I presume, and Lester wouldn't know it.
The mind meld is a version of that tactic, I suppose. Only more intimate, and I like the way it implies that Kirk and Spock have been in regular telepathic contact. Kirk!Lester telling Spock, "You are closer to the captain than anyone in the universe. You know his thoughts" is rather lovely.
I'm puzzled about why McCoy's psychological tests showed Kirk as being unchanged, since the changes are obvious and Lester is barking mad. Oh show, must you make suspension of disbelief so difficult?
Returning to feminist issues, I choose to believe that what Lester says about Starfleet ("Your world of starship captains doesn't admit women. It isn't fair.") refers to a glass ceiling rather than an actual policy prohibiting women from command. The other option is just too depressing.
Finally, I wanted to comment on a word choice. When Scotty approaches McCoy during the recess to sound him out about the verdict, he says he's never seen Kirk "red-faced with hysteria." In one sense, this is a reasonable description of Lester!Kirk's temper tantrums and generally uncontrolled behavior. But of course "hysteria" is a hugely loaded term, one associated specifically with women and used to dismiss and belittle women's anger. Which pretty well sums up the episode, I'd say.
The first two Star Trek movies are now on their way to me from Netflix. I've been looking forward to watching them, as I want to see more exploration of the characters' relationships and emotions than happened in TOS.
*****
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Date: 2009-08-18 12:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-18 08:35 pm (UTC)