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TOS: "The Paradise Syndrome" (s3e3)
123 Plays3 days ago
KIRK'S UNPLANNED VACATION. An alien obelisk gives Captain Kirk amnesia and strands him among indigenous people transported from Earth to an alien planet in the direct path of a world-ending asteroid. Our Inner Light Month concludes with this look at Kirk basically getting a chance at a normal life but still becoming the captain of a tribe. Is it a TREK, MARRY, or KILL?
The grades begin at (15:49).
Recommended
Transcript
Kirk's Predicament and Asteroid Threat
00:00:00
Speaker
Next on Shrek, Merry, Kill. i am Kirak.
00:00:07
Speaker
Perfect. Energize. A primitive paradise. It's like discovering Atlantis. Holds a mysterious secret. Any theories about what it is? Alien metal of some kind. And one mistake leaves Kirk trapped. What about Jim? He may be injured. Now, in a race against time. The asteroid is on a collision course with this planet. The Enterprise has one chance to save him.
00:00:30
Speaker
If we don't divert this asteroid, the captain will die. Crystal sockets failing solid. Fire phasers. Fire. Star Trek.
00:00:43
Speaker
Mary Kill.
Introduction to 'Check, Very, and Kill' Podcast
00:00:48
Speaker
Hi, I'm Brian. Hi, I'm Kristen. Or am I? Well, you're Kirak. I'm Kirak.
00:00:56
Speaker
Welcome to Check, Very, and Kill, a Star Trek podcast that rescues primitive cultures and in danger of extinction and seeds them, so to speak, where they can live and grow. This week, we conclude our Inner Lights theme month.
00:01:08
Speaker
We've looked at the Inner Light from the Next Generation, Far Beyond the Stars, from Deep Space Nine. Last week, we went on the host from Enterprise Splaining podcast to Judge Carbon Creek from Enterprise.
00:01:20
Speaker
ah But to wrap it all up, I had to make sure it coincided with Kristen's return.
Recording Challenges and Current Events
00:01:25
Speaker
Kristen, welcome back. You know, it feels like I never left. That's right. but i it's so We record these out of order, folks. I'm sure you know.
00:01:35
Speaker
So this is there's a big time jump happening right here. yeah this This episode that we're recording today will not running for several months. So we don't know who won the election. We don't know if the United States exists.
Kirk's New Identity and Character Exploration
00:01:47
Speaker
We don't know anything. could dead. yeah This could be the Kristen Memorial. That's right. ah Podcast. All that said, I couldn't think of anybody I'd rather create this episode with than you, because basically watching all these TOS episodes, it's like watching an old movie. a lot of the time you're an old film aficionado and, and you can see the parallels right away.
00:02:11
Speaker
I just look at it as the corny TV. I used to hate as a kid growing up and Star Trek most of the time can hop that line. And I'm interested. Well, this is one episode that kind of strikes the other nerve.
00:02:24
Speaker
the It doesn't quite ah make it out of the operation a pincher without hitting the sides here.
Critique of 'The Paradise Syndrome'
00:02:31
Speaker
that We're talking about the Paradise Syndrome. It's the third episode of the third season of Star Trek, the original series.
00:02:36
Speaker
The season I was warned against ever watching when I got into Star Trek. Stay away from season three. It premiered on NBC October 4th, 1968, written by Margaret Arman, our friend who wrote the Lorelei Signal, don't forget. Uh-huh.
00:02:51
Speaker
Directed by Judd Taylor in his first Star Trek episode. Memory Alpha describes it. Kirk loses his memory and begins a life in a native village. What Memory Alpha doesn't tell you is that is the long and short of it.
00:03:03
Speaker
That, for most people, is not offensive sounding, but if you've seen the episode, you're like, I'm already... You're like, native what? Yeah. New York race. That's right.
00:03:14
Speaker
Which also were indigenous people. So it's bad example. Anyway, they're not talking about. They're talking about Scotland. 1968 American caricatures of native Americans.
00:03:26
Speaker
ah Disneyland's version of indigenous people in the United States. One might say specifically a mixture of Navajo, Mohican and Delaware. According to Spock, ah this group has been relocated to the planet Amerind by a group called the preservers, which,
00:03:41
Speaker
Who really I'll talk about later. ah But Kirk and crew come across an out of place obelisk clearly put there by these preservers.
Kirk's Adaptation and Cultural Clash
00:03:49
Speaker
And it's in the course of investigating it that Kirk is zapped and loses his memory.
00:03:54
Speaker
But Spock in the landing party can't but spend much time looking for him. They have to go deflect an asteroid that's on a collision course with this very planet. raising the question why they stopped there at all if time was of the essence.
00:04:07
Speaker
And so Kirk is left behind for two months. This is the episode that of Star Trek that spans one of the longest timeframes ever in an episode of Star Trek, which is one of the enticing points when it's being developed.
00:04:19
Speaker
so Anyway, in these in this two-month span, he
Tahiti Syndrome and Cultural Perceptions
00:04:24
Speaker
meets a woman. He falls in love and gets her pregnant. And he's named Kirok. he like half remembers his name the natives fill in the rest and he's Kirak. So there we are.
00:04:35
Speaker
The Paradise Syndrome. ah These inner lights that we've been looking at, i think... what is intriguing about them to the writers as a concept, I feel, and even the actors is it's an opportunity to explore the captain's personality or the character's personality, in the case of Tupal, disconnected from what we know them to be.
00:04:59
Speaker
So like, what would this person be if they weren't in Starfleet? And in Deep Space Nine, obviously, it's kind of like, ah there's kind of like a racial subconsciousness. It's about dealing with the... the all the persecution and, and, and racism that black men in America faced. And that's like something that's under the surface that Cisco deals with.
00:05:20
Speaker
It's not a one-to-one to Paul's dealing with like stuff that her grandma learned, how that influences her behavior with humans here. It's just like, Kirk has a lot of pressure. And if he went on a long vacation, he's,
00:05:34
Speaker
And was adored as a god by the hot native women.
Portrayal of Indigenous Cultures in Star Trek
00:05:38
Speaker
Everything would work out fine. Kind of like an idea that maybe our grandparents had after World War II or when they were on shore leave.
00:05:46
Speaker
They're like, yeah, I could go for this every day. it was called the Tahiti Syndrome, which I'm pretty sure is a phrase that died shortly after the Korean War, probably.
00:05:57
Speaker
Well, it wouldn't be in the Korean War. Well, I'm just trying to think of like World War II, Korean War as like not necessarily one cell, but kind like that. How long did the idea survive past ah the late 60s or 70s? Yeah.
00:06:10
Speaker
You know what? I should have looked up Tahiti Syndrome, and I didn't. I've never been to the South Pacific, nor have I seen the musical South Pacific. So I'm sure that's... It's all like, you
Narrative and Production Critiques
00:06:23
Speaker
know, you're talking about tropical island, right? Basically, you're like, yeah. So basically, it's when you go on vacation, and you're like, this is great. I could do this every day, but you're on vacation. So you're away from your daily um responsibilities. So you are like, oh, this is great.
00:06:42
Speaker
Can't wait to live here. There's actually a 30 Rock episode. I think it's, I don't know if it's like Cleveland or Cincinnati or one of those places where they make a joke.
00:06:53
Speaker
Yeah, they make a joke about going there. it's like everyone gets the gets Tahiti syndrome. Yeah.
00:07:01
Speaker
It's still an old term. no one no one our age uses it. It's like no not a concept. Yeah. um But it's like people have like a ah romance on vacation and then they'll be like, this is great. I'm so in love. And then you go let back to your real life and you're like, oh, no.
00:07:18
Speaker
Yes. I can't live with this person in my house. I have a question, though, that because this is obviously the even though it's written by a woman, i think she's trying to play. She knows who who the viewers are.
00:07:33
Speaker
Yes. And she knows who's going to greenlight her script and all that stuff, yeah which, by the way, Gene Runbury, very involved in the development of the script. So I am so shocked. by Wow.
00:07:45
Speaker
But I guess this is the question that I
Character Interactions and Star Trek Tropes
00:07:47
Speaker
want to pose to you. Like, is the male idea of pure pleasure the same as a woman's Kristen? So like Kirk is worshipped like a god. All the women want him and they want to bear his children while worshipping him.
00:07:58
Speaker
Obviously not. um Kirk is loves this place. It's idyllic nature, but it's still living in a tent.
00:08:09
Speaker
yeah And all the women are still doing a lot of the labor without indoor plumbing. they They don't even have lamps inside, like oil-burning lamps.
00:08:21
Speaker
Kirk makes one, and then she's yeah and like, I guess this is so you made this so I could cook all day and night. And he's like, no, of course not. yeah it's still going down to the river to do your laundry and draw water. like it's It's no indoor plumbing, no sanitation.
00:08:39
Speaker
So no, this is a nightmare. What is the woman's version of Tahiti syndrome then?
00:08:48
Speaker
um i don't know if there is one. I mean, if you actually get to go on a real vacation and have everyone
Kirk's Role and 'God' Status
00:08:56
Speaker
clean up for you and not have to do any of the daily tasks of everyday life and the emotional labor and what have you, then that would be it.
00:09:07
Speaker
I mean, we're speaking in generalities here, but do women have that desire to be desired the same way men do where it's like God? or um not in a God worship way, but yes, everyone has that.
00:09:22
Speaker
i guess so. But it's not the same. It's not yeah like I don't know any sane women who want to be worshipped like a God, but I know that men definitely have that.
00:09:36
Speaker
I would say yes, more often than not. And and seemingly sane presenting men. what This is right under the surface. hu ah Mine's more like, I just want people to think like, hes he seems cool.
00:09:49
Speaker
That's my try. You just want some people to like laugh at your jokes. Yeah, or just like, you know, not really bother me. Not bother, just like hang out, yeah not
Cultural Insensitivity and Narrative Analysis
00:10:03
Speaker
bother you. Yeah, exactly.
00:10:05
Speaker
you know i'm like It's going to be pretty easy to fulfill, so congratulations. I'm not trying to like take Miramani from anyone, ah you know that kind of stuff. like she She's who she wants to be with.
00:10:18
Speaker
You know, she's like, is this the right thing? that Kirk does not deny he's a god. He gets distressed on him throughout the episode. And he's not like, he he remembers a lot of his Starfleet training and his like normal ethics and morality, but not that one.
00:10:34
Speaker
Very strange. Not strange at all. Yeah. you given For me, if someone's like, oh, you're a god, I'm like, absolutely not. i don't want any of that responsibility because you know what? it That means you're coming to me with your problems.
00:10:47
Speaker
So a paradise to me is don't come to me with those any of your problems. Okay. I don't want to solve any of that shit at all. would like, do I have to wear this stupid forehead? Tell us. Just take care of it.
00:11:00
Speaker
Yeah. I don't even want to hear about it. and If last something's on fire, just don't tell me about it. Just take care of it. ah Also, this episode gives to use all the young people's eight gives the ick.
00:11:14
Speaker
because this episode has a lot ofic because of its portrayal. I think they'd say it's cringe. Well, I think we're even past cringe now
00:11:26
Speaker
now. It's very cringe, but it's not. It's cringic. If you're on the scale of bad portrayals of indigenous peoples, I would say it's like middle of the road at worst.
00:11:40
Speaker
I totally agree what I, what that means to me though, when you say that is what I think this episode is actually much more representative It was like, this was the default episode. Like this is just like we need, we're having an episode with natives in our show.
00:11:52
Speaker
This is like the most default normalized way of presenting them without like putting much spin one way or the other in terms of like they're savages or like they're noble.
00:12:05
Speaker
This is like, this is like middle America television perception of multiple cultures that get homogenized into the native American.
00:12:15
Speaker
And it's just cringy shit. It's like, It's sometimes unbearably so. It's just like at the time, though, it was even criticized the 60s and 70s of like, yeah, they're all like cartoonishly, stupidly simplistic and dumb. She's like, there's no how do I take this off? There's nothing to unleash you or like you have made fire inside and just all this. This is how a canal works. Yeah, exactly. Just Jesus. In the and case there's famine, you have to store food. Like if they really were taken.
00:12:50
Speaker
from Earth. They want to figure this out. Forever ago. that They're already way ahead of you. Yeah.
00:12:57
Speaker
So, a tough a tough part of the episode, mainly the main part of the episode, is that whenever Kirk is... We're not really getting an exploration of Kirk's interiority other than him saying in voiceover rather than Captain's log that he's so happy. And and that's it. And then we get we get a beast story where the Enterprise the last minute is trying to deflect this massive asteroid from obliterating this planet. So
Starfleet Detachment and Historical Escapism
00:13:27
Speaker
um that those are the conflicts. The episode's original title... Oh, go ahead.
00:13:31
Speaker
i I mean, that this doesn't really fit in the other grades, but what he... is experiencing is like Marie Antoinette having her own little peasant village. Isn't this so fun and simplistic, like cause playing as being primitive,
00:13:46
Speaker
is like vacation to him. Yes. Yes. the so The simplicity is like, that's better than the hardships. And because he's so advanced, the hardships aren't that hard.
00:14:01
Speaker
And again, like none of their norms, because he's a God, it kind of, he gets othered from the others and he doesn't have to like obey, I guess, or like get into the culture. He doesn't have to do anything. do anything except balance.
00:14:15
Speaker
fuck yeah he just bangs his wife they bring him food and he fucks this he is on vacation that is what's going on uh making it worse the episode's original title was the pale face oh jesus lord Miramati originally survived with Kirk's child.
00:14:36
Speaker
They were like, no, can't have that. Can't have that. That's a little string right there. Ohura is not on the bridge in this episode, but stock footage from And the Children Shall Leave places her there for a moment.
00:14:48
Speaker
According to the Mark Cushman book we've mentioned many, many times in the course of our podcast, the book is These Are the Voyages. In the Volume 3, Season 3 edition, he... said that Uhura was actually on the original landing party ah where Kirk gets lost, but she was removed at the, what I'm characterizing as strenuous and intense suggestion by producer Bob Justman, who questioned why there, why should be down there at all?
00:15:13
Speaker
Why is it her on this? Like she doesn't to be there. What an asshole who doesn't, he doesn't want to see more Uhura. Like Bob Justman is a ah key figure in the development of Star Trek, but um honestly, sir, go fuck yourself.
00:15:27
Speaker
why Why is she speaking? speaking? part Less or her, that is a bad note. ah Strange New Worlds establishes that Carol Marcus was pregnant with Kirk's son, David Marcus, in 2259, making him eight or nine years old at the time Miramani's child with Kirak would have been born.
00:15:48
Speaker
So there's that. Let's get into the grades. Okay. Great scenes. All right, think i like three or four. Okay. Okay. The first one is Spock explaining the asteroid ah coming to the planet with rocks to McCoy,
Enterprise Crew and Leadership Challenges
00:16:03
Speaker
but also at the same time being like, the longer I stay here explaining it to you, the worse this is going to get.
00:16:13
Speaker
Yeah. But I find it a little weird that McCoy has to be talked to it like, here's a rock and this is the planet. But whatever. um And then when Spock is the acting command commander of the ship, um him and the crew working together to try to deflect the asteroid. Of course, it doesn't work.
00:16:32
Speaker
But i like oh I like the scenes on the Enterprise when everyone's at their stations doing what they're supposed to do. You've phasers firing. Yeah. All the phasers firing. It's great. um And then there's a fight.
00:16:48
Speaker
Yes. Between Kirk and the deposed medicine chief. Salish. And when he, Kirk, swings around a tree. Oh, my God.
00:17:01
Speaker
a kick him. It's great. It's fantastic. Just, I mean, it's not as good as that... ah The fight with the airmen or with the MPs? Yeah. Yeah. With the military police throwing him into racks of film, but it's good.
00:17:20
Speaker
Yeah. And then I think the last one is when Kirk gets his like memory back, kind of, and him and Spock are in the obelisk, and they're Kirk is getting like testy with him.
00:17:32
Speaker
Right. Just push the right button. Yeah.
00:17:37
Speaker
An absolutely insane little beat that they don't address again is that it's Scotty's voice that opens the door.
00:17:48
Speaker
So fucking stupid. So I agree with you. All the scenes on the Enterprise are better than all the scenes on the planet, except for the sites. But yeah I didn't really like think any of them were. I personally didn't think any of them were great, great until we get into the scene where McCoy confronts Spock about how his calculated Vulcan risk failed and he put them all in jeopardy. This is like after they figured out that they're Attempts to deflect the ashray didn't work and the warp drive is basically burned out.
00:18:14
Speaker
And ah they have to travel back to the planet on impulse. so I don't This is a personal thing because like last year, the Giants, my favorite baseball team, they were they ended a six-year run of being run by a guy who was all numbers.
00:18:27
Speaker
no No human beings. All decisions were numbers-based. And so I kind of just liked it as the like, okay, you did the math.
Flaws in Character Interactions
00:18:36
Speaker
The math didn't work Yeah. Now we're screwed.
00:18:40
Speaker
So i thought it was a great scene because McCoy actually had a clear point of view where he was angry of like,
00:18:46
Speaker
You took a narrow chance, even though we should have just stayed and tried to rescue the captain because it was already going to be some odds we could do this in the first place. Which again, why did they stop at the planet in the first place? It's so stupid. yeah um But I just like that. And at the same time, it's like Spock is you clearly you can see everything he's saying.
00:19:07
Speaker
He's wearing the loss ah that McCoy is handing to him. But also you can tell that McCoy is, he's also letting McCoy punch himself out. So I thought it was a great scene. It gets repeated in a way, but ah that on the Enterprise is my standout scene.
00:19:20
Speaker
And obviously the fight. Best Trek tropes. There was a lurk and listen, Kristen. Oh, where? Salish has a lurk and listen. Oh, yeah. When Mary Monty is getting dressed for her wedding.
00:19:30
Speaker
He's not really lurking though. He's just standing in the doorway, staring like a goon. but I thought that was still funny. And then the Kirk Fu using the tree, like you said, to get a spinning kick going. He also dropkick Salish.
00:19:45
Speaker
So Kirk lighting style. um For me, is this Lake Hollywood? It was the Franklin Canyon reservoir. That's pretty close, isn't it?
00:19:59
Speaker
Yeah. I think that's the same thing. Franklin Canyon park. Have you done the walk there? No, Brian, no. Why would I do such thing? don't like... I gotta be real prepared for a hike.
00:20:14
Speaker
I've done it. beautiful. so I'm incredibly jealous of everyone who has views of it.
Cultural Missteps and Familiar Tropes
00:20:19
Speaker
Okay, so the Lake Hollywood actually um is not there, but that's okay. It's close. um it's one of the It's one of the reservoirs.
00:20:27
Speaker
They look almost identical. They look similar, yeah. So... I was close. i was It was one of few things. so like They wouldn't go all the way to Lake Arrowhead for this. No. um ah But yes, I do occasionally like to go on hikes, but um not something I would do locally.
00:20:46
Speaker
Like if I'm on vacation, I might do it. anyway But we got a captain's log with Spock. ah So Kirk is trying to get all the lore of the um the civilization, but then Miramane just wants to get his clothes off.
00:21:04
Speaker
How does one undo this? What is this? Guy doesn't know how much more she can take. Yes. you know And you know something is up because Kirk is about to marry a woman.
00:21:15
Speaker
For real.
00:21:18
Speaker
um And then we have a Vulcan mind fusion. Oh. yeah that one. All right. that should i mean That's true That's in there. which gives us a moment of Spirk.
00:21:32
Speaker
So that should also be in there. so yeah Oh yeah. It's great. Any others? Those are good ones. i did Well, I did put Spock's sheets, but I don't know if we really, I always remark on the linens.
00:21:46
Speaker
Yeah. You brought up some good ones that I ignored because this episode created a lot of static in my brain. ah Me too. ah Worst Trek tropes then. i have a couple.
00:21:59
Speaker
Should we finish this mission and deflect this asteroid and save the planet? Or should we dick around a little bit first?
00:22:08
Speaker
They get there, see the obelisk and like, well, let's check it. Well, we only have so many minutes to get back and start deflecting that asteroid. That's going to kill everything on this planet. Well, let's take a look around.
00:22:19
Speaker
Yeah. The only thing that makes sense to me. that they didn't do this would have been if like, we are, ah we were on our way to deflect an asteroid when we detected strange signals from the collision planet that we think could interfere with whatever, you know what I mean? Like could be a problem.
00:22:36
Speaker
So we went down to investigate and then investigate the strange signal, they find the obelisk. Like that's the only way it makes sense. Otherwise, what the hell? What's going on? Anyway. um And my next one is,
00:22:51
Speaker
The classic, we got white actors playing Native Americans. Holy cow. it With
Implications of Outdated Depictions
00:22:58
Speaker
the brown makeup. The bad wigs. And I mean, I'm not going to say anything too bad about the actors because they're just taking a job.
00:23:05
Speaker
And these are like day players. But. yeah
00:23:11
Speaker
And now my last but not least. So we're just forgetting about the prime directive now, huh? Great question. i think we brought this up before. Like, this seems like it's a philosophy question in the Federation or Starfleet.
00:23:25
Speaker
Yes, nature says that this asteroid is going to collide with that planet. So are we interfering in the natural evolution of the planet? Well, it's not so much that as that they're like, let's go dig around and um possibly get seen by the people who live here.
00:23:39
Speaker
I think they thought that they weren't going to be, they were when, when the landing party initially goes down, they're literally on the other side of the lake. And I'm sure they're like, we can scan and detect life forms. You're, you're right.
00:23:50
Speaker
You're totally right. Again, only adding to why are they there in the first place? Yeah, like for sure. um But like the idea of like them deflecting an asteroid from obliterating ah population or a livable planet.
00:24:02
Speaker
I don't know. That feels like right, right on the line of like, if you can do something, shouldn't you do something hu like that? don't know. So, ah but yours is still correct.
00:24:13
Speaker
Good. Any others? No. Although there should should be more, but you know what? no I just like, you know, you got to draw the line somewhere, you know i I had two, but they're both the bothas the but they're both McCoy.
00:24:30
Speaker
McCoy ordering Spock to get some rest. yeah but like at Giving the order, you need some rest. they They're doing all the Star Treks. It's like would never one I appreciate. I prescribed rest. Yes.
00:24:41
Speaker
And in this case, McCoy sounds like the cranky bitch who needs a nap. Yeah. He's so angry and crabby. And then the other one is McCoy's anti-Vulcan racism. When he's scanning, it was like, you're cold-blooded, whatever your metabolism. I'm like, dude, that's unhelpful.
00:24:56
Speaker
thought you were coming here. You're like what you call blood. ah Exactly.
00:25:02
Speaker
ah Most cosplayable character or moment? So because we have white people playing Native Americans, I'm not going to suggest a person. So I suggest the obelisk.
00:25:14
Speaker
Ah! that's what i okay
00:25:20
Speaker
That's awesome. ah Good. If you were, if someone was like really clever, they could like do a green curtain or something over their stomach and then like pull it aside. And then you could have like little electrical flash or something, or even just a picture of that control panel that zaps Kirk.
00:25:39
Speaker
So you just have a little electricity down below. i don't know. That's, that's a good one. Anyway, now it's time for the line must be drawn here. Great lines. My bairns, my poor bairns. don't know, but that means it's Scottish for kids. That's funny.
00:25:55
Speaker
And when the um medicine chief says Kirk, when he's asked to like save the planet, but he's not actually a god, so he's like, huh? He says, what are you waiting for? your robes?
00:26:09
Speaker
Because he was earlier seen in like these ceremonial robes, and he looked ridiculous. And then I have wife hallucinations.
00:26:22
Speaker
His best friends and crew. No, like, oh, no, he doesn't have a wife. He's hallucinating. Poor guy. and they like completely ignore the fact that there's a woman right next to him.
00:26:36
Speaker
I mean, those rocks were bouncing right off of them. They should be fine. Yeah, those foam rocks. That could also be another cosplay being stoned by rocks. But then you do have to dress up like the Native Americans, and I don't care for that.
00:26:52
Speaker
so it In the JCPenney Native American Halloween costume. um And then when Spock, after the the mind meld or mind fusion, whatever he's calling it this episode, his mind, he's an extremely dynamic individual. Like...
00:27:13
Speaker
Spock saw some shit in there. and he wasn't necessarily offended. It wasn't like dark, like, but you know, I like to torture animals kind of stuff.
00:27:24
Speaker
Right. It was, you know, orgy of the week kind of stuff. Yeah. He's like, he loves me, but he loves everyone else.
00:27:34
Speaker
Yeah. Hmm.
00:27:39
Speaker
Hmm. Any others? All right. You got half of mine. The other two I had were Kirok's voiceover. I have found paradise.
00:27:50
Speaker
Surely no man has ever attained such happiness.
Broader Implications of Cultural Insensitivity
00:27:53
Speaker
It's so corny and bad, but I have to put it as a great line because it just like jumps out of you at at you. Like what the hell's going on?
00:28:01
Speaker
right now. It's like our motion. There's something in the water that's making like, it's so weird. He's hugging himself. Oh, it's just so it's yeah. When Captain Kirk is divorced or detached from his command and his identity as the captain of a starship, he turns into William Shatner goofball.
00:28:20
Speaker
Like that is it. That is the so the thin line. When William Shatner does not have to say Captain Kirk's line, he is simply William Shatner at all times and any other character he's playing. And that's what this episode really hammers.
00:28:35
Speaker
And then the other one I had was, like you said, you you like the scene where they're down in the obelisk and Spock is explaining how he's figured this all out. And Kirk goes, Spock, just press the right button.
00:28:45
Speaker
He said that. ah after spock spent like two months of sleepless nights trying to find out the stupid hieroglyphs and it turns out it's just be like a weird sequence of kirk to enterprise with scotty going back and saying yeah yeah like i would i were spock have been like fuck all you people you Half of all the fucking bullshit.
00:29:15
Speaker
He read the thing. And so it basically is like a, you know, a musical not yeah but it tells you it's ah it's a plaque that tells you what this is there for. Like it's instructions. It's like left here by whatever.
00:29:28
Speaker
So he he like at least got that far, but the idea that all for all of his sleepless nights, it keeps like that whining Scotsman on my ship is the one who can keep this open. Yeah. Yeah.
00:29:40
Speaker
Would this have been a fun holo novel to play out? No. and Not at all. Either end of it, you're traveling at impulse speed on the Enterprise and everyone's in a bad mood. Yeah. Warp drive doesn't work. It's like, no.
00:29:54
Speaker
And then on the planet, you're living in, and you know, nothing. Huts. Yeah, huts and caves and and people think you're a god and you have to, like, cure people and and wash things and, ugh.
00:30:11
Speaker
Oh, there's no other place to put this, but the the scene at the beginning towards the beginning where the boy, ah he like performs mouth to mouth to mouth on the boy. oh okay. You have it somewhere?
00:30:23
Speaker
Yeah, I have it somewhere later Okay. Nevermind. We'll we'll ah yeah visit it then. The Anton Crudian Award for Best Performance. I don't know. I think the score fucking rocks.
00:30:37
Speaker
Oh, okay. So I thought it was very groovy. ah Gerald Freed is the musician. He, of course, had done ah bunch of music for the original series.
00:30:49
Speaker
Very famous music. ah you got You've got your... You've got your mock time. like So a lot of music. But this was his last contribution to Star Trek.
00:31:02
Speaker
His last like new composition for it. He died 95. in 2023. So nice long life. His music has survived at this day. i don't know. I just thought it was really, really good. And we've heard like in season three, the music's maybe whatever, but like, I thought it really worked.
00:31:21
Speaker
So I give it to that. ah So Shatner. I mean, there's so many people we could give it to. Yeah. um But if you had to pick one,
00:31:36
Speaker
Maybe the medicine chief, I guess. The old one or the the the cut? a younger one. The one who was like, if you had a choice, yeah would you pick me? And then like that bitch didn't even have the decency to lie to him.
00:31:50
Speaker
No, i I liked that that scene was there. i didn't think it was a great scene. I just liked it was there. i'm like, what a funny scene. Like we need to humiliate this man. And then she doesn't even give him the dignity of like,
00:32:03
Speaker
rejecting him. She's just like, well, you know, it's a God and there's rules and bye. Yeah. His name is Rudy Solari. He died in 1991, the age of 56.
00:32:17
Speaker
He was an acting coach who was beloved enough to have a theater named after him at some point. Although it was renamed, which I think is a sad ending to that. We all want to just know, we just want the world to know we existed.
00:32:31
Speaker
We want a legacy, and especially for actors. So i I would hope that Salish is not his acting legacy for those who know him. I hope not either.
00:32:41
Speaker
He really went for it, though. He did. We have to give him that. ah Shoot to thrill. Most exciting image or sequence. This is where I put the CPR scene. Oh, I put the trying to deflect the asteroid with all the phasers and stuff.
00:32:56
Speaker
Fair enough. But okay. Well, usually ask the question of, do you remember the first time you saw this episode? Had you seen this one before? No, no. Okay. So the first time i ever I ever saw this episode was before I was in the Star Trek, but it was when I went over to a friend's house for a sleepover and his dad was watching it or whatever. And it was on this scene where he was giving the CPR. And I was like, that is a weird way to give CPR. Cause even in like 89 90 or whatever, like,
00:33:22
Speaker
Yeah, just compressions. CPR was what was. Yeah. But that's kind of how CPR was. Yeah. It was in the 60s. That's how it was. So that's very funny to me, that style. But but I don't know. So at least I guess i'm I'm tainted by the fact that this is something I saw when I was a kid and it stuck with me. Oh, well, so...
00:33:42
Speaker
I think it's, Kirker says, the boy will be alright. um No, that boy is probably without oxygen to his brain for like a good 10 minutes. Like, yeah, he's breathing on his own right now.
00:33:55
Speaker
But if he ever like does anything else, I'd be surprised. Like he's probably gonna eating through a straw the rest of his life, but whatever. Yeah, he didn't really check in on, check in im with the kid.
00:34:07
Speaker
How many fingers am I holding up? Bacon. Bacon. Okay. what What part of this will they teach at Starfleet Academy? It would be nice if they said, you know, some civilizations saw that the white men were killing all of the Native Americans, and so they took some to a new planet where they could be free of...
00:34:29
Speaker
ah colonization That's what, yeah, that's what Spock says that the preservers did. And I think that's really just adds to the grossness of this episode.
00:34:40
Speaker
Absolutely.
Storyline Critique and Cultural Sensitivity
00:34:41
Speaker
Doesn't that say, tell the audience watching, don't worry about the Native American issue yeah they will the aliens will magically take them away you don't have to feel guilty or you don't have worry about them yes we're the only problem with the planet is it's in the line of fire of a lot of asteroids but we solved that problem except in case one of the medicine men dies before passing on the secret that's right there's that one flaw in our plan but they're fine. They like it. Look, everything's great.
00:35:15
Speaker
ah they Yeah. They, yeah. They can live in peace until guess what? The white men show up again. So a really grody message from the episode. But the preservers as a concept, I mean, it's pretty funny that we we did, Sharice and I did Star Trek Discovery Season 5. You and I did The Chase, the TNG episode that inspired it.
00:35:36
Speaker
And, you know, we mentioned in the in The Chase episode that Ron Moore had the idea that like, well, because remember Joe Manoski, the writer, was like, I always wondered why there are so many alien looking or human-looking aliens in Star Trek.
00:35:49
Speaker
And then this episode, they actually said that. Yeah. And Ron Moore's idea was like, well, in my mind, these were the preservers in, in the paradise syndrome. So it's all kind of like, it does make sense. Yes.
00:36:03
Speaker
But it's also like to do the, to acknowledge all that. And then to be like, let's full steam ahead on this episode. Yeah. It's very nasty. It's just you don't have to even think about it too hard.
00:36:17
Speaker
It's just like, oh wow, that's how that's how the future is going to be better. just like aliens, aliens of magic. ah Could this episode have been hornier and would that have made it better?
00:36:28
Speaker
It's pretty horny. I still think it could have been hornier and I don't but I don't think that would have made it better. No. I don't think Miramani was... Miramani was horny, but he wasn't horny back.
00:36:41
Speaker
Does that make sense? so he was They are literally frolicking throughout the whole episode and like they've just fucked her about to. like oh yeah we're At any point, they're and together. Yeah, that's fair.
00:36:52
Speaker
that's fair And she gets pregnant. Yeah, that's that's fair. Proof positive. you know what though it's just like there's nothing convincing or interesting about this attraction they don't really seem as into no no we've seen kirk into other women and other women into him that's the only reason he's indoors because my his brain has been wiped clean he's he doesn't remember any of the other broads he's been with yeah that's true it's novel it's like yeah she is i mean she is a good looking woman sure yes sure
00:37:24
Speaker
But she she's not got a lot of personality. Let's put it that way. No. Not setting the world on fire in that regard. Yeah. but So fair enough. i agree with you. it's great It's horny enough.
00:37:37
Speaker
That's really what the two storylines are. Horny or asteroid. Those episodes about. All right. So Trek, marry or kill. This is our fastest episode. So Trek, marry or kill. know. um The Paradise Syndrome. Yeah.
00:37:50
Speaker
ah I'm going to kill it, Brian. I am also going to kill it. and if i look at that trek it Like Miramani's unborn child. That's right. I've killed it.
00:38:01
Speaker
And her. She was stoned to death, technically. Also, having the Native American woman stoned to death is fucking a choice. Yeah.
00:38:13
Speaker
And he survives. and ah she Will she live? No. So I was reading the Cushman book after I watched this and I just kind of at once I got to the Justman bit about why being all crabby about Uhura being on the landing party, I'm like, this episode was cursed from the beginning. I'm not.
00:38:31
Speaker
Like Margaret Arman obviously was a writer who impressed Gene Ronberry enough. know that means because she was attractive or whatever on top of being a ah writer who like provided good stuff base versus other writers in Star Trek.
00:38:46
Speaker
But like in terms of women writers is obviously very few. And ah so like, great, I get it. That's good. I kind of thought this episode would be fun to put in this theme month because for the original series, nothing else really actually applies where there's such an identity loss, right? But they're still who they are.
00:39:04
Speaker
ah And I just kind of remember like, maybe this will be a fun one to kind of go back to. and it was not, it was not fun. Yeah. No, there's even like a ton of bugs and like all the shots too. It was probably a nightmare to shoot.
00:39:20
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it was like this and and um and the penultimate episode, All Our Yesterdays, those are the only two episodes that they went outside and shot all season because the budget was so you know hacked to hack to nothing.
00:39:34
Speaker
um like Does anybody have any positive recollections like ah like of the cast and crew of this episode? think it was probably just like the getting outside part of it.
00:39:44
Speaker
And I'm sure Shatner liked... you know It's just like he's a celebrity of his time, so he's like, look, I'm lending my credibility to Native Americans and showing them how they're normal. like It's a good culture and like all this stuff.
00:39:58
Speaker
I'm sure there was that going on, too. yeah But like then they portray them as stoning to death a pregnant woman. Exactly. I think it was fine up until that. and I mean, in terms of not portraying them as like you know savages, except they are they are like, tough this is what a canal is.
00:40:16
Speaker
We were only stoning her because she was sighting a pulse god. Yeah. ah So I'm sure in the 60s and the 70s, this might have been a trek.
00:40:28
Speaker
Although they had to shoot this in like July or August. So it's probably the hottest balls out there. It premiered in October? This episode shot in ah June 11th to June 18th of 68. Okay, that probably wasn't too bad, but...
00:40:46
Speaker
And I mean, i don't think Kirk's dead wife and child are ever mentioned again, right? Correct. It doesn't inform anything. You know, its
Final Evaluation of Episode's Impact
00:40:57
Speaker
just like this simple child I took advantage of. but Yeah. like 60 days you spent as the medicine chief of a Native American tribe.
00:41:11
Speaker
You got married. It's probably, I don't remember Lower Decks making a joke about it, but maybe they have. But that seems like even like fruit that they wouldn't even try to pull. Yeah, that's like, oof, let's pretend it never happened.
00:41:24
Speaker
yeah You're so right about this being horny because for some reason, for in that question, I forgot for a moment, this all is like in two months. but Yeah. It's ridiculous. When I went on vacation to a place that was like just relaxed and I really did disconnect.
00:41:41
Speaker
Like it was just like, wow, ah pina colada every day by the pool. That's amazing. I don't even care if they bring it to me. It was weird when they brought it. Yeah, I can go up and get it. I guess. yeah I did. i i was like, I have no problem.
00:41:53
Speaker
guess Guess what? I would be sitting down with it soon enough. Yeah. that My chair's right there. ah But yeah, so it's Heady Syndrome and all that. You know, when you're a soldier, though, I got to imagine the idea of like, hmm, I go somewhere where I don't get shot at and I might get laid by a hot woman.
00:42:08
Speaker
It sounds like a good deal. So I get it. But at the same time, why Native, why they landed Native Americans? Why? i just, again, i I could not keep reading about the research because this episode was such a bummer. Anyway.
00:42:21
Speaker
There we go. Four days from now, Kristen, this Saturday, March 1st, we'll be dropping the latest animated spotlight. March 1st? Yeah. Wow. We'll dropping the latest animated spotlight featuring Lower Decks. And then next week, you and I will kick off our grading of Star Trek Picard Season 1 in quote-unquote honor.
00:42:41
Speaker
Of the fifth anniversary of its premiere. Wow. Yeah, we looked at the first episode, Remembrance, back in 2022. And on Tuesday, we'll be looking at episodes two and three, Maps and Legends, plus The End is the Beginning. Yeah, we're doing two or three episodes.
00:42:57
Speaker
We're going to do two at a time. We're going to do it in our lower deck style where we basically do a reduced number of grades. And, you know, we we focus on moments, not scenes. And usually we can cover two. There's not a lot in these episodes. I feel like the serialized ones, it's not as many notes because it's like a continuing story. There's like only so much...
00:43:20
Speaker
Yeah. We can. Exactly. Write down. They don't, they're not designed you to dig into them because they're just like, wait for the next one. But it still two to three hours of my time. That's correct. Which I do value.
00:43:32
Speaker
But the people who made show may not have to. We'll see how how well that goes. Yeah. Okay. We will one week be doing three, but that's because we've already killed one of them. And so we won't. Oh, so I don't really have to pay that much attention to it. don't have to pay that much attention to it. Yeah.
00:43:47
Speaker
ah So we're TrekMerryKpod on social media and TrekMerryKillPod.com on the web if you want to check out our previous standings and vote in any polls. Consider rating us five stars on whichever platform you use to listen to us. And until next time, TMK out.
00:44:02
Speaker
Yay. Bye, Kirok. Or Kirok.