(I forgot to publish this months ago)
I decided I wanted to try to watch Star Trek. I feel like I don’t have my proper nerd cred without it. And I did not anticipate it being so fucking fun. I wasn’t sure how to write a report of it. I’ve concluded that I’ll do a season post that deals in each episode.
The Man Trap
We struggled to find a place to watch the series, so when we found it at first, we had a lot of frustrated confusion. The episode started on beaming down! So I got a better way to watch and we finally got into it.
It dives in without much ado and we very quickly find ourselves very invested in the intercharacter drama, the now-campy acting, and honestly enjoying everything about it. We chattered with excitement the whole time.
Charlie X
We had a lot of fun with this one. It deals with a sense of entitlement and power that this teenager has, and the struggle that Captain Kirk has to school him properly. The simplest lesson is that “other people don’t exist to cater to you”. There’s no excuse for being cruel, and the consequences of your actions are going to be severe.
A standout is that this kid’s actions are at first dismissed until it becomes a big problem. “He’s just learning”… and then the consequences of dismissing the little things quickly grow huge because the captain didn’t listen at first. Boys will be boys and boys may end up fucking everyone over if they don’t learn how to control their fucking shit.
Where No Man has Gone Before
Power corrupts!
They literally deal in the idea of the Übermensch, a human superior to all others in a godly persuasion. There’s power bestowed upon a man and he decides that it’s his responsibility to not only become a god, but to breed a superior humanity. In the process he loses his humanity— his feelings, his emotions, his ability to empathize— and his attempt to become a god is undone by his companion, who retains her own humanity and was blinded at first by the empathy she had for him and the newfound power that she shared with him.
This episode deals in a question of the appropriateness of the application of logic and emotion: when should it be applied? Is there a right answer or a wrong one? Spock’s analysis is based in a logic that empathizes with the crew. The death of one versus many. Gary’s logic is that one versus the many, where it is his responsibility to uplift humanity by destroying it and starting anew with the next step in evolution. Meanwhile, Kirk’s emotional analysis wants to see everyone survive and he wants to believe in the humanity he hopes Gary still has. Finally, Dr. Dehner’s emotions are sympathy to life and one’s right to live— she fights for Gary to be able to exercise his right as a human, and she sees the potential to benefit humanity as a whole. However, as logic overtakes her, she finds her emotions neglected, and Kirk’s appeal to her emotions saves the day. In contract, it’s Spock’s appeal to Kirk’s logical side that saves the day as well.
I thought a lot about this one, lmao.
The Naked Time
We had a lot of fun watching this one because it was… getting everyone space drunk and space vulnerable. Watching everyone kind of lose their shit and go stupid was amazing, especially when it nearly fucking killed everyone, was amazing. All because one space knocker couldn’t itch his nose and took off his glove and got contaminated.
A small, dumb decision really almost killed everyone and sent people three days backwards in time. After which, Kirk just said fuck this, we’re out.
The Enemy Within
x
Mudd’s Women
x
What Are Little Girls Made Of
x
