Atoz 77
Vice Admiral
[M:0]
[ss:Insurrection]
Posts: 4,065
|
Post by Atoz 77 on Sept 4, 2009 7:42:33 GMT -6
This was Star Trek's second pilot episode, filmed after "The Cage" was rejected by the network as "too cerebral". About to probe the edge of the galaxy, the Enterprise finds a message buoy from the starship Valiant, which was destroyed by an unknown force. The Enterprise later encounters an energy barrier which damages the warp drive and at the same time endows helmsman Gary Mitchell with mental abilities -- including telekinesis, telepathy, clairvoyance and the ability to neutralize energy beams -- which are growing exponentially in power.
The suspense is terrific. Gary Mitchell is a likable man, and we uneasily watch as his abilities grow stronger, all the while listening to Spock's gloomy (yet quite logical) prognosis. I'm not so sure that Mitchell "went mad" as some synopses indicate. This is a philosophical question which goes all the way back to Socrates. We generally apply self-restraint mainly because we know there are consequences for antisocial behavior. What would we do without those restraints? How would you behave if you knew that you could get away with anything?
|
|
|
Post by andrewlee on Sept 4, 2009 9:25:47 GMT -6
With the social restraints removed, most people would behave differently, to varying degrees and ways. Becoming super powerful would be an irresistible temptation to allow ones darker side to come out and play!
The Female Crew member that was also effected by the psychic ability enhancing force tried to stop Gary Mitchell by helping Captain Kirk. This shows that not all people would behave in an evil way if they had acquired powers!
|
|
Dax123
Commander
[ss:NX-01]
Posts: 1,207
|
Post by Dax123 on Sept 4, 2009 11:41:33 GMT -6
I just saw that yesterdaY! Good episode
|
|
JADIS
Lieutenant
[ss:Cloak]
Posts: 372
|
Post by JADIS on Sept 5, 2009 0:00:10 GMT -6
Hmmmm, well I think it depends on how you see others and if you would still see them as people. From the episode side, Mitchell began to see people as "objects" to be owned while the lady (sorry I don't remember her name) still saw people as people...and to me that was the difference of how they responded to their powers. I'd hope I would still be "human" even with powers.
|
|
Atoz 77
Vice Admiral
[M:0]
[ss:Insurrection]
Posts: 4,065
|
Post by Atoz 77 on Sept 8, 2009 7:45:22 GMT -6
Right! Elizabeth Dehner was a psychologist, which gave her a little bit of an edge in dealing with this kind of thing. Plus Kirk had just gotten through reminding her that she was a psychologist, so that helps too.
And we had a hint at Gary Mitchell's tendancies when he mentioned how he had "steered" a lab technician at Kirk when they were at the Academy together. Still, you wonder what would have happened if it hadn't happened so quickly, if he had had time to adjust to his new abilities.
|
|
|
Post by andrewlee on Sept 8, 2009 9:43:20 GMT -6
I think if the process of psychic ability would have happened a lot slower allowing Gary Mitchell to adapt slower, the darker side of his personality would not have been so extreme. He may have even got it under control and not to have tried to take over and kill Captain Kirk. It must have been a real shock to his system for this to happen so rapidly!!
|
|
Atoz 77
Vice Admiral
[M:0]
[ss:Insurrection]
Posts: 4,065
|
Post by Atoz 77 on Sept 11, 2009 8:05:39 GMT -6
Another thing I like about this episode (and Star Trek in general) is that doesn't try to pretend that "psychic abilities" are a common phenomenon. The way Dehner describes ESP ability is pretty much exactly what all the scientific studies have found -- a few experiments have turned up some slight indication, but "the Esper capacity is always quite limited". It's trivial. There's no hint whatsoever that, for example, the PSI Corps of "Babylon 5" would be possible. I find that really refreshing.
|
|
kijuro
Lt. Commander
[ss:Borg]
Posts: 448
|
Post by kijuro on Sept 27, 2009 10:20:04 GMT -6
Did anyone else get the impression that Gary Mitchell was supposed to be the First Officer? Notice how Spock only mentioned "human ancestors", not a human mother? Also, did you catch that Kirk reads "long-hair" philosophy?
|
|
|
Post by andrewlee on Sept 27, 2009 10:30:52 GMT -6
Did anyone else get the impression that Gary Mitchell was supposed to be the First Officer? Notice how Spock only mentioned "human ancestors", not a human mother? Also, did you catch that Kirk reads "long-hair" philosophy? They can be missed easy, but I did catch these things. The series was in it's second pilot and experimental before some things were set in place.
|
|
Atoz 77
Vice Admiral
[M:0]
[ss:Insurrection]
Posts: 4,065
|
Post by Atoz 77 on Sept 28, 2009 7:13:46 GMT -6
Did anyone else get the impression that Gary Mitchell was supposed to be the First Officer? Notice how Spock only mentioned "human ancestors", not a human mother? Also, did you catch that Kirk reads "long-hair" philosophy? Yes, Gary Mitchell was apparently First Officer, and Spock was just Science Officer. And he also seemed to be Helmsman, even though he sat on the right hand side of the console. Kelso was Navigator, I think. As for Spock's line about "one of my ancestors married an Earth female", I suppose at that time he was still getting used to Kirk and didn't know how much information to trust him with. Plus, Sulu started out as a Science Officer.
|
|
Arkroyal
Lt. Commander
I'm a historian, not an engineer![ss:Federation]
Posts: 440
|
Post by Arkroyal on May 11, 2010 17:15:34 GMT -6
I watched it with my ten year old nephew the other day and we were HOOKED - I can see why Star Trek became so popular now because even we - born 33 and 28 years after this episode first aired used to all the shiny special effects of the 21st century - were completely engrossed in the show and weirdly it still felt 'real'. I joked about how Captain Kirk's shirt always got ripped, squealed at Sulu in a blue shirt, wondered where Dr McCoy was, pointed out the "R" inconsistency to my nephew...it was rather fun - all sort of "Hang on, how fast is he...uh oh!" sort of thing.
|
|
Luke
Commander
[ss:Cool Blue]
Posts: 1,087
|
Post by Luke on May 25, 2010 11:41:25 GMT -6
Heres a question. We know Spock had some telepathic ability. so why wasnt he affected by the energy barrier?
|
|
Arkroyal
Lt. Commander
I'm a historian, not an engineer![ss:Federation]
Posts: 440
|
Post by Arkroyal on May 26, 2010 10:55:54 GMT -6
Perhaps the barrier only affected those with high *latent* telepathic ability or those with no telepathic barrier. Naturally being half-Vulcan Spock's telepathy is not latent and based on touch and he has probably got natural defensive barriers built in. It'd be interesting to see what would have happened to a Betazoid wouldn't it?
|
|
Atoz 77
Vice Admiral
[M:0]
[ss:Insurrection]
Posts: 4,065
|
Post by Atoz 77 on May 28, 2010 7:44:10 GMT -6
That's an interesting thought. I expect a Betazoid would just lapse into a coma or something.
|
|
Luke
Commander
[ss:Cool Blue]
Posts: 1,087
|
Post by Luke on Jun 2, 2010 10:29:32 GMT -6
What aboutKlingons? Can you imagine a Klingon ship at the energy barrier?
|
|